May 26, 2002

Service Theme – "Our God Loves Pure Hearts"

Matthew 5:8

Getting Down to the Heart of the Matter

1. Introduction

1. Illustration – From Homiletics Online: U Thant was Secretary-General of the United Nations for 10 years. He had a stock short speech for use with educators and students around the world in which he contended that happiness was to be found, not in the pursuit of happiness, but in pursuing physical, mental, moral and spiritual perfection - all at the same time. Placing these qualities in ascending scale, he said: "I would attach greater importance to moral qualities or moral virtues over intellectual qualities.... And above all, I would attach the greatest importance to spiritual values, faith in oneself, the purity of one's inner self, which to me is the greatest virtue of all." (As quoted by Richard A. Nenneman in World Monitor 5 (January 1992), 63.)
2. Context – Isn’t it ironic that a secular politician has figured out something that we as Christians haven’t? At least Jesus knows the value of purity, and He shared some of His thoughts in Matthew 5:8, when He said,

1. Scripture Passage

1. Matthew 5:8 – Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Or, as The Message puts it, You’re blessed when you get your inside world – your mind and heart – put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

1. Purity Counts!

1. As we’re well aware, we’re living in an impure world. Sex, violence, lust, greed, selfishness, deceit, pride – all these are abundant. They are so totally opposite to being pure in heart that we wonder what they have to do with the church. Therein lies the rub – these are just as prevalent in the church and her people as they are in the outside world. The church in Galatia had the same problem as we do. Paul outlines it in Galatians 5:16-21 - So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷ For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. ¹⁹ The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. The problem didn’t just stop with the Galatians. 1 Peter 2:1 says, Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Colossians 3:5-10 - Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. What’s the point in reading these passages? It’s this: we cannot afford to be so arrogant as to think that we’re immune from the same problems that plagued the early church, especially when it comes to purity of heart.
2. Those early Christians lived in a very sensual society in which ritual sex was all over the place and easy to get. Roman banquets would go on for days, with rooms for guests to go throw up in so they could eat more. Everyone fought for the highest positions of honor society could give. Evil and corruption permeated life. Sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it? But the early church wasn’t exactly careful. Over and over again, New Testament writers address this issue. Jesus condemned some of the churches in Revelation for impurity. Why? Why did He say, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God? Because He knew full well the danger of satisfying our desires with worldly things – when our desires and needs are filled that way, who needs God? I mean, most of us know we need God, but when we fulfill our needs and desires without God, then we’re really saying to Him we don’t need Him. And the more room we give in our hearts and minds for sinful desires, the less room there is for God. Jesus isn’t telling us that our hearts have to be pure because He wants to spoil our party – He’s telling us this because if our hearts are not pure it will cost us our very souls!
3. Hebrews 12:14 says, Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. In other words, we can’t be unholy and still get to heaven. As Eugene Peterson put Matthew 5:8, You’re blessed when you get your inside world – your mind and heart – put right. Put right with whom? Put right with God. It’s called personal holiness, having a pure heart and mind. And there is no one on the face of this earth who will see God in heaven without a pure heart and mind.
4. That puts us in a dilemma. Most of us aren’t harboring pet sins, are striving to know God, and have pure thoughts and desires much of the time. But we struggle with that last little part. Paul gives us a bit of a hint in Philippians 2:12-13 - Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. We provide the desire to be holy and the obedience to do what He says, but God works in us as we work through the dark places within to become more like Him. To become more and more pure in heart. Part of it is a process, in which we draw closer and closer to Him and are becoming more like Him. Part of it’s a crisis, when we seem to hit a wall and are tripped up repeatedly by some pet sin or by holding a grudge or by refusing to obey in a certain area of our lives. The crisis point is when we decide we’ve had enough of doing it on our own and we say, "Okay, God, I don’t care how you do it, but please do it. Purify my heart. Take away the sin. Change me!" That’s when He can truly begin to work in us. That’s when we take a quantum leap in the process of becoming more like Him. That’s when our hearts become much more pure than they’ve ever been. It’s called sanctification.
