Blessed Are The Pure In Heart

All right, let's start off with something we can all relate with.

Surely, surely all of us are regularly, regularly tempted to disobey our Lord.

Do I have an amen?

All of us are regularly tempted to disobey our King.

And there are temptations that we all face that are common to man.

Outbursts of anger.

Do I have an amen?

Impatience.

Various kinds of sexual impurity.

They're all out there.

Maybe you can relate with anxiety or despair that springs from unbelief.

It will keep you up at night.

Another temptation common to man is this pride in all of us.

It has many manifestations.

It shows up in a variety of ways.

But at its core, it's usually me first or I'm better.

It kind of runs along those courses.

You ever tempted to greed?

You ever tempted to lie?

Be lazy?

These are just temptations that are common to us all.

You're going to face one today, I'm guessing.

Maybe this afternoon.

Tomorrow morning.

Lying in bed tonight.

What if?

What if?

What if?

What if the next time you are being wooed to disobey your Lord?

What if?

What if?

What if there's this foreign thought that gets imposed upon your thinking?

Now your first reaction to this foreign thought may be, whoa, where did that come from?

And you'll know.

It comes from your Lord.

It's a timely kindness to you.

So what is this foreign thought, this glorious thought that the Lord impresses upon your thinking?

Well, here it is.

It's that moment when you see your Savior face to face.

So you're being wooed to sin and all of a sudden upon your mind is this thought, glorious thought of seeing your Savior face to face.

And what is so distinct about this particular thought is that it's the deep creases in His smile.

Now, you have this thought that not only are you happy to see Him, but He is delighted to see you.

Now with that glorious thought of one day seeing your smiling Savior in mind,

what would happen to that present temptation?

What do you think would happen to that wooing to sin?

Well, I'm guessing that the thought of your smiling Savior who awaits you

will cause you to gratefully obey that same Savior now.

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

This morning I want to call you to something.

Brothers and sisters, set your heart on Jesus.

Fix your eyes on Him now because you're certainly going to fix your eyes on Him then.

Seeing Him, knowing you will see Him, compels you to live for Him now.

And I just want to bring three points up.

I want to draw them right from this passage.

Three points.

We could all, we could say there are three words from this text.

They're the words heart, they're the words pure, and the word see as in S-E-E.

Your heart matters to God.

Purity of heart is the active pursuit of holiness.

And the last point will be, you will see Him, brother.

You will see Him, sister.

You will see the creases in His smile.

Set your heart on obeying Jesus now, for you will see Him.

You will see Him.

It's just a matter of time.

First point, your heart matters to God.

Blessed are the pure in heart.

I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.

I know enough to know that cardiology is the study, the science of the heart.

And as Americans, when we hear the word heart, we tend to think of that fist-sized muscle pumping blood in your chest right now.

And so we go to our minds and think, okay, what does heart health look like?

But if you're not thinking about your heart in that kind of physical, muscular sense,

usually you'll be thinking about the heart in more of a metaphoric sense,

that place from which your feelings come.

You've heard the expression, think with your head, feel with your heart?

That's an American expression.

And so as Americans, we either tend to think that our hearts are that muscle in our chest

or that place where we feel from.

Well, the question we've got to ask this morning is,

what did Jesus mean by heart?

Blessed are the pure in heart.

What does the Bible mean when it uses the word heart?

Well, it's more than just feelings.

When you read that word heart in your Bible,

usually what it is meaning is the totality of who you are on the inside.

It's the location, it's the seat of your intellect, of your feelings, and of your will.

All together, it's the control center of your being.

And whatever controls your heart controls your life.

And so what we need to understand is when Jesus says,

blessed are the pure in heart, he's talking about your inner man.

Your intellect, your feelings, emotions, and your will.

That part of you that decides upon doing something.

And that's why this is so important.

Your heart is of vital importance to God.

It's the mainspring of a human being.

It's the fountainhead from which all of your thoughts, feelings, and actions flow.

You live out of your heart, biblically speaking.

Proverbs 4, 23, guard your heart above all else,

for from it flow the wellsprings of life.

Your heart is of vital importance to God.

Whatever you give your heart to ends up controlling you.

You live for what you give your heart to.

