Questions: Ever purchased something that appeared desirable but you later discovered it was rotten? Perhaps it was a bag of apples from the produce market. Perhaps it was a ‘lemon’ of a vehicle. The list is perhaps long.

How much more dangerous is it when it happens in our spiritual lives. That is why there are countless warnings in Scripture about having biblically qualified leaders rather than wonderclouts.

Here are just a few examples of some whose appearance was that of righteousness but whose reality was wickedness:

• Pharisees and Scribes
• Judas Iscariot
• Cain
• King Saul

First, in Matthew 23:1-12 (ESV), Jesus shines His divine spotlight on the hypocrisy and spiritual bankruptcy of the religious leaders:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Second, in Mattew 26:14-16 (ESV), Judas Iscariot is revealed to be a child of Satan. Yet he’d worn the appearance of being a Christian for years before:

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.”

Third, the first murderer in the Bible is Cain. He murdered his brother Abel. Fratricide in Genesis 4:8-11 (ESV):

Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

Fourth, King Saul. He was a liar from the beginning. He was insecure, cunning, and narcissistic. Just listen to God’s words to the Godly Samuel about how God was going to give the people what they wanted as a judgment for their lack of discernment:

And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7, ESV).

Will we notice the pattern? What do the scribes, Pharisees, Judas Iscariot, Cain, and wicked King Saul all have in common? They loved not the people; they loved themselves. They coveted the applause of men. They sought power over people. They were manipulators. They were narcissists. They were crafty. And they ruined others. Why? Because their love was self. They were self-involved, self-absorbed, self-centered people.

Encouragement/takeaway: Appearance vs. Reality is perhaps the greatest and oldest of themes. But what’s down in the well invariably comes up in the bucket. May the Lord grant discernment to His true sheep. Why? Because a wonderclout in the spiritual life is cancerous for all involved.

Here’s a link to the YouTube video of my addressing the same theme: