Kingdom Norms, Part Six

Blessed Are The Pure In Heart

Have you ever thought about how important it is for something to be pure? Let me illustrate this from recent events. Strawberries are good if they are pure, but if they are not, they can cause you to become sick and even die. Recently we heard of thousands of school children who ate contaminated strawberries. Although none of the children died, many became quite seriously ill from eating the contaminated berries. In the same way, the human heart is good if it is pure, but if it is not, it can kill you. Matthew 5:8 tells us, “Blessed are the pure in heart,” and this purity of heart is the sixth essential characteristic of a citizen of the kingdom of God.

What is the human problem? It is the human heart. Our most serious problem is not our environment, our economic situation, or our lack of education. I am sure that most of us think that if we make changes in those areas, all of our problems will be solved and we will consider ourselves blessed. But Jesus did not say, “Blessed are the brilliant intellectuals,” “Blessed are the wealthy,” or “Blessed are the healthy.” No, he said, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” Why? Jesus alone understood that the true human problem is sin–the filthiness found in the human heart–and that only those with pure hearts can be truly blessed.

Sin Comes from Within

We often think that sin comes from outside of a person. But have you ever considered the environment in which Adam sinned? Adam was in the best possible environment–in paradise itself–and yet he sinned. That demonstrates to us the nature of the human heart. In fact, we find God’s assessment of the human heart in Genesis 6:5, that “every inclination of the thoughts of [man’s] heart was only evil all the time.” The very fountain, the very center of our personality, according to the Bible is evil, and therefore, the stream coming from it is evil. Because man’s heart is evil, his actions are only evil continually.

The Pharisees of the New Testament thought that uncleanness was caused by the environment, so they washed themselves many times a day to keep clean. The Essene community at Qumran also kept themselves “pure” by ritual washings to cleanse themselves from outside uncleanness. But Jesus declared, “Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean'” (Mark 7:15). Why? The heart is our problem. So Jesus continued, “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean'” (Mark 7:21). Even as you read this you may feel filth coming out of your heart. You can be in a church and yet be thinking and visualizing filth. Why? Stained glass windows will not help this problem. “The heart,” as Jeremiah said, “is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jer. 17:9).

Can We Clean Ourselves?

The most important question we can ask, then, is how can we be truly pure in our hearts and clean of all filth? In other words, how can we be single-hearted and not double-minded toward God? How can we be pure in our imaginations, in our thoughts, in our words, in our decision making, and in our desires? How can we think what God thinks, will what God wills, and desire what God desires? How can we hate what God hates and love what God loves?

The truth is, we cannot do any of these things on our own. We cannot reform ourselves. We can now buy self-cleaning ovens, but let me assure you, we cannot clean ourselves and make ourselves pure in the centers of our beings. Now we admit that many people have tried to clean themselves. Some have tried to do so through asceticism by going away from the world, beating their bodies, and castrating themselves. They have tried to cleanse themselves through celibacy, fasting, and prayers. But such asceticism is unbiblical and it will not result in purity of heart.

God Must Clean Us

So the first point we must make is this: God must clean us. God alone is able to make rotten people pure in their imaginations, thoughts, words, deeds, and desires. The highest blessing imaginable for man is the privilege of seeing God face to face and rejoicing forever with inexpressible joy and satisfaction. But the requirement for this viseo Dei is total purity of heart, which only God is able to perform for us. As the Scriptures declare, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” In Psalm 24:3 we read, “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?” In other words, who is able to see God and fellowship with him? Who is able to be with God and enjoy his company? The answer is, “He who has clean hands” which is speaking about actions “and a pure heart.” Unless the fountainhead of our heart is cleansed and is made pure, our hands will not do what is right. Our thoughts and actions must be pure in order to enjoy fellowship with a holy God.” In Psalm 73:1 we read, “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”

God’s Plan to Deal with Sin

If God is the only one who can cleanse us, how does he do it? The Bible tells us that God has a plan to deal with this terrible problem of sin in our hearts. In Ephesians 1 Paul speaks of this plan: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” And then he says, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world” and now comes the purpose “to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph. 1:3, 4). God has a plan to save us and make us holy in thought, word and deed.

In Romans 8 Paul says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son” (v. 29). God’s plan is to make us like his own Son, Jesus Christ. His purpose is nothing less than that we be pure in heart like Jesus Christ. Paul says again in Romans 8:32 that God “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.” Why? To accomplish this purpose of cleansing our hearts and making them pure. It is done through Jesus Christ. This was why Jesus came into the world. Before Jesus’ birth, the angel told Joseph, “You are to give him the name Jesus. . .” which means “The Lord saves.” Why was Jesus given that name? The angel continued, “because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

Sin makes us filthy, and, therefore, salvation means salvation from sin. “In him we have redemption,” Paul says, “through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us” (Eph. 1:7).

There is no self-cleaning possible for man, but praise be to God, there is God-cleaning. God has sent us a Savior who, as the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “after he had provided purification for sins . . . sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Heb. 1:3). Christ Jesus came according to God’s eternal plan and provided purification for sins by his death on the cross in sinners’ behalf. And he ascended and is seated on the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. There is no other way to make a filthy human heart clean. There is no other Savior. No one able to cleanse us but the Lord Jesus Christ.

How Does God Clean Us?

How does God purify us? First, he gives us a new nature. When God supernaturally regenerates sinners, he gives them a new nature, a new self. Why? As Jesus said in John 3:6, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” Paul speaks about this new nature in Ephesians 4:24, “Put on the new self, created to be like God in righteousness and holiness.”

Second, God causes us to be united to Jesus Christ by faith. In Acts 15:9 we read that God purified the hearts of the Gentiles by faith in Jesus Christ, and in Romans 5:1 we read, “since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” In Romans 3:21-22 we read, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Everyone who is born of God will believe in Jesus Christ and be justified.

Third, the Bible speaks about the sprinkling of Christ’s blood upon us and our consciences to make us clean. In Hebrews 9:13-14 we read, “The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences. . .” God applies the benefit of the blood of Jesus Christ upon our defiled consciences and they are cleansed. First John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Fourth, there is the ongoing work of God’s Spirit in us. This work, called sanctification, means we are made more and more holy, until we come to be conformed to the character of our Lord Jesus Christ. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul speaks about this progressive sanctification: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect” or contemplate “the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” This verse is speaking about Christians who are occupied with Jesus Christ, who are looking into the word of God and seeing Christ in all his glory and grandeur. What happens to such people? They are being transformed into Christ’s likeness. As we look upon our Lord Jesus Christ we are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. There is an ongoing transformation of our hearts. We increasingly want to think God’s thoughts, love God’s ways, will God’s will, and hate that which God hates.

Is This True of You?

Ephesians 1:4 tells us that God’s purpose is to make us holy and blameless. That purpose is being accomplished by his Son. In Ephesians 5:25-26 we read, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing with water through the word and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” That is now being accomplished in God’s people. Even as they listen to godly preaching or read his word, Christians are being washed and cleansed.

Now, if God’s word is unintelligible to you and if biblical preaching is like a foreign language to you, then you are not a Christian. You are not born of God and do not have new nature. If that is true, my counsel to you is to cry out to God: “O God, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Cleanse my heart, O Lord! The very imaginations of my heart–all my thoughts–are evil continually. Have mercy upon me!” Seek the Lord, and may he perform the miracle of regeneration in your life and grant you a new nature.

We Must Also Act

God alone regenerates and justifies us, but we must also realize that people who are regenerated and justified are one hundred percent active in their sanctification. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy. . .” Make every effort! That involves us. Justification is God’s act, regeneration is God’s act, but sanctification is a joint venture. (PGM) God and man are to be engaged in this activity of cleansing. And why should we work so hard to be holy? The writer continues, “. . . without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

In 1 Peter 1:22 we read “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth. . . love one another deeply, from the heart.” God causes us to be willing to obey him and because of that we do obey. And every time we obey, we contribute to our sanctification. We must obey! A Christian is not a passive person who says “Let God do it.” A Christian is an active person who obeys God.

Preparing Our Bridal Garments

We read of this idea of joint venture again in Philippians 2:12-13: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. . .” That is our part. And then Paul says, “. . . for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” That is God’s part.

We love God because he first loved us, as we read in 1 John 4:19. If we love God and keep his commandments, it is because he has first loved us. And having loved us, God causes us to will and to do his good pleasure. Therefore the church is continually working on her bridal garment, which is described in Revelation 19:7-8 as the righteous acts of the saints. Have you ever seen a bride trying to make her bridal garment dirty? Oh, no. Her garment is bright and clean. We prepare our garment by obeying God.

