The pure in heart
Kingdom Attitudes a series on Mat 5
So far .progressive demands
* See self as needy and desperate
So far .progressive demands
* See self as needy and desperate
* Be gentle and not self seeking
* amazed that God and man can think of him as well as they do and treat him as well as they do. MLJ
* Passionately desire righteousness
* Show mercy to others
So far .progressive demands
* See self as needy and desperate
* Be gentle and not self seeking
* Passionately desire righteousness
* Show mercy to others
* Be pure in heart
Why?....progressive rewards
* Theirs is the Kingdom of heaven
* Belonging now and in the future
* Comfort
* The God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1:3-10, ESV)
* He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore (Re 21:4, ESV).
Why?....progressive rewards
* Theirs is the Kingdom of heaven
* Comfort
* Inherit the earth
* A man who is truly meek is always satisfied, he is already content MLJ
* All things are yours (1 Co 3:21)
* I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Php 4:11-13).
Why?....progressive rewards
* Theirs is the Kingdom of heaven
* Comfort
* Inherit the earth
* For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. (Romans 8:18-19)
* And they sang a new song, saying, gWorthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.h (Revelation 5:9-10)
* Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (Revelation 21:1)
Why?....progressive rewards
* Theirs is the Kingdom of heaven
* Comfort
* Inherit the earth and be
satisfied
* Be shown mercy
* See God
* All now but not yet
To See God
* THE desire of men
* The task of the preacher and theologian to show God
* Yet No one has ever seen God (John 1:18)
* ..man shall not see me and live. (Ex 3:20)
* Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. (Ps 24:3-4)
Pure in heart
* Not the beating organ!
* Nor simply emotions
* Emotional, intellectual and volitional centre of man s being and personality the source of their every activity
* Instincts and passions
* Pure means unadulterated, clean and fixed
A pure heart?
* The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind (Jer 17:9-10, NIV)
A pure heart?
* For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.(Mt 15:19)
How to get a pure heart
* Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. (Ps 51:10-11)
* Having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience (Heb 10:22)
* O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. (Jer 4:14)
* Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8,ESV)
How to get a clean heart
* Prayer for God to purify me
* The word of God
* Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word (Eph 5:25-27)
* Challenging the ideas of the world which pollute us.
* Do not let the world squeeze you into its mould but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (Ro 12:2)
* Being with Gods people
Our glorious future
* "Beloved, we are God? children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure." (1 John 3:2-3, ESV)
