A. The "Sermon on the Mount" (Matt. 5-7) is widely considered to be the greatest sermon ever preached.
1. Certainly, many who were present when the Lord spoke on that day concurred, for the Scripture says that "the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes" (Matt. 7:28-29).
2. The lessons that our Lord taught then are just as potent now, and all who desire to please God should abide by the Master's teaching.
B. This sermon began with what we have come to know as the "beatitudes" (Matt. 5:3-12).
1. "Beatitude" is a Latin word that means "happy."
2. The Lord began each statement of the beatitudes with the word "blessed," which means "happy" or "fortunate," and connotes prosperity and a good condition.
3. Therefore, the beatitudes are the Lord's directions for man to become truly happy.
C. All of the beatitudes relate to the condition of one's heart, but Christ addressed the subject of the heart directly by saying, "Blessed are pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). It is this subject that we shall consider presently.
1. What does it mean to be pure in heart?
2. How does one become pure in heart?
3. What is the blessing of being pure in heart?
II. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE PURE IN HEART?
A. Let us recall from previous lessons what the heart is.
1. The heart is the center of man's being.
a. With the heart, man thinks, feels, and makes moral choices. The heart is the source of motivation and direction for all that man says and does.
b. Scripture attributes many things to the heart, such as joy (Psa. 119:111), despair (Deut. 28:65), fear (1Sam. 28:5), anger (Psa. 39:3), knowledge (Deut. 8:5), deceit (Jer. 17:9), etc.
2. In the previous two lessons, we noticed how Jesus described the heart as a treasury or a storage place.
a. The heart is the place in which we store our values and the place from which we retrieve the things that define who we are.
b. In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus advised us to treasure heavenly things rather than earthly things, "for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
c. From this treasure of the heart, we bring forth our words and deeds, whether they are good or bad (Matt. 12:34-35; 15:18-20).
3. Through this figure of the heart as a storage place or treasure chest, let us understand that we can only expect to retrieve from the heart that which we put into it.
a. If we believe that we can consume and indulge in evil things and still bring forth that which is good, we are deceiving ourselves. The Lord has said that this cannot be done.
b. Therefore, we must be careful what we put into our hearts.
i. If we want to bring forth good things in what we say and do, then we must put good things into our hearts.
ii. If we value evil things, then we will store them within our hearts as treasure, and we will bring forth only evil things in our words and actions. The result is that our souls will be defiled and lost in sin.
B. With this understanding of the heart, let us consider what it means to be pure in heart.
1. The word "pure" means "undefiled" or "uncontaminated." It indicates not only cleanness, but also unity.
2. Just as a pure substance contains no contaminants, neither does a pure heart.
a. Ivory brand soap used to be advertised as being 99.4% pure, which, by definition, means that it is actually has 0.6% impurity. For something to be truly pure, it must 100% pure.
b. Likewise, a pure heart must be completely committed to God. Notice that James gave the instruction to "purify your hearts, you double-minded" for those who were doubting and distrustful of God in James 4:8 (see also James 1:6-8).
3. The Bible uses the term "pure in heart" in the sense of being clean and holy.
a. Notice that a person could be completely evil in his heart, but this is not purity of the heart. (Consider the people of Noah's day in Genesis 6:5.)
b. A pure heart is one that is completely clean and holy, spiritually undefiled by wickedness and evil intent.
III. HOW DOES ONE BECOME PURE IN HEART?
A. The heart of man has become polluted with all kinds of defilement.
1. Rather than a treasure chest, we often treat the heart like a trash can, putting in anything and everything that is filthy and defiling.
2. By our own choices, our hearts are made impure through sin, and "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).
3. Impurity of heart also indicates a double-mindedness, which is the condition of a heart that is divided in its allegiance (Jas. 1:6-8; 4:8). Such a mind does not fully believe or trust in God.
4. Realizing this, we must appeal to God for a clean heart with a broken spirit and a contrite heart (Psa. 51:10, 17).
B. Thankfully, God has provided purification through Jesus Christ for the hearts of those who by faith purify themselves in obedience to the truth.
1. This truth is taught in 1Peter 1:22; 3:21; 1John 3:3; Titus 2:11-14.
2. Let us understand that there are two parts to purification of the heart.
a. God's part in this purification is to wash us clean of all the defilement of sin and to provide for us the good things to store in our hearts.
b. Our part is to provide the complete commitment to God through Christ and receive those good things of God into our hearts.
c. Thus, our hearts can be pure, completely clean and completely devoted to God.
C. Purity of heart is something that we must strive not only to obtain, but also to maintain.
1. The purified heart can be defiled once again if evil things are brought back into it.
2. Therefore, we must seek to fill the heart with the good things of God, which we can do through the word of God: "Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee" (Psa. 119:11).
IV. WHAT IS THE BLESSING OF BEING PURE IN HEART?
A. The lives of those who are pure in heart are guaranteed by the Lord to be happy and blessed because of one thing in particular: they know that they shall see God.
1. This has been promised to them, and this hope is the anchor of their souls (Heb. 6:19). Regardless of what they may suffer in life, this hope gives them happiness and blessing.
2. This hope is a treasure to be stored in the heart, and from this treasure those who hope bring forth the same hope for others through the preaching of the gospel of Christ.
B. What joy it shall be to see God!
1. Consider Revelation 22:1-5. The Lord's bond-servants shall see His face.
2. The joy of this thought is expressed well in the third stanza of the hymn, When We All Get to Heaven:
"Let us then be true and faithful, trusting, serving every day; Just one glimpse of Him in glory will the toils of life repay."
V. CONCLUSION
A. In order for your heart to be right in the sight of God, purity is essential. All contamination, corruption, and division must be removed for your heart to pure and pleasing to God.
B. Thankfully, God has made purity of the heart possible through Christ Jesus. All sins that contaminate the heart can be forgiven, all evil that corrupts the heart can be purged, and all doubt that divides the heart can be removed.
C. With a pure heart, you will be truly blessed, for you shall see God.
