THE PURE IN HEART
MATTHEW 5:1-12
ONE THING THAT WE ARE CONSTANTLY IN SEARCH FOR IS PURITY. WHEN WE GO GROCERY SHOPPING, WE LOOK FOR PRODUCE WITH NO MARKS, CANS WITH NO DENTS, AND BOXES THAT HAVE NO TEARS.
I REMEMBER THE COMMERCIALS FOR MAXWELL HOUSE COFFEE, GOOD TO THE LAST DROP, AND FOR IVORY SOAP 99 44/100 PERCENT PURE. A FRIEND OF MINE WOULD JOKINGLY ASK ME WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE LAST DROP OF COFFEE.
CHILDRENS CONCERTS ARE ALWAYS ACCEPTED WITH GREAT JOY I BELIEVE BECAUSE WHATEVER THEY DO ON STAGE, IT IS WITH A PURE MOTIVE.
WE ARE CONSTANTLY IN SEARCH FOR PURITY. THE TELEVISION THAT GIVES THE CLEAREST PICTURE, THE WASHING MACHINE THAT CLEANS THE BEST, THE CAR THAT EMITS THE LEAST POLLUTION, ARE FOREVER ON OUR RADAR SCREENS.
GOD IS SEARCHING FOR PURITY AS WELL, AND IT IS PURITY IN OUR RELATIONSHIP TO HIM. IF THAT REALTIONSHIP IS RIGHT, WE WILL SEE GOD IN OTHERS, EVEN IF THE PERSON WE ARE LOOKING AT IS NOT A CHRISTIAN. THIS IS WHAT JESUS IS REFERRING TO WHEN HE SPEAKS OF THE PURE IN HEART.
WHEN I MENTION THE TERM “HEART CONDITION”, MANY THINGS MAY COME TO YOUR MIND, BUT I BELIEVE THE ONE THING THEY WOULD HAVE IN COMMON IS THAT THEY ARE ALL NEGATIVE THOUGHTS. SOME MAY BE THINKING OF “HEART ATTACK”, “BY-PASS SURGERY” OR “CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE TO NAME A FEW.
THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE RED CUSHIPON SOCIETY OF THE SAINT JOHN REGIONAL HOSPITAL CONTINUES TO GROW, AND HAS MEMBERS FROM OUR OWN AREA.
HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER THOUGH, IF I WERE TO ASK YOU WHAT THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF YOUR HEART WAS? THIS WAS THE ISSUE THAT JESUS WAS SPEAKING OF IN THIS BEATITUDE. TODAY WE ARE GOING TO DO A HEART EXAMINATION AND SEE THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF YOUR HEART, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT CHANGING IT IF NEEDED.
POINT ONE: CULTURAL HISTORY
JESUS SPOKE IN THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF HIS TIME, SO WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND SOME OF THAT HISTORY TO UNDERSTAND THIS BEATITUDE.
WHEN PEOPLE SPOKE OF THEIR HEART IN JESUS’ TIME IT WAS ALL ENCOMPASSING IN NATURE. THE HEART WAS THE CENTER OF EMOTIONS AND LIFE. EVERYTHING CENTERED ON THE HEART.
WE TEND TO DO THE SAME THING TODAY. IF A PERSON IS SAD, WE MAY SAY THEY THEY ARE BROKEN-HEARTED. IF THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT WE JUST COULDN’T DO, WE MAY SAY I DIDN’T HAVE THE HEART TO DO IT. WE MAY SAY THAT A PERSON WHO PERFORMED A HEROIC FEAT HAD A LOT OF HEART.
THE HEART WAS THE CENTRE OF THE PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND SPIRITUAL LIFE DURING JESUS’ LIFETIME. IT WAS THE CENTRE OF THOUGHTS, PASSIONS, AND DESIRES. FROM THE HEART CAME THE NATURE OF THE WILL AND THE ESSENTIAL TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
JEREMIAH SAID:
JEREMIAH 17:10: “I THE LORD SEARCH THE HEART AND EXAMINE THE MIND, TO REWARD EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO THEIR CONDUCT, ACCORDING TO WHAT THEIR DEEDS DESERVE.”
THE PEOPLE OF JESUS’ TIME FOLLOWED THE PRINCIPLE OF LOOKING FROM THE OUTSIDE IN TO DETERMINE THAT PERSON’S HEART. WE CANNOT FAULT THEM WITH THAT, FOR WE DO THE SAME THING TODAY.
WE WILL SAY THAT THIS PERSON WAS A GOOD “CHRISTIAN” PERSON BECAUSE OF THE DEEDS THAT THEY DO, NOT BECAUSE OF THE CONDITION OF THEIR HEART. IF PEOPLE DO THE RIGHT THINGS FOR THE WRONG REASONS, IS IT STILL RIGHT TO DO? OR IF PEOPLE HAVE SINCERE MOTIVATION THAT WHAT THEY DO IS RIGHT, DOES THAT MAKE THEIR ACTION RIGHT? IF THE PERSON WHO SHOT THE PEOPLE IN THE MOSQUE IN QUEBEC FELT IN HIS HEART THAT IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO, DID IT GIVE HIM THE RIGHT TO DO IT?
THE PHARISEES AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF JESUS TIME WERE ALL ABOUT THE OUTWARD SIGNS OF THE LAW. THEY THOUGHT THE LAW WAS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING, SO MUCH SO THAT THEY ADDED 600 LAWS TO CLARIFY THE MOSAIC LAW. THE LAW ACCORDING TO THEM HAD TO BE OBEYED AT ALL COSTS, THOUGH THEY SOON REALIZED THAT NO ONE COULD DO IT.
THEY WOULD MAKE A SPECTACLE OF THEMSELVES PRAYING, FASTING, AND GIVING, IN PUBLIC FOR ALL TO SEE.
LUKE 18:9-14:
TO SOME WHO WERE CONFIDENT OF THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LOOKED DOWN ON EVERYONE ELSE, JESUS TOLD THIS PARABLE: 10 “TWO MEN WENT UP TO THE TEMPLE TO PRAY, ONE A PHARISEE AND THE OTHER A TAX COLLECTOR. 11 THE PHARISEE STOOD BY HIMSELF AND PRAYED: ‘GOD, I THANK YOU THAT I AM NOT LIKE OTHER PEOPLE—ROBBERS, EVILDOERS, ADULTERERS—OR EVEN LIKE THIS TAX COLLECTOR. 12 I FAST TWICE A WEEK AND GIVE A TENTH OF ALL I GET.’ 13 “BUT THE TAX COLLECTOR STOOD AT A DISTANCE. HE WOULD NOT EVEN LOOK UP TO HEAVEN, BUT BEAT HIS BREAST AND SAID, ‘GOD, HAVE MERCY ON ME, A SINNER.’ 14 “I TELL YOU THAT THIS MAN, RATHER THAN THE OTHER, WENT HOME JUSTIFIED BEFORE GOD. FOR ALL THOSE WHO EXALT THEMSELVES WILL BE HUMBLED, AND THOSE WHO HUMBLE THEMSELVES WILL BE EXALTED.”
JESUS LOOKED FROM THE HEART LEADING TO ACTION TOWARDS OTHERS. WHEN JESUS SAID “BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART,” HE WAS SPEAKING OF THE PERSON BEING TOTALLY HEALTHY, PHYSICALLY, SPIRITUALLY, AND EMOTIONALLY. HE MAKES THIS CLEAR IN MATTHEW’S GOSPEL:
MATTHEW 15:16-20:
16 “ARE YOU STILL SO DULL?” JESUS ASKED THEM. 17 “DON’T YOU SEE THAT WHATEVER ENTERS THE MOUTH GOES INTO THE STOMACH AND THEN OUT OF THE BODY? 18 BUT THE THINGS THAT COME OUT OF A PERSON’S MOUTH COME FROM THE HEART, AND THESE DEFILE THEM. 19 FOR OUT OF THE HEART COME EVIL THOUGHTS—MURDER, ADULTERY, SEXUAL IMMORALITY, THEFT, FALSE TESTIMONY, SLANDER. 20 THESE ARE WHAT DEFILE A PERSON; BUT EATING WITH UNWASHED HANDS DOES NOT DEFILE THEM.
