Series: The Life That God Blessed
Title: Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
Text: Matthew 5:8
Text: Matthew 5:8
Title: Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
Introduction:
We live in a society which is constantly telling us that experiences and possessions bring
happiness.
Ill – Some believe a new car or boat will bring joy. Others are convinced a vacation
experience is the answer. However, when the car or boat is dented, and the credit card
bills come in—the thrill is gone!
Note – Mature Christians know that experience and possessions apart from character in
the heart are empty illusions. The pure-hearted Christian is truly blessed with God and
God alone.
Ill – Our first apartment when we came to Lancaster was a little less than desirable. One
day I asked Terrie if she would be happy back in that apartment. She said, ―With God and
His love, yes.‖
Note – Much of my life is spent talking to people who believe a change of circumstances
is what they need, when, in reality they need a change of heart.
Ill – As a teen in Korea I was very unhappy until I had a change of heart.
I. Definition of Pure in Heart
A. Heart: whole inner self, totality of your innermost being
Proverbs 3:5
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding.
1. Emotions - John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe
in God, believe also in me”
2. Intellect - Mark 2:8 “And immediately when Jesus perceived in
his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto
them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?”
3. Will - Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he
would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor
with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the
prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”
Ill – When someone accepts Christ as his Saviour, he will exercise his
will from the heart.
1
Series: The Life That God Blessed
Title: Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
Text: Matthew 5:8
Ephesians 3:17
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and
grounded in love,
B. Pure: no guile, integrity as opposed to duplicity
Jeremiah 32:39
29 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for
ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
Note – A pure heart is a heart for God alone.
Psalm 57:7
7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
Note – From the outside all planes look ok, like Christians.
II. The Development of a Pure Heart
Note – How can I develop a singleness of heart yielded to God?
A. Understand the heart is deceitful.
Jeremiah 17:9
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can
know it?
Note – Our gut feeling isn’t the final authority.
James 1:26-27
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his
tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Pure
religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted
from the world.
B. Put your heart on trial before God.
Psalm 139:23
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
C. Ask God to change your heart.
2
Series: The Life That God Blessed
Title: Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
Text: Matthew 5:8
Ill – Perhaps your heart is focused on your problems.
Jeremiah 24:7
7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they
shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me
with their whole heart.
D. Guard your heart.
Proverbs 4:23
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Note – Sometimes a critical or sinful thought process begins. Our attitude
is desensitized about our home or our church.
Ill – Guard our heart from wrong words, pictures etc. In 1946 the first
run of ―It’s a Wonderful Life‖ was not approved. The following words
were censored – jerk, lousy, God, impotent, and garlic eaters.
Note – Guard your heart!
III. The Destination of a Pure Heart
Note – Do you really want to see God work in your life? To the spiritual man
nothing is higher than this. No one has literally seen God the Heavenly
Father.
John 1:18
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the
bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
1 Timothy 6:16
Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach
unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power
everlasting. Amen.
Ill – Moses only saw His glory. So, how can we see God?
A. In Creation
Psalm 19:1
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his
handywork.
3
Series: The Life That God Blessed
Title: Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
Text: Matthew 5:8
B. In Circumstances
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love
God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Ill – The word fulfilled appears twelve times in the book of Matthew.
Note – Life is a series of appointments with God. A person with a pure
heart sees God working always.
Ill – I have seen God in the lives of our members!
C. In the Bible
John 5:39
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they
are they which testify of me.
Conclusion:
Is Jesus in your heart? Is your heart pure for Him today? Are you seeing God in your
life?
Quote – ―The highest joy of man comes from the cultivation of the deepest part of man-
the heart! When the heart is pure, the vision is clear.‖ Warren Wiersbe
Ill – ―The Suffering of a Fool‖
For a man infamous for his overbearing appetites, Chris Farley spent his last Sunday in
notable sobriety. He attended evening Mass at Chicago’s St. Michael’s Catholic church,
which he had visited twice weekly while making his start as a comedian. Sunday had
always been a favorite church day for him, as was Tuesday, when there were special
prayers to the blessed virgin, Mary. After the service on December 14, Brother Patrick
Concidine of St. Michael’s remembers Farley asking whether ―we still had the Mass
every Tuesday.‖
―I assured him that we do, and he said he would try to get back here.‖ Then the actor
made his way to the nearby Old Town Ale House, where he drank a bottle of Miller
Genuine Draft. He never made it back to St. Michael’s. On Thursday, December 18,
Farley’s 300-lb. body was discovered by his brother at the actor’s Chicago apartment, on
the 60th floor of the John Hancock tower. He was only 33.
4