“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8)
We continue on in the delightful privilege of what it means to see God. Let me ask a question to start this week’s newsletter. Is seeing God the reward for having a pure heart or simply a continual result of what a pure heart does? But of course this leads to another question. Can we have a pure heart without seeing God first? These questions lead us to see some different aspects of what it means to see God. The heart is said to be cleansed by faith (Acts 15:9) and also that God opens the eyes so that people can see and are turned from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God (Acts 26:18). It is in regeneration that a person receives a pure heart and as such sees the glory of God in the Gospel for the first time. In this sense it is having a pure heart that leads to seeing God and without that heart one cannot see God in His glory at all. However, our text seems to imply seeking a pure heart in order to see God. This would teach us that we should seek a pure heart in order to see God better.
If it is true, then, that the pure heart is a new heart and that a new heart is able to see the glory of God, we must ask what that means as well. Do the pure in heart walk around with their eyes upward (so to speak) just looking for something of the glory of God? Could it be that what is really meant is that those who are pure in heart are also able to see the glory of God shining in what they are doing and what other believers are doing as well? The pure in heart see God because when they do an act that is strengthened and motivated by the life of God in them that means that it is God doing it and so His glory is displayed. This is one way the pure in heart see God. When we do an act that is moved by self we see self even if we try to give the credit to God. Something is seen in what we do.
Let us explore the thought from the previous paragraph. What is being said there is that the pure in heart are able to see the glory of God as it is worked through themselves and other people too. The purity of the heart is the heart that God works through and then enables people to see what He is working. One example is this: “Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law” (Psalm 119:18). In one sense the law said terrible things about the people but in other ways it manifested the glory of God. It was only when God opened their eyes were they able to see wonderful things in and from the law. Those wonderful things were and are the character of God.
We also know that it is God’s prerogative to show forth His glory or not. It is only God in the shining of His beautiful sovereignty that can open the eyes to see Him in the beauty of His glory. It is also the prerogative of God to shut eyes and send blindness as judgment. Matthew 13:13 shows that God does blind: “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” Matthew 16:17 shows that it is God that opens the eyes: “And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” It is from God each moment to blind or to open the eyes. The pure in heart are blessed because they are the ones that God opens the eyes to see His glory. It is not that they just see an occasional glance of it, but they are enabled to live and walk in a sight of that glory though there are times when the Lord withdraws to teach them that He is still sovereign.
Mat 11:25-27 shows this basic thought once again: “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 26 “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” What we see from this text is that there is a certain type of person that God hides the things of His kingdom to and those that He reveals the things of the kingdom to. He hides the things of the kingdom from the wise and intelligent. In other words, these are the type of people that trust in their own wisdom and intelligence. They think that they see but are blind because they are trusting in their own wisdom and intelligence. Thus they are blinded by pride. If a person has true spiritual understanding, it is given by God and God alone.
Those that have spiritual sight are the infants because God reveals the things of His kingdom to them. A spiritual infant is not so much a new believer in this picture, but that of one that is like an infant in that he or she trusts in what God gives rather than in self to obtain things from God for the purposes of self. Matthew 18:1-4 gives us this truth. In verse 1 the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him who was greatest in the kingdom. They were really asking if one of them was greater than the others. Jesus responded like this: 2 “And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” The contrast in this passage is between infants or young children and those who want to be the greatest. Infants and very young children do not desire greatness in life. They do not care what others think of them and simply receive things from their parents. The infant or very young child is the one that instead of trusting in self or looking to the wisdom of self relies on what is told to him or her or what is given to him or her.
What an infant is in Matthew 11:25-27 is informed from Matthew 18:1-4. The picture each passage gives is parallel to the other passage too. The greatest in the kingdom is the one that is humbled as a small child. Those that God reveals Himself to are not those that are wise and intelligent in their own eyes, that is, those that desire greatness for themselves, but those that are humbled and desire for His greatness to be seen. Those that truly have spiritual eyes and see His kingdom are those that wait quietly before God and He gives light to them to see His kingdom. We see this beautiful picture emerge as we see things in this light. Who are those who are pure in heart? Surely those are the people who are like infants and are not those that trust in their own wisdom and intelligence to obtain a sight of reality and of God for them. The pure in heart are those that have motives and intents to glorify God and not to glorify themselves with what they learn.
Let us step back for a moment and apply this basic teaching of Scripture to ourselves. We know that God reveals Himself to the humble and not to the proud. We know that the pure in heart see God and the impure in heart do not. We have seen that those who seek God according to their own intellect do not see Him while those who are like small children do see God. With that in mind, let us deal with whether the glory of God is seen by those that the glory of God shines through. Did Jesus see the glory of God as it shone through Him? Did Paul see the glory of God as it shone through Him? Was it only the other people who saw the glory of God and not them when it came through them? How does that apply to the believer that is pure in heart today?
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead He told Martha this in John 11:40: “Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Did Jesus see the glory of God when He raised Lazarus from the dead or not? Jesus had as pure a heart as one can have. Surely He saw the glory of God in whatever He was doing. When He turned the water into wine, the text tells us that “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11). Are we going to say that Jesus did not see the glory that was manifested there? Surely He saw the glory manifested too.
What I am trying to assert at this point is that the pure in heart are those that see the glory of God shining through them on a constant basis. The purer the heart is the more the person sees the glory of God. The purer the motives the more we see of the glory of God as it shine through us. If the heart leans toward pride and desires the glory of self, then that heart will not see the glory of God as much and will perhaps be blinded toward it for a time. In this sense God does not give His glory to another because it is neither in line with His holiness nor toward the good of His people for them to seek glory for themselves. But to those that are pure in heart His glory will shine through them and they will be spurred on to more love and good deeds because they desire to see His glory in all things. Those that love God want to see His glory and want Him to obtain all the glory in the shining forth of that glory.
The Great Commandment is to love God with all of the heart. We are told in I Corinthians 10:31 to glorify God in all that we do and that even in the eating and drinking. The heart that loves God wants God to be manifested in all that it does. If the heart does not see the glory of God in what it does, how does it know that God is manifested? In one sense the heart that does all to the glory of God is satisfied in what it does by loving God in all that it does. But in another sense it longs for the glory of God to shine out through it. The pure heart loves to see the glory of God shining through it because it delights in the glory of God manifested and not itself as the instrument. When we try to take credit for the glory of God shining through us, that is pride and the heart is not pure. However, the pure heart is one that God shines through and the pure heart is also one that sees the glory of God. If you don’t see the glory of God, then seek a pure heart. Perhaps there is too much pride and self in your heart for you to see God. You might also be deceived about having a heart that is purified by faith. Either way you must seek God for a humbled heart which is a pure heart. Without that, you will not see God in this life of the eternity to come. After all, eternal life is to know God. Can we know God unless we see His glory? That glory is what the devil hides (2 Co 4:4).
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment