The last two weeks, and it just wouldn't leave. And I prayed, I prayed, and within an hour and a half, the entire sermon was there. So, 2 Timothy chapter 3, let's read the first seven verses. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truth-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away for of this sort are they which creep into houses and laid captive silly women laden with sins led away with divers lusts ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth let's pray our heavenly father aid us in understanding this word and applying it properly to ourselves and our lives, our times. In Jesus' name, Amen. This passage constitutes the last words we have from the Apostle Paul as he writes his last epistle to this brother, this spiritual son, he calls him a son, chapter 2, Timothy. Paul says, these things are happening in the last days. You said, when are the last days? Well, we're still in them. That's my interpretation. So these words apply to Timothy and they apply to us. So it's fair game. This makes a sermon for us as well, as for Timothy 2000 years ago, it's applicable to us today because of the times we are in. And let me define those times for you. I do believe that reformation is in the wind. Just over the last week or so, I have met with so many pastors, elders, leading men of churches across Colorado and beyond Colorado. God is at work. There will be, if the trend that I am seeing right now continues, there will be hundreds of reforming churches across Colorado over the next 20 years. That's what it looks like. I met with seven or eight pastors just yesterday for about three hours to discuss what is happening in this reformation. Indeed, reformation is in the wind. People are seeing God working in their lives, their families, and their wider fellowships. And it is an exciting time. But you know what? Reformations, or we could call them revivals, Movement, spiritual movement of some sort, has happened since the beginning of time. And it doesn't always constitute a reformation. You can get a revival that burns out in two years, well, two weeks, I guess. Revivals tend to burn out, reformations don't. That may be one of the reasons why reformation is not used generally in churches today. But historically, reformations last at least 300 years. So that's why I think it's the desire of every God-loving person in this room and God-loving person across America to have a reformation. I mean, who doesn't want to have a reformation here? Raise your hand. Would you like to see God glorified and honored by more people? Would you like to see the commitment of God-loving people extend to all their institutions of life? I would. So, reformation is most definitely in the wind. But as my heart leaps with expectation, you know the devil exists. And as I engage in all of the discussions I've engaged in over the last five, six years, I can see that there will be vast numbers of fakes in the mix. Remember the first reformation. The first reformation produced the seeds of humanism that now have ravaged the West. Did you know that? It happened during the first reformation. When Martin Luther was pounding his theses on the Wittenberg church door at the very same time, men like Erasmus were beginning to write. And Erasmus planted the seeds of humanism that went forward and corrupted the church, Protestant and Catholic, since the 1500s. I think of Arminius. I think of I think of Thomas Müntzer. Did you know that modern Marxism has its roots in the German Reformation? Did you know that? Did you know that the communism that spread over Western Europe or Eastern Europe and Soviet Union and China and ended in the destruction of hundreds of millions of their own citizens Those bloody communist revolutions had their beginnings, their roots, in the German Reformation. Did you know that? You see, when a reformation occurs, brothers and sisters, the devil shows up. Does that surprise you? Thomas Müntzer, John of Leiden, quoted by Frederick Engels at length, In his works, Frederick Engels being Marx's counterpart in the development of the Communist Manifesto back in the 1830s. Their roots were in Thomas Moonser and John of Leiden. The first communist revolution was not the French revolution inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The first communist revolution was the revolution that Moonser engaged in in 1525. He wanted to abolish the ownership of private property. He believed in sharing property and wives. You say, what kind of reformation is that? Well, that's when it goes sideways. That's what happens when it goes sideways. These men rejected the entire Old Testament law system. It was the radical reformation. Be careful. Always be careful. Reformations are dangerous things. There will always be fakes, there will always be something genuine, there will always be wood, hay, and stubble, and silver, gold, and precious stones. While Paul wrote these words, Christian churches were on the march through the known world. I'm not sure there was more of a reformation, there was more of a dispersion of the churches of Jesus Christ any other time in history than during that time. At one point, it was said the gospel was preached in all of the world, or all of the known world. There was an exciting time there in the first century as Christian churches were established throughout Asia Minor. But he leaves this warning to the pastors. Let's read it one more time. Verse 5. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such, he says, turn away. Let's let's dissect that phrase for just a few minutes. First of all, they have a form of godliness that is a morphosis of godliness. The word morphosis means an outside form of godliness. Here are some synonyms that may help you to understand this. This is crucial. So listen, this is really the the heart of the sermon this morning. They have an outline, an outline as a child draws an outline figure of a man, tracing it from some other source. Just the outline, no guts to it, just the outline of the form. They have the outline, they have a crust, they have a cream puff with no cream, they have a shape on the outside, but there's nothing on the inside. That's what they have. A morphosis of godliness. The word godliness Fear does not refer to the fear of God. The word godliness sometimes comes from the Greek word fear of God. Sometimes it comes from the Greek word piety, or the way that somebody thinks and lives. Verse 12 can help you in understanding what that word means. Look at verse 12. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." So this is not only what somebody thinks, but it includes the way they live. They live godly, they think godly. They have a form of thinking and living godly on the external, but there is nothing on the inside. The problem with these men is they have denied the power of godliness. There it is. They have a form, but they deny the power of godliness. They deny the power of good thought and life, the core of it, the essence of it. Here's an example. They bought a car without an engine. They're very, very pro-car. They bought the car. They'll stand by the car. They'll get into the car. But there's no engine. They've denied it. They said they didn't need it. They didn't need the core. They said that the outside was sufficient. They didn't need what was on the inside. Their hearts were in such rebellion against God, they refused to accept the essence. They forsook the essence of the gospel. Well, that's the verse. Now, let's apply this to the reformation that is happening about us. The reformation that is happening about us. There are three things I want to say about that reformation. In order that we not create a reformation force in our times that constitutes a form of godliness but denies the power thereof. how easy it will be, and there will be reformation works, there will be churches that will start and go for twenty to thirty years, and in the end, it's wood, hay, and sobble. And would to God that We create something better than that. Gold, silver, and precious jewels. How do we do that? Well, three things that I believe must constitute a reformation in lieu of our text this morning. And the first is this. It must form on solid doctrine and adequately frame the antithesis. I know I've mentioned this before, but let me give the application here for you today. Look at verses 16 and 17 of the same passage. It says, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Paul includes that here in this chapter because in the beginning of the chapter, he is warning Timothy about these teachers that are not creating the gospel in its essence. They're not thinking it or living it, and Paul here guides Timothy back into the source of that truth. If a reformation is going to make good inroads into the lives and institutions of our people in our generation, it must happen through the Word of God. We must be solidly rooted in the Word of God. One reason why so many revivals always peter out is because they're not getting into God's Word. I think that's the reason why the first A major revival, they call it the awakening of the 18th century, was so much more fruitful in the 19th century because there was so much more teaching from the Word of God. It wasn't just a bunch of excitement. It was truth. So our reformations must be literally laced with truth. We must be men and women that immerse ourselves in the Word of God and engage in discussions day and night. You're going to recognize the Reformation when you see family worship happening throughout the day. You hear discussions between brothers and sisters that somehow are able to get past the weather and sports. It's the Word of God that consumes us. It must form on solid doctrine. When we begin to say reformation, we're assuming, you know, we need to change, that there's something wrong with the world, right? I mean, if you're saying that the church needs to change, or that our society needs to change, or our institutions need to change, you're assuming that something needs to change about them, right? You're not just saying, it needs to change, you're saying there's something specific that needs to change. There are some areas in which we went wrong, and it requires a reformation of thought and life. The Word of God is the standard. The Word of God is the standard. Okay, here's the example. Here's the example. There is a lot of excitement going on right now in some of our circles about this concept of family integrated churches where parents are discipling their children. I use the word disciple. Some people say family worship, but they're discipling. They're teaching their children. Now, we have a great deal of excitement about this. And this seems to be what a lot of people are looking for in a church. They say, is the church family integrated? Or is the church encouraging fathers to disciple their children? It must be a good church then. Well, you know what? You could have a church where you've got it family integrated and they accept homosexual ministers and homosexual parents discipling their own children. Are you with me here? So that's kind of silly, isn't it? Just walking around looking for a church and your checklist is family integrated and parents discipling their children. Well, you wind up at some, you know, family discipleship Methodist church and there's a homosexual minister saying exactly the same thing. So what do you got? You got a reformation? It just fizzled. In about, what, 30 seconds? That's how silly the scene can be. That's just how silly it can be. And that's how silly we are. That's how superficial we tend to be. Because what's happening is the movement can develop with just another facade. And there's absolutely nothing on the inside. It's just a form of godliness. So what is the core of the Reformation desperately needed in the Church of Jesus Christ? The problem is not theistic evolution. The problem is not family disintegration and dating. If that's all you have, if that's the way you have defined the problem, and you're trying to patch up those