Part 5 Matthew 5:8 (NASB77) 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Intro. When we see the Beatitudes as building blocks, as we talked about in our introduction to theses Blessings, then we see this one as the last of the three on seeking or pursuing God's Will in our living God in life. Let us read them with this in heart and mind. Matthew 5:6-8 (NASB77) 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 1. Let our faith rest and grow on this the last of the three promises of Blessings, as seen in seeking first righteousness, second mercy, and now the capstone - pure in heart. (We must get the order down if we are going to be successful in securing these blessings. There is no way you are going to be pure in heart if you have no hunger for righteousness.) A. It seems to me that the first step in seeking God's will, in the warmth of this blessing, is to have authentic honesty before God. B. It is part of human nature to put on the rose-colored glasses when we look at our own purity as we journey through life. 2. It is so hard to see the sin and wrong in our lives and then to be honest with first ourselves and then God. A. It is painful to allow the Holy Spirit of God to shine His Holy Light in the darkness of our heart. B. The most pain in life often comes with the casting out of the impurities that dwell in our hearts and that God exposes. (It is such painful surgery and the healing time is hurtful; but in the end, we are only healthy and pure of heart after our Lord does the heart surgery, and the heart transplant is over.) I. Only with a heart transplant can we have not just life, but purity of heart. 1. We have hit around the edges of one truth, which is the only true starting and ending place with all the blessings of the Beatitudes, and that is accepting Christ as Lord and Savior; for He is the only avenue to the purity not only seen here, but in every Word and punctuation in the Bible. 1 A. The fact is, we are to be pure within, where all the fountains of life are to be found. We are to be able to look out at life with all its corruption and decay and remain uncontaminated. B. I think that the "Making" a pure heart calls for a greater miracle than cleansing a leper or raising the dead; and a person can't do it, for it only comes through and by God in Christ. Case and point:: History tells us that Medieval monks fled from the corruption of the world to monasteries, often built in lonely, inaccessible places and ruled by rigid laws. The quest for holiness along such lines was doomed before it was begun, for the monks, like us, took the corruption of their own hearts with them. 2. Please understand "Separation" in terms of the Bible is not isolation, but insulation. A. Our Lord Christ Jesus lived a completely insulated life. He was in the world, but He was not of the world. B. He was in touch with the needs of the world and in touch with the power of Heaven. There was no short circuit of that power, because He was insulated in and by impenetrable holiness of heart. 3. For humans like all of us, purity of heart is impossible apart from saving, sanctifying grace and the reality of Christ's indwelling presence in the person of the Holy Spirit. A. When we invite God in Christ into our hearts, we find that through the eyes of faith we SEE GOD. B. We can see God in this life and face to face in the life to come if we are pure in heart through the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew 5:9 (NASB77) 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Intro. This seventh beatitude gives us our reaction when facing conflict: we are to act as peacemakers. "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God," 2 1. Most of us know that sin, by its very nature, has conflict as a by-product of its very existence: the age old conflict of wrong and right, of evil verses good. A. We all have had that battle from both within (the flesh) and battle outside in the world around us. B. With the gift of free will comes the battle of each human to manage it. I. I think it would be of great insight for us to go back and look at the first two sins recorded in the Bible. A. The first sin separated people from God. B. The second sin, Cain's murder of Able, separated person from person. 2. It is almost always hard to make peace when it is much easier and throw gas on a flammable situation. A. Before we have any hope of peace in the world, there has to be peace within, and that is only found in and through Christ Jesus. Romans 5:1 (NASB77) 1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, B. The Peacemaker spoken of in the Bible is one that conquers the inner struggle, settles the inner tension, and handles the inner pressure. C. He or she takes the struggle within their own heart between good and evil and strives for the good and conquers the bad. 3. It is a fine line to walk between handling trouble God's way and using God to avoid any kind of involvement when evil attacks. A. Many times, the inaction and refusal of Christians to make a stand allows evil to rain down and destroy. B. We can't sit by and use our religion as an excuse to let evil take over. We have to be the voice that says THUS SAITH THE LORD. 4. So we have to get that the truth of this Peace in the Scriptural sense implies all blessings both temporal and eternal. 3 A. We have to see up front that we are not responsible for those that refuse peace on God's terms; of course, peace with God will not always lead to temporal peace. Peacemaking is a process that requires several willing people. We read Bro. Paul's writing on the subject: about both parties have to be willing. Romans 12:18 (NASB77) 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. B. Peace is more than absence of conflict. It is maturity and well-being, as God defines them. We may need constructive conflict to achieve real peace. Jesus certainly made peace through conflict. He said in Luke 12:49 (NASB77) 49 "I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! 5. Peacemaking also has internal, subjective aspects. Insecurities and worries destroy peace. Discontentment disrupts peace. Envy disrupts peace. A. One of the big time roadblocks to Peacemaking is when we try to read other people’s thoughts (minds), it disrupts peace. Ill #1 The pastor of a healthy, small-town church recently learned that lesson afresh. The church and the pastor loved and admired each other, but there was some resistance when he lengthened morning worship by fifteen minutes. No one got upset, he said, but then he began the story of one man: Church used to end at 10:30; now it goes to 10:45. One man sits near the back. Each week, he stands up at precisely 10:30, straightens his jacket and pants, and walks out. He never said anything, but I could feel his displeasure over the longer services. Indeed, sometimes I had to labor to stifle my anger at the weekly display. Then one week, I changed the order of worship and put the sermon first. The man still left at 10:30, but later that day his wife called. “Pastor,” she said, “you can’t imagine how happy my husband was today. You see, he has to report to work at 10:45 on Sundays. He waits until the last possible minute each week, but it grieves him that he can never stay until the end of your message. Today he heard your whole sermon and he is so pleased. I just had to tell you.” Note leading into our last section of this Word from our Lord. As we get ready to move onto the next verses in this introduction to our Lord's first real public message, we come to the mortar or cement that holds all the blocks we 4 have built on together and makes sure they hold together in everyday living them out. I. Our Lord is a realist. He knows that the pathway of His outlined program for living for Him and His glory will not be easy or popular, so He tells us that we will be persecuted. 1. Our Lord brings it down to where there is no doubt about what the world reaction would be to His commandments. Mark 13:13 (NASB77) 13 "And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.