So we continue now to look at the greatest sermon that was ever preached. And that sermon is called the Sermon on the Mount. And so the message this morning in the afternoon is going to be at least based on that on that beatitude. And that's where we're turning right. We're going to eventually be turning to Psalm 51 because I think it's a wonderful example what a pure heart actually looks like, and that's what we want to look at today. Of course, Matthew 5.8 is the pure in heart which will see God. This is the sixth of the Beatitudes. We've been looking at the five other Beatitudes that precede this. The question about commentators have divided the first section of the Beatitudes into our relationship with God And then the next Beatitudes are our relationship to man. And we might think, well, what does it mean to be pure in heart? How is that related to man? But it really is because that's how we deal with other people. We deal with them in purity and honesty. And so it does apply to our relationship to others. I've titled both messages, The Goal of Godliness. It could be The Goal of Purity and such. But we're first going to see what it means. We're going to look at what it means to see God. what it means to see God. And next we're going to be looking at what it means to be pure in heart. Those are really the two key phrases of this sixth beatitude. The goal of a pure heart, of course, is indeed to see God. That's the goal of a pure heart. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord, as we read in Hebrews 12, 14. So may this message be a reminder and an encouragement to press on towards that goal, to press on. And I really want to be able to, as these messages are given, that we would really set that goal more in our mind, in our conscience, in our sight, that there is a goal. There's a reason we're here, because we're moving towards a certain goal, and that goal is to one day wake up and behold the very face of God. And we'll talk about the face of God. That's kind of an interesting thing in itself. To see this beatitude as God has intended us to, let's look again at just a brief look at, in general, the beatitudes. I'm not going to go over each one, but just in general, we want to get the context and the setting of this beatitude once again. The word beatitude, as I had said before, comes from the Latin and it literally means bless. So Jesus is pronouncing eight blessings upon his children. These pronouncements, as I was thinking about these pronouncements, it really reminded me of how royalty is introduced. How royalty is introduced. And as they attend a large gathering, Their name and title are announced for everyone to hear. Aren't they? There's great pomp and circumstance. They're given special seating. And it's an acknowledgment that they belong to a special privileged class of society. Well, that's really what's happening here in the Beatitudes. They're all about a people who've also made a royal entrance. By God's grace, they've entered into the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. They have made that entrance. They are now the blessed. They become citizens of this exclusive kingdom. The Beatitudes are not, and this is, of course, very important. I think as a Reformed Calvinist, we understand that the Beatitudes are not a list of eight ways to be blessed by God. Now it's certain that as we more and more grow to look more and more like these eight beatitudes, we are blessed. There becomes greater blessings in our life. There's greater blessings in having a heart that is becoming more pure in worshiping God and its outward manifestations. But, here's the thing, it's not a striving to become these things. We're not striving to become these things in order to win God's favor. We've already won God's favor. Who's won that favor for us? It's Christ. He's already won the favor for us. So we're not looking at it as Beatitudes and says, I really want God to love me. I really want God to be my father. If I could just perform these eight beatitudes, I will be accepted by God. Unfortunately, we've had fathers that were maybe very much like that. You know, I'm just, I don't care for you unless you really live up to my expectations and unless you're really the person that I was hoping that you would be. And so you feel like maybe you have to earn their favor. That favor has been earned by God's son himself. And so instead of these eight character traits, these are a picture of a saved and sanctified child of God. These are people who have already been saved and sanctified. They already have entered into God's kingdom. These blessings are being given to a people who are already the citizens of this kingdom. The Beatitudes as well as the rest of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus obviously, it should be obvious, is not teaching a way to be saved. He's not teaching another way of salvation apart from grace. It is grace alone through Christ alone that we're saved. Rather, he's teaching how saved people are to live their life in his kingdom. It's kingdom living. Now, as I was thinking about these, our brother read those first 12 verses of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, verses 1 through 12. It's kind of like, there's bookends there, we call it an inclusio. The first Beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. The final one, we don't hear about the Kingdom of God and those Beatitudes until we get to the final one. Blessed are those who are persecuted, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. It's kind of an inclusio. It's bookend. This is really, again, this is about citizens in the Kingdom of God. That's why we really need that context of where we are starting. And so in all, and it's very important to, I remember Doug was reminding me last week of this, and I thought I really need to, I really need to emphasize that. All eight Beatitudes are supernatural. They're supernatural in nature. None of them fit the description of the natural man. None of them do at all. It's true that we are sometimes born with certain tendencies in our life. Actually, it really prompted me to ask Jennifer a question about her little boys. I said, well, at what point did you see different character traits in Eli than you did in Adam? She said, oh, right away. Right away, immediately. And also he talked about how those traits actually change as you mold that child. And sometimes that weakness in a child ends up becoming a strength in that child. So upbringing does form that personality traits as well. But the Beatitudes have nothing to do with the physical birth that we are born into in this world. They are the sole result of a spiritual birth. It's so important to know about the Beatitudes. They are the sole result of having been born of the Spirit. That's why this does not apply to the world. It does not apply to the unregenerated man. The first Beatitude really does prove this point, because the world does not qualify in this first Beatitude. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That beatitude is the foundation upon which all the other beatitudes are laid. They're built upon that foundation. If that's not understood, the others really make no sense whatsoever. To be poor in spirit is the result of God breathing new life into a dead soul. You cannot be poor in spirit as described in scripture without having that happen to you. This does not happen to the new man. With that comes the painful awareness of our spiritual poverty before God. The world does not know of a spiritual poverty before God. You see, that's why the poor in spirit only belong to his children. It's an immediate sense. To be poor in spirit is that immediate sense of God's holiness and of our depravity. We once saw ourselves as basically good people. You know, for some, I've spent some time on the street witnessing to people. And you can't imagine how many times people told me that. I'm basically a good person. I'm basically a good person. I'm all right. I think I'm one of the good people of the world. I'm not one of the bad people. Of course, they're comparing themselves with those who are not so good, obviously. Perhaps I'm a bit flawed, you know? But I'm doing my best. I'm giving 100%, or I'm giving 10%. I'm no mathematician, but I'm not sure how 100% and 10% really works. But I'm giving everything that I have. All right. We may even thought that we were dealt a bad hand in this life. Did you ever think of that before you came to Christ? Did you think, oh man, well, the universe has not been good to me at all. I deserve better than that. Well, you hear that from the world over and over and over again. This person should be treating me better. I should have more of these things. How dare those people be rich? They should give me their money. I deserve to have their money. But now we begin to see ourselves as we really are not deserving. We are vile sinners worthy of God's righteous judgment. And I tell you as an unbeliever, I didn't think that way. And I remember I remember that. It's 16 years old when I first understood it. And I believe I was born again at that time. We don't know all these things, but boy, I sure was enlightened at that time, because I knew it was in a moment of time I realized, in short, that I was a sinner, and that God was holy. God is holy, and I'm not. It was just that immediate knowledge that was just, wow. It was something I did not have before, and it was a knowledge that I had now. God, I saw God as he intended me to see him. And so we see for the first time that we are truly, as Jonathan Edwards said, sinners in the hands of an angry God. As only believers, only those who are poor in spirit can really acknowledge that truth. We are sinners in the hands of an angry God, and we see for the first time the goodness and the holiness of God. To be poor in spirit is to have a broken and contrite heart. Knowing God in ourselves is going to silence any kind of boast that we can make that you and I are basically good people. Anybody who is truly poor in spirit knows that that is just simply not true. We become so aware of our sins, and we know that those sins are not just confined to the outward acts of doing things. We know that we become very aware of those sins that are in our hearts and in our minds, and we repent of those sins. The natural man sees the Beatitudes as a way to glorify man. He looks at the Beatitudes and he says to himself, I'm good enough to achieve these things. I just need to call on my better self. to the good person that I really am. Now this is really, this is basic 12-step program stuff. And this is really how they look at these Beatitudes. They do use this. They use these Beatitudes as kind of a pep rally. It's, you know, become that person that you really are. Bring out that inner good person that you are. That grieves me when people pervert God's Word that way, and use it in a way that God did not intend it to be used. And that's why it's so important that we read things in context, in light of the whole of Scripture, because it's not saying that you have an inner goodness about you that just needs to come to the surface. No, we need to put that old man to death. And I was really in my, I mean, in church many years ago, it was, that was really, that whole thing about self-esteem was alive and well. It was just the, it was the gospel. It was the gospel. We just need to think higher of ourselves. We just need to think better of ourselves. Boy, what scripture are you reading? Not the Bible. Boy, we fit make far too much of ourselves. We need to humble him and to have a humble and contrite spirit. But the new man sees the Beatitudes what? As a way to glorify God. We look at those Beatitudes and says this is this. We glorify God because he's given us these gifts. We glorify God because many of these reflect the very nature of God himself. He is a holy God. We know now that these eight blessings are met for that. In fact, of course, all of our life is geared toward glorifying God and worshiping him, praising him, and lifting up his name. So blessings are given to the undeserving. Character traits, we've been given character traits that we did not have before. And so I think it would be helpful to look at just, again, just a little bit of the events that were leading up to the Sermon on the Mount to help us to be in that context again. The Old Testament closes, of course, with the book of Malachi, and it reopens again with the book of Matthew. Of course, we have 400 years of silence from God, and so there's no more thus saith the Lord anymore. Israel had time after time ignored and disobeyed God's law. It was just a constant disobedience of God's law that was repeated over and over and over. And they had broken the covenant. And there were covenant breakers. And so God sent his lawyers to try the case of breaking the covenant. These lawyers called prophets. They stated their case. Here's your sins. Here's what you've done. You've broken the covenant. You've broken the law of God. They acted as God's lawyers. But time and time and again, they had to be brought into God's courtroom. And so he sent those prophets to warn of judgment to come. Warning after warning after warning. We hear in the prophet, the prophet Amos writes, in Amos 8, 11. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. What a judgment. Can you really think of a more severe judgment than that, of not having the word of God? God had given the elect nation of Israel something other than the other nations did not have. They were blessed with the very Word of God itself. And we read in Romans 3, 1 and 2, where Paul says just this, what advantage has the Jew? To begin with, to begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God, the teachings of God, the words of God. To begin with, just as starters, Man, the Word of God. I thought about that, you know. Back then, if you were a Philistine or an Egyptian or a Babylonian, your children were not raised with the Word of God. You know, the children started out with what we call the Shema, if I'm pronouncing that right. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. The Lord your God, with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. The commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates. What a picture, I mean. This was the privileged covenant child of Israel. They were raised with the oracles of God. And I think about what a privilege we have. We have that same privilege as Christians, as God's believing children. They have the oracles of God. We are able to raise our children and teaching them the oracles of God, the teachings of God, who God is, what salvation is, what a privilege that is. Of course, we know that not all of our children are saved. Perhaps they will be later on, and we pray that they are. But what an advantage. What an advantage to raise your child on the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Well, that was a blessing that Israel had. There could have not been a more severe punishment given to Israel than this, a withholding of the word of God. That was as extreme as it gets. It was far worse than a famine of bread and of water. Apart from having and hearing God's word, there is simply no salvation. We pray on Wednesday night for nations that are being greatly persecuted, nations in India and China and North Korea and so on. And their Bibles are being taken away. They're being burned. They're being destroyed. They're being trashed. I mean, Satan's busy, isn't he? Satan is hard at work. He knows where to go. He knows the power of the written word, and that's what he wants to destroy. And that's where his energy is really focused. We just can't imagine all of a sudden one day our Bibles are gone. But there is no salvation apart from the word of God. And Satan knows that as well. In Romans 10, 17, Paul says, so faith comes from hearing, in hearing through the word of Christ. No man was more hungry and thirsty than Jesus. Remember? Remember when he tells Satan at the point of death, really from starvation and thirst, he says to Satan, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. I can just imagine how fiery that he said that to Satan, and how much he meant that within the deepest part of his soul. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Is that how we feel about God's words? The word of God? Do we have that kind of feeling that I can't live without it? Is there a hunger and thirst like no other in your hearts and in my heart? I cannot live without the Word of God. Is it more precious to us than all the kingdoms of the world? It should be. In fact, I think that that really is how it must be for the child of God, that they would not trade anything for the word of God, the reconciliation of God. This is God speaking to us. It's like saying, I would rather have the kingdoms of the world rather than listen to God and hear what God has to say. Jesus was more than willing to die of hunger and thirst rather than to not have God's words. May we all know that kind of hunger and thirst in our life. I confess, I love the Word of God. I don't love it enough. And I want to love it more than I do. So between Malachi and Matthew, God no longer sends prophets into the world. It was the severest of judgments. No more thus saith the Lord. At least, not until John the Baptist arrives on the scene. When John speaks, that 400 year famine has come. to an end. The Word of God is going to be heard once again. There is a prophet. There is another. Thus saith the Lord coming. And so when John speaks that famine ends and what were what were the first words that was spoken in that family. I hope some of you remember from the last time that we I think I've probably mentioned this three or four times. I want to continue to drive that point home. What broke, what words broke that famine? John the Baptist began his public ministry with these words. They are kingdom words. They are kingdom words. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's the first and last beatitude. It's about the kingdom of God. I don't think we talk enough about the kingdom of God. Because we've all entered into it. as children of God by faith in his son. And likewise, Jesus began that same public ministry with the exact same words, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's like that bookends. It's like that inclusio. They're both speaking that same language. God wanted Israel and us to know that God's kingdom and its king had arrived. And that's what commentators They're almost all in agreement that the theme of the book of Matthew alone is the king and his kingdom. That is the predominant. I've not read a commentary where it says that wasn't the theme of the book of Matthew. The king and his kingdom have come. And so the kingdom of God has arrived. It's here. The time is at hand to enter his kingdom The time was at hand to obey the king that God had sent. We see that picture of a baby Jesus in the manger. He didn't look like a king, does he? And the world doesn't think of him that way. It's just some kind of undefinable hope. They don't even define what that hope might be. Of course, many refused to enter into God's kingdom when Jesus came. And later in Matthew 11, this very same book, Jesus bemoans that fact. He says, but to what shall I compare this generation It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates. We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang a dirge, and you did not mourn." But of course, some did believe, didn't they? In fact, when we think about that in a book of revelations, there'll be a multitude that no man can number. but it's still the minority. But some did believe in this brings us to the Sermon on the Mount. It is addressed to those who have by God's grace obeyed this command to repent and enter into his kingdom. This is what the this is who's being addressed in the sermon on the mouth. That's why we need that whole context of what this sermon is all about. They've entered God's kingdom and King Jesus is now instructing its citizens how they are to obey in the new kingdom that they've entered. This is the instructions. These instructions come in the form of some 50 commands that Jesus gives. 50 commands. That's why some people think, oh, that's too much law. That must be for the Jews. No, because actually when you look at these commands, every one of these commands in some form or another is in the rest of the New Testament writings. They're not something that's divorce and just something for the Jews alone. And so what this really does is follow the New Testament pattern. I believe our brother Trammell spoke something like that on the other week. Doctrinal truth is followed by application. Doctrinal truth is then followed by application. The doctoral teaching is this. The king and his kingdom have arrived and it's time to repent and enter into it. Applying this truth is what the Sermon on the Mount is all about. It's doctrine that's followed by application. And as I said before, the Sermon on the Mount is largely application. I mean, it teaches us a lot, but it's applying these things to the Christian life, however, to live daily as believers. So knowing this leads us to a very important truth. And this truth has been denied by some who even confess Christ as their Savior. This is the truth that the Sermon on the Mount teaches. Jesus, the Savior, cannot be separated from Jesus, the King. You can't divide Jesus in half. You can't have a savior without having a king. I think the Sermon on the Mount perhaps more than any other place really shows this idea, expresses this idea. You have been saved and by salvation you've entered into the kingdom. Now this is what is required of you as citizens of that kingdom. I think that's one of the most important points that come from the Sermon on the Mount. Living in a kingdom requires one to obey the authority of his king. I mean, that's just common everyday sense, isn't it? You know, I'm going to live in your kingdom, but I've got my own rules and laws. Don't really care for yours so much. Where do you turn to in scripture to know how to live in a way that pleases God? Where do you turn to scripture? Which ones automatically come to mind? I want to know how to please God. Well, we think of Proverbs, that probably comes to mind pretty quick. In the Old Testament, it tells us much about how we are to live and think. And it's very, of course, practical, very practical, how to store your food and save up and not be slothful. And there's many, many ways. And all these are ways that we please God. This is the ways that he wants us to live. Likewise, James has much to say about the Christian life. In fact, his letter has often been called the Proverbs of the New Testament, because it has so much practical advice. Just some of the things, as I was scanning the book of James, some of the things that he lists. Be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Be doers of the word and not hearers only. It teaches us how to care for orphans and for widows, not showing partiality. It teaches us how to bridle our tongue, and it tells us what heavenly wisdom looks like, and to not be double-minded. And that all the plans that we make in this life must include, if the Lord wills. if the Lord wills." And it teaches us to pray for one another, to pray for