Those of you who were reared in the rural community, or shall I say the "country", can recall that there was a time when poor people didn't know very much about paint. It was too expensive for poor farmers and poverty-stricken sharecroppers to buy. But despite their small incomes, our fathers and grandfathers found a way to brighten our homes, their barns, the woodshed, the fence, the hen house and the outhouse, with a substance called whitewash.

This whitewash was a mixture of lime, powdered chalk and water. 
The primary purpose for using it was to improve the outward appearance of the buildings. 
It didn't do anything for the inside walls. 
It didn't treat the wood against pest infestation or preserve the wood from the elements of nature. 
Its only function was to give the structure a bright and beautiful appearance. 
It made the structure look better on the outside than it did on the inside. 
It made the structure "presentable" to the neighborhood.

But whitewashing was only a temporary solution for covering up dirt, filth, grease, and grime. 
It's like shoving things under the rug so your visitor can't see it. 
When a wall is whitewashed and given sufficient time to dry, those who pass by cannot help but admire its bright and beautiful appearance.

Now, as long as the sun shines and the weather is dry, a whitewashed wall will stay beautiful. 
When the skies are clear and no thunder showers are pouring from the skis, a whitewashed structure will keeps its brightness and its beauty. But after a heavy downpour; after the rains have descended; after a cloudburst has drenched the structure with heavens rains, 90 percent of the whitewashed will head for the soil and the gutter. After all, whitewash is 90 percent water anyway. 

But enough about whitewashing fences and buildings! 
I want to talk today about whitewashed Christians.

90 % of the so called church members today do not do a thing to promote the kingdom of Christ.
Only 10 % actually tithe, teach a class, mow the grass, sing in the choir etc ....
Only 10 % or less actually commit their lives to full time ministry today.

Whitewashed Christians. 

Many today come to a church, hear the Word, feel the moment and become whitewashed rather than blood washed. Their lives were moved but not changed. Their spirit was touched but not cleansed.
Their dreams of heaven were lifted but their names never really written down in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Whitewashed Christians. 
They have a beautiful exterior and a smudge proof appearance in the light of the Son. 
They appear to be devout, born-again believers, God-fearing saints, and peace loving Christians. Their public image would never lead you to suspect that they've just been whitewashed. 
And as long as the Son shines down on them and life presents itself without the rains of temptation and challenge, they sparkle like the Son!
As long as the blue skies of heavenly blessings are shining from above, they give the impression that they are heaven-bound saints who are traveling the King's highway on their way to a land of perfect peace.

But the problem is this…their appearance is only temporary. They're whitewashed. 
Their hearts have not been sealed against the travails of this life. 
There is therefore no permanency to their gleaming exterior. 
If you don't believe what I'm saying, just wait until there is a burst of conflict and a downpour of confusion in their life. When the storm clouds come you'll see them change colors overnight. 
You'll see them one day shining with Christian kindness, and the next day they will be streaked and scarred by the world, so much so that you'll wonder if you're looking at the same person.

One day they love everyone, next day they are trying to destroy all they touch.
But understand why they change! They have only been whitewashed by the practice of religion. 

Just like that substance made of 90 percent water, their faith is made up of 90 percent habit. 
Robotic. Moved by habit rather than the movement of the Holy Spirit.
Moved by peer pressure rather than Holy Ghost conviction.
That is why so many come and go. Here today, gone tomorrow.

Religious habits cannot retain their professed heavenly composition in tough situations. 

A whitewashed Christian will lose his patience in a storm; 
A whitewashed Christian will become discouraged in the midst of adversity; 
A whitewashed Christian will find that chip and carry it on his shoulder; 
A whitewashed Christian will find an axe to grind, looking for a way to get back at someone.
A whitewashed Christian will tarry at the doorway of sinful pleasures!

A little light shower of adversity may not effect his or her outward appearance much, but let the storms of life come raging, and the whitewashed Christian's countenance will become darkened by the storm. You thought they were a friend for life, now they stab you in the back with their gossip.

Now, when Jesus used the term whitewashed, He was speaking directly to the Pharisees. 
He was referring to their brand of religion, which focused on exterior brightness. 
Jesus never hesitated to tell it like it is, and the Pharisees needed some undressing. 
Jesus looked them squarely in the eyes and said, "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like tombs covered with whitewash. They look well from the outside, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all kinds of filth." Outside they gave the appearance of being honest, God fearing men. But inside, they were brimming with corruption and disbelief.

Many today, go to church, sing, laugh, hug, but on the inside their sinful nature is out of control.
They look like Christians on Sunday but the rest of the week we live like devils.
Wolves in sheep clothing.

Let's take a closer look at this Pharisaic religion and get a clearer picture of what Jesus meant when He referred to them as whitewashed or white tombs.

Pharisaic religion was characterized by an outward show of piousness without an inward glow. 
Pharisaic religion was strong on quantity, but it was weak on quality. 
Pharisaic religion was high on words but it was low in deeds. 
Pharisaic religion was long in talk, but it was short in action. 

Sounds like most people who go to church today, doesn't it?

