Living on the Edge

Dave Druey: Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, do you want a life filled with strong relationships, personal influence, and deep meaning? Who doesn't? And according to Jesus, you can have that kind of life. But here's the catch: you've got to live without hypocrisy. So how do you do that? How do you live a life of winsome authenticity? Well, that's the subject we're going to talk about today.

Throughout this series called The New You, Chip Ingram has been making the case that how you live flows directly from who you believe you are. And today on Living on the Edge, Chip poses a challenging question: if you know the truth, if you believe in Christ, why is it still so hard to close the gap between what you say and how you actually live? Chip takes us to Ephesians 5 and gives us Jesus' own prescription—not three steps to try harder, but one decisive answer. Here's Chip with today's message, "How to Overcome Hypocrisy in Your Heart."

Chip Ingram: We all think we've got to be something else, portray something different than who we really are so that people will love us and accept us and make us significant. We all hate hypocrisy. We hate it when we see it in other people. We despise it when we see it in the church, and we actually hate it when we see it in us.

It would be nice if hypocrisy was like a virus or like bacteria and you could go to the doctor and say, "I got a bad case of hypocrisy," and he could write a prescription and say, "Here you go, take care of it, three pills like penicillin, you're done." But hypocrisy is a lot more complex than that. It has to do with your heart and your mind and your attitudes and your relationship with God and relationship with people.

But there is a doctor who can solve the hypocrisy issue. If you'll go ahead and pull out your teaching notes, I'd like to give you Jesus' personal prescription for dealing with hypocrisy in your life and in mine. And as you look at that, he's going to give us three clear things. A doctor says take a couple aspirin, go to bed, call me in the morning. It seems like they always tell you three things to do. Jesus is going to give you and give me three specific things to do to deal with the hypocrisy that every single person deals with in your life.

Number one, he says, begin within. Picking up in Luke 6:39, he told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into the pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?" Then here's our word: "You hypocrite! First take the plank out of your eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Jesus says you want to deal with hypocrisy? Begin within. Start with yourself. Refuse to compare yourself with other people. Refuse to evaluate what's wrong with other people. What we all do is, I know I have hypocrisy, but I find five or six other people that have it a little bit worse than me, and I look at all the stuff they need to change. Jesus says that's a bad prescription. Begin within.

Where within do you begin? He goes on. He says start with the heart. Verse 43: "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized or known by its fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes or grapes from briers." That's just kind of common sense. We all get that.

Here's the application: "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart. And the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart." Principle: "For out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks." Jesus said if you want to deal with hypocrisy, don't focus on externals. Don't try and just clean up this or that, or don't try and just appear a little bit differently. Start with your heart.

Just like what the sap is in a tree, if it's a cherry tree, and inside the cherries, it will produce cherries. Whatever is in your heart will end up being produced in your speech, in your attitudes, and in your behavior. So Jesus says if you want to change, if you want your words and your actions to align, to be integrated, to deal with hypocrisy, first begin with you, second start with your heart.

And then he gives a little motivation. He says weigh the consequences. Picking it up in verse 46, he says, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" What's the problem here? Why do you talk, talk, call me Lord, Lord, but you don't walk, walk, do what I say? What do we call it when people say one thing but live a different way? Hypocrisy.

Now, notice the spirit in which he's going to say the next line. This is not a God with his arms crossed and finger-pointing. This is—he's going to give some motivation. He's going to say, "Let me show you the value of living a life of consistency." Look at the very next line. He says, "I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house who has dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck and the house could not be shaken because it was well-built."

So there's a consistent life, there's an authentic life, and there's tremendous benefits when difficulty and pressure and financial loss and relational breakdown and world events occur to a person who is walking authentically with God. He says there's stability. So he says begin within, start with your heart, weigh the consequences, hear the great reward of living an authentic life.

And then just so we get the flip side, then notice what he ends with. Then he goes on to say verse 49, "But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice, this is like a man who built his house on a ground without foundation. And the moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

Do you hear what he's saying? You come to Jesus and you say, "In my heart of hearts, I hate hypocrisy. I don't like it in the church, I don't like it in the job, I don't like it in me. Jesus, will you give me a hand? Will you help me eliminate hypocrisy in my life?" And Jesus would say, "Absolutely. Tell you what, three things to do. One, begin within. Two, start with your heart. And three, weigh the consequences. Get motivated by the great reward of authenticity and be motivated by the huge price tag of hypocrisy."

