May God be pleased to help us
again this evening as we think in his word. And this evening
we'll continue our meditation in the fifth chapter of Matthew,
and we'll read verse eight, which tells us, blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God. Again, it's a wonderful
promise to those who fulfill this requirement of being pure
in heart, that they shall see God. And as we think of this
word pure, it really means to be clean. And of course the Lord
here is speaking very directly of not that which is outward,
doesn't mean a lot of washing and that kind of thing, it means
that those things which are within us, our heart, is that which
needs to be pure, needs to be clean. Without that, we shall
not see God. Well, you may perhaps think,
well, that really is an impossibility. Well, naturally, these things
are an impossibility because we find that we do have sin which
dwells within us. It's called indwelling sin. and
it's that which we will not be free of, this side of the grave. Nonetheless, there are very encouraging
words in the Word of God, first of all to direct us to the feeling
and the understanding of those godly people who have gone before. And you may remember that David
in his life He was able to write many Psalms which gave us a very
clear indication of how he really felt in his heart. He tells us
in the 51st Psalm, he says, create in me a clean heart, a pure heart,
O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Now, quite clearly,
David was a godly man. And Godly was a converted man
when he wrote such a statement as this. So therefore one thing
is clear that naturally we do not become pure or clean in our
outward form when the Lord calls us by His grace or we are converted. But what happens is that the
Lord does give us a new nature. In fact what we possess is a
new heart. And you see, it's that new heart
and new nature which is clean and which is pure. And as Ezekiel
tells us, a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will
I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh. Now that is essential
for all of us, that God gives us a new heart. And you may think, well, I'm
not sure whether I do possess a new heart. Well, it's good
then that you and I pray, new young people especially, to pray
to God that he will give you a new heart, and that which is
pure, and that which seeks truly after the things of God, and
desires Eternal blessings and the promise is therefore a suck
shall See God what a blessing that is now Just continuing so
that we understand what our heart really is by nature In Jeremiah,
we're told that our heart is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked Now with that situation, it's quite clear that
naturally we don't have a clean or a pure heart. But it's a blessing
if the Spirit of God shows to us that we are like that. That
our heart is not pure, it's deceitful by nature. That's our old nature.
And our old nature is that which we were born with and which we'll
live with right through our life until we die. old nature and
it's a sinful nature and it's sinful because of the sin which
occurred in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed the
gracious and wonderful law of God and sin and that sin passed
upon all mankind. So that was a terrible and tragic
day in the history of the world. But Not only, of course, did
David recognize the great difficulty and the situation of his own
heart, but also, remember the Apostle Paul, another man of
God, somebody who was truly converted in a wonderful way, and yet he
explains to us, when he wrote to the church at Rome, and in
the sixth chapter, there is a much good instruction And also in
the seventh chapter, we come on to his description of himself. And he tells us, he finds a law,
a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. He says, for I delight in the
law of God after the inward man. What he's telling us there is
his new nature The inward man, he delights after the law of
God. He delights after the things
of God, the holy things of God. But he says, I delight in the
law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members. Well, that's quite
a clear description for us to recognise the two natures and
the battle there is. And that's why then he cries
out in this way, looking at himself, realising he's not what he would
be, it's his old nature, and he says, O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? He realised how bad he was in
his old nature, and yet he had this new nature which sought
and strived after holiness and godliness but he tells us I thank
God that through Jesus Christ our Lord so then with a mind
I myself serve the law of God but with a flesh the law of sin
so there we have again the description of the our old nature our flesh
which is the law of sin and it's good just to run on to the eighth
chapter because as you probably know in the original there were
no chapters or verses And it just continued. And therefore
if we do continue, these are the beautiful words. There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. They are pure. They are clean. Those who are therefore amongst
the blessed ones who it is spoken of, there is no therefore now
no condemnation. to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and of death." Well, it's good, isn't it, to
recognise here we have a description clearly set before us of the
old nature and our new nature, and to bless God if we find within
us there is that battle battle between our old nature and our
new nature. Well we read together in the
fourth chapter of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians and just to
read one or two verses in the fourth chapter verse 22 he says
that she put off concerning the former conversation the old man
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed
in the spirit of your mind. Now the effect of God's grace,
that's his unmerited favour toward us, the effect of that work in
our hearts will make us desire to live a more godly life and
therefore to put off the former conversation. Perhaps those wrong
things which we may have been found saying, perhaps swearing,
perhaps speaking wrong things. We are now told, put off those
things and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness. You see, the new man, the man
of grace, the man that God has granted to us by his spirit,
seeks after these things which are right and these things which
are God honoring. Because remember our life is
indeed and is for the honour and for the glory of God. And then again when the Apostle
Paul wrote to the Corinthians and in the sixth chapter he described
there the situation which existed in the natural mind and the natural
man and he And he describes it very fully when he tells us,
be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor abusers of mankind, themselves and mankind,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And then he tells
us, and such were some of you. Well, what a blessing it is if
God has shown us that which is in our heart, that which is in
our old nature, and that we are like that. And then he tells
us, but ye are sanctified, that means made holy, but ye are justified,
that means made just, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by
the Spirit of our God. Well, we see there the work of
the Spirit, And that work of the Spirit, you see, produces
that new life and that pureness and those real desires after
godliness. Blessed are the pure in heart. And, you know, running right
on to the Revelation, and in the very first chapter in the
book of the Revelation, and in the fifth verse, we're told this
Great truth. Perhaps I ought to read the fourth
verse first. John to the seven churches which
are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from
him which is and which was and which is to come and from the
seven spirits which are before his throne and from Jesus Christ
who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood." Now then,
how are we to be clean? How are we to be pure? Because
we are black sinners, we are only made pure as we are washed. As the, we're told here, washed. in his own blood, washed in the
blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that means that our
new nature indeed is pure. And the time will come when all
of us will have to depart out of life into that eternal state. Now when we come there, We will
either be those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb, and
those who possess that new nature, and the blood of the Lamb will
wash away all sin, every sin. No sinner can ever enter into
glory. No one who is not forgiven, who
is still under condemnation, will never enter into the glory
to be with the Saviour. But those who are washed in the
blood of the Lamb, those who are clean, you see Christ's blood
cleanses from all sin. All sin, nothing lacking. And
so when we read these words today, as the Lord spoke them, blessed
are the pure in heart, then let's realise what a wonderful thing
it is to be blessed. And we do need to be pure in
heart. And we can't be pure in heart by our own deeds, by that
which we have done. But it's only through the great
and glorious finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and of
course as such. For we shall see God. Now I believe
there's two things here. First of all, when the Lord calls us by his
grace, by faith. Living faith, we look to God,
and we see God, not in a physical way, but we see God by faith
as that one who has died for us, and that one who does intercede
for us, and that one who one day, as he said, will receive
us unto himself, that where he is there, we shall be also. So we see that is the wonderful
blessed favour as you and I walk on this earth by faith. We do
see God as we possess that new pure nature. And then of course
there will be that great day when we leave this earth and
when then we shall indeed see God. What a wonderful day that
will be for the Church of God. Here we see through a glass darkly
but then face to face, to see the Saviour in glory. What a
day that will be. And that is the blessed favour,
the blessed lot of those who are pure in heart, granted His
purity, not through what they have done, but through what Christ
has done. And so may we rejoice this evening
in such a word as this. And thank God we have such a
word, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Amen.