The Glory vs. Hypocrisy and Pride book is dedicated to all Christians who are hungry for God’s Manifested Presence (His Glory) as the Hart pants after the water brooks (Psalms 42:1). Also, it’s dedicated to all those who are determined to allow God to transform them, getting rid of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (2 Corinthians 7:1), of which Pride and Hypocrisy are the biggest ingredients.


Jesus constantly warned us to beware of one specific thing, and that was the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herod. That leaven was hypocrisy:

“In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, He began to say unto His disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1; Matthew 16:6; Mark 8:15).

Leaven of course, is a mass of sour dough, which mixed with a larger quantity of dough or paste, produces fermentation in it and leavens it all. The chemical definition of ferment or yeast is: “a substance in a state of putrefaction, the atoms of which are in a continual motion”. In other words, when you put leaven (yeast) in something, it immediately starts an unstoppable process of fermenting it totally. That’s why, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 5:6, and in Galatians 5:9 “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump”.

Spiritually speaking, when leaven gets in us, it starts the spiritual process of corrupting (fermenting) our inner state, until it ferments all. What leaven does as well, is that it makes the dough raise and become light. In other words, a balloon – e.g. something that’s big on the outside, but has no real substance (besides air) on the inside.

Now Jesus said that the leaven which the devil will use the most to corrupt us and make us like balloon Christians (having a form of Godliness, but lacking the substance of His power) is the leaven of hypocrisy. So, it’s very important for us to define and understand hypocrisy as best as we can, so we can prevent that leaven from “fermenting” us.

Hypocrite is somebody feigning high principles – somebody who gives a false appearance of having admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings. The hypocrite is a charlatan, fraud, phoney, dissembler, double-dealer, pretender, and whited sepulcher. He is insincere, two-faced, duplicitous, deceitful, phoney, and false. The best antonym of hypocritical is genuine and sincere.

Hypocrisy means: insincerity, double standard, pretense, duplicity, two-facedness, and falseness.

The Hebrew word the Bible uses for hypocrisy means: “moral filth, wickedness”. To be a hypocrite according to the Hebrews meant to be soiled with sin, to be impious. Jesus must have used this meaning also, since He was a Hebrew addressing Hebrews. Actually, this Hebrew meaning shows the inner corruptness of the leaven of hypocrisy.

The Greek meaning though, is altogether different. It was a custom for Greek and Roman actors to speak in large masks with mechanical devices for augmenting the force of the voice; hence the word became used metaphorically of “a dissembler, a hypocrite”.

It means: “a stage actor under an assumed character; One who feigns to be what he is not; one who has the form of godliness without the power, or who assumes an appearance of piety and virtue, when he is destitute of true religion; A dissembler in religion; one who assumes a false appearance; one who puts on a mask.

So, hypocrisy in this sense is: acting under a feigned part; that is, (figuratively) deceit (“hypocrisy”); Simulation; a feigning to be what one is not; or dissimulation, a concealment of one’s real character or motives.

More generally, hypocrisy is simulation, or the assuming of a false appearance of virtue or religion; a deceitful show of a good character, in morals or religion; a counterfeiting of religion; simulation; deceitful appearance; false pretence. It is a “mouse with a megaphone” thing. It is also:

- Corruption of the character and motive – Self-righteousness Isaiah 65:5; Luke 18:11 – Covetousness Ezekiel 33:31; 2 Peter 2:3 – Regarding tradition more than the Word of God Matthew 15:1-3 – Exactness in minor, but neglect of important duties Matthew 23:23, 24 – Having but a form of godliness 2 Timothy 3:5 – Seeking only outward purity Luke 11:39 – Professing but not practising Ezekiel 33:31, 32; Matthew 23:3; Romans 2:17-23 – Using but lip-worship Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8 – Glorying in appearance only 2 Corinthians 5:12 – Trusting in privileges Jeremiah 7:4; Matthew 3:9- False zeal in the things of God Isaiah 58:2 – Loving pre-eminence Matthew 23:6, 7- Spirit that hinders growth in grace 1 Peter 2:1

Can you see now why it is so important for us to beware of that leaven? Actually, Jesus defined the leaven of hypocrisy best, when He said:

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone… Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity”. (Matthew 23:23, 25-28)

Whitened sepulchers are full of dead men’s bones, and they need the Ezekiel Type of prophetic ministry, so it can prophecy to these bones, so they can shape the form, so that the Spirit can come in it. These people have a calling from God all right, but at the same time they are full of dead bones and they need some kind of resurrection power to give life to them.

And the problem is not so much that there are dead bones in the house, because the Lord can make them live, but the real problem is that we whitewash the tomb on the outside, so nobody could see the dead bones. We try to hide the dead bones even from God. That’s hypocrisy. That’s what Luke 11:44 means also: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them”.

So, hypocrisy is the leaven the devil uses to ferment our spiritual state, but what is the root – why can that leaven come and work successfully in many Christians’ lives (actually, in all Christians’ lives at one time or another)? Only one root reason – PRIDE! Out of it come every hypocritical motives, behavior and actions.

See just some of the areas: Matthew 6:2,5,16; 7:1-5.

And the worst part is that when this deceiving leaven of hypocrisy enters and starts working on the inside of Christians see what happens:

“Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, this people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men”. (Matthew 15:7-9)

See, a person can be a good Christian, and yet, a deceived one.

Somebody may say that all this hypocrisy stuff refers only to the Pharisees, but if that was true, Jesus would not have warned His disciples (and us indirectly) to beware of it. Apostle Paul also would not have warned the believers in Corinth to beware of it, but he told them that once they let it in, their whole “lump” would become a big “Christian” balloon.

OK, what’s the solution? Only one! Since God is not a religion, but a real Person, we can not go to Him through methods, formulas, masks, faces, games, etc. He already knows what’s in us. Therefore, we should go to Him with a repentant (crushed, humbled, sincere) heart, asking Him (The Person) to cleanse our heart and remove all hypocrisy, so we can be clean vessels that He can use for His Glory. We should really do what Apostle Peter advices us in 1 Peter 2:1-3

“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious”.

Hypocrisy is the thing that “whitens the tomb” of our life, and therefore we don’t allow God to reveal Himself mightily. I said just briefly, that hypocrisy is the leaven the devil uses to ferment our spiritual state, but the root that allows him to leaven many Christians’ lives is: PRIDE!

The Lord also showed me that the antonym of hypocrisy is sincerity and truth. In other words, the way to cure hypocrisy is to walk in sincerity and truth.

OK, but what’s the cure for Pride then, since it’s the root problem of all hypocrisy? One thing and one thing alone: The Glory of God – His Manifested Presence in our life.

Actually, pride means to take the Glory due to God, and put it on ourselves. Because many people try to cure and cover the hypocrisy in their life by trying to walk in sincerity and truth, and by some means of methods, principles, and formulas we can really achieve the walking in sincerity and truth part, but that does not cure the root of pride part, so when the “right” time comes (and usually when we least expect it), satan comes and “sows” the leaven of hypocrisy in our life, because the pride is still there, allowing him to do it. Let me show You what Apostle John said in his Gospel about Jesus:

“And the Word (Jesus) was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14)

Please look at this very carefully: When Jesus came, John said what we saw was not His ministry, His power, His strength, etc, but we saw His Glory. And please see this as well: Some people try to walk in sincerity and truth, but here it says that Jesus was full of Grace and truth. You see, the Greek definition and meaning of the word grace as used in the Bible text is: “Divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the whole life”.

We can never walk in sincerity and truth, without the grace of God, which means that He must first intervene in our life and initiate a work in us to enable us to walk in truth. We can not do it by methods, formulas, and good principles alone.

