Have you ever met someone for the first time, and you were immediately struck by how nice-looking that person was? But after spending some time with them, all of a sudden, they didn’t look that good anymore? Not that their makeup got smeared or their toupee blew off; but once you talked to them and got a glimpse of their personality, you quickly realized that the inside did not match the outside.
And in the same way, you may have met someone who didn’t seem all that attractive, physically speaking—in fact, they may have appeared downright unattractive, but once you got to know them, they turned out to be an incredibly beautiful person inside. And once you discovered the beauty on the inside, it forever changed how you saw them, even on the outside.
People are not always who they appear to be. For instance, people probably see me on the street and think I’m just a crotchety old curmudgeon. But if they would take the time to get to know me, they would find that I can also be delightfully impatient and adorably cynical...
The title of our message this morning is Inside Out Christianity: Religion or relationship?
Matthew 23:25-28 25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Jesus was telling these religious leaders that they put way too much emphasis on the outside while neglecting that which was most important; the inside. And that’s very common mindset today as well, isn’t it? We spend ungodly amounts of time and money trying to make our outside look as good as possible, but spend very little time and effort on improving our inside..
In Matthew 15 Jesus is once again being accused by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. They saw some of Jesus’ disciples eating without first giving their hands a ceremonial washing. This washing was an important custom among devout Jews.
Apparently, the point of it was to cleanse themselves from contamination or uncleanness—especially after they come from the marketplace or somewhere else they would come in close contact with common “sinners.”
And so, when they saw the disciples eating without washing, they sanctimoniously ask Jesus why His own disciples neglected this very important ritual.
Jesus replied in verse 8 “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’” 10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’ ”
Peter asked Jesus to explain what He meant, and He answers beginning in verse 16, “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’ ”
“Out of the heart....” The Bible has a lot to say about the human heart; what we look like and how we act on the outside are important, but it’s what’s in our heart that truly defines who we are. In fact, this whole great controversy between Good and evil is a battle fought in and for our hearts. That means that whether we will be saved or lost is very much a matter of the heart.
That’s why the greatest commandment is “Love the Lord your God with all your HEART, soul, mind and strength.
But, there’s a problem with the human heart; it’s corrupt.
Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?”
That’s why God tells us quite a few times that he desires to give us a heart transplant—he said, I want to take out your heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh..
Deuteronomy 5:29 speaking of His people, God says, “Oh, that?their?hearts?would?be inclined to fear?me and keep?all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!
We tend to be very hard on the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, and some of that is well-deserved, but we have to realize that they were facing the same challenges then, that we’re still facing now. They were also dealing with a deceitful and desperately wicked heart. They got so caught up in the religion that they lost sight of the relationship. Every sacrifice they offered, every holy day they observed, every Scripture they committed to memory—all these things were meant to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah. And yet when He came, the either didn’t recognize Him or outright rejected Him...
Like so many of us today, they lost sight of what was truly important; they placed more value on outward appearances and religion, than they did on their relationship with God, issuing from a pure heart.
And when Jesus called them on their reversal of priorities, He wasn’t doing it to be mean, but to try and help them to see the fatal error of their ways, repent and live.
But again, our hearts are deceitful and wicked. And so, we need to call upon God to help us assess the condition of our hearts. 1 Samuel 16 says “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
David knew this, and that’s why he prayed in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
David realized that he couldn’t create a new heart for himself, but that God had to do it. But here’s where so many sincere people get it wrong; God indeed is the only one who can transform our hearts, but we absolutely do have a part in it. I’m not talking about salvation by works, I’m talking about cooperating with God by utilizing important gifts He has provided for us.
Psalm 119:9-11 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Proverbs 2:1-5 “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.”
Sadly, the Bible is clear that most people, even most Christians will be lost; many of them because they believed they will be saved because of what they look like on the outside: The good things they do, the church services they attend, the tithe they return, the good deeds done for the needy...... All of these outward expressions of righteousness mean nothing if they don’t naturally flow from a heart that’s been transformed a saving relationship with Christ.
Matthew 7:21-23 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. (you never let me in) Depart from me, you evildoers!’
Please consider very carefully what I’m about to tell you. If any of us will be saved, we will be saved from the inside out. Religion will not save a single person; only a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ will save us.
Do you have that relationship? Or do you merely “believe in your heart” that you will be saved? Remember that the “heart is deceitful and desperately wicked,” and we cannot trust it.
Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
The Word of God is indeed “living and active,” but it can only come alive inside the human heart; Only then can it judge our thoughts and attitudes; only then can it get to work, transforming us little by little, from the inside out, until our lives reflect the life of Jesus Christ.
And it all begins with the simple act of letting Him in...........
Revelation 3:20 “Here I am, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.”
(Appeal)