Your heart weighs things.

Your heart considers the worth of something.

And then your heart will either delight in it,

or it will be turned off by it,

but certainly it will move toward deciding whether you're going to pursue it or not.

It all happens in your heart, biblically speaking.

The mainspring, the fountainhead of your being.

And God's designed you that way.

That's not a mistake.

He made your heart for that purpose.

It is designed to be the mainspring of your life.

It's designed to be the fountainhead from everything which flows.

St. Augustine said it this way.

This is an often spoken quote.

Thou hast formed us for thyself,

and our hearts are restless until they find their final resting place in thee.

God designed our hearts to worship.

To see something's worth, to delight in it, and then to live for it.

You were made to worship God from your heart with your intelligence,

your emotions, and your will.

We were designed, our hearts were designed by God to worship Him.

So when Jesus talks about the heart in Matthew 5.8,

He's speaking of your inner being,

the place where worship comes from.

It's really important.

It's that from which you devote yourself to something.

He's not just talking about your feelings.

He is.

But so much more.

So, your heart is of vital importance to God

because it's the place from which you worship.

Do you think God cares about what you worship?

Of course He does.

Worship really matters to your God.

In fact, what you worship, He takes personally.

You were made to worship Him.

And there's a reason why He will hold everyone

who has ever walked the face of this planet

accountable to this.

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not bow down or serve anything but God

because God is a jealous God.

He's rightfully jealous of what you worship.

You were created to worship, to live for Him.

And He is jealous of the fame and devotion

that is due Him alone as the one true God over all.

So you can start seeing why your heart

is of vital importance to God.

It's where you worship from.

And God is really interested in what you worship

because ultimately, all worship is His.

Here's some bad news.

Maybe you've been to a cardiologist before

and you've gotten bad news.

Well, biblically speaking,

what we learn from the Scriptures

is that every heart of every person

has a deadly and disorienting disease.

Heart disease.

Biblically speaking.

It's called sin.

Jeremiah 17.

Jeremiah says it this way.

The heart is deceitful above all things

and desperately sick.

We have all inherited a spiritual heart disease

called sin.

And it disorients our worship.

It's unbelievable what sin does.

It takes a heart that's designed to worship

and redirects it from the worship of the Creator

to the worship of created things.

It's idolatry.

And if that weren't bad enough,

that disorientation,

that movement of worship off God

into the created things,

it carries a capital punishment.

It's a capital offense

to worship something other than God.

So biblically speaking,

this heart disease called sin

hasn't stopped you from being a worshiper.

You're still a worshiper.

What sin does is redirects our hearts

to worship things that are not God.

You can see why God would consider

your heart very important.

He's interested in your heart.

Jesus says something later in Matthew.

It's in Matthew 15.

He's talking about what defiles a person.

And Jesus is very clear on saying,

here's what really makes someone

defiled in God's eyes.

He says this,

but what comes out of the mouth

proceeds from the heart.

And this defiles a person.

From out of the heart

come evil thoughts,

murder and adultery,

sexual immorality,

theft,

false witness,

slander.

These are what defile a person.

But to eat with unwashed hands

does not defile anyone.

Your heart,

John Calvin would say,

is an idol factory.

Our sin

really distorts our worship.

That's the bad news.

Here's the good news.

God offers a one-of-a-kind cure

for our heart disease.

Because He wants all of you

for Himself.

He wants all your heart,

all your being,

all of it for Himself.

And so He's offered

a one-of-a-kind cure.

And this cure

gets at the radical nature

of your estranged heart.

This cure

is able,

and this cure alone,

is able to resurrect

a dead heart,

and it's able to reorient

a heart that's been set

on things other than God.

This cure, of course,

is Jesus.

Jesus is God's cure

for the disease

of our sin.

It's through Christ

that God offers sinners

new hearts,

new life,

new purpose.

purpose.

So,

when we read

blessed are the pure

in heart,

you've got to realize

that what Jesus means

by heart,

there's a whole lot

of kind of like

biblical freight

that comes with that.

He's very interested

in who you worship.

And mind you,

the one speaking this

is God's cure

for your heart.

Today's Palm Sunday.

And we can imagine

Jesus walking into Jerusalem

and people laying down

palm leaves.

