"The Cup and the Dish"

 

“The Cup and the Dish”

 

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

 

These are the Words of our LORD JESUS CHRIST to the religious leaders of the day, the scribes and Pharisees.   Needless to say, Jesus was NOT HAPPY with them, nor their ways.  He called them HYPOCRITES!  A HYPOCRITE is someone, who pretends to have virtues or religious beliefs, that they really DO NOT POSSESS, one whose actions are fake, with the intentions of deceiving others into believing that they are something that they ACTUALLY are not.  Jesus used the metaphor of a CUP and DISH to reveal the TRUE CHARACTER of the religious leaders. 

 

He told them that they were concerned with the CLEANNESS of the OUTSIDE of the CUP, when the INSIDE was FILTHY and FULL of ROBBERY and SELF-INDULGENCE.  They possessed INSIDE, a STRONG CRAVING to get things, even if they had to use VIOLENCE and DECEPTION to obtain them. And SELF-INDULGENCE, or a lack of SELF-CONTROL.  In other words, their HEARTS were VERY much in NEED of a CLEANSING. 

 

Then He gives them instructions, concerning their behavior, and what they NEEDED to do to be TRULY RIGHTEOUS and CLEAN.  First, they should take measures to have a DEEP-CLEANING of their HEARTS, and TURN AWAY FROM their WICKED, SINFUL ways.  He told them that they NEEDED to CLEAN the INSIDE FIRST, and when that happened the OUTSIDE would become CLEAN ALSO.  

 

SADLY, this is TRUE of a lot of people, today.  MANY believe that their WORKS or ACTIONS makes them CLEAN in the EYES of ALMIGHTY GOD.  So, they CLEAN-UP the OUTSIDE, while the INSIDE has NEVER BEEN CLEANED.  They ONLY WAY you can be CLEANED on the inside is; you MUST COME to the CROSS of CHRIST, with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART, CONFESS your sins to Him and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  And BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART that JESUS died for YOU and that He is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God.  You MUST ACCEPT His Gift of SALVATION, and LET the PRECIOUS BLOOD of JESUS CLEANSE you from the INSIDE to the OUTSIDE.  If you have NOT done these things, then NO MATTER how GOOD you are or ALL the GOOD THINGS you do, or how many times you go to church, or how ACTIVE you

 are in church, you are still going to DIE and spend your ETERNITY in HELL, with ALL its HORRORS, and NO WAY to ESCAPE, after you are there.  You MUST BE CLEANSED on the INSIDE, and LIVE by the SPIRIT, so that the OUTSIDE is CLEAN.  Then YOU will have an ETERNAL LIFE in HEAVEN, with ALL its BLESSINGS.  So, do this NOW, while you still can.  He’s WAITING and COMING SOON!!!