No More Pretending Series

November 5, 2000

No More Pretending!

Pure means that something is ______________.

The Scriptural content of the heart deals with the…

 ______________

 ______________

 ______________

Proverbs 4:23. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

What does "pure in heart" mean?

It means ___________ ____________.

It means ___________ ____________.

 Matthew 6:1 Be careful not to parade your good deeds before others to attract their notice or you will lose all your reward from your Father in heaven.

 Proverbs 10:9 The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.

 Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright guides them. But the unfaithful are destroyed by duplicity.

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November 5, 2000

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God

No More Pretending!

Two young adults were involved in a fender bender and at first they were angry with one another and accused the other of being at fault, but finally, calmer heads prevailed and they decided to call the police and let the officials settle the matter.

But as they waited for the police to arrive they got involved in a conversation and discovered that both of them were single, and that they had a lot in common, and the chemistry began to flow between the two.

Finally the young woman said, “You know, maybe it was God’s will that we had this accident and we get to meet one another.”

And the young man, who was really attracted to the young woman said, I think you are absolutely right!

And then the young woman said, “Its silly for us to stand out here in the cold. Let’s get inside my car & sit where it will be a little warmer.” And the young man agreed.

As they sat talking in the car the young woman said, “You know, I just happened to be at the store and I bought a bottle of wine and I have some paper cups. How about if we have a toast to this chance meeting.”

The young man thought that was a good idea.

They made their toast, he gulped down his wine and then noticed she hadn’t toasted…And he said, “Aren’t you going to drink yours?”

She said, “NO, I think I’ll just wait for the police to arrive to assess the damages.”

WHAT ARE YOUR MOTIVES? Are they always good?

 Are you kind to people to help them or manipulate them?

 Why are you here this morning? Is it because you genuinely love God or was that what you were programmed to do early in your childhood?

 Why do you seek to live a moral life? Is it because you want to please God, or because it will be personally advantageous?

THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO DO THE RIGHT THING…but the Bible teaches that you do the right thing with the right motives.

The Bible says that God doesn’t just look at our outward appearance, but that He looks at the heart, that which is hidden on the inside.

 And if we praise God with our lips as we sit in this place on Sunday morning and our hearts are far from Him on Monday, the Bible says that we are hypocrites and we are praising Him in vain.

 Because it’s easy to pretend that we are spiritual here at church, in front of others but then we are devious & dishonest in the work place when no one is looking.

 You see, we pray piously here in our Bible Study Enrichment Groups, but then we find ourselves cursing continually on the golf course.

 We teach purity & honesty to our children, but when they go to bed we turn on the satellite or get on the computer and view pornography.

So we need to see that it is not what’s on the outside that matters the most….but what’s on the inside…. it’s a matter of the HEART…and that is what concerns God the most.

That is why Jesus says what He does in verse 8 of Matthew chapter 5…..

MATTHEW 5:8 SAYS… 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

What does it mean to be pure in heart?

To be PURE means that it is UNMIXED

 We want to drink pure water.

 We want to breathe pure air.

 We want to eat pure foods.

 I understand last year Americans spent over half a billion dollars on water purifiers.

 Gold that has all the dross removed is pure gold.

 Grain that has all the chaff removed is pure grain.

 Milk that has not been diluted with water is pure milk