Good afternoon and welcome to the Panhandle. It's a cool rainy day so come on in set a spell and dry off, and while you do let's look at God's Word.
People who don't have a personal relationship with Christ Jesus are not interested in the Beatitudes because they convict unbelievers of sin. They have no use for the first beatitude because it leads them to admit that they are helpless. And, as if this were not enough, Christ Jesus tells unbelievers in the second and third beatitudes that they must be sorry for their sins and must let Him control their lives. But this is not all.
Many of them find in the fourth beatitude that the goals of their lives must be changed. They must no longer hunger and thirst after wealth, prestige, and power, but after righteousness. This way of life results in their being merciful in their dealing with others. The Beatitudes are not well received by unsaved people who are not interested in the demands of Christian discipleship.
The sixth beatitude is no more popular than the first five. It demands a trait often thought to be “old fashioned” — purity. In this age of multiple sex partners, same sex partners and a new prevailing morality, purity is often thought to be out of place even among Christians.
According to one survey, half of Christians say casual sex – defined in the survey as sex between consenting adults who are not in a committed romantic relationship – is sometimes or always acceptable. Six-in-ten Catholics (62%) take this view, 54% of mainline Protestants and 36% of evangelical Protestants. Among those who are religiously unaffiliated, the vast majority (84%) say casual sex is sometimes or always acceptable, including roughly nine-in-ten atheists (94%) and agnostics (95%).
When it comes to sex between unmarried adults who are in a committed relationship, the gap between Christians and the unaffiliated is less stark. A majority of Christians (57%) say sex between unmarried adults in a committed relationship is sometimes or always acceptable. That includes 67% of mainline Protestants, 64% of Catholics, and 46% of evangelical Protestants.
Eight-in-ten religiously unaffiliated Americans (79%) say sex between unmarried adults in a committed relationship is sometimes or always acceptable.
Matthew 5:8
8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
1. Totally Committed and Inwardly Pure
The Greek term Matthew uses here means pure or clean. It can be used literally to mean physical cleanness, but Scripture often uses it for moral cleanness.
There was a Middle-Eastern custom of preparing for a king’s visit. The streets of the city through which the king was to pass were carefully cleansed and prepared for his visit. Outwardly everything looked clean and spotless at least for awhile. Soon everything would be back to it's original state. This is because the street cleaning was cosmetic, there was no inward change of the residents.
Some commentators are divided on “pure in heart.” Some take it to mean inner moral purity as opposed to merely external piety or ceremonial cleanness. While others take it to mean singlemindedness, that is a heart and mind free from divided self. The duality between these two options is a false one; it is impossible to have one without the other. The one who is singleminded in their commitment to God and His kingdom and its righteousness will also be inwardly pure. Inward counterfeit, deceit, and moral filth cannot coexist with sincere devotion to Christ Jesus without there being conflict.
The pure in heart will see God. Right now you see Him as in a dim mirror with the eyes of faith, but someday you will see Him face to face in His full glory.1
To be pure in heart is to have a singleness of purpose, a purpose without distraction. That purpose is total commitment to God, through Christ Jesus, and guided by the Holy Spirit. Have you committed all to God?
2. Sin, A Disease of the Heart
Purity is not manufactured by the believer, but is granted by the God of mercy to those who mourn their spiritual bankruptcy and seek His righteousness. - Stuart K. Weber; Holman New Testament Commentary, Matthew
Christ Jesus demands a cleansing of heart because sin is a disease of the heart. The scribes and Pharisees of Christ Jesus’ day were religious in following the laws of God, but not necessarily in their love for God. They extracted twelve hundred rules and regulations from just one of the Ten Commandments. They even went so far as to forbid the eating of eggs laid on the Sabbath. A woman was forbidden to look in a mirror on the Sabbath because she might see a gray hair and pluck it out. A man was forbidden to use his cane on the Sabbath for fear that dragging his cane in the dust might constitute plowing. The modern counterpart of the Pharisees is the person who says, “If I do good, I will be alright.”
But being alright is not enough. Your heart must be cleansed before your life can be cleansed. David’s life was cleansed only when he asked God to, “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalms 51:2).
Your actions are changed when your heart is changed. Character is not the result of conduct; conduct is the result of character. Martin Luther was fond of saying, “Good pious works do not produce good pious men. But good pious men produce good pious works.”
Our Lord, Christ Jesus had much to say about the need for a cleansing of the heart in order to cleanse the life: "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man." (Matthew 15:18). “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17).
Have you ever watched a show, a youtube, or a tik tok on refining maple syrup. Maple trees are tapped with buckets hung under the taps, and out drips a sap which is thin and clear, like water. On a good day, 50 trees will yield 30-40 gallons of sap, but it is essentially useless at this point with only a hint of sweetness. Then as the buckets fill, they are emptied into large bins that sit over an open fire. The sap comes to a slow boil; and as it boils, its water content is reduced and its sugars are concentrated. Hours later, it has developed a rich flavor and golden-brown color, but it must be strained several times to remove impurities before being reheated, bottled, and graded for quality. In the end, those 30-40 gallons of sap are reduced to one gallon of pure, delicious maple syrup, which is far better than the cheap, imitation, colored sugar-water that passes for maple syrup in the grocery store.
So it is when you come to faith in Christ Jesus. You start like raw, unfinished sap, which could have been tossed aside as worthless. But God knows what He can make of you. He sought and found you, and His skillful hands are transforming you into something precious, sweet and useful. The long and sometimes painful refining process brings forth a pure, genuine disciple easily distinguished from cheap imitations. Will you let Christ Jesus make in you a pure heart? Will you invite Him into your life today?
3. The Pure In Heart See God
Christ Jesus may have had a dual meaning behind the phrase “see God.”
First, the pure heart is unhindered in its ability to seek and understand the heart of God in this life on earth. This phrase reveals a continuous action and it literally means that "we can continuously enjoy the presence of God now." Those who are pure in heart enjoy an intimacy with God. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, you have the glorious privilege of fellowship with Him.
Secondly only the pure in heart are able to enter into heaven to enjoy the presence of God for eternity. Only if you have a saving relationship with Christ Jesus will you be able to enter into His heavenly kingdom: that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10). Yes, the promise of this beatitude is consummated in the future.
Tennyson, in later years, asked his son (the executor of his estate) to see that the publishers of his poems placed “Crossing the Bar” at the end of the book. When asked on one occasion to reveal his dearest wish, he said, “A clearer vision of God.” It is no wonder then that these are the last words of his poem “Crossing the Bar”:
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
If you are pure in heart you will some day see your Pilot face-to-face. And I don't know about you, but I desire a pure heart so that I might see God and experience His presence in my life now and in eternity. It is through a pure heart that you are able to commune with God daily and eternally . - Pulpit Pages - Topical Sermons.
Thanks for dropping by. I pray the Lord will bless you and yours and that I will see you back next week.
Biblesurfer
1 Carson, D. A. (1984). Matthew. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8, p. 135). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
No comments:
Post a Comment