# Blessed are the pure in heart

Key Passage: Matthew 5:8
Date: June 7, 2024

He looks at me; he sees the nail-scarred hands that bought my liberty. I stand redeemed.

Turn your Bible to Matthew chapter number five. We have been going through the Beatitudes, how to be blessed, and we are winding, getting closer to the end. It has been interesting; I have learned a lot. Today we are in verse number eight of Matthew chapter number five. Matthew chapter five. I just feel like my earring is not right yet. You know, he said, “Preachers wearing an earring.” And Brother Stephen is going to go spread rumors for sure now, you know. And we are working on it.

Matthew 5, verse number 8, in God’s Word. Matthew 5, verse number 8. Would you please stand? Matthew 5, verse number 8 of God’s Word. No, I do not believe men ought to have earrings, amen. And I leave those to the ladies, amen.

But Matthew chapter 5, verse number 8 of God’s Word. If you are there, would you say amen? Amen. Matthew 5, verse number 8. Would you read it out loud with me, please? Here we go: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Let us go to the Lord in word of prayer. Would you pray as I pray? Father, Lord, we are getting started today. So, Lord, please guide me.

Father, Lord, help me to get to the point quickly. Lord, more important than what I do, would you come and work? Lord, I sure would love to just get out of the way and let you work. Would you do so? Father, speak to every heart, Lord, please. Help us to be hungry for you working. And Lord, we will thank you, we will brag on you and praise you for what you do. And we ask for this in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.

My former dog, if there is a dog heaven, he is there. I do not know. But his name was Reagan. He was named after Ronald Reagan. He was my bud. Reagan was a lab, a golden retriever mix.

Sometimes in the morning I go for walks and have my prayer time and whatnot. I go out back—they are not ours—but there are some horses in a pasture there, and then there is an electric fence. You always want to be careful as you are going through the electric fence. You understand what I am talking about there? Then there is maybe about 20 feet of just woods, another tree line, and then you open up into 100 acres. Just beautiful.

About a year ago, I went over there and took Reagan with me. It was early in the morning. As we crossed over that little area of woods and that tree line, and you kind of open up into 100 acres, I looked down into the 100 acres. There were deer out there. Now, Reagan loved to chase the deer. He was all over it. When we got over there, it was like he could sense there were deer out there, but he did not see them. If he had looked up and just got his eyes over there a little bit, he would have seen the deer. I kept saying, “Hey Reagan, okay, hey dummy, look over there.” But Reagan was just smelling everything. He never saw them.

I am telling you, I do not know how many deer there were; I cannot remember. There were deer out there, and they were not that far. You could see them as clear as day. But he was just so caught up in his nose. You know how dogs are. They trust their nose. Their nose starts working before their eyes open up for a couple of days, so they really trust that nose. And he never saw them. I was like, “Hey!” He was like, “You want to go there and shake them?” And there they were.

The Bible here says, if I do not have a pure heart, I do not see God. I will not see Him working in my life. I will not see the hand of God move. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Now, if you are like me, you say, “Well, what does God mean when He says, they shall see God?”

What does that mean? She is going to have admittance into his office. They are in the hospital, but they say, “We are going to get out of here, and Monday we are going to go see the doctor.”

Moses and Pharaoh, when they had that night, right at that ninth plague—Pharaoh was so mad at Moses. He said, “You are not going to see my face again. If you see my face again, you are going to be dead.” Moses said, “Sounds good to me, fella.” I wonder, I wonder if as Pharaoh was going down, drowning in the Red Sea, if the last face he saw was Moses. I wonder about that.

Look, it is getting a viewing, it is getting an entrance. You get in a minute. You get to go in the doctor’s office, and the doctor looks at you and checks you out and says, “Hey, this is right, this is wrong, you need to do this, why not?” Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Preacher, I am having my prayer time, but I do not feel like I am entering into His presence. I do not have a viewing with the God of heaven. What is wrong? Do you have a pure heart?

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” When you see God—I will do a poor job of describing that seeing God—you get a visitation; you get admitted, sir. You know, you have been waiting in line forever, and finally, “All right, time for you to go back,” or you go and wait in the room for about 30 more minutes. Finally, the doctor comes in there. I cannot describe to you how wonderful it is when you get to see God. It will change your life. It will do a lot of things. Let me just mention a couple things: It will take away pride.

