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Blessed are the Pure · CCC West Covina

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Father, we thank you for tonight and the opportunity we have to
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be together and study your word. We are a blessed people simply
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because you've given us the word of the living God.
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Tonight we pray that you'd open our hearts and minds to see the
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the greatness of your Kingdom that we might understand how it
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is we are to live like children of the King.
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We realize, Lord, that because of your grace and because of
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your mercy, we are able to enter into your great Kingdom.
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So we thank you for that Lord, and pray that as we study Your
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word, You would challenge us personally to live the kind of
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life that brings glory and honor to You as our King.
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We pray in Jesus name, Amen. King David was a man that was
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characterized by a phrase that we all know well.
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A man after God's own heart says that in the Old Testament and in
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the New Testament, and that's what made David the man that he
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was. David was not a perfect man, but
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David was a pursuing kind of man.
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He was always in pursuit of his God.
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He wasn't a a sinless man, but he was the kind of man that
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truly wanted to honor his Lord. And so by the end of his life,
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he wanted to challenge his son Solomon.
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So the Bible tells us these words in First Kings chapter 2
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verse #1 As David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon
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his son, saying, I am going the way of all the earth.
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Be strong therefore, and show yourself a man.
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In other words, I need you to act manly, Solomon, keep the
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charge of the Lord your God to walk in His ways, to keep his
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statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies
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according to what is written in the law of Moses, that you may
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succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, so that the
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Lord may carry out his promises. Which he spoke concerning me,
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saying, If your sons are careful of their way to walk before me
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in truth with all of their heart and with all of their soul, He
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says with all of their heart and with all of their soul.
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He says, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.
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So Solomon wants to be charged by his dad and his son is going
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to be the king of Israel and the king Solomon will have 40 years
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of peace because David was the warrior and so he paved the way.
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So Solomon's reign would be pretty much a peaceful reign.
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So again David charges his son in Second Chronicles 22, I'm
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sorry, First Chronicles 22. This is what he says in verse
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17. He says Solomon is not the Lord
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your God with you. And has he not given you rest on
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every side? For he has given the habitants
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of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the
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Lord and before his people. Now set your heart and your soul
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to seek the Lord your God. Again, David, a man after God's
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own heart, wants to challenge his son to make sure that his
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heart and soul are completely committed to the Lord.
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And then again, David will reiterate it in First Chronicles
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28, verse 9. As for you, my son Solomon, know
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the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a
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willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts
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and understands every intent of the thoughts.
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If you seek Him, He will let you find Him, but if you forsake
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Him, he will reject you forever. David is trying to embed in the
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mind of his son the importance of searching and seeking after
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God with all of your heart. David was a man after God's own
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heart. He wanted his son Solomon to be
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a man after God's own heart, so he would instill in the son the
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the the exhortation that he would need to be a follower of
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his God. Solomon had a son.
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His name was Rehoboam. Listen what it says about
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Rehoboam in Second Chronicles 12 verse #14 Rehoboam did evil
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because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.
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The question is what happened between David, Solomon and
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Rayabon that Rayabon would not seek to follow the Lord with all
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of his heart? What happened in the
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translation? What happened in that which was
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being passed down from a father to a son to a son?
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As to why Rayabon would not follow the Lord with all of his
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heart, well, we get a hint of that when we turn back to First
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Kings Chapter 11. Listen to what it says now.
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King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter
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of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sedonian, and Hittite,
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women from the nations concerning which the Lord had
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said to the sons of Israel, You shall not associate with them,
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nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn
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your heart away after their gods.
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Solomon held fast to these in love.
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He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his
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wives turned his heart away, For when Solomon was old, his wives
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turned his heart away after other gods, and his heart was
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not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David
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his father had been. Verse 6.
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Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not
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follow the Lord fully as David his father had done.
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Then Solomon built a high place for Chemesh, the detestable idol
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of Moab on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for
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Moloch, the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
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Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned
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incense and sacrificed to their gods.
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Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was
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turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared
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to him twice, and it commended him concerning this thing, that
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he should not go after other gods.
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But he did not observe what the Lord had commanded.
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So the Lord said to Solomon, Because you have done this and
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you have not kept my covenant and my statutes which I've
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commanded you, I will surely tear the Kingdom from you and
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will give it to your servant. What a tragedy.
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David was not a perfect man. His sin is splashed all over the
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Old Testament. The repercussions of his sin
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affected his family for the rest of their lives.
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But yet David was a man after God's own heart.
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Thus says the Lord. That's the Lord's testimony on
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David. And David had a heart that
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pursued his God he so desperately when it's Solomon to
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be that way. Solomon names, names mean means
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man of peace. His other name is Jedediah,
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which means beloved of the Lord. So Solomon had those two names.
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The man of peace was beloved of the Lord, and yet he turned his
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back on the Lord. He went after four women, and
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God said, if you do, they're going to turn your heart.
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And they did. They turned his heart away from
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the Lord. So Rayobone follows his father
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as king of Israel. And Rayobone had his heart
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turned away from the Lord. He did not at all follow the
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Lord with all of his heart. And of course, after Solomon,
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the Kingdom was divided. There were 39 different kings in
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the northern Kingdom and in the southern Kingdom, and all but
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eight were evil. The eight that were they, they
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did what they could to follow the Lord, but the majority of
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them had turned their heart away from the Lord.