JESUS IS VERY CLEAR THAT IT IS THE ACTIONS THAT COME FROM THE HEART AND MIRROR THE HEART, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
THIS IS WHY DAVID IN HIS GREAT PRAYER OF REPENTANCE BEGS GOD FOR:
PSALM 51:10: CREATE IN ME A PURE HEART, O GOD, AND RENEW A STEADFAST SPIRIT WITHIN ME.
POINT TWO: DEFINING A PURE HEART
NOW THAT WE UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE REASONING FOR JESUS’ STATEMENT, LETS SEEK TO UNDERSTAND WHAT PURE IN HEART MEANS.
THE WORDS HEART AND PURE COME FROM TWO GREEK WORDS:
1. KARDIA = IS DEFINED AS HEART
WE GET THE WORDS CARDIOLOGY AND CARDIO FROM IT.
2. KATHAROS = TO CLEANSE, WASH, OR PURIFY
WE GET THE WORD CATHARSIS FROM IT
IT ALSO REFERS TO REFINING ORE. THE WATER
WASHES AND CLEANSES, AND THE FIRE PURIFIES
PURITY IN ESSENCE IS THE PERSONAL DECISION TO GLORIFY GOD WITH OUR BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT.
1 TIMOTHY 1:5: THE GOAL OF THIS COMMAND IS LOVE, WHICH COMES FROM A PURE HEART AND A GOOD CONSCIENCE AND A SINCERE FAITH.
THE ULTIMATE QUESTION IS WHETHER OR NOT WHAT WE WISH TO DO WILL HONOR GOD. IT IS A QUESTION THAT MUST BE ANSWERED IN OUR HEARTS AND THEN THE ACTION PROCEEDS.
PURITY AND STRENGTH ARE ALWAYS FOUND FROM INSIDE THE PERSON, AND EXPRESSED BY OUTWARD ACTIONS.
THE STORY IS TOLD OF A GREAT TREE, HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD THAT ONE NIGHT WAS KNOCKED OVER BY A VIOLENT STORM. CLOSE EXAMINATION SHOWED THAT IT WAS ROTTEN AT THE CORE BECAUSE THOUSANDS OF TINY INSECTS HAD EATEN AWAY AT IT’S HEART. THE WEAKNESS OF THE TREE WAS NOT BROUGHT ON BY THE SUDDEN STORM, IT BEGAN WHEN THE FIRST INSECT NESTED IN IT’S BARK. ALL LOOKED WELL ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT THE INSIDE WAS HOLLOW AND EMPTY.
OUTWARD ACTS CANNOT PRODUCE INNER BENEFITS. JUST AS THE OUTWARD ACT OF ADULTERY REFLECTS A HEART THAT IS ALREADY ADULTEROUS, SO TO THE OUWARD ACT OF FORSAKING WHAT IS HARMFUL REFLECTS A HEART THAT HUNGERS AND THIRSTS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
JOHN MacARTHUR WRITES OF SIX KINDS OF PURITY MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES:
1. PRIMAL PURITY: ESSENTIAL QUALITY OF GOD AND FOUND ONLY IN GOD HIMSELF.
2. CREATED PURITY: WHEN GOD CREATED ALL THINGS THEY WERE IN A STATE OF ABSOLUTE PURITY. THIS WAS PRIOR TO THE FALL.
3. POSITIONAL PURITY: WHEN WE ACCEPT CHRIST AS OUR SAVIOR, WE GAIN THE PURITY OF HIS POSITION AND ARE SEEN THROUGH HIS DIVINE PURITY.
4. ACTUAL PURITY: THIS IS GRANTED IN THE NEW NATURE OF THE BELIEVER. WE ARE MADE A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST.
5. PRACTICAL PURITY: THIS COMES FROM GOD BUT IT ALSO REQUIRES OUR EFFORT. IT IS OUR PRACTICE OF THE PURITY WE HAVE BEEN SHOWN. THIS AFFECTS THE WAY WE LIVE ON A DAILY BASIS.
