The Beatitudes - Continued - 4 Series

I. Introduction

A. Two gas company servicemen, a senior training supervisor and a young trainee, were out checking meters in a suburban neighborhood. They parked their truck the end of the alley and worked their way to the other end. At the last house, a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter. Finishing the meter check, the senior supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a foot race down the alley back to the truck to prove that an older guy could outrun a younger one. As they came running up to the truck, they realized the lady from that last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped and asked her what was wrong. Gasping for breath, she replied, "When I saw two men from the gas company running as hard as you two were, I figured I'd better run too!"

B. This may be the last of the messages on the Beatitudes

1. But we do need to complete the message, turn to Matthew 5:8

II. Body

A. The pure in Heart

Matthew 5:8 (NKJV)

Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God

1. Here is a few things meant by pure in heart

a. Clean Heart

b. To Be Unsoiled

c. Unmixed

d. Unpolluted

e. To Be Cleansed

f. Purged

g. Forgiven

h. To Be Holy

i. To Have a Single Purpose, that being the Glory of God

(1) Turn to James 1:27

2. There are several significant points to note about the "pure in heart."

a. The person who is "pure in heart" lives a clean life.

b. He "keeps himself unspotted from the world."

James 1:27 (NKJV)

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world

c. We have already discussed the earlier part of this passage in the act of being and doing righteousness

(1) To visit orphans and widows means to do what is needful for these children and widows

(2) Do righteousness

(3) And keep from being soiled by the world

(a) Lets turn to Jeremiah 4:14

d. The person who is “pure in heart” washes his heart from wickedness

Jeremiah 4:14 (NKJV)

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, That you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?

e. The pure in heart obeys the truth through the working of the Holy Spirit.

(1) Turn to 1 Peter 1:22

1 Peter 1:22 (NKJV)

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,

(2) He keeps his hands clean.

(a) Turn to Psalms 24:4-5

(b) Now that does not have anything to do with hard work

i) Garden dirt

ii) Paint stains

iii) Grease and grime

iv) Have nothing to do with this element, just do not allow yourself to be sullied with the things of the world

Psalms 24:4-5 (NKJV)

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. {5} He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation

(3) He seeks to be without spot and blameless

(a) Turn to 2 Peter 3:14

2 Peter 3:14 (NKJV)

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless

(4) A person's very best behavior is seldom, if ever, free from some mixture of self

(a) It is questionable if a sinful creature can ever act perfectly free from mixed motives

(b) As the Bible says in Romans 3:12

Romans 3:12 (NKJV)

They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."

(5) The believer is to constantly search his heart and cleanse it of impure motives

(a) Motives involving self are insidious and deceptive

(b) Is a person employed primarily for self, or to serve Christ and to earn enough to help others who have a need

(c) Is a person ministering to help the needful, or to have a sense of self-satisfaction

(d) Is a person worshiping to honor God, or to satisfy a feeling of obligation?

i) Turn to Psalms 139:23-24

(e) Is a person praying daily to fellowship with God, or to gain comfortable feelings that he pleases God through praying?

(f) Impure motives enter the believer's heart so quietly, so deceptively

(g) The believer is too often unaware of their presence

(h) He needs to pray often

Psalms 139:23-24 (NKJV)

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; {24} And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting