Page Two: “Blessed Are The Pure In Heart” - 07/29/2012
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And here is how it’s translated in the NT: “pure,” or “clean.” For example, when Jesus’ body was wrapped and place in the tomb after the resurrection, it was wrapped in a “clean” cloth. Matthew 27:59 says “And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a kaqaros clean linen cloth,…”
So, whatever you or I think of this term “pure,” it’s closely related to the idea of “clean.” But it’s larger than just “clean.” It also includes the idea of “having been cleansed.” As you know, the only truly “clean” Person is God. And He has never had a need to be “cleansed.” That, folks, is not true of you and me. By nature, our hearts are impure. And the impurity we all know is sin. So we are naturally unclean. Yet, because of the work of Christ in cleansing us from sin, we now stand before God purified; cleansed. It must be that God’s priority for us is that we experience His cleansing power. That’s why Jesus says “the pure [clean] in heart.” Imagine, for just a moment that the Father is looking in on your heart today. Does He or does He not see you through Someone else’s purity; the purity of Jesus? That purity is so brilliant, so genuine, so real, so powerful that it removes all defilement and replaces it with a moral purity that no outward religious work or position could ever bestow upon you. First, then, pure means clean and cleansed. Second, pure is a matter for the heart. Every time you see the word “blessed” in your Bible, would you see it for what it is; a reference to God’s work upon your heart? |
The great Bible Commentator Albert Barnes says this about “pure.” This purity is for those “who seek not only to have the external actions correct, but who desire to be holy in heart, and who are so. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.” [Found on www.bible.cc].
You know that the heart is what the LORD is continually aiming at. So often among the religious of this world, there is no real interest in what happens in the heart when it comes to God and His cleansing. Far too many think that the outward religious behavior is enough. It’s like saying “I go to Church. I read my Bible. I sing hymns. I pray.” But folks, if it’s not a heart relationship, it’s not a real relationship with God; it’s not what Jesus calls blessedness. God is out to change your heart. I can change your mind. Your spouse can change your mind. But Who is it that truly has the ability to change your heart? God and God alone. And inside the heart resides what we know as the conscience; that moral director and convictor. Now, can you imagine what it must be like to have a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience? Is that even possible? Yes it is. Here’s what your Bible says about this kind of heart. Hebrews 10:22 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, …” “Sprinkled.” Isn’t that an interesting way to put it? And, note this carefully. The only thing that can ever sprinkle your hearts so that your conscience is cleansed is the blood of Jesus. Here’s how the Apostle Peter puts it. I Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” |