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Psalms
121:1-8 A Song of
Ascents. I will lift
up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven
and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not
slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The
sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve
you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your
going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Father God, help us to harness our eyes,
mind, heart, and ears so that we can practice purity to produce a pure heart, which
will lead to that moment when we see You. In
Jesus
name we pray, Amen!
Matthew 5:8 NKJV
Blessed
are the pure in heart! This Beatitude hold true to the previous ones and is a
result of the first one when a person “poor in spirit” realizes they need Jesus
in their life. This Beatitude is another form of assurance from God that a
believer is saved and will one day join Him in Heaven. A person is regenerated
into a new creation when they give their heart to Jesus. With the Holy Spirit
coming into their heart to live, the individual takes on a whole new way of
thinking and acting through the power of the Holy Spirit. John 14:17 the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but
you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus
from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 2 Timothy 1:14 That good thing which was committed to
you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. 1
Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
8 Blessed are
the pure in heart, For they shall see God.
The words of this
Beatitude in Greek translate to, “Happy are the pure in heart, for they and
they alone will see God.” This is a very sobering thought and one that many
modern day churches do not preach. Many preach that Jesus is all about love and
He will accept you no matter what you do or how you live. Yes, He is all about
love, but He is also our judge and hates sin, He is righteous and he expects us
to walk in His light.
The dictionary says that
“purity” is; freedom from foreign mixtures or matter, cleanness, freedom from
foulness or dirt, freedom from guilt or defilement. To be pure means that
you’re living a “clean” life.
This purity in heart of a
Born Again Saint pertains to a new way of thinking morally for an individual.
It is a new standard the person takes on which is the result of becoming one of
God’s children. With the Holy Spirit living within, the person gets conviction
when they are even thinking about doing something that violates one of God’s Commandments.
They will have great conviction if they follow through and commit the sinful
act and will have to go to Jesus and ask forgiveness. This change in a person’s
life is because the person has surrendered their life to Jesus and that is when
Jesus sends the Comforter to live in that person’s heart. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things
that I said to you.
It is because of this act of repentance and the power of the Holy Spirit within,
that the Ten Commandments come alive within the person in a whole new
dimension. This is one of the duties of the Holy Spirit, to bring conviction
upon the individual when they contemplate or execute sin. A new believer will
get conviction when they use the word “hell” in a conversation or when they are
upset, because scripture states filthy language is not for God’s Children. Colossians 3:6-11 Because of these things the wrath of God is
coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived
in them. 8
But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy language out of
your mouth. 9
Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his
deeds, 10
and have put on the new man who
is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where
there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave nor free, but
Christ is all and in all. We are to act in the image of Jesus
so a light will shine forth from us to those around us. Jesus did not use foul
language so if we are His family why should we. Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
I have to ask this
question, if using the word “hell” is considered filthy language then what
about using God or Jesus name in normal conversation as a form of expression,
in other words without meaning which is the definition of “vain”? What does God
think about that? Using God’s name this way is a violation of a Commandment; Exodus 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD
your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. If a person has filthy language or
uses God’s name in vain, then they should be asking themselves, are they one of
God’s Children? 1
Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not
know that you are the temple of God and that
the Spirit of God dwells in you? If
anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God
is holy, which temple you are?
This “pure in heart” is
not man’s standard of purity, but God’s, which is of far greater magnitude than
man could ever begin to think. Man’s standard of holiness is all wrapped up in
religious rules and regulations they devise, just like the Scribes and
Pharisees. For instance, the Bible defines a saint as one that gives their
heart to Jesus and is Born Again, while mans definition of a saint as a dead person
that performed a couple miracles while living. 1 Corinthians 2:13 These
things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the
Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Jesus tried to get the
Scribes and Pharisees to see and understand this concept, but they couldn’t and
He compared them to a shiny new casket that looked beautiful on the outside,
but what laid inside was nothing but a rotting corpse. Matthew 23:27 "Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which
indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
It is a purity of mind,
motives, and principles which causes God’s child to desire a holy heart and not
just external actions. Man looks at the outward appearance of a person, but God
looks within the soul or heart for holiness. As a child of God, we are to be
holy. 1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be
sober, and rest your hope fully
upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to
the former lusts, as in your
ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."
So, all this talk about
being pure and holy, let’s look at purity a little closer. There are three
types of purity and the highest form of purity being “perfect purity”. It is what we will be after we die and we reside
in the third Heaven with Jesus. We will have a glorified body that will be as
pure as He is. 1
John 3:2 Beloved,
now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,
but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see
Him as He is. John 7:39 But this He spoke
concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy
Spirit was not yet given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified. 1 Corinthians
15:50-53 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I
tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and
this mortal must put on
immortality.
