Matthew 23:24-26 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25 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. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. “Strain at a gnat and swallow a camel”... Some Pharisees would strain their beverages through a fine cloth to make sure they did not inadvertently swallow a gnat – the smallest of unclean animals (Lev. 11:23). The camel was the largest of all the unclean animals “Ye make clean the outside”... The Pharisees’ focus on external issues lay at the heart of their error. Who would want to drink form a cup that had been washed on the outside but was still filthy inside? Yet the Pharisees lived their lives as if external appearance were more important that internal reality. That was the very essence of their hypocrisy, and Jesus rebuked them for it repe “Thou blind Pharisee”... Well might Christ call such an one a blind Pharisee, who was so scrupulously careful to cleanse his cup and platter and yet made no conscience of filling them with what was gotten in an unjust way, and so defiled himself and them. Cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Get food and drink in an honest way, remove all extortion and oppression out of thine hands, and luxury and intemperance from thy table. And so shall the outward cleanness of thy cup and dish, be no reproach unto thee, or testimony against thee, of thine hypocrisy. So the great concern of all men should be inward purity that their hearts be purified by faith in the blood of Christ, that principles of grace and holiness be formed in them by the Spirit of God and then their outward lives and conversations being influenced thereby will be honorable and agreeable to their professions. Otherwise, an external reformation or an outward show of holiness and pretense to it, without internal grace, will never be of any avail in the sight of God. Here, Jesus was speaking of cleaning up the heart of man. His heart must be washed in the blood of the Lamb, and cleansed from all unrighteousness. These Pharisees appeared from the outside to be living for God, but their hearts and spirits were not in it. .
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 00:18:07 +0000
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