Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Can you picture these words coming from the Savior's lips? Can you picture His eyes scanning the crowd of people about Him as He speaks? Let's suppose for a moment you are there sitting on a rock, your eyes intent upon Jesus and His gaze reaches yours and for a moment your eyes lock and He speaks these words…
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."
Your heart skips a beat, you gently suck in your breath and for a moment you refuse to release it as you become lost in that single moment. Jesus spoke to you! Jesus gave you this message and it's a message He wants you to understand fully because He is teaching you. To not comprehend what He's saying would mean His words were meaningless to you, just drivel, just someone flapping their lips while you nod and smile- don't pretend you've never nodded and smiled as someone was speaking. Don't pretend you've never had your mind wander as someone spoke to you. Absolutely do not try to convince yourself that you've never been formulating your own thoughts, replies to what has been said already, and in so doing you've missed more of what another was saying. You have to admit that you've sat in a classroom and only half listened as your teacher spoke. Your ears perked up when the word 'quiz' is mentioned and you groan when you hear the words 'study'. A quiz is on the way and what is that quiz on? The things the teacher has been teaching you. You are supposed to study and lucky for you the teacher has provided a handout that highlights the things you will be quizzed on. Now you have the basics there to refer to, to study and yet you know the teacher explained each of what are now brief summaries in great detail during class. Will there be questions on the test based upon the lecture- things not fully covered in the notes? Most likely, but because you have the handout you can study it and even perhaps look up things in your school text book to fill in gaps you may have missed when your mind wandered.
We know that Jesus did and said so much more than we've been blessed to read.
'Joh 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. '
What does that tell us? That Jesus *lived* the word we read! We have only a fraction of the life of Jesus at our disposal, but that fraction is enough and with the Holy Spirit guiding us we can be led into all the truth we need to be known as our Savior's.
We have these words given to us-
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
If we simply read them without studying them we lose so much that our Savior is teaching us.
Some will argue that it's simple, the meaning is very simple and there is really nothing to study and you know what- that's their prerogative. Maybe this isn't a message they need to learn, or a message they need to learn to at this time. The Holy Spirit will guide us all individually and at times collectively, but we can't deny that as individuals we answer to our God for our learning. We each have our own refiner's fire to go through individually forged.
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
If you are NOT pure in heart what else can you be?
Filthy in heart.
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross…
Psa 119:70 Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.
Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Act 8:21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
Our hearts- our minds- what makes us who we are!
H3820
lêb
labe
A form of H3824; the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything
G2588
kardia
kar-dee'-ah
Prolonged from a primary κάρ kar (Latin cor, “heart”); the heart, that is, (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind)
When our heart is not right in the sight of God it doesn't mean our heart is diseased physically. Our lives are not right with God. We as whole individuals are not right with God. The heart is figurative for our center- the controlling aspect of who we are- not JUST the intellectual part of us but our emotional part as well- the ALL of us. When our hearts are corrupt, when our hearts are filthy, gross, unclean we are not God's.
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Is it any wonder we are blessed to have a pure heart?!
That we would ALL have pure hearts! What a world that would be. But our hearts are corrupt, our hearts are filthy! We are so filled with self, so filled with the world, so grossly fat with our corrupted ways.
So how can our hearts be pure- how can we have our filthy hearts purified?
Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Our Savior is like a refiner's fire, a fuller's soap. Seriously. We can be cleaned through Christ and ONLY through Christ. We don't have refining fire, we don't have the fuller's soap. We are NOT the refiner, we are NOT the fuller! We have NO righteousness of our own, we talked about that the other day when we studied this verse: Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
And just as we have NO righteousness of our own we have no cleanliness that we can claim as ours. We are filthy sin-stained people with filthy sin-stained hearts and ONLY ONE can cleanse us, ONLY ONE has the RIGHT to cleanse us!
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
PURIFY unto HIMSELF a peculiar people.
Read that again- PURIFY unto HIMSELF. He purifies us unto HIMSELF. We do not purified ourselves. We can place ourselves where the purifier can cleanse us, but we cannot cleanse ourselves. We can do the will of God in all things by His grace living lives following His commandments, loving God and our fellow man with all that entails. It's not as if we should do nothing but embrace evil, not at all, we must shun evil. As we shun evil we understand that the evil we shun doesn't cleanse us. Our Savior cleanses us, we can't save ourselves.
Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
We must SUBMIT ourselves to God.
We must resist the devil but ONLY after we've submitted ourselves to God. We must draw NIGH to God so He will draw NIGH to us. We must cleanse our hands, purify our hearts but ONLY after we've submitted ourselves to God, only after we've drawn night to God. We are afflicted, we mourn, we weep, our laughter becomes sadness, our joy turns to heaviness. We have to humble ourselves in the sight of the LORD and HE SHALL LIFT US UP!
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
The pure in heart-- will see God. Those who give themselves to God allowing God to work in them, to cleanse them will see God.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Please GOD, please create in us a clean heart! Purify our hearts! We long to be among those who are blessed, among those who have pure hearts, among those who shall see God!!!
By HIS GRACE! In HIS LOVE!
AMEN!
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