Blessed Are The Pure In Heart
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Last week, we talked about the merciful…that they are blessed as they will obtain mercy from God, both now, and forever.
We saw that it’s by God’s mercy that we’ve been saved…it’s God’s mercy that He gives anew every day…and it will be His mercy that blesses us to dwell with Him forever.
Mercy is the characteristic of the people of God…it’s to be shown in the home, in the church and in the community.
It’s loving-kindness…it’s pity and compassion…it’s withheld punishment/judgment that is deserved...
We need to yield to the Spirit in order to allow mercy to flow in all these areas.
This morning, as we recognize fathers, and boy is it a time to recognize the importance of fathers in our culture, we move forward in our study.
Want to just say this before we do...
For those who don’t have fathers or have had to say goodbye to them…there is One who is the best Father…our Heavenly Father…when you walk in intimate fellowship with Him…He fills, beyond all human ability, the role of Father.
A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
God makes a home for the lonely;
He leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
Press into Him and embrace His open arms… *****Ask all fathers to stand.******
Our study of #Blessed brings us to Matthew 5:8 this morning...
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Let’s pray.
We’ve gone through many qualifying scriptures throughout this study. Showing that these characteristics are in the people of God.
With that, we see that the ‘pure in heart’ are extremely blessed, happy, fortunate…because they are the ones that will see God.
Just to put this “SEEING GOD” in perspective…when Christ returns the bible says in Rev. 1:7-8 “ 7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
In the end of Revelation…we know that all the dead, spiritually dead, those who died in their lost condition without placing the trust in Christ…they will all stand before Him in judgment before they are judged and cast into eternal punishment...
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
So, every eye will see Him visibly in the end…but you see the short lived nature of this “seeing” for those who died without Christ.
The seeing here in our text of Matt. 5:8 is the prolonged meaning of the word optomai - OP tomahee...
Which means to gaze…wow…with wide-open eyes as at something remarkable... and thus differing from 991, which denotes simply voluntary observation; and from 1492, which expresses merely mechanical, passive or casual vision; while 2300, and still more emphatically its intens. 2334, signifies an earnest but more continued inspection; and 4648 a watching from a distance)
Do you get that?…it’s not that they will see by simply being able to…or by just mechanical, or passive or casual vision…or even just continued inspection…or interest...
But they will gaze upon Him with an eternal love and adoration and worship…in an eternal intimacy…in a child to eternal father relationship. Never to be broken. Never to be lost. Always embraced in His love and presence.
That, my friend, is the best.
But it’s the pure in heart…and, in our qualifying, we’ve seen some sobering truths…truths like...
as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
We first looked at that scripture when we covered the poor in spirit…those who have come to acknowledge that they are spiritual bankrupt without Christ.
So, likewise… we face a dilemma, as mankind, if we know that it’s ONLY the pure in heart that will see God like we just saw.
A dilemma because of Rom. 3:10 and 3:23… and...
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
Not one.
“What is man, that he could be pure?
And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?
If God puts no trust in His saints,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight,
How much less man, who is abominable and filthy,
Who drinks iniquity like water!
Again, this is our problem…because of sin…we are filthy and sinners…UNCLEAN AND UNPURE...
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
Not one person, can be pure, or clean, or righteous…in ourselves.
To be Pure in heart...is to be spotless, clean, innocent.
Dictionary of Bible Themes 8324 purity
An absence of blemish or stain, especially sin. The state of being morally and spiritually pure, which is seen by Scripture as the result of being the people of God and also as an expected distinguishing mark of the church.
So if NO MAN is clean or able to be pure in himself/herself…and clearly, as God is holy, and there is no darkness/evil in Him at all…then who can SEE GOD…in His presence?
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
Again...
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
It’s those who are pure, who have been spiritually washed that will see God…we saw that washing by the Holy Spirit last week in Eph. 1...
And with those who have been spiritually washed…we see a capability to put on righteousness and holiness…a charge to believers...
to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
And this isn’t something intended for us to put on and take off as is convenient.
It’s not an act of, pretending to be pure, or holy.
You can’t put on a mask. That’s where the word hypocrite comes from.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
Being pure, isn’t something we can do ourselves. While Paul charged that we put on the new man…and while it is a choice…it’s a choice we make to yield to the Spirit, so that He can do.
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
So, through the power and enabling of the Holy Spirit, we can yield to Him, and we can purge ourselves of what is sinful, fleshly, dishonorable to God...
Sanctified is the same word that is used for being cleansed…or consecrated…or being purified.
Part of the imagery that we get in purity and holiness…is brightness…light…brilliance...
We could go through Moses’s encounter with God and the shining of his face…or the prayer of blessing from Holy God on His people...
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
Scripture tells us that “No man has seen God at any time” - John 1:18 says…yet Jesus was God incarnate…and said, whoever has seen the Son has seen the Father...
Yet…as He ascended after His resurrection....
And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
Again, Words like Light and shine represent things like holiness, purity, righteousness, truth, clear direction...
That’s why in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to these same followers...
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
In the Old Testament, the ceremonial law all pointed to faith in God…from the temple worship and sacrifice, to cleansing...
It pointed to the immaculate holiness of God…the desperate sinfulness of man…and God’s grace and mercy extended to man...
Even in Lev. 16 - we see the Day of Atonement…from the washing procedures…to the sacrificial procedures…purity…spiritual cleanliness…was all pointed to God’s worth, and God’s requirements because of His holiness, and God’s ability to declare a person, a people, righteous, holy, pure...
Heb. 9-10 are a beautiful explanation of the old ceremonial system that pointed to and was fulfilled by Jesus Christ alone.
In those chapters, among other places, we learn what Christ’s sacrifice, in making us pure means and what it does in and through us…so we see from it...
Characteristics/Evidences of the pure in heart:
Purified conscience (You don’t have to keep asking God to forgive your sins [judicially]) (Heb. 9:13-14)
Serve the Living God (Heb. 9:13-14)
Cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)
Completely separated and in the process of being made holy [purified] (Heb. 10:14)
So we are purified/made clean…we are being made pure…we will be pure.
5. Have access to God (Heb. 10:19-22)
6. Don’t neglect gathering together (Heb. 10:24-26)
7. Don’t fall back, but have enduring/saving faith (Heb. 10:39)
I hope that you’ve trusted Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for you and His resurrection from the dead. It’s the only way to be spiritually cleansed and therefore pure…and THAT is the only condition that we can approach God…and dwell with Him.
If you haven’t, please don’t leave here today, or close out that stream without clicking the Connection Card in the description, or talking with someone here.
If you have trusted Christ alone for salvation…you’ve surrendered all to Him and are following Him and have been cleansed/made pure…let’s remember to stay yielded to the Spirit, so that we can continually purge spiritual contaminants and stay basking in His presence. Maybe this morning, you need to stop doing something that is contaminating your vessel…or maybe you need to start something that will help you from being contaminated...
Let’s remember to guard the spiritual purity that has been graciously given to us and ensure these characteristics are clearly seen in our lives.