10.13.2021 | BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART
BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART
Matthew 5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Blessed – supremely blessed, happy, to be congratulated, walking in the favor of God
What does it mean to be pure in heart?
1. Heart (Kardia) – center of the personality, inner self, center of the whole inner life
1 Samuel 16:7b – “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”
Jeremiah 17:10a – “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind.”
Matthew 15:19 – “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”
We desperately need a new heart.
Ezekiel 36:26a – “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.”
2. Pure (Katharos) – without blemish, clean, pure, spotless, undivided, no mixture
What psalm comes to mind when you think about the pure in heart?
Psalm 24:3 – “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His Holy Place?”
Psalm 24:4 – “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.”
A. Clean Heart
Psalm 51:10 – “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
What had made David’s heart dirty?
What is the only thing that can wash us clean from sin?
What can wash away my sin? NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
1 John 1:7 – “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We can have a clean heart through the power of the blood of Jesus Christ!
B. Undivided Heart
What is pure gold?
Pure gold is gold with no mixture.
Jesus is calling us into purity of heart – a clean heart, but also an undivided heart.
To have a pure heart is to have a single-minded focus on Jesus Christ.
Psalm 86:11 – “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your Name. Unite my heart to fear Your Name.”
Matthew 6:24a – “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.”
1 Kings 18:21 – “And Elijah came to all the people and said, ‘How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people answered him not a word.”
1 Kings 18:39 – “Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!’”
3. They Shall See God!
Exodus 33:20 – “But He said, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.’”
How can we see God?
A. The pure in heart will see God move in power in them and through them.
Acts 19:11 – “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul.”
B. The pure in heart will see God move through the Gospel and the power of prayer.
John 15:7 – “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
C. The pure in heart see God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ.
Acts 7:55 – “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”
John 14:9b – “He who has seen Me has seen the Father…”
D. The pure in heart see God through the eyes of faith.
Hebrews 11:27 – “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.”
E. The pure in heart will one day see God face to face.
1 Corinthians 13:12a – “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.”
Revelation 22:4a – “They shall see His Face.”