July 1

The hypocrite hears, prays, and fasts, but all to his detriment. Every ordinance is a wide door to let Satan in more fully to possess him, as Judas found in the last supper.

Sincerity lifts the Christian's head above the water and makes him float on the waves of trouble with a holy presence and courageous spirit. "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness" (Psalm 112:4), not only light when the night is past, but light in the darkness also. The affliction which eats out the hypocrite's heart becomes vigorous nourishment to the sincere man's grace and comfort.

The hypocrite's joy, like strings of a musical instrument, cracks in wet weather; but sincerity keeps the soul in tune through all seasons. Unstable people let circumstances control how they feel-- cheerful in sunshine but depressed in rain. And this is the way of the unsound heart. A few trying situations weaken his spirit and destroy him as a cold winter kills feeble bodies. Afflictions, however, help the Christian grow by uniting him even more closely with Christ. Trouble sends him straight to the arms of the Lord, as the bee flies to her hive in a storm. He is glad who has such a comfortable pillow as the lap of Jesus.

Sincerity keeps the Christian's mouth open to receive the sweet consolations which drop from the Word and the Spirit. In fact, God directs every one of His promises here. But hypocrisy is like a man with a badly inflamed throat, he burns inside but cannot swallow anything to quench the fire which sin has kindled in his soul. When God offers precious promises the hypocrite's conscience tells him, "These cannot be for you; you are not right with God. Surely you can understand that God's Word comes to sincere men; but what are you?

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