The Scribes and Pharisees excelled in obeying the outward letter of the law, but they neglected the inward spirit of the law. 
They stood on the street corners and prayed long prayers to impress the people with their sincerity. But they had forgotten that God looks on the heart. 
They paid their tithes and gave their offerings in full public view, but they forget that God loves a cheerful giver. 
They painted a picture of devotion and dedication, but they forgot that God knew of their crooked, underhanded and shady dealings behind closed doors.
They Pharisees never bowed to graven images in public, but they had a gross over-estimate of their own self-worth. 
They never used the Lord's name in vain, yet every time they called upon the Lord, it was a vain utterance. 
They did not openly commit robbery of another man's purse, but they secretly took from the treasury of the Lord. 
Like many of  today, they shout amen at the preaching when the preacher talks about tithing, and everyone around them thinks they are agreeing, BUT inside their heart, they know that they are nothing but a thief before God. 
They used the TITHE of God to pay their bills. They stole the Holy Tithe of God to fund their lustful life of possessions. If you have stolen, then call it like it is, Your a thief in the eyes of GOD -- yet you shout AMEN to the message.

Pharisaic religion, They did not take the physical life of another man, but they were famous for their character assassinations. Today we destroy people with our gossip, our meddling etc.
They did not openly commit acts of adultery, but they were adulterous in their imaginations. 
They did not tell lies, but they were living a lie! ( Expound upon this )

Although the Scribes and Pharisees were labeled as devout keepers of the Law, they were just the opposite. Many today can quote the Bible so well, yet to live it personally, that is another story.

They were totally void of the most basic ingredient of the Law….the law of love. 
They could recite the letter of the Law with great oratorical skill, yet they could not love. 
They could rattle off the Ten Commandments with breath taking accuracy and rapidity, yet they had no love. 
They wore copies of the Law, pinned to their vestments and painted on their foreheads, but with all their polished outward display of whitewashed pious religiosity, they had no love. 
No wonder Christ referred to them as whitewashed. 
They had a brilliant appearance, but beneath the surface lay all the dirt and decay of their years. 

Centuries before the Pharisees came into power as rulers of the religious hierarchy, and centuries before Jesus took on human flesh and dwelt among men, the prophet Isaiah spoke concerning this outward whiteness. He didn't approach it from the negative of chastisement for those who satisfied themselves with a thin coating of sampled conversion. 
Isaiah, rather, spoke of the in-house cleaning that purges a person's sin nature and makes him fit for God's service. 

Isaiah said, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." 
In other words, Isaiah coaxed us to talk things over with God and draw a reasonable conclusion about our faith. 
Through Isaiah ( the man of God) God invited them to come to the conference table to iron out some very important issues; and it's to your advantage to come. Today, these altars is the conference table of God. The invitation is still the same, COME !
Your sins are numerous; your hearts are decaying with pride, lust, jealousy and envy. 
You have a malignancy of hatred and malice in your hearts that render you filthy in the eyes of God. 

In one breath you praise God in another breath you destroy people around you with your words of rejection and hatred.
Your hands are lifted high to God on Sunday but buried deep in greed on Monday.
You say you love the Lord yet you are full of jealousy.

But our loving God is offering you a pardon, and giving you a chance to get back into fellowship with Him. God is taking the initiative. 
He is making the first move….inviting you to come in and be covered with His love and mercy. 
He knows that we are a sinful people; 
He knows that our flesh has been weakened by Adam's fall. 
He knows that our hearts are corroded with the filth of the world. 
He knows that we are prone to choose the quick fix of whitewashing to hide our shame. 

But God is offering a better solution than your weak whitewash. 
God is offering a permanent solution for the dirt and grime that continues to dump itself through our storms of life. It's not a whitewash…..He wants us washed WHITE and to do that He has to wash us in the BLOOD of Christ! Though our sins be as scarlet, He will wash us white as snow!

Forget the "do-it-yourself" Laundromat church today. It won't work! 
The agitation of the adversity and the slings and arrows of misfortune that come our way will leave you stripped of your whitewashed exterior. You need the deep cleansing that God alone can supply.

Come and wash yourself in the blood of Jesus…the detergent known as the cleansing flood. 
Be washed by His promise of perfection.
Be washed by His majesty and mercy.
Be washed by His boldness and blessedness.
Be washed by His lowliness and loveliness.
Be washed by His truth and trust.
Be washed by His liberty and liberality.
Be washed by His surety and strength.
Be washed by His power and protection.
Be washed by His service and sacrifice.
Be washed by His righteousness and redemption!
Are you whitewashed, or are you washed white?

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord. "
God is inviting us today to come to the conference table at the feet of Jesus, to iron out some very important issues; and it's to your advantage to come.

Your life can change right now if you will just come to Christ.
Surrender your life to Him. Be willing to allow Him to come directly into your life.
What a difference it makes when we become BLOOD WASHED and not just whitewashed.
COME   COME   COME   COME  while the Spirit is calling you.
Don't live in your guilt, your shame, your loneliness, your depression, your broken heart.
He can and will make all things new. COME !

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