Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

If you would open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, it's on page 962 of your Pew Bible.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

And let me read, let me read the beginning of this sermon from Jesus.

Seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him,

just like we've come to Him today.

And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

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

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

May God bless the hearing of His word.

Well, if you are a follower of Jesus, if you are a Christian, you are a citizen of heaven.

You have been delivered from the domain of darkness, and you've been transferred into the kingdom of His beloved Son.

What Jesus says here is the kingdom of heaven.

And in God's kingdom, character matters.

In His kingdom manifesto, the Sermon on the Mount, which is Matthew 5, 6, and 7,

Jesus begins with an eight-point character profile of each and every one of His kingdom's citizens.

This is to be true of every one of us who are a follower of Jesus.

This is to be true of every one of us who are a follower of Jesus.

But I do have Google.

So I looked up what is an echocardiogram, and I'm summing it up, but this is what it is.

It's a painless process by which your heart in your chest is mapped by sound waves.

So there's an echocardiogram machine.

It gets hooked up, and it shoots sound waves into your chest, and an image is put forward of your heart.

So your doctor can see the structure of your heart fundamentally to make sure you're alive.

Also, the doctor wants to see the blood flow in your heart to make sure there's no kind of buildups within your heart.

And she's also checking for the right ordering of your valves.

So an echocardiogram, well, it's a tool to assess the physical well-being of that one-pound muscle pumping blood in your chest right now.

But this morning, these words of Jesus are an echocardiogram of a different sort.

His words are echoing through your soul.

And we're going to see some things.

It may not be painless this morning.

We know from Hebrews chapter 4 that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

It pierces joint and marrow and discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4.12 isn't talking about the muscle in your chest.

It's talking about this part of you that is the central operating system of your being.

These words of Jesus, blessed are the pure in heart.

It's his divine echocardiogram to help us see our own health of our own hearts.

And so this echocardiogram this morning is going to proceed in two steps.

Step number one, we're going to ask this question, what does Jesus mean by pure in heart?

We're going to spend the bulk of our time this morning on that phrase.

And then we're going to proceed to the second question, what does Jesus mean by this promise?

For they shall see God.

What I want you to help you to see is the pure in heart, well, they know they're not pure in heart.

But because of God's grace, they're striving to be pure in heart because they're in the kingdom.

The pure in heart strive to be pure in heart.

So let's ask and answer this first question.

What does Jesus mean by being pure in heart?

Blessed are the pure in heart.

What does that mean?

Again, we're not talking about the muscle in your chest.

Jesus is talking about a different heart.

And I just want to help you think, what does the Bible mean by heart?

First, when the Bible talks about our hearts, the heart is central to your being.

Your heart is central to your being.

The Bible talks about the heart as the operational center of who you are.

We see that in Hebrews 4.12, but we also see it in Proverbs 4.23.

Guard your heart above all else, for from it flow the wellsprings of life.

You live your life out of your heart.

Here's the thing, Americans make this head-heart split.

You think with your heart, and you think with your head, and you feel with your heart.

The Bible's use of heart doesn't rule that way.

The Bible talks about the heart as the seat of your thinking, of your emotions, of your desires, and of your will.

It's all in one spot.

And it determines how you live your life.

Any Star Trek fans?

I'm not talking newer Star Trek.

I'm talking old school Star Trek.

Yeah.

Captain Kirk.

Scotty.

Bones.

Spock.

If you were a Klingon, and you wanted to take over the USS Enterprise, where would you be beamed into?

The bridge.

Because the bridge of the USS Enterprise is the controlling center of the ship.

You've got comms there, weapons there.

You've got navigational direction, the throttle, whatever that looked like.

It's all there on the bridge.

Whatever controlled the bridge of the USS Enterprise controlled the USS Enterprise.

So it is with your heart.

Your heart is the place, the operational center of your life, and whatever controls your thinking, and your feeling, and your desires, and your will controls your life.

Your heart is central to your being.

But it's not just central to your being.

It's central to your worship.

What you worship.

It's your praise factory.

God has hardwired you for this.

There's 8.2 billion people on the planet.

And they're all hardwired to worship.

It's not if you're going to worship something.

It's what are you worshiping.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words.

and the etymology of the word worship is quite interesting.

It comes from an old English word, worth-ship.

It's where you are recognizing something's value,

something's worth,

and then you're responding accordingly to it.

And when we talk about worship in the context of God,

it's we are recognizing His unsurpassed worth

and we are giving Him the praise due His name.

Psalm 96.4,

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.

That is a function of your heart.

