“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)
The past two weeks we have looked at the issue of purity. It is not just the absence of impure things and just staying away from evil. It is the presence of love and a heart that is single or united on God and His glory. This week the focus will be on the heart. We must know what the heart is in order to know what a pure heart is.
First we need to take a look at a few verses in the Sermon on the Mount (SOM) in order to see the importance of the heart and to start getting at the idea of the biblical teaching of the heart. This is based on the idea that the Beatitudes are really the essence of the SOM and the rest of the SOM is simply an expanded explanation and application of the Beatitudes. We see in our text (Mat 5:8) that the blessed are the pure in heart. We go to v. 22 and see that it is anger and angry words that are considered as murder. Anger is from the heart and a pure heart that is a meek heart does not flow out in that type of anger. In v. 28 we see that it is lust in the heart that is adultery. Then we go to chapter 6 and note how important motives and intents are in prayer, alms, and fasting. We see, therefore, that the heart and its motives and intents are vital in sin and in religious actions. Without a pure heart the inner man can be guilty of breaking all the commandments while at home and even in bed. Without a pure heart all the best of actions are nothing but sin and are at enmity with God.
The heart in common language is thought to be nothing more than what modern people call “emotions.” However, we must get beyond that thought if we are going to get at the biblical concept of the heart. The heart refers to the very core of our being. It is the deepest part of the soul from which all that we think, desire, feel, and do flows from. It is from the heart that Scripture tells us that we have thoughts, the intent of the thoughts, our affections, choices, intents in general, and motives in all that we do. Now if we combine this paragraph with the previous paragraph, we can see how vital the heart is to sin and to holiness. We can see how a pure heart would lead to pure thoughts, intents, motives, and therefore actions. This is how vital the heart is.
We must go to the Scriptures to get the biblical idea. I believe that the previous two paragraphs are biblical and have been developed from Scriptural concepts, but now let us look at Scripture directly. “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart” (Luke 6:45). Whatever comes from the mouth and life comes from the heart. The problem is that we cannot see the motives and intents of the actions. But know that it is from the heart that everything comes. A pure heart only comes by the grace of God as that alone is true purity.
In Mark 7 Jesus was discussing the rules of the Pharisees and in v. 5 He was answering why His disciples would eat with unwashed hands. The Pharisees thought that you had to go through a ritual before you ate because if you did not you would be unclean. Jesus said this: “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (vv. 20-23) Jesus was saying that it is not what you put in man that defiles him, but what comes out. The things that defile the person are those things that come from the heart. If we can remember what it meant to be unclean to the Pharisees we might be able to get a handle on what Jesus is really teaching. To be unclean meant that you were ceremonially unclean and could not go to the Temple and could not worship. Jesus was telling them that it was their hearts that made them like that.
We can look at Scriptures and know that man thinks in his heart as well. “Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts Lodge within you?” (Jeremiah 4:14). Here we see that God is speaking and telling the people to wash their hearts because wicked thoughts have found lodging within them. In other words, their thoughts were wicked and so their hearts needed to be cleansed. We can look back at the text in the previous paragraph and see that it is “from within, out of the heart of man, proceed the evil thoughts” (Mark 7:21). Where do evil thoughts come from? Clearly they come from the heart of man. How does one get rid of evil thoughts? Simply by thinking of good things or positive things? No, what man needs is a new heart. The heart must be changed so that the thoughts and the intents of the thoughts can be changed.
Where do the affections and desires come from? They come from the heart as well. Psalm 10:3 shows us the desires of the heart in terms of the wicked. “For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD.” Yet a few verses later in the same Psalm, we see that the Lord hears the desire of the humble and will strengthen their heart. “O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear” (v. 17). Solomon’s warning to young men is for them not to “desire her beauty in your heart, Nor let her capture you with her eyelids” (Pro 6:25). So we can see that desire and desires come from the heart. Whatever we desire, that desire is from the heart and tells us the true love of our soul.
Let us move to the intents of human beings. The intent is what we really intend in what we do. No matter the outward action, we intend something by that action. No matter what we say, we intend something by those words. We can intend to deceive by telling the truth and if so we are lying in the heart. We see from Genesis 6:5 that man not only has intents in the heart, but that his thoughts have intents as well: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Human beings are shocked at times to find out that God judges the thoughts, but this text tells us that He judges the intents of the thoughts too. The heart is the deepest part of the soul and when we have thoughts there are reasons or intents behind those thoughts. Those intents flow out of the heart and they are judged. A pure heart is necessary in order to have truly pure thoughts and to have the intent of those thoughts to be pure.
Heb 4:12 is a text that mirrors the basic thought of Genesis 6:5: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The word of God actually pierces enough to judge the thoughts of the heart and also the intentions. What this is saying is that if you will read or listen to the Word of God as more than just a novel, the Word of God cuts to the deepest parts of your being. You are as naked before the Word of God as you can be with the very deepest parts of your being set out for God to see. There is no use trying to hide the filth that hides in your heart and its intents from God, He already knows them. What you need to do is to go to the Word and pray that the Lord would show you your own heart. Be prepared to see the most filthy and hideous beast that you have ever seen. You will seek grace if you see your own heart in the light of the Word. Examine what you intend in your thoughts, actions, and desires because God does. Know the truth about yourself.
How important are the motives of the heart? If a person desires to be pure in the sight of God and live and love in a way that pleases and glorifies God, then they are indispensable. Because of the fall and the pride of men’s hearts, man justifies his every behavior. “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives” (Proverbs 16:2). Man looks at his ways and can always find a way to justify his behavior in his self-centered and proud heart. But God goes beyond that and looks at the real motives. A motive is what moves the soul or the heart to do an action. The intent is what we really intend in what we do and the motive is the desire that moved us to the action. “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God” (1 Corinthians 4:5).
Human beings are not privy to the intents and motives of a lot that others do. We must be careful of judging those things. However, we must be quick to examine our own hearts in this. We must go to the Word of God and perform a brutal surgery on ourselves. It is heart surgery that must be done if we desire a clean and pure heart. We must never be satisfied to live and be content with outward behavior that conforms to a standard. The Word of God tells us that our thoughts, the intent of those thoughts, our desires, all intents, and all motives will also be judged and are being judged. If we have the least modicum of love for God we will search out those thoughts that are lodging in our hearts and displease Him. If we love God we will desire that our intents and motives will be out of love for Him. This is basic “heart-religion.” In previous times it was known as experimental or experiential Christianity. If the truth were to be made known, there is no other kind of Christianity. Despite what passes as “Christian” in our day, true Christianity deals with the deepest parts of the heart. It must do so if it is going to please God by being pure in heart. The Word of God says so. Do you believe it? If so, you will immediately start heart surgery with the scalpel of the Word of God while praying for God to open your eyes. If you don’t truly believe the Word, then you will continue satisfied with your level of external Christianity buttressed with some elevated feelings. It is easier in this life to be satisfied with an external form of religion even though it is a lie.
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment