Let’s Pray…
Please turn to Matthew 5:8
Why are those who are pure full of joy? Because they are able to interact with their Creator!
Purity of heart is freedom found in Christ.
When this verse talks about being pure of heart we can unpack as being:
— Pure: free from corrupt desire, from sin and guilt
— Of Heart: the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes and endeavors.
Remember that this beatitude is focused on those who have come into a saving relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ.
And, it is only through Christ’s atonement for our sins, that we can be pure.
Right actions, as the world defines them, or even as the bible defines them — if they are apart from Faith in Jesus, are empty.
They are like dirty rags to God. So remember this is the purity that is only possible to believers.
We see purity in two areas.
— Salvation — We are given a covering of Jesus’ purity in order to gain access into the Kingdom
o and adoption into God’s family
o without coming against the wrath that would be due to us otherwise.
— Sanctification — After Jesus ascended to Heaven, the Holy Spirit came down to guide us in a continually closer walk with the Lord
— We are then being purifying from moment to moment, from glory to glory.
— The purification of our mind, will and emotion continues as long as we are in this flesh.
2 Corinthians 3: 16 says
“16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
(That is the veil caused by our knowledge of our sin without the salvation found in Jesus)
Continuing in to...
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
It is important to note here that Paul teaches that we first turn to Jesus — our Spirit is purified — and then, the Spirit works to purify our lives.
Sometimes we try to put the cart before the horse. Understand that salvation comes before sanctification.
If you are here and you are still trying to wrap your head and your heart around what it means to be a Christian, realize that you don’t have to stop cussing and drinking and smoking and shacking up with someone outside of marriage and all the other stuff that God says not to do BEFORE you are saved.
All you have to do is admit that you are a sinner that needs a savior, trust that Jesus Christ is your savior and agree to walk with Him from here on out.
Then, He gives you the Holy Spirit, who is the only one who could ever help you tackle those sins anyway.
You come to Jesus as you are
And then you ask the Spirit of God to transform you into His likeness.
Now, if you are a Christian, and you have taken up God’s marching orders to proclaim the gospel and reflect His light into the dark and lost world, remember that you don’t have to get someone cleaned up before they can come to church, before you talk to them about your story with Jesus or anything else.
Jesus didn’t tell all of the tax collectors, and prostitutes to clean up their acts before He told them about the kingdom of Heaven, and neither should we. (ex. Zacchaeus/dinner, woman @ well/water)
I also need to make a further point on purity,
It always used to me true with me, and I am guessing it has been true for you that once you hear that the Holy Spirit is working to purify us, that we don’t need to do anything.
We say, “the Holy Spirit will take care of it all.” It’s this struggle that pastors have between legalism and license.
We must remember the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross to cleanse, to purify, to SAVE our spirit.
He saved us yes, but we are reminded in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
Now, Paul is writing specifically to sexual sin, but the same holds true for any temptation to sin that we encounter.
The Spirit gives us the strength, but we fight along side with Him to defeat the sin.
We don’t just keep yielding to sin until, or unless God supernaturally takes the sin away from us. We co-labor with the Holy Spirit.
Okay, so that’s purity, have we got it?
Pure of heart First through salvation and then a continuing walk from glory to glory with the Holy Spirit.
Now we look at the reward for a pure heart. If we have one, we will see God!
We talk about this every week and as Matthew Henry states, this is the most complete of the Beatitudes because in Matthew 5:8 “holiness and happiness (blessedness) are fully described and put together.”
Holiness is the purity.
Happiness (blessed are those…) points to those who do not find our happiness in the world around us, but the indwelling of the Spirit in us and the promise of an eternity in the presence of the All Mighty God.
This is the happiness that Paul displayed when, even though he was in chains and in a prison — uncertain of his future, he wrote to his brothers and sisters in Philippi (Philippians 4:4-6)
Paul understood that all this: The trials, the hardships, the pain the tears, the cruelty, it is all temporary, it is a speck in the grand scheme of things.
A speck in relation to our eternity, where we — as believers — will see God FACE TO FACE. Compared to that, everything in this life is small stuff, even our biggest obstacles.
So, knowing all that:
—We can say, “Yes I have a temptation to get my revenge. But the God of the Universe loves me and has told me to leave the justice up to Him. Since I love Him I will obey Him and I will forgive people who come against me.”
—We can say, “Yes I am tempted to lie about where I was, or how I spent my time, or what I did or what I didn’t do or whatever, but each lie I tell takes away from the purity that the Holy Spirit is trying to work out in my daily walk. So I am going to co-labor with the Spirit by telling the truth.”
—We can say, “Yes I am drawn to sin by what I have seen on the internet, our on the streets, or on the television, but the Lord has designed my life to be lived in purity with my spouse, so I will flee from the sexual immorality that has caused so many to fall away from their relationships with people in their lives and with God as well.
Those are just a few of the top ten offenders of a pure heart — resentment, dishonesty, lust — I can’t tap into them all in one hour, but you know what is blocking you from a pure heart.
It may be self-righteousness, or greed, or envy.
Whatever it is, if you are a Christian, you have the power to overcome it if you are willing to work with the Holy Spirit through God’s grace.
Work with the Spirit by reading God’s word,
— By developing an honest and consistent prayer life,
— By letting the people that God has put in your life — in on your struggles, Stop trying to face your trials in secret.
— And work with the Spirit by working with others to assist them in their struggles — in the areas we talked about showing mercy in the last couple of weeks.
But, if you are not yet a believer. None of those efforts will help you apart from Christ. There are a lot of great programs that can help you in your struggles with alcohol, or drugs, or gambling, or whatever vice you have.
But, none of them can save your soul. Jesus asked the question in Mark 8:36
I ask what good is it to live a pure life if it is only external, if your heart does not turn toward Jesus.
And now, this is where a lot of people get mad at Christians and call us narrow minded, they even call us intolerant, but we believe the Bible and the Bible says clearly there is only one way to see God.
Jesus put it this way and it is unmistakable in John 14:6
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
That means you will never get to God by being “good enough” or acting religious.
Before you try to shape up and be “good enough to get to heaven, first:
— Come to the Father God,
— Admit that you are a sinner,
— Trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior
— And then turn from your sins, (that turn is what the Bible calls repentance).
It will be in that first act of salvation and then those continuing victories over sin by God’s grace that will make you pure and will allow you to see God.
If you need to come to Christ tonight, I or any number of us can walk you through it. Remember, it is not the prayer that saves you it is not coming up to the front or raising your hand in the air, it is faith alone in Christ alone by the grace of God alone that saves.
Let’s pray…
