Can the sinner really become a saint? Can the dirty heart stained by sin be washed white as snow? Yes! The Bible from front to back promises that all those who are born again are given a pure heart. Because of Jesus’ atoning work on the cross everyone can have a new start on life free from the filth of past sins and human depravity. Truly all those who are in Christ Jesus are new creations, the old has gone and the new has come. Blissed are those who are squeaky clean on the inside!

SERIES TEXT

Matthew 5:1-10, “1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

TERMS

  1. Disciples: Committed learners and students of Jesus Christ.
  2. Sermon on the Mount: The longest single portion of Jesus’ teaching found in Matthew 5-7 that serves as the foundation of Christian morality and spiritual practice.
  3. Beatitudes: From the Latin word, “beatitudo,” means, “the blissful, happy, and blessed sayings of Jesus.”
  4. Blessed: From “beatus” in Latin, means “to be spiritually happy and successful because of God’s favor upon one’s life.” Also, the term “blessed” has to do with God’s divine approval of one’s life resulting in His favor, Numbers 6:24-26.
  5. Kingdom of Heaven: The active rule and reign of Jesus in one’s life and upon the earth with kingdom blessings, v. 3 & v. 10. Notice that Jesus teaches the kingdom of heaven is currently given to the disciple, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” not, “for they will have the kingdom of heaven.”

SERMON TEXT

Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

PURE IN HEART

  1. The word word pure, “katharos,” in the Greek means to be “free from sin, blameless in God’s sight, and cleansed from all impurity!”
  2. We’re willing in the Body of Christ to believe almost everything in the Bible except the fact that Jesus made us pure and holy when we were born again.
  3. For Example: We’ll believe a snake talked, Noah built an ark to hold two of every kind of animal, Jacob wrestled with an angel and saw a stairway to heaven, that God turn a river into blood and split the Red Sea and led the people of Israel with a pillar of fire by night a cloud by day for 40 years! That a young boy defeated a giant with a sling shot, Elijah called down fire from heaven, ran faster than a chariot, and raised the dead. We also have no trouble believing Jesus was born of a virgin, walked on water, opened blind eyes, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven in a cloud. That Paul was blinded by Jesus, knocked off his horse, and had scales fall from his eyes so he could see. And we certainly believe Jesus is coming back on a white horse to judge the world and set up a city whose walls are 1,400 miles high. Not to mention we believe there are four six winged creatures flying around a throne in heaven one with the face of an ox, another a lion, a man, and a eagle… HOWEVER, after believing all these miraculous things by faith we actually still doubt that God has truly made our hearts pure! Lord have mercy!
  4. The Promise of a Pure Heart in the Old Testament: Deuteronomy 30:6, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.” Ezekiel 36:25-27, “25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
  5. The Promise of Purity Fulfilled in the New Birth: 1 Peter 1:22-23 (ESV), “22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” Hebrews 13:12, “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.”
  6. Sin in the Believer’s Life Defiles the Heart: Hebrews 12:14-16, “14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.”
  7. Ongoing Sanctification Cleanses the Believer of Confessed Sin: Hebrews 9:13-14, “13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”  2 Thessalonians 2:13, “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”
  8. Four Ways to View God’s Cleansing in Your Life: (1) Positionally: When you are saved you are inwardly cleansed of your sinful nature and are made righteous, holy, and perfect in your soul & spirit, John 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, & 1 Peter 1:22-23. (2) Practically: As the believer grows in obedience and needs to be forgiven of sin they are cleansed and sanctified to be restored to purity because the default position of the believer is to be blameless, 1 John 1:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, & John 13:10. (3) Physically: At the resurrection the body with its five senses will be made perfect in immortality, Romans 8:23, 1 Corinthians 15:50-54, & John 5:28-30. (4) Permanently: The believer will forever dwell with God being perfectly holy and pure in their body, soul, and spirit, Revelation 21:3-4, 22:3-5 , 1 John 3:2, & 1 Corinthians 13:12.

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SEE GOD

  1. We shall see God means to partially see Him now through His reflection in us (and in other children of God) but one day we will see Him face to face! 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 1 John 3:2, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
  2. Revelation 22:1-5, “1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”

Jesus didn’t say blessed are those who “try” to be pure in heart or blessed are those who “work real hard” at being pure… neither did He say blessed are those who will “one day” will be pure in heart, but rather He boldly proclaimed, “Blessed ARE (now in the present) the pure in heart!” Today, you can be pure in heart- stop resisting and let God wash you clean!