Matthew 5:8

We're in the middle of a series on the Beatitudes.

I'm looking really at what Jesus means by happiness.

! His definition is pretty different from the worlds around us.

! And tonight we come to number six in the Beatitudes.

We're really looking at the Beatitudes as a grid to view the Christian life.

And so tonight it is, blessed are they and only they, blessed are the pure in heart.

For they shall see God.

There's three boys talking together and arguing about their fathers.

First boy said, my dad is a teacher.

And so he makes me clever for nothing.

Second boy said, my dad is a doctor.

And so he makes me healthy for nothing.

Third boy said, my dad's a minister.

He makes me good for nothing.

Terrible joke. You're very kind to laugh.

Third boy got it right, didn't he?

We've seen that in Romans.

Those dark passages in Romans.

There's none righteous.

No, not one.

No one understands.

No one seeks for God.

All have turned aside.

Together they become worthless.

No one does good, not even for one.

Not even one.

That's God's view.

Jesus said, didn't he?

Out of the heart, out of your heart and out of my heart.

Out of the heart of man comes all the things that spoil our lives and ruin our relationships.

Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander, blasphemy.

Where do those things come from?

Jesus says those things which we find so difficult, they don't come from our background or our upbringing.

They don't come from our environment, but from our hearts.

And so we know that a person's background or a person's environment or their circumstances,

it might act as a magnet to draw out those things.

But if they weren't in our hearts already, they wouldn't come out.

And of course, Jesus is the great example of that, isn't he?

He's the proof of that.

He came from a pretty bad background.

He came from a pretty tough environment.

Our people used to say, can anything good come out of Nazareth?

It wasn't a salubrious place to live.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

And so out of Nazareth comes the sinless, spotless son of God.

And so it's a Christian cliche, isn't it?

But the heart of your problem and my problem is the problem of our hearts.

The heart of our problem is the problem of our hearts.

And you and I, unlike Jesus, do not have a heart for God.

You and I naturally have hearts that are divided and defiled.

And that is why we don't know God and we don't see him.

And Jesus says, can you see it?

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they are the ones who see God.

They and they alone will see God, the pure in heart.

And so that's what I want to kind of think around tonight and kind of view the Christian life through.

Only two points.

First of all, this.

A pure heart is a clean heart.

A pure heart is a clean heart.

Let me illustrate what I mean.

If you go to Exodus 15, you'll see there's a little incident there in the history of God's people.

And it's an illustration, I think, of the state of your heart and my heart by nature.

So let me read to you Acts 15, verse 23.

Acts 15:23

They came to Marah and they couldn't drink the water because the waters were bitter.

It was bitter.

That's why it was called Marah.

And the people grumbled against Moses saying, what should we drink?

He cried to the Lord and the Lord showed him a log, a tree.

And Moses threw it into the water and the water became sweet.

It's a really strange incident.

I'm not completely sure what the significance of the incident is in the context of Exodus.

But I think it helps us as an illustration of what our hearts are like.

By nature, they are like Marah.

They are bitter.

They're like a stagnant pond.

That's the way our hearts are naturally.

Romans teaches us that, doesn't it?

Bitter, poisonous, polluted.

But in Exodus, there is a tree, isn't there?

There is a log that is thrown into the water and it is made sweet.

There's a certain tree that can sweeten the waters of Marah.

The great news of the Bible is that there is a certain tree that can purify your heart.

And my heart.

It's the tree upon which Jesus died.

It's the tree on which Jesus bore away the sins of the world.

It's the cross.

Of course, a pure heart is not a perfect heart.

Don't think of that.

You will never get a perfect heart, will you, until you get to heaven?

A pure heart is not a perfect heart.

But a pure heart is one that has the cross at the center of it.

A pure heart, to quote the hymn writer, is one that always feels the blood so freely shared for me.

It's a heart that's looking to Jesus for cleansing from sin and defilement.

Do you remember how the apostle John puts it in chapter 1, verse 7?

You know this verse.

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

The death of Jesus upon the cross.

The blood being shed by the Lord Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for sins.

That is what cleanses our heart.

And so John goes on and says,

If you will confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

Notice that.

He's faithful and just.

We would automatically put, wouldn't we, he's loving and merciful.

That's what we naturally put.

He's loving and merciful to forgive our sins.

But that isn't what John puts there.

He says God is faithful and just.

Because of the cross, God cannot do anything other than forgive those who come to him, confessing their sins.

He's faithful and he's just.

And so tonight, if you will come and confess your sin to God, he will cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

He's faithful and just to what his son has done.

And so he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And so let me ask you, is there a tree in your heart?

Do you know what it is to confess your sin?

To trust in a savior who has been slain for you?

It's a young lad who's brought up in a Christian home.

He'd known the truths of Christianity ever since he could remember.

He understood the gospel, but he had real difficulty in making it his own.

He'd been brought up since his early day, earliest days.

He believed every bit of it.

But he couldn't believe that it was true for him.

Maybe that's where some of you are tonight.

You've been brought up in this church.

You've been baptized.

You know the gospel.

You can recite it.

You can even maybe explain it to someone else.

But you don't know, is it for me?

Has it got anything much to do with me?

Well, that's to say it this young man is in.

And this is what he did about it.

One day he wrote down on a piece of paper all the sins that he was conscious of.

He wrote them all down.

Every sin that he was aware of.

He wrote it all down on a piece of paper.

And as he wrote those sins down on a piece of paper, he confessed them to God.

And he confessed them all to the Lord.

And then he took out a box of matches.

Never play with matches.

But he took out a box of matches.

And he set fire to the paper.

And as the paper burned in front of him, he said, Christ died for my sins.

And as the breeze blew the ashes into the air, he added, and he's carried my sins far away.

You see, that lad had understood the significance of the tree.

He'd understood the significance of Calvary.

He'd understood why Jesus had died upon the cross.

He could say, Jesus was slain for me at Calvary.

Pardoned is all my sin.

At Calvary.

Cleansed is my heart within at Calvary.

You see, a pure heart is a clean heart.

What can clean your heart?

What can cleanse me of my sin?

And so if I was to say to you, what can wash away my sin?

You would say to me, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The second thing I want to say to you is that purity of heart is not only a matter of cleanliness, but a matter of commitment.

A matter of commitment.

A pure heart is an undivided heart.

Let's change the picture for a moment.

Instead of thinking of that stagnant pool in the waters of Mara.

Instead of thinking like that, it's defiled.

Let's think of a lump of metal.

A lump of metal.

So what makes metal impure?

What makes metal impure?

Well, it's when other things are mixed into it.

And that's what our hearts are like.

Our hearts are not only defiled.

They're not only like those bitter waters.

Our hearts are divided.

And so Psalm 86 has a great prayer in it, doesn't it?

Doesn't it?

It says this.

Give me an undivided heart to fear your name.

It's a great prayer for us this week as a church family.

Give me an undivided heart to fear your name.

And so I think as we read this verse,

blessed are the pure in heart,

one of the problems that I have is my heart is divided.

And our hearts have divided loyalties.

A pure heart is not a sinless heart.

But it is a heart that is united,

that is undivided upon God.

James, in his letter, in James 4, verse 8,

James 4:8

we often quote this verse.

He says, draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands, you sinners,

and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Do you notice that?

What does it mean to have a pure heart?

James says, purify your hearts.

What does he mean?

In what way am I to purify my heart?

What is an impure heart?

It is to be, double-minded is,

to be two-faced when it comes to God.

Purify your hearts, you double-minded,

says James.

Stop being two-faced with God.

It is as simple as that.

Stop being a person that faces both ways.

You know what happens when a person faces both ways.

He trips over himself.

And so James says,

the double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

And so do we know what it is to have that integrity of heart?

To be single-minded in our Christianity,

to be devoted to God,

to have your heart set upon him.

Jesus said,

blessed are the pure in heart,

for they and they only will see God.

A woman was once exercised about this.

She was concerned about it.

Whether or not she had a pure heart or not.

She was concerned,

am I really a Christian or not?

She was concerned whether or not the Lord

was actually Lord of her life.

She wondered whether or not there were other Lords,

other loyalties.

And so she was concerned.

She went to see a minister.

And the minister took her to Acts 10.

Where Peter says,

there's extraordinary words in Acts 10.

He says,

no, Lord.

It's one of the stupidest things you can say, isn't it?

Say, no, Lord.

So this preacher says to this woman,

well, you can say no,

and you can say Lord,

but it's impossible to say no, Lord.

I'm going to leave you with your Bible

and I'm going to give you a pen.

And I want you to cross out

either no

or Lord.

Whichever you really mean.

Minister leaves the room,

gives her a few moments to think about it.

And when he comes back,

he finds out that she has crossed out the word no.

And weeping,

she was saying over and over and over again to herself,

Lord,

yes,

Lord,

yes,

Lord.

And it's very simple tonight.

Have you said that?

Is Jesus Lord of your life?

Because if he is not Lord of all,

he is not Lord at all.

And if he's not Lord of all your life,

he's not Lord at all in your life.

Because you cannot serve him with a divided heart.

Blessed are the pure in heart.

Blessed are those who are single-minded in their devotion.

They are the ones who will see God

and no one else will see God.

And so putting it all together,

what does it mean to be pure in heart?

