Are you Pure in Heart?

If you have a bible open it up to Matthew 5:8. I have titled the message this morning… “Are you Pure in Heart? Pray with me.

Reflecting over the last few weeks I have really been challenged over these verses. Going over them one by one has allowed me to slow down and really focus on the teachings of Christ. Focus on the importance of each verse when it comes to our walk with God. Last week I was challenged by the sermon I preached on Sunday. On Monday night I was working at the hospital overnight and got a text from my wife saying your daughter has lost my wedding ring, and man was I sad for my wife and I figured she would find no big deal. Kids take things, and when I got off at 7am I went home looked for a few min trying to find it no luck myself so I went to sleep and around 11am my wife came into the room and said I still can’t find it she was just devastated. So I woke up and I kid you not for 10 hours with the exception of a few hours finishing my message for wed night. my wife and I searched every inch of our house and going to bed. I remember my sermon If you have been forgiven you will forgive. But I was hot I was upset my 4 year old can be the sweetest thing, yet an absolute nightmare, woke up on Wednesday morning worked for a few hours and looked some more in my house no luck. Just praying to God we would find it. Isabella was no help during this whole process, saying oh its here and there but it never was. on Thursday my mom wanted to see the girls and do something fun with them. So we did that and she wanted to help look, and believe it not she found it in a drawer it just rolled out as she was going to wipe down our table. And boy was I happy I face-timed my wife all was well. Isabella was forgiven for the most part, but I tell you that story because I was thinking about just how hard it is to live out these truths without the overwhelming power of the Holy Spirit and the presence of Christ in your life, and the right heart that has been changed by Jesus Christ.

So today we have the pleasure of digging into verse 8 this morning which says.

Matthew 5:8 ESV

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

I believe most people would say the goal of any religion is to see God. To see what he is truly like. Even non believers would want to say I wonder what it is like to truly see God. And the wonderful things for believers is we can see God not just eternity, but now.

And as we approach the text and look at this verse and think about for the next 30 min or so. I want you to get this as our main idea…

Blessed are those whose heart has been made clean so they see God in this life and the life to come.

Studying this week. I read yet another great story that the author of this commentary wrote. It says this.. IN 1982 the Los Angeles Times carried the story of Anna Mae Pennica, a sixty-two-year-old woman who had been blind from birth.' At age forty-seven she married a man she met in a Braille class; and for the first fifteen years of their marriage he did the seeing for both of them until he completely lost his vision to retinitis pigmentosa. Mrs. Pennica had never seen the green of spring or the blue of a winter sky. Yet because she had grown up in a loving, supportive family, she never felt resentful about her handicap and always exuded a remarkably cheerful spirit.

Then in October 1981 Dr. Thomas Pettit of the Jules Stein Eye Institute of the University of California at Los Angeles performed surgery to remove the rare congenital cataracts from the lens of her left eye and Mrs. Pennica saw for the first time ever! The newspaper account does not record her initial response, but it does tell us that she found that everything was "so much bigger and brighter" than she ever imagined. While she immediately recognized her husband and others she had known well, other acquaintances were taller or shorter, heavier or skinnier than she had pictured them.

Since that day Mrs. Pennica has hardly been able to wait to wake up in the morning, splash her eyes with water, put on her glasses, and enjoy the changing morning light. Her vision is almost 20/30— good enough to pass a driver's test.

Think how wonderful it must have been for Anna when she looked for the first time at the faces she had only felt, or when she saw the kaleidoscope of a Pacific sunset or a tree waving its branches or a bird in flight. The gift of physical sight is wonderful. And the miracle of seeing for the first time can hardly be described. A Greater Seeing Yet there is a seeing that surpasses even this-and that is seeing God. Since nothing is higher than God, seeing God is logically the greatest joy one can experience. Thus, when we pass from this world and see the face of Christ, the joy of that first split second will transcend all the accumulated joys of life. It will be the highest good, the summum bonum, the greatest joy, beside which the wonderful story of Mrs. Pennica's "miracle" fades in comparison.

This is what the sixth Beatitude is about-seeing God. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Jesus' words tell us how to get 20/20 spiritual vision. If we want to see God, this is the great text.

few things. I want you to make note of the first is this…

The heart is sinful without Christ.

This does not mean that those without Christ never do good things, but their hearts are sinful. They cannot see God because of their sinful hearts. If you study the scriptures if you study the life and ministry of Jesus his focus is not just the outward things. His focus is on the very heart of man. Yes we need to know the right things about the Word and God, about doctrine but if our heart’s are not changed it does not matter. A Sinful heart can never see God for who he is. Our hearts are what led us to do things in this life.

We will see this later in our study but in Matthew 23:25-28 it says this..

Matthew 23:25–28 ESV

25 “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. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 27 “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. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Ill dig into this more later, but I want you to see that Jesus is telling them you might appear to have a good heart on the outside, but on the inside you are truly sinful. In fact he goes so far to say you are hypocrites, because you might look the part but on the inside you desire what all people desire outside of Christ, you are greedy, and you like to indulge yourself’s in all kinds of sinful things but notice he goes even further, you are dead. A sinful heart can never see the beauty of God. Can never.

Our hearts are truly sinful without Christ.

But I have some good news for you if you want to have a pure heart. which is my next point.

To have a pure heart you must be born again.

In order to have this new heart and this spirit we have to be born again. Now I know you guys remember every word I have ever preached, but let me remind you what I said to you over a year ago in when we were in John 3. Jesus said to Nicodemus, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The whole gospel of Matthew is talking about this kingdom of God.

Notice the language he says unless. There is no other way.

See the problem with Nicodemus is that he thought this path to entering God’s kingdom was strictly a physical thing, In the text I just talked about Jesus said those in flesh are sinful they can’t see God they are dead.

Jesus argues differently than what they believed.

To be born again is a heavenly work an act of God.

Listen to several scriptures of this transformation, and what happens as a result of being born again.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

1 Peter 1:3 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

1 John 2:29 “29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”

1 John 3:9 “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.”

1 John 4:7 “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”

1 John 5:1 “1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.”

1 John 5:4 “4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

1 John 5:18 “18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”

Finally John 1:12-13 “12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

God is the one who causes us to be born again.

Nicodemus asked the question How can a man be born again when he is old, can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?

Remember Nicodemus had lived most of his whole life based on physical responses to God and not spiritual, so it was natural to respond to God in such as way, but Jesus clarified to him to be born again means you must be born of water and the spirit.

Water had always been a symbol of cleansing for the people of Israel.One example of this is

Numbers 19:17-19 “17 For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and fresh water shall be added in a vessel. 18 Then a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave. 19 And the clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day. Thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean.”

this example is just one of many that are found in the Old Testament.

But Jesus was referring to a cleansing not with water alone, but with the water and the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:26 explains this a little bit. he is talking about his church here. “26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,”

So does Titus 3:5 “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,”

This promise was made specifically in Ezekiel 36:25-27 “25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

The man who was a great teacher like so many missed Christ, missed that they had to be born again, missed that they needed to be changed in such a way.

And like i said already before, its not Jesus plus something its Jesus plus nothing. And to be born again you must believe in him. Jesus did not come just to make the sick better, but to make the dead come alive and so the blind could see. So you and I could have a heart.

If you want to see God you must be born again.

Take note of this as well.

A pure heart that sees God is singularly focused.

Alot of us know we have a sinful heart that we must be born again to see God, but this is where I feel like many of us fail, and fall short. Our hearts are too divided. As great as it is to live in our day with all these advancements in tech, and medicine, and all kinds of things. We have alot of stuff that pulls us away from our Lord. And I mean alot of stuff. Look at my week finding a ring took hours away from my regular life and my spiritual life. But more than that it took my heart off the Lord. Life is like that all the time though. Jesus is going beyond just what we do with our time he cares about where our heart is and what its devoted to.

James 4:8 ESV

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

One guy I read this week said. Get rid of your mixed motives, your duplicity, your double-mindedness be simple and pure in your devotion.

What does that statement mean to us. Focus on seeing the Lord above all things. Don’t let things that should not pull you away from God pull you away from God.

If you remember two weeks ago I said if you want to hunger and thirst for God you have to have the right appetite. Well friends if you want to see God then don’t take your eyes off of him if he saved you. You don’t have to wait tell the next life to see him though you will see him in a greater light in all of eternity.

The commentator I used when sharing the story of the blind women said this…

What this means is that it is possible to actually see God in this life-now. I think this is what blind and deaf Helen Keller meant when someone bluntly said to her, "Isn't it terrible to be blind?" To which she responded,

"Better to be blind and see with your heart, than to have two good eyes and see nothing." Perhaps if it were possible for her to have heard of Mrs.Pennica's miraculous operation, she would have said, "That is wonderful. But there is yet a better seeing."

. Moses saw but a taste of God he could not bear in his sinfulness to see who he truly was.

We see God today now through the words of scripture. Jesus is gone he has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, but friends know this

This book is alive its the very word of God. If you want to see him to feel his presence then open it up. Psalm 29 proclaims his glory in creation.

Psalm 29 ESV

A Psalm of David. 1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Staring at God creation allows us to see.

One man said. Those of the faith also see him in the events of life even in the difficulties. Job 42:5

Job 42:5 ESV

5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;

Some of the most difficult times in my life and I am sure yours you saw the Lord in them. Walking with you through it all.

Another man said… The sixth Beatitude tells us that the purer our hearts become, the more we will see of God in this life. The more our hearts are focused on God, absorbed with him, concentrated on his being, freed from distractions, sincere single, the more we will see him. As our hearts become purer, the more the Word lives and the more creation speaks. Even the adverse circumstances of life seem to sharpen our vision of God.

Seeing God in this life is the summum bonum—the highest good, because those who see him become more and more like him. "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

If you want to see God be born again and be singularly focused.

Final point is this.

A pure heart gets purer over time.

I look out in this room and I see people who have been believers for along time and some not so long, and you might be at a place today where you say my heart doesn’t feel so pure. It does not seem singuarly focused. It’s all of the place been pulled by the passions of the flesh, and the spirit. I would say you need to go to God in prayer, go to his word to help you become pure. One of the best prayers you can pray is Psalm 51:10

Psalm 51:10 ESV

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Change me from the inside out, give me that food and drink that satisfies. Renew me Restore me and if you are in Christ he will do so.

Think about heaven, and your new life what you have to put on and what you have to take off.

Colossians 3:1–17 ESV

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Maybe you are not seeing God so well, because you are not setting your sight on the things above. Remember if you have been born again you have died to your old life, but you are made new and when he comes back you are going to him in glory.

So the famous saying kill sin or it will kill you, put off the junk that you have in this life. And put on all the good with hearts of gladness and praise for the glory of God.

Also remember this..

1 John 3:2–3 ESV

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.

Friends give your life to God now focus singularly on him see him through his word, and purify yourself. Be changed. Be like him so you can see him as he truly is.

Don’t leave here today without asking the question have you been made pure by the precious blood of Christ. Have you been changed from the inside out.

Titus 2:11–14 ESV

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Do you know the God who brings salvation for all types of people. If not repent turn to him believe in him by faith, and you can be pure in heart focusing on him all your days and being made more pure day by day let us pray.