Pure in Heart

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
01/21/07 - Sunday Morning

Pure in Heart

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).

Purity in Heart Defined

Jesus taught that true defilement comes from within (Matthew 15:18-19). Psalms 24:3-4 “Who shall ascend into the hill of Jehovah? And who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul unto falsehood, And hath not sworn deceitfully”. Psalms 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me”. “That is, in his relations with both God and man he is free from falsehood. So the pure in heart are "utterly sincere" (JPB). Their whole life, public and private, is transparent before God and men. Their very heart--including their thoughts and motives--is pure, unmixed with anything devious, ulterior or base. Hypocrisy and deceit are abhorrent to them; they are without guile” (Stott p. 49). Purity of heart is also translated “clean in heart” (Ber). “Utterly sincere” (Phi). “Pure from corrupt desire, from sin and guilt” (Thayer p. 312). “Singleness of heart, an honest heart, free from any hidden motive of self-interest” (Zond. Ency. p. 353). This is an attack upon the external religion of the Pharisees and scribes (6:1-5).

Connection in the Context

Jesus has already mentioned the man or woman who is blessed because they are mourning over their spiritual poverty (5:3-4). In such a condition, a person is willing to listen to, and bring their will into submission to, God’s answer (5:5); they are eager and hungry for a right relation with God (5:6). As a result they are far more merciful to others because of the mercy they have experienced (5:7); there is a hunger and overwhelming desire to be absolutely honest, truthful and clean when it comes to their thoughts, goals, motivations, interests, and loves. “This statement which we are now considering, namely, ‘blessed are the pure in heart’, also corresponds to the second statement in the first group, which was, ‘blessed are they that mourn’. What did they mourn about? We saw that they were mourning about the state of their hearts. They were mourning, not only because they did things that were wrong, but still more because they wanted to do wrong” (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martyn Lloyd Jones, p. 107).

Motivation

· Tired of manipulation and self-interest:

The world claims that everyone has an angle, and this is probably for the most part true. The Bible notes that the wisdom that dominates this world is one mixed with selfish ambition (James 3:14-16), while the wisdom from above is without hypocrisy (3:17). After a while, living in a world filled with advertisements and relationships that are cluttered with fine print gets tiring. The Church is one place that we can find people with pure motives. If someone asks us, “Why are you treating me so nicely?” Christians should be able to honestly say, “Just because I love you--nothing more, nothing less.”

· The wonderful feeling of innocence:

Jesus described His followers as being, “Innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16), or “like children” (Matthew 18:3). Purity of heart is liberating because one no longer has to keep track who they lied to and about what. Some people might not like the idea of “becoming like little children”, yet the truth of the matter is that we will remain very immature and will actually act like some spoiled child until we accept Jesus’ offer to become like innocent children.

· Security in Relationships:

It is a wonderful feeling when you realize that someone loves you genuinely and that you have been freed from all the games, manipulation, uncertainty, strategy, and the maneuvering that so often plagues families, friendships, and marriages among non-Christians.

· Peace in the Home:

It only takes one person in the family to be “acting up”, that is, being deceitful or dishonest, for the family to be in turmoil(Proverbs 10:1; 14:1). It is noteworthy that Jesus observed that all man’s true troubles spring from evil thoughts in his heart (Matthew 15:18). As soon as we realize that all the challenges that surround us in the environment and circumstances are not the real problem, and that the secret of changing ourselves is found in cleaning up our hearts, rather than some quick fix in circumstances, we will experience permanent change and success over our struggles. Remember, if Adam and Eve sinned in “Paradise”, a perfect environment, so even if I could be placed in a perfect environment today, this would not lead to real and lasting change in my life. Only when “I” change will everything else change. A pure heart is a bigger factor then environment in spiritual victory.

· “I don’t want to end up being this person”:

“You are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27-28). “We must ever beware lest we stop at giving only an intellectual assent to the faith or to a given number of propositions. We have to do that, but the terrible danger is that we stop at that. When people have had merely an intellectual interest in these matters it has often-times been a curse to the Church” (Jones p. 109). We must not only accept the truth, we must love it.

· I am only Fooling Myself:

When people are pretending to be someone that they are not, they certainly are not fooling God (Hebrews 4:12-13), and, many people do see through the play acting.

Applications in the Sermon

The Sermon on the Mount reveals some practical applications of what it means to be pure in heart: The removal of lust (5:28); maintaining pure motives in worshipping God (6:2); expressing honesty in our speech and commitments (5:33-37); removing of hate (5:22); pursuing one great single goal (6:19-24) and living with complete loyalty to one Master (6:24).

· Purity of heart is manifested in a mind so clean that lust cannot survive (5:28).

· Basic honesty so well known that oaths are unnecessary (5:33).

· Motivations so pure that worship is real (6:33).

· Love so pure that sinful hate, anger, contempt, and partiality have no place (5:22; 44-48).

· Singleness of purpose so completely confident in God’s love and power that worry and materialism are unable to thrive (6:19-24).

· A heart that only serves one Master (6:24).

Practical Applications

· There is no need to pretend about the nature of one’s social status or wealth.

· There is no need to either entrap someone to marry you or stay with you.

· Freedom from games in relationships.

· Freedom from flirting.

· Freedom to concentrate on the inner beauty (1 Peter 3:4).

· Freedom from the need to manipulate others.

· Freedom from playing with other’s emotions.

· Freedom from temper tantrums so that people will bow to your will.

· Freedom from bullying or threatening.

· Freedom from moodiness, sulking or unpredictability.

· Freedom from the need to “impress”.

· Freedom from fine print that governs our commitments and promises.

· Freedom from half-truths.

· Freedom from turmoil and drama for the purpose of keeping others off their guard.

· Freedom from posturing and seeking the “chief seats”.

For They Shall See God

“It is the ultimate goal of every endeavor. To ‘see God’ is the whole purpose of all religion” (Martyn Lloyd Jones p. 106). Their aim is pure, to do God's will, to please God, and be with Him eternally. Such individuals will get their wish. 2Corinthians 5:9 “Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto Him”. “Jesus’ challenge to His or any age is simply: ‘How badly do you want to see God?’ Are you willing, then, to open up your inmost thoughts, your best-hidden desires, and your secret designs for the inspection of God? How happy is that man who so lives that at any moment he could bare his heart to the eye of God without shame. Who is willing to pay this price to enter the kingdom?” (Fowler p. 219).

This can be a Reality

If Jesus says that only the pure in heart can see God, then any of us can be pure in heart. The world, and many religious groups contend that we can never purify our hearts or our motives, yet God says otherwise (2 Corinthians 7:1; 10:5; 1 Timothy 1:5; 1Peter 2:1; John 1:47).

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017