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==CAST UP THE HYPOCRITE'S ACCOUNT FOR HIM==
<p><strong>II. And now we are going to CAST UP THE HYPOCRITE'S ACCOUNT FOR HIM. </strong>Now, sir, bring us your ledger, and let us have a look at it. You are a hypocrite. Well, what is on the profit side? A good deal, I must confess. Here is, first of all credit and honor. If you were to say outright, "You are a thief, you are a private drunkard, you can curse God as well as any man;" or if the world should hear as much, you would have no honor; but as it is you have joined the church, and the minister is very fond of you, the deacons and elders think a great deal of you, and you are a very honorable, respectable man. You go walking up to your pew with your Bible and your hymn book, and everybody says, "There is an exemplary character!" and they pat their little boys on the head, and say, "May you grow up to be a very good man like Mr. So-and-so." </p>
<p>The next advantage is the case which you enjoy. The minister often preaches a solemn, thundering sermon against sin. You get off all that; you are not a sinner, are you? not at all; who would suspect you? You are one of the brightest of the saints; it is almost a pity you were not one of the twelve; there was one among them almost as good as yourself, and his end will probably be yours. You escape every thunder of the law; your conscience rests easy, and the very thing which makes the child of God tremble, puffs you up, and the very marks and evidences which cast him down, help to exalt you. </p>
<p>The sun of the gospel which melts wax, hardens the poor clay of your hearts, and you get the more exalted in your self-conceit through everything you hear. And that is good too, is it not? very much in your favor, certainly. </p>
<p>And then there is another thing. How nicely your <em>shop </em>has prospered through it; that, perhaps, is the part of the bargain which you like the best. Ever since you have made a profession of religion, have not those who go to your church and chapel traded with you? You would not have got on half so well, if you had been suspected to be what you really are—but because of that fine cloak of yours, that fine garment of hypocrisy, how nicely you have prospered! What a nice little round sum you have been able to lay by, have you not? All that is the bright side again. </p>
<p>And besides that, what honors have you not received in the church. Are not you made a deacon, or an elder; ay, perhaps a minister too—how pleasant that is! And you puff yourself up, and you feel satisfied. "Oh, what a good man am I, other people think I am, therefore I must be. It is true I devour the widow's house; it is true I am not very particular about what I do; nevertheless the minister, the elders, the deacons think me good, the whole church applauds me; they cannot all be mistaken; surely I must be a special saint." </p>
<p>That is your <em>profit </em>side of the account—what about the other side? I think we shall be able to strike a balance that will not be much in your favor, sir. </p>
<p>In the first place, I see a black item down here. Some of the people of the world do not think quite as much of you, as you imagine. The poor widow does not give you much of a character. You will have to be very careful sir, or your base deeds will come out. </p>
<p>The very first item I see down here, is <strong>a fear that your hypocrisy will be discovered </strong>. It would take you only half as much trouble to be an honest man as it does to be a deceiver. A man who is in the habit of speaking truth, need not mind how he opens his mouth, nor where; but a man who lies, should be very careful, and have a very good memory, and recollect all he has ever said before, lest he should trip himself. </p>
<p>So it is with you my friend, your religion is <em>a Sunday religion </em>, and you have to be very careful, so as to make <em>Monday dealings </em>hold their tongues and <em>Sunday doings </em>vow as fond as they can. Hard work! I would not stand in your place to have all the trepidation and fear of discovery which so often comes upon you. No, I would sooner be a worldling, than I would have the fear that constantly haunts you, lest you should stand ashamed before the Church by your base iniquity being discovered. </p>
<p>But I see something worse than this, here is <strong>constant disquietude of conscience </strong>; hypocrites may seem as if they were at ease, but they cannot really be. The Christian who is true to God, and is really his child, can sometimes say, "I know that Jesus has taken away my sin." Assurance, given to him by the Spirit, calms his fears and he can rest in Christ. But the highest presumption to which the hypocrite can attain, brings no such calm as that which is breathed upon the Christian by the lips of assurance. He can go to his bed, nay, he can go to his tomb in peace—but the hypocrite is afraid of a shadow, and flees when no man pursues. </p>
<p>And last of all, Mr. Hypocrite, I see an item here which you usually forget, it is this—that despite of your profession God abhors you, and <strong>if there is one man more than another who is a stench in the nostrils of Jehovah, it is such as you are—you miserable pretender </strong>! There shall be a special place reserved for you among the damned! Think man, what your misery shall be when your secret deeds of iniquity are read before an assembled universe, and men and angels utter one unanimous hiss against you. What shall it be when the <em>mask </em>is torn off you when the <em>masquerade </em>of your hypocrisy is done, and you are stripped naked to your shame, to be observed of all and to be despised of all? </p>
<p>What do you say to this? <em>Shall you go from your deaconship, or from your ministry—to be among the devils in Hell? Shall you go from the sacramental table—to drink the sulphurous cup of torment? Shall you descend from the song of the sanctuary and from the house of God—to the abode of fiends and to the wailing of the damned? </em>Yes, you shall as sure as this word is true, if you go on in your hypocrisy. Death shall find you out, and Hell shall be your doom, for the hope of the hypocrite is as the spider's web, soon swept away! </p>
<p>This then is the casting up of the hypocrite's account, and there is a deficit of an infinite amount. <br>
Next part [[Now for the matter of the CURE OF THE HYPOCRITE]]

[[Category:Christianity]]