#97 Lu. 11:41 Outside Evidence of Inside Cleansing Introduction: This text is vitally connected in thought to the text that we had two Sundays ago. I. The previous text In our text two Sundays ago Jesus was invited to the home of a certain Pharisee to eat. The Pharisee was astonished when Jesus sat down to eat without first going through the usual ceremonial washing of His hands that the Pharisees had led all Jews to perform. The Pharisees thought that by performing such ceremonial washing before their meals they were made clean in the eyes of God. Jesus pointed out that the washing of the hands was only the cleansing of the outside of the man. Jesus then pointed out that even though the outward conduct of a man may be made to appear to be clean by such religious ceremonies that the man was still unclean in the sight of God unless the inward spirit man was also clean. He compared the human life to a cup or platter. He said that the Pharisees made the outside of the cup and the platter appear to be clean in the eyes of men by their religious ceremonies and religious activities. But He said the inside was not changed and was still filled with what He called "ravening and wickedness." It takes more than mere ceremonial washing of the hands to make a man clean in the sight of God. It takes more than any kind of religious ceremony to make one clean in the sight of God. It takes more than even the washing in baptismal waters to make a man clean in the sight of God. Baptism is a wonderful ceremony. It pictures the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yet even baptism does not make a man clean in the eyes of God. I John 1:7 says that the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all our sins. The baptismal waters do not even touch the inside of the man. They touch only the outside of the man and if they make any part of him clean it could only be the outside. There is no way they could make the inside spirit of the man clean. It takes something that can reach the inside spirit nature of a man to make him clean in the sight of God. It takes something than that can completely change the inward spirit of the man and make the inward spirit nature 100% clean. In John chapter three Jesus said that it takes a new birth to make the inward spirit man clean in the eyes of God. Technically the old wicked sinful spirit of a sinner cannot be cleaned up. It can never be cleaned up. It has to be replaced. Let me repeat: It cannot cleaned up; it has to be replaced. It has to be replaced with a completely new spirit that is clean from its beginning. The old wicked corrupt sinful nature of man cannot be washed up, scrubbed up and cleaned up and made right in the sight of God. That old spirit nature has to be completely done away with. That old wicked spirit has to be replaced by a new sinless spirit nature that is born within the man. This is called "the new birth". Jesus said that a man has to be born again. In John 3:3 Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." In John 3:7 He said, "Marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again." A brand new sinless spirit has to be born on the inside. This is a change that can take place only when one repents of his sins and trusts in Jesus Christ to save his soul. I John 5:1 says that one must believe in Jesus Christ in order to be born again. It teaches that at the very instant one believes in Jesus he is born of God. In that instant when he trusts in Jesus Christ to save his soul he is born again. When he trusts in Jesus Christ as His Savior the Holy Spirit of God enters into the inward spirit and produces the new birth. The old spirit dies and is instantly replaced with a completely new spirit. That new spirit is born into him by the Holy Spirit of God. He is born again. When a man is born again his new inward spirit is completely clean. Nobody but God alone can see this change. Nobody on earth can see the change that has taken place on the inside of that man. The old wicked sinful spirit is gone and a new completely sinless spirit is born. That man is 100% clean in the sight of God. But no human being around him can see the change that has taken place on the inside. Nobody but God can see. God alone can see. God sees that the man is clean. God sees that he is 100% clean. There is no sin whatsoever within his inner spirit. His inward spirit is not washed up; it is not scrubbed up; it is not patched up; it is not propped up. This is a new spirit which is born within. He is born again. He is made completely new in the inner man. II. Today's text In verse forty-one Jesus turns our attention to a change that then should take place on the outside of the man. That change men will be able to see. God alone sees the inside that has been made new in the new birth, but man can see the outward conduct of one's life. If there has been a change on the inside, there ought also to be a change on the outside. There ought to be a change in the conduct. This is just as natural as the setting and rising of the sun. Just as surely as the sun sets in the evening, it rises again the next morning. Just as surely as one is born again and changed on the inside, just that surely there ought to be some change that takes place on the outside. This is a change that men can see. Jesus spoke of that change in verse forty-one. V. 41, "But rather give alms..." The giving of alms is a work that men can see. As you know the New Testament was not originally written in English. It was originally written in the Greek language. Therefore we can sometimes get a little deeper insight into the real meaning of a verse of Scripture by looking at the original language and seeing what the verse was intended to say before it was translated into English. The Greek word that was translated "alms" means "alms or compassion." Jesus said, "Give alms" or "Give compassion." The giving of alms is the giving of aid and support to the poor. It is reaching down into one's own pocket and sharing with the poor some of the material things that God has blessed him with. It is helping the poor in the time of need. It is showing compassion to the poor in their time of need. Now note the verse again. Jesus said, "But rather give alms of such things as ye have..." Again we can get a little deeper insight into the meaning by looking into the original language, the Greek language. A literal translation would read, "But rather give alms or compassion from within." The King James translators interpreted that to mean from within the things you have and translated