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So the Bible says, and the book of Second Chronicles chapter 16
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verse #9 these words, the eyes of the Lord move to and fro
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throughout the earth, that He may strongly support those whose
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heart is completely his. The Lord is looking to, to to
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strengthen and support those whose heart is completely
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committed to the Lord. And in the new covenant in
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Ezekiel 36, the Lord says, I will sprinkle clean water upon
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you and I will give you a new heart, because in order for you
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to follow me, you must have a new heart that you might follow
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the ways of the Lord. As you recall Book of Proverbs,
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the 23rd chapter, Solomon is speaking under the inspiration
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of the Spirit of God. And Proverbs was written early
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on in Solomon's life as he had rayabon, as he had sons that he
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might move them in the ways of God.
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It wasn't till later in his life that he began to turn and marry
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foreign women. But in the book of Proverbs, the
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only book written specifically to teenagers, so if you have a
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teenager, they need to memorize the Proverbs because it's a book
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specifically written to young people.
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He says this in verse 26 of chapter 23.
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Give me your heart, my son. Solomon's not saying that to
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Rehoboam. God is saying that to Raya Bone
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by inspiration, through Solomon. Because God wants your heart.
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And let your eyes delight in my ways.
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You know, when God has a heart, the eyes speak loudly because
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the eyes delight in the ways of God.
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Solomon's eyes delighted in foreign women, and they turned
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his heart. But there's something about the
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eyes of a person whose heart is committed to the Lord, because
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the eyes are the window to the soul, right?
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Look at a wife's eyes and you can tell a lot about her
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relationship with her husband, can you not?
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There's something about the eye of the wife that shows you and
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tells you that all is well at home or all is not so well at
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home. All you got to do is look into
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our eyes. They speak volumes.
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That's why God says, give me your heart, Let me have your
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heart and let your eyes delight in my ways.
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God has always been concerned about the heart, and so when the
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greatest preacher, whoever lived preached the greatest sermon
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ever preached in Matthew chapter 5, he goes right for the heart.
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That's why he says blessed are the pure in heart, for they
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shall see God. The Lord knew that Israel was
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really into the externals. They were really into the
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ceremonies, the sacrifices, the rituals, all the external
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trappings that make Judaism what it is.
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They, they were masters of the outward appearance.
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And so when our Lord shows up on the scene, he knows the heart of
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man. He appeals right to the heart of
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a man. The externals don't mean
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anything to him unless they're motivated by the inner, inner
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man, the heart itself. But he knew that Israel were, as
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Isaiah prophesied, the people who honor me with their lips,
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but their hearts are far from me.
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They see all the right things, they do all the right things,
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but their hearts are not committed to the Lord fully.
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The Lord knows that the Lord knows your heart.
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You might be able to fool your pastor or fool your friends or
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even fool people in your family, but you can't fool the Lord,
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right? He knows the heart of a man.
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And so our Lord comes on the scene in Matthew chapter 5 and
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begins to preach this sermon that goes right to the heart of
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the matter, the inner man. That's why he, he would say
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later on as we we go through Matthew 5, you, you have heard
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that it was said, but I want to say unto you, you've heard what
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the rabbis have said, you've heard how they've interpreted
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the Scriptures. But I will let you know what the
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heart of the matter really is. And Christ exposes everybody in
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the mountain side there in the North Shore of the Sea of
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Galilee. He, he kind of does open heart
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surgery on everybody there on the North Shore because he wants
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them to realize you think you're right with me, but you're not.
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Just because you do everything externally doesn't mean that
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you're right internally. I want your heart, my son.
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Give me your heart. So he basically says these words
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as he begins to preach. You need to realize your
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poverty. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
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Unless you realize your poverty, you'll never enter the Kingdom
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of heaven. And then you need to repent from
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your iniquity. Blessed are those who mourn
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because if you repent from your iniquity, you'll be comforted.
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And then he says need to respond in humility.
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Blessed are the meek, because if you do, you inherit the earth.
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And then he says you need to remember your insufficiency,
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that your righteousness is insufficient.
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But if you hunger and thirst for my righteousness, oh, you will
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be satisfied. And then he says you need to
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react with mercy, because blessed are the merciful, for
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they shall obtain mercy, and then you will reflect my purity.
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And blessed are the pure in heart, for they and they only,
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are the only ones who see the true and living God.
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So let me ask you a question. Have you seen the true and
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living God? How do you see Him?
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Do you see him clearly or vaguely?
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Do you see him amidst the fog or do you see Him amidst clear blue
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skies? How do you see the Lord?
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So if you have your outline in front of you, hopefully you do
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the same 4 points are the same 4 we've covered every week.
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We're going to, first of all, help you understand #1 the
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condition. What does it mean to be pure in
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heart? Define the condition, and then
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we'll describe the consequences, detail the characteristics, and
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then determine our course. Same outline we have for all of
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the Beatitudes that we might come to grips with what they
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really mean. So Christ is speaking, He
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basically says this about man's heart.
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Blessed are the pure in heart. How do you define that?
