BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD (2012)

Matt 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

• The implications of these words of Jesus make this the most profound beatitude. One reason is that nobody who has lived longer that 1 second can lay claim to being pure in heart other than The Lord Jesus Christ.
• Pure in heart is not to be understood as meaning that we can reach a state of sinless perfection in these mortal bodies, which is impossible! The only One Who has ever lived a sinless life on this earth was Jesus Christ.
• Thus, the question must be answered what is a pure heart and how does one obtain it?

What is the Bible referring to when it talks about the heart? The meaning of the word heart in this context of Scripture is not referring to the physical organ that is pumping blood through your system at this very moment.  The heart that Jesus is speaking about here refers to the very center of our personhood or personality. It is the source of our will, emotions and affections. The heart therefore is the center of a mans being. It includes the mind. It includes the emotions. It includes the will.

So, in biblical terminology, the heart is the master control center of your life. It is the center of your personality, the “real you” who makes the decisions of life. Thus, to be pure in heart is to be pure in the center of your life.

• To be pure in body is good. To be pure in mind is better. But to be pure in heart is best of all because it includes all the rest. If you are pure there, you will be pure everywhere. To be pure in heart means being pure from the inside out. Dr Ray Pritchard

The gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned about the heart. The heart is at the very center of Jesus’ teaching. The Pharisees were rebuked by Jesus because outward appearance and ritual meant everything to them regardless of the thoughts or motives of their heart.  Scripture makes it very clear that external religion void of a change of heart is a form of godliness that denies the power thereof. In speaking to one of the most religious groups on earth, Jesus Christ said:

• Luke 11. 39 And the Lord said unto him, now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. 40 Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?
• The Pharisees liked the idea of “Blessed are the pure” as long as the statement stopped right there. They were experts at outward purity. They had innumerable rules and regulations covering what you ate, what you wore, how far you could walk in the Sabbath, and so on. They scored an A+ on being outwardly pure. But they flunked out on inward purity. Dr Ray Pritchard
• Beloved, if our hearts are not right, then no matter how sincere we claim to be, all of our religious activity is meaningless in he sight of God. No matter how loud we shout, how much we give, how high we lift our hands or how many bible studies we attend, apart from a pure heart, it means absolutely nothing in the sight of God.
• Religious exercises cannot purify our hearts….good works cannot purify our hearts; it is only faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that can purify our hearts. It is important to repeat here that religion alone cannot give to a person a new heart.
• Except your righteousness shall exceed (is deeper than) the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 5:20). Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

The phrase pure in heart is found in 4 specific references to in Scripture, and they are:

• Ps 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. {He...: Heb. The clean of hands}
• 1Ti 1:5 ¶ Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
• 2Ti 2:22 ¶ Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
• 1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently

What does the word pure mean? The Greek word katharos that is translated pure here means, “free from corrupt desire, from sin and guilt; free from every admixture of what is false, sincere genuine; blameless, innocent; unstained.” It can also be translated “without hypocrisy” clean, clear or pure. Undivided, unmixed and single; without guile.

·      Originally it simply meant clean, and could, for instance, be used of soiled clothes which have been washed clean.

·      It is regularly used for corn which has been winnowed or sifted and cleansed of all chaff.

Greek scholar William Barclay tells us that this word for pure was also used in classical Greek usage to describe when something was purged of what was wrong in order that it could be used for what is right.

• When we read NT phrases like put to death or put off, those are describing actions that are needed to rid our lives of things that are sinful and filthy in order to keep ourselves pure.
• Because of the remaining corruption that is in our flesh, we cannot prevent sinful thoughts, imaginations or attitudes from coming into our hearts and minds, but we should not allow those impure thoughts to set up shop and remain there any more than we would allow garbage to be collected in my living room.

J. Ligon Duncan writes:” The opposite of purity of heart is double-mindedness. The Old Testament frequently describes the double-minded man, as does James. The double-minded man is the one who wants one foot in the Kingdom and the other foot in the world. He wants to split his bet. He wants to have a little bit of religion, and then he also wants to have space in his heart to have other desires which crowd out God. Thus, he breaks the first commandment that says that the Lord will brook no rivals. He must reign supreme in our hearts, and the purity of heart about which Jesus speaks here is the purity of heart that a man has said, "The Lord Jesus is my Lord, and He is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all." And so, there is a single-minded focus and dedication to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Being “pure in heart” therefore means to have no double allegiance. When we get to chapter 6, Lord willing, Jesus is going to warn us about the impossibility of serving God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). No one can serve two masters at the same time.

·      Psa 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

• The Psalmist is pleading with God to unite his heart. The implication is that his heart (like yours and mine), tends to be divided or polluted.

In this beatitude, please note that holiness (another shade of meaning pure) and happiness are put together. A girl in Sunday school had read the Beatitudes in Matthew. She was asked which of the things mentioned she would most like to have. She said, "A pure heart." When asked why she preferred that, she said, "If my heart were pure, I believe I would have all the other virtues mentioned in this chapter." Out of the mouths of babes, profound truths are indeed expressed.Billy Graham

Because of the fall of man in the garden, no person is born into this world pure in heart by nature, thus the solution for an impure heart lies outside of man. That is why Jesus said that we must be born again if we expect to enter the kingdom of God. Rom 1.20-32 is a description of an unregenerate sinful heart. Thus, any and every sinful act is the result of darkened thinking and darkened desires that are the fruit of a darkened heart.

Fallen man needs a heart transplant. But don’t get on your cell phone or text the local heart specialist and ask him for an appointment! As I said earlier, that is not the kind of heart we are speaking about. We need a heart that beats with the blood of purity and holiness. And this heart purity is not the result of a human transplant, nor is it produced by education or a good environment or positive thinking.

Human transformation does not take place from the outside in, but from the inside out. It is the gift of God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. In speaking about the transformation that would take place in the lives of those who would trust in the work of Christ for the saving of their souls, Ezekiel writes:

• Ezek 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
• The prophet Jeremiah said I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people (Jer 31.33,34)
• Without this new heart, no man will enter the kingdom of and no man will see The Lord. Since both Ezekiel and Jeremiah are speaking in the context of the new birth as we know it in the NT, the only way that you get this new, purified heart is by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.
• Acts 15. 9 And put no difference between us (Jews) and them (Gentiles), purifying their hearts by faith.

Why do we need a new heart? Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

• This is a description of our old nature; deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

• Gen 6.5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Why do we act the way that we do?  Because the human heart apart from Christ is the cause of all evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man (Matt 15.19,20).

• Take any sinful problem in life and according to the Scriptures, you will see that it stems from some unholy or ungodly desire within our hearts beloved. A covetous thought, a lustful look, an angry disposition or a deceitful motives all stem from our hearts.  

The obvious conclusion that must be drawn is that it is impossible for us to make our own hearts clean.

• Pr 20:9 ¶ Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
• 1John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
• 1 John 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Job propounds the question, ‘Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?’ (Job 14:4; 15:14). With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. God can do it. Pray that prayer of David, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God’ (Psalm 51:10). God will replace that heart of stone with a heart of flesh.

Humanism and secular philosophies tell us that the human problem is a problem of ones environment, and it cannot be denied that ones environment can have an influence upon ones behavior. The biblical problem with this conclusion of course is that Adam and Eve sinned in an environment that you and I would give an arm and a leg to live in!

Mans problem is much deeper than a poor environment. 

Ps 73:1 ¶ <<A Psalm of Asaph.>> Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

• Please note the privileges and joys acquainted with having a pure or clean heart before God. Pure in love, pure in motive and pure in desire. Phil 4.8

It has been said that the true identity of God is hidden from those who have a divided heart. In other words, to be pure in heart means that we have a single minded devotion to the will of God in our lives. We will not tolerate known sin in our lives and allow it to pollute us, or more importantly grieve the Holy Spirit.

We live in an age where people dream of sin, imagine sin and if given the opportunity, would indulge in it wholeheartedly. The honest to God truth  beloved is that every Christian who hears those words this morning has to ask some questions of himself or herself in self-examination because we all know that struggle in our own hearts. That struggle where there are other priorities and agendas that rival our Lord Jesus Christ.

If a man is given a heart transplant because of poor eating habits, it would not be wise for him after a successful transplant to go back to that old diet and begin that destructive process all over again.  Likewise beloved, once you are born again, it is important that you and I guard our hearts and “eat right”.

• Prov 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

We have a repsonsibility to abstain from things that will pollute our minds, our wills and our affections.

• Psalm 101:2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes
• If we simply stay away from impure things apart from replacing those things with The Word of God, we will be living in a spiritual vacuum.
• John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. As we read, meditate upon, and obey God’s Word, our lives are being cleansed or purified.

The pure in heart shall see God

In this context, “seeing God” means to have a deep experience of God, to know him intimately and personally.

• Jer 9:23 ¶ Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

How is it that the pure in heart shall see God?

• Heb 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
• With the “eye” of faith, we endure life’s pressures and struggles by “seeing” The Invisible God. We see the hand of God is world events, we see the hand of God at work in our homes, we see the hand of God at work in our vocations, we see the hand of God at work in the body of Christ at large and in this part of His vineyard as well.

Now I realize that I am really dating myself by what I am about to say, but do any of you remember the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin who orbited the earth in the early years of space exploration and upon his return said that he looked outside he capsule and didn’t see God anywhere? Upon hearing that remark, Dr. W. A. Criswell replied, “Let him step out of his space suit for just one second and he’ll see God quick enough.”

• Unless this cosmonaut repented and called upon the Name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin, we can be sure that he is not seeing God the same way that Jesus is describing here in this beatitude.
• Mark this down beloved….In the spiritual realm, as in all of life, you only see what you are looking for.

1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

• Martin Lloyd Jones says that we are being prepared to enter into the presence of The King of Kings. Beloved, a day is coming when you and I are going to see The Mighty God, the Creator and Lord of Heaven and Earth face to face!
• Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
• Ps 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
• Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

If you believe with all of your heart that one day you are going to see God then you can be sure that walking in purity is going to be the goal of your life:

• 1Jo 3:1 ¶ Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
• If you truly believe that you are going to see God face to face, then there is one thing that you and I are going to pursue purity and holiness in all that we say and do with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.
• 2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
• Granted, as long as we are in this flesh, there will be the Romans 7 tug-of-war. Being pure in heart does not rule out the battle between the flesh and the Spirit….it means that we are single minded….devoted to doing the will of God for the simple reason that we love Him because He first loved us

This beatitude, perhaps more than any other, shows us the heart of Jesus Himself, because He longs to find in us, His beloved bride, undivided love for Himself -- not because He needs our attention, but because He knows He alone can fulfill our deepest needs. This purity, clearness or purity of heart parallels “singleness” of heart which is our desiring and seeking Him above all else, allowing nothing to distract us from Him, His truths and His purpose.

So if I desire to know God and see God, how should I respond to this beatitude?

• James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
• The Bible ends with this invitation: Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
• Come now…come with nothing to hide and nothing to prove….only Jesus Christ can save you from the wrath to come and make you pure.