So what's the $64,000 question? If he says start with your heart and something has to happen in you first, the $64,000 question is, how do you deal with hypocrisy in your heart? How does it work where God changes you from the inside out? If you'll turn the page, let's look at that together, and that's basically the topic of our time this morning.

How to overcome hypocrisy in your heart. And the answer you're going to find is in Ephesians 5:17 and 18. Just so you get the flavor and the context, let's pick it up and follow along together beginning in verse 15. He says, "Be very careful then how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the opportunity because the days are evil."

Here's our passage: "Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." And then he gives us the Lord's will, verse 18: "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." There's a negative command: don't be drunk with wine because it produces this lifestyle. Positive command: instead, be filled with the Spirit, and then it will produce some things.

Notice the evidences when you're filled with the Spirit: "Speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

And when your life corresponds with the Spirit of God winsomely, lovingly, righteously, compassionately, and with holiness, when you live it out like that, you become the instrument of God that gives an invitation to people that are living in chaos and hurt and pain, that Christ is the answer. And so what's at stake here? The context is how in the world do you live that kind of life where you honestly mimic God and you walk in love as children of light? The answer to how is verses 17 and 18. And the answer is this command to be filled with the Spirit.

So pull out a pen if you would, going to put you to work here a little bit, little Bible study together. Let's do some research in this passage and find out what's it mean to be filled with the Spirit? There's a command here. The meaning of filling literally means to be controlled by. When we think of being filled with something, we tend to think of a pitcher of water or a cup of water and we pour it in and as it comes up to the top we say the cup is filled.

That's not the picture that you want in your mind. The idea of this Greek word has the idea of saturation. Just as wine goes into the body and impacts every aspect of your thinking, your speech, your emotions, your attitudes, and even your physiology, in the same way, allow God's Spirit to so saturate and be in control of your heart and your mind that it will affect your speech, your attitudes, your emotions, and your relationships. Every believer is commanded by God to have the Spirit control you 24/7. Every moment of every day, it is God's will for his Spirit to fill you or be in control of your life.

Dave Druey: You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Stay with us, there's more ahead. We're currently in a series called The New You: Claiming Your Birthright as a Child of God. If you've joined us late, or if you want to share any of these messages with a friend or family member, every lesson in this series is available free at livingontheedge.org. You'll also find study resources there to help you go deeper on your own or with a group. That's livingontheedge.org. Now back to Chip.

Chip Ingram: Third, notice it's in what's called the passive voice. And what that means grammatically, it's something that happens to you. Literally, it's allow yourself to be filled with the Spirit. This isn't about trying hard and pulling up your bootstraps and "I'm going to try real hard to be a good person." No, no, this is allowing the Spirit of God access and control.

And then finally, notice it's in the present tense. It means yes, start and continue to be filled with the Spirit every moment of every day. And what I want you to understand is that the filling of the Spirit is a continuous moment-by-moment ministry. You can be filled with the Spirit at 9:05 and you can be not filled or controlled by the Spirit at 9:15. So how do you know? How do you know when you are filled with the Spirit? Is this just some sort of subjective, "Well, when I feel the Spirit moving"?

Actually, he's going to tell us exactly how you can know. Four evidences of being filled with the Spirit. First, your speech will reveal it. You got that pen out? Circle the word "speak." Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Jesus said out of the mouth speaks that which fills the heart. When the words coming out of your mouth are positive, uplifting, encouraging, and filled with truth, the Spirit is in control. When the words that are coming out of your mouth are critical and negative and condescending and painful to others, the flesh is in control. You can know when you're filled with the Spirit.

But it goes beyond your speech, it goes to your private thoughts. Notice that next "sing, make melody," that little phrase, "in your heart to the Lord." When you are filled with the Spirit, there will be a sense of oneness with God. You will unconsciously find yourself singing. Anybody awakened early in the morning and literally had either a hymn or a chorus going through your mind? That's the evidence of the Spirit of God operating and working. Anybody been driving in the car and you're just unaware of it and you're just thinking and kind of praying and talking with God and thinking about the day, and then you just find yourself either singing to yourself? You know what that is? That's the Spirit of God.

