A Pure Heart
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A Pure Heart
A Pure Heart
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Whats inside .....
Are our long-term plans and goals any different than the rest of the world?
Illustration - recently same manufactures of cereal started putting less in boxes weight but keep the box the same. The fine print said the correct oz but the box was the same size as went larger amounts were inside.
People felt deceived and taken
What do we desire the most?
What are we living for?
What inside ......
That is the most significant question of the Christian life, of any life. That is the question this beatitude we are studying in answers in the most explicit terms.
Stop portraying your self to be one thing when the real you is something else.
What is the heart? One definition of the heart is that it is the organ that DISTINGUISHES the LIVING from the DEAD. How do you experience more of the life of God in your heart?
Wouldn’t it be great if God could give us preventative medicine to help our “heart” or the center of our personal life; our thinking, will, and emotions? Is their anything we can take that will prevent sin from building up in our heart? Is there something we can take that will keep the center or focus of our personal life, the spring of all our desires, motives, and moral choices - indeed, of all our behavioral trends healthy and right before God?
I. To Be Pure is to Purge
I. To Be Pure is to Purge
The Greek word for “pure” in is katharos.
Pure means to be “clean, blameless, unstained from guilt.” Interestingly, the word can refer specifically to that which is purified by fire or by pruning.
John the Baptist told people that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire ().
Malachi speaks of the Messiah as being like a “refiner’s fire” ().
Jesus refers to believers as being the branches and to Himself as being the vine ().
For a vine to produce fruit, it must be pruned. Those who are truly “pure,” then, are those who have been declared innocent because of the work of Jesus and who are being sanctified by His refining fire and His pruning.
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
john 15.1-1
Department of Agriculture
Fruit trees are different from your average shade trees in that they need to be pruned every year to improve fruit quality.
Pruning fruit trees is a necessary chore that improves sunlight penetration and increase air movement through the tree. Pruning also develops the structure of the tree so that it can support the crop load.
The first step is to remove any diseased or damaged branches. Diseased limbs can be a source of disease for the upcoming season so it is important to remove and destroy these branches.
What is God trying to prune from your life?
II. To be Pure is from the Inside Out
II. To be Pure is from the Inside Out
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Matt
This beatude Jesus says he want a pure heart not just outside but inside.
This beatude Jesus says he want a pure heart not just outside but inside.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” ().
That’s it! That’s the goal of the Christian life!
What we need today are real genuine Christians.
This is the most central and the most significant of all the beatitudes mentioned in this fifth chapter of Matthew. You cannot be poor in spirit without having a pure heart. You cannot mourn for the things that displease God without having a pure heart. You cannot be meek, you cannot hunger and thirst for righteousness, you cannot be merciful, you cannot be a peacemaker or be prepared to stand persecution for the name of Christ without having a pure heart. Actually, this is one of the most central principles of the Christian life that we see in the whole Bible. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
They really believe what they say and are not putting on a show.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
The first thing we learn from this beatitude is that Jesus is concerned with our heart. It is not enough to clean up our act on the outside.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.
4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
The aim of Jesus Christ is not to reform the manners of society, but to change the hearts of sinners like you and me.
The aim of Jesus Christ is not to reform the manners of society, but to change the hearts of sinners like you and me.
III. To be Pure is Not Natural
III. To be Pure is Not Natural
The heart defines our purity
The heart need to be purified
33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
matt 12
The human heart, in its natural condition, is evil, treacherous and deceitful.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
In other words, the Fall has affected us at the deepest level; our mind, emotions and desires have been tainted by sin—and we are blind to just how pervasive the problem is.
says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” In other words, the Fall has affected us at the deepest level; our mind, emotions and desires have been tainted by sin—and we are blind to just how pervasive the problem is.
The heart is what you are, in the secrecy of your thought and feeling, when nobody knows but God.
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.
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart . . . For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man” ().
So the heart is utterly crucial to Jesus.
So the heart is utterly crucial to Jesus. What we are in the deep, private recesses of our lives is what he cares about most. Jesus did not come into the world simply because we have some bad habits that need to be broken. He came into the world because we have such dirty hearts that need to be purified.
What we are in the deep, private recesses of our lives is what he cares about most.