Are you actively preparing your bridal garment by obeying God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength? In 1 John 3:3 we read, “Everyone who has this hope in him”–the blessed hope of the church, which is the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ– “purifies himself. . .” And what is the standard? “just as he is pure.”

Now, we must realize that God does not lower the standard of purity for Americans. Have you ever heard this idea, “Oh, you can just receive Jesus as Savior. You don’t have to be holy. You don’t have to receive him as Lord. You don’t have to obey him or anything. Just receive him as Savior. It will be all right”? You see, everything nowadays, especially the gospel, is discounted. But those who believe such a discounted gospel are filled with delusion. What did John say? “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.”

How are we to purify ourselves? Colossians 3:5 begins with, “Put to death, therefore. . .” What does “put to death” mean? It means to mortify or kill. That is strong language. And what are we to put to death? “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” We are to identify our sin and kill it, in other words, not to nurse it or cherish it. Kill it!

And in Romans 8:13 we learn where we get the power necessary to do this killing. Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” We must be actively engaged in purifying ourselves, but God also is one hundred percent engaged. God has given us his Holy Spirit, who gives us the prescription and the power. He also causes us to desire to wield the power of the Spirit to bring about the utter destruction and death of our evil desires, thus bringing about purity of heart.

The Promise of Seeing God

What is the great promise for those whose hearts are pure? They will see God. Many people are disappointed when they read that. Jesus didn’t say that the pure in heart will get a Maserati, a palace, gold or any temporal blessings. But many people become Christians in order to get temporal blessings, which itself shows filthiness of heart. The purpose of receiving Jesus Christ is not to get some temporal blessing. The blessing that is promised, the highest blessing promised to Christians in the entire Bible is this: “They will see God.”

Remember how God said “Be holy because I am holy”? Because God is holy, no one who is unholy can see him or fellowship with him. Yet in Revelation 1:7 we read that every eye shall see him. What does this mean? It is true that in some way every eye shall see him, but many shall see him only as Judge. They will not enjoy fellowship with God, which is the summum bonum. They shall only hear from him, “Depart from me, you evildoers! Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 7:23; 25:41). Certainly that is not blessing, is it?

Only those who are pure in heart shall see God and enjoy fellowship with him forever. They alone shall be told, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). They alone shall be told, “Well done, good and faithful servant! . . . Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matt. 25:23). They alone shall be invited in to enjoy in the fullest measure every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms, with which we are blessed in Jesus Christ.

God’s people will see God, and the prayer of Jesus in John 17:24 will be fulfilled at that time: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and see my glory.” And in 1 John 3:2 we read “But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” But we must be changed so that we can see God. In 1 Corinthians 15:52 we read, “For in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. . . For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.” Or, as Paul says in Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies to be conformable to his glorious body.”

The Highest Blessing

What is the purpose of God’s changing us and transforming our lowly bodies to be conformable to Christ’s glorious body? It is preparation for highest blessing of seeing God. In our changed, glorious, sinless bodies, we shall see our Lord Jesus Christ and gaze at his glory. I am sure those words are disappointing to many people, but that is the greatest possible blessing. We shall be made fully compatible with the holiness of God to enjoy eternal fellowship with God. Then shall the prophecy of Isaiah 33:17 be fulfilled, “Your eyes shall see the king in his beauty.”

At Sinai the people said to Moses, “Do not have God speak to us or we will die” (Ex. 20:19). Let me tell you, sinners cannot see God and live. But one day we who have been redeemed and changed will see him and hear him, but not die or be afraid. We will rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy because in God’s presence there is fullness of joy and on his right hand there are pleasures forevermore. No wonder David said in Psalm 27:4, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”

Is that what you are seeking, desiring, and purposing? Singleness of heart, holiness, and purity means you will seek only one thing. What is that one thing? To see God.

The book of Revelation tells us many times that nothing impure will come into God’s presence but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. And in Revelation 22:3 we read, “No longer will there be any curse,” meaning sin is totally dealt with. “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him,” and then, “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

The highest blessing offered to us is to see God’s face. Man was created for that purpose, but because of sin, he could not. God sent his Son to deal with sin. It was dealt with and it is being dealt with. One day we shall be perfectly qualified with a glorious, sinless body to be brought into the very presence of God, where we will see him. That will be joy unspeakable.

Seeing God by Faith Now

Even now we who are being sanctified and who purify ourselves even as he is pure experience a certain degree of the vision of God by faith that causes our hearts to rejoice. That is why Peter said in 1 Peter 1:8, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” To the degree by faith we are enabled to see this God, we also rejoice even now.

