Psalm 24:3-4-Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.
We began this sermon series by laying out some general expectations regarding God’s game plan for your life. We said that it is God’s will for you to rejoice always, to pray continually and to give thanks in Christ Jesus (I Thess. 5:16-18). We also talked about letting God control the plays for the battles in your life by seeking Him and following His lead while you worship Him no matter what battle you face because after all, “the battle is the Lord’s.” We moved from there to a more specific instruction for God’s game plan for your life which was protection for your mind. God wants you to live with a sound mind. The encouragement was to get your head in the game according to God’s game plan. Today, I want to challenge you to get your heart in the game. Your heart, the quality of your heart, the responsiveness of your heart, the commitment of your heart to God, is of utmost importance to Him. God desires for you to live with a pure heart.
Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” I think many read that verse and think of the day that they will enter eternity in Heaven. They think of the day when they will see Jesus, face to face. While it is true that those whose hearts have been purified by the blood of Jesus will see God, those who are living with care for God’s commands, with a focus on the holiness of God and pleasing Him, who desire to be allegiant to Christ and Christ alone, those who are seeking to live with purity of heart, I believe they see God in the here and now.
Here is the principle: Purity of heart enables spiritual sight. It is when our hearts are cluttered and clouded and convoluted by being drawn to and given to the things of the world that our ability to see Jesus, to see God at work, gets stymied. If you want a pure heart and the ability to see God, you must make a choice to look away from the things of this world and set your gaze on Jesus.
If I set my heart on materialism above the things of God, materialism pulls me or ties me to the things of earth which causes me to constantly be turning to look whenever the possibility of more and more money or stuff is on the horizon. That becomes what I am scanning the landscape to see, that becomes what I am searching for. If I set my heart on the things of the flesh, then I am drawn to images and opportunities that satisfy the urges of my flesh. Feeding my flesh becomes what my heart is given to, and I will just say that the flesh is very selfish and greedy. Feeding the flesh is like sinking into a bottomless pit. You will never be satisfied, and you will be completely distracted from Kingdom Life. I liken it to trying to follow Jesus while walking backwards. If I set my heart on the approval of others, then what I live for changes. I will center my attention on looking a certain way or getting a certain number of social media followers or put my effort into being accepted into a certain friend group.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to possess nice things, but when nice things possess us, our hearts have been defiled. There is nothing unusual about having fleshly desires, but when fleshly desires become the desire of our hearts, we have become slaves to something other than Christ. Wanting to belong and be affirmed for who we are is a basic human need, but seeking the applause of men will always take us away from living for the applause of Christ which means spiritual compromise at some point.
And the problem is that living for any of the things that fall into those categories I have just described will keep us from seeing God in the here and now. And if there was ever a time that we needed to be able to SEE God in the here and now, it is now. We need to see Him present and active in our lives and on the world’s stage. We need to see Him in our day-to-day activities and struggles because when we do, we will be steadied, we will have peace, we will be healed, we will know what to say in any circumstance, we will know what decisions to make regarding our health or finances or relationships, we will know when to change the plan for our day in order to be used by God, and we will walk on the path that is protected for us by Jesus. There are plenty of paths to choose, friends, but there is only one path where you can walk with confidence and it is the pathway to purity that Jesus has paved for you. Purity of heart will keep you on the protected path.
Being able to SEE God is a total game-changer, but often our spiritual eyesight is clouded because of a wrong and even sinful focus.
Proverbs 4:23 says, “ABOVE ALL ELSE, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Read that with me.
Above all else. What could a daily heart check do for a Christ-follower? What could happen if those who claim the name of Jesus start asking the Holy Spirit to bring conviction on any area of their heart that isn’t fully surrendered to God? Would God’s people start to see Him more clearly? Would they then start to speak for Him more articulately? Would they begin doing the miracles He promised His followers could do? Would the peace of Christ be more evident in their lives? Would life’s battles be less disruptive in their lives? Would greater numbers of people be getting saved because of the closeness with Christ that His people would share? Listen, purity of heart will result in purity of life.
We become right with God through the blood of Jesus, but how do we become pure in heart? How do we foster that? How do we strive for that? What is our part in the development of purity of heart, and what is our part in the guarding of our hearts?
A newcomer to our church, Heather Holmes, posted a devotion she had read on Friday. I just happened to check my Facebook during a study break and ran across it. I want to read it to you.
As you become aware of My Presence, I help you become more alert–smoothing out the tangles in your mind and enabling you to see Me more clearly. I invite you to spend time enjoying My Presence and nourishing your soul with My Word. When you respond to My Love-call by “drawing nearer to Me,” I am delighted. This time dedicated to Me loosens and strengthens you immensely. I open your understanding to My Word–enabling you to comprehend Scripture and apply it to your life. As you make plans for your day, I help you discern My will. This collaboration with Me empowers you to handle “whatever” comes your way as you go through the day. I am training you to “trust Me at all times–” in all circumstances.
I submit to you that God’s game plan for your life is for you to Pursue the Presence of God. Your heart will be cultivated in His presence. You will become alert to spiritual truth and spiritual happenings. Things that are confusing will become clear. You will move from spiritually anemic to strengthened and encouraged. You will be wooed by God and your heart for Him will grow deeper.
You will be less inclined to want the things of the world. That which has had a grip on you that isn’t from God will loosen in your life. You will understand God’s Word. You will move through your day with a God-consciousness. You will know what to do in order to please God and doing that won’t be hard. Spending time in God’s presence will sync your heart with God’s heart. When that happens, when your heart is one with someone, pleasing them, serving them is a delight. There will be a collaboration between you and God when your heart is set on Him. You will be a partner with God and not someone He is constantly trying to drag along or convince that His way is best. That partnership will give you power and you will be able to handle whatever life brings.