5. Ezekiel 36:24-33 contains the beautiful promise of God to bring His people Israel home from exile. But it also contains a spiritual promise to all who call on His name. "‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 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. ²⁸ You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. ³⁰ I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. ³¹ Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. ³² I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel! ³³ ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt." God is promising that the spiritual desolation that has devastated us and our church for years will be healed. God will heal the wasteland that our hearts and lives have become and rebuild His kingdom in our hearts. God will enable our lives to become spiritually fruitful! God will remove our dead hearts of stone that are totally incapable of following God and hearing His gentle whisper and replace them with hearts that are spiritually alive in Christ. Hearts that no longer betray our deepest longings to love and follow and serve the living God. Hearts that want to obey God and become more like Him. That’s what God is promising us today! That’s exactly what Jesus was talking about! When we allow God to purify our hearts, we will see Him face to face!
6. If that’s true, and the Bible says it is, then what’s the first step. 1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. That’s the first step. Notice something here – John was writing to Christians. He recognized that we all have the tendency to sin and then to try to cover it up. We can’t do that and make it to heaven. God simply won’t allow it. So what do we do next? There’s an awesome passage in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that says this: if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. If we want to be pure in heart, we’ve got to humble ourselves – ditch the pride that says that no one and nothing will make us own up to our sin – and seek after God with all our hearts and repent – turn our backs on sin. Say no to sin no matter what. Resist the temptation to return to sin with everything we’ve got. And desire nothing but to be like Jesus. John Wesley once said, "Give me one hundred men who fear no one but God and hate nothing but sin, and I will transform the world." We can’t afford to not have a reverent respect and awe for God and His holiness. We can’t afford to not hate sin. We can’t afford to miss out on seeing God, and our world can’t either!
7. God is telling us He wants us all to have pure hearts. But does that mean we won’t sin anymore because our hearts are pure? It means we’re able not to sin, to choose not to give in to temptation. But He knows us well enough to know it might happen. Remember our passage from First John? Let’s continue on in chapter two - My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. Does that give us an excuse to sin? Continuing in verse three - We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. ⁴ The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. The overall pattern of our life has to be one of obedience, and for that we need a pure heart. But what if we’re trying to get closer to Jesus and our heart isn’t pure yet? Keep on keeping on. Keep on striving after Jesus with everything you’ve got. Keep on asking and begging and pleading with Him to give you a new, pure heart. We’ve been settling for the corruption of our world for too long. It’s about time we get serious about heart purity. God certainly is.
8. Illustration – Ted Roberts, in his book Pure Desire, shares this parable written by Melinda Reinicke (Parables for Personal Growth, San Diego, CA: Recovery Publications, Inc., 1993, pp. 5-9). There once was a great and noble King whose land was terrorized by a crafty dragon. Like a massive bird of prey, the scaly beast delighted in ravaging villages with his fiery breath. Hapless victims ran from their burning homes, only to be snatched into the dragon’s jaws or talons. Those devoured instantly were deemed more fortunate than those carried back to the dragon’s lair to be devoured at his leisure. The King led his sons and knights in many valiant battles against the serpent. Riding alone in the forest, one of the King’s sons heard his name purred low and soft. In the shadows of the ferns and trees, curled among the boulders, lay the dragon. The creature’s heavy-lidded eyes fastened on the prince, and the reptilian mouth stretched into a friendly smile. "Don’t be alarmed," said the dragon, as gray wisps of smoke rose lazily from his nostrils. "I am not what your father thinks." "What are you, then?" asked the prince, warily drawing his sword as he pulled in the reins to keep his fearful horse from bolting. "I am pleasure," said the dragon. "Ride on my back and you will experience more than you ever imagined. Come now. I have no harmful intentions. I seek a friend, someone to share flights with me. Have you never dreamed of flying? Never longed to soar in the clouds?" Visions of soaring high above the forested hills drew the prince hesitantly from his horse. The dragon unfurled one great webbed wing to serve as a ramp to his ridged back. Between the spiny projections, the prince found a secure seat. Then the creature snapped his powerful wings twice and launched them into the sky. The prince’s apprehension melted into awe and exhilaration. From then on, he and the dragon met often, but secretly, for how could he tell