The Pure In Heart
Matthew 5:8
March 12, 1995
by J. David Hoke
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8)
Watching the debate over morality and public policy in our nation is fascinating. Most
of us who live in this country like to think of ourselves as moral individuals. None of us
likes to think of ourselves as corrupt, depraved, or evil. But I am not sure that we
really understand what true morality is and where it comes from.
Take the current controversy over the office of Surgeon General of the United States.
It was interesting and informative to watch the current candidate being grilled on Nightline.
As you recall, the last Surgeon General was dismissed by the President ostensibly because
of a certain comment she made in public. Actually, I believe it was the cumulative effect
of all of her statements combined. The point is that she was considered by many, if not
most, as being so permissive that she, in fact, promoted a permissive lifestyle. Knowing
this, Ted Kopel, the host of Nightline, pressed in on the new nominee. He
asked him if his approach to teenage pregnancy would be substantially different than the
last Surgeon General. Some people had implied that it would not be very different.
Realizing the importance of this issue, he replied that his approach would be radically
different. He stated unequivocally that he promoted abstinence as the way to prevent
teenage pregnancy.
The debate over morality in our culture has rightly underscored the importance of
behavior, as evidenced by the Nightline program. To be moral, one must act
in a moral manner. This is clear. But, morality, it seems to me, is more than simply
behavior and this is something that may be missed by our culture if we are not careful.
While we may be able to impact the behavior of individuals in our society by certain
restrictions of law, we will never be able to change the essence of a person's morality in
that way. Limiting what a person can do outwardly does not change who that person is
inwardly. Behavior flows from the inward nature of an individual. You might say that is it
a matter of the heart.
So, when Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart . . ."
He was emphasizing that what we all really need is to be right on the inside.
The Call To Heart-Purity
In the Beatitudes, Jesus is dealing with principles which impact every area of our
lives. This simple sentence, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God" becomes a powerful road map that will lead us to the promised fulfillment of
a personal encounter with God. It is a call to heart-purity. Jesus is saying that the
condition of our heart before God is of first importance. Indeed, it seems to me that our
priority as believers is to maintain a right heart attitude toward God.
We might be able to fool people by pretending to be something we are not. We might be
able to appear like we are walking with God when we are not. But God is not fooled. In 1
Samuel 16:7 we read, "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his
appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not
as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the
heart.'" It is clear that God looks past outward behavior and outward
appearance to the real issue - the condition of our hearts. We read in Proverbs 21:2, "Every
man's way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weights the hearts." Even in
the Old Testament we see that God has always been after hearts which are right toward Him.
When David prayed for his son Solomon, he said in 1 Chronicles 29:19, "and
give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Thy commandments, Thy testimonies, and Thy
statutes, and to do them all . . ." David prayed for Solomon to have "a perfect
heart."
On the other hand, it was said of King Rehoboam when he began to reign, that "he
did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord" (2 Chronicles
12:14). The heart determines our standing before God.
So what did Jesus mean when He spoke of pure in heart? What does pure
really mean? Does it mean perfect? Does it mean sinless? If it does, then we are all in
deep trouble.
The Greek word which is translated pure is katharos. If it sounds like
the word catharsis, it is because catharsis comes from this Greek word. It simply means to
make pure by cleansing. It is used in psychology and counseling to refer to a cleansing of
the mind or emotions.
This term in Greek was sometimes applied to milk or wine which is unadulterated with
water, or of metal which had been refined until all impurities were removed. So, we might
think of pure meaning unmixed, unadulterated, unalloyed.
The heart in Scripture refers to both the mind, will and emotions. It refers to
the control center of the will. The writer of Proverbs counseled, "watch over
your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life"
(Proverbs 4:23). In Matthew 15:19, Jesus said, "For out of the heart come evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders."
The heart encompasses both mind and will. The heart determines behavior.
So when Jesus speaks of the pure in heart He is talking about a heart that is of
pure motive. Our hearts should be characterized by single-mindedness and undivided
devotion.
