Chapter Six

Chapter Six

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

As we get closer to God we realize the need to become cleaner; the more we expose ourselves to the light of God, the more we will see the need for cleansing in our hearts. Throughout the bible we are encouraged to acquire pure hearts, to have a pure style of life. David in Psalms 24:3-4 says: “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.(NKJ) The requirement to be at the presence of God is to have a pure heart, a truthful heart, empty of deceit and self-righteousness. David asks: Who may stand in His Holy Place? Those with clean hands and pure of heart, meaning not having a lying tongue and trading God’s place for in our lives for something else.
Therefore, purity of heart is connected to our commitment to the truth and to giving the rightful place of God in our lives. Out of a heart that is clean come an uncompromised worship and a life that is ready to serve God with no attachments to the world. The psalmist in Psalms 51 gives us a beautiful example of someone who seeks purity and holiness, he says on verse 10: “Create in me a clean heart, o God!” It was his desire to be pure before God, to have the right attitude, his heart in the right place. We must seek purity, the cleansing of our hearts; wash me o Lord, and I shall be whiter than snow!
The blessing comes in seeing God, getting to know Him, becoming holy as He is holy. In Hebrews 12:14 says: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which, no one will see the Lord…”
To see God is not limited to the physical sense of seeing Him with our eyes but to see Him for whom He really is, to see Him as He reveals Himself to us, we will see a new side of God! In Proverbs 22:11 says he who loves purity of heart will be the king’s friend! What a privilege for those who have God in the right place in their hearts. Jesus said to his disciples: I no longer call you servants but friends! The disciples had come to the position where the Lord had become priority in their lives. When we pursue purity of heart we are giving the first step in walking beside a Holy God. It is also God’s desire to see us clean and pure, to wash away filth and corruption of our hearts, taking away a heart of stone and putting a heart that is sensitive to His voice, pure and clean ( Ezekiel 36: 25-27). God is not interested only in the outward appearance. Some fall in to the trap of thinking that the purity of our hearts starts from outside. They become shallow and superficial, motivated by what others say, pumping up their ego and pride.
Jesus was really strict with the Pharisees, in Matthew 23:25-28 he says: “"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.     "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.      "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” How dangerous can be the path of self righteousness and hypocrisy! Their mistake was to become pure according to their own standard, not to God’s standard. In Exodus, the Lord speaks to Moses regarding the preparation of an altar for sacrifice. He says in verse 25 of chapter 20: “And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.” (NKJ) The preparation of an altar should not be devoted to the appearance of the altar; the altar itself was just an instrument to present the sacrifice to the Lord. God would not allow Moses to build an altar that had been altered in the effort to make it look nice or proper to the Lord. God Himself would sanctify them.
It’s not our job to make us holy according to our eyes, to our human perspective; instead, we must allow the Lord do the cleansing and purification of our hearts by His word. The apostle Paul in Romans 12:1 says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. We are a LIVING SACRIFICE, holy before the Lord; we can not do it in our own strength but understanding that God will do it in us. If we touch it we make it profane. The blessing of the purity of heart is getting to see the Holiness of God, His essence and character. The purer our hearts becomes the closer we get to God! Blessed are the pure in heart; they shall see GOD!