And oh Jesus,

you're so awesome.

He came into Jerusalem

on Palm Sunday

in order to address

the human heart.

He's on mission.

He would hang on the tree

and be raised from the dead

in order to radically

change our hearts

from being diseased

and disoriented

to new life,

new worship,

new men and women

in Christ Jesus.

It's something only He can do.

He wants your mainspring.

He wants to change

the fountainhead

of your being.

And only He can do it

with His power.

And so,

your heart matters to God.

So much so,

God sent Jesus

to radically change your heart.

So this morning,

I just got

a really simple question for you.

Do you realize

how important your heart is?

Your heart.

Do you realize

how important it is

to God?

What you worship matters.

And your heart matters

to God.

Which brings us to

the second point

for this morning.

That little word,

pure.

Blessed are the pure

in heart.

And this morning,

what I want you to see

is that the purity of heart

that Jesus is talking about

is not some kind of

settled state

of sinless perfection,

but it is an active

pursuit of holiness.

The first thing

I want you to see

is the location

of this purity.

Purity of heart.

Jesus locates

this purity

within a person.

Internal.

It's not external.

Jesus is going

after your heart.

And this is to be

a distinguishing mark

of a citizen

of the kingdom of heaven.

Inner purity.

Later on in Matthew

in chapter 15

and in chapter 23,

if you want to turn

to chapter 23

with me right now,

Jesus is going

to indict the Pharisees,

these religious leaders,

for emphasizing

an outer purity

at the expense

of inner purity.

He drops all these

woe bombs

on these Pharisees.

And in 25 and 28,

you see Jesus

kind of locating something.

Woe to you,

scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites,

for you clean

the outside

of the cup

and the plate,

but inside,

inside,

they're full of greed

and self-indulgent.

You blind Pharisees,

first clean

the inside of the cup.

He's talking about

your heart

and the 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.

So you also

outwardly appear

righteous to others,

but within

your heart,

you're full of hypocrisy

and lawlessness.

This call,

Jesus is calling on us,

his followers,

the citizens

of his kingdom.

Whatever he means

by purity,

what is to characterize us

is we're to have

a purity of heart

inside of us.

First and foremost,

God wants your heart.

He wants your heart

to be pure.

These are the happy ones.

So I want you to see

the location of this.

This is inner purity.

The second matter

that we need to clear up

this morning

is what Jesus

actually means

by pure.

Blessed are the pure

in heart.

Because I'm guessing

some of you

in this room right now

who are believers,

you've been justified,

you stand in the

finished work of Jesus,

Jesus' righteousness

is imputed to you,

but when you hear

the words,

blessed are the pure

of heart,

your mind immediately

goes to,

well,

I just did this

this morning,

I'm not pure in heart,

how can I be a citizen

of the kingdom?

Because you're thinking

that what Jesus means

by pure

is some kind of

settled state

of sinless perfection.

A perfect holiness

of heart

24-7,

365 days a year.

A perfection of heart

where sinful thoughts,

feelings,

and actions

do not exist.

If that's what

Jesus is saying,

well,

none of us

can ever be citizens

of the kingdom

because we all know

by experience

this is not true

of us.

At least on this side

of his return.

What we know is

we're a people

who are simultaneously

justified

and sinners

all at once.

We're a mixed bag,

aren't we?

So what does Jesus

mean by pure?

Well,

I am so grateful

for the logical

flow of the

Beatitudes.

Jesus didn't just

throw this stuff

together.

He intentionally

laid it out.

And there is a case

to be made

from the flow

of the Beatitudes

with what Jesus

means by pure.

Remember,

each of these

Beatitudes

is to be true

of every kingdom

citizen.

And so,

in chapter 5,

verse 3,

we read

that there to be

poor in spirit,

that we would have

declared spiritual

poverty,

that we know

that we're in debt

and we cry out

to God.

That's to be true

of us.

5.4

says,

blessed are those

who mourn.

Mourn over what?

Mourn over sin.

It's a present

participle.

Who are mourning.

Present

participle.

They haven't ceased

to mourn their sin.

They continue

to mourn sin.

And they will find

comfort in Christ.

