Blessed are the Pure

Father, we thank you for tonight and the opportunity we have to be together and study your word. We are a blessed people, simply because you've given us the word of the living God. Tonight, we pray that you'd open our hearts and minds to see the greatness of your kingdom, that we might understand how it is we are to live like children of the king.

We realize, Lord, that because of your grace and because of your mercy, we are able to enter into your great kingdom. So we thank you for that, Lord, and pray that as we study your word, you would challenge us, personally, to live the kind of life that brings glory and honor to you as our king. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

King David was a man that was characterized by a phrase that we all know well, a man after God's own heart. It says that in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. And that's what made David the man that he was.

David was not a perfect man, but David was a pursuing kind of man. He was always in pursuit of his God. He wasn't a sinless man, but he was the kind of man that truly wanted to honor his Lord.

And so, by the end of his life, he wanted to challenge his son, Solomon. So the Bible tells us these words in 1 Kings 2, verse number 1. As David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon, his son, saying, I am going the way of all the earth.

Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. In other words, I need you to act manly, Solomon. Keep the charge of the Lord your God to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies according to what is written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do in wherever you turn, so that the Lord may carry out his promises which he spoke concerning me, saying, if your sons are careful of their way to walk before me in truth with all of their heart and with all of their soul, he says, with all of their heart and with all of their soul, he says, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.

So Solomon wants to be charged by his dad. And his son is gonna be the king of Israel. And the king, Solomon, will have 40 years of peace because David was the warrior.

And so he paved the way. So Solomon's reign would be pretty much a peaceful reign. So again, David charges his son in 2 Chronicles 22.

I'm sorry, 1 Chronicles 22. This is what he says in verse 17. He says, Solomon, is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not given you rest on every side? For he has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand.

And the land is subdued before the Lord and before his people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Again, David, a man after God's own heart, wants to challenge his son to make sure that his heart and soul are completely committed to the Lord.

And then again, David will reiterate it. In 1 Chronicles 28, verse 9. As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart.

And a willing mind for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will let you find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

David is trying to embed in the mind of his son the importance of searching and seeking after God with all of your heart. David was a man after God's own heart. He wanted his son Solomon to be a man after God's own heart.

So he would instill in his son the exhortation that he would need to be a follower of his God. Solomon had a son, his name was Rehoboam. Listen to what it says about Rehoboam.

In 2 Chronicles 12, verse number 14. Rehoboam did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord. The question is what happened between David, Solomon, and Rehoboam? That Rehoboam would not seek to follow the Lord with all of his heart.

What happened in the translation? What happened in that which was being passed down from a father to a son to a son as to why Rehoboam would not follow the Lord with all of his heart? Well, we get a hint of that when we turn back to 1 Kings chapter 11. Listen to what it says. Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, you shall not associate with them nor shall they associate with you for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.

Solomon held fast to these in love. He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned his heart away.

For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God as the heart of David, his father, had been. Verse six, Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not follow the Lord fully as David, his father, had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemesh, the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem and for Moloch, the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.

Thus also he did for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commended him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods. But he did not observe what the Lord had commended.

So the Lord said to Solomon, because you have done this and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. What a tragedy. David was not a perfect man.

His sin is splashed all over the Old Testament. The repercussions of his sin affected his family for the rest of their lives. But yet David was a man after God's own heart.

Thus says the Lord. That's the Lord's testimony on David. And David had a heart that pursued his God.

He so desperately wanted Solomon to be that way. Solomon means man of peace. His other name is Jedidiah, which means beloved of the Lord.

So Solomon had those two names. The man of peace was beloved of the Lord. And yet he turned his back on the Lord.

He went after foreign women. And God said, if you do, they're gonna turn your heart. And they did.

They turned his heart away from the Lord. So Rehoboam follows his father as king of Israel. And Rehoboam had his heart turned away from the Lord.

He did not at all follow the Lord with all of his heart. And of course, after Solomon, the kingdom was divided. There were 39 different kings in the northern kingdom and in the southern kingdom.

And all but eight were evil. The eight that were, they did what they could to follow the Lord. But the majority of them had turned their heart away from the Lord.