6. ULTIMATE PURITY: THE PROMISE OF BEING GLORIFIED BY CHRIST IN ETERNITY.
REMEMBER ONLY GOD CAN MAKE OUR HEART PURE AND ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE OUR HEART TO BE PURE. IT IS NOT OF US.
POINT THREE: HOW DO WE RECEIVE THIS PURITY?
1. THE FIRST STEP IN GAINING A PURE HEART IS TO RECEIVE CHRIST AS LORD. IT IS BY HIS SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS THAT WE ARE MADE CLEAN.
IMBESIS LAW SAYS, “IN ORDER TO BECOME CLEAN, SOMETHING ELSE MUST BECOME DIRTY. PAUL SAID:
2 CORINTHIANS 5:21: GOD MADE HIM WHO HAD NO SIN TO BE SIN FOR US, SO THAT IN HIM WE MIGHT BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD.
WHEN I WAS A CHILD, TUESDAY WAS WASHDAY. MOM HAD A RINGER WASHER, WITH A WASHTUB FOR A RINSE, RATHER ADVANCED FOR THAT TIME. I REMEMBER THAT THERE WAS AN ORDER IN DOING THE CLOTHES. THE WHITES WERE DONE FIRST, AND THEN IT PROGRESSIVELY GOT DARKER, DOWN TO DAD’S WORKING CLOTHES. IT HAD TO BE THAT WAY. WITH EVERY TUBE OF CLOTHES THE WASH AND RINSE WATER GOT DIRTIER. WHILE THE CLOTHES BECAME CLEAN, THE WATER GOT DIRTY, JUST LIKE THE IMBESIS LAW.
ANOTHER COUPLE OF THINGS WE WERE TOLD TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT WERE THE AGITATOR AND THE RINGER. THE CLOTHES WERE CLEANED BY A THOROUGH BEATING WITH THE AGITATOR, AND WERE FLATTENED AND WRUNG OUT WITH THE RINGER. WE WERE TOLD NOT TO PUT OUR FINGERS NEAR EITHER AS WE COULD BE REALLY HURT.
REMEMBER THAT THE PROCESS OF PURITY CAN REALLY HURT AS WELL. IT CAN INVOLVE GIVING UP THINGS THAT WE MAY REALLY LIKE, BUT WEIGHTING THEM AGAINST LIVING FOR CHRIST FOUND THEM WANTING.
THE THOUGHT OF THE FILTH OF SIN DISGUSTS YOU SO MUCH THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO BE WASHED BY GOD TO OVERCOME IMPURITY IN EVERY AREA OF YOUR LIFE. IF YOU HAVE THAT DISGUST OF SIN, THEN YOU WILL KNOW THAT GOD IS READY AND WILLING TO HELP YOU. YOU WILL BE TESTED FOR SURE, BUT YOU WILL COME OUT CLEAN AND WHOLE, AND YOU WILL KNOW THE BLESSED RELATIONSHIP OF GOD.
JOHN WESLEY SAID:
“THE “PURE IN HEART” ARE THEY WHOSE HEARTS GOD HATH PURIFIED EVEN AS HE IS PURE,” WHO ARE PURIFIED, THROUGH FAITH IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS, FROM EVERY UNHOLY AFFECTION, WHO BEING “CLEANSED OF ALL FILTHINESS OF FLESH AND SPIRIT, PERFECT HOLINESS IN THE “LOVING FEAR OF GOD”. THEY ARE THROUGH THE POWER OF HIS GRACE, PURIFIED FROM PRIDE, BY THE DEEPEST POVERTY OF SPIRIT, FROM ANGER, FROM EVERY UNKIND OR TURBULENT PASSION, BY MEEKNESS AND GENTLENESS, FROM EVERY DESIRE BUT TO PLEASE AND ENJOY GOD, TO KNOW AND LOVE HIM MORE AND MORE, BY THAT HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH NOW ENGROSSES THEIR WHOLE SOUL. SO THAT NOW THEY LOVE THE LORD THEIR GOD WITH ALL THEIR HEART, AND WITH ALL THEIR SOUL, AND MIND AND STRENGTH.”
