:::b6 pure in heart
Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God (5.8)
++The pure in heart are those who are inwardly clean from sin through faith in God’s provision and continually acknowledging their sinful condition.
+Are the beatitudes for today or the future?
+ All the Beatitudes are to be applied and developed in all believers both now and in the future. The eight Beatitudes have continuity:
1. “The poor in spirit” denotes the fact of sin (Matthew 5:3).
2. “They that mourn” means to repent of sin (Matthew 5:4).
3. “The meek” describes not the weak, but rather strength that is surrendered to God in a new birth experience (Matthew 5:5).
4. To “hunger and thirst after righteousness” signifies the strong desire to become more Christ-like (Matthew 5:6).
5. “The merciful” show an attitude of forgiveness (Matthew 5:7).
6. “The pure in heart” strive daily for clean living (Matthew 5:8).
7. “The peacemakers” exert a calming influence in the storms of life (Matthew 5:9).
8. “They which are persecuted” denotes faithfulness under stress (Matthew 5:10-12).
+The path to a pure heart begins with the realization that we have impure hearts. The entire Bible revolves around the central theme that the Lord looks at the heart of the person and not at their external appearance, their behavior, or their achievements.
+ God must clean us. God alone is able to make rotten people pure in their imaginations, thoughts, words, deeds, and desires. The pure in heart are those who are free from evil desires and evil purposes. So if God is the only one who can cleanse us, then how does he do it? The Bible tells us that God has a plan to deal with the problem of sin infected hearts. God has a plan to save us and make us holy in thought, word and deed. God tells us that he wants “to conform us to the image and likeness of His Son” (Romans 8:29). God’s plan is to make us like his own Son, like Jesus Christ. His purpose is nothing less than that we be pure in heart just like Jesus Christ.
+How does God clean and purify us? First of all, when we ask Jesus to forgive our sins and be our Savior and we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus Christ and put our entire faith and trust in him, God will supernaturally regenerate us and give us a brand new nature, a new self. We become a brand new creation. He told us, “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you“. (Ezekiel 36:26-27) And this all happens the very moment when you are saved, because when you are born again you indeed become a brand new person.
+The Bible tells us that once we are saved and become born again then we are no longer living our lives by ourselves. Galatians 2:20 tells us, “It is no longer I that live, but it is Christ that is living in union with me“. First of all you have a brand new spotless heart, one that is no longer saturated with sin. You also have Jesus Christ dwelling within you and you are united with Jesus Christ. You have pledged your love, trust, and obedience to the Lord. And something else extremely important has occurred: the Holy Spirit has decided to move in and take up residence within you. The Holy Spirit is the one who’s going to guide you and teach you and show you exactly what to do and how to do it, in order for you to become pure in heart.
+This beatitude tells us if we are pure in heart then we will see God. The reward for this beatitude is truly marvelous because when the believer becomes pure in heart, not only will they see God as they pass into heaven immediately upon their death, but they will see God right now, not with their natural eye, but through their spiritual vision, through their faith in Jesus Christ. To the pure in heart, God will become extremely visible.
B1+Why is it so hard to be pure as a teenager?
B2 +How does God feel about Christians living un-pure lives?
B3+How would you feel if your best friend kept breaking promises to you and gossiping behind your back? How do you think God feels when we do the same to Him?
B4+Is it fair for God to want us to live pure lives? Why/Why not?
B5+How can we be pure in our imaginations, in our thoughts, in our words, in our decision making, and in our desires? How can we think what God thinks, will what God wills, desire what God desires, hate what God hates, and love what God loves?
B6+How is it easier to see God when you are pure in heart?
BB1+What are you learning from being the beatitudes?
AA1+Psalms 119:9 “How can a believer keep his heart pure? By keeping it according to the word of God”. How do you do that? What does it look like?
AA2+Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked”. What emotions do you have in reading this verse?
AA3+“Living the American Dream is to reach a point in your life where you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do and can do everything that you do want to do.” (Jerry Reinsdorf)
How does this quote relate?
