Daily Devotional For Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Well, can you believe we are already on Terrific Tuesday? We are making our way through the greatest and most famous sermon ever – Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. And currently we are in The Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:3-12. We are making our way through them and we are now in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (NASB). This one statement by Jesus is so deep we could never exhaust explaining it because it covers and affects everything in our lives. The subject of purity and holiness can be seen from the beginning of Genesis through the end of Revelation.

When we look at the Old Testament, we see that Israel had a definition problem with purity, holiness, godliness and righteousness. By the time Jesus was born in Israel, the most influential group in Israel were the Pharisees. Over the centuries they had developed a code of over 600 additional laws (not in the Old Testament) for people to obey. The Jews in Jesus’ day knew there was no way anyone would obey all of them consistently.  These additional laws were called “The Traditions of the Elders.” Sadly, they were considered more important to obey than even the Old Testament, God’s actual revealed word. 

Jews in Jesus’ day were left with guilt, frustration, worry and anxiety over obeying and not obeying them. So, we should not be surprised that Jesus was often asked question by Jews such as we read in:

• Matthew 22:36,  “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” (NASB). 
• Or, what we read in Luke 10:25, “And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, `Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’” (NASB).
• Or what we read in Luke 18:18, “A ruler questioned Him, saying, `Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’” (NASB).

Some devout Jews in Jesus’ day genuinely were concerned about how to be pure. So, let’s look at the individual aspects of it. The Greek New Testament word Jesus uses for “heart” is [καρδία, kardia]. This is where we get our English words cardiac, cardiologist and cardiology from. The heart is used metaphorically to represent the inner person, the seat of motives and attitudes, the center of personality. But in Scripture it represents much more than emotion, feelings. It also includes the thinking process and particularly the will. Look at the following Bible verses:

• Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee” (KJV).
• Matthew 9:4, “And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, 'Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?’” (NASB).
• Mark 2:8, “Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them,`“Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?’” (NASB).
• Mark 7:21, Jesus said, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries” (NASB).
• Proverbs 4:23, “Watch over your heart with all diligence,  For from it flow the springs of life” (NASB).
• Genesis 6:5, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (NASB).
• Psalm 51:6, 10, “Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom . . . (10) Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me” (NASB).
• Psalm 73:1, “Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart!” (NASB).
• Jeremiah 17:9-10, “From the wicked who despoil me, My deadly enemies who surround me. (10)  They have closed their unfeeling hearts, With their mouths they speak proudly” (NASB).
• Matthew 15:19, Jesus said, ”For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders” (NASB).

Scripture affirms that God is always concerned about the condition of our heart. So, that is why “pure” is part of The Beatitudes. The Greek New Testament word Jesus uses here for “pure” is [καθαρός, katharos]. This is where we get our English word catharsis.” Pastor and author John MacArthur adds this more in depth explanation of this word:

“The basic meaning is to make pure by cleansing from dirt, filth, and contamination. Catharsis is a term used in psychology and counseling for a cleansing of the mind or emotions. The Greek word is related to the Latin castus, from which we get chaste. The related word chasten refers to discipline given in order to cleanse from wrong behavior.

The Greek term was often used of metals that had been refined until all impurities were removed, leaving only the pure metal. In that sense, purity means unmixed, unalloyed, unadulterated. Applied to the heart, the idea is that of pure motive—of single-mindedness, undivided devotion, spiritual integrity, and true righteousness.

Double-mindedness has always been one of the great plagues of the church. We want to serve the Lord and follow the world at the same time. But that, says Jesus, is impossible. “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” (Matt. 6:24). James puts the same truth in another way: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). He then gives the solution to the problem: “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (v. 8)” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 204).

As we have already seen in looking at The Beatitudes, a genuine redeemed Christian will have sorrow and mourn over their sin. They will be heart-broken over their sin. They will not excuse it, rationalize it or ignore it or overlook it. We see this with the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15, 21, 25, 

“ For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate . . . (21) I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good . . . (25) Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin” (NASB).

One of the proofs you are really saved is that you are motivated by purity. Read Psalm 119 for this. The deepest desire of a true Christian is purity, holiness, godliness and righteousness. This means that purity of heart is more than just sincerity. You can be sincere about wrong things as well. A good example of this is when the priests of Baal lacerated their bodies in an attempt to get their pagan god Baal to send fire down on their pagan altar. They were sincere but still wrong. Look at 1 Kings 18:28, “So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them” (NASB). Their sincerity did not get the results they wanted. 

Even good deeds that do not come from a genuinely good and pure heart are of no spiritual value. Puritan Thomas Watson said this: “Morality can drown a man as fast as vice,” and, “A vessel may sink with gold or with dung.” So, it is not about how religious we are. It is about how pure our hearts are. You can say, “I’m a very religious person and want to please God,” but if your deeds are not according to His Word and they do not reveal a real purity and they do not  matter. As in Luke 18, where the religious Pharisee went to the Temple to pray, but when he saw other “sinners” there, he praised himself for being good and nothing like them. 

“In 1982 the Los Angeles Times carried the story of Anna Mae Pennica, a sixty-two-year-old woman who had been blind from birth. At age forty-seven she married a man she met in a Braille class; and for the first fifteen years of their marriage he did the seeing for both of them until he completely lost his vision to retinitis pigmentosa. Mrs. Pennica had never seen the green of spring or the blue of a winter sky. Yet because she had grown up in a loving, supportive family, she never felt resentful about her handicap and always exuded a remarkably cheerful spirit.

Then in October 1981 Dr. Thomas Pettit of the Jules Stein Eye Institute of the University of California at Los Angeles performed surgery to remove the rare congenital cataracts from the lens of her left eye—and Mrs. Pennica saw for the first time ever! The newspaper account does not record her initial response, but it does tell us that she found that everything was “so much bigger and brighter” than she ever imagined. While she immediately recognized her husband and others she had known well, other acquaintances were taller or shorter, heavier or skinnier than she had pictured them.

Since that day Mrs. Pennica has hardly been able to wait to wake up in the morning, splash her eyes with water, put on her glasses, and enjoy the changing morning light. Her vision is almost 20/30—good enough to pass a driver’s test. Think how wonderful it must have been for Anna Mae Pennica when she looked for the first time at the faces she had only felt, or when she saw the kaleidoscope of a Pacific sunset or a tree waving its branches or a bird in flight. The gift of physical sight is wonderful. And the miracle of seeing for the first time can hardly be described” (Source: R. Kent Hughs, Preaching The Word, “The Sermon On The Mount,” p. 53; Reprinted in Chicago Sun-Times, February 17, 1982).

Questions To Consider

1. What are some American cultural traditions we have that can give the appearance we are good and pure?
2. How often do you personally focus on being “pure in heart”? Why did you give this answer and what does it say about you?
3. There is no question that our hearts can be wicked, sinful and impure. Where is this true in your own heart and how do you deal with it?
4. Are you more “friends with the world” as James says above or more friends with Jesus Christ? How is that evident?
5. Anna Mae Pennica had been blind since birth. Seeing for the first time at 62 had to be an overwhelming experience for her. There is nothing greater than seeing God, which is what this Beatitude is about. This Beatitude is about getting 20/20 vision spiritually to see God. How do you think that is possible and why?

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Corinthians 13:12,”For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, help me see where I am impure in my heart. Please help me not compare my purity to others. You are the standard, not them. Jesus, I really do want to see You. Please remove my spiritual cataracts so that I can see purely as You desire. Lord, I know I have blind spots and I do not want to make excuses for them. Please, open my eyes that I may see where and who You desire purity in my heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly