Cleaning the Inside
Introduction:
Have you ever seen a metal cooking pot that looked clean
on the outside but when you lifted the lid you were
disgusted at how dirty it was on the inside? The food
had been left for so long that it was caked on. Jesus
warned that if we don’t continually clean the inside
[our soul], it can become caked on with sin! Read Luke
11:37-41. “And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him
to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat.
When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not
first washed before dinner. Then the Lord said to him,
‘Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish
clean, but your inward part is full of greed and
wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the
outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of
such things as you have; then indeed all things are
clean to you.”
NKJV
Matthew’s account reads like this. (Matthew 23:25-28)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they
are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind
Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish
that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful
outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and
all uncleanness.”
NKJV
Body:
I.
Cleaning the Inside Rids One of Hypocrisy
·
Many of the Pharisees were very careful about cleaning
and purifying the outside. They employed elaborate
rituals to insure outward cleanliness. One source
described the Pharisees as possessing special stone
containers of water because ordinary water might be
unclean. The person would take enough water to fill 1½
eggshells. They would pour water first from fingers
down to wrists and then from wrists down to fingers.
They were very meticulous. These washings were not
authorized by God as an act of worship. Jesus is
condemning them for allowing their religious traditions
to get in the way of obeying God. (Mark 7:1-23)
·
Jesus is saying that outward observances are useless
without inner moral purity. The Pharisees and religious
leaders outwardly appeared holy but inwardly were filthy
and corrupt. They were trying to mask their inner
wickedness with outward rituals. Jesus declared these
outward religious acts do not cover sin. Wearing a
public mask of piety does not cleanse anyone of sin. We
need to ask ourselves if we are as concerned with
holiness on Monday as we are on Sunday!
II.
Cleansing the Inside Begins with Conversion
·
The prophet Isaiah described the need for cleansing the
inside. (Isaiah 1:5-6) (Isaiah 1:16-17) “Wash
yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of
your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.”
NKJV
·
King David offered a prayer to Jehovah where he pleaded
for a clean heart. (Psalm 51:1-3, 7, 10)
·
During the Christian age, one initially cleanses the
inside when he is converted to Christ. This happens
when one is born again – experiences the new birth.
(John 3:3-5) The new birth involves both the Spirit and
water. (Titus 3:5) “not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us,
through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Spirit.”
NKJV
·
This cleansing or purification is in response to the
truth of God’s Word. (I Peter 1:22-23)
·
The moment when this cleansing occurs is the moment when
the penitent believer is immersed in water for the
forgiveness of sins. (Acts 22:16) “And now why are you
waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your
sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
NKJV
·
Then one is transferred from the Kingdom of Christ
[light]. (Acts 26:18) “to open their eyes, in
order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the
power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and an inheritance among those who are
sanctified by faith in Me.”
NKJV
III.
Cleansing the Inside Must Continue
·
The writer James exhorts that one must continue to
cleanse your hands and purify your hearts. It’s an
ongoing process. (James 4:7-8) “Therefore submit to
God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your
hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you
double-minded.”
NKJV
·
One’s goal is to possess a pure heart. (I Timothy 1:5)
“Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure
heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,”
NKJV
·
We must continue to deny ungodliness and live
righteously. (Titus 2:11-14)
·
This also means continually producing the fruit of the
Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Conclusion:
As Christians, we must be careful to match our inward
spirit with our outward walk. Hypocrisy turns away
unbelievers and harms new believers. As the psalmist
David wrote in Psalm 24:3-4a, “Who may ascend into the
hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,”
NKJV
Bobby Stafford
May 10, 2015
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