The Outward and Inward You | Matthew 23:25-26

[00:00:00] We'll truth, Daily This is Daily Truths with Dave Ahlman. Sometimes it's a sins that I harbor, that kind of thing. That wouldn't be good. But what I'm saying about myself, you can say about yourself too.

[00:00:38] There's a person that you peer outwardly to that people think, wow, that's pretty good person, right? You're really nice and kind and considerate. And then there's another part of you, your inner part of you that is not very pretty at

[00:00:51] all that is not what God wants you to be. You see we'd all have two parts of us. Do we not, if we're really honest, we have to say that is true. Now we're in Matthew 23 and Jesus is coming down hard on the Pharisees.

[00:01:06] And in an isolated way, we might look at this and say, well, you know what? That's for the Pharisees. That really doesn't apply to us. But here's the problem. There's a little bit of Pharisee in every one of us.

[00:01:20] As I've been reading through Matthew 23 and preparing these devotions, I say, yeah, if I do that, yeah, if I should do that and I don't, if I should do that and I don't. I mean, this is very convicting. And today is no different.

[00:01:34] Listen to what Jesus says to the Pharisees and scribes in Matthew chapter 23 verses 25 and 26. What do you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites? For you clean the outside of the cup in the plate. This is in their ceremonial washing when they ate in their ceremonial food.

[00:01:54] According to the little bit of Allah, they made sure that they washed the utensils, right? But inside they are full of greed and indulgence. So you do this outward ceremonial washing of these utensils. But your heart is filled with greed and self-indulgence.

[00:02:11] And maybe people didn't even know that. But Jesus knew their hearts because he's God and he could look right into their hearts. And then he said this, you blind Pharisees. First clean the inside of the cup in the plate that the outside may also be cleaned.

[00:02:27] In other words, be on the inside who you are on the outside. Jesus says the very same thing to us today. What people see out there? Be who you really are in here. I've known many people down through the years who went to church every Sunday who gave

[00:02:44] the outward impression that they were really strong Christians. But their family would say they were just the opposite. They were scoundrels in the home and they could look into their heart and see what they were really like.

[00:02:57] Now I want to tell you, I try to live a godly life. I'm sure you do too. But Jesus knows my heart. He knows some of the inner sins, some of the inner thoughts that I have that are not godly that are not right.

[00:03:11] And you have to say the very same thing. So what do we do with the inner part of us? Jesus was calling the scribes and the Pharisees to repentance. And He says the very same thing to us today.

[00:03:25] We say, create in me a clean heart, a clean heart, oh God. And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence. Restore me under the ways of you, Lord God, give me the joy of your salvation.

[00:03:40] All these different things that David talks about in Psalm 51. So here's the thing, my friend. When we know that God knows us inside out, he knows our inner thoughts, our inner working, he knows our secret thoughts. He knows everything about us. We can't hide it from him.

[00:03:57] It's like Adam and Eve when they tried to hide from God. It's one of the most hilarious things the scripture. How can you hide from God? How can you hide your inner sins away from the Father? He knows it all.

[00:04:09] So in your confession time every day had met the inner workings of your life. It met the secret sins. Let God know how you really aren't. He knows it anyway, but he wants us to come clean to give it to him so that he can

[00:04:26] wash us clean in the blood of his son Jesus Christ. The Pharisees couldn't hide from Jesus. All the secret thoughts of their hearts, Jesus knew, including their self-indulgence and their greed, right? Jesus was saying, come clean.

[00:04:42] He says the very same thing to you today, my friend, come clean. It met your inner sins that nobody else knows about. You might look good on the outside. And other people might say, wow, look at you.

[00:04:55] Look at how dedicated you are, but inside, inside the Lord Jesus is fully aware of and he wants us to come clean with a penance and heart. Do that today, say God, be merciful to me a sinner and he will be, he can be because his

[00:05:13] son paid for your sin at the cross of Calgary. Have a great day in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is today's daily truth. Thank you for tuning in to daily truths with Dave Alman. Pastor Dave Alman is the pastor of Mount Ho Church in Boulder, Colorado.

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