Today’s beatitude is the most central and significant of all the Beatitudes mentioned in this fifth chapter of Matthew. Because of this, we will look at it in two parts, one today and then we will conclude it next week.
Matthew 5:8 says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The Message states it this way: "You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.”
This beatitude is so central to our behavior because you can’t be poor in spirit without having a pure heart. You can’t mourn for the things that displease God without having a pure heart. You can’t be meek, you can’t hunger and thirst for righteousness, you can’t be merciful, you can’t be a peacemaker or be prepared to withstand persecution for the name of Christ without having a pure heart. Actually, this is one of the most central principles of the Christian life that we see in the whole Bible. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
Unfortunately, we are usually more careful to keep everything clean that is seen by others and forget about the things that only God can see. If my hands are muddy, nobody wants to shake hands with me, so I better keep them clean. If I am wearing a dirty shirt, there is a good chance you would give more attention to my shirt and not hear what I am saying. We want to keep up appearances before others, but we forget about keeping pure before God.
This is why Jesus gave such a harsh rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees, who thought of themselves as the purest of all people. They were extremely careful to keep their outward appearance clean before men, but they didn’t worry about their relationship with God. Jesus told them: “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too (Matthew 23:25-26).
Explaining this to the disciples, He said in Matthew 15:19-20: “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”
This is the impure heart.
1 Chronicles 28:9 says, “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”
That is why David’s prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 was, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
There are moral laws that man can break but God cannot. Do you know there are certain things I can do that God can’t? I can lie. I can commit adultery. I can cheat. I can steal. But God can’t break these moral laws, nor can He ignore them when we break them. We are usually careful to observe the local laws set by our government because we have immediate consequences, but many times, we ignore the moral laws that have far more serious consequences. Having a pure heart means keeping God’s moral laws.
The interesting thing is that when we think of adultery, we think of it in the physical sense, having a sexual relation outside of marriage. The Bible does talk about this kind of adultery and certainly prohibits it. However, the Bible talks about spiritual adultery far more than physical adultery. There is a whole book written to deal with the issue of the spiritual adultery of the people of God, the book of Hosea. There are also many other chapters in the Old Testament that deal with the same subject.
In the New Testament, Jesus said you can’t worship God and money. So, when we devote our hearts to anything other than the cause of God, we commit spiritual adultery. As James said in James 4:4 & 8: 4) “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.” 8) “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”
Both the Old and New Testaments say, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’. This is the first and the greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38; also Deuteronomy 6:5).
This is a pure heart in the spiritual sense.
The question is, do we really want God to see and know our heart? He does, whether we like it or not, but what are we doing to make sure our heart is clean and fully devoted to Him? Are we ready and willing to pray David’s prayer, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”? If we aren’t, then maybe we should spend this next week asking God to give us the courage to pray this prayer, expecting God to do a heart-cleaning within us for His glory!
Until next week…
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