Job was a good, godly man, but he had some self-righteousness. Those first three friends accused him, and eight times Job answered back. The eighth answer of Job lasted six chapters. Job was just defending himself. Finally, in the last verse of Job 31, Job says, “The words of Job are ended.”

Then Elihu, the young guy, comes in and begins to speak for six chapters. Let me go back a little bit here. The Bible talks about these three friends; they did not answer again after Job’s words ended. But this is what it says in Job 32: “So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes.” That is where the Bible talks about Job. They said, “We are not going to say anything because that guy just spent six chapters defending himself.” But they said, “We are not saying anything else; that guy is righteous in his own eyes.”

In six chapters, Elihu speaks, and then God starts speaking for four chapters. At the end of God speaking, this is what Job says. Now listen to what Job says here: “I have heard of thee by the hearing ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

You see, when we get a viewing, we get in to see God. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” And you get a good glimpse of God. You are not looking around and trying to be judgmental of everybody else. You say, “Man, I have got a lot of issues myself.” That is what Isaiah did in Isaiah 6. When he saw the Lord lifted up, you just get to see God.

It will bring peace. How many times, man, you have got turmoil and you have got burdens, you have got no peace, and your mind keeps going to the things you do not want to go to—troublesome pride, “How am I going to solve this?” And you get a good glimpse of God, and He is the only one that says, “Peace, be still.” Just a glimpse brings peace by getting a view of God.

It will cause your view to not just be here down and what you can get down; it will give you an eternal view. Young people, if even while you are young you get a good glimpse of God—one good glimpse of God—it will change your view. Life is more than down here; it is about eternity.

Moses was raised for 40 years in the palace. He had everything. You talk about the latest video games; Moses had access to them. He had it all. And yet the Bible says Moses forsook Egypt. How did that happen? Hebrews 11:27 says, “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, but for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.” I am saying, if you see God, it will change you. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Think with me here for a second. Some of you have been saved for much longer than I. When was the last time you got a good glimpse of God? I was speaking with a man yesterday, a good man, who has had two heart attacks. He said—I think he said—he died at one point; they had to bring him back. You could tell he has used that experience. He got, if you will, a glimpse of God. Christians, we need this. This world beats you down, and the devil tries to weary you. Every once in a while, you need a good glimpse of God.

Preacher, how can I have that? Well, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Let us talk for just a little bit about purity of heart. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus, when He was talking to these Pharisees who had all the outside just right? He did not say, “Blessed are those that know how to tie their tie just right and put the dimple right there.” I mess it up sometimes. And carry their King James Bible. I am for a King James Bible; in my opinion, that is the only Bible there is. I am for those things, but He did not say somebody has got it all right on the outside. He did not say that. He said, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” Where is that? Heart.

You see, the outside and the heart are two different things. In fact, Jesus, at one point, said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are likened unto whited sepulchers.” Their graveyards, they would take white stuff and make it look real good on the outside. He says, “Which indeed appear to be beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.” He goes on and says, “Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”

Jesus says, “Hey, listen, not blessed are those who have everything on the outside right, but blessed are the pure in heart”—the inside. By the way, nobody really knows your heart; God does.

God had already said—we are studying David on Wednesday nights, and I encourage you to come; we are in our second week—God told Saul, “You are not going to be the king anymore. I have found a man after my own heart, David.” He said to Samuel, “I am not looking on the outside. I am looking at the heart. That is the guy I want to be king.” And then the older brother, a chapter or two later, turns around and says, “I know the naughtiness of thine heart.” His very own brother said, “Your heart is wicked and filthy and dirty and rotten.” And God said, “Because his heart was so right, I want to make him king.” I am simply saying, nobody knows your heart; God does.

God said, “Blessed are the pure in heart,” the inside. Now, let me not confuse you: if the inside is right, the outside will start to show it. I have seen so many hypocrites who have the outside looking so good and so right, but the inside is not good and right. And some, having seen so many hypocrites, kind of avoid getting the outside right. My friend, that is hypocrisy also. Hypocrisy is when the two do not line up with each other; there is a fake somewhere. If my inside is right, my outside will get right.

Can I say this? I am going to go against what so many will say. So many will say, “Well, you get the inside right, and then the outside follows.” I do not think necessarily that is true. In fact, according to Scripture, a lot of times it is the opposite. Look over in the book of Psalms real quickly. Let us just talk about that for a moment. Psalm 24, verse number three. Let us start there. Psalm 24, verse number three. When you find that, would you say, “Praise the Lord”?

Psalm 24. Look at verse number three right there. “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?” They are going to get a meeting with God. “Who shall stand in His holy place?” They are going to be admitted to see God. Who is this person going to be? Watch what he says and watch the order of it: “He that hath clean hands”—that is the outside for you—“and a pure heart,” what Jesus is saying over here. “Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” But I want you to notice: “Clean hands and pure heart.”

You know the verse in James 4:8: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.” Did you notice the order? It started with the outside and went to the heart: clean hands and pure heart.

God is for both, but be careful. Sometimes you cannot make your heart right, and you get in there and start sowing to yourself in righteousness, and God lets you reap in mercy (Hosea 10:12). It takes a while for God to come and reign righteousness in you. So be careful. Do not think, “Well, I can just let my outside go; I am ruining my testimony because my heart is not right.” No, keep your outside right while you are working on the inside. God is working on the inside, amen?

The promise over here, Matthew 5:8, is, “Blessed are the pure in heart,” so you see God.

Let me go back there. We are moving along pretty quickly. We are already on the second page. I only have 10 pages, so we are doing pretty good.

Since you are there in Psalms, look over in Psalm 18 and look at verse number 23. Psalm 18:23. “I was also upright before him and I kept myself from mine iniquity.” Where is the iniquity at? What does the Bible say? If I regard iniquity in my heart… Now, his heart was not right, but he said, “I did not follow the wicked things in my heart, the iniquity in there.” So, you keep yourself right and ask God to work on your heart—that pure heart.

Let me just illustrate it. Remember that red Dodge Dakota truck I drove for years? Stephen says, “Yeah, I remember that thing.” It started breaking down all the time at the end there. I bought that red Dodge Dakota truck in Murfreesboro from an individual. The engine knocked; it had a good knock in it, and it was loud. It was listed for so cheap because it had a bad engine. I drove up there, and I thought it was probably going to be ragged out all over, but it looked pretty good. I decided I was going to buy it. I asked the fellow, “Do you think it will run long enough for me to get it home?” He said, “No, I do not think it will.” I said, “Well, I am going to try.” I drove it one block before the engine went all the way out. Praise the Lord for a neighbor that drove a wrecking truck.

But I got it home, and I went and got an engine from a junkyard—from a full-size Dodge truck—for $1,500. It was the same engine. I brought it home, took the old engine out, and went to put the new engine in there. Some of you, Brother Anthony, you have been here before, but when you go to put a new engine in, it does not fit. I did not curse at all, but maybe I might have assigned my name if somebody would have written them down. I am joking, all right? But you try to fit it in there, and you have got the crowbar, and you are pushing and prying and shoving. You have got grease up to your ears, and it just would not fit. So you take it out and say, “What in the world is going on?” Then I noticed the oil pan on that engine was different than the oil pan on my engine—bigger, back, splatter, ribbed. Now I have got to do more work; you have got to change oil pans out.

Sure enough, I had to take the oil pan off that old engine that was blown. When you take that oil pan off—I drained the oil—but there was so much sludge and dirt and filth. I am talking about wiping for days. I was going to put it on the other good engine. When I drove up, that truck looked pretty good. I did not realize the sludge was inside of that engine; it just filled it up. I began to take that engine apart, and I had to clean that old pan real good before I used it over there.

How do you have a pure heart? You have a sin nature from Adam, so how do I have a pure heart? You let God clean you up. You just let God. Let me say more than that: more than you let God, you ask God.

It is not a one-time deal. Yes, it is salvation. It all starts right there. You say, “I am a sinner. I cannot save myself. I am headed to a Christless eternity. I am going to burn forever and ever in hell.” And you look to Jesus: “Jesus, would you save me?” When you do that, He moves inside your heart. He regenerates you. He gives you a new heart. Praise the Lord for that new heart.

But you still have your flesh. You will never have a pure heart unless you start with regeneration. You start at salvation with the Holy Spirit. He brings new life into you. You are born again, born from above. Once you are saved, friend, here is the thing: Satan is ready all the time to pour in that sludge.