it to read, "...of such things as ye have..." But in this case they would have been wise to merely translate the verse and let the readers do the interpreting. Many modern versions translate it to read, "...from within..." or something to that effect. The New International Version translates it, "But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you." The Amplified Bible reads, "But [dedicate your inner self and] give for donations to the poor of those things which are within [of inward righteousness] and behold everything is purified and clean for you." Now let us back up and see the whole picture. Let us see not just this one verse, but let us see how this verse fits into the whole picture about the inside and the outside. Let us see what Jesus was telling those Pharisees and what He is trying to tell us today. First of all, Jesus was saying that a man cannot get saved by the outward works of his conduct. This is in keeping with all the rest of the Bible. In Ephesians 2:8-9 the Apostle Paul said, "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast." In Titus 3:5 Paul said, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy hath he saved us." Secondly, Jesus was saying that the real condition of a man in the sight of God is not determined by what is on the outside, but by what is on the inside, in the inward spirit of the man. If the inside is sinful then the man is sinful in the sight of God. No matter how righteous he appears to be on the outside if he is sinful on the inside, he is sinful in the sight of God for God sees the inside. Now in our text today, Jesus is saying that when a man has been made clean on the inside by the new birth that his outward works ought to show that the inside is clean. The cleanness that is on the inside ought to prompt the kind of conduct on the outside that will show that the inside to be clean. If the inside is clean it ought to cause a man to seek to keep the outside clean. If he is saved, he has been born again and he is clean on the inside. That clean spirit on the inside ought to prompt a godly life on the outside. For instance, it ought to prompt a man to show compassion to those who are needy. It ought to cause him to give alms to the poor. It ought to cause him to give out of his own pocket to help those who are in need. It ought to cause him to be generous to those who need his help. (V. 41), "...and, behold, all things are clean unto you." Now please note very carefully what Jesus said in this verse. Jesus did not say to the unsaved that if he would give alms to the poor that he would become clean on the inside. Rather, He said to one who is already saved that he is to give alms to the poor and that by this action he will show that all is clean unto him. He will show that both the inside as well as outside is clean. Keep in mind the literal translation. He is told to give from within, that is, from a righteous spirit within. If he gives from within- --if he gives from a clean heart within---then by his giving he demonstrates that all are clean to him. Both the inside and the outside are clean. By his outward giving he demonstrates that the inside has already been made clean in the new birth. The inside was not made clean by his giving. Rather the giving was prompted by the cleanness that was already there on the inside through the new birth. Now giving to the poor is, of course, not the only means of demonstrating that the heart within is clean. It is but one of many means of demonstrating that the heart within is clean. For instance, the Christian does not come to church to get saved. He comes because he is saved. The Christian does not speak with a clean tongue in order to become clean in the eyes of the Lord. Rather, he speaks with a clean tongue because he has already been made clean within by the new birth. The Christian does not live on a high moral plane in order to be made clean on the inside, but rather he tries to live on a high moral plane because he has already been made clean on the inside. His outward life, his outward conduct is not an effort to get clean on the inside, it is because he has been made clean on the inside by the new birth. The Christian does not try to live right in order to get saved. Rather he tries to live right because he is saved. His outward conduct is but an evidence of the change that has already taken place on the inside. One can make the outside of a cup and platter clean and still have all manner of filth on the inside. But when the inside of the cup and the platter is clean, one ought to clean up the outside also. I cannot imagine washing the inside and leaving the outside dirty. So it is with the lives of men. If one has been saved by the grace of God and has, thus, been born again, so he ought to clean up the outside of the platter. He ought to give alms to the poor. He ought to have clean language. He ought not to curse and take the name of God in vain. He ought not to tell filthy, dirty jokes. He ought not to cheat and steal. He ought not to deliberately do things that would harm or hurt other people. He ought to be truthful. He ought to be honest and pay his bills. He ought not to commit adultery. He ought not to live in all manner of ungodliness. He ought to attend church. He ought to pray. He ought to read and study his Bible. Yet it is not by the doing of these things that he gets saved. Rather it is because he is saved that he does these things and it is by doing these things that he demonstrates to others that he is saved. It is by cleaning up the outside that he demonstrates that he is already clean on the inside. Cleaning up the outside is not what gets one into heaven, but it is what makes one effective in his witness for Jesus Christ. Conclusion: If your are lost and on the road to hell then there is no way in this world that you are going to be good enough by your own works of righteousness to make it to heaven. I appeal unto you to repent of your sins and call on Jesus Christ and ask Him to save your soul. If you have already been saved and you have never been baptized, then I call on you to follow the Lord in baptism and unite with this church or some other Scriptural church. If you are already saved and you need to get your life straightened up with God and clean up the outside of the cup and platter, then I am asking you to come and surrender your will to God. If you are saved and in need of transferring your membership to this church, then I am asking you to come. Come on a promise of letter or come by statement. We can accept you either way.