So the Bible says in the book of Second Chronicles, chapter 16, verse number 9, these words. The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that he may strongly support those whose heart is completely his. The Lord is looking to strengthen and support those whose heart is completely committed to the Lord.

And in the New Covenant, Ezekiel 36, the Lord says, I will sprinkle clean water upon you and I will give you a new heart. Because in order for you to follow me, you must have a new heart. That you might follow the ways of the Lord.

As you recall, the book of Proverbs, the 23rd chapter, Solomon is speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. And Proverbs was written early on in Solomon's life. As he had Rehoboam, as he had sons, that he might move them in the ways of God.

It wasn't until later in his life that he began to turn and marry foreign women. But in the book of Proverbs, the only book written specifically to teenagers. So if you have a teenager, they need to memorize the Proverbs.

Because it's a book specifically written to young people. He says this in verse 26 of chapter 23. Give me your heart, my son.

Solomon's not saying that to Rehoboam. God is saying that to Rehoboam by inspiration through Solomon. Because God wants your heart.

And let your eyes delight in my ways. You know, when God has a heart, the eyes speak loudly. Because the eyes delight in the ways of God.

Solomon's eyes delighted in foreign women. And they turned his heart. But there's something about the eyes of a person whose heart is committed to the Lord.

Because the eyes are the window to the soul, right? Look at a wife's eyes. And you can tell a lot about her relationship with her husband, can you not? There's something about the eye of the wife that shows you and tells you that all is well at home. Or all is not so well at home.

All you gotta do is look into her eyes. They speak volumes. That's why God says, give me your heart.

Let me have your heart. And let your eyes delight in my ways. God has always been concerned about the heart.

And so, when the greatest preacher who ever lived preached the greatest sermon ever preached, in Matthew chapter 5, he goes right for the heart. That's why he says, blessed are the pure in heart. For they shall see God.

The Lord knew that Israel was really into the externals. They were really into the ceremonies, the sacrifices, the rituals, all the external trappings that make Judaism what it is. They were masters of the outward appearance.

And so, when our Lord shows up on the scene, he knows the heart of man. He appeals right to the heart of a man. The externals don't mean anything to him, unless they're motivated by the inner man, the heart itself.

But he knew that Israel were, as Isaiah prophesied, the people who honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They say all the right things. They do all the right things.

But their hearts are not committed to the Lord fully. The Lord knows that. The Lord knows your heart.

You might be able to fool your pastor, or fool your friends, or even fool people in your family, but you can't fool the Lord, right? He knows the heart of a man. And so, our Lord comes on the scene in Matthew chapter 5 and begins to preach this sermon that goes right to the heart of the matter, the inner man. That's why he would say later on, as we go through Matthew 5, you have heard that it was said, but I wanna say unto you.

You've heard what the rabbis have said. You've heard how they've interpreted the scriptures, but I wanna let you know what the heart of the matter really is. And Christ exposes everybody on the mountainside, there on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.

He kinda does open heart surgery on everybody there on the north shore. Because he wants them to realize, you think you're right with me, but you're not. Just because you do everything externally doesn't mean that you're right internally.

I want your heart. My son, give me your heart. So, he basically says these words as he begins to preach.

You need to realize your poverty. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Unless you realize your poverty, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven.

And then you need to repent from your iniquity. Blessed are those who mourn. Because if you repent from your iniquity, you'll be comforted.

And then he says, you need to respond in humility. Blessed are the meek. Because if you do, you inherit the earth.

And then he says, you need to remember your insufficiency. That your righteousness is insufficient. But if you hunger and thirst for my righteousness, oh, you will be satisfied.

And then he says, you need to react with mercy. Because blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. And then, you will reflect my purity.

And blessed are the pure in heart, for they, and they only, are the only ones who see the true and living God. So let me ask you a question. Have you seen the true and living God? How do you see him? Do you see him clearly or vaguely? Do you see him amidst the fog? Or do you see him amidst clear blue skies? How do you see the Lord? So, if you have your outline in front of you, hopefully you do, the same four points, the same four we've covered every week, we're going to, first of all, help you understand, number one, the condition.

What does it mean to be pure in heart? Define the condition, and then we'll describe the consequences, detail the characteristics, and then determine our course. Same outline we have for all of the Beatitudes, that we might come to grips with what they really mean. So Christ is speaking, he basically says this about man's heart.

Blessed are the pure in heart. How do you define that, what does that mean? Well, we're going to look at the location of purity, the definition of purity, and then the application of purity. By helping us understand exactly what it means.

Blessed are the pure in heart. Kardia, the inner part of a man. The heart of a man is everything.

The heart of man is the center of your intellect, not your brain, your heart is. Your heart is the center of your emotions. The heart is the center of every choice that you make.

Let me explain it to you. The heart is the center of your emotions. Christ said in John 14, verse number 1, let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid. How is a man ever afraid in his heart? Because it's the center of his emotions.

In Nehemiah 2, it says, or it talks about the sorrow of the heart. Because the heart is the center of your emotions. It's also the center of your volition, your choices.

Daniel, it says in Daniel 1, purposed in his heart not to be defiled by the king's meat. He made a choice. He didn't make a choice in his brain. He made a choice in his heart not to be defiled by the king's meat.

That's why it says in Ephesians 6:6, we are to do the will of God from the heart. The choice you make in your heart. Luke 21:14, Christ said, make up your hearts not to prepare beforehand to defend yourself.

What do you mean make up your heart? Don't you make up your mind? Yeah, but your mind only operates according to your heart. Your heart is the center of everything. It's the center of intellect.

Proverbs 23:7, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Doesn't say as a man thinks in his brain, he is. It says as a man thinks in his heart, he is.

Because the heart is the central mechanism of everything that you do. So the location of purity has to happen in the central aspect of your life, that is your heart. It says in Matthew 9:41, Jesus asked a group of scribes, why are you thinking evil in your hearts? Because your heart is the center of intellect.

It's the center of emotion. It's the center of all choices that you make. Everything stems from the heart of a man.

And Christ is concerned about your heart. He's concerned about what you believe in your heart. He's concerned about how you act in your heart.

Because the heart is the center of everything. That's why he says, give me your heart, my son. That your eyes might delight in my ways.

I need your heart. If I have your heart, I have your mind. If I have your heart, I have your emotions.

If I have your heart, I have every choice that you make. I need your heart. So Christ comes and preaches and said, blessed are the pure in heart.

Notice the Bible says in Proverbs 4:23, guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow all the issues of life. That sums it up completely. Guard your heart, protect your heart, watch over your heart, keep your heart.

Because out of your heart flow every issue that pertains to life. If you can't guard your heart, you cannot guard your heart, I mean, your eyes, your mind, your hand, anything. It all stems from the heart of a man.

Notice in Genesis 6, verse number 5, when the Lord destroyed the earth with a flood, it says these words, then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. God destroyed the earth because of man's evil heart. The evil heart is the center of all thought life.

The evil heart is the center of all evil actions. Matthew 15:19, for out of the heart come evil thoughts. You thought your evil thoughts came from your brain.

Oh no, they come from your heart. It says murders come from your heart, adultery from your heart, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, slander. These are the things which defile a man.

Christ made it very clear that the reason that man is defiled is because of what happens on the inside. Because what happens on the inside is reflected on the outside. Murders, thefts, slander, adultery, everything comes from the evil heart on the inside.

That's why Christ says the blessed person is the one whose heart is pure before me. And so, what's the definition of purity? The location of purity is the heart. The definition of purity is what? Well, the word is from the verb kartharizo, which means to cleanse.

You've heard of the word catharsis, right? A cleansing. Okay, so the definition of the pureness of the heart is the cleansing of the heart. And note this, it goes way beyond just a sweeping of something clean.

It's a word that means to be unmixed, unstained, untainted. In other words, a pure heart is a heart that's single-minded, a heart that's singularly focused. It's not detracted or distracted by other things in it.

It is unmixed with any foreign object. It is singly focused. That's what it means to have a clean heart.

I love what William Barclay says about this. He says in his commentary on the Beatitudes, he says the Greek word is used of clear water, sometimes of metals without alloy, sometimes of grain that had been winnowed, freed from the mixture of other particles, and sometimes the feelings of being completely and totally unmixed. So in other words, a cleansed heart is an undivided heart.