Spiritually bankrupt,

mourn in sin.

They are the meek.

Blessed are the meek.

They've been put

in their place.

They've been rescued

from that vain

and idolatrous notion

that I am at the center

of all things.

We've realized

that's not true.

We've been made meek.

We have this new craving

for Christ-likeness.

We hunger and thirst

for righteousness.

We know that's not from us.

that that is an appetite

given by the Almighty.

We crave

to be like Jesus

in 5.7

so we show mercy.

We've been shown mercy

by God.

Now we show mercy

to others.

That leads us to 5.8.

Pure in heart.

You see,

the pure in heart

are the spiritually bankrupt

who know that.

The pure in heart

are those who are mourning

their sin.

It's not an absence of sin.

It's a mourning of sin.

You're very aware of it

in light of God's holiness.

Pure in heart

are the meek.

They crave Christ-likeness.

They're quick to mercy.

The pure in heart

are not the sinlessly perfect incarnate.

The pure in heart

are those redeemed

by the blood of the Lamb

who want to now be holy.

Who have a singular purpose.

Holiness.

These are men and women

born by the Spirit

with a new appetite

despite ongoing cravings for sin.

The pure in heart

are those who are simultaneously

made righteous

and continue to sin.

The purity of heart

is a pursuit of holiness.

The Beatitudes themselves

when taken together

help us to understand

that what Jesus means

by pure in heart

is not sinless perfection on earth

but an active pursuit of holiness.

That's what he means.

That word pure

in the original language

is the word that we get

catharsis from

or catheter.

In its most general meaning

it means clean.

But it also

has a fuller sense.

It's John MacArthur

helping me understand

helping us understand

that this word

was commonly used

to describe metals

that had been refined

until all the impurity

were removed.

It's unmixed,

unalloyed,

unadulterated metal.

There is integrity

to the metal.

The finest gold

is the gold

subjected to

the longest refinement.

And when we think

about the heart

and we apply this word

pure to the heart,

the idea is

unmixed motive.

Single-minded commitment.

Undivided devotion.

Spiritual integrity.

Not pharisaical hypocrisy.

Unity of heart.

Oneness of heart.

So when you hear

Jesus say,

blessed are the pure in heart,

be thinking

single-minded pursuit

of God's holiness.

Unity of heart

and the worship of God

in every area of your life.

It's a huge call.

It's what's to mark

each of us

as citizens of the kingdom.

We are to be singular

in our pursuit of holiness.

So this is not

something to diminish,

but something to realize

this is a call

on all of our lives.

It is comprehensive

in its nature.

Every area of your life.

A singularity of focus.

Holiness.

It's an all-consuming pursuit

of that which pleases God most.

Holiness.

1 Peter,

be holy for I am holy.

1 Thessalonians,

God's not called us

for impurity,

but in holiness.

This purity of heart

is not sinless perfection,

but it's an active seeking

of holiness

in your inner being.

And so you end up

having to deal with your sin.

You deal with your sin

in the ways that God

has prescribed.

You deal humbly with it.

The pure in heart

want holiness

more

than the fleeting

pleasures of sin.

And so what I'm trying

to help you see

this morning

is that

this purity of heart

is not a

settled state

of sinless perfection,

but an active state

of single-minded pursuit,

all-consuming pursuit

of the holiness of God.

And so I want to kind of

tease this out

a little bit before you.

And so here are five dynamics

of the pure of heart.

Here's what this looks like

on a daily basis.

So this active pursuit

of God's holiness

means that the pure of heart

are always aiming

their heart at God.

Always aiming

your heart at God.

You might stumble,

you might fall down,

you might skin your knee,

but you get back up,

you wipe it off,

and you go after God again.

Aiming,

always aiming

your heart at God.

A verse like Psalm 115

would be something nice

to hang on this.

Not to us, O Lord,

not to us,

but to your name

give glory

because of your steadfast

love and faithfulness.

I think of

2 Corinthians 5.15.

He died for all

that those who live

might no longer live

for themselves,

but for him

who for their sake

died and was raised.

It's all about him.

Always aiming

your heart at God.

That's why Jesus

shed his blood for you.

To reorient your heart

from yourself,

from sin,

into God.

So the first dynamic

of the pursuit of God,

of the purity of heart,

is always aiming

your heart at God.

That's what you've been

bought for.

The second is

ceaselessly uniting

your life for God.

Always aiming

and then uniting

your heart.

Do you know what

cowboys do?

They herd cattle.

And cattle,

I have no experience

herding cattle,

but I can imagine it.

I've seen enough movies

to know

that cattle

are herding

something that is

living and active.

And sometimes

the living and active

herd finds ways

to go places

they're not supposed

to go.

And so what do

cowboys do?

They herd them back

to where they need

to go.

And so when we talk

about uniting,

ceaselessly uniting

your heart,

what that means is

you start recognizing

when there's an aspect

of your heart

that is wanting

to go away

in a direction

other than God's glory

and that you

herd it back.

You herd it back.

Every area

of your life,

you are actively

herding your heart

unto God.

What's going on there?

I need to herd

that back

to the Lord Jesus.

Yeah!

Yeah!

Come on now!

Come on!

Come on!

Come on, heart!

Come on now!

Yeah!

That wasn't

in my manuscript.

Yeah!

But you know

what's going to happen

when you're hurting

your heart?

There's going to be

desires.

There's going to be

decisions.

There's going to be

actions that are like,

that's wrong.

And so not only

are you always aiming

and ceaselessly uniting,

you are quickly

confessing.

A pure heart

quickly confesses

confesses sin.

1 John 1.9,

I hope you know this,

if we confess

our sins.

That word confess

simply means

to agree.

You are,

you are agreeing

with God

that what I just did

was wrong in His eyes.

You're calling it

what it is.

If we confess

our sins,

1 John 1.9,

we're quickly

confessing our sins.

That's part of

hurting your heart.

It's part of

being a cowboy

for Jesus.

Always aiming,

ceaselessly uniting,

quickly confessing.

Fourth,

because of your

quickly confessing

your sin,

you are regularly

receiving forgiveness

and cleansing

from God Almighty.

If we confess

our sins,

He's faithful

and just.

It's right

of Him

based on what

Jesus has done

for you

to forgive you

and cleanse you

from all unrighteousness.

You experience it.

Purity of heart

is dealing

with your sin

and receiving

God's forgiveness

and His

cleansing grace

time and again.

The fifth thing

that the pure

heart do,

they are eagerly

expressing their

gratitude.

gratitude.

When you're

hurting your heart

and you recognize

sin and you

quickly confess it

and you go to

your God with it

and you confess it

and you know

He's forgiven it

based upon the

finished work of

Jesus,

do you know

when that happens?

Gratitude.

You remember

that prostitute

that showed up

at Simon's house

when Jesus was

in there eating

dinner?

And she shows up

and she's just

an emotional mess

and she's like

weeping and crying

washing Jesus'

feet with her hair.

And Simon's like

surely he knows

who this woman is.

And Jesus drops

a parable on him.

This woman loves

much because she's

been forgiven much.

Simon, you don't

love much because

you don't think

you have a need

to be forgiven.

When we are

aiming our hearts,

when we are

uniting our lives,

when we are

quickly confessing

and regularly

receiving,

you're going to

be a grateful

brother and sister

in Christ.

You're going to

be constantly

aware of your

ongoing need

for the blood

of Jesus.

And the result

is gratitude.

You are happy

in your holiness.

holiness.

You're delighting

in your devotion.

By God's grace,

those who are

pure in heart

are happy.

They're blessed.

Do you know

what OCD is?

My kids call me

OCD once in a while.

Dad, you can see

you being so OCD.

OCD.

Obsessive compulsive

disorder.

What we're talking

about, the pure

in heart,

are OCD.

It's not a

disorder.

It's devotion.

Obsessive compulsive

devotion to Jesus.

It's what you're

living for.

It's your singularity

of aim.

It's what you're

going after.

It's what you're

hurting towards.

It's what you're

dealing with

for the glory

of Jesus.

These are the

pure of heart.

Purity is an

active pursuit

of holiness.

That's what Jesus

is calling us to

here.

The third and

final point of

this morning's

message is this.

You will see

Him.

You will see

Him.

Your heart

matters.

Purity is an

active pursuit

of holiness.