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What does that mean? Well, we're going to look at the
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location of purity, the definition of purity, and then
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the application of purity by helping us understand exactly
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what it means. Blessed are the pure in heart
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cardia, the inner part of a man. The heart of a man is
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everything. The heart of man is the center
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of your intellect, not your brain.
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Your heart is your heart is the center of your emotions.
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The heart is the center of every choice that you make.
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Let me explain it to you. The heart is the center of your
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emotions. Christ that in John 14 verse #1
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Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
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How is a man ever afraid in his heart?
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Because it's the center of his emotions.
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In Nehemiah 2, it says or talks about the sorrow of the heart.
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Because the heart is the center of your emotions, it's also the
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center of your volition, your choices.
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Daniel, it says in Daniel 18, purposed in his heart not to be
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defiled by the King's meat. He made a choice.
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He did make a choice in his brain.
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He made a choice in his heart not to be defiled by the King's
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meat. That's why it says in Ephesians
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66 we are to do the will of God from the heart.
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The choice you make in your heart.
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Luke 2114 Christ said make up your hearts not to prepare
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beforehand to defend yourself. What do you mean make up your
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heart? Don't you make up your mind?
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Yeah, but your mind only operates according to your
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heart. Your heart is the center of
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everything. It's the center of intellect.
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Proverbs 23 seven as the man thinks in his heart, so is he
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doesn't say as a man thinks that his brain is says as a man
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thinks in his heart, he is because the heart is the central
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mechanism of everything that you do.
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So the location of purity has to happen in the central aspect of
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your life. That is your heart.
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This is in Matthew 941 Jesus asks the group of scribes, why
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are you thinking evil in your hearts?
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Because your heart is the center of intellect.
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It's the center of emotion, it's the center of all choices that
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you make. Everything stems from the heart
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of a man. And Christ is concerned about
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your heart. He's concerned about what you
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believe in your heart. He's concerned about how you act
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in your heart because the heart is the center of everything.
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That's why he says, give me your heart, my son, that your eyes
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might delight in my ways. I need your heart.
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If I have your heart, I have your mind.
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If I have your heart, I have your emotions.
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If I have your heart, I have every choice that you make.
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I need your heart. So Christ comes and preaches and
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says blessed are the pure in heart.
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Notice the Bible says in Proverbs 423, guard your heart
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with all diligence, for out of it flow all the issues of life.
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That sums it up completely. Guard your heart, protect your
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heart, watch over your heart, keep your heart because out of
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your heart flow every issue that pertains to life.
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If you can't guard your heart, you cannot guard your heart.
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I mean your eyes, your mind, your hand, anything.
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It all stems from the heart of a man.
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Notice in Genesis 6 verse #5 when the Lord destroyed the
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earth with the flood, it says these words.
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Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on
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the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was
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only evil. Continually God destroyed the
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earth because of man's evil heart.
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The evil heart is the center of all thought life.
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The evil heart is the center of all evil actions.
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Matthew 1519 For out of the heart come evil thoughts.
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You thought your evil thoughts came from your brain?
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Oh no, they come from your heart.
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It says murders come from your heart, adultery from your heart,
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fornications, thefts, false witnesses, slander.
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These are the things which defile a man.
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Christ made it very clear that the reason the man is defiled is
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because of what happens on the inside.
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Because what happens on the inside is reflected on the
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outside. Murders, thefts, slander,
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adultery, everything comes from the evil heart on the inside.
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That's why Christ says the blessed person is the one whose
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heart is pure before me. And so what's the definition of
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purity? The location of purity is the
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heart. The definition of purity is
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what? Well, the word is from the verb
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cartharizo, which means to cleanse.
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You've heard of the word catharsis, right?
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A cleansing. OK, so the, the definition of of
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the pureness of the heart is the cleansing of the heart.
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And and note this, it it goes way beyond just a sweeping of
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something clean. It's a word that means to be
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unmixed, unstained, untainted. In other words, a pure heart is
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a heart that's single minded, a heart that's singularly focused.
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It's not detracted or distracted by other things in it.
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It is unmixed with any foreign object.
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It is singly focused. That's what it means to have a
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clean heart. I love what William Barkley says
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about this. He says in his commentary on the
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Beatitudes. He says the, the the Greek word
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is, is is used of Clearwater, sometimes of metals without
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alloy, sometimes of grain that had been winnowed, freed from
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the mixture of other particles. And sometimes they've the the
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feelings of, of being completely and totally UN mixed.
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So in other words, a, a cleansed heart is an undivided heart.
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OK, It's not a divided heart. It's an undivided heart.
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In fact, the Bible says that that a double minded man is
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unstable in all of his ways. Why?
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Because a double minded man has a a dual heart, a heart that's
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divided between other things. God wants you singularly focused
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on him. That's why he says loving with a
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whole heart, loving with all of your heart, not just part of it,
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but with all that you have. It has to be completely and
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totally focused on God himself. And that's why the definition of
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purity is so important. James says purify your hearts.
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You double minded. Why?
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Because in your heart there is a duality of purpose.
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So it needs to be cleansed from that other obstacle that's
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keeping it from being singly focused and being totally
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committed to God. So cleanse your hearts, take
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away that which is an an obstacle, A detraction away from
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the Lord. Jeremiah 3239 says I will give
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them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever.
