It is surely the desire of every professing Christian to see God, both in this life and in the life to come. And here in the final one of the Beatitudes, it will be studying the Lord Jesus Christ gives the only way that that is possible. He says in Matthew chapter five, and reading verse eight, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. We might think that this is absolutely impossible for any of us. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. We might put it another way. If you are not pure in heart, then you will not see God. Is there any one of us here tonight that can say, yes, I am pure in heart. My heart is pure. My words are pure. My thoughts are pure. My actions are pure. No, there's not. And so when Jesus gives us this beatitude, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. We need to examine this to see exactly what he is talking about. And we're going to see three straightforward things this evening. First of all, the need to be pure in heart. The need to be pure in heart. Here there are five things, five reasons why we need to be pure in heart. First of all, because God is a holy and pure being who will have his servants to be holy. We read in 1 Peter 1 and verse 16 that God says, be holy for I am holy, says the Lord. Now, what is holiness? Well, holiness very simply is separation, to be separate from sin and to be separated to God. It's, if you like, a dual separation. Something that we are separated from, and something we are separated to. Separate from sin, and separated to God. Set apart for God. In the Old Testament, the Levites and the priests, they were set apart for God. The very garments they wore were set apart for God. They had written on their garments, holiness to the Lord. The vessels that were used in the tabernacle and the temple were holy to the Lord. They were separated for God's service. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And God requires of us if we are to see him, that we should be holy as well. And of course the question comes, doesn't it? Concerning ourselves. Are we, are you truly separate from sin? Do you hate sin? Not just the external sins, not just the things that draw attention of people outside, but the heart sins, the pride, the arrogance, the secret lusts. These secret sins, do we hate them with a vengeance? Are we truly separated to God? Is the whole the whole purpose of our life to please God in your family, in your individual life, in your working life. What is the chief goal that you have in your minds to please God or to get on and earn a decent living? Now the two are not mutually exclusive by any means, but We should have in our minds this desire that we are separated to God. We are God's possession. We have been purchased with the blood of his son. We belong to him, body, mind, and soul. We belong as Christians to him. We are to be separated to him. So that's the first need for this purity of heart. The second reason why we need to be pure in heart is because of the natural corruption of our own hearts, because of the natural corruption of our own lives. Turn with me to Romans chapter three, Paul's letter to the church in Rome, chapter three. He asked the question to the Jews, what then are we better than they, the Gentiles? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks, Gentiles, that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have all altogether become unprofitable. There is none who does good. No, not one. Now that would seem to rule out everybody, wouldn't it? There is no one who does good. Jews, Gentiles. And if you're not a Jew, then you're a Gentile. Because a Gentile is everyone who's not a Jew. So that really takes in everybody. Now remember, when the Apostle Paul wrote these things, There were Pharisees in his knowledge. Pharisees in many ways have a bad press, don't they? We think of them as being altogether evil. Now it's true that they practiced hypocrisy, it's true that they would not submit to the Lord Jesus Christ, but outwardly the Pharisee was a very zealous, very religious, very particular person. They prayed constantly, they gave alms, they did good works, and they appeared to serve God. Paul says here, there is none righteous, not the chief priests, not the Pharisees, not the scribes, not the most religious people on earth, no, not one. And what he said to them is equal applicable to ourselves. And he says in verse 23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And in Jeremiah chapter 17, we read that very familiar verse. Jeremiah chapter 17. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? And the Psalm 51 tells us that we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Before we are conscious of good or evil, before we are conscious of thinking anything or saying anything or doing anything, we are sinners in the sight of God. Our hearts are corrupt, deceitful and wicked. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. You see, there's a need for purity of heart because our hearts are so corrupt. But thirdly, under this need to be pure in heart, because God is holy, because of the corruption of the human heart, but also because purity is the goal of election. Purity is the goal of election. Ephesians chapter one and verse four. Ephesians chapter one and verse four. Just as he, God, chose us in him, Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself. God set His love upon a people in eternity. God chose out His elect. He chose them not just for salvation, but He chose them to be holy. And we can have no comfort at all in election unless there are evidences of holiness. Unless there are evidences of being pure in heart in our own daily lives. Because that is why God chose his people. He chose them to pluck them out of the rottenness and filthiness of this world and to make them holy. Be holy, says God, for I am holy. God is holy and pure. Our hearts are corrupt. Purity is the goal of election. But then, fourthly, we need to be pure in heart because outward purity is insufficient. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew chapter 23 at verse 25. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. The word hypocrite literally means an actor. An actor. Actors in Greek theatre did not wear costumes the way actors on the stage do today. Rather they had masks and they would put masks over their face. So, if you had a happy part, then you had a happy mask. If you had a sad party, then you had a sad mask. There were different masks to display the different feelings. And the actor was called, in Greek, a hypocrite, because he was acting a part. A hypocrite is the exact opposite of being pure in heart. The hypocrite puts on a show. Outward purity is insufficient. Outward righteousness, outward religiosity is not enough. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Not blessed are those who attend worship Not blessed are those who make every opportunity to be in church when there's a service on. Now those things are good, but blessed are the pure in heart, not those who are simply pure in outward action. But then fifthly, under the need to be pure in heart, we need to be pure in heart Because if the heart is pure, then everything else will be pure. Matthew chapter 15 and verses 18 and 19. The gospel of Matthew chapter 15 and verses 18 and 19. Then Peter answered and said to him, explain this parable to us. So Jesus said, Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulterers, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man. If the heart is pure, as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. Cleanse the heart And then the thoughts, the words, the actions will also be pure. There is a need for heart purity. Blessed are the pure in heart, and we need to be pure in heart because of the holiness of God, because of the corruption of our own hearts. Because if we claim to be the elect of God, that is the goal of our election. We need purity of heart because outward purity is totally insufficient to please God. Because if the heart is pure, then everything else will be pure. That's the need to be pure in heart. The second thing that we see in this verse, is the nature of heart purity. The nature of heart purity. Again, there are five things. First of all, a sincere heart. Serving God from the heart, an undivided heart, and a submissive heart. Look at the Gospel according to Luke and the 16th chapter. The Gospel according to Luke, chapter 16, and verse 13. No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot. serve God and mammon. You cannot serve two masters at the one time. If we are to have heart purity, then we need to serve God from the heart. We need to have undivided loyalties. We need to have a submissive heart and will to the mind and the will of God. a sincere heart. The word sincere doesn't really come over as well in English as it does in some other languages. The word sincere literally means without wax. It comes out perhaps better in a language like Spanish. where the two words that would make up sincere would be sincera, which means without wax. And it comes, it comes from the idea of pottery. And pottery that was cracked was sometimes stuck together with wax. because it was sometimes then glazed or painted, the crack could not be seen. But if you held up the pot and you tapped it, it didn't have a ringing sound. That a pot that was sincera, that was without wax, It rang because there were no cracks in it. It was whole, it was pure, it was complete. And that's what the scripture means when it says we are to have a sincere heart, a heart that is not cracked, a heart that is not divided, a heart that does not focus attention upon one thing, rather upon two things. Loyalty to God. You know, career, family, money, whatever. And that is divided between God and whatever. The money, society, riches, whatever. A sincere heart. What is it that God requires of his people? To love God. with heart and soul and mind and strength. To love God with heart, soul, mind and strength. A wholehearted commitment, serving God from the heart. And if we serve God from the heart, then we will have a submissive attitude to God. We will be submissive to his word. We will want to hear what he says to us. And we will want to put it into practice. I don't know about you, but how often have I read the Scriptures? How often have I heard a message from the Scripture? And I've been challenged by it. And have said at that moment, I must sort this out in my own life. and then something else has happened. I've had something else to do or I've gone somewhere else and it's gone from the mind. And so perhaps, perhaps the commitment that I made to God at that moment goes unfulfilled. If we have a sincere heart, serving God from the heart, we will be submissive to his word and to his will. Secondly, under the nature of heart purity, it will be a heart that longs for purity, a heart that longs to be pure. 1 Peter 1 and verse 13. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, Be sober and rest your hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not conforming yourself to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, so you also be holy in all your conduct, and so on. Gird up the loins of your mind. That speaks of action. And the picture that's given here is of the athlete, or of the worker, when they wore these long flowing robes. If they were going to run or do any kind of exercise or any kind of work, then they would have gathered up the skirts of this long robe and tucked it into the belt, so their legs were free. so their legs would not become tangled up as they were exercising, running or working. And that's what Peter says, gird up the loins of your mind, a heart that longs for purity. Let me ask you the question, do you have a heart that longs for purity? Or are you happy simply to go along at the level that you are at the moment, avoiding, perhaps, external evil, just to go along? Or do you long to be more holy? Do you long to be more like Christ? Be ye holy, for I am holy, says the Lord. a heart that hates sin. Turn with me to that longest psalm in our psalm book, Psalm 119. Psalm 119 and verse 104. Verse 103, first of all. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts I get understanding. Therefore, I hate every false way. There are many other verses that we could look at. But the idea simply is this. To be pure in heart means that it's a heart that hates sin. To hate even the garments spotted by unrighteousness. to hate every form of evil. Is that true of us? Is it true of you? Is it true of me? Do we truly hate sin? And we should, you know, because every sin, no matter how small, was a part of that agony of Jesus on the cross. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Not just the murders, not just the adulteries and the fornication and the lying and the stealing, no. No, but those secret sins, those things that we hardly count to be sins at all, our selfishness, our pride, our gossip, All those things were a part of that agonizing cry of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary when He suffered the whole wrath of God upon sin. Should we not hate sin when we see what sin did to our blessed Saviour? Fourthly, a heart that is zealous for God A heart that is zealous for God. I mentioned before God's requirement to love God with heart and soul and mind and strength. How much strength do we exercise in seeking to love God? How much effort do we put in to loving and serving God? Are we zealous for God? Zealous to see his kingdom grow? Zealous to see men and women brought into the kingdom of God? Zealous to see our land reformed and brought under the dominion of Christ? In this church we stand under a banner for Christ's crown and covenant. Are we zealous for Christ's crown? Are we zealous to see Christ being exalted and reigning over this land of Scotland? A heart that is zealous for God. And fifthly, under the nature of heart purity, a heart purity that leads to a pure life. We've already seen that. If the heart is pure, then everything else will be pure. We cannot profess to have a pure heart if we do not have a pure life. If our life does not demonstrate the purity of our heart, then it is false. Do we have pure thoughts? I sometimes wonder what it would be like if somehow miraculously projected onto the wall here we could see the thoughts that go through our minds. If somehow even as we worship God, if somehow those thoughts could be projected onto the wall, would we not be ashamed? Would we not be ashamed that even As we worship a holy God, our thoughts are not what they should be, how much less in our everyday living. A heart purity must lead to a pure life. Thirdly, we've seen the need for a pure heart, we've seen the nature of heart purity, and thirdly, the nurture of heart purity. Purity of heart does not come automatically to the believer. It's not something that we can, we can simply sit back and let happen. Heart purity is something that needs to be worked at. The new heart that is given to the believer at the new birth is to be nurtured. It is to be fed. It is to be cultivated. And there are four ways in which we cultivate heart purity. A constant searching of the pure word of God. The word of God is pure. We have the purest words that ever came into the hands of man. In this book, because these are the words of the pure and holy God. When we read the scriptures, it is as though God himself was standing before us and speaking those words. These words are the breathing out of God. And so they are pure words. Psalm 119, again, Psalm 119 and verse 140. Your word is very pure, therefore your servant loves it. Your word is very pure, therefore