And so when Jesus says,

blessed are the pure in heart,

He's addressing the center of your being,

the center of your worship,

of your praise generator,

of your worship center,

and I hope you're starting to sense

how important your heart is to God.

Your heart is also central to your problems.

Yesterday morning, I gave a talk to the men of our church

on self-control and sexuality,

and at one point I said this,

when the world,

and what I mean by that is sinful humanity

in organized rebellion against God,

when the world sees someone doing something wrong or evil,

usually the world will explain that in one of two ways.

Nature,

they were genetically disposed to that,

or nurture,

well, they were raised in a context

that predisposed them to that.

Your Bibles tend to not disregard those,

but what your Bible will do,

what God will do,

is say the source of evil in human beings

is a nasty,

not nature,

not nurture,

nasty.

It's your heart.

The source of evil in each of us

is resident in our hearts.

When Adam and Eve sinned,

they introduced sin into the world,

into our experience,

and each and every one of us since

has been born with a sinful nature.

And so,

if you would turn with me to Mark chapter 7,

Mark 7 · chapter mention

I want you to see how Jesus talks about it.

Any IT people in the room?

IT?

I don't even know what it means.

That tells you how IT-oriented I am.

But let's just say this.

If your heart is the operating system of your life,

sin is a wicked malware that came with it.

Listen to what Jesus has to say.

Mark chapter 7,

Mark 7:20–23

verses 20 through 23.

Jesus' disciples didn't wash their hands.

The Pharisees are like,

naughty boys,

you've been defiled in the eyes of God.

And Jesus is like,

no.

It's not what goes into you

that defiles you.

And then he goes,

in verse 20,

what comes out of a person

is what defiles them.

For from within,

where, Jesus?

Where from within?

Out of the heart of man

come evil thoughts,

sexual immorality,

theft,

murder,

adultery,

coveting,

wickedness,

deceit,

sensuality,

envy,

slander,

pride,

foolishness.

13 things.

Just,

it's representative.

All of these evil things

come from within,

and they defile a person.

John Calvin talked about

your heart as being

an idol factory.

Sin factory.

So,

so not only is your heart

the center of your being

and the center of your worship,

it's the center of your problems.

It's the source of sin in you.

You can't blame nature.

You can't blame nurture.

You got sin in you

that God holds you

responsible for.

Here's the effect.

It deadens you to God.

In Ephesians,

Ephesians 2:1

chapter 2,

verse 1,

says,

and you were dead

in the trespasses

and sins

in which you once walked,

dead to God.

And that's just not deadness.

You've been defiled.

Your sin defiles you

in God's eyes.

That's what Jesus' point is

in Mark 7.

And it's just not that.

Sin brings about

a disorder of loves

in your heart.

It's the whole point

of Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

You exchange the truth

of God for a lie.

You exchange the creator

for the creator created.

And you're going to have

idols all abounding.

It disorders your loves.

You start to put

created things

over the creator.

That's a sinful

disordering.

That's called idolatry.

Your heart

is central

to your problems.

Anybody want some good news?

your heart

is central

to God's work

of salvation.

Do you know

what's amazing

about God's love?

We were just singing

about it.

For God so loved

the world.

Sinful humanity

and organized rebellion

against God.

For God so loved

the dead

in their sin.

The defiled

in their sin.

The disordered

loves

of sinful humanity.

For God so loved

the world

that he gave

his only begotten son.

It's not that

we're

lovable.

It's that

he is loving.

And in his

great love

for us

he carries

out a work

of salvation

that addresses

this sin problem

deep within

us.

In fact

Zach alluded

to it in his

prayer.

This has always

been the plan.

In Ezekiel

Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

chapter 36

we hear this

prophecy.

I will sprinkle

clean water

on you

and you shall

be clean

from all your

uncleanliness

and from all

your idols

I will cleanse

you.

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

and I will

put my

spirit within

you

and cause

you to

walk in

my statutes

and be

careful to

obey my

rules.

You see

in the

new

covenant

that was

established

by Jesus

on the

cross

he brought

in

Ezekiel

36.

Salvation

now at

its essence

is a

heart

transplant

by the

miracle

of the

Holy Spirit

working in

you.

He

removes

your

stony

heart

that was

dead to

God

and replaces

it with

a fleshly

living heart

wanting to

obey

God.

What a

glorious

plan.

It's

something only

God can

do and

that gets

us at

the power

of the

gospel of

Jesus

Christ.

When a

sinner

dead in

their sin

defiled by

sin

disordered by

sin

puts their

faith in

the Christ

who died

and was

raised for

their sin

that alone

has the

power to

flip a

human being

from being

a worshiper

of sin

to a

worshiper

of God.

