Mark 12:38-40 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
When a company looks for a new employee to join them, who do you think they are more likely to choose, someone who is dressed up in a crisp, sharp clothing, or someone who comes into the interview wearing a stained, torn pair of jeans and a stretched out t-shirt? They might both have the same degree of knowledge and skill, but I’m willing to bet that a larger part of the time the person wearing the nice clothing would probably be hired first. This is because many people judge according to the outward appearance of a man. Are they good looking, are they smooth talking, do they smell nice? Sign them up! But this is not how the Lord judges a person, because God does not judge someone by the way that they look or dress, but by their hearts.
We can see an example of this way back in the book of 1 Samuel, where Samuel had been charged by the Lord to anoint the next king of Israel. Samuel had been led to the house of Jesse, and upon seeing one of the sons who was apparently very tall and strong looking, Samuel thought to himself, surely this is the Lord’s anointed, but that wasn’t who the Lord had picked.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
One by one Samuel went through the sons of Jesse, but none of them had the Lord chosen. It was after all of this that Samuel finally saw David, who was at the time a young man, and the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” David was the one who God picked to lead Israel, and even though he might not have been the first pick that a man might have chosen based on appearance, God made His decision based on the heart, because it is what is inside that matters.
Take a look at some women out in the world today, who spend hours and hours applying makeup on their face in order to make themselves appear “beautiful” while the truth is that true beauty lies within, in the spirit. Someone might be the “most beautiful person in America” but be a completely terrible, wicked person in their heart, and that is something that no amount of makeup can ever hide. What matters is that the heart is good, and kind, and loving. The outward appearance is like the box around the present, what truly matters is what is inside.
Now look at the apostle Paul for example. Paul admitted that he might not have been the best at speaking (2 Corinthians 10:10) but he was a man who was mighty in the Holy Spirit. God picked Paul to be His servant, a man who might have been looked at as a worthless wretch by some because of what Paul had done in his past. But Paul’s heart had been changed, he had been saved by the grace of God, and that once upon a time persecutor of Christ became one of His greatest champions.
Ephesians 3:1-9 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to youward:
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
“Less than the least of all saints” Paul called himself, but God used him for great things. God knew what Paul would do for Him later in life and He chose him. Just the same as God can use anyone when they give themselves to Him. The outside doesn’t matter, just what’s inside.
In Christ
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 