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Same thing. One heart is a cleansed heart,
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one heart is an undivided heart. It's not double minded and it's
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thought process. It's completely focused upon the
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Lord. So what's the application of
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this two things. One is the a positional purity
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and the other is a a practical purity.
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When you are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, you are clean
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positionally before Christ. When the Bible says that he who
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knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the
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righteousness of God in him. Second Corinthians 521 that
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there is a cleansing that takes place in the heart of a believer
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when he gives his life to Christ.
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Because Christ died for your sins, right?
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In the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all of our sin.
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And so there is a positional purity, a positional cleansing,
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a positional positional unmixedness, if that's the word,
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if it's not, it should be that there's nothing in there that
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that's clouding that the, the, the, the difficulty comes into
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practice of that, right? That's why the Bible says be
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holy as your Father in heaven is holy.
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That's why in Matthew 5, which we'll see in a few weeks, be
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perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.
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The challenge is matching my practice with my position with
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God because I've been totally cleansed from all of my sin
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because of what Christ did at Calvary's cross.
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I live still in the flesh and so there are still things that
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enter into my heart and mind that draw me away from the Lord
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that caused me to be double minded in my ways.
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And so therefore I need to rid myself of those things and be
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totally focused upon the Lord. It's called the the practice of
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purity, right? Positionally, we are pure before
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God. But matching my practice, my
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everyday life with my position in Christ is what the Christian
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walk in the Christian life is all about, right?
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And that's what we do. And there's a constant struggle
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every single day of going to the Lord and asking the Lord.
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Lord, cleanse me from my sin. Lord, help me to keep my eyes,
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my mind focused upon you, my heart fixed upon the Lord Jesus
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Christ. That's why in Matthew 6, which
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we will see in months down the road, that Christ says you
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cannot serve 2 masters, right? Matthew 624.
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Why? Because you'll love the one and
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hate the other. You can't serve 2.
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That's why you can't have two wives, right?
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You got to love one, hate the other, can't love them both,
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right? So you can't, you can't serve 2
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masters. You can't serve money and God
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can't serve prosperity and God. You can't serve that of the
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things of the world and the things of the Lord because one's
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going to draw your heart away. That's why.
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That's why the Lord said do not marry foreign wives because they
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will turn your heart away to Solomon.
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So what did he do? He married foreign wives.
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And what did they do? They turned his heart away
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exactly as God said, because He wants all of your heart, not
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part of your heart. He wants all of you, not certain
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aspects of you. God wants everything because He
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died for you. He died that you might have His
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life, and so He wants His life operational in your life.
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Point #2 Describing the consequences.
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Two of them. One, satisfaction in life and
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vision in life. Blessed are the pure in heart,
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for they shall see God, that the blessing comes because of what
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they see. They'll be satisfied when they
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see that which they long for. That's why the Bible says in
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John 14-8, Philip says to the Lord, show us the Father and it
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will be enough for us. And Christ says, if you've seen
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me, you've seen the Father. There's something about
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spiritual vision that's enough. There's something about seeing
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God for who he is that satisfies.
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And so many times we, we forget that the pureness of our heart
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done by God causes us to see, Remember, Remember Simeon, He
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just longed to hold the Christ child and the Lord promised him,
33:16
you will not die until you see the Lord's Messiah, right?
33:21
Because the Lord is God's Messiah.
33:26
He is not Israel's Messiah. He's not even your Messiah.
33:31
He is God's Messiah. And so Simeon longed for that
33:37
day and when he held the the Christ Child in his arms, said,
33:42
that's it, I'm done. I've seen it all.
33:45
There's nothing else for me to see.
33:48
There's nothing else for me to live for.
33:50
What I've longed for, what I've lived for now is here, I'm done,
33:54
I can die. Why?
33:56
Because his whole life was centered around seeing the
34:01
Christ child, the Messiah, God's Messiah.
34:05
And once he got a glimpse of the Messiah, that was it.
34:10
He was completely and totally satisfied.
34:14
So the Bible says in in Psalm 73, God is good to Israel, even
34:20
to such as are of a clean heart. God is good to those who whose
34:28
hearts have been cleansed. Psalm 73 says, But As for me,
34:33
the nearness of God is my good. Psalm 1715 I shall be satisfied
34:38
when I awake with thy likeness. There's something about getting
34:44
a glimpse of God that is completely and totally
34:46
satisfying that nothing of the world can, can do.
34:51
It just can't. So I ask you again, have you
34:56
seen the true and living God? Not only is there satisfaction
35:01
in life, but there's also vision in life.
35:04
Remember Moses, I beseech you, Lord, let me see your glory.
35:08
Well, what is the glory of the Lord?
35:09
It's the, it's the, the, the it's a, it's a manifestation of
35:13
God and brilliant light. It's the, it's the attributes of
35:15
God. It's, it's, it's who God is.
35:18
I want to just see you. And of course, you know, God
35:21
said, I can't let you see me. You're going to have to die
35:23
because I dwell in an unapproachable light and you'll
35:25
be incinerated if you see me. So I can't let you see me, he
35:29
says, but the Bible says these words in John 118.
35:34
No man has seen God at any time, and yet 1st 3616 says God dwells
35:42
in unapproachable light, where no man has seen or can see.
35:49
So then how do you see God? How can a man see God?