Okay, it's not a divided heart, it's an undivided heart. In fact, the Bible says that a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways, why? Because a double-minded man has a dual heart. A heart that's divided between other things.

God wants you singularly focused on him. That's why he says love him with a whole heart. Love him with all of your heart.

Not just part of it, but with all that you have. It has to be completely and totally focused on God himself. And that's why the definition of purity is so important.

James says, purify your hearts, you double-minded. Why? Because in your heart, there is a duality of purpose. So it needs to be cleansed from that other obstacle that's keeping it from being singularly focused and being totally committed to God.

So cleanse your hearts. Take away that which is an obstacle, a detraction away from the Lord. Jeremiah 32:39 says, I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever.

Same thing. One heart is a cleansed heart. One heart is an undivided heart.

It's not double-minded in its thought process. It's completely focused upon the Lord. So what's the application of this? Two things.

One is a positional purity, and the other is a practical purity. When you are cleansed by the blood of the lamb, you are clean positionally before Christ. When the Bible says that he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, 2 Corinthians 5:21, there is a cleansing that takes place in the heart of a believer when he gives his life to Christ, because Christ died for your sins, right? In the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all of our sin.

And so there is a positional purity, a positional cleansing, a positional unmixedness, if that's the word. If it's not, it should be, that there's nothing in there that's clouding that. The difficulty comes in the practice of that, right? That's why the Bible says, be holy as your Father in heaven is holy.

That's why in Matthew 5, which we'll see in a few weeks, be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. The challenge is matching my practice with my position with God. Because I've been totally cleansed from all of my sin because of what Christ did at Calvary's cross, I live still in the flesh, and so there are still things that enter into my heart and mind that draw me away from the Lord that cause me to be double-minded in my ways.

And so, therefore, I need to rid myself of those things and be totally focused upon the Lord. It's called the practice of purity, right? Positionally, we are pure before God, but matching my practice, my everyday life, with my position in Christ is what the Christian walk and the Christian life is all about, right? And that's what we do. And there's a constant struggle every single day of going to the Lord and asking the Lord, Lord, cleanse me from my sin.

Lord, help me to keep my mind focused upon you, my heart fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why in Matthew 6, which we'll see in months down the road, that Christ says you cannot serve two masters, right? Matthew 6:24. Why? Because you'll love the one and hate the other.

You can't serve two. That's why you can't have two wives, right? You gotta love one and hate the other. You can't love them both, right? So you can't serve two masters.

You can't serve money and God. Can't serve prosperity and God. You can't serve that of the things of the world and the things of the Lord, because one's gonna draw your heart away.

That's why the Lord said, do not marry foreign wives because they will turn your heart away to Solomon. So what did he do? He married foreign wives. And what did they do? They turned his heart away.

Exactly as God said. Because he wants all of your heart, not part of your heart. He wants all of you, not certain aspects of you.

God wants everything, because he died for you. He died that you might have his life. And so he wants his life operational in your life.

Point number two. Describing the consequences. Two of them.

One, satisfaction in life. And vision in life. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

But the blessing comes because of what they see. They'll be satisfied when they see that which they long for. That's why the Bible says in John 14:8, Philip says to the Lord, show us the Father and it will be enough for us.

And Christ says, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. There's something about spiritual vision that's enough. There's something about seeing God for who he is that satisfies.

And so many times we forget that the pureness of our heart done by God causes us to see. Remember Simeon? He just longed to hold the Christ child. And the Lord promised him, you will not die until you see the Lord's Messiah.

Right? Because the Lord is God's Messiah. He is not Israel's Messiah. He's not even your Messiah.

He is God's Messiah. And so Simeon longed for that day. And when he held the Christ child in his arms, he said, that's it.

I'm done. I've seen it all. There's nothing else for me to see.

There's nothing else for me to live for. What I've longed for, what I've lived for, now is here. I'm done.

I can die. Why? Because his whole life was centered around seeing the Christ child, the Messiah, God's Messiah. And once he got a glimpse of the Messiah, that was it.

