The Beatitudes: Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

We have this promise that the God whom we have worshiped without seeing is the One whom we will behold face to face.

Can you imagine anything that would flood your soul with glory more than that? Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The Sermon on the Mount is filled with promises, but one promise that we mustn't skim over is that the pure in heart shall see God. That Christians will experience the beatific vision and see God face to face.

And when we remember and reflect on these future promises, it helps us to focus less on the cares and worries of today. Welcome to this Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind, as each week we feature the preaching ministry of R.C. Sproul. We're in the middle of a short sermon series as Dr. Sproul is taking us through the Sermon on the Mount and what is often called the Beatitudes. If you'd like to go back to study the Beatitudes in greater detail or study the entire Gospel of Matthew, you can request Dr. Sproul's hardcover expositional commentary for your gift of any amount at renewingyourmind.org, but this offer ends at midnight. Well, looking at three more Beatitudes, including blessed are the pure in heart, here's Dr. Sproul. This morning we're going to continue our study of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We are in the Sermon on the Mount and in the middle of the Beatitudes, and this morning I will be reading Matthew 5, 7 through 9, and I'd ask the congregation please to stand for the reading of the Word of God. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. This is a brief reading this morning, but one that weighs with great importance on the teaching of Jesus for our lives, and I remind you that the words that you've just heard originated in the mouth of Jesus Himself, and we ought to hear them this day as if we heard our Lord Himself speaking them to us.

Please be seated. Let us pray. Again, our Lord, as we consider those pronouncements that you have given with the promises attached to them, we pray that we might understand them in a new way and embrace them with all of our hearts, for we ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen. The first of the Beatitudes that we'll look at this morning is one that contains a glorious promise in it, but there's also something a little bit scary about it. The promise that Jesus gives of divine blessing in this case is for the merciful, and the promise is that those who are merciful themselves will obtain mercy. And as we've seen throughout these Beatitudes, it's not like Jesus is slicing and dicing several different groups of people and giving different rewards to those who manifest particular virtues, but all of the virtues that are contained in the Beatitudes are things that we should all embrace and manifest. So in the first instance, we see that the character of the Christian is to be one that manifests a spirit of mercy.

That's not always manifested among Christians to our great shame, but we should understand that we cannot draw a single breath in this life except by the mercy of God. And we are to, of all people, manifest a spirit of mercy because we ourselves live by it every day and inherit eternal life strictly on the basis of mercy, not on the basis of justice. This theme is echoed even in the Lord's Prayer that we will examine in more detail later, where we say frequently, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And that has a scary implication to us, namely that if God's forgiveness to me in any way reflects my spirit of forgiveness to other people, I'm afraid I would be in serious trouble.

Because the granting of forgiveness is in some measure a granting of mercy, and that we who live by mercy should be willing to be merciful to others should go without saying. This concept is so important in the teaching of Jesus that we find later on in Matthew's gospel in chapter 18. Another reference to this principle, and I'm not going to give an exposition of this entire parable.

We'll let that wait till we get to chapter 18. But if I can ask your indulgence to listen for a moment or two, I'd just like to read it for you to remind you of this particular case study, as it were, that our Lord gave. It's called the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. Verse 21 of chapter 18 reads, Then Peter came up to him, that is to Jesus, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?

Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants, and when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents, but he was not able to pay. His master commanded that he be sold with his wife and children, and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all. Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. Then that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat and said, Pay me what you owe. And so his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.

And he would not, but went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were grieved and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all the debts because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?

And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father also will do to each of you who from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses. And again, not to give an exposition of that this morning, the basic thrust of that parable is manifest, isn't it? The warning should ring in our ears that if we refuse to extend mercy to those who ask it of us, how can we possibly expect to receive mercy from the hand of God? That's the downside of this blessing.

If we stated it in negative terms, the oracle would be one of doom. Cursed are you who are unmerciful, for you will not receive the mercy of God. But of course, Jesus frames this in a positive way, promising the Father's blessing on those who are merciful, because if they are, they in turn will receive mercy. And again, we've already received such a measure of mercy from the hand of God. Dear ones, that if we were never merciful another time, as long as we live, we would have nothing to complain about based on the grace and mercy we've already received. But the good news is that the mercy we've already received is not the end of the mercy that we shall receive that goes on into eternity. The second beatitude that we will look at this morning is the one that says, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

We've noticed throughout the beatitude so far that there is a kind of pattern of consistency between that which receives the blessing of Christ and the reward that is a consequence of it. And here we see that the only group of those distinguished here that are promised the beatific vision, the supreme blessing of redeemed people to see God Himself, that that promise is given to the pure in heart. Now one of the most difficult things about being a Christian is that we serve a God who is invisible. We have a saying in our vocabulary, out of sight, out of mind. Well, God is always out of sight for His people.