35:57
That's very important because you don't see Him with a
36:00
physical eye. You see him with a spiritual
36:04
eye. You can't physically look upon
36:07
the Christ or you you die. You'd be incinerated.
36:14
OK, Not until you have a glorified body can you ever do
36:17
that. That's when you go to heaven.
36:18
So how does a man see God now? Well, number one, you can see
36:24
him in the world. How do you know that?
36:28
Because the heavens declare the glory of the Lord.
36:35
So when you look at the world, when you look at the universe,
36:38
when you look at the heavens, what do you see?
36:41
You see a Creator. You see someone who designed all
36:45
that. You see God.
36:50
Psalm 29 is very, very insightful.
36:55
Psalm 29. Listen to what the psalmist
36:58
says. He says in verse 3 the voice of
37:04
the Lord is upon the waters. Now he's talking about a storm,
37:08
OK, and how he sees God in the storm.
37:14
He says the voice of the Lord is upon the waters.
37:17
The God of glory thunders. The Lord is over many waters.
37:22
The voice of the Lord is powerful.
37:24
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
37:26
So he, he's hearing the voice of God in the storm.
37:30
He says the voice of the Lord breaks the Cedars.
37:33
Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the Cedars of Lebanon.
37:36
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Syrian like a young
37:39
wild ox. The voice of the Lord divides
37:43
out flames of fire. In other words, the voice of the
37:47
Lord divides out the striking of lightning.
37:51
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness.
37:54
The The voice of the Lord is so strong.
37:57
When God thunders, the wilderness shakes.
38:00
The Lord shakes the wilderness of catish.
38:03
The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calf.
38:06
In other words, it makes the pregnant animals give birth.
38:11
He says that the the strips and excuse me and strips the the
38:16
forest bare. The voice of the Lord is social.
38:19
How does the voice of the Lord strip the forest bare?
38:23
Have you ever seen a tornado? Have you ever seen a hurricane?
38:27
All of that declares the glory of God.
38:31
You you see that the believer sees God in the storm.
38:35
The unbeliever just sees the storm, but the believer sees the
38:40
God whose voice thunders and causes the storm and separates
38:46
the lightning in the flashes. He's the God who causes trees to
38:51
be demolished because his voice is so powerful.
38:56
You see, so many times we miss how God wants us to observe him
39:02
in the world. God is everywhere.
39:05
That's why the heavens declare the glory of the Lord.
39:13
The Bible says in that same Psalm, the Lord sitteth king as
39:18
king over the flood. In other words, God controls the
39:25
flood. God control the flood of Genesis
39:28
6. And by the way, God controls
39:31
every single flood on the planet today.
39:34
Everything. Is there a tsunami?
39:38
God caused that. Not an earthquake in the in the
39:42
middle of the ocean. No, God caused that.
39:45
Why? Because if there's calamity in
39:47
the city, Amos says, guess who caused it?
39:51
God did See God's in control of everything or is in control of
39:55
nothing. God rules over all.
39:59
And so you must be able to see God with a spiritual eye to know
40:03
that God is at work and doing what it is he does.
40:06
That's what causes us to trust Him even all the more now that
40:11
you see him in the world, but you see him in the ways He works
40:17
in the world. Listen to Psalm one O 5.
40:21
Psalm one O 5. Listen to what the Bible says.
40:27
This is so great. The psalmist recognizes God's
40:32
mighty hand in everything. Remember what Peter says in
40:35
first Peter 5-6 Humble yourselves under the mighty hand
40:38
of God. Remember that.
40:39
Remember he says that. And what is the mighty hand of
40:42
God? The mighty hand of God is a
40:43
phrase used the book of Exodus to describe how God's hand
40:48
delivered and disciplined the nation of Israel.
40:53
OK, so Peter is picking up from the Old Testament saying you
40:57
need to submit yourself under God's mighty hand of discipline,
41:01
God's mighty hand of deliverance, because God is in
41:06
charge of all things in life. Well, Psalm one O 5 describes
41:11
this for us. Verse 24 that God caused his
41:16
people to be fruitful. God did that.
41:20
Verse 25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal
41:25
craftily with His servants. He sent Moses his servant, and
41:29
Aaron whom he had chosen. Verse 28 He sent darkness, He
41:33
made it dark, He turned the waters into blood, and caused
41:36
their fish to die. Verse 31 He spoke, and there
41:39
came a swarm of flies. Verse 32, He gave them hail for
41:43
rain, and flaming fire in their land.
41:45
Verse 33 He struck down their vines, also their fig trees, and
41:49
shattered the trees of their territory.
41:52
Verse 34 He spoke and locusts came, and young locusts even
41:56
without number. Verse 36 He also struck down all
41:59
the first born in their land. Verse 37, Then he brought them
42:03
out with a with silver and with gold.
42:06
Verse 40 it says he brought quail.
42:10
Verse 41 he opened the rock and outflowed water.
42:13
Verse 43 brought forth the people with joy.
42:16
Verse 44 he gave them also the lands of the nations.
42:20
The psalmist knew that God's ways was were working in every
42:24
aspect of Israel's life. You see, we need to be able to
42:28
see God in the way He works, in your family, in your church, in
42:33
your workplace. God does all those things, but
42:37
do you see his hand and all of that or do you do you just
42:42
attribute it as to well, just bad things happen at different
42:45
times? No, no, God's in charge of all
42:47
those things, but only the pure in hearts see God.
