The Be-Attitudes (part three)
Matthew 5:8-9
Recap: In our series on the beatitudes (what our attitudes should be) we’ve looked at why it is a blessing to be poor in spirit, mourning and meek. Last week we looked at why those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be blessed. They are blessed because they will be filled with it. And we saw that being merciful means we are blessed for we will receive mercy. Today we’ll look at what it means to be pure in heart and how they are blessed as well as what it means to be a peacemaker and how they are blessed.
1) Blessed are the pure in heart (vs. 8). Coy Wylie suggests that there are at least 5 kinds of purity taught in God’s Word. DIVINE Purity. This is the purity that belongs only to God and is His nature. CREATED Purity. When God first created the world everything was pure. POSITIONAL Purity. When we are saved the purity of Jesus is assigned to us. Then there’s ULTIMATE Purity. The coming day when Christians will be totally cleansed and purified. But the purity Jesus talks about here in Matthew 5. Mr. Wylie would call PRACTICAL Purity. It’s the purity we strive for and live out in practical ways as a follower of Jesus. 2nd Corinthians 7:1: “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” To be pure in heart means you have a heart that’s been cleansed by the blood of Christ. A pure heart isn’t a perfect heart, but a heart that is in a right relationship with Christ. We have chosen to cleanse our hearts from harmful impurities. To be pure means we are uncontaminated. To be pure in heart means we are unmixed; we don’t have one part holiness and one part sinfulness. James talked about this principle regarding our speech. James 3:9-12, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” To be pure would mean I’m not trying to be two people or I’m not satisfied with feeding two natures or trying to serve two masters; which Jesus said I can’t do anyway since in reality I will love one and hate the other. It’s interesting that Jesus clarified, ‘blessed are the pure in heart’. He knew there was such a thing as outward purity. And the truly blessed ones are those who are pure on the inside. Matt. 15:8-11, 17-20. Jesus is making the distinction between outward purity and true purity which is from within. The Pharisees looked pure but they weren’t. Jesus said in Matt. 23 that they were like whitewashed tombs which looked good on the outside but on the inside were dead. You can fake purity by getting good at looking good but eventually your true colors are going to show. If you are pure in heart it will be evident. “For they will see God.” Not just in the end, but now. One of the blessings is that purity removes the scales, the blinders, and the obstacles that prevent us from seeing God in the purest of light. The Pharisees saw God right in front of them in the person of Jesus but they didn’t have eyes to see. Many people saw Jesus physically but they didn’t see Him for whom He was spiritually. Impurity clouds our vision so that we can’t see God in the light of who he is. Impurity causes us to see God in an impure light. Impurities cause us to doubt God, question God, be angry with him, turn away from him. But the pure in heart will see God’s holiness more clearly. They will see His hand at work more convincingly and they will love Him more abundantly. Psalm 18:25-26, “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.” The pure in heart will clearly see God for who he is-faithful, blameless, pure-love. The pure in heart see God in the world around them. The pure in heart will see God at work in their lives. The pure in heart will see God in all his glory and they will see God for all eternity. C.S. Lewis wrote, “It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.” The pure in heart will see God because they long to; it’s their heart’s desire. We can’t minimize the value of purity. “There’s an interesting animal called the ermine. The ermine is a short-tailed weasel that has the unique feature of having its fur change to a snow-white color in the winter. God created this animal with this feature to protect it from others. The ermine instinctively protects his white coat against anything that would soil it. So much so, that it would rather die than be impure. Fur hunters in northern Europe and Asia take advantage of this unusual trait of the ermine. They don’t set a snare to catch him, but instead they find his home, which is usually a cleft in a rock or a hollow in an old tree. They smear the entrance and interior with grime. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to find and chase the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward home but won’t enter because of the filth. Rather than soil his white coat, he is trapped by the dogs and captured while preserving his purity. For the ermine, purity is more precious than life.” To what lengths are we willing to go to in order to obtain a pure heart?
2) Blessed are the peacemakers (vs. 9). Peacemakers are those who have a mindset to eliminate bitterness, hatred and enmity between people. Peacemakers are those who seek to intervene because it saddens their heart to see people in contention with one another. Peacemakers are those who have passion towards resolving conflict and instilling peace. As opposed to someone who doesn’t want to get involved. As opposed to someone who is apathetic toward the chaos around them; someone who doesn’t care what happens as long as it doesn’t involve or directly affect them. We may think it’s wrong to “butt in” saying, “I’m not going to stick my nose in their business”. This may apply when I’m just trying to get my two cents in but when I can see that Satan is at work the honorable thing is to try to remove his influence and try to prevent the situation from escalating. Being a peacemaker isn’t simply someone who causes two enemies to cease fire; it’s someone who establishes friendship between two people who were once enemies. John MacArthur said, “A truce just says you don’t shoot for awhile. Peace comes when the truth is known, the issue is settled, & the parties embrace each other.” Being a peacemaker doesn’t necessarily mean that I will get people to agree on everything; it just means I will get them to not see each other as enemies. Paul had to contend with this. There had been a dispute among believers regarding clean vs. unclean foods. Paul basically said that all foods were clean. However, if you as an individual feel it is unclean then don’t eat it but don’t look down on your brother for eating it. And for the one who thinks it is okay to eat it then eat it but don’t do so in front of an impressionable Christian so as to make him stumble. Above all practice what will promote peace. Rom. 14:17-19. Paul wanted them to understand that there will be areas where they would need to agree to disagree. He wanted them to remember what were most important-righteousness, peace and joy. He wanted them to keep the main thing the main thing-make every effort to do what leads to peace and the things that will edify instead of destroy. That’s what we need to be about because in doing so we will please God and be approved by men. People want there to be peacemakers in the world. It is an approved practice. There is way too much time and money spent on wars and court cases; way too many lives tragically altered or lost due to unresolved conflict. Too much havoc wreaked by those who are peace-breakers. “They will be called children of God.” They will be called children of God because God is the God of peace Rom. 15:33, “The God of peace be with you all.” Being a peacemaker is one of the attributes that identifies me as a child of God. In order to be a peacemaker, I have to be at peace myself. Lucy from Peanuts, “I hate everything, I hate everybody, I hate the whole wide world!” Charlie Brown says, “But I thought you had inner peace?” Lucy replies, “I do, but I also have outer obnoxiousness.” I think it’s safe to say that Lucy doesn’t have the peace she thinks she does. And I don’t remember her being much of a peacemaker either. Do we have any “Lucys” among us today? If I’m in turmoil inside then how am I going to be able to bring peace to others? If the peace of Christ doesn’t rule my heart then being a peacemaker is out of the question. Col. 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” I like the ‘and be thankful’ part at the end. Perhaps the reason I’m not at peace inside is because I’m not thankful. Josh McDowell pointed out that we can only be truly comfortable with ourselves when we are at peace with Jesus. Blessed are those who are at peace within themselves. I see this principle of being a peacemaker also applying in the context of being a peacemaker between man and God. Jesus came to establish peace between man and God since sin caused hostility between man and God. Eph. 2:13-14, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” We were once without hope but because of Jesus there is now peace between us and God. Now, as ambassadors for Christ, we who have experienced this peace have a desire for the spread of the gospel so others can experience this peace; thus we are being peacemakers. However, trying to bring peace to a hostile situation can be dangerous. It’s not easy being a peacemaker; it’s risky. Some people may look at what I’m doing as being a troublemaker, not a peacemaker. They don’t want my involvement because I’m not minding my own business. I’m shaking things up too much by my ‘meddling’. But the question is-am I willing to put myself in jeopardy for the sake of establishing peace? “Telemachus was a monk who lived in the 4th century. He felt God saying to him, "Go to Rome." He was in a cloistered monastery. He put his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome. When he arrived in the city, the streets were crowded with people. He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting and killing each other in the coliseum, the day of the games, the circus. He thought to himself, "Four centuries after Christ and they are still killing each other, for enjoyment?" He ran to the coliseum and heard the gladiators saying, "Hail to Caesar, we die for Caesar" and he thought, "this isn’t right." He jumped over the railing and went out into the middle of the field, got between two gladiators, held up his hands and said "In the name of Christ, refrain." The crowd protested and began to shout, "Run him through, Run him through." A gladiator came over and hit him in the stomach with the back of his sword. It sent him sprawling in the sand. He got up and ran back and again said, "In the name of Christ, refrain." The crowd continued to chant, "Run him through." One gladiator came over and plunged his sword through the little monk’s stomach and he fell into the sand, which began to turn crimson with his blood. One last time he gasped out, "In the name of Christ, refrain." A hush came over the 80,000 people in the coliseum. Soon a man stood and left, then another and more, and within minutes all 80,000 had emptied out of the arena. It was the last known gladiatorial contest in the history of Rome.” Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.
