Our text for today is Matthew chapter 5 and verse 8.
! In our study of the Sermon on the Mount in the past weeks,
we have seen the overarching question before us,
! What characterizes those who follow the King of the Kingdom of Heaven?
We have noted back many times in Matthew chapter 4,
verse 17. Matthew records the beginning of Jesus' ministry and says,
from that time Jesus began to preach, saying,
repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
This was the theme of Jesus' teaching.
And then we saw at the beginning of Matthew chapter 5
that crowds gather and they gather onto an unnamed mountain.
And when Jesus sits down, His disciples come to Him.
And He opens His mouth and He teaches them.
So, the primary audience for this sermon are Jesus' disciples.
Those who are already His followers.
And Jesus is here declaring that the citizens of His Kingdom are blessed or flourishing.
They're doing well as citizens of this Kingdom.
We've looked at the first five of these declarations of blessedness.
And this morning I invite you to join me in considering the sixth.
Before I read it, I want to remind you, beloved,
this is God's Word to us.
It was written for His glory and for our good.
We would all do well to listen to it
in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
Matthew chapter 5 and verse 8.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Jesus declares that the pure in heart are blessed.
And so we must endeavor to know what is meant by this.
The great 18th century pastor Martin Lloyd-Jones
referred to Matthew chapter 5 verse 8
as one of the greatest utterances in all of Scripture.
Whether or not you agree with his assertion,
there is much to be said about such a verse.
In fact, volumes upon volumes of work
have been written on this small phrase.
Now, our time this morning will not allow us
to probe the very depths of such a declaration.
Our time will only permit us to get at its central meaning.
That's the intention of today.
So, be encouraged to consider its meaning further.
Not just a text like this,
but any text that we open together as a church.
Meditate upon it throughout the week
and have conversations about it.
You, with the rest of the church,
probe the depths of the things that we study
on Sunday morning.
That said, I would like to first deal this morning
from our text with the word heart.
What is this heart that is meant to be pure?
Recall that one of the two overarching themes
that I have asserted
carried throughout the Sermon on the Mount
is this idea of whole person righteousness.
This beatitude speaks directly to this theme.
So, we should not be at all surprised
that Jesus speaks of the heart
in this most famous of His sermons.
So, this idea of whole person righteousness
and then Jesus uses this word
that means whole person.
There is great biblical emphasis placed
upon the heart and the condition of it.
When you see this word heart
in your English translation
of both the Old and New Testaments,
it is most often, not in every case,
but it is most often referring
to our very being.
The non-physical part of you.
Your mind, your will,
your personality, right?
What makes you you
apart from this flesh vessel
that carries the you that you are.
And the heart is the source
of all that we are.
Proverbs 4.23 says,
keep your heart with all vigilance.
Why?
For from it flows the springs of life.
Let's look briefly at some other places
in the Bible that will help us
to see this point concerning the heart
and the condition of it.
So first, in the Old Testament,
when God is deciding
that He will destroy the earth
with a flood,
in Genesis 6.5 we can read,
the Lord saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth
and that every intention
of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually.
So man in his very being
was nothing but evil, right?
And God looks at this
and says it must be destroyed.
Psalm 27.8
David says,
you have said,
seek my face.
And then the response of David is,
my heart says to you,
your face Lord,
do I seek.
And then in Ezekiel 36.
And verse 26.
And if you're doing
the Bible reading with us,
this was from yesterday's reading.
God says,
and I will give you a new heart
and a new spirit I will put within you.
And I will remove the heart of stone
from your flesh
and give you a heart of flesh.
We know this as the doctrine
of regeneration.
I will change your very being.
And in the New Testament,
those are just a few
of the Old Testament examples.
In the New Testament,
Matthew chapter 15,
verse 17 and following.
Jesus says,
do you not see that
whatever goes into the mouth
passes into the stomach
and is expelled?
He's simply saying,
the stuff that you eat
is not what defiles you.
Because it leaves you.
But what comes out of the mouth
proceeds from the heart.
From who you are.
In verse 18,
the last half says,
and this defiles a person.
For out of the heart
come evil thoughts,
murder,
adultery,
sexual immorality,
theft,
false witness,
slander.
So,
if you are evil,
then you do evil.
In Ephesians chapter 4,
in verse 18,
Paul makes a case
that those who are in Christ,
who have been made new,
are to no longer walk
as those who have not been made new.
And he says this of those people.
They are darkened in their understanding,
alienated from the life of God
because of the ignorance
that is in them
due to their hardness of heart.
And then those who have been set free,
those who have been set free
from the bondage of sin,
who have been made regenerate.
Paul writes of them in Romans chapter 6,
verse 17,
Thanks be to God
that you who were once slaves of sin
have become obedient from the heart
to the standard of teaching
to which you were committed.
So, Jesus says
that it is a person
who has purity of being
that are declared blessed.
Note carefully in Matthew 5, verse 8,
that he says pure in heart,
not pure in head.
You can come up with all the right answers
and still be desperately lost.
In the day in which we live,
there are many, many
who could explain the gospel of Jesus Christ to you
but have not placed believing faith in it.
It is the pure in heart
that are declared blessed by Jesus,
not the pure in head.
And I should say,
not only pure in head,
for surely our very being
includes our thought life.
Matthew chapter 15, verse 8,
Jesus says,
This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
Note also that Jesus says,
pure in heart,
not pure in conduct.
You can appear to be pure by your action
and still be desperately lost.
It is the pure in heart
that are declared blessed by Jesus,
not the pure in conduct.
Again, I should say,
not only pure in conduct,
for surely our very in being
includes our actions.
In fact, the way we think
and feel and act
is the proofing of who we are.
It's the evidencing of who we are.
But it is who we are,
not what we do,
that is Jesus' focus here.
In Matthew chapter 23,
it's the chapter known as the woes chapter.
Jesus declares the woes,
the seven woes over the Pharisees.
And one of them,
verse 25 and following,
he says,
Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites.
For you clean the outside
of the cup and the plate,
but inside they are full of greed
and self-indulgence.
So you see what he's saying?
You clean up the outside of it, right?
You make it look nice on the outside,
but the actual useful part is dirty.
You catching that?
I don't care if my cup is dirty on the outside,
if the inside is clean.
Your focus is all wrong here.
You don't clean up the inside.
Inside,
you're full of greed and self-indulgence.
And then verse 26,
you blind Pharisees.
First clean the inside of the cup
and the plate,
that the outside also may be clean.
So if our hearts are pure,
then what proceeds from us
will be purity.
So Jesus is concerned
about the totality of who we are
as he addresses our hearts this morning.
But let us now consider
the qualifier that Jesus puts
on the heart that is declared blessed.
Jesus says it is the pure in heart
that are flourishing.
What then does it mean
to be pure in heart?
For the totality of our inner selves
to be pure.
Now this is a word
with some texture to it.
First, it can mean
without hypocrisy
or singularly focused.
Psalm 86.11.
David, I believe,
if I'm remembering correctly,
says,
Teach me your way,
O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth.
Unite my heart
to fear your name.
Don't let me be a man
who is divided.
But put my heart
into a singular focus
that stands in the awe of God
so that I will walk in your truth.
Paul writes in Romans 7.
The opposite of this.
An ununited heart.
Verse 21 and 22.
He says,
So I find it to be a law
that when I want to do right,
evil lies close at hand.
For I delight in the law of God
in my inner being.
And he goes on to talk about
this great struggle
of these two things
that wage war within him.
An ununited heart.
So,
pure means without hypocrisy.
It also means without blemish
or without any uncleanliness.
The Apostle John writes
in Revelation 21 and verse 27,
Nothing unclean will ever enter
the new Jerusalem.
Nor anyone who does
what is detestable or false,
but only those who are written
in the Lamb's book of life.
And then later in Revelation 22
and verse 14,
Blessed are those who wash their robes
that they may have the right
to the tree of life
and that they may enter the city
by the gates.
So,
to be pure also means
to be washed clean,
to be without blemish.
So,
to be without hypocrisy
and to be without blemish,
but I think for us
to be pure in heart
most emphatically means
for us to be like
Jesus Christ.
A great example of
purity
of heart.
The writer of Hebrews
speaks at length about this
in Hebrews chapter 4.
I want to read to you
just verse 15.
Where the writer of Hebrews
speaks of Jesus
as a great high priest.
And the high priest
who went in to make sacrifice
on the day of atonement
had to be sacrificially
washed clean.
He had to go through
a ton of process
to be considered clean
in order to enter
into the presence of God.
The writer of Hebrews
says this about Jesus.
For we do not have
a high priest
who was unable
to sympathize
with our weakness,
but one who in every respect
has been tempted
as we are
yet without sin.
So,
already pure.
It doesn't have to go
through ritualistic cleansing,
but Jesus Christ
himself
is
pure.
Tempted in every way
yet
without
sin.
And it's important
that we are
like this.
That we are
holy
as Christ
is holy.
Again,
the writer of Hebrews
says,
chapter 12
and verse 14,
strive for peace
with everyone
and
for the holiness
without which
no one
will see
the Lord.
To be
pure in heart
means to
fulfill
the greatest
commandment.
Matthew chapter 22
and verse 37
and following
Jesus says,
having been tested
is the greatest
commandment.
He responds,
you shall love
the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest
and first commandment
and a second like it
so he expands it beyond
you shall love your neighbor
as
yourself.
So,
to be pure in heart
is to be without
hypocrisy,
without
blemish,
to be like
Christ
in our
devotion
to God.
You shall love
the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all
your
mind.
Martin Lloyd-Jones
again,
this is the
quotation on your
bulletin this morning,
said,
to be pure in heart
means we have
an undivided
love which regards
God as our
highest good
and which is
concerned only
about loving
God.
So,
to be pure
in heart
means to be
like Christ.
Beloved,
this is not
something that is
accomplished by
our well-wishing
or by our
effort,
but by God
imputing our
sin to Christ
and by imputing
to us
the righteousness
of Christ.
Martin Luther
called this
the great exchange.
He took
our sin
and gave it
to Jesus
who knew
no sin.
He became
sin on our
behalf and
the wrath of
God was poured
out on him
and his
righteousness,
his perfect
life was
given to
us.
This is called
double
imputation.
You don't have
to know that.
But you have
to know that
there was an
exchange that
happened when
you placed
faith in
Jesus Christ.
That not only
was the debt
of your sin
canceled,
but you were
given righteousness.
It's as if
you fulfilled
the law.
It's as if
you kept
it perfectly
because your
sin was punished
in him and
he kept it
perfectly on
your behalf.
We don't do
this on our
own.
We are
incapable of
doing this
on our
own.
God gifts
us with
faith to
believe in
the all
sufficient purity
of Jesus
Christ and
by that
faith gives
us a
declaration
of pure.
Having been
made pure
in heart,
having been
made positionally
changed from
being unclean,
hypocritical,
we have been
changed to be
pure in heart
and therefore
we act
accordingly.
We act
as we
are.
Look with me
at the framework
of the
Beatitudes.
So if you've
left Matthew
chapter 5,
please go back
to Matthew
chapter 5.
Jesus did
not utter
these
declarations
in random
order.
They each
stand alone,
to be sure,
but they
also work
in harmony
together.
Let me
show you
what I
mean by
this.
And let me
issue a
warning as
I'm about
to do
this too.
We do
have to be
very careful
when we
apply framework
to text
of the
Bible,
lest we
end up
making the
scripture say
what we
are trying
to make
it say
in the
application.
I've read
many applied
frameworks
that you
just go,
I don't
even see
how they
got to
this place,
but often
they're trying
to draw
a connection
to a singular
point,
and that's
why it
gets applied
in that
way.
I think
this is a
very fair
framework.
I think
this is
correct.
I think
this is
why Jesus
spoke them
in this
order.
But we
take my
framework
not as
inspired.
The text
is inspired.
So,
there's your
warning.
So,
first,
let's look at
the first
three Beatitudes.
This is
verses 3,
4,
and 5.
You see
in these
three a
recognition
of our
great
awareness
of need.
You see
the three
that there
are there.
We see
that we
have a
spiritual
poverty,
nothing to
offer God.
We come
to Him
empty-handed,
simply to
the cross
we cling
to be
found
righteous
in Christ.
We have
no works
that we
can bring
to God
and say,
look at
what I've
done.
Look at
how I've
accomplished.
None of
that will
be of any
credit
before God.
So,
we're
spiritually
impoverished.
We have
great need.
We mourn
over this.
We have a
deep
sin,
and the
sin of
the world
around us.
We flee
to the
cross
impoverished
and mourning
over our
sinfulness.
And,
in meekness,
we recognize
our state.
We have a
humility
that doesn't
seek retribution.
It doesn't
try to
defend our
rights at
all costs.
So,
these three
express this
great awareness
of need.
Now,
the fourth
beatitude,
in verse
six,
we see that
that need
is met.
Blessed are
those who
hunger and
thirst long
for this
thing they
don't have,
this expressed
need in the
first three
beatitudes,
because,
they're
blessed because,
they shall
be satisfied.
So,
they hunger
and thirst
for righteousness,
these blessed,
and they're
filled.
And,
they're filled.
And,
then,
beatitude
five through
seven,
five,
six,
and seven,
found in
verses seven,
eight,
and nine,
is the
overflow
of this
being filled.
The overflow
of this being
filled is that
these people,
myself,
and I hope
you this
morning,
find ourselves
having been
filled,
overflowing
as a
merciful,
pure,
peacemaking
people.
And,
in the final
beatitude,
found in
verses 10
through 12,
we see
the result
of this
lived
righteousness,
this filled
up,
overflowing,
lived righteousness,
this mercy
and purity
and peacemaking
is what?
Persecution.
That we will
be persecuted
for
righteousness.
For righteousness
sake.
So,
I hope you can
see the flow.
I think that
Jesus builds
us to the
fourth beatitude
and the
meeting of
this need
and that
becomes
the watershed,
so to speak,
of the
beatitudes,
right?
And then
the living
that follows
and the
result of
this kind
of living,
right?
So,
we act
as we
are.
so we
do not
say,
oh,
if I
can just
be pure
in heart
and then
labor under
our own
might to
do such
and such
or to
not do
such and
such,
but rather,
having been
made righteous
by the goodness
of God
toward us
in the
person and
work of
Jesus
Christ,
we evidence
our salvation
in the way
that we
live.
we must
be so
careful
in our
understanding
of the
gospel of
Jesus
Christ
for our
sake
and for
the sake
of others.
I have
resolved
as a
pastor
that I'm
going to
spend my
life
answering
three
questions
again
and again
and it
is an
honor to
do so.
You would
think some
of these
questions we
could move
beyond,
but I don't
think we're
ever going
to do so
in our
age.
And those
three questions
are,
what is
the
Bible?
It's the
inerrant,
all-powerful,
sufficient,
authoritative
word of
God.
I keep
drawing people
back to
that great
truth in
this age
of skepticism
and opinion
nation.
Secondly,
what is
the gospel?
What is
the gospel?
I'm going
to talk
more about
that in
a second.
And third,
what is
the church?
Helping
people to
come to
understand
how it
is that
God's
people are
meant to
gather
and to
go.
But in
answering the
question,
what is the
gospel?
In an age
of decisionism,
where to be
known by
Christ,
it would be
taught to you
that all you
must do is
raise your
hand,
no one's
looking around,
every head
bowed,
every eye
closed.