problems by reintegrating the family and by getting a six-day creation keynote at your conferences and by doing some kind of courtship thing, then all you have is a facade, a form of godliness denying the power thereof. You're losing the heart, you're losing the core. You need a heart commitment. What is the antithesis? What is the agenda upon which we must reform the church of Jesus Christ today? It is a return to God as the source of all things. And I'm going to review this again. I spent five weeks on this five years ago or four years ago in this church. But I want to go over it one more time because there are quite a few of you not here and because I think it's important for all of us to review where we went wrong, where we went wrong. First, we need a heart commitment. You say to what? To God as the source of truth, reality and ethics. And it needs to be in the depths of our heart and our life. This is what we have lost, largely, in the Church of Jesus Christ. God is central in truth. God is central in reality. God is central in law. God is central in salvation. And God must be central in our life and our worship. And humanism has replaced man as God And it did it as early as Erasmus. And of course, it's been attempting to do it ever since Satan went to Eve and said, you can be your own God. You can determine your own ethics. You can establish your own reality. You have total free will, and God has no control over what you do. And if you take that action, you will be as God. You will be acting sovereignly for the first time in all of your history, and you will be as God. And the end result was the fall of man. But humanism now is doing it again. Humanism is doing it again. I read recently in an introduction to philosophy, in a defense of humanism, this quote. If human beings are God's creatures, as theism asserts, then presumably they are totally subject to the will of the Creator. Theistic authoritarianism is destructive of humanity. And therefore, any law that people are counseled to obey that is not of their own making enslaves them and robs them of their dignity. That's humanism. And you can easily hear that read in modern liturgy today in some forms of Christianity. They reject an objective, authoritarian law of somebody beyond their sphere of existence. It's infiltrated the church in many ways. Because see, here's how it works. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ, they will say. But He is not the ultimate authority. I believe in ultimate authority, but He's not the ultimate authority. He's not the ultimate authority over my reality. define my reality, at least by providence. I can't say that God defines exactly how I live my life and how my life goes because the free will of man is over the will of God. Man becomes the ultimate determinant of the life that we live, the destiny that we head towards. It's got to be either God or man. And man says, I'm it. And certainly in the area of salvation, brothers and sisters, you know that it is offensive to men when you come up to them and say, you know what? The ultimate destiny of whether you're going to be in heaven or hell is in God's hands. That's offensive. Because that attacks the desire in the hearts of every man and woman since Eve took the fruit that says, I want to be a God and I want to determine, in the ultimate sense, my destiny. Now, we affirm that man makes his choices such that they are free and he is responsible for his choices in that sense, but he is still under the absolute predestinating sovereignty of God as he does it. And that is where people have a hard time. We need to Encourage our brothers and sisters to return God as the ultimate authority over man's existence and reality. What makes the moment you're living in today a reality is not you in the ultimate sense, it is God. Yes, you showed up this morning. Yes, you prayed to God at some point and you acted in faith by coming here this morning to be part of the worship of Almighty God. Praise be to God for that. But you know what? You did it because God was acting. You say, how in the world does the free will of man and the responsibility of man, how does he maintain that while God is completely sovereign? I can tell you, I don't know and I can be happy. Because God creates universes too and I'm not sure how he does that. When you figure out how God created this universe, I'll get back to you on how he predestinates the free will of men, their actions. Okay, is that a deal? Great. In this new reformation, we must return God to center as the one who is over our reality. God is absolutely, ultimately, sovereignly in control of every single thing that happens. Isaiah 46 and verse 9, remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like me. declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, I will do all My pleasure, calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executes My counsel from a far country, yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass, I have purposed it, I will also do it. You say that this pagan king that came from afar came on his own free will? He came, yes, on His own free will, but in the ultimate sense, He came because God had Him come to bring that destruction to that land. God knew what was going to happen. Not as the open theists say today, He knew it was going to happen because He took a wild guess at it. But He knew it was going to happen because, He tells you here in Isaiah chapter 46, because He purposed it. And when he purposes it, he brings it to pass. It is absolutely a lock-shut case. God is sovereign over reality. And we must return God back to center. God must be God. The minute you start saying, God isn't sovereign over reality, God isn't ultimately sovereign over truth, God isn't sovereign over my ethics, you have removed, you have gutted the Godness of God from God and you have no God left. And that is what has happened in modern Christianity in the last 300 years. Number two, in this new reformation, we must return God to center in our truth as final authority in determining what is true. Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 19 and 20. These are the passages that we exegeted during that series I'm just bringing them back to your memory when they shall say to you seek to them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards that peep and that mutter and scientists Oh, it doesn't say scientists, but it does say wizards that peep and mutter should not a people seek unto their God for the living to the dead, to the law, to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. The determinant of truth is the standard revealed by Almighty God. And that's our standard. We must return God back to the source, the center of our truth, and we're not going to listen to scientists. We're not going to look at rock layers and use rock layers to determine God's Word and to interpret God's Word. We're going to look at God's Word and use God's Word to interpret what's happening in rock layers. That's the difference. God is ultimate in truth. God is ultimate in truth. Finally, in this new reformation, we must return God to center in ethics. That is, God is the source of our ethics to direct us in good and right thought, word and action in every moment of our day and every institution of our lives. God is ultimately the one who will direct what we do and determine whether or not that is a good thing to do or a bad thing to do. Matthew 15 and verse 4, God commanded saying, this is Jesus to the Pharisees, the Pharisees being good humanists, Jesus came to these humanists and said, God commanded saying, honored by father and mother, and he that curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, that's kind of mean. No, it doesn't say that. But you say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, it is a gift. by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment of God, of none effect by your tradition. You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with her mouth, and honoreth me with her lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, having the shell, having a form of it, honoring me with your lips, but your heart is far from me. Why? Because you allow your traditions to usurp the authority of the principles of God's Holy Word in the way that you live. And Jesus brings that out in the way that these Pharisees had allowed an exception to some children offering financial assistance to their parents in their old age. sort of a social security program. Jesus said you've got a social security program, you've got a tradition here that undermines the principle of God's holy, absolute, ethical directive for your life. Brothers and sisters, the authority of God as lawgiver is almost completely undermined in modern Christianity by neglecting to preach the requirements of God's righteous law in the pulpits. By making two-thirds of the Bible irrelevant to life and culture. By implying that any of God's laws are unjust or wicked. By setting God's law against God's grace and faith against repentance. Or by kowtowing to the culture and everything from our economic systems to our politics, our entertainment, how we educate our children, to women taking office in the church. By encouraging a mistrust of the word of God in counseling, in politics, etc. All the ways. in which we have undermined the absolute authority of God's Word to direct us ethically. Many people are drawn to a crust. Many people. Many people are like the Pharisees that honored God with their lips. They had lots and lots of worship, but their hearts were far from Him. They want externals. They want a family integrated church. Courtship for their daughters modest dress and a six-day creation, but they don't want this foundation in their hearts They want a few applications, but no principles that would undergird these things My point is this morning. I have gone deep I Have not a quarrel with six-day creation. You know that I have not a quarrel with a the courtship systems that many of you have implemented. Praise be to God. But brothers and sisters, if you're doing it without a heart commitment, a love to God as God, and a love to Jesus Christ as your King who will ethically direct your life, then you don't got it. You don't have it. You don't have the core. And your reformation will be wood, hay and stubble. All right. That's the first point. The first point is the Reformation must be rooted in the principles of God's Word. Secondly, it must be a Reformation that honors parents. Go back to 2 Timothy 3 and look at verse 4. I read this earlier, verse 2, my mistake, verse 2. Look at verse 2. And I have read this text maybe a hundred times in my life, and every time I read this text, There is one thing that has stood out in this text that I thought was sort of strange. Look at verse 2. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents. I don't know why that's strange. I don't know why it stood out. Perhaps it was the fact that I was raised in a Christian home where I was taught these things. But there is something strange, I think, about that phrase. Being in this description of men who are false teachers in the Church of Jesus Christ. Disobedient to parents. What does obedience to parents have to do with being a good teacher? A proper teacher in Christ's Church? Well, I think it comes out in the difference between Reformation and Revolution. You all know I've said this many times. that Nietzsche was the son of a Lutheran minister, that Rousseau was the grandson of a Calvinist minister, that Darwin was the son of a minister too. I can't remember the denomination. What is it about the most evil men who have backed some of the most horrendous philosophy that they have to be sons or grandsons of good Christians? It has to do with revolution. The difference between reformation and revolution is found right here. I knew a man who grew up in a Christian home back in the 1970s. I knew him in the early 80s. He was a young man at that time. At that time he began to listen to music that his Christian parents