42:53
Only those who are not double minded, only those who are
42:57
singly focused really, truly see God.
43:00
Those who hearts have been cleansed from the sustain of sin
43:06
and are focused completely upon him.
43:10
They're the ones who see God. They'll ultimately see Him in
43:14
glory face to face, right when we see Him, we'll be like Him,
43:18
for we see Him as He is. But but there are certain things
43:22
that we see even today that God does as he operates in every
43:29
aspect of our lives. That's why Job said, I have
43:36
heard of thee with the hearing of my ear, but now my eyes have
43:44
seen you. When did Job ever see God?
43:51
He never saw him physically, but he said, I've heard of you with
43:56
the hearing of my ear, but now, now my eyes have seen you.
44:02
How did Job see God? He saw him with a spiritual eye
44:06
because God spoke to Job. And that's why you always see
44:13
God in his word, not just in the world and not just in the
44:16
wonders around the world, not just the way he works in the
44:20
world, but in the word he's given to us.
44:24
And that's how Job saw God. Oh, I've heard of you.
44:29
I've heard of you with the hearing of my ear.
44:33
But now, for the very first time in my entire life, I have seen
44:40
you. That's just a powerful
44:43
statement. That's why the Bible says this
44:46
in John 539. You search the Scriptures
44:50
because you think that in them you have eternal life.
44:53
And it is them that bear witness of me.
44:58
He's condemning the religious leaders.
45:01
You know, the Bible frontwards and backwards, but you don't
45:04
know me. How do you miss me?
45:05
How do you read the Bible and miss me?
45:09
See, see, that's the problem. We go to church and we, we, we
45:11
have this issue that we're dealing with and we want the,
45:14
the, the, the pastor to talk about my issue or deal with my
45:17
issue, right? But see, that's not how God
45:20
works. God wants you to see Him in the
45:24
scriptures. And so here are the leaders of
45:27
Israel, and they would search the scriptures day and night,
45:30
but they missed the Messiah. And so when he stands in front
45:34
of them, they can't see Him. They can't see him as God in the
45:38
flesh. They can see Him as their
45:40
Messiah. What?
45:42
Because when they read the scriptures, they weren't looking
45:43
for him. They were looking for solutions
45:46
to their problems. Just a little hint here.
45:49
When you have a problem, don't go to the Bible looking for
45:52
solutions to your problem. When you have a problem, go to
45:57
the Bible and look for Jesus. And when you see Jesus, all your
46:05
problems will go away. Not that they're going to
46:08
disappear. Oh, you still have them.
46:12
But your circumstances don't need to change.
46:16
Your perception of the God of circumstances needs to change.
46:19
And when that changes, your life changes.
46:24
That's why when you go to the scriptures, you look for Jesus,
46:27
not solutions to your problem, because you're going to have
46:31
problem after problem after problem after problem.
46:35
They're going to be innumerable for before you die.
46:38
So when you go to the scriptures, the Lord says, how
46:42
can you search the scriptures and miss me?
46:44
That's why we say when you when you, when you come to church on
46:47
Sunday, Sir, we wish to see who Jesus right talked about that
46:52
two weeks ago. You come to church to see
46:54
Christ, to see Jesus. You don't come to church to see
46:56
your friends. You don't come to church to see
46:58
your your buddies. You don't come to church to to
47:00
be seen. You come to church to see
47:02
Christ. If you go to church for any
47:04
other reason, you're wasting your time.
47:06
I hate to say it. You're just wasting your time
47:10
because you're going to miss him.
47:12
And if you miss Jesus, you've missed everything but the pure
47:18
heart. Those who hearts are undivided
47:22
and totally focused upon the Lord, unmixed with any foreign
47:27
object. They will see the Lord and you
47:35
see Him in His Word. 2nd Corinthians 318 We all with
47:41
unveiled face, beholding as in the mirror the glory of the Lord
47:48
are being changed from one level of glory to the next level of
47:54
glory, even as by the Spirit of God.
47:57
Paul says that to us, we we come to the scriptures, the mirror
48:01
with an unveiled face, and we're able to behold the glory of the
48:05
Lord. What's the glory of the Lord,
48:07
His attributes, His character, His nature.
48:10
And, and when you go to the Bible to to behold the glory of
48:13
the Lord, you're being changed from one level of glory to the
48:17
next level of glory to the very next level of glory by the
48:22
Spirit of God. That's what God does.
48:26
And that that's why Bible study is so important.
48:28
That's why Bible memorization is so important.
48:30
That's why Bible meditation is so important.
48:32
Why? Because I'm going to see the
48:34
Christ and I see him in his word, and when I see him for who
48:39
he is and all of his glory and all of his splendor, all my, all
48:44
my problems just pale in comparison to the beauty and
48:47
glory of the Christ. So what did Paul pray for in
48:51
Ephesians? 118I pray that the eyes of your
48:56
hearts be enlightened. You think your eyes are in your
49:02
head. Your eyes are in your hearts.
49:07
See, the eyes of your heart will be enlightened.
49:11
That was Paul's prayer. And you know what?
