Beattitude 6 Series

Beatitude Series # 6

Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ

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

Original date May 15, 1999

Revised June 3, 2001

’An atheist was spending a quiet day fishing when suddenly his boat was attacked by the Loch Ness monster. In one easy flip, the beast tossed him and his boat high into the air. Then it opened its mouth to swallow both. As the man sailed head over heels, he cried out, "Oh, my God! Help me!" At once, the ferocious attack scene froze in place, and as the atheist hung in mid-air, a booming voice came down from the heavens, "I thought you didn’t believe in Me!" "Come on God, give me a break!!" the man pleaded. "Two minutes ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness monster either!"

God sometimes gets the short end of the stick because of the perception that He is a fictional Character. But when we come to the true realization that He does exist, it’s hard to avoid the wizard of OZ Character whom we perceive to be hiding behind the curtain. And just pulling all the strings trying to make us thing that he is bigger than he really is.

1978

Mario Rubio is rolling a burrito when she notices skillet burns on the tortilla resembling the mournful face of Jesus Christ. Shortly thereafter, 8,000 curious pilgrims trek to the Rubios’ small stucco house in rural New Mexico to view the sacred icon. Mrs. Rubio leaves her house unlocked so that visitors may freely enter and examine the tortilla. (Newsweek, Aug. 14, 1978)

1980

Oklahoma evangelist Oral Roberts spots a 900 foot Jesus straddling a hospital complex he is building next to his university. Roberts, interpreting the divine image as a plea for financial assistance, appeals to his followers and nets millions of dollars in donations. (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 8, 1992)

1981

Christ appears, crucified, on a garage door in California and draws 8,000 visitors in one weekend. The image is later found to be caused by reflections from two street lights that had merged with shadows of a bush and a real-estate sign. (USA Today, April 12, 1989)

Turn to scripture

Seeing God is an idea that we as humans are attracted to

Were these instances of people seeing God? I really doubt it. But Jesus tells us in

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

Prayer

When the Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart", He was pronouncing blessedness on those who are pure at the very center of their being, at the very source of their every activity, not those who are merely pure on the surface. The bible says "the LORD sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."

I. THE PERCEPTION OF PURITY

We all perceive purity differently.

Sales of bottled water in this country have exploded in recent years, largely as a result of a public perception of purity driven by advertisements and packaging labels featuring pristine glaciers and crystal-clear mountain springs. But bottled water sold in the United States is not necessarily cleaner or safer than most tap water, according to a four-year scientific study recently made public by National Resource Development Center.

Train Story: Lt. General, Young Woman, and Grandmother

We all have different perceptions

Misunderstandings of purity.

Good person

A blind man walks into a store with his Seeing Eye dog. All of a sudden, he picks up the leash and begins swinging the dog over his head. The manager runs up to the man and asks, "What are you doing?" The blind man replies, "Just looking around."

AN IMPURE HEART CAUSES SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS.

A. Sin blinds us to will of God in our life

B. Sin blinds us to the will of God for his church.

C. Sin blinds us to the will of God for this world

D. Sin blinds us to the reality of sin’s consequences.

One day at a busy airport, the passengers on a commercial airliner are seated waiting for the pilot to show up so they can get under way.

The pilot and copilot finally appear in the rear of the plane and begin walking up to the cockpit through the center aisle. Both appear to be blind; the pilot is using a white cane, bumping into passengers’ right and left as he stumbles down the aisle. The copilot is using a guide dog. Both have their eyes covered with sunglasses.

At first, the passengers do not react thinking that it must be some sort of practical joke. After a few minutes though, the engines start revving, and the airplane begins moving down the runway.