found reprehensible. He adopted facial jewelry that his Christian parents found embarrassing. His Christian parents would have told you, he's not honoring me right now. The man today He is a Marxist revolutionary. He is a college professor who wrote a book on one world government, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. You see, what is happening in our culture today is almost a constant routine of revolution. It's been happening for at least three or four generations, where the severance of hearts of fathers from the hearts of sons results in not so much revolution, but devolution. In other words, You begin to break down the culture this way and you destroy it. We live in a series of violent cultural revolutions marked by a generation that curses their father and does not bless their mother, that are pure in their own eyes, having a form of godliness, and yet is not washed from their filthiness, a generation whose teeth are as swords and their jaw teeth as knives. Is there any wonder why in this church, brothers and sisters, little brothers and sisters, listen to me right now. Is there anyone in this church why we are appealing to you, week in and week out, obey your father and your mother. Listen to them, respect them, and honor them. It is essential. We have exhorted you about this to be careful with your cultural expressions. Honor your parents in the culture, in your dress, in your music, and your theology. You say, my parents' theology wasn't perfect. Well, take what was good. My parents' theology, my parents' music wasn't the best music, they were listening to The Beatles. Okay, take the best part of The Beatles. I don't know, take what is the best part of what they gave you, take that as the principle and develop upon it. But it is when the hearts of children turn against their parents that you get this perpetual revolution and it is, oh, so, so damaging. to culture and ultimately also to the church of Christ within the sovereign direction of God, of course. But the application I think here is very simple. If you have a teacher who doesn't honor his father, don't follow him. Don't even listen to his tapes. Just that simple. Also, I think one more application that could be helpful is this. The first reformation was planted firmly on 1300 years. of church history. Because, you know, we don't stand alone in human history. I think it's a problem when people divorce themselves from 2,000 years of church history. We ignore our forefathers, the wisdom of many counselors. How different are we from the rebellious son that breaks the fifth commandment? It was Martin Luther at Worms, or Hoose at the Church of Counsel at Constance, who used the scriptures, of course, but the writings of the Church Fathers also to defend their positions. Have you ever read Calvin's Institutes? Anybody? Or even surveyed it? Raise your hand. Anybody even looked at parts of it? You'll find lots and lots and lots of quotations from Church Fathers. These guys, in many cases, they said of Luther in the debates, he knew the Church Fathers better than his counterparts. Because he respected them and he grew the Reformation out of them. He respected the fathers of church history. And I'll tell you what, the counter, the radical revolution, the radical Reformation or revolution refused to do that. Here's Luther on the councils and the church. He wrote that although Rome claims the authority of the fathers and the councils, her views are actually at odds with those of the early councils and fathers. You can tell a revolutionary he doesn't know church history and doesn't care a whit for it. And you could care less about the creeds and confessions made over 18 years of the church. You are a member of a Protestant church, you have a great legacy. You are the product of the Reformation. You need to study carefully the writings of men who started the Reformation in the 1500s. Calvin, Luther, Knox, and Butzer. You say, how in the world does this apply? I thought we were just held down to the scriptures. Well, the Bible says first, honor your parents. Elisha called his own Mentor, Elijah, my father, my father. Or think of Paul himself here in chapter 2. Thou therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We have earthly fathers. We do. Men who went before us. Spiritual leaders who went before us. Hebrews 11. These were men who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises. Stop the mouths of lions, quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword, turn to flight the armies of the aliens of whom the world is not worthy. Fathers who were heroes of the faith, fathers who were persecuted, fathers who were reformers like Josiah, we are encompassed about with so great a cloud of martyrs, says chapter 12, following that entire list of the household of faith. He says we are surrounded by martyrs. You say martyrs? I thought it was witnesses. Yes, witnesses, testifiers. People who testify to the truth by their words and by their life. So what did they testify to? Are you curious? Are you curious? These were the martyrs. These were the testifiers. What did they teach? What did they die for? What was their life about? Why shouldn't we treat the mighty men of God who have come before us as our fathers, Augustine, Athanasius, Patrick, Huss, Calvin, Knox? This is new to me. I haven't really read that much church history. I've been a historian for a long time. I love history. But not as much church history until recently. But I have found so many affirmations to the truths I shared with you. The thing that beat in the hearts of men like Patrick or Augustine or Athanasius was a complete reliance on the absolute sovereignty of God, yes, over reality as well. These men believed in the sovereignty of God. If these men showed up in modern Christianity today, they would be horrified by what they would find. Read these fathers. Read these fathers. To launch a reformation without a connection to these brothers, to refuse to listen to them, is the grossest of dishonor