Daily Devotional For Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Can you believe it? It’s Wonderful Wednesday and you are almost halfway through this week. We are making our way through the most famous and best sermon ever – Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount in Matthew chapters 5, 6, &7.And specifically we are currently in The Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-12. Yesterday, we left off with some background to the Beatitude in Matthew  5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (NASB). Yesterday, we defined the words “heart” and “pure.” What a promise! So, what do we do with John 1:18a that says this, “No one has ever seen God . . .” (NLT). If no one has ever seen God, how could anyone ever be pure enough to see God? Do we have a contradiction here? Is Jesus mocking us here? The answer to both questions is “NO!” So, let’s look at how this future blessedness could be a possibility for us.

The word translated as “pure” is the Greek New Testament word [καθαρός, katharos]. According to New Testament scholar William Barclay, it originally meant:

1. “Clean” as in soiled clothes that were washed. The soil was removed from them and now they are clean.
2. It is regularly used for corn which has been winnowed or sifted and cleansed of all chaff. In the same way it is used of an army which has been purged of all discontented, cowardly, unwilling and inefficient soldiers, and which is a force composed solely of first-class fighting men
3. Was used of milk or wine which is unadulterated with water, or of metal which has in it no tinge of alloy.
4. So, then, the basic meaning of katharos is unmixed, unadulterated, unalloyed. That is why this beatitude is so demanding as a beatitude. It could be translated: “Blessed is the man whose motives are always entirely unmixed, for that man shall see God” (Source: William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series, “Matthew,” Vol. 1., p. 106).
5. “This beatitude demands from us the most exacting self-examination. Is our work done    from motives of service or from motives of pay? Is our service given from selfless motives or from motives of self-display? Is the work we do in Church done for Christ or for our own prestige? Is our Church-going an attempt to meet God or a fulfilling of an habitual and conventional respectability? Are even our prayers and our Bible readings engaged upon with the sincere desire to be in the company of God or because it gives us a pleasant feeling of superiority to do these things? Is our religion a thing in which we are conscious of nothing so much as the need of God within our hearts, or a thing in which we have comfortable thoughts of our own piety? To examine one’s own motives is a daunting and a shaming thing, for there are few things in this world that even the best of us do with completely unmixed motives” (Ibid., pp. 106-107).

Yesterday, I told you the story about a woman by the name of Anna Mae Pennica, who had been blind since birth until she was 62 years old. For the first time in 62 years she saw through a miracle surgery she had done. Can you imagine her reaction and emotions? Can you imagine what it would be like if we saw God? This would be the greatest joy and Jesus tells us how to get 20/20 vision spiritually so we can see God.

The Old Testament background to Jesus’ Beatitude is Psalm 24:3-4a, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? (4) He who has clean hands and a pure heart . . .” (NASB). What we need today is the fulfillment of the prophet Ezekiel’s words found in Ezekiel 36:25-26, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.(26) Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (NASB).

Jesus condemned the religious leaders for their “purity” which was really only external, not internal. Look at Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:25-28:

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! (26) You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. (27) “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. (28) Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness” (NLT).

This Greek New Testament word carries with it the idea of being free from every taint of evil. New Testament scholar Kent Hughes adds more to what Jesus had in mind here with the use of the word “pure”:

“We must keep this squarely in mind because it is normally supposed that “pure” as in “pure in heart” primarily refers to being pure in mind regarding matters of sensuality. It certainly includes these matters. But the idea cannot be so limited, for it goes far deeper. Here in the sixth Beatitude it means a heart that does not bring mixed motives and divided loyalties to its relationship with God. It is a heart of singleness in devotion to God—pure, unmixed devotion. James refers to this idea when he says, “Purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). That is, “Get rid of your mixed motives, your duplicity, your double-mindedness; be simple and pure in your devotion. (Cf. the commendations for an “undivided heart” in Psalm 86:11, Jeremiah 32:39, Ezekiel 11:19, 1 Corinthians 7:35.)

Negatively, we can imagine this idea from everyday life if we reflect on those people who, having been introduced to us, keep talking and smiling, while at the same time looking behind and around us at other people and things. They really are not interested in us; they only see us as objects or a means to an end. In the God-man relationship such behavior is scandalous. Positively stated then, “pure” is represented by the words focus, absorption, concentration, sincerity, and singleness.

