Kingdom of Heaven Economy: Pure in Heart

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Intro

Kingdom of Heaven Economy

Poor in spirit, mournful, meek

Hunger and thirst for righteousness

Merciful, pure in heart, peacemaker

Pure in heart results in “seeing” God. Seeing God does not mean we will have a picture of God sent to us nor does it mean we will be like Moses in Exodus 33 and meet face to face with God now. Seeing God means we have fellowship with throughout our life walking with him in our hearts. The ultimate and final result of heart purity is seeing God face to face when our sinful flesh has been ruined.

Natural Heart Condition

Matthew 15:19 “19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”

Psalm 24:3-6 “3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 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. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah”

2 Timothy 3:1-7 “1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”

When push comes to shove we are sinners are heart. Our natural inclination is always to sin with no regard for anyone but ourselves. Even in any effort to appear to be noble or righteous we are attempting to gain something for ourselves.

National security vs. Profits “Expect businessman to be businessmen” - William Hawkins

IBM and the Holocaust

Hitler’s army used American technology made by IBM to to organize slave labor and manage concentration camps

Ford and GM were used by by the Nazi’s

Chase Manhattan Bank helps Nazis take money from Jewish bank accounts

Period of the Judges

The law proved that the human heart is evil

Gospel Presentation

Titus 3:3-9“3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.”

Purity is granted to us by the blood of Jesus.

Purity is our heart motive behind what we do. God is only concerned with what we do inasmuch as it represents who/what we are.

“In Between Heart Condition”

“Purity of heart must never be confused with outward conformity to rules. Because it is the heart which must be pure, this beatitude interrogates us with awkward questions like these: What do you think about when your mind slips into neutral? How much sympathy do you have for deception, no matter how skillful? For shady humor, no matter how funny? To what do you pay consistent allegiance? What do you want more than anything else? What and whom do you love? To what extent are your actions and words accurate reflections of what is in your heart? To what extent do your actions and words constitute a cover-up for what is in your heart? Our hearts must be pure, clean, unstained.”

Paul discusses the theology behind being dead to sin and alive in Christ in Romans. In the middle of the theology lesson he gives insight into the real battle in his heart. While all of the things he is saying is extremely important and seems so easy on paper he knows that it is a continual fight.

Romans 7:15-20 “15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”

James talks about the nuts and bolts of Christian living. He calls for works which is misunderstood by so many. James knows that the works are only possible because of the inward reality of a pure heart.

James 4:1-10 “1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

Future Heart Condition

Our present efforts are the same as our future efforts. Citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is not limited to this life or the next but is our reality in both lives. The only difference is our works will not have to be tested by our hearts because our hearts will be completely pure.

1 John 3:1-10 “1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

Seeing God is a now/not yet tension that is possible by having a heart made pure by the blood of Jesus.