2. CONVICTION: REMEMBER THAT PURIFICATION BEGINS WITH GOD, NOT US. YOU NOR I CAN MAKE OURSELVES PURE, NOR CAN WE REMAIN PURE IN OUR OWN STRENGTH. WE MUST RELY ON GOD. CONVICTION IS LITERALLY THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TRYING TO GUIDE US AWAY FROM DOING WRONG AND BACK TOWARD THE LOVE OF GOD.
3. CONFESSION: CONFESSION IS ADMITTING THAT YOU HAVE DONE WHAT IS WRONG IN THE EYES OF GOD. ROMANS 3:23 TELLS US THAT WE HAVE ALL SINNED IN WAYS THAT WE DON’T EVEN RECOGNIZE AS SIN.
THE STORY IS TOLD OF A FATHER WHO IS OUT FOR A DRIVE WITH HIS LITTLE BOY WHEN THEY COME UPON A FIELD OF WATERMELONS. THE FATHER STOPS THE CAN AND TELLS THE BOY TO KEEP A LOOKOUT WHILE HE GOES AND GETS A MELON. THE MAN GOES INTO THE FIELD AND FINDS A NICE RIPE WATERMELON AND LIFTS IT UP. HE CALLS TO THE BOY “KEEP A SHARP EYE! LOOK BOTH TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT. THE INTUITIVE BOY CALLS BACK. “BUT DAD, SHOULDN’T WE LOOK UP AS WELL.”
WE ALL HAVE SINNED, AND WE ARE ALL IN NEED OF CONFESSION.
1 JOHN 1:8-10:
IF WE CLAIM TO BE WITHOUT SIN, WE DECEIVE OURSELVES AND THE TRUTH IS NOT IN US. 9 IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST AND WILL FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND PURIFY US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. 10 IF WE CLAIM WE HAVE NOT SINNED, WE MAKE HIM OUT TO BE A LIAR AND HIS WORD IS NOT IN US.
4. REPENTANCE: THE TRUTH IS THAT A PERSON CAN CONFESS THEIR SINS, BUT NOT TRULY REPENT. REPENTANCE IS MORE THAN THE DESIRE TO TURN AWAY FROM SIN, IT IS THE DESIRE TO TURN TO GOD. HOW DO WE DO THIS:
1. WE MUST MAINTAIN A DAILY PRAYER LIFE.
2. WE MUST FILL OUR LIVES WITH THE WORD OF GOD
3. WE MUST SURRENDER OUR WILL TO THE HOLY SPIRIT.
CONCLUSION:
PURITY IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF CERTAIN THINGS IN YOUR LIFE, IT IS THE OVERWEALMING PRESENCE OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE.
THE PROMISE OF A PURE LIFE IS THAT WE WILL SEE GOD. THIS PROMISE IS NOT JUST WAITING FOR US IN HEAVEN. IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN SEE RIGHT NOW.
AS WE DRAW CLOSER AND CLOSER TO GOD AND HIS PURITY ENVELOPES US, WE SHALL SEE THOSE AROUND US AS GOD SEES THEM. WE SHALL SEE WITH SPIRITUAL EYES THE CREATION OF GOD IN ALL ITS GLORY, AND IN DOING SO, FALL DEEPER AND DEEPER IN LOVE WITH HIM.
ADONIRAM JUDSON A MISSIONARY SAID:
“I DO NOT WANT TO BE LIKE PAUL…OR ANY MERE MAN. I WANT TO BE LIKE CHRIST…I WANT TO FOLLOW HIM ONLY, COPY HIS TEACHINGS, DRINK IN HIS SPIRIT, AND PLACE MY FEET IN HIS FOOTPRINTS…OH, TO BE MORE LIKE CHRIST!”
C.S.LEWIS SAID:
“IT IS NO WONDER ONLY THE PURE IN HEART WILL SEE GOD. NO ONE ELSE WOULD WANT TO.”
I ASK YOU THIS QUESTION. DO YOU WANT TO SEE CHRIST? IF SO THEN YOU MUST PURIFY YOUR HEART.