The result of spending regular time in the presence of God will be purity of heart. The Bible is very clear on how spending time with the Lord will result in a purification of our hearts.
Psalm 119:9, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word!” Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You, God.”
Our pursuit of purity in heart is really about who we want to become. Do we want to please God on every level? Do we want to be used of God to free and heal others? Do we want to impact future generations for Christ’s sake? Do we want the powers of darkness to tremble when we walk into a space? If those are the things we want, if those pursuits define who we want to become, then we will pursue purity of heart through the pursuit of God’s presence. Change of heart, changing who we are, comes as a result of being in the presence of God.
The truth is, it’s often more tempting to just keep up appearances with people and forget about the necessity of tending to our hearts. We work to look clean on the outside to be acceptable to others, but often neglect what our hearts look like to God. He IS the only one who can see our hearts, but He CAN see them.
Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day for not pursuing His presence. They were only focused on looking righteous, on looking pure, to the people around them. They were living to impress others while their hearts were full of darkness, full of sin. No wonder they couldn’t see Jesus when He came.
They weren’t even concerned about their relationship with God. They were just focused on being seen by man.
Look at Matthew 23:25-28 25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus said of the religious leaders, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain. Matthew 15:8-9
They were going through some religious motions, but their hearts weren’t in the game. What can you do to make sure your heart is in the game and that you aren’t just doing some religious stuff that is in vain, that counts for nothing, that means nothing and that produces nothing? Make it a habit to regularly acknowledge and pursue the presence of God. We have no excuses. You can sign up for a daily devotional to be delivered right to your email. You can buy a devotional book that will help shape your heart around God’s heart for you. You can watch this message again tomorrow or listen to it on your way to work. You can pray wherever you are. If you don’t think you have time to pray, start praying in the drive-thru! Start praying in the grocery line. Start praying when you travel from place to place. Open your Bible and just read the Gospels over and over and ask God to help you hear His voice. If you do it on a regular basis, you will begin to regularly see God! I posted a note on my Facebook page asking people what their favorite online/email devotion was. There is a long list there. If you don’t know where to start, pick one of those.
And friends, if you will do that, it will make the last part of this message a whole lot easier. In order to seek purity of heart you need to not only pursue God’s presence and secondly, you need to put away the things that have stolen your affections away from Christ.
Lust, greed and the approval of others will be more easily dealt with if you have regularly been in God’s presence because God will begin to change your desires. You won’t want the things of this world to take precedence in your life. They won’t have the same importance. Your concern for what others think will fade. Your preoccupation with the flesh will wane.
I Peter 4:1 says we are to be done with sin. Listen, sin isn’t a behavioral issue first. It is a heart issue first. Sin in your life, strongholds of sin in your life, are an indication that your heart has been compromised. It has been tainted. It has been invaded. It has been divided. If you will repent, if you will confess your heart’s compromised condition, and if you ask for Holy Spirit help to be done with sin, God will hear and answer that prayer.
A repentant prayer invites the Holy Spirit’s power into a person’s life. That thing that you have been doing in secret, that website you have been looking at that you shouldn’t be viewing, that thing that you are ingesting more and more and more of, that desperation to have a certain amount of money or to look a certain way, or to manipulate others with lies so that you feel in control of some outcome…those things you do that you know are wrong when you are doing them, and you know what I am talking about, they compromise your purity of heart which compromises your ability to see God. I know the things of this world can look exciting. They can seem thrilling in the moment. They are subtle and seductive, and they lead to regret and heartache and wind up hurting you and others.
You won’t see God fighting for you when you tolerate impurity in your heart. You won’t sense God’s presence when you are holding onto sinful practices. You won’t have your prayers answered when you prioritize sin over purity. Psalm 66:18
I don’t want to minimize God’s help in my life. I need all of the help I can get. I don’t want to distance myself from the One who can give me wisdom when I need it. My understanding is limited for sure. I don’t want to alienate myself from Divine protection or direction because I have elevated some three-minute pleasure experience to the place of God in my life. Listen, sinful practices can never provide you with the satisfaction, contentment, peace, and joy that come from pursuing the presence of God.
There are things in addition to material things, fleshly things and the approval of others that can take root in our hearts. What about anger, bitterness and unforgiveness? Those things can absolutely keep a person from being able to SEE God. Some here today need to let go of past hurt. Some need to forgive someone who did something to you or who have said things about you. Some of you need to let go of people who walked out of your life or who cost you something, whether financial or relational or positional. Some of you may need to confess the ugliness of racism or sexism or classicism. Perhaps there are people here who are just living angry because your life isn’t going the way you planned, and as a result those who live with you have become a verbal or physical punching bag. I’m telling you, those strongholds in a person’s life are to the devil’s delight. If he can keep you bound in anger, bitterness and unforgiveness, he can keep you from pursuing the presence of God and you won’t see Him at work in your life in liberating ways.
Is anyone willing to be real? Is anyone willing to pray a prayer of confession? Is anyone willing for God to shine His light on something that needs corrected, on something that needs ejected from their life? Is anyone willing to confess sin? Is anyone willing to acknowledge that something that taken the place that God is supposed to occupy in their heart? Is anyone willing to pray with the Psalmist,
“Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
I’m telling you that you can walk with God every day. You can see Him at work in your life. You can hear His voice. You can follow His lead. You can watch Him move obstacles out of your way and clear your path. You can see Him working in and through people around you. You can sense His arms coming around you in moments of grief. You can watch Him provide for your needs. These are real experiences that come to the person who is pure in heart, who sincerely wants the presence of God over the pleasures of this earthly life. Who wants that? Who will ascend the hill of the Lord with me this morning to seek it?
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