The Pure (1)
- Who are the pure in heart?
The passage is from verse 8. It reads, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” God’s Word is always absolutely true. The word ‘pure’ literally means it is clear and clean. If one’s heart is clear and clean, it does not only mean his outward actions are holy trained by education and common sense.
It means he is sanctified without any evil in his heart. Pharisees at the time of Jesus did not cast off the sins in their hearts but recited God’s Word, fasted often, and strictly gave their tithes. Also, they made many rules in addition to God’s commands. Thinking that they were clean and holy, they kept them diligently. One of their rules was that if they ate with hands that were not washed, it was unclean.
According to this rule, they washed their hands before eating. But when they saw Jesus’ disciples eating without washing their hands, the Pharisees tried to rebuke them.
But what did Jesus say? He said, “It is not the things that go into the mouth but the things that come out from mouth make a man ‘unclean’.” Matthew 15:18-20 says, “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
Even though we correct our appearances and deeds pretending that we are holy, God is not pleased with us for He looks at the heart. He wants us to get rid of sins, unlawfulness, and unrighteousness that make our heart unclean. If we are really clean, we will naturally keep our body and surroundings clean. But some people say, “I have lived a good life without harming other people. So, if there is heaven, I will go to heaven.” They say that because they think they don’t sin so they don’t have to attend church or believe in Jesus.
But in this world nobody has a clean heart before God without believing in the Lord. Everybody is born with the original sin that is inherited from Adam and other sinful natures that are inherited from their ancestors. Also, although they think they are living a good life, everybody is a sinner in the sight of God, who is truth itself.
That is why Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, not even one.” The worldly people say they did not sin because they did not harm others or break any law with their actions. Also, even if they do violate the law, for example, by evading tax, only if it is not found, they say they have not sinned.
For example, they think that even if their heart is filled with hatred and they want to hit somebody else so much, if they do not actually hit, then it is not sin. If they want to kill somebody, but they do not actually kill them again they think it is not sin. But in God’s sight, if we have just hatred in our heart and we want to hit somebody, it is considered hitting.
It’s because we wanted to hit. Also, if we wanted to kill somebody, it means we murdered somebody. God says, only if we have something evil in our heart, we are already sinners and our heart is unclean. So, 1 John 3:15 says, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
Anyone who hates his brother has no eternal life in him. This means he will not be saved. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, but murderers have no eternal life in him, so anyone who hates his brother has no eternal life in him. This means in this state, he will not be saved if God calls his soul right now.
Many believers do not even know what the limit of salvation is. It is clearly written in Old Testament and New Testament, but they just do not know. Are you saved just by saying you believe? We should know the truth clearly, not vaguely.
Matthew 5:28 says, “but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Adultery is not only when you commit it with your actual action. If you just have it in your heart, it is adultery.
In the world, condemnation follows only when the sin is visible. But God looks at our heart. If we have adultery just in our heart, we have already committed adultery. So, since God looks at our heart, He wants our heart to be clean. He wants not the holy and clean acts only, but our hearts to be clean. In the same way, if we have greed, pride, deceit, envy, jealousy, anger, and so on, our heart is already unclean even if they are not shown outwardly.
God wants His children to have clean hearts and to cast off not only sins that are outwardly shown as action, but also the nature of evil things in their hearts. If God loves somebody because he has a clean heart, God will meet him, be with him, and walk with him.
Matthew 5:48 says, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” And 1 Peter 1:16 says, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” God is commanding us to be holy as He is holy. God is telling us as His children to be perfect as He is perfect. If we used to fight and get angry with others, we have to cast off anger and become meek. If we used to be proud, we should humble ourselves and serve others. If we had envy and jealousy, we should change our heart to love even our enemies.
But just knowing God’s Word as knowledge is useless no matter how much we know. If this pulpit has dirt, I have to bring a cloth or towel and wipe it to make it clean. Will this pulpit get clean if we just put a towel next to it saying that it needs to be cleaned?
It will just stay dirty no matter how much time goes. You need to use the towel. Similarly, it is of no use just to know God’s Word as knowledge. We have to keep it in our mind and put it into practice to make our heart clean and pure.
But no matter how much we desire to change our heart into a pure one, we cannot change our heart by ourselves. Romans 7:22-24 says, “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”
This inner being delights in God’s law and wants to seek God. Because you still had this kind of heart in you, you could open your heart to accept the Lord. But another law in your body is waging war against the law of your mind and making you a prisoner to the law of sin. There is the mind that knows the truth and tries to cast away sins and at the same time, there is another mind that loves sin and tries to hold on to it.
You have difficulties as two different minds fight with each other. Casting sins away cannot be done only by human effort, so we have to receive God’s strength. 1 Timothy 4:5 says, “for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.” Without the word of God we cannot become holy. Only the word of God teaches us what true goodness is, what true holiness is, what true meekness is, and what real truth is.
First of all, we should try our best to live according to God’s word with our own effort. Through fervent prayers, we should receive God’s strength and grace, and the help of the Holy Spirit. When we keep on following the truth in that way, our deeds will be holy, and the sinful nature in our heart will be cast off to make our heart clean.
- For they shall see God
What kind of blessings are we going to receive when we have clean and pure heart by the Word of God and prayers? It is said we will see God. Do you all want to see God? If you love God and the Lord, you will obviously want to see them. How happy and glad it would be to meet God, talk to Him, and be embraced by Him!
In Judges 13:22, Samson’s father Manoah said after seeing the angel of the LORD, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.” Also, John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”
A sinner cannot see God. Also, we will be able to see God’s original being later, only after we get to the kingdom of heaven. But even after we enter into the heavenly kingdom, those who have gone only into paradise or the 1st and 2nd kingdoms of heaven cannot see Him. Only those who are in New Jerusalem and the 3rd kingdom will be able to see Him.
But on this earth, there are some occasions in which we can see God. Although it is not seeing the original body of God who is at His throne in heaven, the Spirit of the Father meets us and lets us see His image. Exodus 33:11 says, “Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.”
God spoke to Moses as a man speaks with his friend. When God came upon this earth, the people of Israel did not dare to go near, but Moses saw Him face to face. Also, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years. During that time God must have shown Himself to him because He loved Enoch very much.
Why, then, is it that some people cannot see God or even die when they see God whereas others see God face to face and even walk with Him? Those who are pure in heart can see God, and oppositely, those who are stained with sins and unclean in their heart cannot see God. So, 3 John 1:11 says, “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.”
Although we do not see the original body of God the Father who is on the heavenly throne, we see only His spirit on this earth, but it is also such a great blessing! Why? It is not only joyful to see God the Father whom we love, but when He shows Himself to us, He will not come empty-handed.
If we cast off all sins from our heart and make our hearts pure, we will not receive these blessings just once. We will receive overflowing blessings like Enoch, who walked with God for three hundred years. So, each moment of our lives would be filled with thanks and testimonies.
So, seeing God in today’s passage does not only mean that we will see the image of God the Father with our spiritual eyes. It also means we will receive the answers to what we ask for in prayer. Namely, it is to meet and experience the living God.
When you testify that you have met and experienced the living God, it does not only mean that you have seen God with your eyes. It means you have experienced God’s works answering the prayers of His children with His power and divinity. Jeremiah 29:12-13 says, “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” The Bible clearly states He will listen when we cry out.
That is why even our Lord prayed so earnestly until his sweat became drops of blood. The disciples also cried out in their prayers. Even when he was at the doorstep of death, Stephen called out ‘Lord’ loudly. Our Lord also cried in loud voice even on the cross.
God says He will answer to those who cry out to Him. In some cases, even though they are new-believers and do not live in truth, they receive answers to their prayers. Even if they have not become fully sanctified with about 30%, 50%, or 80% sanctification, they meet and experience God in their own measure of faith. For example, no matter how rich the parents are and how much they love their children, they cannot give millions of dollars to their little children as pocket money.
On the contrary, if the grown up children act exactly according to the parents’ desires, the parents can give as much as they want. That is, if their parents are able to give. But even for little children while growing up, if they act in a particularly loving way, do something to be praised, or when they may need to buy something, parents can give an amount that is appropriate for them to have.
Similarly, if God’s children become fully sanctified and grow up to have a full measure of faith, they will receive answers to the desires of their heart and they can even perform with God’s power.
Also, even if you are not fully sanctified, to the extent that you please God in your measure of faith, God will give you grace. You will receive answers to your prayers as you pray earnestly and experience the living God by receiving gifts of the Holy Spirit like speaking in tongues. You will be filled with the Holy Spirit through these experiences and purify your heart more and more.
The blessing of meeting God has partially fallen upon you. But if you truly love God, you will not be satisfied with this level of faith of a child. You should try your best to cast off sins and become quickly sanctified to become matured children who are pleasing in God’s sight. God will delight over you if you become this kind of child. It is because now through you too God can accomplish His purpose of human cultivation that He had been conducting in such great agony and with heartbreaking pains for an immeasurable amount of time since the very beginning. Now, God can let you experience answers and blessings with His mighty power.
2 Corinthians 7:1 says, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
We, who have received the promise of salvation, resurrection, and blessings through Jesus Christ, should purify ourselves and clean ourselves. This is the way to fulfill God’s promise of blessings.
The reason why many believers do not receive blessings is that they do not purify their heart. If those who have not purified their heart receive blessings, they commit more sins and they stay away from God. Also, the enemy devil and Satan will raise objections before God for giving blessings to those who have not prepared their vessels. If we do not purify our heart first, God cannot give us blessings no matter how much He wants to bless us.
In some cases, you pray a lot so that God is letting you know the ways to receive answers, but you cannot receive since you do not hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. If your heart is clean, you will not only see God but also clearly hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Even if you don’t hear Holy Spirit’s voice clearly, God will stop you from making mistakes. To the extent that we have untruth in our heart, we will have fleshly thoughts so that we will not hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. If we hear the voice and go the way that God lets us know, we will soon receive blessings and answers. But since we do not hear the voice, we act on our own so that answers are delayed.
I hope you will get rid of all uncleanness and accomplish heart that is as pure and beautiful as crystal so that you will be able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit clearly. In this way, you should give glory to God like a tree planted by the waters always receiving answers and blessings.