Blessed Are The Pure In Heart For They Will See God. Series

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart (Matthew 5:8)

Our verse is found in a section from Matthew chapter 5 called “The Beatitudes.” It is part of a bigger section of Christ’s sermons called “the Sermon on the Mount” Jesus has just announced earlier about the Kingdom of Heaven in Matt. 4:17. He also commanded people to repent to enter this kingdom. This was already in contrast to the Pharisees and teachers of the law who taught that there was external righteousness needed to enter the Kingdom of God. It was about keeping the rituals, laws and commandments for the religious leaders. But Jesus just said, “Repent.”

Now as Jesus begins His teaching ministry, many were wondering, "What does it mean to be in the Kingdom of Heaven? " So Jesus begins with the Beatitudes. Some have said these are “attitudes to be.” Notice in the eight beatitudes in Matt. 5:3-11, that the Kingdom of Heaven is mentioned first and last. These are the characteristics of those people who have turned from their kingdom (through repentance) and willingly placed themselves under the rule of King Jesus.

BEATITUDES (Matt. 5:3-12)

WOES (Matt. 23:13-23)

1. Kingdom opened (v.3) 1. Kingdom shut (v.13)

2. Comfort for mourners (v.4) 2. Mourners distressed (v.14)

3. Meek inheriting the earth (v.5) 3. Fanatics compassing the earth (v.15)

4. True righteousness sought by true desire (v.6) 4. True righteousness sought by selfish desire (vv.16-22)

5. The merciful obtaining mercy (v.7) 5. Mercy “omitted” and left “undone” (vv.23-24)

6. Purity within, then vision of God (v.8) 6. Purity outside, uncleanness inside. “Blindness” (vv.25-26)

7. Peacemakers, sons of God (v.9) 7. Hypocrites, lawless (vv.27-28)

8. Persecuted (vv.10-12) 8. Persecutors (vv.29-33)

The Beatitudes are not commandments, though there is authority behind them (since it is from Jesus). They are not requirements to enter the Kingdom. Rather, they show “how a person who is in right relationship with God and in the Kingdom should conduct his life ."

Notice all of the qualities here are internal heart qualities that flows from within -they are the fruit of walking by the Spirit. This is a different message than what the Pharisees taught. The Pharisees were concerned with how loud you prayed, how you looked when you fasted and how much you gave. It was all external. In fact, if you want to ever study the Beatitudes, you should compare them in light of the eight “woes” of Matthew 23:

Sometimes it is better to understand what something means by studying its opposite. By the way, when Jesus says, “Woe!” He means something like “grief, calamity, misery, sorrow,” essentially the opposite of being truly blessed.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” That’s it! That’s the goal of the Christian life! That’s what we are living for – that we may live our life in such a way that we see God. If we see God, it will open up the treasure trove of all the blessings, not only for eternity, but also for life here and now. And the key to open that treasure trove is a pure heart!

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.

Let’s look at the meaning of pure in Merriam-Webster:

“Unmixed with any other matter”

When something is pure it is unmixed. For instance, when something is described as being pure gold, that means it is nothing but gold; it has a single ingredient with nothing added. So what is a pure heart?

When we’re pure in heart we seek the Lord only, take Him as our only goal, and have the

accomplishing of God’s will for God’s glory as our only purpose.

What Is It to Have a Pure Heart?

1. Living by the rule of God, living a life that is pleasing to God.

2. Living for the purpose of God, having a single-minded devotion to God.

Having a pure heart first of all means living by the rules of God that bring spiritual purity.

It is easy to follow rules and forget the matter of the heart. We are more careful to keep everything clean - areas that is seen by others and forget about the things that only God can see. If my hands are muddy, nobody would want to shake hands with me, so I better keep them clean. If a preacher was wearing a dirty shirt when he was preaching , you would give more attention to his shirt and not hear what he was saying. We want to keep up appearances before man, but we forget about keeping straight before God.