In 1976, the American theologian Francis Schaffer posed a very penetrating question in his book, How Should We Then Live? As Christians, how should we live at the beginning of the twenty-first century with its unique pressures and temptations? Different voices have arisen to try to answer that question.
There is the voice of sexual freedom, proclaiming the hedonistic philosophy of life which is to eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you may die. Today, voices are being raised to insist that every form of human sexuality and perversion be openly expressed and affirmed by all. Friday, June 3, 2022. The Washington Times reported the following.
“The Washington, D.C. Public Schools is hosting a drag queen performance as part of a pride month celebration for high school students to celebrate during the last month of classes.The event comes as public schools in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Colorado, New York, Illinois, and other states have increasingly made drag queen shows and story hours a featured part of “family-friendly” June pride month celebrations.”
There is the godless voice of Socialism, which subordinates all of life to the servitude of the State.
This philosophy offers physical security, but does nothing for the soul. It is the soul which desperately needs to be satisfied with something, or, Someone greater than itself. Augustine said,
“Thou hast made us for Thee O Lord
and our hearts are restless.
until we find our rest in Thee.”
During World War II, film footage was made of Russian soldiers kneeling in the winter snows just before the Battle of Stalingrad (Aug 23, 1942 – Feb 2, 1943). The men were kneeling to their motherland before they went into battle. They were longing for protection from the horrors of war surrounding them. They were searching for comfort in something greater than themselves, an idea, a cause, a community.
Then there is the voice of Secular Humanism, which is taught in all our public schools from the earliest of ages upward. This philosophy sets forth the belief that humans are a cosmic accident of time, plus space, plus chance. Since there is no God, since there is no ultimate meaning, or purpose to life, then everyone must determine for themselves what life is to mean. Once our children were taught in school, as well as in the church, that the chief end of man is to know God, and enjoy Him forever. Now, every person is required to find their own personal meaning to life. Many youths are trying to find meaning in violence and crime, in gangs and blood-soaked gore, in drugs and self-destructive behavior.
If you have read the story of the Puerto Rican, Nikki Cruz, Run Baby Run, you would understand this is happening. Sent by his parent to New York to live with his brother when he was 15, Nikki found himself on the streets. Soon he was a member of a violent gang called the Mau Maus, patterned after the rebellion of the nationalist in Kenya (1952-1960). Within months Nikki became the Warlord of the gang. The Mau Maus terrorized their neighborhood, until, through the street preaching of a man named David Wilkerson, Nikki came to know Jesus as his own Lord and Savior.
In modern America, one popular drug of choice among the youth is fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. There are some questions that adults should be asking.
“Why do teens feel the need to ingest anti-anxiety medications?
“What is going on in the home to lead young people to a frantic search for happiness elsewhere?”
“Why is life so bad for the teens and young adults they cannot cope without medications?”
There is another voice being heard throughout the land. It is the voice of materialism. The bumper sticker says it all.
“He who dies with the most toys,
wins.”
In contrast to the voices calling for sexual freedom, self-serving Socialism, and ungodly Secular Humanism, comes the voice of the Lord Jesus, calling individuals, young and old, to live with a pure heart.
“Blessed are the pure in heart
for they shall see God.”
The presupposition is that people want a pure heart and want to see God. Of course, many do not want a pure heart, or to see God.
The atheist does not want to see God.
The agnostic does not want to see God.
The Secular Humanist does not want to see God.
The Materialist does not want to see God.
But, others do want to see God. There are individuals who do want to be pure in heart.
The word for purity in the Greek is katharos, and means, “to be clean.” Jesus wants His disciples to have a clean heart. The pure in heart are defined in the Bible in various ways.
The pure in heart are those who are sincere and honest. They are people of integrity. Job was once asked (Job 2:9) by his friends:
“Doest thou still retain thine integrity?” Job answered,
“Yes. I maintain my integrity.”
Billy Graham was often asked what he would like to be remembered for most in his distinguished ministry. His response was one word, integrity.
“I want to be known for having integrity,”
he said.
Today, Mr. Graham is remembered for his personal integrity, which allowed him to promote the glory of God throughout the world. There are some specific areas in which God’s people can make a special effort to have integrity in order to be pure in heart.
We can have a transparent conscience, in contrast to having a defiled conscience.
Adam and Eve had a defiled conscience brought on by rebellion, until they were covered by the blood.
David had a defiled conscience, rooted in immorality and murder, until he confessed when confronted by the prophet Nathan, and repented. Then, he wrote Psalms 51.
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest” (Psalms 51:1-4).
Peter had a defiled conscience, for he denied Jesus three times. Then Jesus looked at Peter. His heart was smitten. His eyes filled with tears, and he wept bitterly.
While sin can defile our conscience, the heart can be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. Jesus would have us live with a clear conscience. This means there is no unconfessed sins before God.
And, there are no unresolved conflicts in life. When the heart is clean, when transgressions are forgiven, when there is no hatred against anyone, God will be seen. A spiritual veil will be lifted, and the heart shall see God in His glory.
As the pure in heart are those who are sincere and honest, which results in right behavior, so the Bible declares them to be pure in spirit who seek the glory of God. The Royal Command goes forth.
“Whatever you do, do it with all your might as to the Lord.”
~Colossians 3:23
If the honor and glory of the Lord is our guiding principle when we work, play, watch TV, talk to one another, or engage in worship, all shall be well. If the honor and glory of the Lord is our guiding principle, then the Spirit of the Lord will not be lied to, blasphemed, rejected, grieved, or quenched.
The third distinguishing mark of being pure in heart, is that of embracing the truth. All that the Bible teaches on any subject is truth. Therefore, the pure in heart are those who love to dwell on Bible passages, and practice the truth, as set forth in Holy Scripture.
For example, true love is explained in 1 Corinthians 13.
The fruit of a Biblical Christians is set forth in Galatians 5:22,23.
The mind of Christ is explained in Philippians 4:8,9.
The world, the flesh, and the devil will not tell the truth about love, character, or spiritual matters, but the Bible will. We say again, true truth is defined by the Bible. The promise is given that
if we are sincere,
if we seek the glory of God,
if we love the Word of Truth, being clean in heart, we shall see God.
This promise is for time, and for eternity. We do not have to die before we see the Lord. Some see the Lord in a vision.
Isaiah said He saw the Lord high and lifted up, and His glory filled the temple (Isaiah 6:1-2).
“Look,”
said Stephen,
“I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
John said,
“And I turned to see the voice that spake with me” (Rev. 1:12).
There is a mystical side to Christian spirituality. It must be explored and cultivated.
Some that are pure in heart see God by having spiritual eyes of understanding opened. When spiritual eyes are opened, Jesus will be seen as very God. There came a day when Simon Peter knelt before Jesus and exclaimed,
“My Lord and my God!”
Up until that day, Peter believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, but then came the unveiling— Jesus was much more. He was Lord, and He was the Father.
Thomas said,
“Lord, show us the Father and it will satisfy us.”
Jesus answered, Thomas,
“Have I been with you so long and you do not know me.”
Like Peter, Thomas came to know Jesus in a special way through eyes of understanding. Behind locked doors, in an upper room, Thomas put aside his cynicism and believed with all his heart.
In the sixth century AD, an intelligent, but illiterate man, heard the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ as he traveled along the caravan routes of the Middle East. Unfortunately, the man, after much thinking about the way of salvation through faith in Christ, rejected the gospel. At age 40, the man did more. Mohammed denounced Christ, and proclaimed himself, not Jesus, to be the last prophet of the one true God, whom he called, Allah.
A religious bloodbath began that has not abated to this day. Those who did not believe in Mohammed were fined, enslaved, or beheaded. Mohammad never did come to know God in Christ. He died at age 62, in spiritual blindness, June 8, 632 AD. Mohammed could have seen the one true God, but he was blinded by the god of this world in his lust for personal honor, gold, and glory.
Unless there is a regenerating work of grace, Jesus will remain unknown to the natural heart, and God will never be seen. When the Spirit awakens a sinner to salvation, the Spirit draws that soul with cords of love to see Calvary, to see Jesus as Lord and Savior, and to see the God of all glory. One day, those who are pure in heart shall see God in the resurrection.
“When I in righteousness at last,
Thy glorious face shall see,
When all the weary night is past
And I awake with Thee,
To view the glories that abide,
Then, shall I be satisfied.”
~F. F. Ullard
This is what we want, in time, and in eternity.
Many people have only had an encounter with religion.
They have seen preachers.
They have seen Bible teachers.
They have seen worship services.
They have seen church buildings, but they have never seen God.
To see God, is to be pure in heart. To be pure in heart, there must be a conversion experience.
Conversion is nothing less than the sovereign work of the Spirit, thoroughly changing both the heart, and the life so that there is integrity, a longing for God’s glory, and an embracing of Divine truth as revealed in the Bible.
Every person must ask,
“Am I converted?”
“Have I seen God?”
“Will I see God according to the promise of Jesus?”
Dr. Harry A. Ironside told the following story.
A man once asked his pastor to preach on the text,
“Except you be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3).
The pastor agreed and He thought to himself,
“Let me see, how will I divide the subject?
He thought of conversion.
“What is conversion?”
“That is easy to explain,”
he said to himself.
“Conversion is the turning of the heart to God,”
Then he asked, how is a person converted?
“Well, let me see, how was I converted? Why, I do not know,”
he confessed to himself.
“I think I will pass over that just now.”
He came to the next thought,
“When does conversion take place?”
“Well, one may be converted as a child; as a youth; or, one may be converted in mature years,”
he said to himself.
Then, upon reflection, the thought came to his own mind,
“When was I converted?”
“Was I converted when I was a child?”
“I cannot remember.”
“Was I converted when I was a youth?”
“No, I am sure I was not, for I got far away from God out in the world.
No, not as a youth.”
“Was I converted when I came to more mature years?”
“I do not recall.”
The man pressed on to the next point.
“Conversion, where was I when it happened?”
It might take place in the home, in the church, or in the Sunday School, or out in the open. God is ready to meet a person wherever they may be. Then the thought came to him,
“Where did it take place with me?
“Was I converted at home?”
“Was I converted in church?”
“Have I ever been converted?”
Suddenly, it came to him with tremendous power,
“I am preaching to other people, and I have never been converted myself.
I do not know when I was converted.
I do not know how I was converted.
I do not know where I was converted.
I have never been converted at all!”
He preached his own sermon to himself, and then he bowed on his knees and told the Lord Jesus that he would trust Him as his Saviour. That was the beginning of a new life, and a new ministry.
Jesus said,
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”
We want to see God.
We want to seek the glory of God.
We want to know the truth for the truth shall make us free.
May the Spirit cause us to understand the gospel and the Christian way of life so that we may see God, today.
