TOPIC:‌"Living the Life of Purity"

                  by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap

 

TEXT:‌Matthew 5:1-12

 

‌‌"Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God" (5:8)

 

‌The section before us is known as the Sermon on the Mount and it has often been referred to as "the manifesto of God's great King" and "the spiritual charter of the Kingdom." Here Jesus the King reveals both the character and conduct of those who make up His Kingdom. He sets forth the behavior for the citizens of that Kingdom. We find here the kind of life that is expected from those of us who belong to the new community of the redeemed.

 

‌Now of the eight Beatitudes mentioned by Jesus it is the one found in verse 8 that I want to call to your attention. We read: "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God." Not many words, but those words that are mentioned are full of amazement and splendor. Though some modern-day translations have dropped the word "blessed" as we find it in the Authorized King James Version in favor of the word "happy," I am fully persuaded that "blessed" more accurately describes the character of God that must characterize each one of us.

 

‌Having said this, let us come to these words of Jesus and consider what truths there are in them for us who profess to be citizens of His Kingdom.

 

I.

 

‌Let's begin with this: There is something in these words of Jesus that is FEASIBLE. We read: "Blessed are the pure in heart" (v. 8). By the very fact Jesus made that statement means He believed that it is possible for those of us as His followers to have a pure heart.

 

‌Now Jesus accepted that possibility in light of the fact of what Jeremiah the prophet declared in the Old Testament and what He Himself proclaimed in the New Testament. Hear the words of the prophet: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it" (Jeremiah 17:9). Or consider these words of our Lord: "For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness" (Mark 7:21, 22, NLT). From all outward appearance of these descriptive by Jeremiah and Jesus of the human heart it doesn't seem possible that it can be made pure. But that view is only true if we leave Jesus Christ out of the picture

 

‌Incidentally, we do well to remind ourselves how the word "heart" is to be understood in these words of Jesus. It is more than the fleshly organ of the body. It is more than the great central system . . .