That alone

changes their

hearts.

It's a

miracle.

It's a

miracle.

Ephesians 2

talks about it

as being

dead in

sin but

God made

us alive

in Christ.

Your

heart

is very

important to

God.

He sent

Jesus

to change

your heart.

So you

may be

asking,

okay,

why is

Jesus

getting to

the heart

now in

the Beatitudes?

We're on

Beatitude

number six.

If the

heart is so

important,

why is

he talking

about it

now?

He's been

talking about

it all

along.

Poor in

spirit,

where do you

think that

is?

Mourning

your sin,

where do you

think that

comes from?

Being meek,

humble,

of heart?

What do you

think hungering

and thirsting

for righteousness

is?

It's a

heart

posture.

What do you

think mercy

flows from?

Oh,

he has been

talking about

the heart

all along

here.

He just

gets explicit

right now.

But then,

for the rest

of the sermon,

for the rest

of the sermon

on the mount,

he pounds

the heart.

He goes

after the

internals.

It's one

big echo

cardiogram of

a sermon.

God's

God's

God

so much

so

that

Jesus,

God in

the flesh,

suffered

God's

wrath

on the

cross

for you

and then

was raised

from the

dead

to give

you a

new

heart.

Blessed

are the

pure in

heart.

Blessed

are those

who God's

grace has

fallen upon,

whose the

spirit has

given new

life,

who've

gone from

being dead

to alive.

Blessed

are the

pure in

heart.

Your

heart's

important.

You live

out of your

heart.

Now let's

talk about

this word

pure.

Blessed

are the

pure in

heart.

What is

this

purity

business?

Well,

at least

implied,

this

purity

that

Jesus

is

talking

about

is not

a

self-generated

purity.

The purity

that he's

talking about

here,

it's a

made

alive

purity.

This is a

purity in

your heart

that doesn't

come from

your wicked

heart.

This is a

purity that

comes from

the God

who's made

you alive.

life.

There's no

way human

obedience and

works can

bring about

a spiritual

life that

brings about

a purity

of heart

to a

heart that

is dead

and defiled

and disordered.

The purity

first and

foremost that

you need to

understand

is a

living

purity.

This is a

spirit made

alive purity.

This is a

born again

John 3

purity.

Given a

new heart,

the spirit

blows where

he wishes.

Not just

that,

it's a

purity that

has brought

someone who's

dead into

spiritual life

by the

spirit of

God.

It is a

washing

clean by

the blood

of Jesus

purity.

It's a

washing

clean of

the defilement

that made

us so

grievous in

God's sight.

It's referred

to in

Ezekiel 36

as that

sprinkling

clean.

It's in

Isaiah 1.8,

come let us

reason together

so that your

sins that are

scarlet can be

washed white as

snow as

wool.

That's the

cleaning we're

talking about

here.

When the

Bible talks

about cleaning,

purity,

it's talking

about forgiveness

of your

sins,

of making

you clean

in God's

sight.

There's this

great passage

in Colossians.

It uses a

little different

language,

but you'll

get it.

In Colossians

2.13,

we read

this.

And you,

who were

dead in

your

trespasses,

in the

uncircumcision

of your

flesh,

God made

alive together

with him,

having forgiven

us all our

trespasses.

By canceling

the record of

debt that

stood against

us with its

legal demands,

this he set

aside,

nailing it to

the cross.

The forgiveness

of sins is being

talked about as a

cancellation of

debt in this

context,

but we can talk

about it as being

washed clean,

by the blood of

Jesus.

It's another way,

another description

of it.

There is a

fountain filled

with blood drawn

from Emmanuel's

veins, and

sinners plunged

beneath that

flood lose all

their guilty

stains.

This washed

clean, this

purity in

heart is a

cleansing that

comes from the

shed blood of

Jesus on the

cross, in

which covering

you, it's

cleansed you.

It happens at

the moment you

believe, at your

conversion.

There's this

positional cleansing

in which you've been

forgiven of all of

your sin, past,

present, and future.

It is a yes and

amen.

And then there is

this ongoing need

for cleansing,

because even

though the penalty

of sin has been

paid, the power of

sin has been

broken, the

presence of sin

remains, which

means even though

I've been made

pure positionally, I'm

going to continue to

sin, and I'm going to

continue to need to be

forgiven, and I'm going

to continue to need to

be cleansed.

And so when we read a

passage like 1 John 1,

9, if we confess our

sins, he is faithful and

just to forgive our sins

and to cleanse us from

all unrighteousness.

There is this, you

have been made pure,

you are being made

pure, and you will be

made pure, fully and

finally and completely.

It's going to happen at

his appearing when you

see him, 1 Corinthians

15.

Your imperishable tent is

going to get swallowed

up by what is

perishable.

And at that moment, in

the twinkling eye, and

the blowing of the

trumpet, you see him.

And you're going to be

made new all the way

through.

That wickedness in you,

that idol maker in you,

gone.

All by the blood of

Jesus.

It's all the fruit of

his cross work.

His positional cleansing,

his practical day-by-day

cleansing, and then this

promised full and forever

cleansing that will come

where he deals with the

defilement of our sin.

Hebrews 10, 14 says it

this way, for by a single

offering, he has perfected

for all time those who are

being sanctified.

Or in the language we've

been using, for by a single

offering, by a single

cleaning at the cross, he has

purified for all time those

who are being purified.

But this purity is not just

being made alive from the

dead, it's not just simply

being washed clean from

defilement, it's having your

loves rightly reordered.

The effects of sin on our

humans, on our hearts, is

idolatrous.

We would oftentimes rather

worship at the altar of

comfort than to live fully for

our risen king.

When you got flipped, when

you were delivered from the

domain of darkness and you

were transferred into the

kingdom of the beloved son,

all by God's grace, a

miraculous work, at that

moment you got rightly

reordered.

Jesus became the controlling

center of your life.

He is the great one thing.

He's the great first love.

When Jesus comes to town and

he claims you as your own, he

is going to reorder your

loves.

In Matthew 22, a lawyer

approaches Jesus.

Can you hear?

What's the greatest commandment

in the law?

Jesus responds.

The first and greatest

commandment is to love the

Lord your God with all your

heart, soul, mind, and

strength.

And the second is like it.

To love your neighbor as

yourself.

These two great love

commandments, all of the

prophets hang on them.

God's love.

And it's for us a reordering

of our loves.

He is going to want to

reorder in you on a daily

basis a love for God first

and foremost that controls

everything, even your love

for your neighbor.

It's a reordering of our

loves.

You could say it this way.

You were redeemed to live for

the glory of God.

And so if you're following me,

this purity of heart is being

made alive by the spirit,

being washed clean by the blood

of Jesus, and now you've been

reordered, realigned to live for

the glory of God.

How about that for purity in

heart?

So what is purity in heart?

Well, it's a heart that's been

made alive by the spirit, washed

clean by the blood of Jesus, and

it's a person who is now living

for the glory of God.

Blessed, blessed are the pure in

heart.

It shows that they have been

graced of God.

It's at this point, though,

I've got to let you know about

something.

The book of Matthew is very, the

structure of the book is

beautiful.

Here are these eight beatitudes

at the beginning of the book, and

towards the end of the book, in

Matthew 23, we have seven woes.

Jesus speaking woe on the scribes

and the Pharisees.

They are the opposite of being

pure in heart.

They emphasize being clean on the

outside, of having a righteousness

that everybody can see.

Let me just read to you what Jesus

has to say to them in Matthew

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

chapter 23.

This is verses 25 through 27.

Jesus says this.

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.

Those are heart products.

You blind Pharisee, first clean the

inside of the cup and plate, that the

outside also may be clean.

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.

Cleanness!

So you also outwardly appear

righteous to others, but within you

are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Jesus is making a stark contrast

between the blessed ones of his

kingdom who are pure in heart,

and not necessarily perfect in heart,

but striving for purity,

and these Pharisees, woe to them!

They're under God's curse!

They're not in the kingdom,

because they're dead in their sin!

They're defiled!

They're disordered!

It's a sober warning for us.

And it gets at something that is

essential to what it means to be

pure in heart.

Your heart is aimed at one thing.

Jesus.

Treasure Him above all else.

It's an undivided heart.

A pure heart is a heart that has a

singularity of purpose and focus.

Treasuring Jesus above all else.

Okay, I'm going to bring you now

in this echocardiogram.

We're going to get some specific work

done.

When Jesus speaks of being pure in heart,

it applies to your anger.

In 521, Jesus says,

You have heard that it was said,

to those of old,

you shall not murder,

and whoever murders

will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you,

that everyone who is angry

with his brother

will be liable to judgment.

Whoever insults his brother

will be liable to the council.

And whoever says,

You fool,

will be liable to the hell of fire.

Sinful anger

is an impurity of heart

and must be confessed.

Lust.

You've heard that it was said,

verse 27,

you shall not commit adultery.

But I say to you,

that everyone who looks at a woman

with lustful intent

has already committed adultery

with her in his heart.

It's not simply

not doing things externally.

It's what's going on

on the inside.

Lust is an impurity of heart.

He goes on to talk about

many other things.

One being hate.

Okay,

we are in a contentious

political cycle.

Right?

Election for president.

Listen to this.

Verse 43,

You've heard that it was said,

You shall love your neighbor

and hate your enemy.

But I say to you,

love your enemies,

even political enemies,

and pray for those

who persecute you.

Hatred towards others

is an impurity of heart.

Needs to be confessed.

He goes on to talk about greed.

He goes on to talk about anxiety.

He goes on to talk about

in chapter 27,

that if you are judging

other people

and not first taking the log

out of your own eye,

you are impure of heart.

Again and again,

this whole sermon

is one big echocardiogram

to not only expose,

for His Word

to expose us

and the way to respond to this

when you're seeing this stuff

in your heart,

which we all do,

is to say,

Oh Lord,

have mercy on me.

Pour out Your grace on me.

Make me pure

as You are pure.

Purity of heart

we're talking about

are those in the kingdom

who've been made pure

on one level,

but they're aware

of their impurity

on another,

and yet they're striving

to be pure in heart

because they've been brought

into the kingdom.

It's all by God's grace.

Now quickly to this promise.

Blessed are the pure in heart

for they shall see God.

This is talking about

when you will actually

lay your eyes on God.

It's when,

what Paul talks about

when faith becomes sight.

Right now we are looking at it

through a mirror dimly,

but then we will see

face to face.

This seeing God

is this literal

when you will be

in His presence,

in His place,

and you will see Him.

And the first time

you will see Him

is at His appearing.

And your Bible

has much to say about that.

In Titus chapter 2,

Titus 2:13

verse 13,

waiting for our blessed hope,

the appearing of the glory

of our God,

great God and Savior,

Jesus Christ,

1 John 3, 2

speaks of His appearing

and the purifying effect

it is to anticipate that.

It speaks of in 1 Corinthians 15

all the way through

the return of Jesus,

and it has this

strengthening effect

for those who are doing

the work of the Lord.

that you will see Him

with your own eyes.

This is a promise

for those of us

in the kingdom

so that we keep on

pursuing purity of heart.

What's beautiful

about the promise,

it has this kind of

anticipation of a future

seeing Him

as a present purifying effect.

Longing for Him,

pursuing holiness,

persevering.

What does Jesus mean

by being pure in heart?

Well,

He means that

those blessed of the Lord,

those who are in the kingdom

are made alive

by the Spirit of God,

that they've been cleansed

by the blood of Christ,

that they're living

for the glory of God.

They know they haven't arrived,

but they are continuing

to pursue greater degrees

of holiness and purity.

And what does Jesus mean

by we shall see God?

Well,

this promise is

that we're one day closer

to seeing Him face to face.

And the only way

He can wipe a tear

from your face

is if He's face to face.

So let me close

with just four questions

for you.

We've come to the end

of the echocardiogram.

Does your heart

need Spirit reviving?

Has sin

deadened your heart?

Dulled your heart?

Distracted your heart?

Cry out.

Don't wait.

Spirit,

revive my heart

that I would want

Jesus.

Are you in need

of fresh cleansing

from the flood,

from the fountain,

from the blood

of Jesus?

Don't,

don't wait.

1 John 1.9,

if we confess our sins,

He's faithful and just

to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us

from all unrighteousness.

Is your life

out of order?

Are you putting

third things first

instead of

first things first?

Do you need

to go to your King

and say,

oh, forgive me, Lord.

help me

to treasure you

above all else.

You are the controlling

center of my life.

And finally,

have you forgotten

that you're going

to see Him

face to face?

Maybe this afternoon.

Take some time out.

Pull out your Bible.

read Revelation 19,

20, 21, and 22.

Pull out your Bible.

Read 1 Corinthians 15.

Pull out your Bible.

Read Matthew 24 and 25.

Where we're given

these sites of Him.

We're citizens

of the United States

in an election year.

But we're citizens

of the kingdom

forever.

So let's,

by God's grace,

strive

to be pure in heart.

Amen?

God in heaven,

we are so grateful

that you address us

so lovingly.

It's out of love,

Jesus,

you speak these words.

And it's out of love

for you

that we receive them

and we say,

oh, Lord,

thank you.

Would you purify

our hearts?

Would you

grow us

in Christ-likeness?

Lord Jesus,

we recognize you

as being

the purest

in heart

of all.

Thank you for dying

for us.

In Jesus' name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

God.

Thank you for

God.

For God in heaven