your servant loves it. Do you love the word? Do you love the words of God? John chapter 17, the Gospel according to John. And chapter 17 and verse 17, Jesus says, speaking of his disciples, they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. There is so much There are so many lies that are prevalent in our society. There are so many false things, so much false teaching. What a relief it is to turn to that which is true and pure and holy and without error and without sin. This is the infallible and inerrant Word of God. No matter what other people say, let every man be a liar, God alone is true. And there must be a constant searching of the pure Word of God. The second way to nurture heart purity is for a constant search for cleansing from sin. A constant search for cleansing from sin. We sin daily. We sin constantly. We must constantly seek the cleansing that comes from God. Turn to the prophecy of Zechariah, chapter 13. I'm sorry, that's the wrong reference. Let's check that, sorry. But we must constantly seek cleansing from sin. We sin daily, we need daily cleansing. Thirdly, there must be a constant desire for greater faith. Turn to Luke chapter 17. The gospel according to Luke, and chapter 17. We're looking at verse 5. And the apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith, increase our faith. Now have a look at that. The apostles said, increase our faith. Peter, James and John. Those who had been with Jesus constantly. Those who had seen him raise the sick. Those who had been with him as he rebuked the wind and the waves. Those who had seen great miracles at his hand. Lord, increase our faith. If they needed to plead with the Lord Jesus Christ for Him to increase their faith, how much more do we? How much more do we? We live by faith and not by sight. We have not seen the wonderful things that they saw. They were sitting at the feet of Jesus, hearing the most wonderful and beautiful words that ever spoken by the lips of man. And they said, Lord, increase our faith. How much more do we need to pray that God would increase our faith, that we might trust him more, that we might trust him more perfectly, more fully, more completely. A constant searching of the pure word of God. A constant search for cleansing from sin. A constant desire for greater faith. And then fourthly and lastly, a constant prayer for purity of heart. You remember David. David the king to whom God had given everything, how David so grievously sinned with Bathsheba, how he took this man's wife, how he then caused her husband to be put in the front of the battle so that he would be killed, and how David was rebuked by the prophet that came to him with a little story. In his repentance and misery, David writes, Psalm 51, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your lovingkindness. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgression. That's David, this constant search for cleansing from sin. But look at verse 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. A constant prayer for purity of heart. How often have you prayed David's prayer, create in me a clean heart, O God? Is this not a prayer that we need to pray every day? Oh Lord, give me a clean heart. Lord, make me pure in heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And we can have no great expectation of seeing God if we are not pure in heart. And we're not as pure as we want to be. We're not as pure as we should be. But if there is not that desire for a pure heart, then can we have any realistic expectation of ever seeing God, of ever being in his presence, of ever being changed into the likeness of his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. We bring our worship to a close as we sing praise to God from Psalm number one. A Psalm that speaks of the blessedness of the godly man. That man hath perfect blessedness, who walketh not astray in counsel of ungodly men, nor stands in sinners way, nor sitteth in the scorners chair, but placeth his delight upon God's law, and meditates on his law day and night. He shall be like a tree that grows near, planted by a river, which in his season yields his fruit, and his leaf fadeth never. and all he doth shall prosper well. The wicked are not so, but like they are unto the chaff which wind drives to and fro. In judgment therefore shall not stand such as ungodly are, nor in the assembly of the just shall wicked men appear. For why? The way of godly men unto the Lord is known, whereas the way of wicked men shall quite be overthrown. We stand and sing praise in Psalm 1. That man hath bared in blessed day To a heart yet not unscathed. In Christ's church overflowing with north star, nor sin of vigorous hardship. The nation lives behind the one God's law, And praise of His glory and might. It shall be like a tree that grows, implanted by a river which This is a gift from His divine love. And all the earth shall prosper where the wicked are not sown, but like they are In judgment therefore shall not stand such a son. We are one in the assembly of God. of the just shall be in heaven appear. For why not we, all holy men, adjure the Lord his throne? And now receive the blessing of the Lord. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.