Coconut
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The Pure in Heart
- by Ralph I. Tilley
Self-made religion fears the message of Jesus—"Blessed are the pure in heart" (Mt. 5:8) —because self-made religion is manufactured, thus it is forced from an impure heart, a heart that is an enemy of truth and of God's holy love.
Self-made religion obtains its security in rules and regulations for supposed holy living; its motto is "Do not handle. Do not taste. Do not touch" (Col. 2:21).
This motto—paraded as a sanctimonious placard—creeps into testimonies, church manuals and sermons. It is incapable of wearing a disguise, for self is at the center.
Self-made religion is nothing but sinful pride held captive to appearances; it is in reality a monstrous projection of an unsanctified ego and an idolized self. It is a religion without the Cross; it is a religion without the Holy Spirit. Perceiving itself to be beautiful, it is ugly; perceiving itself to be holy, it is wicked.
True Christianity on the other hand is a religion of the heart, a heart that has been sprinkled clean by the atoning sacrificial blood of the Lamb of God; a heart purified by the Pentecostal Flame—the blessed Holy Spirit. Any religion and message that falls short of preaching this two-fold truth—cleansing the conscience from the guilt of sin, and purifying the heart of entrenched self-centeredness, is a defective and deficient propagation of the complete gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Calvary and Pentecost meet fallen and twisted mankind at his deepest need. Through the Cross of Christ and the interpenetrating Holy Spirit, man is reconciled to God, forgiven of his sins, receives the very life of Christ, is indwelt by a Power coming down from above, and is made pure—both in God's sight as well as existentially. The Lord said it would be so when he spoke through the Old Testament prophets.
Clear at the Center
The "heart" in Hebrew psychology is literally the center of human personality, the home of personal thinking, desiring, imagination and willing. (heart, will and mind are essentially the same in biblical thought). Theologian Frederick Bruner says we can "translate 'pure in heart,' ... as 'clear at the center.' "3
This reminds us of the metaphor of "light" that both Jesus and the apostle John used in connection with purity of heart and holiness of life. For example, Jesus once said, "The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.... If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no part dark part in it, it will be totally illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays" (Lk. 11:34, 36 NASB).
My friend, this is a powerful truth the Lord Jesus not only shared with his listeners two thousand years ago, but a real and necessary truth he reiterates to all who will listen today. He says some have a "clear" eye and some have a "bad" or an "evil" eye. Those possessing a "clear" eye are "full of light;" those possessing a "bad" eye are "full of darkness." And those who are "full of light" are "totally illumined" ["wholly bright" ESV].
Can we not logically deduce from the above that a "clear" eye is only made possible because the heart has first been made "clear," and the reason many eyes are "bad" is because the heart is "bad"? To repeat Bruner, to be pure in heart is to be "clear at the center" of one's person. And when one is clear at the center then the whole body is totally illumined, wholly bright.
Our Lord's use here of the "body," of course, encompasses the totality of one's conduct. The body is the instrument of the heart; it acts as the heart dictates. If the heart is bad, evil actions result. Thus the rationale for Christ's words in Mark 7:20-22: "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness."
More than Absence—Presence
To have a pure heart is to be cleansed of that which is foreign to our humanity. In the words of the prophets it is to be cleansed from our uncleannesses, and from all our idols; it is to be cleansed of a stony heart.
But heart purity is more than the absence of "foreign matter," it is the presence of the Holy One—the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit arrives, he brings with him a new heart, a new spirit, a heart of flesh (i.e., a soft heart as opposed to a heart of stone), and a new power—"I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." It is not enough to be cleansed of unrighteousness, iniquity and sin. God desires to fill us with the new "corn and wine" of his rule and reign: "For the kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
The pure in heart "see" God, enjoy God, experience God. They are enabled to "see" God because they have "clear" eyes; they have clear eyes because they have a clear heart. Christ reigns without rival in such hearts.