the sick. Very practical advice. In the last five chapters of Romans, we're given much instruction on applying those great doctrinal truths of Paul that Paul has given in those first 11 chapters of Romans. We have in those last five chapters of Romans give us instruction. We know it's that break. Therefore, by the mercies of God. And then we have those five chapters of, by the mercies of God, this is how you are to live your life, that sacrificial life before God. And we have the more general instruction in the 10 commandments themselves, and even more general instruction in the two great commandments. where he summarized the Christian life, the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. We've got to be careful when we generalize those things because the extended commands and laws Define what that means to love God and to love your neighbor because if we're just leave to our subjectional Belief on what that means, you know, we can go in lots of places that the Bible doesn't and that's what people do Well, I think I'm loving God by doing this. I think I'm loving God by by my neighbor by doing this Well, is that what the Bible says? Is that how to love your neighbors? I have a love God but the Sermon on the Mount is is the longest, most detailed teaching on what those two great commandments look like. It's the longest, most detailed teaching of the law of God, of what those commandments look like. If we want to know what Christian living looks like, and this is my belief, I believe the Sermon on the Mount is really the first place that we should turn to. I mean, he's telling those who have entered into his kingdom, how to live their Christian life. You've got three chapters on how to live the Christian life. This is why over the course of our Christian lives, we must turn to the Sermon on the Mount over and over again. We must be reminded of these truths over and over again. How often have you turned over to the Sermon on the Mount? I haven't enough, I know. Having that background, let's begin looking at this sixth, beatitude, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. The two phrases, of course, I mentioned before, is pure in heart and seeing God in this great passage. We begin with what it means to see God. Beholding the face of God is one of the great themes of scripture. And in the past it has sometimes been called the beatific vision, that moment when we first enter into glory and we see God's face for the first time. Now there's a lot of mystery there, isn't there? A lot of mystery in seeing God's face. God doesn't have a body. How do you see God's face? Jesus tells the woman at the well that God is spirit. Jesus resurrected the body was proof that a spirit cannot be felt or touched. In Luke 24 we read of the disciples encounter with the risen Lord. Jesus says, but they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet that it is I myself touch me and see for a Spirit does not have flesh and bones As you see that I have God is a spirit. He does not have flesh and bones The second chapter of our confession says just that about God and whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach." Yes, scripture often speaks of seeing God, of seeing God. When Job heard and saw God, what did he do? He repented in dust and ash, and he despised himself. Whatever seeing God is, it must at least include seeing the glory of God. Seeing the glory of God. He was overtaken by that glory. In a vision, Isaiah was, he says that he had become undone as he beheld God's glory. What was he beholding? According to John 12, he was beholding Christ, the glorified Christ, the pre-incarnate Christ, sitting on the throne. his throne, he was seeing Jesus. He was seeing Jesus himself. And so in that vision, he saw himself when he saw the glory, the holiness of God, he he thought himself to be undone coming apart at the scenes. But even then, neither Job nor Isaiah saw God in the fullness of his glory. Because no man can do that and live. No man can do that. In fact, that's what he tells Moses. You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. And yet we're going to see God's face someday. So no man without an immortal and imperishable body is going to be able to withstand looking at God's glory and God's holiness. Moses is not able to see God's face because God dwells in the light which no man can approach. We see that in 1st Timothy. As our confession states, in fact that's exactly what it says in 1st Timothy 6.16. Who alone, God who alone has immortality who dwells in inapproachable light whom no one has ever seen or can see. The framers of the confession, they didn't just come up with these things that God is unapproachable, is unapproachable light and can't be seen. I always so appreciate the careful wording that goes into the confession, the Westminster confession and the Baptist confession of faith. Job and Isaiah caught a glimpse of God's glory, but to be fully exposed to his glory would no doubt mean absolute sudden death. We think of those people in Israel who could not even approach the mountain. They feared and they quaked. Even Moses feared and quaked himself. Not until we receive those glorified imperishable bodies will be fully able to gaze into the beauty of the Lord. Do you have that longing? Is there that sense that I want to someday look into the face of God? Yet the goal of seeking God's face, faith in the Old Testament, it really is promise. We hear that all the time in the Old Testament about seeking God's face, appearing before God. Please turn with me to Psalm 24. I want to look at that, at least read that with you. If not, you can just read that along with me. Listen along with me. We just want to look at Psalm 24, verses 3 through 6. And as I thought about this, wow, this is so much like that sixth beatitude. The pure in heart shall see God. Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hearts and a clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully, he will receive blessings from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob, Selah. The pure heart seeing God, it's like a reflection of that sixth beatitude. The pure heart shall see God. And again, Psalm 42, 2, David says, my soul thirsts for a God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? David is longing for that time that he is going to one day appear before God. He is longing for that time. So in the Old Testament, we see a longing to appear before God. Many other passages we could turn to. The Old Testament saints have this intense desire for a greater manifestation of God. They wanted to know more and more of God. And we think about that in 2 Peter 3, 18, growing the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There is that hunger and desire to do so. And in the New Testament, of course, our brother, Sean, read this, 1 John 3, 2 and 3, Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because We shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in himself purifies himself as he is pure. You know, we seek after purity. Why? Because God is pure. We want to be pure because God is pure. Our Father is pure. We want to be a chip off the old block. And we are, but we want to be more like that. We shall see him as he is. John gives us four important truths in that passage. First, we're God's children. We're God's children. And then, we shall be like God in the way that we are now. Boy, that excites me. I'm going to be something different than I am now. I'm going to reflect God in a way that I can only imagine that I reflect him now. We shall see him as he is. That's exciting. Wow, that's that beautific vision thing. Wow, there you are. Of course, we're never going to completely fathom God. We're still going to be creatures and God's eternal, but there's going to be some kind of a transformation that's going to, we're going to see a whole lot more than we do now. And knowing these things motivates us to greater purity. knowing these things. That's why we have to have that goal set before us of one day seeing God's face and appearing before him. It's like John is transporting us into the heavenly realm. He takes us from the seen to the unseen in that passage, from earthly thoughts to heavenly thoughts. And he peaks our longing to see him as he is. And as the New Testament comes to a close, John again draws us to this same hope. Revelation 22, 4, they will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. That's one of the last things that the revelation of the Bible itself gives is that His children are going to see His face. Like the Old Testament saints, do we long for a greater manifestation of God's glory? Can we identify with Moses when he cries out to God, show me your glory? Is that what we want? We cry out for that. Show me your glory. I want to know who you are, God. I want to know who you are. Having and setting goals are powerful, powerful motivators in our life. And without them, a person just simply wanders aimlessly in their life. And I was thinking about these things. I was thinking about setting goals and reaching them. I thought about our brother Kevin came to mind as I thought about goals. I know months ago he expressed that desire to serve God as a pastor. He surely sat down and carefully counted the cost, probably more than once, probably many times he sat down and counted the cost of doing this. There was much to consider, family, church, job, seminary. All this with a clock that could produce no more than 24 hours. How we long sometimes that there was just a couple more hours in the day. But no doubt, he mapped out each step it would take to reach that goal. And our future pastor, Ben Haberger, certainly had to carve out a very similar path. And he had to sit down, he had to count the cost and such. With a goal firmly fixed in mind, the motivation to overcome obstacles is high. When we have set that goal before us, the motivation to endure the difficulties, the struggles that come is very high. Without that goal set firmly before us, when those storms come, we're not going to have those reasons why we want to endure. And I saw from personal experience what a powerful motivator a goal can be. I've said this before, at the age of 53, I had five years left before I retired, at the age of 58. Driving bus in Seattle for 30 years. I'd driven for 25 years at that point. I could retire in five years only if I worked a lot of overtime, and this would raise my pension, and this would give me the extra money that I needed. I weighed out the pros and cons. I knew this was going to be hard. I was going to not enjoy things like sleep and other things today. There was going to be a sacrifice, but I weighed up those pearls and corn. There was the hardship and sacrifice that this would cost, but the outcome would be freedom to perhaps serve God in other ways. I praise God. I think even speaking here in the prison and stuff, I think, wow, that's kind of the fruit God putting that in my heart to retire at that point and to work that over time. There's a great truth or a great idiom that says, he who aims at nothing is sure to hit it. He who aims at nothing is sure to hit it. If you're not aiming at anything, you can shoot arrows all day long. And you're going to hit it every time. You're going to hit nothing every time. Moose Carroll's Alice in Wonderland really captures that idea very well. Any of the kids ever read Alice in Wonderland? It goes like this. One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take, she asked. Where do you want to go, was his response. Now, I don't know. Alice answered. Then said the cat, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter which road you take because