Look at you self in a mirror and talk to God about who you are
Jesus did not come into the world simply because we have some bad habits that need to be broken. He came into the world because we have such dirty hearts that need to be purified.
We may not understand our own hearts, but God does. He “knows the secrets of the heart”
21 Shall not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
john
Illustration - passport , name address, SS # , background picture and finger print ....
It identifies who I am ....
It is me
You heart is who you are
God and only God can change your heart
It comes out ......,
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
So let’s ask briefly in the moments we have,
What is it to see God?What is it to be pure in heart?And, how are these two things bound together?
1. What is it to see God?
I would mention three things.
TO BE ADMITTED TO HIS PRESENCE
First, to see God means to be admitted to his presence. After the plague of darkness on Egypt, Pharaoh exploded to Moses with these words:
“Get away from me; take heed to yourself; never see my face again; for in the day you see my face you shall die.” Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face again.” ()
When a king says, “You will never see my face again,” he means, “I will never grant you admission again into my presence.”
In the same way, we call the doctor today and say, “Can I see Dr. Lundgren today?” We don’t mean, can I see him from a distance. Or, can I see a picture of him? We mean, can I have an appointment to be with him?
So the first thing seeing God means is being admitted to his presence.
TO BE AWESTRUCK BY HIS GLORY
Second, seeing God means being awestruck by his glory — by a direct experience of his holiness. After God confronted Job in the whirlwind, Job said, “I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
“Seeing God is the great goal of being pure.”
Virtually all of our spiritual sight in this life is mediated to us through the word of God or the work of God in providence. We “see” images and reflections of his glory. We hear echoes and reverberations of his voice. But there will come a day when God himself will dwell among us. His glory will no longer be inferred from lightning and mountains and roaring seas and constellations of stars. Instead, our experience of him will be direct. His glory will be the very light in which we move () and the beauty of his holiness will be tasted directly like honey on the tongue.
So seeing God means not only being admitted to his presence, but also being awestruck by a direct experience of his glory.
TO BE COMFORTED BY HIS GRACE
Finally, seeing God means being comforted by his grace. Again and again the psalmists cry out to God that he not hide his face from them. For example in (verses 7–9) David says,
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
be gracious to me and answer me!
. . . Hide not thy face from me.
“Hide not thy face from me,” is the same as saying, “Be gracious to me!” This means that seeing the face of God is considered to be a sweet and comforting experience. If God shows his face, we are helped. If he turns his face away, we are dismayed.
So when Jesus promises the reward of “seeing God” there are at least these three things implied: we will be admitted to his presence, not just kept in the waiting room. We will be awestruck with a direct experience of his glory. And we will be helped and comforted by his grace.
And this we will have — in part now, and fully in the age to come — if we are pure in heart.
IV. To be Pure is to Love
IV. To be Pure is to Love
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, Nor sworn deceitfully.
Not Hypocritical
Søren Kierkegaard wrote a book called Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing. That is not a bad definition, provided that the one thing we will is the glory of God.
ACCORDING TO DAVID
You can see what David means by a “pure heart” in the phrases that follow it.
You can see what David means by a “pure heart” in the phrases that follow it.
You can see what David means by a “pure heart” in the phrases that follow it.
A pure heart is a heart that has nothing to do with falsehood.
It is painstakingly truthful and free from deceitfulness.
Deceit is what you do when you will two things, not one thing.
You will to do one thing and you will that people think you are doing another.
You will to feel one thing and you will that people think you are feeling another.
That is impurity of heart. Purity of heart is to will one thing, namely, to “seek the face of the Lord” (verse 6).
6 This is the generation of them that seek him, That seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
In 2007, the Barna Group did an extensive research project in which they asked non-Christian people why they rejected Christianity.
Modern people contend that the greatest proof that God does not exist is the behavior of Christians themselves! In short, the way Christians live and act is solid proof in their minds that what Christians believe is not true.
ACCORDING TO JAMES
You can see this idea of purity in :
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Not double minded!
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind.
Notice that just like there is reference to both clean hands and a pure heart as preparation for drawing near to God, or “ascending the hill of the Lord.” But notice how the men are described who need to purify their hearts: “men of double mind.”
