The outside appearance does not always portray the true picture. Such thought is illustrated by a farm house tucked away in the tiny village of Tatting-stone. Suffolk in England. Back in the 1760’s Squire White, a rich man, resided there. He was given to certain indulgences, in horses and servants, in wine, women and song. Naturally, all these goings on caused a great deal of gossip and attention by the village folk, Weary of such scrutinizing, Squire White set about to camouflage his nefarious activities by converting his house into a “church,” complete with Gothic windows and fretted tower. It did not fool any of the neighbors of course, but it must have given him some satisfaction to know that strangers passing by saw only a church and passed right by not knowing what really happened behind the Gothic front door.
In this living parable we are altered to the realization that in our walk in Christ it is so easy for us to through the Years camouflage our lives with an outer wall of self righteousness. The world will cross our door step and for awhile be fooled into thinking that they look on one given over to a full life of godliness. The Psalmist reminds us that there is one whose eyes can see through all our works, expressed in the words of one of our hymns, “Where can we hide. or whither fly,” Lord, to escape thy piercing eye?” How true this was of the Pharisees, their robes and addiction to keeping the Law fooled many who passed by While uttering their long prayers in the market place the people judged them to he pious men. Jesus the Son of God saw beyond all this Knowing their hearts, he had only words of condemnation for them. “Weo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.” (Matt, 23 25).
The searchlight of the scriptures falls upon us to remind us that the finger of guilt is not pointing to the Pharisees alone, Achan wore the splendid uniform of a soldier of God. No doubt he was mighty in battle, feared by his enemy and respected by his family and neighbors. Behind his shield stood another man that God knew, A man whose heart harbored evil, Evil that would bring shame to his people and death to his family
Closer to home we hose Ananias and Sapphira. They belonged to the ecclesia at Jerusalem, a devoted couple. Regular attenders at all the meetings and diligent workers we can suppose. They gave so much of their lives for the Truth and it was know n by their brethren and sisters that they had sold their property so that others might share in their wealth. God however, was able to see the inside of the cup and it was not as it appeared, Through Peter, God said to them, “Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou has not lied unto men but unto God.”
How important then is our attendance at the memorial feast. This is the time when we remember the life of Christ and examine ourselves in His reflection, He is the Light of the world. Again. when in our daily prayers we walk the courts of God s holiness we remember that we have been called to become vessels of honour, a house wherein God Almighty will desire to tabernacle because the inside is just as clean and pure as the outside. With a repentive heart then, we must find ourselves often before the mercy seat, so that we shall not be condemned by the words John wrote in his first epistle: -If we say we have not sinned we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Such is a danger because we know it is impossible to do our daily readings. observe Israel in all their wicked ways, listen to an exhortation where the attractions and pitfalls of life are pointed out to us, yet in our comfortable seat we can say, ‘But we have not sinned.”
Our conscience is not pricked because we rationalize from observation of our own lives that we have not indulged in those certain things that “they” do. We do not do the things brother “X” does. We attend the meetings more than others, we know we have given more to the collections than a lot of others. Written across that wall we have constructed around our lives are the words, -1 thank God I am not as other men.”
In the days left to us, let us strive harder to scrub the steps which lead us to the mercy seat of God. So that in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to the gospel, we shall not be judged as “whited sepulchers” indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and full of all uncleanliness, but rather, in God’s mercy be commended for having presented unto the Almighty our cup of life, brimming over, pressed down for good measure and dean, inside and out.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One