Blessed are the Pure in Heart
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The Beatitudes
[Jesus] said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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Blessed are the Pure in Heart
John Bunyan was complimented by someone that he had preached well that day. Bunyan replied “The devil has already told me that as I was coming down the pulpit steps.” Humanly speaking even our holiest of servitude can have mixed motives.
Blessed are the Pure in Heart is the sixth beatitude and is perhaps the most demanding of the eight beatitudes.
It could be amplified in this way, ‘Oh the Blessedness of the person whose motives are unmixed for they shall see God.’
“Blessed are the pure in heart - for they will see God” — Matthew 5:8
Pure
Perhaps you will recall that I suggested that the beatitudes were in two blocks of four and the second block of four began with Blessed are the merciful and the next in a second block of four is blessed are the pure in heart - the 6th Beatitude.
At first reading, you would interpret that this is an expression of inward purity but if the second block of four relates to our attitude towards others then inner purity would not fit in this quartet.
In the context of the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th beatitudes, purity of heart seems to refer in some sense to our relationships. Thus, pure in heart must be about sincerity in our dealings with others, not having inner ulterior selfish or self-promoting motives. It does, of course, apply to both inner purity and purity in our dealings with others. Psalm 24:3 says ‘Teach me wisdom in my secret heart…. Create in me a clean heart’ but goes on to say that the person with clean hands and a pure heart is one who does not worship idols and does not swear deceitfully.
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? “He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully”
Hypocrisy seems to be the nemesis of the pure in heart. And yet, ‘who shall stand in his holy place?’ Quoting another Psalm, ‘if he was to mark our transgressions who could stand? (Psalm 130:1).
We are all very good at putting on a show of purity and holiness in a Christian context and then watch our idols on a Saturday or indulge to excess on the weekend just in time to keep the sabbath day holy, turning up hungover at church! I hope you see what I mean by hypocrisy.
At the time Jesus was delivering this sermon which commences with the beatitudes, those who pursued outward purity were the Pharisees. Portraying a purity of lifestyle which was visible to all. It was not an inner attitude of heart but external purity of religious ceremony, legalistic rituals and conformity to religious rubrics. The disciples on the other hand were criticised for not washing their hands before they ate and Jesus responded to those who were judgmental in this way – Mark 7:18-23 –
‘Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from outside can make him unclean what comes out of a person make him unclean. For from within, out of a person's heart comes evil thoughts sexual immorality theft murder adultery greed malice deceit lewdness, envy slander arrogance and folly. All these evils come from within and make a person unclean.’
Jesus is saying kosher food and religious performances do not make a person pure in heart. Likewise, he has zero tolerance for what could be seen as more socially acceptable attitudes today like: greed, envy, slander, arrogance, and promiscuity. Like the rest of the beatitudes this sixth beatitude, ‘pure in heart’ it's like holding a mirror before ourselves and asking are we Christlike in our lovingkindness. Are we loving our neighbours as Christ has loved us are we loving God with our whole being?
The original Greek for pure - katharos -uses an expression which in the world of metal means ‘unalloyed’ - no imperfections not mixing.
Wm Barclay rephrases the sixth as this, ‘Blessed it is the man whose motives are always entirely unmixed for he shall see God.’
Who could stand? How could we possibly be truly pure in heart - if we pursue an answer to this question we will surely Transform our relationship with God and enhance our relationship with others. To answer this question we must start with:
1 Repentance, as I have said before not a popular word today. But we can start by rejecting the instinctive sinfulness in our thoughts, words and deeds - personal impurity. We can repent of harshness towards others and judgmentalism. We can keep short accounts, as it were, with the Father for those times when we do sin and yield to temptation. If it becomes second nature for us to frequently turn away from sin and repent and renew our submission to the love of Jesus then there is less opportunity for purity to be corrupted.
2 By faith in the risen Christ trusting in his death in our place, for our sin and that through him we are adopted as children of God and gain that glorious language of ABBA father a personal everyday, every moment of every day relationship wity our heavenly Father.
3 By praying that the fruit of the spirit would be not only our yardstick but a prayer for inner change so that the fruit would flourish into maturity in Christ. Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22ff).
Returning once again to my original suggestion that this block of four beatitudes were especially about our relationships with others - how can we apply this teaching to ourselves? Is our serving others ‘unalloyed’ from selfless motives or ’alloyed’ by a selfish motive of being noticed?
Are things we do in church done for our own roadshow or to show Christ for who he is, that he may have the pre-eminence in all things?
Even in our quiet times of prayer and Bible reading, are we sincerely longing to meet with God or is it ‘alloyed’ with a putity-box that we can take off because that makes us a good Christian? To examine our motives is a very personal and a shaming thing because the truth is this - even the purest of us may have mixed motives in the pursuit of our faith and in our our relationship with the Lord and with others.
What of the promise the pure in heart ‘will see God’?
I believe it is a promise like the other seven beatitudes of the now and the not yet. We see God now with the eye of faith and the closer we walk with God through our Lord Jesus, the more we will be attuned to his presence with us and his outworking in the world in which we live.
The ‘Not Yet’ is at the end of our days or when he returns we will see his glory and worship him with the heavenly host.
In conclusion, pure in heart should not be restricted to moral purity it should be considered as part of what it means to love God with all our hearts (Deuteronomy 6:5), and our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:39).
Billy Graham said, “The character which we find in the Beatitudes is, beyond all question, nothing less than our Lord’s own character, put into words.” As you hold that mirror of the beatitudes before you, look and see, have you the distinguishing Christ-likeness in your life.