When your private thoughts are honoring to God, when they are righteous, when they are God-centered, and when they are loving, the Spirit of God is in control. You are filled. When your private thoughts—have you ever been at a stoplight? And you know what, I can do it, I'm a master at this. I can do it like a really beat-up car and someone who looks very unusual. Have you ever looked over and just started making thoughts like, "Boy, I tell you, that person ought to get a job"?

Or you look to the right and there's a really, really nice car and someone's dressed really immaculately, and then you start making judgmental, critical—"Well, you know what, I tell you, boy, that's a good way to spend your money, you know, da-da-da," right? When you are doing that, you are filled with the flesh. The Spirit is not in control. Your private thoughts will reveal whether the Spirit is controlling you or not.

The third is your attitudes. Notice that little phrase, it says, "giving thanks to God." When? "For everything." Giving thanks to God in the midst of chaos in the Middle East, for that issue? No, but in a sense that God is in control. Giving thanks to God when you have a difficult health issue. Giving thanks to God when relationships are difficult. Giving thanks to God when one of your kids is really going through a tough time. Giving thanks to God when you are single and you're desperately wanting to be married. Giving thanks to God that even though you don't have a job, you have a roof over your head and you have enough to eat.

When you are authentically giving thanks, your attitude toward God, it means the Spirit's in control because you're recognizing his sovereignty and his power and his faithfulness and you're living under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. You cannot give thanks authentically unless you know who God is and he's ruling your life.

And so what happens is you can know when you're filled with the Spirit. Listen to what comes out of your mouth. Begin to evaluate where your private thoughts are. And then look at your attitudes. And then finally, notice the last one is your relationships. Final little word to circle is the word "submit" to one another out of reverence for Christ.

What's submission? Submission doesn't mean you go along with someone because you already agree. Submission is there's a specific situation and you don't want to do it. But out of reverence and obedience to Christ, you choose to give up your rights and you yield to love the other person.

This happens a lot of times in marriages where husband has a great idea and this is what we want to do and boy, it's going to be great, and the wife's thinking to herself, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. We've been down this road." But it's not a moral issue, it's not a big financial issue. And then on the outside, she smiles and she has a real sense of the presence of God and she says, "You know, I'm going to submit to this. I'm going to go along and I'm going to do this deal. I don't want to do this, but I love him." I want you to know you can know in a New York minute when the Spirit of God has you saturated and in control by the speech that comes out, by the private thoughts that you have, by what happens in terms of your attitudes, and by your relationships.

Now the big question is, God, how do I allow your Spirit to control my heart so that the kind of fruit that you want to produce—remember Jesus' comments? Cherry trees produce cherries, orange trees produce oranges. Guess what kind of fruit the Spirit of God produces. The Spirit of God produces first something inside of you called love and joy and peace in your vertical relationship with God. And then the Spirit of God produces something in your relationships with others: goodness and kindness and this sense of caring for other people. And then the Spirit of God in terms of your own discipline will produce faithfulness, gentleness (which really means a willingness to yield), and self-control. When those things are being produced, what you know for sure is the Spirit's in control.

Now, I want to do something. I'm going to take a theological aside, okay? And then I'm going to come back and I'm going to talk very specifically and practically about how on Monday morning through Saturday night how to be filled with the Spirit, alright? But in the church, there's been a lot of confusion. I heard what you just heard years ago. But there were all kind of messages out there about how to be filled with the Spirit.

I heard from one group that I needed to have the baptism of the Spirit, and other people said no you need to be filled with the Spirit, and other people said well it's all the same thing. And then some people said you only know if you're filled with the Spirit that if you're filled, then you have this experience and it's manifested by this gift or this gift. But if you're not filled, then there's this. And I mean I got so confused. I did not understand the difference between the baptism of the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit.

And so what I want to do on the top of this page is walk through very briefly the difference between the baptism of the Spirit and the filling. So follow along. First, baptism does not equal filling. They're two different things. The baptism of the Spirit is the non-experiential, unrepeated work of the Holy Spirit at regeneration. That's the moment that you're saved, whereby we're placed in the body of Christ. Acts 2, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Romans 8:9. I've given them to you, study them.

