Rev. David Holwick W Beatitudes
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
July 6, 2003
Psalm 24:3-6
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I. Your black-spotted heart.
A. My first experience with Roman Catholics.
In 1962 we lived in a small housing project in St. Louis.
Four families lived in tiny apartments, side by side.
Next to us was the Daugherties.
Like many in the neighborhood, they were Roman Catholic.
Real Roman Catholics.
They went to church all the time and it was in Latin.
They ate fish on Friday and went to confession.
They used small prayer cards of saints during devotions.
And they had something like ten children on triple bunks.
I have never forgotten what one of them taught me.
According to his mom, when we sin, our heart gets a black
spot on it.
The more we sin, the blacker our heart gets.
This was not a symbol or a metaphor - he meant literal
black spots.
They would show up on X-rays so the whole world would know.
When you are in first grade, anything seems plausible.
As a Presbyterian first grader, I wasn't sure if only
Catholics got this black heart, or if all of us did.
I was worried. So I asked my mom.
She assured me it only happened to Catholics.
After 48 years' experience on this earth, I am not so
sure....
B. The Bible's testimony on the heart.
1) Jeremiah 17:9 - the heart is deceitful above all things.
2) Matthew 15:19 - Jesus: the heart is a font of evil.
C. Jesus' pronouncement on the heart.
1) Those with pure hearts will see God.
2) Simple, yet profound.
II. What is the heart.
A. We associate the heart with emotions. They did, too.
B. They also associated heart with thinking and moral decisions.
1) It represented the entire person.
III. Meanings of "pure" (katharos) in the Bible.
A. Clean.
1) The burial sheet for Jesus.
2) We often associate this concept with sexual purity.
B. Winnowed.
1) All the bad stuff has been sucked out.
2) Our word "catharsis" derives from this: something purged.
C. Unadulterated or unmixed.
1) Something that's consistent, lacks hypocrisy, has integrity.
2) This is most likely the main thought in the beatitude.
IV. Insight from Psalm 24.
A. Jesus probably had this psalm in mind.
1) Language is very similar to the beatitude.
B. Basic question: who can stand before God as a true believer?
1) Requires clean hands and a pure heart.
a) Outward purity and inward purity.
b) Integrity of whole person before God.
2) Unmixed worship - no idolatry, but worships God only.
a) Fits best with third meaning of purity.
C. God will vindicate and bless them.
1) Note theme of "seeking God's face."
V. How focused is your heart?
A. A pure heart has one focus.
1) It seeks God.
2) It molds itself after God's character.
B. Our hearts tend to be fractured.
1) We know what is good, we yearn to do what is good.
2) Then we don't do it.
C. How can we get a pure heart?
VI. Only God can make us pure.
A. Religion, ethics, etc., cannot do it.
B. After his fall into sin, King David knew there was one solution.
Psalm 51:10 -
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast
spirit within me."
C. We must be prepared to receive it.
1 John 1:9 --
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY GRAIL
During the Middle Ages there were many legends handed down
about the Holy Grail.
The Grail was supposed to be the cup which Jesus used at the
Last Supper.
It has been popularized in our generation by Steven Spielberg's
movie, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." (1989)
One legend told about Joseph of Arimathea, who used the cup to
catch the blood of Christ on the cross as it fell from His
wounded side.
Then Joseph carried the cup to England where he organized a
band of knights to protect the precious blood.
The main knight was made their king.
At certain times the king would unveil the cup, and they would
see a beautiful light shining from it, but only the pure in
heart could see it.
Though this is a lovely story, it is not true to the Bible.
The Bible tells us it is the blood of Christ that purifies the
heart from all sin.
The blood is not merely something to be admired, it is to be
used for meeting our great need of heart-cleansing.
#25208
VII. They shall see God.
A. Two themes in Bible:
1) No one can see God and live. Exod 33:20; 19:21; 3:6
a) God is a spirit and unseeable.
b) Yet in a spiritual sense he CAN be seen.
2) God reveals himself to people.
a) Abraham (Gen 33)
b) Moses (Deut 34:10)
c) Isaiah (Isa 6:1,5).
1> Note that the prophet had to be purified first.
d) You and me?
B. Jesus is focusing on the future.
1) Ultimately, the Judgment Day is in view.
2) Paul - we shall see face to face, & know fully. 1 Cor 13:12
3) Until that day, the more committed you are to God, the more
real he will seem to you.
a) If God seems distant to you, what does that say about
your heart?
b) The advice of Jesus' brother James:
James 4:8 --
"Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Wash your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts, you double-minded."
C. Where is YOUR heart headed?
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#25208 "The Legend of the Holy Grail," #10906 in Paul Tan's 15,000
Illustrations (adapted by David Holwick).
This and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Commentaries:
Expositor's Commentary
======================
I. Division over "pure in heart."
A. Inner moral purity, rather than external or ceremonial
cleanness.
B. Singlemindedness, freedom from a divided self.
1) Utter sincerity. Cf. Matthew 6:22
II. These interpretations are not mutually exclusive.
A. You cannot have the one without the other.
B. This beatitude condemns hypocrisy. cf. on 6:1-18
1) "Inward sham, deceit, and moral filth cannot coexist with
sincere devotion to Christ.
William Barclay
===============
I. Word "pure" has meanings of clean, winnowed, unadulterated.
II. Focus is on our motives.
A. Beatitude calls for self-examination.
III. See God - we see what we are able to see.
A. Those with pure motives can see God.
John Stott
==========
I. "In heart" indicates the kind of purity Jesus has in mind.
A. Most see purity of heart as inward purity of those cleansed from
moral (as opposed to ceremonial) defilement.
1) Psalm 24:3 supports this.
2) Jesus - Pharisees are obsessed with outward purity.
B. More likely, purity of heart relates to our relationships.
1) Purity of heart is having a single heart.
a) Goes with "single eye" teaching in Sermon on Mount.
2) Precise reference is to sincerity and lack of hypocrisy.
James Boice
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I. Blessed are the pure in heart.
A. We are to purify ourselves. 1 Jn 3:3
B. We can do this only because God has cured us first.
II. The core of the problem is we do NOT have a pure heart.
A. The heart is the center of personality: mind, will, emotions.
1) Romans 1:21 - heart clouded by sin.
2) Romans 2:5 - heart represents our implacable will.
3) Romans 5:5 - heart is the seat of emotions.
B. The heart is the source of our problems.
1) Jeremiah - Deceitful above all things. Jer 17:9
2) Jesus - Evil things pour out of it. Matt 12:34 / 15:19
III. Only God can make us pure.
A. Religion, ethics, etc., cannot do it.
B. Only God can change our hearts - Psalm 51:10.
Robert Guelich
==============
I. Beatitude seems to be derived from Psalm 24:4,6.
A. Clean hands and pure heart = integrity of whole person before
God.
B. Purity of heart is perfect sincerity and loyalty before God.
1) It is not limited to thoughts or intentions. cf. Jam 4:8
2) Pure in heart are distinguished by their fruit in Luke 6:43.
II. Shall see God.
A. Two themes in Old Testament:
1) No one can see God and live. Exod 33:20; 19:21; 3:6
2) God revealed himself to Abraham (Gen 33), Moses (Deut 34:10)
and Isaiah (Isa 6:1,5).
B. Acceptance by God on Judgment Day is in view.
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