It means to know,

isn't it,

Jesus of Nazareth,

Jesus Christ as your Lord

and as your Savior.

It means having a heart that has been made clean

and a heart that is committed to the Lord Jesus.

And Jesus says,

it is they and they alone

shall see God.

And of course,

that ultimately will be true

when Jesus comes again.

John tells us in his epistle,

we shall see him

as he is

and everyone that has that hope

of seeing Jesus as he is

purifies themselves.

even as he is purer.

It says to the Christian,

doesn't it,

we have got something wonderful

to look forward to,

that Jesus is coming back

and when he comes back

we will see him as he is.

Not as it were

through a glass darkly.

Not with sunglasses on.

We won't see him

through the means of grace.

We won't see him then

through the preaching of the word

or

not through the Lord's table,

not through the means of grace,

but we will see him

as he is

in his glory

when he returns.

That's something

to look forward to.

The psalmist says

in Psalm 17,

as for me,

I will see your face

in righteousness.

I will be satisfied

when I awake

in your likeness.

And he compares himself

to the men of the world

and in Psalm 17,

Psalms 17:14

verse 14,

he says,

they are men of the world

whose portion

is in this life.

And so,

the person of this world,

they are satisfied

with the things of this world

in this life

with the things

that they can see

and touch around them.

But as for me,

he says,

I will be satisfied

when I awake

in your likeness

when I see your face.

and that's the Christian.

And so,

a Christian is a person

in whom there's been

awakened a desire

that nothing less

than a sight

of the glory of God

will satisfy.

That nothing less

than the sight of God

in glory

will satisfy

the longings of your heart.

The psalmist says,

as for me,

that is what is going

to satisfy me.

And nothing else

will satisfy me.

Robert Murray McShane

looks forward to that day

and he says,

when I see thee

as thou art,

love thee

with unsinning heart.

And that ultimately

is the Lord's fulfillment

of these words,

aren't they?

Isn't it?

One day,

the pure in heart

will see God.

But I also want to say to you,

it's true now.

Blessed are the pure in heart.

Blessed are those

whose hearts are cleansed

by the blood of Jesus.

And blessed are those

who are committed

to the lordship of Jesus,

that's the pure in heart,

for they shall see God.

Ultimately,

they'll see him face to face.

But it's also true now.

It's true now.

Let me try and show you that.

Moses saw God.

We're told in Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

In fact,

the author of the Hebrews

says that's the only explanation

of how Moses lived.

Of his life and his career.

He endured

as seeing him

who is invisible.

Moses saw

the invisible God

in this life.

Now,

how is such a thing possible?

You can't see the wind,

can you?

We can't see the wind

because the wind is invisible.

But you can see

the effects of the wind,

can't you,

if you're standing

in the right place

and looking in the right direction.

You can feel its force.

You can see its effects.

And in the same way,

right here,

right now,

we cannot see God

with these eyes.

God is invisible to us.

But if our heart

is fixed in the right place

and set in the right direction,

you will see God.

Jesus saw God

when a sparrow

fell to the ground.

He saw the providence of God,

didn't he?

The person who's not a Christian

doesn't see that.

The person who's not a Christian

doesn't even notice

if a sparrow

falls to the ground.

So what?

But when Jesus saw

a tiny little bird

fall to the ground,

he saw in it

the providence of God

and the plan of God.

Jesus saw

the lily,

the flower,

the beauty of the lily

and in it,

he saw the generosity of God.

Jesus,

when he got up

first thing in the morning

before it was light

and he sees the sun

rising in the sky,

he saw the grace of God.

He saw the God

who causes

that sun

to shine upon

evil and good alike.

Jesus saw God everywhere.

Because his heart

was pure and clean

and undivided.

David in the Old Testament,

David didn't have

a sinless heart.

But he did have

a single heart.

He was a man

after God's own heart.

And there's a lovely

description

in Psalm 29.

Come with me to Psalm 29

if you're still awake.

Come with me to Psalm 29

and let me read to you

some verses.

They're amazing verses.

Psalm 29.

And so look at verse 3.

It's a description

of a storm.

And so David

is looking at a storm.

And he says this,

the voice of the Lord

is over the waters.

The God of glory

thunders.

The Lord

over many waters.

The voice of the Lord

is powerful.

The voice of the Lord

is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord

breaks the cedars.

That's huge trees.

The Lord breaks

the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon

to skip like a calf

and Syrian

like a wild ox.

The voice of the Lord

flashes forth

flames of fire.

Can't you see it?

The trees snapping

in the storm.

The bows breaking off.

The lightning flashing

in the sky.

The gigantic waves.

Can't you hear

the voice of God

in that?

That's how David

sees it.

The voice of the Lord

shakes the wilderness.

The Lord shakes

the wilderness

of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord

makes the deer

give birth

and strips the forest

bare

and in his temple

all cry glory.

The Lord sits

enthroned over the flood

and the Lord sits

enthroned as king

forever.

May the Lord

give strength

to his people.

May the Lord

bless his people

with peace.

He's watching a storm

and as it swept

over the mountains

he didn't simply

see a storm

he saw God.

He saw the thunder

as the voice

of the Lord.

The rushing waters

were the throne

of the Lord

and instead of

showing fear

as he saw

the trees

breaking in the wind

and the rivers rising

David shouts

with confidence

the Lord sits

upon the flood.

He is king

forever.

And blessed

are the poor

for they shall

see God.

And so you think

I think this

beatitude changes

life doesn't it?

Changes tomorrow.

Changes tonight.

It changes

how you view

the world.

Because moment

by moment

as we live

consciously

dependent upon

God

by his Holy Spirit

cleansed

by the blood

of the Lord

Jesus Christ

committed

to his lordship

it's very exciting.

It's very very

exciting isn't it

when you see

God like that.

Something lives

in every hue

Christless eyes

have never seen

and so for the

Christian

our eyes are

open

so we see

this is God's

world.

And life is

very exciting

when you see

God like that

in creation

in your own

home

in your own

family

and wherever

you look

life is exciting

when you see

God

the invisible

God

I had a story

this week

of a little

boy

said to his

mother

is

God everywhere

I'm excited

that he'd

asked that

and said

yes of

course

is God

in this

home

I said

well

yes God

is in this

home

God

in this

kitchen

I said

well

God is

everywhere

he's only

present

he's in

this

kitchen

he's

God

in the

fridge

it's

difficult

isn't it

well

God

is everywhere

present

God

is in

the fridge

little boy

goes in

the fridge

gets the

marmalade

jar

opens the

marmalade

jar

is God

in the

marmalade

jar

yes

little boy

puts the lid

on

says

got him

it's a

ridiculous

story

isn't it

it's a

daft

story

there's

something

in that

isn't

there

of

actually

living

consciously

knowing

that

the

invisible

God

this is

his

world

you can

know him

do you

know God

have you

found God

side

where will

you find

God

the only

place you

can find

God

is Jesus

Christ

there's

no other

place

Jesus

said I

am the

true and

the

living

way

no one

comes to

the

father

except

through

me

so if

you want

to know

God

Jesus

says you've

got to

come

through

me

there is

no other

way

have you

found

God in

Jesus

Christ

that's

where he

used to

be

found

there's

nowhere

else

you find

him

God

it's

not

restricting

at all

it's

absolutely

marvelous

that there

is one

place

and there

is only

one

place

that you

can

find

God

it's

like when

you lose

something

it's

now I'm

forever losing

my keys

you lose

your keys

and you think

where have I

left them

and you trace

your steps

and you go

back over

things and I

think oh

right I

know they're

in my

study I

know they

were there

in my

pocket when

I went

to the

study and

they weren't

there when

I came

back in

and what

happens you

go into the

study and

you tear up

the sofa you

look everywhere

and you

don't leave

the study

until you

found the

keys

and you

don't give

up until

you found

them

because you

know that

they're

there

and you

can know

for certain

tonight that

God can

be found

in Jesus

Christ

and that's

where he

is for you

tonight

in Jesus

Christ

and God

says to you

through Jeremiah

you will seek

for me and

you will find

me when you

seek for me

with all your

heart

and so let

me urge you

tonight

to come

looking for

God in

Jesus Christ

with an

undivided

heart

with a heart

that trusts

in a

saviour

slain for

you

Bible

talks about

the Lord

Jesus

Christ

as an

indescribable

gift

Jesus

is God's

unspeakable

gift

and so if I

come to you

tonight and I

offer you

something

indescribably

valuable as a

gift

and I've got

something in my

hand and

I want to

give it to

you

what have you

got to do

well you've

got to put

down what's

in your

hands in

order to

receive that

gift

if you've

got any

sense to

receive this

indescribable

gift you'll

put down what's

in your

hands in

order to

receive that

gift

and if you

had any

sense

you would

put down

what's in

your hands

to receive

the free

gift of

God in

Jesus

Christ

and whatever

is in your

hands you

let it go

because what

God offers

you in

Jesus Christ

is of

infinite

value

and so

tonight

whatever you

know in

your life

is wrong

whatever you

know in

your life

is not

pure

whatever it

is that

is in

your life

that's on

your conscience

put it

down

let it

go

and receive

Jesus Christ

as your

Lord and

your

Savior

let's

pray