I could fall
right into it.
We walk out
here,
we take a
little stroll,
I see you
brother,
I see that
hand going
up,
right?
We press,
we emotionally
manipulate,
we push at
people,
and then,
once they
filled out a
card,
we say,
there is
your
assurance,
right?
It's a
date,
and it's
a time.
Many of
you have
heard me
say before,
I grew up
in a
church under
a pastor
who said,
if you
ever doubt
your salvation,
turn to
the front of
your Bible
where you
wrote down
the date
you walked
the aisle,
and meditate
on that
date.
And this
type of
teaching
damns people
to hell.
To say,
merely the
act of
walking,
now praise
the Lord,
he has
saved people
in invitations.
Many of
you may
have responded
to an
invitation
like that,
and God
saved you.
It was not
the invitation
that saved
you.
It was a
good and
gracious God
who changed
your heart
and caused
you to
believe in
him.
So the
scripture tells
us,
if you
doubt your
salvation,
go and
look at
what Christians
look like.
What do
citizens of
the kingdom
of heaven
do?
Find
yourself in
the Beatitudes.
Could you
say of
yourself,
yes,
this is
me,
impoverished
of spirit,
mourning
over my
sin,
meek,
not seeking
out retribution,
hungering and
thirsting for
righteousness.
God is
working in
me,
mercy and
purity and
peacemaking.
I'm
experiencing the
persecution,
the push,
back from
the world
for living
in this
way.
If you
don't find
yourself in
this,
you've
either wandered
from the
truth or
you've never
believed it
to begin
with.
In an
age of
decision,
we have to
be so
accurate,
so precise,
an age of
easy
believism that
expects nothing
of you,
that would
teach you that
Jesus could be
your savior,
but he doesn't
have to be
your lord.
This is
false,
it is
heretical to
say such
a thing.
If Jesus is
your savior,
he is
your lord.
If you
have beheld
the glory
of God
in the
face of
Jesus
Christ,
you will
have no
option but
to say,
yes,
sir.
We must
be those
who are a
beacon of
the truth
for the
sake of
souls.
Everybody
you meet
will live
forever.
1 John
chapter 1
verse 5
to 10.
The apostle
John addresses
this.
This is one
of those
places,
right?
What do
we do
when someone
isn't confident
of their
faith?
If you find
yourself in
that place,
the whole
book of
1 John
is about
this.
And not
once does
he say,
turn to
the front
of your
Bible
and look
at a
date.
He says,
rather,
verse 5
and following,
this is the
message we
have heard
from him
and proclaim
to you,
that God
is light
and in
him is
no darkness
at all.
Okay,
so God
is perfectly
holy.
In him
is light
and in
him is
no darkness
at all.
If we
say we
have fellowship
with him
while we
walk in
darkness,
so while
our life
is characterized
by sinfulness,
right?
Not that we
sin at
times,
beloved,
we all
do this,
but while
we walk
in it,
it is
who we
are.
Verse 6
goes on
to say,
we lie
and do
not practice
the truth.
But if we
say we
walk in
the light,
our lives
are characterized
by walking
in the light,
as he is
in the light,
we have
fellowship
with one
another,
and the
blood of
Jesus,
his son,
cleanses
us from
all sin.
Now,
if you
are objecting
to anything
I'm saying
right now,
at this point
you might
go,
but wait,
none of us
are perfect,
how dare
anybody say
they're walking
in the light?
John does
the same
thing,
so here
we go.
He says,
if we
say we
have no
sin,
so don't
you dare,
right?
If we
say we
have no
sin,
we deceive
ourselves
and the
truth is
not in
us.
So he
punctuates,
walking in
the light
doesn't
mean we're
sinless,
right?
It means
we're
characterized
by pursuing
truth,
characterized
by mercy
and purity
of heart
and peacemaking,
right?
