THE THIN LINE BETWEEN TRUE WORSHIP AND HYPOCRISY



THIS IS WHAT GOD CALLS HYPOCRISY
Acts 10:22 KJV” And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.”
    There is a thin line between the practice of man-made religion and true worship in the church of Christ. Except when analyzed under a scriptural microscope, one may not know the difference. There are two types of error , one that is deliberate and born out of ignorance and that which is not deliberate, sincere and born out of a lack of proper guidance. Cornelius’ error falls into the second category. Both errors are easily hidden under a religious camouflage in our churches.
     Cornelius could have easily passed for what we may refer to as a faithful- brother- in- the –lord, considering his visible qualities. He was a successful military carrier officer with over a hundred soldiers at his beckon and call, he regularly made charitable donations to the poor and maybe built a couple of churches too. He was well spoken of in the community .
      Despite these qualities, God was not impressed, there was a missing ingredient, Cornelius was religious ( worship based on man’s standards without accountability to anyone  )  and as such had no intimate relationship with the Holy Ghost.   This is common in the body of Christ , were so many persons deny or refuse access to the ministry of the Holy Ghost for the fear of being made to be accountable to someone else and the loss of friends(Jn5:44)  oblivious of the fact that godly honour is far greater than the honour from man(1Pet.5:10) . The Holy Spirit uses us as He wishes not as we wish. It is the desire to always be in control of our lives and to dominate others that leads to many denying the ministry of the Holy Ghost. Without the ministry of the Holy Ghost, a church is spiritually dead, it is merely a social gathering devoid of life- changing power. The bible says in 2 Tim 3:5, that this shall be one of the signs of the last days  . Cornelius was thought a lesson in spiritual accountability by being sent to meet Peter and their fellowship together opened a door of spiritual revival in Cornelius’ family.             
         Hypocrisy is defined by the dictionary as, :  a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially :  the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion ( Merriam-webstar Dictionary)"  In the Greek, the word is "hupokrisis" and means "the playing of a part on the stage."as in (luke12:1). The hypocrite always has an ulterior motive for his or her actions. This is one of the reasons for the increase in marital crisis in the church.  As you read this receive grace for a Holy Ghost revival in your family in Jesus name.

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