"Clean the Inside of the Cup!"

“Clean the Inside of the Cup!”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence!  Blind Pharisee!  First clean the inside of the cup, so the outside of it may also become clean.”         Matthew 23:25-26



These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, spoken to those whose talk doesn’t match their walk.   In other words, they say things that they want others to follow, but they, themselves do whatever their HEART wants them to do, He called them HYPOCRITES.  So, He uses the analogy of a dirty cup and dish, to prove a point concerning the condition of their HEART.



Jesus said, “You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence!”  The Pharisees were very stringent on the laws concerning CLEANLINESS.  Yet Jesus, having the ability to KNOW their HEARTS and their MOTIVES, called them out on their HYPOCRISIES.  Jeremiah 17:9, tells us that:  The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?  Jesus sure can. 



And so, He tells them about CLEANLINESS, using the example of the CUP and DISH.  He tells them that the inside of the CUP and DISH is full of GREED and SELF-INDULGENCE, of which they must have been guilty of.  And the first thing that needed to be CLEANED was the inside, then the OUTSIDE would be CLEAN. 



Now, let’s apply this to the BELIEVER.  Sometimes, the BELIEVER, will have INIQUITY or SIN inside, like the dirty CUP and DISH, and yet they try to HIDE it from others and from God.  They make sure that their OUTER APPEARANCE looks like GENUINE RIGHTEOUSNESS, when in ALL ACTUALLITY it is FAKE.  You can NOT have a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God and harbor sins in your HEART.  Proverbs 19:3 says: “A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages AGAINST the LORD.”  They NEED TO CLEAN the INSIDE of their CUP. 



To CLEAN the INSIDE of their CUP, they should pray as King David did: “Create IN me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Ps. 51:10, 12)



If you have NOT given your HEART and LIFE to GOD, your CUP and DISH are FILTHY inside and out, in the eyes of the HOLY, RIGHTEOUS GOD, who holds your DESTINY in His hands.  If you continue to REJECT His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and CONTINUE in your SIN, your DESTINY will be an ETERNITY in HELL, with ALL its HORRORS and NO WAY to ESCAPE.  You can have a CLEAN CUP and DISH, (inside and outside) and ESCAPE an ETERNITY in HELL, and GAIN an ETERNITY in HEAVEN, with ALL its BLESSINGS, by:  TURNING AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle, and TURNING TO GOD, with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  Then CONFESS your sins to Him and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART, that JESUS died for YOU, and is ALIVE in HEAVEN, making intercession for you, before God.  Then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION, and let Him CLEAN YOU, inside and outside.  Do it NOW, while you still can, He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!