Even now the Spirit of the living God dwells in us, causing us to love Jesus and experience a vision of him who is invisible. The Bible says that Enoch walked with God, Noah walked with God, Abraham walked with God, and Moses followed God because he saw him who was invisible. So I say that even now, in a measure, the people of God are enabled to see God and are filled with motivation to love him.

We live by faith. By faith we see God and are motivated to desire greater holiness and to hate sin. Even now we are enabled to hate what Christ hates and to love what Christ loves. Did not Jesus say, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23)? The Father and the Son are dwelling with us. What a party! What a blessing, even now, for those who love God!

Are You Pure in Heart?

We know that only the pure in heart will see God and that seeing God is the height of all blessings. So I must ask, first, if what I am saying is foreign to you. If it is, then your heart is completely unclean and you must cry out to God and ask that he grant you a new nature. But if you are a person born of God, let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you pray for purity of heart? I know, of course, that we pray for many good things–getting good grades, landing a good job, finding a good wife, and so on. But have you prayed for a clean heart as David did in Psalm 51? In verse 10 he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” God must give us a clean heart and he will do it. I ask you pray to God today, “O God, create in me a clean heart”!
2. Do you examine your life in order to identify sins? In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul tells us to get rid of the old yeast. Just as the Israelites removed the yeast from their houses in preparation for the Passover, so we must examine ourselves, find the old yeast of malice and wickedness, and throw it away. It is important that we do so and destroy it by the Holy Spirit, not nurse it.
3. Do you ask God to examine your heart? In Psalm 139:23-24 David prayed, “Search me, O God, and known my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me. . . .” The idea is that we must ask God to us identify our sin and get rid of it. And then David concludes, “and lead me in the way everlasting.”
4. Do you seek holy fellowship? If you want to be holy, you must determine to fellowship with people who have the same desire to be holy. Proverbs 13:20 tells us, “He who walks with the wise grows wise.”
5. Do you pray daily to be filled with the Holy Spirit? In Romans 8:13-14 Paul wrote that we must by the Spirit put to death the misdeeds of the body. We need the Holy Spirit’s prescription and power to deal with our sin, so we must pray daily, “O God, fill me with your Holy Spirit.”
6. Do you love the word of God and obey it? I recently read of the death of a Reformed Christian man with a Ph.D. from Westminster Seminary. He had a heart attack when he was forty-two years old, and when he asked the doctor how long was he going to live, he expected the doctor to tell him he would live for many years longer. To this man’s surprise, the doctor said he had only two or three years of life left. All of a sudden this man stopped reading everything else and spent most of his time reading the Book–the Bible. Why? Only the Bible will give us hope. In John 15:3 Jesus told his disciples, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” Do you read the word of God? If you do, you will be bathed and cleansed as you read. In Ephesians 5:26 we read how Christ sanctifies us by the washing of water by the word. So you must ask yourself: Do you love the word of God? Do you long for it and desire it? Do you take the Book again and again to read it, to love it, and to obey it? Every time you do so, you will be made more holy and prepared for that day when you will die and see God.
7. Do you avoid the appearance of evil? In 1 Thessalonians 5:22 we read, “Avoid every kind of evil.” Not only must we examine ourselves, see the evil in our lives and get rid of it, but we must also avoid the very appearance of evil. We must avoid situations which could lead to evil or appear evil to others. Romans 13:14 tells us to “Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof” (KJV).
8. Do you do all to the glory of God? When you are planning to do something, you must ask yourself this question: How does this course of action bring honor to my God? If the answer is not clear, don’t do it. We must do all things–whether we eat or drink or whatever we do–for the glory of God.

Why Should We Be Pure?

Why must we seek to be pure in heart? Because we will die soon. Soon the postman will bring us a letter from the Celestial City, as we read in Pilgrim’s Progress. And if we are active in securing purity of heart, instead of terrorizing us, this letter will give us joy. The River Jordan will be like a highway to us and we will cross it easily.

The Apostle Paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with Christ, and to die is not a loss but a gain. We all are nearing our eternal destinations daily and soon we shall be home. What rest, what joy, what benediction awaits those who have trusted in Christ! “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

May God help us to seek holiness and to make every effort to be holy. Without holiness no one shall see God, but with holiness we shall see God and rejoice forevermore with inexpressible and glorious joy. Amen.