Because we're
liars if we
say we
have no
sin.
But then
verse 9
and 10,
if we
confess our
sins,
he's faithful
and just
to forgive
us our
sins and
to cleanse
us from
all unrighteousness.
We continue
to persist
in this
walking in
the light,
this pursuing
of holiness.
If we say
we have
not sinned,
we make
him a
liar and
his word
is not
in us.
So we
want to
look at
a text
like this.
We want
to say,
oh,
do I
walk in
darkness
or do I
walk in
light?
We want
to go to
other places
in the
scripture
that help
us to
understand
what
walking
in the
light
looks like.
What are
the deeds
of the
flesh?
And what
are the
deeds
of the
spirit?
Am I
characterized
by one
or the
other?
And if
we find
that we're
characterized
by those
like those
who walk
in darkness,
then repent.
Repent and
turn to
faith in
Jesus Christ.
Your
great effort,
your highest
effort at
righteousness
is going to
fall miserably
short of
God's standard
of righteousness.
It will only
be found by
having Jesus'
righteousness
given to
you,
imputed
to you.
Look to
Christ.
Jesus
says that
it is
the
pure
in
heart
that
are
blessed.
Why are
the
pure
in
heart
declared
blessed?
Because
they
shall
see
God.
This
is so
good.
This
is so
good.
They
shall
see
God.
This
statement
by
Jesus
would
have
sent
his
Jewish
audience's
minds
skipping
off
to
Exodus
chapter
33.
Your
mind
might
not
have
done
that
and
that's
okay.
But
you
can
flip
right
now
with
me
to
Exodus
chapter
33
and
verse
18.
This
is
right
where
their
minds
would
have
gone.
See
God
really?
That's
what they
would
have
said
in
my
imagination.
So
in
Exodus
chapter
33
Israel's
encamped
at
Mount
Sinai.
Previously
Moses
has
gone
up
on
the
mountain
and
received
the
Ten
Commandments.
He's
come
back
down
from
the
mountain.
He's
discovered
God's
people
already
have
forsaken
him,
have
created
a
golden
calf
that
according
to
Aaron
magically
jumped
out
of
the
fire.
Moses
gets
furious,
breaks
the
stones
of
tablet,
goes
back
up
onto
the
mountain.
God
says,
I'm
done
with
you
God
agrees
that
he'll
go
with
them.
First
he says
he'll
go
with
Moses
and
Moses
says,
oh,
but you
must
go
with
us.
He
agrees
that
he'll
do
this
thing.
So
it's
this
amazing
act
of
mercy
on
God's
part.
So
that's
my
super
quick
summary
of
a
couple
of
chapters
that
leads
Moses
to
ask
this
astounding
thing.
It's
huge.
Early
readers
of this
would have
gone,
what?
You
asked
God,
what?
Moses
said,
verse
18,
please,
he knows
it's a
big ask,
please show
me your
glory,
right?
He's
asking for
God to
show him
very
self,
his being,
who he
is.
And this
is God's
response to
him.
I will
make all
my goodness
pass before
you and
will proclaim
before you
my name,
the Lord,
and I
will be
gracious
to
whom I
will
be
gracious
and I
will
show
mercy
on whom
I
will
show
mercy.
But
he
said,
God
said,
you
cannot
see
my
face
for
man
shall
not
see
me
and
live.
And
behold,
there is
a place
by me
where you
shall
stand
on the
rock.
And
while
my
glory
passes
by,
I
will
put
you
in
a
cleft
of the
rock.
That's
a little
alcove
of the
rock.
And
I
will
cover
you
with
my
hand
until
I
have
passed
by.
Then
I
will
take
away
my
hand
and
you
shall
see
my
back.
But
my
face
shall
not
be
seen.
So
God
says,
I
will
grant
you
your
request,
but
in
a
way
that
won't
kill
you.
I'm
just
going
to
let
you
see
me
as
I
pass
by.
All
my
goodness
!
And
beloved,
we
come
to
the
New
Testament,
to
the
New
Covenant,
and we
read in
John 1
and
verse 14,
And the
word became
flesh and
dwelt among
us,
and we
have seen
his glory,
glory as
of the
only Son
from the
Father,
full of
grace and
truth.
And then
in verse
18,
no one
has ever
seen
God,
the only
God,
who is at
the Father's
side.
He,
being
Jesus,
has made
Him,
being
God,
known.
So we
behold
the glory
of God
as we
look
at
Christ
in a
sense.
Many of
you are
familiar with
the hymn
Rock of
Ages,
written by
the 18th
century
hymnist
Augustus
Toplady,
who's one
of my,
he's got
the greatest
name,
anyway,
of
hymn
writers,
where he
wrote this,
Rock of
Ages,
cleft
for me,
let me
hide
myself
in thee,
he's talking
about Jesus,
right,
let me be
in your,
clothed in
you,
your
righteousness,
right,
let the
water and
the blood
from thy
wounded
side,
which
flowed,
be of
sin,
the double
cure,
double
imputation,
that's what
he's talking
about,
be of
sin,
the double
cure,
save
from wrath
and make
me
pure,
incredible,
it's an
astounding
truth,
that we
get a
glimpse
of God
himself
and all
his glory
as we
behold
Christ,
as with
all of the
blessed
declarations,
there is
an element
of now
and not
yet,
now
and
not
yet,
Paul writes
in 1 Corinthians
chapter 13
verse 12,
for now we
see in a
mirror
dimly,
but then
face to
face,
now I
know in
part,
then I
shall know
fully,
even as
I have
been fully
known,
so I'm
believing,
right,
having been
given a
glimpse of
the glory
of God
in Jesus
Christ,
that we'll
get a
greater
glimpse of
that,
that we
have
seen
God
now,
but we'll
more fully
see him
then.
The
apostle
John,
again in
Revelation
chapter 22,
verses 3 and
4,
writes,
no longer
will there
be anything
accursed,
but the throne
of God
and of the
Lamb will be
in it,
and his
servants
will worship
him,
they will
see his
face,
and his
name will
be on
their foreheads.
It is an
incredible thing
to behold
God in
knowing and
being known
by Jesus
Christ,
and it
will be a
further
astounding
thing to
behold him
more fully
on the
magnificent
day when
we are
glorified
with him.
I hope
that you'll
be counted
in that
number.
If you
don't think
you will,
turn to
God by
faith in
Christ this
morning.
Beloved,
because those
who are
pure in
heart will
see God,
we have
great hope
for today,
and we
have great
hope for
forever.
We find
in this
utterance
of our
Lord great
reason to
rejoice in
his gracious
work on
our behalf.
There's our
application,
right?
At least part
of it for
it this
morning.
Have a
great hope.
Rejoice in
the goodness
of God to
you in
Christ.
And we
also find
great reason
to pursue
purity,
right?
To show
ourselves to
be in
the faith,
to press
on in
holiness,
to find a
confidence that
God is at work
within us for
the praise of
his name to
the ends
of the
earth.
I want
to close
with a
little bit
of a
hymn by
another
famous
18th
century
hymn writer
by the
name of
Fanny
Crosby.
The song
is called
My Savior
First of
All.
I don't
think this
one's familiar
to you.
Please tell
me later
if it is.
I had
never heard
of it
before.
She wrote
this,
When my
life work
is ended
and I
cross the
swelling
tide,
when the
bright and
glorious
morning I
shall see,
I shall
know my
Redeemer when
I reach the
other side,
and his
smile will
be the
first to
welcome me.
Through the
gates of the
city in a
robe of
spotless
white,
he will
lead me
where no
tears will
ever fall.
In the
glad songs
of ages I
shall mingle
with the
delight,
but I
long to
meet my
Savior first
of all.
Blessed are
those who
are pure in
heart, for
they shall
see God.
Let's pray
together.