I praise God when I think about all the years in our church. Some people have been in our church for years, continually saying, “Lord, would you clean my heart up?” Once you are in a church for a while and you build relationships, you get around people, and you are going to get hurt every once in a while. Satan is always busy trying to put some dirt in there; he is just good at that. If I am going to have a pure heart, I have to continue, “Lord, would you clean my heart up?”

Thank God for the Christians down through the years who continually say, “Lord, you clean my heart. Would you purify my heart?” If I am going to have a pure heart, I get saved first of all, and then I go to God often. David said over there in Psalm 13: “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” Is it a day-to-day thing? Yes. God gets my heart right, and I wake up the next morning, and somehow my heart is all turned around—wrong, going the wrong way, ill feelings, or pride, or I see the world and want this car or this, whatever it may be. I have to take my heart; it seems like it is a continual thing.

Here is what is helpful: If I am going to keep my heart right, I have to pour it out to the Lord. Psalm 62:8 says, “Pour out your heart before the Lord.”

I was talking to someone this week who had been wronged—they were dead wrong, no doubt about it. It was good that they recognized it for what it was and said, “Hey, let me give you the best advice I know. Go get along with God and tell God exactly how you feel about this situation—good, bad, or ugly.” Because it is in your heart right now; you are pretty hurt over the situation. It is not wrong to be hurt; you are human. But how I handle it is so very, very important. I told them how Jesus was hurt by people, and I said, “Now go get along, and I want you to tell God your side of the story, telling me everything about it, and then work on your heart.”

I talked to them the next day, and they said, “Well, I am pretty much over the thing.” I am thankful they handled it right. But if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. I do not have a hearing; I do not get to see God.

It is so important, as Christians, if you are going to be a long-term Christian, on fire for the Lord and eager for God, that you are going to have to work at having a pure heart. It is going to be an ongoing process. You are going to have to be honest about it: “Lord, my heart’s prone to wander.” Satan is always busy just pouring junk in your heart. It is an ongoing thing.

Praise the Lord. I say it again, praise the Lord for those over the years who have worked at their heart. Sometimes God will work on your heart in a church service, and you say, “Man, I do not want a worldly heart,” and you come to the altar. Christians year after year just say, “Lord, I want you to purify my heart.” They see God. By the way, they are the ones that see God answer prayers. They are the ones that see God do something in their life. They are the ones that see God bring healing and change, and God uses them, and they see God. “Blessed are the pure in heart.”

You will not have a pure heart unless you are sometimes at least in that book right there [the Bible]. Have you ever washed clothes and forgotten to put the laundry detergent in there? Come on now. Have you done that before? Yeah. The rest of you are not being honest, you know.

If I just try to clean my heart up, I cannot do it. One of the things God uses is “the washing of the water by the Word”—the Bible. With those engines, especially one that has sludge in it, nowadays you can get this engine flush. You put it in your oil and run it, and it runs through all the different parts of your engine, trying to clean out all the sludge. Back in the day, some of you hillbillies will know what I am talking about. Back in the day, they just got a can of kerosene. That is what you did; you just put some kerosene in there and let it run for a while, and that cleans everything. Then you drain it out and put some new oil in there.

When you get into the Bible, and the Bible begins to say, “Hey, that envy right there, that is not right. That gall right there, that is not right. That longing after something you know you ought not have—that is not right”—that cleaning agent begins to loosen up the dirt in your heart. Here is what you do: You get to the cross. You drain that old sludge out because Jesus paid it all for it. You come and confess it. You do not deny it. You do not act like it is not there. You do not say, “I am going to get myself right.” You never will. You go to the cross and say, “Oh, Lord, would you forgive me? Would you clean me up?” Jesus paid it all; all to Him I owe. That blood of Christ begins to flow, and He gives you a pure heart.

I was talking to my daughter, Sarah, yesterday afternoon. I said, “Sarah, I have got to go.” I was driving out to the woods; I like to go to the woods on Saturday afternoon sometime praying. Sarah asked, “Why do you have to go?” I had woken her up from a nap. She said, “I am awake now. Since you woke me up, we might as well talk.” I said, “I am doing what every preacher across America is probably doing. If he is a good one, he is trying to get right with God.” I said, “Probably he is already right with God; I need to get right with God.”

Sarah wisely said this: “No, Dad, all of them have to get right. We are all human. Nobody has the corner market on anything besides Jesus.” You get to the cross and say, “Lord, I am not right. Would you clean my heart up?” Jesus, yes, I died for this very reason. Let Me give you a pure heart, and then you see God.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. I have been there many a time, just weary and tired. I need to see God. It has been a while, Lord; I need to see you.

Maybe you are there. You say, “Preacher, it has been a little while. I need to see the Lord. I need a good glimpse of the Lord. I need to come into His office, and I want to see the doctor.” God worked at my heart, preacher. I need to see God. I need to see God. I need to see God.

Many, many hands went up. Thank you so very much for letting the Lord work in your heart. By the way, He is there; He wants you to see Him.

Maybe you hear this morning and say, “Preacher, I need to get my heart clean. I need to have a pure heart.” I did not get to cover it, but Satan can put things in your heart. Acts 5:3 says, “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?”

Preacher, I need my heart pure. I need to get it clean. I am going to let God, the Holy Spirit of God, and the Word of God do some searching in my heart, and I want Him to. I am asking Him to: “Lord, would you clean my heart up? I have old feelings. I have feelings wanting the world and all the things, and I want to get right.” I am asking, “Lord, would you clean my heart up? Lord, I need you to clean my heart up.”

“Without you this morning, preacher, that is me right there. You lift a hand, preacher, I need my heart clean.” Oh, me too, me too. It is amazing. I feel like the Lord gets my heart a little bit clean, and then I turn around, and it is back going to left field. But He is so gracious; I come to Him, and He cleans it up. I am going to take my heart to the Lord and ask Him to clean it.

Maybe you hear this morning and say, “Preacher, I need to get into daily maintenance. I need to get in the Word every day. I need to be confessing every day. I need to be in prayer close every day. I need to get that daily maintenance on my heart so I can have a pure heart and see God.” God spoke in my heart about this daily maintenance; I need that. Anybody like that?

One last question, we are done. You said the beginning of it all is salvation. God gives you a new heart; you are born from above. The Spirit of God brings God inside your heart; you are a new creature. “Preacher, I am not saved. I do not have that new heart from God. I am not a child of God regenerated by the Spirit of God. Preacher, I am not on the way to heaven. I need to know more about getting saved, being regenerated by the Spirit of God.” God spoke to my heart about that right there. If that is you, just lift your hand up. “Preacher, I do not know that I am saved. I am not saved.” Anybody like that? “I do not know. I am not going to heaven. My heart has not been regenerated; I am not saved.”

All right, just a moment. Here we will have the invitation. Even if you have been before, you come, we will talk. We want to explain it to you from the Bible. We will make sure you are going to heaven. We get that thing settled. If that is you, would you come? Would you come just a moment?

Would you please stand? We will all stand. We will have a word of prayer as soon as I say, amen. We will sing hymn number 292, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” If you raised your hand about any of those things, would you come to an old-fashioned altar? Just say, “Lord, I need to see you. I need a glimpse of you.” Would you let Him know that? He honors that; He is pleased with that. He would like for you to see Him. “Would you clean my heart up?” Would you let Him know that? If you are not sure heaven is your home, we would be glad to help in that. That would be great. We will get someone to take the Bible and serve from the Bible how you can know for sure you are going to have less praying. Would you come?

Father, thank you so very, very much that you reveal yourself to us. Lord, I do ask, would you clean our heart up? Help us to see you. Bless the souls that are coming for salvation. Lord, pray that they get saved today. You work today as only you can. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Would you come as we sing? Would you come? Man, do not wait for anybody else; you come.

Would you bow your heads for just a moment? Did you notice that? “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.” How do you see Him? “Blessed are the pure in heart.” Would you just go to Him? “Lord, search me, O God, and know my heart. Give me a clean heart and a pure heart. I want to see you, Lord.” When God has cleaned my heart up, I can see the hand of God moving so much in my life. When my heart is tainted, I do not see Him. Would you come to Him and just ask, “Lord, would you give me a pure heart?”

We will sing one more verse. Just ask, “Lord, clean my heart up.” Would you do that as we sing? Just take a moment while you are standing there and sing this last verse. Lord, clean my heart up. If the Holy Spirit is bringing something up to your mind that is in your heart, it is probably Him. I am so glad you are here this morning. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” It is wonderful when you get a good glimpse of Him; it changes everything. Let us let Him purify our hearts.

Original File: Blessed Are The Pure In Heart - Pastor Paul Chisgar 3-1-2020 AM