Matthew 5:8 The pure in heart are blessed, for they will see God
The gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ as
recorded by St. Matthew amongst the other three Gospels uniquely has this
portion of Jesus’s message on the mount to himself; additionally, the Gospel as
recorded by St. Luke is the only gospel that shares the message of our Lord
Jesus which was termed the beatitude. It is interesting to note that the whole
message of the beatitude is centred on this singular unique verse of the Gospel
as recorded by St. Matthew thus it is important to remember at this time our
last lesson on THE HEART, THE ENGINE OF YOUR LIFE as the lesson drawn from that
lesson will greatly assist in this present study.
One thing I did not mention about the
heart in the last lesson which is very important that I draw our attention to
this today is in the Greek usage of the term Heart; the Greek word “καρδία kardia” apart from been usage to express the
thoughts and feelings of the mind figuratively, it is also analogically used to express the middle,
centre, midpoint, core, axis and so on. Thus the heart is visualized as the centre
of a man’s deeds.
It will be important to note that there
is not any action that has ever been carried out by any man that has not yet
been conceived in the heart before then; hence the heart is the warehouse of a man’s
thoughts and deeds which subsequently forms his being/personality.
It is this very centre of thoughts that
God looks at and demands that a man that must worship Him in truthfulness must
be a man who has allowed his worship for God to flow from this very important
aspect of his life called the heart.
Several potions of the Bible has talked
about the heart in so many ways, the book of Jer. 17:9 says that, ‘the heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ESV while the NASU
translation of this same scripture preferred to use the term ‘bad’. One may
want to know why the Bible referred to the heart of man as sick and bad? We will
reveal the reason as we proceed on this lesson.
it has been discovered that the
selected scriptures of today has one thing in come apart from the fact that
they all address the issue of the heart, it is also important to note that they
all contains a question either directly or indirectly?
Looking at the text, Psalm 15:1-2 the question
directly asked is, ‘LORD, who may be a guest in your home? Who may live on your holy hill?’ NET
Similarly, Ps 24:3 asks, ‘Who is allowed to ascend the mountain
of the LORD? Who may go up to his holy dwelling place?’ NET
Consequently, Ps 119:9a asks, ‘How can a young person maintain a pure
life?NET
Indirectly, Matthew 5:8 asked a singular question that brings to bare the main
message of the above scriptures which is, ‘Who is qualified to see God’?
The primary reason for worship is for
God’s people to present themselves as a living sacrifice unto God, been made
holy and accepted by God so that they can share a part with Him (God) now and
subsequently in heaven.
It is also important to note that the
only hindrance to this purpose or reason for worship is the heart of man, on
the same hand; it is also the part that determines ones stand with God.
The following questions will aid our
understanding of this lesson:
1.
Why
is the heart considered to be sick? Jer.
17:9
2.
What
does it mean to acknowledge the truth in your heart? Ps 15:2
3.
What
does it mean to have a pure heart? Ps
24:4a
4.
How
can a one wash away evil from his heart make His heart pure? Jer. 4:14; Ps 119:11a
WHY IS THE HEART CONSIDERED TO BE SICK?
JER 17:9
A synonymous question which will aid in
understanding the reason why the heart is considered to be sick is this; what
does it mean to be sick? The word ‘sick’ means to be suffering from a disease
or illness; it is a state of being out of the normal.
God considered the heart to be sick
because when he created man, he was whole but from the moment he failed in the
garden Genesis 3, his heart
(thoughts and feelings) went out of the normal and became sick; sick in the sense
that the original heart God gave man became influenced by a virus (SIN) which has
made him to function abnormally out of the will of God. Furthermore this speaks
of the level of corruption that has crept into the heart of man by the reason
of the fall. The effect of this corrupted thought and feelings (the heart) amounted
Cain jealousy over his brother Abel which made him to slay Him, it also
resulted in the continuous thought of evil that was found in the heart of man
which made God to repent creating man. Genesis 6:5-6.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE
TRUTH IN YOUR HEART? PS 15:2
Due to the fall of man in the garden,
the thoughts of man, his feelings and desires which are the constitute of his
heart became corrupt and completely wicked, thus man became inconsistent in
heart.
The implication of this is:
·
Man
can speak a lie easily while hiding the truth in his heart.
·
Man
can speak the truth but in his heart, has an evil intention
The second seems to be the most rampart
yet unchecked in the community today, Abraham was a man called by God for his
purpose but he was a man guilty of this same reoccurring issue in the life of
many Christians today.
Abraham had Sarah as his sister and also as his wife; Abimelech
was a King who desired to have Sarah, Abraham on the other was supposed to
reveal the relationship between him and the King but instead, he preferred to tell
the king the truth of Sarah been his sister in other to cover the truth of her been
his wife; even though Abraham was saying the truth but was not truthful in his
heart.
So many times, we say the truth over an
issue with an intention to cover up another essential truth that may implicate
us or favour a person that we are not in good terms with.
Can you remember the last time you slandered your colleague in the office because you want to
paint his image black so as be preferred over him even though the things you
said about him was the truth but right deep in your heart, your motive for
revealing such a truth at that very time is not truthful.
God demands from his people to acknowledge
the truth in their heart, men who will stand and speak the truth not with a deceitful
mind.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A PURE HEART?
PS 24:4A
To have a pure heart is to have a heart
that is sincerely true, a heart in which no deceit will be found; A heart that
will consist of a pure thought, desire, and feelings; a heart that will be in
consistence with the mind of God, and with what the truth that the mouth utters.
HOW CAN A ONE WASH AWAY EVIL FROM HIS
HEART MAKE HIS HEART PURE? JER. 4:14; PS 119:11A
In the book of Jeremiah God asked the
people of Israel to wash away evil from their hearts, but the book Psalm asked
a singular question which is how can one make his way pure; in other words, how
can a man cleanse his heart pure, relating this to the question asked by Jeremiah should be how can a man wash away evil from his heart. The psalmist said by hiding the word of God
in his heart.
Two things are involved here;
·
The
heart
·
The
word
For the heart to be pure it must become
the dwelling of the word, for the thoughts, feelings, and desire to be pure,
the heart must be the dwelling of the word.
It will be
very important to note that the Gospel as recorded by John 1:1 declares that the word of God Himself is Jesus Christ. This
is to say that until Jesus Christ is dwelling in the thought of men, desires of
men, feelings of men, they will always remain evil.
The reason
why a man can easily settle for Lesbianism and Homosexuality is because his
conscience is sick and lacks the presence of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit
who alone has the power to heal man’s heart and restore it to the original
purpose of God.
I plead today with you my audience to
search your heart and make sure that you have received Jesus into your heart
and allow His word to search your heart and eradicate every thoughts and
inclinations that raises himself against Gods knowledge.
May God bless you as you keep your
heart holy for His dwelling.
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I remain your Pastor and Friend
I remain your Pastor and Friend
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