THE WAY OF THE KING
A Pure Heart
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Mt. 5:8).
Religion majors on externals to the neglect of more important issues. It deals with rules, regulations and ceremonies.
This was condemned by God through the pen of Isaiah. He wrote: "The Lord says: ’These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men’" (Isaiah 29:13).
The teachers of the law were precise in their tithing of spices, but neglected justice, mercy and faithfulness. Jesus said of them, “You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel” (Mt. 23:23-24).
Luke tells us that the Pharisees chided Jesus because he did not go through the ceremonial washings before eating. (See Lu 11:37-38)
Although the priests were commanded to wash their hands before going into the presence of the Lord, lest they die, the Pharisees had taken it beyond God’s intent. They had instituted a hand washing ceremony that had no basis in the Law and had in fact become a substitute for heart purity.
In 1Timothy 2:8, Paul used the figure of clean hands when he wrote: "I want men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension." In his statement Paul rejects ritual that is void of reality. Hands that have been lifted against a brother in anger should not be lifted to God in prayer until they have been cleansed.
Paul’s statement to Timothy was probably borrowed from Isaiah, who declared:
Isaiah 1:15-16 (NASB)
15“So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. 16“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil."
Hands speak of external observable actions. They are lifted in prayer and worship and extended in service, but it is the thoughts and intents of the heart that determine the value of those actions. Jesus said:
NIV Matthew 15:18 …the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ’unclean.’ 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
NIV Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
The condition of our hands, whether they are clean or not, is determined by the condition of our heart, not ceremonial washing. If I hate my brother, no amount of washing my hands will make them clean . The outward sins that defile the hands are rooted in the inward sins that defile the heart. Jeremiah told the people of Israel, "Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be delivered" (Jer. 4:14).
God exhorts us to do more than merely modify our behavior. He calls us to deal with the attitudes, intents and motivations of our hearts.
In Psalm 24:3, David asked, "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?" and goes on to ask, "Or who may stand in His holy place?" In simple terms David is asking, "Who can come into the presence of the Lord?"
In this liturgy, the worshipers would respond to the priests questions with, "He who has clean hands and a pure heart…" (Psalm 24:4).
Similar questions and answers are asked and given in Psalm 15. The Psalmist asks:
1Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
A paraphrase of the Psalmist’s answer might read as follows:
The one who walks straight, acts right, and whose spoken word agrees with the thoughts of his heart [that is integrity]. The one who refuses to use his tongue as a weapon against others, who never harms his neighbor, and who is a friend through thick and thin. The individual who refuses to take sides with sinners, but honors those who fear the LORD. He is one who will keep his word even if it means his ruin. The man who does not crush his debtors with high interest rates, and refuses to take a bribe against the innocent. Such a man shall stand firm forever.
Those who come into the presence of the Lord cannot rely on religious ritual for their acceptance; not even when performed with excellence. They must come with a pure heart!
People with pure hearts and little talent are more effective ministers than those who have great talent and impure hearts, but we admire talent. We admire the expression, but God values the condition of the fountain from which that expression comes. Do you remember what He told Samuel concerning Eliab? He said, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1Sam. 16:7).
We think that singing a worship song is enough in itself, but we fail to realize that God is listening to our heart not just the sounds made by our lips and larynx. All too often we mistake great ability for ministry. We observe, "she has a beautiful voice," but God responds to the message expressed by a pure heart--a heart that is undivided in its devotion, unselfish in its motives and truthful.
In Psalm 51:6, the Psalmist declared, "Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being" and in acknowledgement of his need he cries, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).
James must have had this Psalm in mind when he wrote: "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). James associates impure hearts with double-mindedness when he says, "purify your hearts, you double-minded" (Ja. 4:8). The term "double-minded" literally means "double-souled." This person lacks integrity. He claims one thing and lives another. He is a hypocrite and a fraud. According to Jesus, they are like "whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness" (Mt. 23:27).
Jesus told His critics: “…You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean” (Mt. 23:25-26); and in Luke 11 He said to them, "…you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but the inside is full of robbery and wickedness" (Luke 11:39).
Later, while speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus declared:
Matt 23:25 (NASU) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. 27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
The Jews listening to Jesus would have understood the seriousness of Jesus’ reference to "dead men’s bones." They would have immediately thought of Numbers 19:16, which says, "…anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean…."
No amount of ceremonial hand washing would remove the defilement of being full of dead men’s bones. It would be like buffing the outside of the skillet until it shined, but leaving moldy food on the inside as a breeding ground for all kinds of filth.
It does no good to confess sinful actions without dealing with the heart attitudes that produce them. To ask God to forgive our sinful actions while harboring sinful attitudes is like asking God to heal us of lung cancer while continuing to smoke two packs a day. It’s like asking for God’s protection as we travel and then driving recklessly. Jesus addressed this when He said, “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt. 5:27). Full-blown adultery is the product of an impure heart. It begins in the heart with discontent and greed and a desire for that which is prohibited and culminates in a sinful act and death.
Religious frauds polish their skills and perfect their methods, but they fail to take care of their heart. They are more about performance and appeal than ministry. Their public performance may shine, but it’s all a show and a sham. (See Luke 20:46-47.)
Ezekiel wrote to his fellow Israelites, "Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit" (Ezk. 18:31).
Paul exhorted the Corinthians to cleanse themselves “from all defilement of flesh and spirit” and to pursue holiness “out of reverence for God” (2Cor. 7:1).
The Way of the King is the way of a pure heart.
Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem only to find its walls torn down and its gates burned. Under his Spirit empowered leadership, the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt in just 52 days. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and the surrounding area were brought to repentance and experienced a revival of worship. Following this, Nehemiah left Jerusalem for a season, but later, when he returned, he found Tobiah, and enemy, living in the storehouse that was dedicated to serve as a warehouse for the collected tithes and offerings given by the people. (See Neh. 13:4-7.) Tobiah was an enemy of Israel and had no right to be living in Jerusalem, much less in the storehouse. Upon finding out about this, we are told that Nehemiah "threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room" and "commanded them to cleanse the rooms; and I refilled the rooms with the articles that belonged there, with the grain offering and the frankincense" (Neh. 13:8-9).
There is within you a treasure more valuable than you can or could ever imagine. Buried under the unforgiveness, bitterness, doubt, double-mindedness, fear, and other debris is a heart that can longs to be free. Once freed, it can enable you to see God in new places and new ways. Our inability to see God is not a matter of His absence or His invisibility; it is the result of the cataracts and calluses over our heart that prevents us from seeing HIM.
Perhaps you are like me and need to take your heart to God for examination and cleansing. Perhaps, like Nehemiah, we need to cast out Tobiah’s stuff and make room for joy, peace and righteousness. Maybe we need to get violent with the money changers within our own heart and chase them out, so that this temple can once again be a house of prayer and not a den of thieves.
Purify my heart, oh Lord. Cleanse my heart, oh Lord, and make it like yours.
How will we know we have a pure heart? When we can see God!
PRAYER!
© 2007, by Louis Bartet, all rights reserved.