The filling of the Spirit by contrast is the unobstructed or unhindered control or influence of the Spirit upon every believer's life. And you'll notice multiple passages in Acts because it happens over and over and over and over. Now, let me give you: baptism is this, filling is this, and then I'll make a summary. And it'll be for—if you're brand new, this is like, "Man, what is he talking about?" Don't worry about it. Couple years it'll help you. But if you've been around the block for a while, this is critical to know as you want to grow in holiness and have God's Spirit control your heart and life.

Baptism of the Spirit occurs only once in each believer's life. Filling of the Spirit is repeated. The baptism of the Spirit never happened before the Day of Pentecost. It's about the church. No one was baptized, dipped, identified with the church because the church didn't exist, it was Israel. Filling of the Spirit occurred in the Old Testament. Saul would be filled with the Spirit. I just read in Judges Gideon was filled with the Spirit in power. David, in fact, was filled multiple times with the Spirit for special use by God.

Baptism of the Spirit is true of all believers. You might jot down 1 Corinthians 12:13. If you do not have the Spirit of God, you are not in Christ, that says. Filling of the Spirit not necessarily experienced by all believers. You can have it at 9:05, it can be gone at 9:15.

The baptism of the Spirit cannot be undone. Jot down Ephesians 1:13. The moment you are saved, the Spirit of God comes into your life and not only are you sealed with the Spirit, adopted into God's family, but the baptism of the Spirit is that act by the Spirit of God that places you in God's family, a non-experiential legal issue that occurs. You are placed in the family of God called the church. By contrast, the filling of the Spirit can be lost. So one results in a new position, the other results in power. Baptism occurs when we believe in Christ, the filling of the Spirit occurs throughout the Christian life. Baptism, there's no prerequisite except belief in Christ. It's the day that you're saved. Filling depends on yieldedness.

Dave Druey: You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and a message titled "How to Overcome Hypocrisy in Your Heart," part of our series called The New You: Claiming Your Birthright as a Child of God.

Here's what Chip laid out today: the answer to hypocrisy isn't trying harder to be more consistent. It's not cleaning up your external behavior or managing your image better. It's yielding, being filled with the Spirit moment-by-moment, continuously, so that what comes out of your mouth, what runs through your mind when no one's watching, and how you treat the people closest to you all start to line up. That's the Spirit of God doing what only he can do.

If you want to go deeper on exactly that kind of inside-out transformation, Chip's brand-new devotional, *Growing Deeper in Christ: A 365-Day Journey to True Discipleship*, is a tool you can start using today. Each day, a focused truth from Scripture and one concrete step—the kind of steady, cumulative rhythm that creates real change over time. Not a quick fix, but a lasting journey. Make your first gift or join us as a monthly partner and we'll send you a copy as our thanks. Just go online to livingontheedge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. You can also mail your gift to Living on the Edge, PO Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia 30324.

And one more thing: if this series has been meaningful to you, share it. The Living on the Edge podcast has every message ready to go. And you can find us on Facebook and Instagram too, @livingontheedge with Chip Ingram. We'd love to have you connected beyond the broadcast. Well, now here's Chip.

Chip Ingram: Today we learned that the key to overcoming hypocrisy in our heart is allowing the Holy Spirit to control our heart, to be filled with the Spirit. The Bible says, "Do not be drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled or controlled with the Spirit." And then we saw those four evidences today: speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and finally, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

As we close today's program, let me ask you: how would you evaluate your own life? Are you filled with the Spirit? I mean, that's a big question, isn't it? It's the key to overcoming hypocrisy down deep in your thoughts and in your motives. Are you filled? Does the Spirit control you?

Remember the four evidences, the litmus test of whether you're filled with the Spirit. Let me walk through them. The first test, your speech. What comes out of your mouth? Positive or negative things? Second, your private thoughts. Is there a song in your heart? Is there an unconscious worship unto God? Third, your attitudes. Are you giving thanks for all things? Or do you find in your mind whining and complaining and bitterness? And finally, your relationships. Are you seeing yourself empowered by the Spirit of God to submit and yield your will out of love to others?

That's the acid test of being filled with the Spirit. If down deep as you listen to my voice you're thinking, "You know something, I didn't do so well on this little pop quiz. I need help on learning how to be filled with the Spirit," then you won't want to miss our next broadcast. I hope you'll be with us.

Dave Druey: I'm Dave Druey, and that's all our time for today. We'll see you again next time when we continue our study The New You. That's next time, here on Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.