they're not going anywhere. Is the goal of one day seeing God's face set before you and I? Is that goal set before you and I? Because if it is, we can overcome all obstacles. There's nothing that's going to be able to get in our way. Is that our aim? Are we longing to someday appear before God? Are we excited and thrilled about one day seeing God as he really is? Is that in our daily thoughts? Do we yearn to see God's glory, or have temporary goals taken center stage in our life? And that really is the problem. Those other goals, those temporary goals taking center stage, Well, what is the antidote? Continually setting God's face before us is the antidote to that. To making sure that those temporary goals, which are often very good, we're putting them in their proper place. Picturing that day puts everything else in its proper perspective. And I must admit, after, along with the anticipation of seeing God's face, there's some fear and trembling as well. I think most of us have to admit that. There's that, I'm going to appear before the God of the universe. I'm going to appear before the God who knows everything I've ever done or said or felt. So there is some. God is indeed a consuming fire, as Paul tells us. And Paul tells us, excuse me, that Paul tells us we're going to have to give an account to God of what we have done in this life and what we have not done in this life. I don't know how that does not bring up at least some bit of fear and trembling. We immediately think about, I don't know about you, when I read that, I immediately think about, oh, man, I've got a past. I've got a past. So we think about those things, but we tamper that with other passages. We tamper that. Zephaniah 3.17 says, the Lord your God is in the midst, your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exult over you with loud singing. What a picture. That's a nice picture of that last day, isn't it, of facing God, exulting over us, singing to us. I don't know what that'll look like. Malachi 3.16-18 says, A book of remembrance was written before him. And those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name, they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts. in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him, then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve God. I find comfort in passages like that. I ask myself, am I serving God? Yes. I'm not one of those who are not serving God. I'm the one who is serving God. That should bring a sense of, I long to appear before God because I'm one of those who are serving God. And every child of God can say that, exactly the same thing. Are you serving God? Then you will one day stand before him as his treasured possession. Fear and trembling aside, Peter tells us what's in store for those who belong to God. 1 Peter 1.13, therefore preparing your minds for action and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Appearing before God will be a time of great rejoicing. I just think the Bible says that over and over again. A time when temporary suffering and hardship turns to eternal joy. Christ will usher in the fullness of grace that he earned for his people. We now turn to the first, I think we'll have time, I'll have to cut off at some point. We turn now to the first phrase of our text, Blessed are the pure in heart. We begin now. begin now and finish, we're going to finish this in the second service, so it's kind of going to be a two-part message on this same idea, the marks of a pure heart. What does it mean to have a pure heart? One commentator says, pure at heart is to be free from falsehood, insincerity, pretense, ulterior motives, and spin. Why spin? Well, that's a modern day word, isn't it? We hear the word spin, the spin doctors, you know. Whatever news channel you turn to nowadays, it's what's the spin? How are they going to spin the latest events? Jesus is not pronouncing a blessing on those who have hearts that are unmixed with sin. unmixed with sin. But it is a heart that's been so changed by God that it can be described as a pure heart. As a pure heart. And it's a heart that hungers and thirsts after righteousness. David gives us an excellent picture of what a pure heart looks like. He says in Psalm 1 verses 1 and 2, I believe we read that, did we read that one earlier? I think so. Blessed is the man, we're going to read that in the second one, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seats of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law He meditates day and night. Again, that hymn that we sang talks about the law of God. And delighting in God's law was the tone and tenor of David's life. That purity was the general pattern, but not the perfect pattern of his life. And that's true about us. It's true. It's not a perfect pattern, but it is a pattern of our life. Though he was a man after God's heart, his heart was not so pure as to abstain from adultery and murder." I remember seeing somebody, a horrible killer and murderer, and I remember one person saying, that's just something God could never forgive, never forgive. That person just simply did not understand the grace of God, nor did he understand his his own sins. But the pure in heart cannot continue in sin. That's very important, the scripture says. We cannot and we will not continue in sin. And John tells us why in 1 John 3 and 9. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning for God's seed abides in him and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. It's an impossibility to live in unrepentant sin the rest of your life. to have that to be the pattern of your life. It's an impossibility because God's seed remains inside of you. Now, that doesn't mean you can't hold on to it for a long time. And David did. He held on to sin for quite a while. We see that in Psalm 51. And we can turn that now because we're really going to spend probably the share of our, the remainder of our time in that psalm. We see that in Psalm 51 where David confesses and repents of his sin. And do turn with me and we're going to read that great psalm of repentance. In this message in the afternoon, we'll be focusing on this psalm. And so I want to read this entire psalm. It's just, I think just 14, well it's longer than that. 18 verses, 19 verses. Well, let's read it. Psalm 51 verses 1 through 19. Oh, there it is. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to the abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth and the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressions your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, for I would give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure. Build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings, in whole burnt offerings. Then bull offerings will be offered on your altar. I'm going to stop there. And I just want to close this with a few words. And we'll pick that up again in the second messages. Are you the pure in heart that long to see God's face? And of course, we know that everyone's going to stand before God. Everyone's going to see God's face at some point. But for some, it will not be a smiling face. That's the problem. They will be face to face with God's wrath. God is not pleased. And Revelation gives us a horrific picture of what that looks like. I just The most frightening picture, I think. Revelation 6, 15 and 16. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones in general and the rich and the powerful and everyone slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks and the mountains, calling to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. God's face is going to look very good to us, but it's not going to look very good to the unbeliever. It reminds you that passage really reminds you of that expression that you can run, but you cannot hide. There's a futile scrambling about to try to hide from God's face. Well, if that's your picture, now's the time to change that picture. How's the time to change that picture? So which road are you on right now? It really matters. Alice didn't think it really mattered. It really, it really does. But in fact, everyone is faced with a fork in the road. Everyone is facing, I hear the gospel, they're faced with that, that fork in the road. One road leads to eternal death and the other to eternal life. And when we preach the gospel, it's both death and life are presented, because that's the full gospel. We read that earlier, for the wages of sin is death. That's the bad news. But the free gift of God is eternal life. In Christ Jesus, our Lord. Those are the two roads, really. Which part of the verse is going to be your story? Which road is going to be your story? Which part of that Romans 6.23 is going to apply to you? If you're on the road to eternal death, it's time to change roads. It's time to change roads. Jesus said, The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. He pleaded for lost souls. He cried out to the crowds to come to Him that they would find rest. their soul. He claimed to be the only one that quenched spiritual thirst and that he was the bread of life that the Father had sent down from heaven to give his life as he ransomed for many. You'll probably receive those many Christmas gifts and some you will receive with great with great delight at least for a while. and other gifts you'll try to put on a good face. Oh, that's just what I wanted. That's just what I want to hide. And that's always true. But ultimately, all these gifts are going to disappoint. The new and the shining will soon become the old and the tarnished. The excitement of new things, you know how short-lived that is. Even buying a new car, it's really short-lived. They become the stuff of yard sales and donations at some point. Jesus promises to be the one gift that never does disappoint. The value of this gift never decreases over time, nor is it possible for this gift to increase in value. It's as valuable as it could ever be, Jesus is. What continues to increase is the knowledge of just how great the gift of Christ is. That's what does increase, simply our knowledge. It will always be increasing. We will never completely fathom the value of God's Son, but if this is not your story, It's time. What is it time for? It's time to taste and see. The Lord is good. That's what time it is. It's a time, it's a taste that's going to leave no regrets. It's a taste that comes from a heart that's been made pure by God Himself through faith in His Son. A taste that leads to one day beholding the face of God. Again, taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen. Let's pray. Dearly Father, I know that most of us here have tasted the goodness of you, Lord, and we want more. We want to experience you. We want to know you. We want to grow into greater degrees of the knowledge of your greatness, your holiness, your goodness, Lord. You are the infatigable God, the incomprehensible God that's We will never grow tired. We'll never come to the end of you and say, well, that's I know everything there is to know about God. We thank you for that. We thank you that you are a God that is so above us and so greater than that. And yet, at the same time, you have condescended to send your son into the world to die for people who who hate you, Lord, who want nothing to do with you. You didn't come into a world full of friends. You came into a world full of enemies, and we thank you that you are willing to endure those things on behalf of your people. We thank you for these things, and we ask now that you would bless this time as we fellowship with one another, as we remember how good that you really are. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.