That is they are men that will two things not just one thing. The impurity of double-mindedness is explained in :
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Unfaithful creatures [lit. adulteresses]! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
So the double-minded man of verse 8 has his heart divided between the world and God, like a wife who has a husband and a boyfriend.
Purity of heart, on the other hand, is to will one thing, namely, full and total allegiance to God.
Modern people contend that the greatest proof that God does not exist is the behavior of Christians themselves! In short, the way Christians live and act is solid proof in their minds that what Christians believe is not true.
Modern people contend that the greatest proof that God does not exist is the behavior of Christians themselves! In short, the way Christians live and act is solid proof in their minds that what Christians believe is not true.
Churches are filled with people who attend every Sunday service, don’t say bad words, don’t watch bad movies, and make sure to give their offering every week. However, they don’t actually know, love, or walk with God at all. They have simply adopted a cultural Christianity, an exoskeleton of religious trapping - Barna
FROM JESUS’S MOUTH
So if we ask, Where in the gospels did Jesus explain purity of heart in this way? The answer would be :
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.
Not with part of your heart. Not with a double or divided heart. That would be impurity. Purity of heart is no deception, no double-mindedness, no divided allegiance.
“God is the one who purifies the heart, and the instrument with which he cleans it is faith.”
(Note: you can see the echo of this meaning of purity of heart in , “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere [i.e., unhypocritical faith].”)
Purity of heart is to will one thing, namely, God’s truth and God’s value in everything we do.
The aim of the pure heart is to align itself with the truth of God and magnify the worth of God.
If you want to be pure in heart, pursue God with utter single-mindedness. Purity of heart is to will that one thing. That leaves one last question:
IV. To be Pure is to Love
IV. To be Pure is to Love
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
You can not be single minded toward God and hate your neighbor.
BTW - how do you project yourself to the world around you?
Compassion
Understanding
Concern
Willing to take a chance on someone
Illustration - adoption of a child ..... Christian love fulfilled
Purity of heart is not living a self righteous life by all the rules and not caring for a fallen brother or sister.
Good Samaratian - pass by on the other side.
Convictions Come from God and his word not rebuking and yelling moral values
Love your neighbor with your heart .....
5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Purity and clean manifest itself in love .....
Examine your self and your motives
Examine your self and your motives
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
The lust to sin dwells in human nature.
The lust to sin dwells in human nature. In other words, it is contaminated and motivated by the sinful tendencies that dwell in all people as a result of the fall into sin and disobedience in the garden of Eden. This... More that you are tempted to so that you can stand before God’s face with a clear conscience.
In other words, it is contaminated and motivated by the sinful tendencies that dwell in all people as a result of the fall into sin and disobedience in the garden of Eden.
We live in a time when purity is not something people think of or talk about.
Pursuing your dream life is often an excuse used to live with yourself as the main focus in all you do, and for giving in to every low and filthy thing that rules the world today.
There is much laziness, ingratitude and wanting what we don’t have.
Many what-ifs, if-onlys, and wishing for more pleasure and less responsibility. That is why so many people are dissatisfied with life and think that if only they could live their own version of an ideal life, they would be happy.
Impurity is masked in this way and presented as “good.” The whole world is seeking purpose, but in the wrong things.
Purity needs to be great in our eyes!
5 The thoughts of the righteous are right: But the counsels of the wicked are deceit.
Impurity is an attack on your relationship with God. Keeping yourself pure is showing God that you love Him and are thankful for how He has made it for you in this moment.
However it is not self righteousness and judgmental its understanding and loving
Keeping yourself pure is not allowing yourself to be sucked into the lack of good morals prevalent today.
Keeping yourself pure is not allowing yourself to be sucked into the lack of good morals prevalent today.
Keeping yourself pure is a choice that you make, and there are so many benefits!
We could sum up the benefits of keeping yourself pure in in one word, really: Joy! But let’s break it down so we can understand it more clearly.
We could sum up the benefits of keeping yourself pure in in one word, really: Joy! But let’s break it down so we can understand it more clearly.
What are the benefits of keeping yourself pure?
A good conscience!
A good conscience!
16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
You will no longer feel guilt and worry about what choices you make and what path your life is taking.
A sense of clear direction!
A sense of clear direction!
You will experience a clear direction and purpose in your life, and no day is a waste regardless of what is going on around you in your day-to-day life. Sin clouds your vision, but when you are pure God is able to direct your paths as He intends.
You will be untouchable!
You will be untouchable!
36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
The direction the world is taking has no impact on your thoughts, feelings and actions. Bad morals can’t touch you because you are keeping yourself pure! You can “fly like an eagle” above all of these things, because your kingdom is not of this world. (; )
Examine your self and your motives
Three Questions
So let’s ask briefly in the moments we have,
What is it to see God?What is it to be pure in heart?And, how are these two things bound together?
1. What is it to see God?
I would mention three things.
TO BE ADMITTED TO HIS PRESENCE
First, to see God means to be admitted to his presence. After the plague of darkness on Egypt, Pharaoh exploded to Moses with these words:
“Get away from me; take heed to yourself; never see my face again; for in the day you see my face you shall die.” Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face again.” ()
When a king says, “You will never see my face again,” he means, “I will never grant you admission again into my presence.”
In the same way, we call the doctor today and say, “Can I see Dr. Lundgren today?” We don’t mean, can I see him from a distance. Or, can I see a picture of him? We mean, can I have an appointment to be with him?
So the first thing seeing God means is being admitted to his presence.
TO BE AWESTRUCK BY HIS GLORY
Second, seeing God means being awestruck by his glory — by a direct experience of his holiness. After God confronted Job in the whirlwind, Job said, “I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
“Seeing God is the great goal of being pure.”
Virtually all of our spiritual sight in this life is mediated to us through the word of God or the work of God in providence. We “see” images and reflections of his glory. We hear echoes and reverberations of his voice. But there will come a day when God himself will dwell among us. His glory will no longer be inferred from lightning and mountains and roaring seas and constellations of stars. Instead, our experience of him will be direct. His glory will be the very light in which we move () and the beauty of his holiness will be tasted directly like honey on the tongue.
So seeing God means not only being admitted to his presence, but also being awestruck by a direct experience of his glory.
TO BE COMFORTED BY HIS GRACE
Finally, seeing God means being comforted by his grace. Again and again the psalmists cry out to God that he not hide his face from them. For example in (verses 7–9) David says,
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
be gracious to me and answer me!
. . . Hide not thy face from me.
“Hide not thy face from me,” is the same as saying, “Be gracious to me!” This means that seeing the face of God is considered to be a sweet and comforting experience. If God shows his face, we are helped. If he turns his face away, we are dismayed.
So when Jesus promises the reward of “seeing God” there are at least these three things implied: we will be admitted to his presence, not just kept in the waiting room. We will be awestruck with a direct experience of his glory. And we will be helped and comforted by his grace.
And this we will have — in part now, and fully in the age to come — if we are pure in heart.
What is really going on in you?
What is really going on in you?
A judgmental heart does not love
A impure heart has many regrets
3. How are the two bound together?
Are you double minded?
Jesus only gives us part of the answer here. It is a true part, but only part. He says that the pure will see God. That is, purity is a prerequisite for seeing God. The impure are neither granted admittance to his presence, nor are they awed by the glory of his holiness, nor are they comforted by his grace.
Are you unloving and judgemental?
Jesus’s point is the same as : “Strive for . . . the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” In other words, blessed are the holy for they shall see God. There is a real purity and a real holiness which fits us to see the king of glory.
And of course, that leads every sensitive soul to cry out with the words of , “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin?’” And with the disciples: “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus’s answer comes back just like it did to the disciples in — and this is the rest of the answer — “With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
In other words, God creates a purity for us and in us so that we can pursue purity. And by his grace we must seek that gift by praying with David, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (). And we must look to Christ “who gave himself for us . . . to purify for himself a people” ().
And the response of our hearts to God’s act of creation and Christ’s act of sacrifice is single-minded faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As the Scripture says in , “God made no distinction between us and them, but purified their hearts by faith.”
God is the one who purifies the heart, and the instrument with which he cleans it is faith. Therefore, trust in the Lord with all your heart (). Will this one thing. And you will see God.