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Friday, December 17, 2004

Cleanse first the inside of the cup

When we look at the way the WB&TS has gone to all lengths to keep their image clean, to boast of their faithfulness and righteousness before God and men, despite all the evidence that proves their great sinfulness and in some cases wickedness, we see that Jesus words to the Pharisees are timely.

Matt 23:25 "Woe to YOU, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because YOU cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of plunder and immoderateness. 26 Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside of it also may become clean.

Luke 11:39 But the Lord said to him: "Now YOU Pharisees, YOU cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but the inside of YOU is full of plunder and wickedness. 40 Unreasonable persons! He that made the outside made also the inside, did he not? 41 Nevertheless, give as gifts of mercy the things that are inside, and, look! all [other] things are clean about YOU.

The Pharisees were so concerned with mundane, ceremonial and traditional practices that they showed little or no concern for God’s true commands of love, justice and mercy. The same mistake is being repeated by the WB&TS. They cleanse the outside of the dish by doing all they can to keep the image of the WB&TS clean; but in reality, the organization in full of problems and corruption that is not acknowledged. All the problems are glossed over because of our supposedly being in spiritual paradise. The so-called representative of the faithful and discreet slave class, the Governing Body, cvlaims to have long ago passed the test and now enjoys a clean standing in front of God and Christ.

Just like the Pharisees these ones are far removed from the masses. They are blind to the reality of there situation and so are those who are following there lead.
(Luke 6:39) Then he also spoke an illustration to them: "A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Both will tumble into a pit, will they not?

Because of this situation we must take Jesus words to heart.
Jesus mentioned in Luke’s account "give as gifts of mercy the things that are inside, and, look! all [other] things are clean about YOU. What are these gifts of mercy that we have inside of us? They are our God given qualities that Jehovah gave us. These qualities can be aroused to action by God’s spirit. The Pharisees kept resisting God’s spirit and thus could not sense these qualities in themselves. We who love God, want to please him and worship him in spirit and truth can let God’s spirits arouse in us these gifts of mercy.

Each person has different gifts of mercy to give. The apostle Peter and John when asked for gifts of mercy from a blind man gave what they had to give. Lets take a look at this account in Acts chapter three.

3 Now Peter and John were going up into the temple for the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, 2 and a certain man that was lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, and they would daily put him near the temple door that was called Beautiful, in order to ask gifts of mercy from those entering into the temple. 3 When he caught sight of Peter and John about to go into the temple he began requesting to get gifts of mercy. 4 But Peter, together with John, gazed at him and said: "Take a look at us." 5 So he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to get something from them. 6 However, Peter said: "Silver and gold I do not possess, but what I do have is what I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Naz·a·rené, walk!" 7 With that he took hold of him by the right hand and raised him up. Instantly the soles of his feet and his anklebones were made firm; 8 and, leaping up, he stood up and began walking, and he entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God.

Notice it was not a physical thing that Peter and John had to give, but a spiritual one. Not that giving physical things is inappropriate. For we are commanded to help our brothers in need when it is in our to power to do so physically. (James 2:15-16) At this time we can not produce miracles like curing the blind either. Each of us does have gifts we can give. Wether it is up building our brothers and sisters with a encouraging thought, helping someone with emotional distress, being a true friend and listening to each others concern, there are many ways we can give of ourselves. We can have a true self sacrificing spirit and by this we can clean the inside of the dish which is the heart and our outside (our personality) will automatically become clean. Paul’s word to the Colossians are appropriate:

9 Do not be lying to one another. Strip off the old personality with its practices, 10 and clothe yourselves with the new [personality], which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it.

Instead of being concerned about their outside image, the WB&TS should be concerned about the inside image that God is trying to create in us. This image is made from the inside-out not the outside-in. Let us make it our goal to pursue these gifts of mercy within us by praying for God’s spirit to activate in us these wonderful qualities, so that we may fully put on this new personality.
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