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 the next time you are being wooed to disobey your Lord?
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!
Come on now!
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.
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.
God.
Amen.