Skip to main content

240. First Things First

Matthew 23:25-26, Luke 11:37-41
Key Verse: "Blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean."
Matthew 23:26

This woe is also a repeat of previous conversations that Jesus has had with and about the leadership of the Jewish people. Once again, the leadership is blind to just how off track they are in following God. There really isn't much new here for us to learn. The fact, however, that Jesus continues to issue these warnings to the leadership about their behavior and attitudes demonstrates clearly how much effort He was willing to put forth to bring even them to repentance.

Following God truly is a matter of the heart. When the heart is right with God, everything else will follow. If the heart is not right with God, than no amount of good behavior, or following the law, or compliments from your fellow man will be enough to get you into right relationship with Him for eternity.

The prophet Isaiah put it this way. "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our sins sweep us away." (Isaiah 64:6)

When we become a Christian, then our behavior and attitudes toward God and others will change because, as much as God loves you as you are, enough to die for you, He is not content to leave you as He found you. How can you not change with the eternal God living inside of you? You know that you are changed and clean through and through because it has begun from within.

Jesus gives the illustration of the cup. What good is it to only wash the outside? Doesn't the drink go on the inside and if the inside is left unwashed, don't you risk contaminating whatever is put in the cup next? The purest water is no good if the cup holds poison or filth from an earlier use, and is not washed before it is used again. The Pharisees were experts at all of the externals. They ceremonially washed their hands before eating. They fasted twice a week. They wore their hair and beards at the proper lengths. They read appropriate materials and never associated with people who might damage their reputations in the community. 

 On the inside, however, they were power hungry, often greedy and arrogant. Doing the right things had not changed them to be right with God. A blind person may be handed a cup that feels clean on the outside, but is totally oblivious to the stains on the inside. The leadership was oblivious to just how dirty and unacceptable they were to God, but they thought they were worthy to lead the people anyway.

The purest message from God Himself cannot penetrate a corrupt heart that refuses to repent and become clean. Whoa! Turn away from such superficial nonsense! Get the heart right with God and the rest will come. The scales will fall from your eyes and you will see just how blessed you are to be His.

Hymn: "A Perfect Heart" 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

258. "Remember, Always Remember!"

Exodus 12:1-30 Key Verse: "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord a lasting ordinance." Exodus 12:14 "Celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come." (Exodus 12:17) "And when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" then tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:27) The original act was an act of worship as the first true act of freedom for the people of Israel. They had been brought to Egypt by Joseph during a time of famine so that through Joseph God could preserve their lives. ( Genesis 37 , & 39-50 ) After Joseph died, however, instead of heading back to C...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Little Light of Mine

Scripture: Psalm 130 Listen Link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. It’s the first Sunday of Advent. Today we lit one candle and heard the passage, in Isaiah 9, about the great light! We have heard that the great light is the child born to us on Christmas day. It is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Christmas is a day we will truly celebrate as we have for years and years, and our ancestors before us for centuries. Christmas is coming! Advent means coming! It is good to spend the next few weeks reflecting on all that it means for us. We begin from the depths of darkness. The world is still suffering the effects of sin. We are still suffering the effects of a world broken by sin. And not just the consequences of our own sins. According to Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” The fires in California, the floods and storms on the East coast, and all the other natural disasters we hear ab...
Post a Comment
Read more

August 13 What Is Fitting

It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—how much less for a slave to rule over princes! ~Proverbs 19:10   On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man!” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. ~Acts 12:21-23  Wow! Well, what in the world can there be to benefit us here? First of all, perhaps we should review the first Biblical definition of a fool, penned by no other than Solomon’s Father, David himself. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1) It is not fitting for the fool to live the blessed life. Why should they when they deny from whom all blessings flow?  King Herod was a fool. Now, just to be clear, this is not the Herod who ruled at Jesus’ birth and ordered the slaughter of the male children in Bethlehem. He ...
Post a Comment
Read more