49:14
That should be the prayer of all of us for every one of us,
49:17
right? You know, we, we get so boiled
49:21
down by health issues. You've noticed that our our
49:27
prayer life is consumed with health issues, but they're not
49:33
concerned with spiritual health issues and they should be.
49:39
All you got to do is read Paul's prayers and see what he prayed
49:44
for and ask yourself, what is my prayer life like?
49:50
We get so bogged down with the physicality of life that the
49:55
spirituality of life is set aside because my physicality is
49:59
more important than my spirituality.
50:03
Not knowing that the solution to my physicality is my
50:09
spirituality. We forget that that's very
50:13
important to understand. When you talk to somebody who
50:17
walking, walking with the Lord in the midst of their physical
50:20
illness, there's a joy about their lives.
50:24
But if you understand them and know them, they are rejoicing in
50:29
what God is doing, even though they can't even get out of bed
50:35
because God is at work in their hearts and they're growing
50:39
closer and closer to the Lord through their difficulty.
50:45
So if you go back to the illustration of Job, right,
50:49
Job's physicality never changed. He, he was still covered with
50:53
boils. He still had no kids, no Job, no
50:58
house, and a wife somewhere who knows where.
51:02
Right? And what did you say?
51:05
Oh, I I've heard of you, but boy, now my eyes have seen you.
51:09
I repent in dust and ashes. Job was satisfied and nothing
51:18
that changed his life. Nothing.
51:23
Remember when they changed and the Lord turned the captivity of
51:27
Job? When he prayed for his friends,
51:32
his miserable comforters, and God gave him twice as much as
51:37
what he had before, Joe didn't pray to get to get more things
51:41
back. Joe didn't pray for his
51:44
physicality, for his boils and his pain.
51:47
He prayed for his friends. Why?
51:52
Because he got a glimpse of the Lord.
51:56
And so he prayed for his friends who really didn't know the Lord
51:59
that well. They thought they did, but they
52:01
really didn't know him. And God turned the captivity of
52:07
Job and gave him twice as much as what he had before when he
52:11
prayed for his friends. And that's only because he was
52:15
able to finally see the true and living God for who he is.
52:19
And that's simply because God spoke to him.
52:23
And God speaks to you every time you open the word of God.
52:26
Open it up. These are His words.
52:30
This is the living and abiding word of God #3 got to hurry
52:38
quickly, sorry. Detaining the characteristics.
52:42
What is the characteristic of somebody's pure in heart?
52:44
Number one, they abhor evil. They abhor evil.
52:49
Psalm 119 one O 4 Psalmist said, I hate every false way.
52:58
Nothing Rob's vision like sin. Nothing sin will always cloud
53:06
your vision of God, always mar your vision of God, just will.
53:11
So those who are pure in heart, they have poor evil #2 they
53:14
avoid the appearance of evil, they avoid even the appearance
53:18
of evil. The 1st Thessalonians 522 Psalm
53:23
One O 635 says they were mingled among the heathen and they
53:31
learned their works and served their idols.
53:38
You know, so many times we, we, we just say we hate evil, but we
53:42
dabble around in sinful behavior.
53:44
Everyone knows that we we not just to abhor evil, we are to
53:50
abstain from the appearance of evil.
53:54
Paul talks about not even talking about the things done
53:56
done in darkness. They shouldn't even be mentioned
53:59
among us. And then #3 the pure heart
54:06
abandons all sin. Psalm Proverbs 30 verse #12 says
54:11
there was a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet
54:15
have not been washed from their filthiness.
54:18
First Corinthian or Second Corinthian 7 verse #1 Let us
54:21
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
54:25
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
54:31
Those who appear in heart, not only do they abhor sin, they
54:35
abstain from the appearance of evil, and they abandon anything
54:41
that would detract them from the true and living God.
54:44
And then #3 or #4 A person who is pure in heart really truly
54:51
acknowledges his true self. He acknowledges his true self.
55:00
For instance, it says in Luke 5 verse #8 when Peter saw the
55:09
Christ, he said, depart from me, for I am a sinful man.
55:16
When Paul saw himself as he truly was, he said he was the
55:22
least of all the Saints. You think he'd be the best of
55:28
all the Saints. But Paul, because he was pure in
55:32
heart, acknowledges his true self that he was the least of
55:36
all the Saints. In fact, he said in 1st 71 he
55:39
was a chief of all sinners. Wow.
55:44
How many of us have said that we're the chief of sinners?
55:48
We, we tried to compare ourselves among ourselves and
55:50
think they were pretty good, right?
55:53
But the apostle Paul, who wrote 13 epistles of the New
55:56
Testament, would say that he was the least of all the Saints, and
56:00
yet he was a chief of all the sinners.
56:03
Yet he was used mightily by God simply because he had a true,
56:07
true picture of his own self. Daniel when he got a a glimpse
56:14
of the living God, he said there remains no strength in me, for
56:19
my comingness was turned in me into corruption and I retain no
56:25
strength. Here is Daniel, a man who would
56:29
not defile himself, but when he saw God he realized that he was
56:34
filled with corruption on the inside.
56:39
Just examine the men of God in Scripture and realize that they
56:42
had a proper view of themselves when it came to came to knowing
56:49
the Lord. Spiritual sight always leads to
56:57
spiritual insight. Spiritual sight will always lead
57:03
to spiritual insight. In other words, when you are
57:06
able to see God for who He really is, it helps you see the
57:09
inner man as it really is. And like Job said, I repent in
57:15
dust and ashes. So in 4 minutes, what's my
57:20
course? That's point #4 right?