We never see Him. From the time of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, the vision of God has been prohibited. And we are told that the soul who sees Him will die.

No man can see God and live. We remember the request of Moses on the mountain when he said to God, you know, you've shown me wonderful things, things that no one else has ever beheld. You've displayed your glory in the burning bush and in other ways, but Lord, please give me the big one. Let me see Your face, and that will satisfy me. And you remember God's response to His servant Moses.

I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll put you in the cleft of the rock, and I'll pass my backward parts, my hindquarters past you, and you may have a momentary glimpse of my backward parts, but my face shall not be seen. So that even Moses was denied the supreme blessing of seeing the face of God.

Well, there are a couple of things I want to consider here. The first one is why is it that we can't see the being of God? And some would answer that question by saying that it's basically an ontological problem. That is that God is a Spirit. He has no mass, no form that anybody could ever behold, and we as creatures do not have the strength of vision to see the invisible being of God. And so it's because of the difference between the creature and the Creator in terms of our constituent makeup that God's being remains invisible to us. But when we look at Scripture, the reason that is provided for our inability to see God is not a problem with our optic nerves. The reason why we cannot see God is not because of a deficiency in our eyes, but a deficiency in our hearts. God will not allow Himself to be seen by those who are impure.

You see the connection here? Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Here it's not just a concern of impurity that may be in our hands or in our lips, but in the very center of our being, the core of our being. If there be one impurity there, the direct vision of God is denied us. If you look through the pages of Scripture, you will see manifold occasions where God manifests Himself through what we call the theophany, the visible appearance of the invisible God, the burning bush on the Midianite wilderness that Moses beheld, the manifestation of God's glory in the Shekinah cloud. We remember in the Christmas story how the glory of God shone around the fields of Bethlehem, and those angels were… I mean the shepherds were terrified. But that glory that was shown was an outward manifestation of the inner being of God.

It was not the very essence of God Himself. If men tremble before theophanies, imagine how terrifying it would be to see God as He is. But this particular promise finds its expansion in the first epistle of John in the New Testament that gives to us the Christian hope of what we call the beatific vision.

We call this vision beatific because it is the sight more than any other that will flood the human soul with utter blessedness. We have this promise in 1 John where we read in the beginning of chapter 3 these words, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Here John utters a sense of apostolic astonishment and amazement that we would ever be considered children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it doesn't know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God.

That's the present. And now He moves to the future, and it has not yet revealed what we shall be. I get questions all the time that people say to me, What will we be like in heaven? Will we know our parents? Will we know this one and that one? Will we still look the age that we are when we die?

I hope not. And I say, I don't know why you ask me those questions because you're asking me to tell you matters that God has not revealed. And see John states here this matter of ignorance we don't know yet what we will be, but we know this.

Listen to this. Here's what we do know. That when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Did you hear that? That in the future, this is the promise to every Christian, that we will see Him as He is. The Latin there is ense est. That is, we shall see Him in His being, not simply an outward perception, but we'll be able to penetrate to the very reality of the being of God Himself. Edwards comments on this in great detail and talks about this experience of seeing, not just outward appearances, but being able to see the very essence of something.

I ask people the question frequently to demonstrate this. Did you see the football game, for example, last night between Jacksonville and New England? How many of you saw it?

Let me see. No, you didn't. Anybody in this room I don't think saw it unless they were in Foxboro, Massachusetts last night. What you saw was a televised production, but you didn't see the thing itself. You saw it as it was mediated through the medium of television.

But even if you were there, you were seeing it through the medium of sense perception and the playing of light that would bounce off the face of Tom Brady, and by that medium you would be able to recognize who he was. But in Edwards' study of this, he talks about a knowledge that is immediate, that is direct, that is not dependent upon sensations, on optic nerves, on eyeballs, but where the mind or the soul has a direct and immediate apprehension of something. And that's what we can expect in heaven, that we will see God as He is.

Now notice what John goes on to say. He says, Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as He, God, is pure. Now here's the theological question. What is it that will make it possible for us to see God as He is in heaven where we can't see Him that way now? Well, one answer is this, that right now we're not pure in heart. And since we're not pure in heart, we can't see Him as He is, but once we become pure in heart, then our eyes or our minds will be open to this immediate knowledge of God Himself. That is, when we go to heaven and we receive the end of our sanctification where all sin and all remnant of sin is removed from our hearts and from our soul, then we will be equipped to see the Lord face to face as He is. And I think that's probably what is in view here, but others have taken a different approach, saying when we ask the question, What is it that will clean up our hearts so perfectly? And some argue that the thing that will do it will be the vision of God in His purity, because you cannot look into the face of God without that experiencing cleansing your soul perfectly. I think it's the former rather than the latter, that these things may happen at the same time and that there may be an interconnection between the vision and our glorification, but however the order occurs, the promise remains firm that we have this promise that the God whom we have worshiped without seeing is the One whom we will behold face to face.

Can you imagine anything that would flood your soul with glory more than that? Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Finally for this morning, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

I think this is one of the toughest beatitudes to understand there is. Again, the blessing is not pronounced for the peacekeepers, but for the peacemakers, those who work to bring peace out of conflict, to bring the cessation of hostilities, people who have a spirit by which they can so sense people's problems and alienations that where there was estrangement, these people can help bring reconciliation. In that sense, all of us are called to be reconcilers. All of us are called to be peacemakers.

But I say it's difficult for this reason because to be a peacemaker in the biblical sense is not to be a Neville Chamberlain who is only concerned with negotiating a compromise that will bring upon the world a certain measure of cessation from hostilities. I was involved many years ago, even before I moved to Florida, with a case involving the presbytery here where I was asked to be a consultant, and there was a dispute in a church between the minister, the elders, the congregation, the assistant minister, and all of that. And I was asked to be a part of this particular group, and the chairman of it said, Well now let's see, we need to hear from the congregation, we need to hear from the elders, we need to hear from the pastor, and we need to hear from the associate pastor, and we have to see what the grievances are, and then we have to find a way to satisfy the pastor, the congregation, the session, and the other minister. And he said, Is there anything else?

And I said, Yes. Our task is to administer justice to this case, not to satisfy every party in the dispute. Our task is not to work out a compromise of the flesh and cry, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. But we can think that making peace is so important that we're willing to sacrifice truth and righteousness and everything else along the way. I was first ordained in a different denomination from the one in which I serve now, and at our ordination we were promised to work to maintain the peace, the unity, and the purity of the church. Peace, unity, and purity. And what would happen if somebody would come on the scene teaching rank heresy, and you stand up to oppose it, you would be immediately rebuked by saying, You're disturbing the peace and the unity of the church. What price, peace?

What price, unity? If you sacrifice purity for the sake of the peace, that's a carnal peace. That's a false peace. But the peacemakers that Jesus has in view here are people who bring true peace to bear without compromising integrity or truth or justice. That's a very, very important matter because I've heard people who call themselves peacemakers say, What's just here doesn't matter. What our task is, is to resolve the conflict. That kind of peacemaking has brought the church into ruin over and over and over again.

But at the same time, we are not to be contentious people by nature. And where we can be agents of reconciliation and bringing peace to bear as representatives of the Prince of Peace, that is our task, which as I say is often extremely complicated and difficult. God grant that we may be known as merciful people, that we may seek the purity of heart, and that we'll be those kinds of agents of peace that manifest sonship to God Himself. In a time of error and theological compromise, may God grant us the wisdom and grace to be peacemakers who clearly proclaim the truth.

That was R.C. Sproul on this Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind, preaching from Matthew chapter 5 and the Sermon on the Mount. Whether in the classroom, the studio, or behind a pulpit, Dr. Sproul sought to help people know who God is and to know God's Word better.

This can be seen so clearly in the care that was taken to produce his expositional commentary series. And today, you have the opportunity to add his commentary on Matthew to your library. Simply make a donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org or by clicking the link in the podcast show notes and we'll get a hardcover copy to you. This commentary distils a lifetime of study and reflection, so take the time to walk through Matthew line by line by requesting your copy. Give your donation today at renewingyourmind.org, but remember that this offer ends at midnight. Next time, R.C. Sproul will conclude his series on the Sermon on the Mount, so be sure to join us next Sunday here on Renewing Your Mind.