To be pure in heart means more than avoiding outward sins, it means avoiding
double-mindedness. Double-mindedness is like a cancer of the spirit. It slowly eats away
at your spiritual life until there is no real life left. Jesus said, "No one
can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold
to one and despise the other" (Matthew 6:24). James, in his book (James 4:4),
reminds us that "friendship with the world is hostility towards God"
and then gives us the solution: "cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify
your hearts, you double-minded" (v.8).
Mixed motives make our hearts impure. Single-minded devotion is what purity of heart is
all about. William Barclay, the famous Scottish New Testament scholar, says that this
verse can be translated in the following way: "Blessed is the man whose motive is
always entirely unmixed, for that man shall see God."
When we examine ourselves in this light, what do we find? Often, we find that we fall
far short from the standard. Our motives are seldom unmixed. Many times our motives are
selfish and self-centered. Instead of single-minded devotion to God and a passionate
desire to please Him, often we are concerned only with what is in it for us.
I must confess that we preachers have contributed to this kind of thinking and
attitudes in our people. Too often we hold forth the gospel as something which people
should decide to accept because of what they will get in return. "Follow Jesus and
you will be blessed," we announce. We say you ought to serve God because it pays. We
imply that you ought to give because of what you can get in return. Some even guarantee a
hundred-fold return. What pagan Wall-Street banker would not invest in that!
Now God does bless us in many ways. And you cannot give without becoming one who
receives from God. But the motivation of our service ought to be a single-minded devotion
to God. The motivation for our giving ought to be a love for God and His work. To promote
it in any other way is to create a double-minded person.
The call of Christ is clear. We are to be unmixed in our devotion to Him. How about
you? Is your heart single in it's devotion to God?
The Process Of Heart-Purity
How can we make our hearts pure? If we find that our motives are mixed, how can
we return to a single-minded devotion to God?
The answer to those questions, to a great degree, is found in the Beattitudes
themselves. The first four lay the foundation for the second four. To put it another way,
the second four Beattitudes are the result of walking in the first four.
In order to become pure in heart, we must see our need and respond to that need.
We must walk through the progression we have seen in the first four Beattitudes. As those
who are "poor in spirit" we see our sinfulness. As those who "mourn"
we repent in godly sorrow for our sin. Our hearts are broken before God. Thus, they become
"gentle" and tender before God. Humility marks those who are thus
dealt with by God. We then come to the place where we "hunger and thirst for
righteousness" because we have seen that only the righteousness of God
satisfies. This is the foundation we must lay if we are ever to become pure in heart.
This is really the process of sanctification. It is what Jesus meant when He told us
that we were to take up our crosses daily. It is seeking God with all our heart. It is
coming to God like David and praying "create in me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). It is desiring God more
than all else.
The Result Of Heart-Purity
The reason we must become pure in heart is that only those who are shall see
God. God reserves intimate fellowship with himself to those whose hearts are unmixed
in their devotion to Him.
Heart-purity is what tunes our spiritual receivers to the frequency of God's
transmission. Radio stations are assigned frequencies on both the AM and the FM bands. If
a station is on the FM band at 98.3 and you are tuned to 98.7, there is no way you can
receive that transmission. You must be tuned in to the correct frequency of the station
you want to receive. Making your heart right before God tunes you into Him.
And when we are tuned into Him, we will enjoy the privilege of catching a glimpse of
His glory - a vision of His majesty. This is the promise to all who are pure in heart.
If we are, we will see God.
Now, I am not sure just how much this promise is fulfilled here and now. I am sure that
those who are pure in heart will one day see God in His fullness as we stand
before Him in His eternal kingdom. We shall then behold His glory and stand in His
presence forever. But I also believe that there is a partial fulfillment of this here and
now. God desires that we catch a glimpse of His glory to enable us to live today. He
desires to reveal more of His power to us. He desires to reveal more of Himself to us,
that we might understand His ways and walk in them.
God desires fellowship with us. God desires that we are enabled to see Him. And this is
the promise to us - it is the result of becoming pure in heart.
The pure in heart are a rare breed in our society today. They are even rare in
our churches today. But I believe God is calling us back to that single-minded, unmixed
devotion to Him which characterizes those upon whom He pours out His Spirit. But, in the
Kindgom, the way up is always down. We must fall on our knees in repentance before we can
look up to catch a glimpse of His glory. O God, purify our hearts that we may see Jesus!
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