Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
We all understand the importance of something being pure especially when it is related to the water we drink. Many years ago, before we changed the water pipes in the house where we live, impure water was an issue. After being away for any longer than a day we learned that we needed to run the water in all the faucets to flush out all the rust that had gathered in the pipes until the water came our clear. The longer we stayed away the more rust there was to flush out.
It is important to note that just running the water did not solve the problem, nor installing a water filter on the kitchen faucet. The only way to resolve the rusty water problem was to change the plumbing.
In our situation we experienced the blessing of pure water coming out of our pipes when we removed the cause, rusty pipes. Once we removed them, we were able to say, the blessed are those who do not have rust in their pipes for they will see clear water.
Jesus in His sixth beatitude makes a very important point that relates to everyone who knows Jesus as Savior and Lord of their life. Simply, it is those with a pure heart who see God. But seeing God can have many different aspects. Personally, or in my life, in others and in the world around us.
From the definition of “Blessed” which we have been using with the previous five beatitudes, makes it clearer to understand and gives emphasis to the first part of what Jesus is telling us in this beatitude. Wuest in his expanded translation says it this way. “Spiritually prosperous are those who are pure in the sphere of the heart…”
A pure heart is the central point to what Jesus is teaching us. But what does it mean to have a pure heart? On the other hand, what is it that makes our hearts impure?
The definition of “pure” is simply, free of any contamination. Some synonyms are; clean, unpolluted, untainted, unadulterated. However, when we study how the word “pure” as it is used in the Bible, we come to a better understanding to what Jesus is teaching us and its application to our lives.
1 John 1:7-2:2, 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 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. 2:1 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.
“Sin pollutes and defiles,
but the blood of Jesus washes the stains away.”
Every believer in Christ knows they have sinned and have asked God to forgive us of our sin. We know how sin separates us from God and how it is detrimental and damaging to our relationship with Him. To be pure, we know that first our sin must be forgiven, but then we also need to be cleansed or washed as 1 John 1:9 tells us.
King David understood this when he wrote Psalm 51 after committing the sin of adultry with Bathsheba and ordering the murder of her husband Uriah. Just looking at the first ten verses we see David knew he first needed to acknowledge his sin before God. Notice how many times David acknowledges his sin before God, which are the shaded words. Seven times David uses the word “my”, referring to his sin that he is owning up to or taking responsibility for. But also accompanying his acknowledgment of his sin, David four times asks God to wash or cleanse him, which is underlined. Then finally in verse 10 David asks God to create in him “a pure heart”.
Psalms 51:1-4, 7-10, 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
To have a pure heart, we first must be forgiven and cleansed from sin as we read in 1 John 1:9. Then with a pure heart we will be able to see and or experience God in our lives.
The writer of Hebrews also tells us the importance of both, the cleansing from sin and also the blessed results. Hebrews 9:14, How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
When Jesus tells us that the blessed results of a pure heart is that we “will see God.” what does that mean? Does seeing God only imply the good or can it also be the bad, what the enemy is being allowed to do? Romans 8:28, answers this question very clearly. When we see God, we will recognize Him in a situation whether good or bad, we know He is with us and working His purpose in our lives. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Paul also made this clear writing to the believers of the church in Thessalonica. We can not give thanks to God “in all circumstances” if we do not see Him with us in the many different circumstances we confront, good or bad. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Seeing God can also mean to know Him better relationally, and also it can mean seeing those things God gives us as His children or saints. This was the apostle Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian believers in Christ. Ephesians 1:17-19, 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Seeing God is knowing or discerning what He is doing in our lives and in the lives of others and even in the world around us.
Philippians 1:9-11, 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.
Pastor John