And you will

see Him.

Blessed are the

pure in heart

for they

shall see

God.

Amazing.

Amazing what's

being said.

It's amazing what

Jesus is saying

here.

Those who are

active pursuing

holiness, because

they've been

changed, they're

going to see God

someday.

God's

happy.

Why are the

pure in heart

happy?

Because they're

going to see

God someday.

You know, we're

all looking forward

to something.

We're all looking

forward to laying

our eyes on

something.

I mean, it's tax

season, and maybe

some of you have

got a tax return

coming, and you're

just looking to

lay eyes on that

tax return check,

or at least on

your online account

where you see it

deposited.

You just want to

lay eyes on that.

I think I'm going

to owe money this

year, so I'm not

looking to lay

eyes on that.

But you may be.

Or others of you

on a chilly

Palm Sunday

morning are

looking forward to

laying your eyes

on a sandy

beach.

Crystal blue

water.

A steady 84

degrees.

Slight wind

coming out of

the east.

You can hear

kids giggling.

You can feel the

sand between your

toes.

It's a warm

beach.

Oh, I can't

wait to lay my

eyes on that.

We're all looking

forward to something,

aren't we?

We're all looking

forward to something.

Maybe you're looking

forward to laying

your eyes on a

loved one.

Maybe you have a

loved one living in

another state that

you don't see too

often, and you're

just looking forward

to seeing them.

Maybe you have

someone serving in

the military, and

you're just looking

forward to seeing

them when they get

back.

So they get back.

Maybe you have

someone living in

prison, and you're

just longing to see

them.

Lay eyes on them.

Someone who's away

from you.

You want to be in

their presence.

In Matthew 5, 8, Jesus

gives us the reason

why the pure in heart

are so blessed.

They will see God.

They will be in his

presence.

Brother and sister of a

pure heart, those who

are actively pursuing

holiness, be happy, for

you're going to see

him.

You're going to see

him.

You're going to lay

your eyes on him.

You will be in his

very presence.

What I love to think

about it is, I'm one

day closer than

yesterday than seeing

him face to face.

The window's getting

smaller.

God, there's coming

a day when you will

lay eyes on your

Savior.

You're going to see

the creases in his

face.

You're going to see

the twinkle in his

eye.

You're not going to be

disappointed.

Not in the least.

In fact, probably the

biggest problem we're

going to face, I don't

know if there's traffic

in heaven, but the

biggest problem we're

going to face is getting

our eyes off Jesus.

We're just going to be

fixed, transposed.

We just want to be

with him.

The Apostle Paul talks

about this a little bit

in 1 Corinthians 13.

He's talking about,

now I see him through a

glass dimly, but then

face to face.

Right now, we see

through eyes of face.

We fix our eyes on

Jesus by faith.

But there's coming a

day when faith turns

to sight.

We see him face to

face.

You're going to be

face to face with

him.

When was the last

time you imagined

that?

When was the last

time you brought to

your mind that you

were going to stand

face to face with

your king, Jesus?

The one who shed his

blood for you.

What are you going to do

in that moment?

So when you think

about that, that you

will see him someday,

what effect does that

have on your pursuit

of holiness now?

It's to motivate you to

pursue holiness.

Seeing him then, the

promise of that compels

us to live for him

now.

In other words, this

promise to the pure in

heart is a way in which

we aim our hearts at our

Lord has a purifying

effect.

Your heart matters to

God.

This purity of heart is

an act of pursuit of

holiness and it's capped

with this wonderful

promise you're going to

see him face to face.

So brothers and

sisters in Christ, can I

just call you to

something now?

To two things.

Set your heart, set your

heart on Jesus.

Pursue holiness and long

for the day that you'll

see him face to face.

You will experience his

blessing.

Strive for holiness

without which no one will

see the Lord.

Hebrews 12.

Let's pray.

God, we can just spend a

lot of time thinking

about that day.

God, we come to you now

and ask that in light of

what you've done for us

already and what you will

do for us then that you

will now make us holy as

you are holy.

That you would do a deep

work in us.

That we will crave for that

which was foreign to us.

That we will crave holiness.

That we would be the pure in

heart.

Pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

God.

Amen.