“Blessed are the pure” is a searching statement, because focusing on God with a singleness of heart is one of the biggest challenges to twentieth-century Christians. Very few in this frenetic age are capable of the spiritual attention this Beatitude calls for” (Source: Dr. Kent Hughes, The Sermon On The Mount: The Message Of The Kingdom, p. 55).

 In the Bible, “heart” means more than just the mind; it also includes the emotions and the will. It is the totality of our ability to think, feel, and decide. So “pure in heart” means that not only our minds but our feelings and actions are to be concentrated singly on God. If our focus is merely intellectual, we are not pure in heart. New Testament scholar Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones paraphrases this Beatitude this way: “Blessed are those who are pure, not only on the surface but in the center of their being and at the source of every activity” (Source: D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Vol. 2, p. 111).

As all of us know, it is from our “heart” that all our problems come. We see this in the following verses:

• Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (NIV).
• Matthew 15:19, Jesus said, “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander” (NLT).
• Mark 7:15, 21-22, Jesus said, “It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart . . . (21) For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, (22) adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness” (NLT).

I believe we all can relate  to Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, who wrote these words: “I do not know what the heart of a bad man is like. But I do know what the heart of a good man is like. And it is terrible.” Jesus says in Matthew 5:48, ”But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (NLT). So, what are we to do? Is it possible to ever really see God as Jesus says? We have to throw ourselves on the grace and mercy of God and seek His help in a renewal of becoming a new person. The Greek New Testament word Jesus uses for “perfect” in Matthew 5:48 is [τέλειος, teleios]. It means mature, complete, and whole. 

Before we can see God as Jesus says, we have to see ourselves as God does. We are sinners. We are wretched. We are spiritually dead apart from Christ. We must be doing what all the previous Beatitudes talked about in Matthew 5:3-7 we have talked about previously. We must realize that we are “poor” in that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves or be prideful about. We are bankrupt spiritually without Jesus Christ. We must see our sin as God sees it and mourn and be broken-hearted over. 

We must see that God hates our pride and thus we humble ourselves. We must see that we must hunger and thirst for righteousness in our own lives rather than excusing, or overlooking or ignoring or rationalizing our sin. We must see that with all the mercy God has given us for our sins against Him, even though we do not deserve it, we are to share mercy to people who have sinned against us and who do not deserve it. This is the only way we will ever see God. Each Beatitude builds on the previous and you can’t receive the blessing of one without doing the previous ones.

“What this means is that it is possible to actually see God in this life—now. I think this is what blind and deaf Helen Keller meant when someone bluntly said to her, “Isn’t it terrible to be blind?” To which she responded, “Better to be blind and see with your heart, than to have two good eyes and see nothing.” Perhaps if it were possible for her to have heard of Mrs. Pennica’s miraculous operation, she would have said, “That is wonderful. But there is yet a better seeing” (Source: Dr. Kent Hughes, The Sermon On The Mount: The Message Of The Kingdom, p. 57).

Tomorrow I’ll wrap up this Beatitude on how one can see God. Until then, I pray you will be diligent to do what the previous Beatitudes state. This is a simple truth: we are only able to see what we are able to see. This is not only true physically, it is true spiritually. We cannot see God spiritually if our spiritual eyes are not ready, looking, prepared and equipped. People who work in labs for example are able to see under the microscope that which cannot be seen with the naked eye. We cannot see God if our hearts are not pure. 

Questions To Consider 

1. When we see or hear or read the word “pure,” we tend to think morally or sexually pure. This Greek New Testament word is much broader than this limited definition and assumption. It refers to a heart of singleness in devotion to God—pure, unmixed devotion. When you serve Jesus Christ, is it always for His glory — singleness of devotion – or are there times you do it for others to see? What does this tell you about seeing God and why?
2. Would you say that your motives in everything you do are pure? Why or why not?
3. Jesus consistently condemned hypocrisy — appearing to have pure motives externally but internally just the opposite. Hypocrisy keeps us from seeking God. In which ways are you hypocritical and why?
4. Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev said it well above. Why is he right and how is he right about you? Do you see yourself this way? Why or why not?
5. Yesterday I told you about Anna Mae Pennica. Do you agree with Helen Keller’s quote above and how does it relate to what Jesus is saying in Matthew 5:8?

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 John 3:2,”Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, this is definitely a Beatitude I need to focus on. My motives are not always pure. My walk with You is not always maturing and whole. Help me to see myself as You do so that I hopefully will be able to see You. I love You Jesus! In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly