“Pure in Heart” (Matthew 5:8)

“Pure in Heart” (Matthew 5:8)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, August 23, 2015

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God.

1.    What is the heart?

(Matt. 22:37, NIV) Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

(Philippians 4:7, NIV) And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(Heb. 8:10, NIV) This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

• The heart is what we truly are, regardless of what we reveal on the outside.

2.    What is the normal condition of the heart?

(Jer. 17:9, NIV) The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

(Matt. 15:19, NIV) For out of the heart come evil thoughts-- murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

• The normal condition of our heart is anything but pure. Depravity is rooted in our hearts. Our thoughts, ambitions, decisions, desires, emotions are all affected by our corrupt sinful nature.

3.    How do we get a pure heart?

• The answer is you must be given one from God himself. You do not have the power to change your deceitful heart into a pure one. That must be given by God himself.

(Ezek. 36:25-26, NIV) I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

(Jer. 31:33-34, NIV) "This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

(John 3:3-8, NIV) ³ Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. " ⁴ "How can someone be born when they are old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!" ⁵ Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

(Titus 3:5-6, NIV) he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,

4.    What is purity of heart?

• Purity in the biblical sense stands for moral cleanness. It is a heart that is characterized by conformity to God’s holy revealed will. It is purity in all areas of God's moral will.
• Purity of heart is not outward conformity to rules.  
• Purity stands for that which is untainted, undefiled, without mixture. We should have a single focus and a single mindedness toward God.

(Matt. 6:24, NIV)  "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

(Jas. 4:8, NIV) Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

⦁    This is why it is only the pure in heart who will see God. The outwardly pure façade will not see God, but only the truly inwardly pure will see God.

This beatitude of Jesus is most likely a reflection on the well-known psalm:

(Psalm 24:3-6, NIV) ³ Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? ⁴ The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. ⁵ They will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God their Savior. ⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.

(Matt. 5:48, NIV) Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

5.    When will those who are pure in heart see God?

• In the present, we have a knowledge of God that the world does not have. We see the beauty of God in the face of Jesus Christ through the gospel.

(2 Co. 4:4-6, NIV) ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. ⁶ For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.

• But one day we will see him face to face.

(Rev. 22:1-5, NIV) ¹ Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

(1 John 3:2-3, NIV) ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.