Only His grace can do it. That’s why John put grace before truth. Because there are many people that are not even believers that walk in truth (I mean they are people that love to be truthful), and there are many people that are not even believers and have much wisdom, but look at what Apostle James said about that kind of wisdom also:

“But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:14-17).

See, the wisdom of God is without hypocrisy, which means without pride. The people of the world may have some wisdom, but they boast with it all the time. Our world today worships the “god” of Intellectualism more than any other “god”. In this way they don’t give God the glory for it; they take the glory for themselves. That’s not what we want. We don’t want that kind of walking in truth without the grace of God.

Truth without grace is hypocrisy; Wisdom without grace is hypocrisy; Sincerity without grace is hypocrisy. We really have to allow God to influence our heart and that should be the beginning and the start point of everything that later comes as a reflection of that in our life.

And how do we receive that grace? Please look at what John said again: “and we beheld His glory, full of grace and truth”. In other words, the grace and truth come only after you see and experience the Glory – His Manifested Presence in your life.

Can you see it? He said: We BEHELD His Glory. Whew, whew, whew! I’m so stirred up when I see this. Only the Glory of God can cure the root of pride, because only the Manifested Presence of God brings with itself the grace of God, which is His Divine intervention and influence in our life, which will eventually enable us to walk in sincerity and truth in the right way, without any pride and hypocrisy. Whew!

Now, if the glory is the only cure for pride, how then satan – the originator of pride could originate pride in the manifested presence of the glory of God?

This is a very interesting question, and I want to offer to you an even more interesting interpretation of some Bible texts. The normal interpretations tell that satan was in Heaven, leading the praise and worship to God, and while his was surrounded by the glory of God, the thought came in him, that he could elevate himself above God, and become God himself. I though, do not believe that it is at all possible for such a thought to enter a person’s mind while being in the revealed glory of God.

There is no Bible passage that can show that when a person saw God’s glory, he could even stand on his feet, much less think about anything of the kind of overthrowing Almighty God. Everyone that saw the Glory fell right on his face and started to confess his sins and his uncleanness.

The best example is the Prophet Isaiah. The first 5 chapters of his book, he is boldly prophesying, saying: “Woe unto Judah, Woe unto Jerusalem, Woe unto the wicked, Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter, etc, etc”.

Then in chapter 6, he suddenly saw the Glory of God, and see what is the first thing he said then: “Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts”.

See, the great prophet, truly called and anointed by God, prophesying at God’s command with power and anointing, saw the Glory, and he could do nothing, but be amazed at God’s holiness.

When we experience the glory – God’s Manifested Presence, the first thing we see is His holiness:

“I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His Glory” (Isaiah 6:1-3)

When Moses saw the Glory, it was the same. When Paul saw the Glory on the road to Damascus, it was the same. Even when John was taken by the Spirit to Heaven itself in Revelation and saw the Glory of God upon Jesus, he fell to the ground as a dead man. Even when the Roman soldiers who were absolute unbelievers, saw the Glory in the face of the angel that rolled away the stone from the tomb, they were completely overpowered.

You see, one can not experience the Glory, and even stand on his feet. How can one be in the revealed Glory of God, and think about elevating himself above God? That’s just not possible!

How then satan did it?

I think the key is found in the only two Bible passages that speak about satan thinking these thoughts: Isaiah 14, and Ezekiel 28.

In Isaiah 14, the Bible says:

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15)

So, obviously when satan entertained the first thoughts about exalting himself above God, he was somewhere beneath the stars, and somewhere beneath the clouds. He was not in Heaven, for Heaven is above the stars, and above the clouds. Besides, what are these nations that he weakened even before we were created? Because, when satan thought of exalting his throne above God, and when he actually tried to do it, and was thrown out of Heaven, Adam and Eve were not yet created.

When he came to them, in the Garden of Eden later, he was already cast out of Heaven, and he was already satan, and not the Morning Star – God’s bright angel. He had already fallen.

So, how do we explain that? With Ezekiel 28:

“Thus saith the Lord God; Thou (satan) sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub (that shows it speaks about satan really, and not some man, because it says cherub) that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground; I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee” (Ezekiel 28:12-18)

See, satan was placed in The Garden of Eden long before Adam and Eve were. he was created by God, and was placed in The Garden of Eden (just as Adam and Eve were later), and he was perfect at the beginning (as Adam and Eve were). Besides that, there were some kind of other creatures that obviously did some merchandise and other stuff (these are the nations that Isaiah 14 talks about also), and satan was in charge of all, including music, since the tabrets and pipes were prepared for him (not in Heaven though, but in the Garden of Eden). These other creatures were obviously created before Adam and Eve were, because satan fell in pride before that.

I know it may sound strange, but that’s what the most renowned theologists say as well. I have done a vast research about these things, so you can rest assured that this is not some kind of heresy I’m introducing, but it’s in total agreement with what the best Biblically scientific researches show.

Of course, I am aware that nobody knows for sure how things were, but let us see what the scenario really seemed to be: satan was created and put in the Graden of Eden to be in charge of some kind of creation (that’s all the Bible says about it, and obviously, God didn’t want us to know anything more than what is enough for us at present). Then, at some point, the thought came to satan, that he could elevate himself above the stars, above the clouds, and above God.

So, obviously he was below all these when the thought came to him. Then he started making conspiracy to the other angels that he was put in charge of (actually, one third of all angels), and when the conspiracy worked, he led this whole host to Heaven to announce his decision to God. That’s when he was cast out of Heaven as the Bible says in many places.

Then God created Adam and Eve, and put them in the same Garden of Eden. Interestingly enough, they fell in pride and sin when God was absent, because the Bible says that some time after they sinned, the Lord came, walking in the Garden.

See, my whole point is that nobody can produce pride in the Manifested Presence of God. Even satan! And if that is true, it really shows us the remedy for pride – the Glory of God.

Somebody may say: “But we can not walk in the Glory all the time”.

Is that true? When the devil (then called the Morning Star), fell and when Adam fell, God sent another Bright and Morning star (Revelation 22:16) – another Adam – JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF (the One John said was full of GLORY; full of grace and truth, because God’s Manifested Presence was in and upon Him), to see whether He’ll be able to defeat that pride thing at last. Do you think He succeeded?

Definitely! He was tempted to walk in pride, but no – instead, He did the contrary – He dismantled Himself of all His Kingly Majesty in Heaven to come down to the Earth to the ones that have fallen; He clothed Himself in human flesh, and He let that flesh be the temple of the Lord Most High, to show us that we could do it as well.

He called Himself The Son of Man, and after He gained the total victory over satan and pride on the Cross, the Bible says:

“Know you not, that you are the Temple of God?”

Can you imagine the privilege God gives to us? The temple is the place where God’s Glory should dwell all the time. That’s the Purpose of the Temple anyway. Yet, satan has managed to sow the leaven of hypocrisy, because of the pride in us.

Now, when people hear about the Glory, usually they think it’s all about seeing God with our physical eyes, experiencing Him the way Moses experienced Him on the mountain, or like Isaiah experienced Him, or like Ezekiel or some other. So, they think that is something impossible to long for and that’s why they disregard it immediately.

Of course, all these Glory experiences are wonderful and something to be desired with all of our hearts. They are also something absolutely possible for us to experience based on God’s Sovereignty and our spiritual hunger. Let me submit to you though, that the Lord has prepared not only that for us, but something even greater – something for which all the Old Testament Prophets longed for and prophesied about. That’s the ALL TIME MANIFESTED PRESENCE OF GOD in our own hearts through the Person of the Holy Spirit. He was God’s Manifested Presence in the life of Jesus Christ our Lord and now He has been sent by the Father to be the same for us. That’s why He is called: The Spirit of Glory (Romans 6:4; 1 Peter 4:14).

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