He was completely and totally satisfied. So the Bible says in Psalm 73, God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. God is good to those whose hearts have been cleansed.

Psalm 73 says, but as for me, the nearness of God is my good. Psalm 17:15, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. There's something about getting a glimpse of God that is completely and totally satisfying that nothing in the world can do.

It just can't. So I ask you again, have you seen the true and living God? Not only is there satisfaction in life, but there's also vision in life. Remember Moses? I beseech you, Lord, let me see your glory.

Well, what is the glory of the Lord? It's the manifestation of God in brilliant light. It's the attributes of God. It's who God is.

I wanna just see you. And of course, you know, God said, I can't let you see me. You're gonna have to die because I dwell in unapproachable light and you'll be incinerated if you see me.

So I can't let you see me, he says. But the Bible says these words in John 1:18, no man has seen God at any time. And yet, 1 Timothy 6:16 says, God dwells in unapproachable light where no man has seen or can see.

So then how do you see God? How can a man see God? That's very important because you don't see him with a physical eye. You see him with a spiritual eye. You can't physically look upon the Christ or you'd die.

You'd be incinerated, okay? Not until you have a glorified body can you ever do that. That's when you go to heaven. So how does a man see God now? Well, number one, you can see him in the world.

How do you know that? Because the heavens declare the glory of the Lord. So when you look at the world, when you look at the universe, when you look at the heavens, what do you see? You see a creator. You see someone who designed all that.

You see God. Psalm 29 is very, very insightful. Psalm 29, listen to what the psalmist says.

He says in verse 3, the voice of the Lord is upon the waters. Now he's talking about a storm, okay? And how he sees God in the storm. He says, the voice of the Lord is upon the waters.

The God of glory thunders. The Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful.

The voice of the Lord is majestic. So he's hearing the voice of God in the storm. He says, the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars.

Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord divides out flames of fire.

In other words, the voice of the Lord divides out the striking of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The voice of the Lord is so strong.

When God thunders, the wilderness shakes. The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calf.

In other words, it makes the pregnant animals give birth. He says that the strips, excuse me, and strips the forest bare. The voice of the Lord is so strong.

So how does the voice of the Lord strip the forest bare? Have you ever seen a tornado? Have you ever seen a hurricane? All of that declares the glory of God. You see, the believer sees God in the storm. The unbeliever just sees the storm.

But the believer sees the God whose voice thunders and causes the storm and separates the lightning and the flashes. He's the God who causes trees to be demolished because his voice is so powerful. You see, so many times we miss how God wants us to observe him in the world.

God is everywhere. That's why the heavens declare the glory of the Lord. The Bible says in that same Psalm, the Lord sitteth king as king over the flood.

In other words, God controls the flood. God controlled the flood in Genesis six. And by the way, God controls every single flood on the planet today, everything.

Is there a tsunami? God caused that. Not an earthquake in the middle of the ocean. No, God caused that.

Why? Because if there's calamity in the city, Amos says, guess who caused it? God did. See, God's in control of everything or he's in control of nothing. God rules over all.

And so you must be able to see God with a spiritual eye to know that God is at work in doing what it is he does. That's what causes us to trust him even all the more. Not only do you see him in the world, but you see him in the ways he works in the world.

Listen to Psalm 105. Psalm 105. Listen to what the Bible says.

This is so great. The psalmist recognizes God's mighty hand in everything. Remember what Peter says in 1 Peter 5:6? Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.

Remember that? Remember he says that? And what is the mighty hand of God? The mighty hand of God is a phrase used in the book of Exodus to describe how God's hand delivered and disciplined the nation of Israel, okay? So Peter is picking up from the Old Testament saying you need to submit yourself under God's mighty hand of discipline, God's mighty hand of deliverance because God is in charge of all things in life.

Well, Psalm 105 describes this for us. Verse 24, that God caused his people to be fruitful. God did that. Verse 45, he turned their heart to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants. He sent Moses a servant and Aaron whom he had chosen.

Verse 28, he sent darkness, he made it dark. He turned the waters into blood and caused their fish to die. Verse 31, he spoke and there came a swarm of flies.

Verse 32, he gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land. Verse 33, he struck down their vines, also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their territory. Verse 34, he spoke and locusts came and young locusts even without number.

Verse 36, he also struck down all the firstborn in their land. Verse 37, then he brought them out with silver and with gold. Verse 40, it says, he brought quail.

Verse 41, he opened the rock and out flowed water. Verse 43, he brought forth the people with joy. Verse 44, he gave them also the lands of the nations.

The psalmist knew that God's ways were working in every aspect of Israel's life. You see, we need to be able to see God in the way he works in your family, in your church, in your workplace. God does all those things, but do you see his hand in all of that? Or do you just attribute it as to, well, just bad things happen at different times.

No, God's in charge of all those things. But only the pure in heart see God. Only those who are not double-minded.

Only those who are singularly focused really truly see God. Those whose hearts have been cleansed from the stain of sin and are focused completely upon him. They're the ones who see God.

They'll ultimately see him in glory, face to face, right? When we see him, we'll be like him, for we'll see him as he is. But there are certain things that we see even today that God does as he operates in every aspect of our lives. That's why Job said, I have heard of thee with the hearing of my ear, but now my eyes have seen you.

When did Job ever see God? He never saw him physically. But he said, I have heard of you with the hearing of my ear, but now my eyes have seen you. How did Job see God? He saw him with the spiritual eye because God spoke to Job.

And that's why you always see God in his word, not just in the world and not just in the wonders around the world, not just in the way he works in the world, but in the word he's given to us. And that's how Job saw God. Oh, I've heard of you.

I've heard of you with the hearing of my ear. But now for the very first time in my entire life, I have seen you. That's just a powerful statement.

And that's why the Bible says this in John 5:39, you search the scriptures. Because you think that in them, you have eternal life. And it is them that bear witness of me.

He's condemning the religious leaders. You know the Bible frontwards and backwards, but you don't know me. How do you miss me? How do you read the Bible and miss me? See, that's the problem.

We go to church and we have this issue that we're dealing with and we want the pastor to talk about my issue or deal with my issue, right? But see, that's not how God works. God wants you to see him in the scriptures. And so here are the leaders of Israel and they would search the scriptures day and night.

But they missed the Messiah. And so when he stands there in front of them, they can't see him. They can't see him as God in the flesh.

They can't see him as their Messiah, why? Because when they read the scriptures, they weren't looking for him. They were looking for solutions to their problems. Just a little hint here.

When you have a problem, don't go to the Bible looking for solutions to your problem. When you have a problem, go to the Bible and look for Jesus. And when you see Jesus, all your problems will go away.

Not that they're gonna disappear. Oh, you still have them? But your circumstances don't need to change. Your perception of the God of circumstances needs to change.

And when that changes, your life changes. That's why when you go to the scriptures, you look for Jesus, not solutions to your problem. Because you're gonna have problem after problem after problem after problem.

They're gonna be innumerable before you die. So when you go to the scriptures, the Lord says, how can you search the scriptures and miss me? That's why we say when you come to church on Sunday, sir, we wish to see who? Jesus, right? Talked about that two weeks ago. You come to church to see Christ, to see Jesus.

You don't come to church to see your friends. You don't come to church to see your buddies. You don't come to church to be seen.

You come to church to see Christ. If you go to church for any other reason, you're wasting your time. I hate to say it, you're just wasting your time because you're gonna miss him.

And if you miss Jesus, you've missed everything. But the pure in heart, those whose hearts are undivided and totally focused upon the Lord, unmixed with any foreign object, they will see the Lord. And you see him in his word.

2 Corinthians 3:18, we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being changed from one level of glory to the next level of glory, even as by the spirit of God. Paul says that to us. We come to the scriptures, the mirror with an unveiled face and we're able to behold the glory of the Lord.

What's the glory of the Lord? His attributes, his character, his nature. And when you go to the Bible to behold the glory of the Lord, you're being changed from one level of glory to the next level of glory, to the very next level of glory by the spirit of God. That's what God does.

That's why Bible study is so important. That's why Bible memorization is so important. That's why Bible meditation is so important.