his father, brothers or the knights that he had befriended the enemy? The prince felt separate from them all. Their concerns were no longer his concerns. Even when he wasn’t with the dragon, he spent less time with those he loved and more time alone. The skin on the prince’s legs became calloused from gripping the ridged back of the dragon, and his hands grew rough and hardened. He began wearing gloves to hide the malady. After many nights of riding, he discovered scales growing on the backs of his hands as well. With dread he realized his fate were he to continue, and so he resolved to return no more to the dragon. But, after a fortnight, he again sought out the dragon, having been tortured with desire. And so it transpired many times over. No matter what his determination, the prince eventually found himself pulled back, as if by the cords of an invisible web. Silently, patiently, the dragon always waited. One cold, moonless night their excursion became a foray against a sleeping village. Torching the thatched roofs with fiery blasts from his nostrils, the dragon roared with delight when terrified victims fled from their burning homes. Swooping in, the serpent belched again and flames engulfed a cluster of screaming villagers. The prince closed his eyes tightly in an attempt to shut out the carnage. In the predawn hours, when the prince crept back from his dragon trysts, the road outside his father’s castle usually remained empty. But not tonight. Terrified refugees streamed into the protective walls of the castle. The prince attempted to slip through the crowd to close himself in his chambers, but some of the survivors stared and pointed at him. "He was there," one woman cried out, "I saw him on the back of the dragon." Others nodded their heads in angry agreement. Horrified, the prince saw that his father, the King, was in the courtyard holding a bleeding child in his arms. The King’s face mirrored the agony of his people as his eyes found the prince’s. The son fled, hoping to escape into the night, but the guards apprehended him as if he were a common thief. They brought him to the great hall where his father sat solemnly on the throne. The people on every side railed against the prince. "Banish him!" he heard one of his own brothers angrily cry out. "Burn him alive!" other voices shouted. As the King arose from his throne, bloodstains from the wounded shone darkly on his royal robes. The crowd fell silent in expectation of his decree. The prince, who could not bear to look into his father’s face, stared at the flagstones of the floor. "Take off your gloves and your tunic," the King commanded. The prince obeyed slowly, dreading to have his metamorphosis uncovered before the kingdom. Was his shame not already great enough? He had hoped for a quick death without further humiliation. Sounds of revulsion rippled through the crowd at the sight of the prince’s thick scaled skin and the ridge growing along his spine. The King strode toward his son, and the prince steeled himself, fully expecting a back-handed blow even though he had never been struck so by his father. Instead, his father embraced him and wept as he held him tightly. In shocked disbelief, the prince buried his face against his father’s shoulder. "Do you wish to be free from the dragon, my son?" The prince answered in despair, "I wished it many times, but there is no hope for me." "Not alone," said the King. "You cannot win against the serpent alone." "Father, I am no longer your son. I am half beast," sobbed the prince. But his father replied, "My blood runs in your veins. My nobility has always been stamped deep within your soul." With his face still hidden tearfully in his father’s embrace, the prince heard the King instruct the crowd, "The dragon is crafty. Some fall victim to his wiles and some to his violence. There will be mercy for all who wish to be freed. Who else among you has ridden the dragon?" The prince lifted his head to see someone emerge from the crowd. To his amazement, he recognized an older brother, one who had been lauded throughout the kingdom for his onslaughts against the dragon in battle and for his many good deeds. Others came, some weeping, others hanging their heads in shame. The King embraced them all. "This is our most powerful weapon against the dragon," he announced. "Truth. No more hidden flights. Alone we cannot resist him." How many of us here today have been riding the dragon of sin?

1. Conclusion

1. Please bow your heads and close your eyes. What about you? Where is your heart? Do you want a pure heart? Do you want to see God? Do you want to desire only what God desires? What do you want?
2. I’ve said before that a physical act puts the action into commitment. If you want God to purify your heart, come forward now, kneel at the altars, and beg Him to do it. God certainly doesn’t care if you’re a leader in this church or if you’ve got your dignity and pride to think about. He wants your whole heart. If you’re serious about wanting Him to have it, and to purify it, come forward now. People who love you will pray with you, because we cannot defeat sin in our lives alone. Don’t worry about being embarrassed, because all of us in this room have sinned in some really bad ways, so we're all in the same boat. God wants your whole heart, and God’s people have been called to help. Come forward and pray now.