- Call to worship from Psalm 24
People: Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
- Hymns of Praise:
- 36 Praise Ye the Lord, for it Is Good
- 1 Holy, Holy, Holy!
Words of Assurance: (Romans 8:1-2 ESV)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Hymn # 260 The Spirit Breathes Upon the Word
Matthew 5:8
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
1 Samuel 16:1-13
16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
Discipleship: Blessed are the Pure in Heart
If you are a disciple of Jesus you will be marked by all of these blessings we are talking about here in Matthew 5.
Pure in spirit.
People often think this means we must make ourselves pure.
so they despair of ever being pure because all they see is their wrongness in relation to God.
Pure in heart.
Not emotions but in understanding and knowledge. The heart is the core of who we are. The heart stands for the whole man.
So the pure in heart is the centre of who we are.
1. Pure in heart - an internal holiness not just external action
... so often if we think the outside is good so is the heart.
... and if the outside isn't there we must think on the heart..if it is there.
... but if it is in the heart it will be on the outside
... our hearts must be close to God
... look your heart
2. Free from double mindedness
... no divided loyalties
... are my motives mixed?
... we need to truly consider how we are living
... the pure in heart have a singular focus in our lives
... no one can serve two masters
A person with a pure heart will be focused on serving and living for our Lord God.
We should be striving to hear from God...well done good and faithful servant.
When we start to honestly look at our hearts we can see our failings.
We can fool others but we can't fool God.
God will call us to task if we mourn over a loss that God has called us away from.
Just like he did with Samuel mourning over Saul.
God was looking for the right heart in his new king.
God wants to move mightily in our hearts just as he did with David.
God isn't saying we must be perfectly pure in order to see God.
He is saying let this be a striving I our hearts.
All sin. No one is perfect or completely pure.
The desire to not sin and the mourning of the sin we do is what shows our heart truly.
A pure heart doesn't come from me...it comes from Christ himself.
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
- from this comes our growing pureness of heart.
- we will see how God came for us. We will see God everywhere we go.
God in action. God stopped the German advance into Russia and changed the course of the whole war.
As we strive after God more we see him in action all the more.
"The saints shall have their heads of the knowledge and their hearts so full of joy .... the more we shall be ravaged with desire and delight."
Purify yourself. Seek after God. Trying to live for God from the centre of your being.
Hymn # 310 Take My Life, and Let It Be
- Hymn # 77 Saviour, Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise
- Hymn # 433 – 4 Laud and Honor to the Father