"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also." (Matt. 23:25-26)

The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a world war she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California. During its conversion, the ship's three massive smokestacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. However, when they were placed on the dock, they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which the stakes had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over he years. The steel had rusted away. (From Illustrations for Preach and Teaching, p. 107).

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees who were corrupt inwardly, but appeared righteous outwardly. Let us cleanse ourselves inwardly that we might also be clean outwardly.