Why? Because I'm going to see the Christ and I see him in his word. And when I see him for who he is and all of his glory and all of his splendor, all my problems just pale in comparison to the beauty and glory of the Christ. So what do Paul pray for in Ephesians 1:18? I pray that the eyes of your hearts be enlightened.

You think your eyes are in your head. Your eyes are in your heart. Yes.

See, the eyes of your heart will be enlightened. That was Paul's prayer. And you know what? That should be the prayer of all of us for every one of us, right? You know, we get so bogged down by health issues.

You ever notice that? Our prayer life is consumed with health issues. But they're not concerned with spiritual health issues. And they should be.

All you gotta do is read Paul's prayers and see what he prayed for. And ask yourself, what is my prayer life like? We get so bogged down with the physicality of life that the spirituality of life is set aside because my physicality is more important than my spirituality. Not knowing that the solution to my physicality is my spirituality.

We forget that. That's very important to understand. When you talk to somebody who's walking with the Lord in the midst of their physical illness, there's a joy about their lives that if you understand them and know them, they are rejoicing in what God is doing even though they can't even get out of bed because God is at work in their hearts.

And they're growing closer and closer to the Lord through their difficulty. So if you go back to the illustration of Job, right? Job's physicality never changed. He was still covered with boils.

He still had no kids, no job, no house. And a wife somewhere, who knows where, right? And what did he say? Oh, I've heard of you, but boy, now my eyes have seen you. I repent in dust and ashes.

Job was satisfied. And nothing changed his life. Nothing.

Remember when they changed? And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends, his miserable comforters. And God gave him twice as much as what he had before. Job didn't pray to get more things back.

Job didn't pray for his physicality, for his boils and his pain. Prayed for his friends. Why? Because he got a glimpse of the Lord.

And so he prayed for his friends who really didn't know the Lord that well. They thought they did, but they really didn't know Him. And God turned the captivity of Job and gave him twice as much as what he had before when he prayed for his friends.

And that's only because he was able to finally see the true and living God for who He is. And that's simply because God spoke to him. And God speaks to you every time you open the word of God.

Open it up. These are His words. This is the living and abiding word of God.

Number three, gotta hurry quickly, sorry. Detailing the characteristics. What is the characteristic of somebody who's pure in heart? Number one, they abhor evil.

They abhor evil. Psalm 119:104. The psalmist said, I hate every false way.

Nothing, nothing robs vision like sin, nothing. Sin will always cloud your vision of God, always mar your vision of God, just will. So those who are pure in heart, they abhor evil.

Number two, they avoid the appearance of evil. They avoid even the appearance of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22.

Psalm 106:35 says, they were mingled among the heathen and they learned their works and served their idols. You know, so many times we just say we hate evil, but we dabble around in sinful behavior. Everyone knows that? We are not just to abhor evil, we are to abstain from the appearance of evil.

Paul talks about not even talking about the things done in darkness. It shouldn't even be mentioned among us. And then number three, the pure heart abandons all sin.

Psalm, Proverbs 30, verse number 12 says, there is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet have not been washed from their filthiness. 1 Corinthians, or 2 Corinthians 7, verse number 1, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Those who are pure in heart, not only do they abhor sin, they abstain from the appearance of evil and they abandon anything that will detract them from the true and living God.

Then number three, or number four, a person who is pure in heart really truly acknowledges his true self. He acknowledges his true self. For instance, it says in Luke 5, verse number 8, when Peter saw the Christ, he said, depart from me for I am a sinful man.

When Paul saw himself as he truly was, he said he was the least of all the saints. You'd think he'd be the best of all the saints. But Paul, because he was pure in heart, acknowledges his true self, that he was the least of all the saints.

In fact, he said in 1st Timothy 1, he was the chief of all sinners. Wow. How many of us have said that we're the chief of sinners? We try to compare ourselves among ourselves and think that we're pretty good, right? But the apostle Paul, who wrote 13 epistles of the New Testament, would say that he was the least of all the saints and yet he was the chief of all the sinners.

Yet he was used mildly by God, simply because he had a true picture of his own self. Daniel, when he got a glimpse of the living God, he said, there remains no strength in me for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption and I retain no strength. Here is Daniel, a man who would not defile himself.

But when he saw God, he realized that he was filled with corruption on the inside. Just examine the men of God in scripture and realize that they had a proper view of themselves when it came to knowing the Lord. Spiritual sight always leads to spiritual insight.

Spiritual sight will always lead to spiritual insight. In other words, when you are able to see God for who he really is, it helps you see the inner man as it really is. And like Job said, I repent in dust and ashes.

So in four minutes, what's my course? That's point number four, right? Well, number one, realize you can't do it on your own. That's number one. The Bible says in Proverbs 20, verse number 9, who can say I've cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sins? Answer, nobody, nobody.

Jeremiah 13:23, can a leopard change his spots? Nope. Acts 15:9, the heart is purified by faith. First John 1, seven, it's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin.

You want a pure heart? You can't do it yourself. God does that. It's the blood of Christ that cleanses us.

So you throw yourself at the mercy of God. You say, Lord, I'm a sinner. I need to be cleansed by you.

Cleanse me from all of my sin. And God does that. He is the cleansing agent.

Once you realize you can't do it on your own, read the word of God. Why? John 15, you have been made clean. You've been cleansed through the word which I've spoken unto you.

God's word is a cleansing agent. Why? Because God's word is his word. The inspired word comes from the incarnate word.

Bible says in Psalm 119:9, how can a young man keep his way pure? By taking heed to the word of God. The Bible says in Psalm 119:140, thy word is very pure. Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God.

The only way to maintain purity is to read the word of God, to be in the word of God. It's the best cleansing agent there is. It's God's word that cleanses you.

And so the more you're in the word, the more you're being washed with the water of the word. I mean, that's how we came into the kingdom, right? By the washing of regeneration, by the renewal of the spirit of God. It's the washing of the water of the word.

Ephesians 5:26, that brings us into the kingdom. Well, the continual reading of the word is the continual cleansing that we need every single day.

It was Thomas Watson, that great Puritan, who said this, by looking into this pure crystal, we are changed into the image of it, that is the word of God.

The word is both a glass to show us the spots of our souls and a laver to wash them all away. Isn't that true? You read the word, you see your spots. But the very same word is the cleansing agent that removes them all.

Read the word, realize you can't do it on your own. Request, request a pure heart from God. Job 14:4, who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean, Job said.

What did David say? Created me a clean heart, oh God, Psalm 51. You gotta request it from the Lord. And then, need to relinquish your flesh by relying upon the spirit of God.

Walk in the spirit so you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. How do you walk in the spirit? One step at a time. How do you walk in normal life? One step at a time.

How do you walk in the spirit? Every step you take, you rely upon the spirit of God to guide you through that situation. That's walking in the spirit, trusting God, relying upon him every single step of your life. And lastly, respond right now, immediately.

Psalm 27 says, when thou didst say, seek my face, my heart said to thee, thy face, oh Lord, I shall seek. Don't wait. Respond immediately.

If you've never been cleansed from your sin, you can be. Because Christ cleanses us from all of our sin. He died to take away your sins.

So why would you wait for that? Why would you want to sit in your sin when you can be cleansed from your sin? And having been cleansed from your sin, like all of us, there are certain things that cause us to fall back into sin. Well, our God is a faithful God. When you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

And then, truly, you see the true and living God. So let me ask you again. Have you seen the true and living God? Have your eyes been focused on the Lord? Do you see him in his word when you read the word? Do you see him in the wonders of life when you look into all that's happening around you? Do you see him in the world as his hand works and reworks all kinds of things around us? Do you see God every day? You see him in your family? You see him in your church? Do you see him refining your life? Do you see him molding and shaping you every single day? Do you see him at all? If you do not see him, you have missed the blessing of purity of heart.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for this time that we've had together.

Thank you, Lord, for how it is you work in our lives. We are so grateful to read your word and study it together. Lord, for everyone who's here tonight, work in their hearts as only you can.

I can't do it, but you can. That's what you do. That's your specialty.

You work in the hearts of men. Our prayer, Father, is there someone here who's not saved that you'd save them from their sin? Those who are saved, keep them always looking to you that they might live a life of purity before you, that they might see the true and living God every single day. We pray in your name, amen.