and should not happen. Thirdly, our reformation must produce the fruits of true repentance in heart and life. And I would draw that from the last phrase of our verse today, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. You know, you can have a right doctrine, but it's not just the doctrine. That doctrine can become a crust. Somebody says, I have the right doctrine. They may profess it on the outside, but not believe it on the inside. Among our ranks, and I'm going to close with just a few practical examples. Some of you are saying, well, this sermon didn't have a lot of practical application to my life. I believe that God is sovereign. I believe in the church reforming, and I certainly want it to grow out of previous reformations. But how does this apply to me? Well, here it is. Here it is. Among our ranks, we have a lot of fundamentalists. We are fundamentalists in the sense that we believe in the fundamentals of God's Word. We stand on it. We approve of it. But among those that take the Bible seriously, it is so easy for us to take a few outward rules. I'm homeschooling my children. My children sit straight up in a chair for two hours straight while Pastor Swanson carries on. And we're pro-life activists. Isn't that enough, God? Isn't that enough, God? You know what? You can do all those things. You can homeschool. You can have your children sitting straight up in your chairs, and you can be pro-life activists, but if there is no true faith and love on the inside, that's not a reformation. That's a life of hypocrisy, having a form of godliness, an external crust of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Titus 1 and verse 16 says, they profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient. And Jesus said, by their fruits you shall know them. The test of any revival will be the fruits. Does this way produce fruits in accordance with the law of God or not? In other words, you're not going to see it within, say, three, five years. You're going to see it in 10 or 20 years. You're going to see it generationally. You're going to see it over a large group of people over a long period of time. You're going to know them by their fruits. Do the people love God? By what? By objective ways. Again, it must manifest itself in objective ways. But our hypocrisy begins inside. It begins all the way in the inside, like a cancer. It's hard to see at first, but it begins to grow. It's hard to be honest at first, but it begins to grow. And eventually a lack of integrity is manifested. Not just in the heart, but in the life, when nobody else is watching you. And then it manifests in the family life. And that's why so many leaders may look very good, and we have many stories about it. World Magazine covered a couple of them. Some pro-life activist in Washington State, who was anti-homosexual, turned out he was establishing homosexual liaisons on the side. And some other pro-life doctor out in Oklahoma or somewhere, written a book about how women could be taken care of in a loving way, and he's abusing his wife. Now, how does this happen? Leaders can look very good. They can look pro-life and conservative on the outside. Their families are falling apart. It's because that truthfulness, that honesty, that sincerity begins on the inside. And that's why Jesus said about His church, if you don't rule your household well, you shouldn't be ruling in the household of God. Your sincerity in your home will manifest the sincerity in your life and thereby open up the gate for you to become a sincere and honest A man of integrity, a worker in the fields of God in his church. It starts on the inside and it works outside. This is so convicting, I will tell you brothers, there is an insidiousness about hypocrisy that makes it a lot like pride. It is always present, isn't it? You do not live your life a day without hypocrisy. In fact, it shows up about every five minutes, right? It's just like pride. It shows up about every five minutes. Those are the five minutes you're catching it. It's probably showing up every two minutes. You're just not catching every one of them. Hypocrisy is that way. It's insidious. And yet, we must be honest. We must confess it. Then it's easy to confess our hypocrisy, but only the outer layer of it. You follow me? See how insidious it is? I mean, you're confessing some hypocrisy to some brothers on a session. And you're just going to hit the outside part of it. You know that there's a little more hypocrisy on the inside, but you're not going there. We ought to cry out to God, cleanse thou me from secret faults. God help me. God help me. Show me my heart. That I might be brutally honest. That I might make honest confession to my brothers as to what is happening. A half-hearted external reformation will never do. May we be like King Josiah, of whom it was written, there was never a king that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to the law of Moses. May God bring that to our hearts, our lives, and our families. Amen? Amen. Grace be to all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity from the inside out. Amen. Amen. Our Heavenly Father. Oh, this is so convicting. Because of the deceitfulness of the human heart. We don't like to go deep. We don't like to do deep work, but you do. and praise be to the Holy Spirit of God. When you do your work in us, and we ask that you would do that right now, Holy Spirit, work in our hearts, cleanse us from secret faults, open our hearts that we might see what is really there. And if it's frightening, may we rush to the cross of Christ again and say, we are sinners, we are undone, oh God, but forgive us. and receive your forgiveness that is shed abroad to us, because the Son of God went to the cross for that kind of hypocrisy. O God, may you bring about a reformation, but may it occur first in the depths of my heart, in the way that I treat my wife and love her as Christ loved the church, and the way I disciple my children. In Jesus' name I pray, and all of God's people said, Amen.