- message edited for length only,
entire message can be read here:
http://www.lsministries.org/articles/pure_in_heart_1.html
- by Ralph I. Tilley
Self-made religion fears the message of Jesus—"Blessed are the pure in heart" (Mt. 5:8) —because self-made religion is manufactured, thus it is forced from an impure heart, a heart that is an enemy of truth and of God's holy love.
Self-made religion obtains its security in rules and regulations for supposed holy living; its motto is "Do not handle. Do not taste. Do not touch" (Col. 2:21).
This motto—paraded as a sanctimonious placard—creeps into testimonies, church manuals and sermons. It is incapable of wearing a disguise, for self is at the center.
Self-made religion is nothing but sinful pride held captive to appearances; it is in reality a monstrous projection of an unsanctified ego and an idolized self. It is a religion without the Cross; it is a religion without the Holy Spirit. Perceiving itself to be beautiful, it is ugly; perceiving itself to be holy, it is wicked.
True Christianity on the other hand is a religion of the heart, a heart that has been sprinkled clean by the atoning sacrificial blood of the Lamb of God; a heart purified by the Pentecostal Flame—the blessed Holy Spirit. Any religion and message that falls short of preaching this two-fold truth—cleansing the conscience from the guilt of sin, and purifying the heart of entrenched self-centeredness, is a defective and deficient propagation of the complete gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Calvary and Pentecost meet fallen and twisted mankind at his deepest need. Through the Cross of Christ and the interpenetrating Holy Spirit, man is reconciled to God, forgiven of his sins, receives the very life of Christ, is indwelt by a Power coming down from above, and is made pure—both in God's sight as well as existentially. The Lord said it would be so when he spoke through the Old Testament prophets.
Clear at the Center
The "heart" in Hebrew psychology is literally the center of human personality, the home of personal thinking, desiring, imagination and willing. (heart, will and mind are essentially the same in biblical thought). Theologian Frederick Bruner says we can "translate 'pure in heart,' ... as 'clear at the center.' "3
This reminds us of the metaphor of "light" that both Jesus and the apostle John used in connection with purity of heart and holiness of life. For example, Jesus once said, "The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.... If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no part dark part in it, it will be totally illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays" (Lk. 11:34, 36 NASB).
My friend, this is a powerful truth the Lord Jesus not only shared with his listeners two thousand years ago, but a real and necessary truth he reiterates to all who will listen today. He says some have a "clear" eye and some have a "bad" or an "evil" eye. Those possessing a "clear" eye are "full of light;" those possessing a "bad" eye are "full of darkness." And those who are "full of light" are "totally illumined" ["wholly bright" ESV].
Can we not logically deduce from the above that a "clear" eye is only made possible because the heart has first been made "clear," and the reason many eyes are "bad" is because the heart is "bad"? To repeat Bruner, to be pure in heart is to be "clear at the center" of one's person. And when one is clear at the center then the whole body is totally illumined, wholly bright.
Our Lord's use here of the "body," of course, encompasses the totality of one's conduct. The body is the instrument of the heart; it acts as the heart dictates. If the heart is bad, evil actions result. Thus the rationale for Christ's words in Mark 7:20-22: "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness."
More than Absence—Presence
To have a pure heart is to be cleansed of that which is foreign to our humanity. In the words of the prophets it is to be cleansed from our uncleannesses, and from all our idols; it is to be cleansed of a stony heart.
But heart purity is more than the absence of "foreign matter," it is the presence of the Holy One—the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit arrives, he brings with him a new heart, a new spirit, a heart of flesh (i.e., a soft heart as opposed to a heart of stone), and a new power—"I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." It is not enough to be cleansed of unrighteousness, iniquity and sin. God desires to fill us with the new "corn and wine" of his rule and reign: "For the kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
The pure in heart "see" God, enjoy God, experience God. They are enabled to "see" God because they have "clear" eyes; they have clear eyes because they have a clear heart. Christ reigns without rival in such hearts.
- message edited for length only,
entire message can be read here:
http://www.lsministries.org/articles/pure_in_heart_1.html
