Clean on the Inside

“While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.’” (Luke 11:37-41 ESV)

Are you more focused on outward appearance than you are on what is going on inside your own heart and in the hearts and minds of the people of this world, and in the hearts of the people in your life? Are you more concerned about following after your culture, and the traditions of humankind which were passed down to you from generation to generation, than you are with following the leading of the Lord Jesus in walks of righteousness and in obedience to his commands, and in the forsaking of your sins? 

Is how other people perceive you more important to you than how God looks at you? And do you live for the approval of humans but not that of God, or over and above the approval of God? Is whether or not others are following your traditions and your culture more important to you than you showing love to those who are not like you? And are you someone who tries to look morally and spiritually clean on the outside while inside you are full of wickedness, like the wickedness of the Pharisees who were hypocrites?

And if you are still reading, the reason that I ask these questions is because this is what this lesson is about. And so we must examine our own hearts and minds and lives to see if we might relate to some of these questions, and thus we need the grace of God to help us to change course and to no longer go that direction. For that really is the point of us reading the Scriptures, to learn from them the things of God, and the things that we need to put out of our lives, and the things we need to live for, instead.

And then we are to forsake what is evil and what is not of God, and now we are to follow our Lord in obedience to his ways and in obedience to his callings upon our lives. And the calling is not just to believe in Jesus, but it is to live out that faith in walks of obedience to God and in surrender to his will and purpose for our lives. And it is to cease from walking in sin, and now to live holy lives, pleasing to God, in moral purity, uprightness, honesty, faithfulness, godliness, and in self-control, under the Spirit’s control.

But as we go through this life, we are going to run into people like the Pharisees for whom outward appearance is more important to them than cleanliness of the heart and mind in moral purity and in faithfulness of service to the Lord Jesus. And they may chide us and reject us because we are not like them, if we are walking in purity of devotion to the Lord, and if we are teaching the truth that we must die to sin and now live to God and to his righteousness, and if the traditions of humans are not what we go by.

But for all of us who live on this earth, what our Lord is concerned about is the spiritual and moral cleanliness of our hearts and minds and behaviors, and that we now live for him and no longer to please our own flesh, and no longer to try to make good impressions for others to see so that they will like and approve of us. And we are to follow our Lord in obedience and to do his will and to share the truth of his gospel with the people of the world, even if we are hated and rejected and cast aside as useless by other people.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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