57:24
Well, number one, realize you can't do it on your own.
57:27
That's number one. The Bible says in Proverbs 20
57:29
verse #9 Who can say I've cleansed my heart, I am pure
57:33
from my sins? Answer nobody, nobody.
57:37
Jeremiah 1323. Can a leper change his spots?
57:41
Nope. Acts 15/9.
57:45
The heart is purified by faith first.
57:50
John 17 It's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all
57:54
sin. You want a pure heart, you can't
57:58
do it yourself. God does that.
58:01
It's the blood of Christ that cleanses us.
58:04
So you throw yourself with the mercy of God.
58:07
You say, Lord, I'm a Sinner, I need to be cleansed by you.
58:12
Cleanse me from all of my sin. And God does that.
58:17
He is the cleansing agent. Once you realize you can't do it
58:21
on your own, read the Word of God.
58:23
Why? John 15?
58:25
You have been made clean. You've been cleansed through the
58:29
Word which I've spoken unto you. God's Word is a cleansing agent.
58:37
Why? Because God's word is His word.
58:43
The inspired word comes from the Incarnate Word.
58:47
Bible says in Psalm 119. Nine How could a young man keep
58:50
his way pure? By taking heed to the word of
58:54
God. The Bible says in Psalm one
58:56
19140 Thy word is very pure. Blessed are the pure heart, for
59:03
they shall see God. The only way to maintain purity
59:08
is to read the word of God, to be in the Word of God.
59:11
It's the best cleansing agent there is.
59:14
It's God's word that cleanses you and so you, the more you're
59:18
in the word, the more you're being washed with the water of
59:21
the word. I mean, that's how we came into
59:23
the Kingdom, right? By the washing of regeneration,
59:26
by the renewing of the Spirit of God.
59:28
It's the it's the washing of the water of the word, Ephesians 526
59:31
that brings us into the Kingdom. Will the continual reading of
59:35
the word is the continual cleansing that we need every
59:39
single day. Was Thomas Watson that great
59:43
Puritan who said this? By looking into this pure
59:47
crystal, we are changed into the image of it.
59:50
That is the Word of God. The word is both a glass to show
59:54
us the spots of our souls and a labor to wash them all the way.
1:00:00
Isn't that true? You read the Word, you see your
1:00:03
spots, but the very same word is the cleansing agent that removes
1:00:09
them all. Read the word.
1:00:12
Realize you can't do it on your own.
1:00:15
Request request a pure heart from God Job 14 four who can
1:00:23
bring a clean thing out of an unclean job set?
1:00:28
What did David say? Created me a clean heart.
1:00:31
Oh God. Psalm 51.
1:00:33
You got to request it from the Lord and then need to relinquish
1:00:42
your flesh by relying upon the Spirit of God.
1:00:45
Walk in the Spirit so you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh.
1:00:50
How do you walk in the Spirit? One step at a time.
1:00:53
How do you walk in normal life one step at a time?
1:00:58
How do you walk in the Spirit? Every step you take, you rely
1:01:04
upon the Spirit of God to guide you through that situation.
1:01:08
That's walking in the Spirit, trusting God, relying upon him
1:01:12
every single step of your life. And lastly, respond right now
1:01:21
immediately. Psalm 27 says, when thou did say
1:01:29
seek my face, my heart said to thee, Thy face, O Lord, I shall
1:01:37
seek. Don't we respond immediately?
1:01:44
If you've never been cleansed from your sin, you can be
1:01:48
because Christ cleanses us from all of our sin.
1:01:51
He died to take away your sins. So why would you wait for that?
1:01:57
Why would you want to sit in your sin when you can be
1:01:59
cleansed from your sin? And having been cleansed from
1:02:03
your sin, Like all of us, there are certain things that cause us
1:02:10
to fall back into sin. Well, our God is a faithful God
1:02:16
and when you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to
1:02:20
forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all
1:02:22
unrighteousness. And then truly you see the true
1:02:29
and living God. So let me ask you again, have
1:02:33
you seen the true and living God?
1:02:38
Have your eyes been focused on the Lord?
1:02:42
Do you see Him in His Word when you read the Word?
1:02:46
Do you see Him in the wonders of life when you look into all
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that's happening around you? Do you see Him in the world as
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His hand works and reworks all kinds of things around us?
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Do you see God every day? You see Him in your family.
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You see him in your church. Do you see him refining your
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life? Do you see him molding and
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shaping you every single day? Do you see him at all?
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If you do not see him, you have missed the blessing of purity of
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heart. Let's pray.
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Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for this time that
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we've had together. Thank you, Lord, for how it is
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you work in our lives. We are so grateful to read Your
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word and study it together. Lord, for everyone who's here
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tonight, work in their hearts as only You can.
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I can't do it, but you can. That's what you do.
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That's your specialty. You work in the hearts of men.
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And our prayer fathers. There's someone here who's not
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saved that you'd save them from their sin.
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Those who are saved, keep them always looking to You.
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They might live a life of purity before you, that they might see
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the true and living God every single day.
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Refrain your name. Amen.