We had a large Cottonwood tree in our back yard on Hill Street. It was a good 50-60 feet tall. Several similar trees over 60 feet tall had fallen and we were getting concerned. We decided that it was time for it to go. An arborist didn’t think it necessary to do more than trim it, but he cut it down and it was the right decision because the tree was rotting in the center and was likely to fall in the near future.
Like that tree, the Pharisees were also afflicted with inner rot and corruption. Jesus said to them, “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.” Matthew 23:27 (NASB). Their hearts were filled with hypocrisy, greed, pride, cruelty and judgementalism.
It is not external appearance that matters. It’s what’s inside that counts. The Lord said to Samuel, who was looking favorably at 7 of Jesse’s sons to anoint one as king to replace Saul, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 (NASB). David, son #8, the shepherd boy, was God’ choice.
Peter emphasized the value of the inner person. He wrote to godly women, “Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.” 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NASB).
The Bible declares the necessity and benefits of a pure heart. Let’s explore the benefits. But, first, what is a pure heart?
*A pure heart is an uncontaminated heart, cleansed of lust, greed, envy, hate, pride, bitterness and rebellion.
*A pure heart is an undivided heart:
Undivided in loyalty; not giving a part to God and part to the world.
Undivided in faith; half believing God and half doubting God.
*A pure heart is an untroubled heart. Jesus said, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.” John 14:1 (NASB). What should we know about pure hearts?
I. PURE HEARTS PRODUCE PURE LOVE:
A. Paul wrote, “the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” 1 Timothy 1:5 (NASB). Good water does not flow from a contaminated source, nor does pure love flow from a contaminated heart.
1. If we don’t have pure love, we don’t have a pure heart.
2. If we don’t have a pure heart, we don’t have pure love.
B. Pure love:
1. Is not self-seeking and goes out, not for what it can take but for what it can give.
2. Is stable and reliable.
3. Is deep and sincere.
C. Pure hearts produce pure love like this “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails;”..1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NASB).
D. Who needs you to love on them right now? If you can’t think of anyone, consider:
1. Paying for the meal of the guy behind you at the fast food drive through.
2. On a hot day hand out cold bottles of water in a parking lot with permission of lot owner.
3. Allow someone who lives alone to give you an early morning, “I’m okay!” phone call.
4. Lead someone to Jesus, witnessing by word and life and love.
E. Let me illustrate pure love: A missionary visited a village, where he found in one of the huts a woman who was obviously starving to death. She was laying on the dirt floor. In her arms was a baby girl; she was also obviously malnourished. The missionary cooked a sweet potato, the only thing he had, and placed it in the women’s hand. She took a bite of the potato, chewed it thoroughly, and placing her mouth over that of the baby, forced the potato into her mouth. She did that until the potato was entirely consumed by the baby. It was only a couple hours later that the mother died. But she made sure that her baby had something to eat. That is pure love.
PURE HEARTS PRODUCE PURE LOVE: and
II. PURE HEARTS PURSUE PURE THINGS:
A. What are some pure things?
1. “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22 (NASB). Here are some worthy pursuits:
a. Pursue Righteousness: being and doing what is right in God’s eyes.
b. Pursue Faith; belief that trusts and obeys.
c. Pursue Love: intelligent good will; a determined attitude of benevolence toward others even when they don’t deserve it.
d. Pursue Peace: a settled sense of well-being; harmony with others.
e. Pursue the things which help others grow. Paul wrote, “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” Romans 14:19 (NASB). To build up means to make stronger. We do that by
(1) Giving encouragement. “I believe in you!” “You would be good at this or that!”
(2) Leading someone to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
(3) Being part of a small group where we engage in one another’s lives in a mutually beneficial manner.
(4) Being determined to be faithful in gathering together because the Bible tells us to not forsake “our own assembling together, as is the habit of some,” but to encourage “one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25 (NASB).
f. Pursue holiness.
2. What we pursue, the direction we are going, not our intention, determines where we end up. So, pursue pure things.
B. We often hear well-intended but wrong advice, “Follow your heart;” “Chase your dream;” “Go for the gusto!”
C. But that can lead us horribly wrong!
1. “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12 (NASB).
2. God reminds us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 (NASB).
D. Let us seek God’s way – the way of peace, faith, hope and love.
E. The condition of our heart determines what we seek in life. It is like the difference between a humming bird and a buzzard.
The humming bird naturally seeks nectar from flowers or sugar water from a feeder. The buzzard naturally seeks road kill and the rottener the better. Should they meet and the hummingbird say to the buzzard, “I’m so sick of nectar and sugar water; I would love to stick a beak into a nice slab of roadkill.” The buzzard may reply, “Oh there’s plenty of it, but it’s not what it’s cracked up to be. I sometimes think I’ll gag if I have to eat another bite of rotting raccoon. My sweet tooth calls for something sweet.” They switched cuisine and soon found the switch less than satisfying and resumed a normal menu. The humming bird thrives on pure nectar and the buzzard thrives on dead stuff, and the more rancid, the better. Is yours a humming bird or a buzzard heart? What do you pursue, nectar or carrion?
PURE HEARTS PURSUE PURE THINGS and
III. PURE HEARTS PROMOTE PURE LIVES:
A. Some lives that appear to be pure, holy and godly are sham and pretense as Jesus said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.” Matthew 23:27 (NIV).
1. Outer beauty does not prove inner goodness
2. There is an outer appearance that disguises inner corruption.
B. But a pure heart will always promotes pure lives.
1. A pure life is a replication of the life Jesus lived as we purposely model after Him.
2. A pure life is uncontaminated by hypocrisy, pretense and play-acting.
3. A pure life is undivided in loyalty to Jesus Christ and serves no other master.
4. A pure life bears the light of inspection by, and the suspicious scrutiny of, a critical, unbelieving world.
5. A pure life is a selfless life. That “means we must be willing to donate what we have to help others: time, material goods, money—whatever God calls us to give. Self-sacrifice is not easy for anyone, but it becomes easier when the Spirit prompts our hearts to see the needs of others as more important than our wants.” (from John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments).
C. The hymn by Thomas Chisolm says, and we should echo it:
“Living for Jesus a life that is true,
striving to please Him in all that I do,
yielding allegiance glad hearted and free
this is the pathway of blessing for me.
O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to You,
for you in Your atonement
did give Yourself for me.
I own no other master
my heart shall be Your throne:
my life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ, for You alone.”
D. The heart that enthrones Jesus is a pure heart. It is in our power and free will to make choices that lead to either impure or pure lives. We make the choice and experience the consequence. If we allow a hint of impurity, the whole of life is going to become impure.
E. A farmer went each week to the Farmers' Market to sell, among other things, the cottage cheese and apple butter made on his farm. He carried these in two large tubs, from which he ladled the cottage cheese or apple butter into smaller containers the customer brought.
One day he got to market and discovered he's forgotten one ladle. He felt he had no choice but to use the one he had for both products. Before long he couldn't tell which was which.
That's the way it is when we try to mix and blend pure hearts, minds, and tongues with the language, indulgences, values and morals of the world. Soon you can’t see the pure life and the world taints us.
Sometimes people think that just a little sin, just a little compromise, just a little flexing of our morals won’t make a difference. But the fact is, you can’t go in wrong and come out right; you can’t compromise with sin and remain pure; you can’t roll in the dirt and come out clean.
As Bob Russell put it, “if you take a white glove and stick it into a mud puddle, the glove becomes muddy, but the mud puddle does not become glovey.”
Let us strive and pray and be alert that we keep our hearts pure, because out of the heart of man come all the issues of life and as a man thinks in his heart so is he.
PURE HEARTS PROMOTE PURE LIVES and
IV. PURE HEARTS ARE PREPARED TO SEE GOD:
A. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 (NASB). Now, everybody will see God, but only those in Christ, and in whom Christ is, will be prepared for the sight.
1. We will see the King in all His Glory!
2. We will see His face for all the timelessness of eternity.
3. We will see the God Whom to see with mortal eyes of flesh was to die.
B. Then will be put to rest all our vastly mistaken ideas about God:
1. That He is a meany who pours out rain on our parade and sends ants to our picnic.
2. That He is a decrepit has-been who is incapable of making a difference for Good in this world.
C. No! We will see the face of the one and only, all powerful, all wise, all loving Father God Who gave up Jesus to secure for us the promise of eternal life in His presence.
D. You know how we often formulate a mental image of someone whose voice we hear on the radio or phone, or other audio device, and when we see them, we see how wrong we were.
1. That guy with a deep, resonant voice we pictured as being tall and handsome turns out to be a bald, paunchy, unimpressive fellow with a plain and unremarkable face.
2. That female voice on your GPS may conjure up a facial image that is as far from reality as the nose on Jimmy Durante’s face was far from small. For those too young to know about Jimmy, he was a musician and comedian. Here is his picture. They say his honker was so big he had to use a bed sheet for a hanky.
3. So, God will be completely above and beyond our greatest imagination or expectation.
E. A man who had been born blind, who had never seen the face of a loved one, a sunrise, a lightning flash, the beauty of a flower or any other common sights.
A young doctor developed a procedure to restore sight to certain persons who had been born blind. It was not universally successful, but the odds were good enough for this man to take the risk.
The surgery was a success and when the bandages had been removed and his eyes began to adjust to the light and to focus, his Nurse handed hm dark glasses and asked “Would you like to go and see some of the scenery?” The man said, “Not until I have first seen the face of him who restored my sight.” And even though heaven will be filled with things too awesome to describe, the first thing we should want to see is the face of Him who gave us spiritual sight. In the Scriptures we can see Him as through a fog, but then it will be face-to-face. But this is reserved for those who have pure hearts.
Countless artists have ought to render the likeness of Jesus on canvas, but of the many paintings representing Jesus all of them can’t be right – but they could all be wrong and for sure they certainly must be far short of His true likeness. But someday we shall see God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit face to face, forever, if our hearts are pure. “Face to Face”
