Christian Education Pre-K-12
Richmond Academy

(Amplified Bible)

As I was making a bed, I found myself reflecting on the two pillow shams which needed to be repositioned. While both had the same appealing design and elegant frills, only one of the two actually contained a pillow. The other sham was merely placed across the outside of its pillow, thus giving it the appearance of fullness, but without substance.

That week, my experience in a local store provided another encounter with the discrepancy between outward display and inward content. “Sample Our Hot Cider” invited the sign beside the bountiful and outwardly attractive container. Unaware that I was about to witness a visual spiritual lesson, I lifted the lid. There, floating on top of the hot cider was the corpse of a fly, its wings outstretched. As I informed a clerk of the intruder, I immediately recalled the words of Ecc 10:1. “Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to putrefy [and] send forth a vile odor; so does a little folly [in him who is valued for wisdom] outweigh wisdom and honor.”

While Christ desires to be our substance by filling us with Himself, our carnal nature prefers to present a spurious imitation. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof, we often appear “religious.” True Christ-likeness requires that we submit to Divine inspection, cleansing and purging before His life can come forth from us. With deceit all around us, it becomes increasingly imperative that we have our spiritual senses exercised to discern the genuine from the false, the true from the counterfeit and the imitation for the real. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves” {Matt 7:15}, twice stating, “You will fully recognize them by their fruits” {v 16, 20}.

In his account of the poor widow whose offering to the temple treasury amounted to only a “flake,” Mark sets forth an ironic portrayal of the contrast between outward display and true devotion. “And [Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury and saw how the crowd was casting money into the treasury. Many rich [people] were throwing in large sums. And a widow who was poverty-stricken came and put in two copper mites [the smallest of coins], which together make half of a cent. And He called His disciples to [Him] and said to them, Truly and surely I tell you, this widow (and she) poverty-stricken, has put in more than all those contributing to the treasury. For they all threw in out of their abundance, but she out of her deep poverty has put in everything that she had, [even] all she had on which to live” {Mark 12:41-44}.

Clearly, the above incident admonishes us to “...estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view -- in terms of natural standards of value...” {2 Cor 5:16}. In an earlier letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul had also emphasized the disparity between God’s judgment and man’s. “...I could not talk to you as to spiritual [men] but as to nonspiritual (men of the flesh, in whom the carnal nature predominates)...For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?”{ I Cor 3:1, 3}

Outward cleansing alone is insufficient to meet God’s requirements. The need for continual cleansing, both inward and outward, is evident throughout Scripture. For example, even though the burnt offering was to be a whole and voluntary sacrifice without outward blemish, its inward parts still required a priest’s cleansing. “But he shall wash the entrails and legs with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a sweet satisfying fragrance to the Lord” {Lev 1:13}. In application, are the “entrails” not representative of our inner man and the “legs” representative of our walk? Does the above image not set forth the necessity for both inward and outward cleansing? As Christians, have we not been provided with the necessary cleansing agents through the blood of Jesus Christ, our great high Priest, as well as by the washing of water with His Word? {I John 1:7 & Eph 5:26}.

The prophet Jeremiah proclaims the futility of man’s reliance on self-cleansing methods apart from God: “Yet I have planted you, O house of Israel, a choice vine wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned into degenerate shoots of wild vine, alien to Me? For though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, yet your iniquity and guilt are still upon you; you are spotted, dirty and stained before Me, says the Lord” {Jer 2:21-22}.

Pleading with God, David also confesses the futility of his own outward cleansing apart from God’s inward cleansing: “Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt, and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin!” {Ps 51:2}.

As to the distinction between substance and sham, Peter’s admonition to married women applies spiritually to all who are preparing and being prepared to become the Bride of the Lamb. “Let not yours be the [merely] external adorning with [elaborate] interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes; But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which (is not anxious or wrought up, but) very precious in the sight of God” {I Peter 3:3-4}.

As He prepares us to stand unashamed at the day of His appearing, may our lives increasingly reflect the glory of His substance.

March Newsletter 2001 | Stewardship | Mind Your Own Business - part 2 of 2

Pastor's Journal March 2000 | Think About It | Inside-Out & Upside-Down - part 3 of 3

Biblical Counseling for Leaders

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Last modified: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 .