The second type of purity
is “positional purity”. It is this
positional purity that a Born Again Saint is in. It is where they have placed
their faith and that being the Cross. God saw our plight and as human beings we
do not have the capability of overcoming sin, so He sent His only begotten Son
as the perfect spotless sacrifice. It is through the shedding of His pure blood
that gives life so that we can have a chance at becoming holy. When we come to
the realization that nothing we do in form of good deeds will gain us entry to
Heaven, and we place our faith in the acts of the Cross and accept that
unconditional love of Jesus, we receive a blood transfusion so that we can
sustain life, eternal life. The moment we accept Jesus as our Saviour, we
receive His blood in our veins through the power of the Holy Spirit because we
cannot fight off sin under our own power. In other words we get a spiritual
blood transfusion. When we accept Jesus, we are justified or acquitted of our
sinful past, it is forgotten, and God see our past no more because of Jesus
blood flowing in our veins. God sees us as His adopted child, son or daughter,
just as Jesus is his Son. It is through this that we receive eternal life, and
we shall see God. This is “positional
purity”.
The third type of purity
is “practical or practicing purity”,
which is the most difficult. After accepting Jesus as our Saviour, we are
expected to live or practice purity. We cannot do this alone because our flesh
is weak and we like to please our flesh. This is why the Holy Spirit comes into
ones heart to help the new Born Again Saint battle the flesh and Satan. For
instance some of us, including myself like to eat and sometimes I overeat
resulting in gluttony. Some of us glory in gossip and others in sports. All are
a form of sin and as a child of God we are to live as Jesus did. We can’t do it
ourselves and that is why we need the power of the Holy Spirit; the power of
Jesus blood within us. This is “practical
purity”.
With “practical purity” being the most difficult, what strategy do you
have to battle sin? Yes the Holy Spirit will be with you to help, but that help
consists of conviction of wrong/sin.
You as a person have a free will to do,
or not to do. There are five things we can do to combat our fleshly
desires.
First
we need a covenant with our eyes;
Job made a covenant with his eyes not to look at things or people that would
cause his flesh to lust. Job
31:1 "I have made a covenant
with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman? In today’s world every direction a
person looks, there is immorality being portrayed. Television, movies,
billboards, newspapers, magazines, internet, etc., in some form or another, use
immorality to get us to look and ponder. Our eyes are the windows to our soul.
They are the gates through which most impurity gets into our heart and mind.
There is a song that goes like this; “Oh
be careful little eyes what you see; oh be careful little eyes what you see;
for the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little eyes what
you see.” So we must make
a covenant with our eyes like Job did and guard against what we look at that
causes our minds to contemplate sin, like “R” rated movies, TV programs where
actors wear provocative clothing or gross violence, magazines at the checkout
counters with sexy covers, internet advertising that pops up, etc.
Second
we need to make a covenant with our ears; Everything in one above (eyes), which is visual, also
pertains to what we listen to. What we hear can paint a picture in our mind and
cause us to ponder also. Whether it is movies, TV, music, or radio talk shows
the language can be of a sensual, filthy, or blasphemous nature. So we need to
make a commitment of not listening to these things that lead us away from God.
Third
we need to consecrate our minds;
Our eyes and ears cause our minds to ponder ideas and thoughts that tickle our
flesh. Before we are saved we are evil in God’s eyes. As far back as Noah and
beyond, mankind is evil. Genesis
6:5 Then the LORD saw that the
wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every
intent of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. Don’t
fall victim to thinking that you can’t control what you think. You may not be
able to control what you think at all times, but you can bridle it and control
it in the right direction. You can pull back on the reins and say whoa when you
find your mind wondering and you are thinking of bad thoughts, whether it be
lustful, gossipy, deceitful, grudgingly, etc. Cry out; in the name of Jesus of
Nazareth get behind thee flesh/Satan, be gone!; Holy Spirit help, I need you!
You have to decide what you will watch and listen to so that you won’t be
tempted.
Fourth
take up the Bible daily; Read
the Bible daily and study what it says. Get the Bible on your cell phone so you
can read it when on public transportation if it is a time of temptation.
Memorize verses that denounce sin, so you can call upon those verses when
tempted. When your mind is filled with God’s truth, it won’t have room for bad
thoughts.
Have
a strategy for your life to battle Satan’s attacks; Satan knows you better than you know
yourself. He knows what buttons to push to set you off, so analyze who, what,
where, and when temptation raises its ugly head, and then make some changes to
avoid the fuel that sparks the mind and heart that ponders sin. Like if it is a
commute to and from work through explicit advertising and filthy language then
change your route.
For they shall see God;
What a beautiful and wonderful promise, “Seeing God”! In order for us to one day
see God, we must make Godly living in our lives here on earth a priority. BE HOLY FOR I AM HOLY!
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All
things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill
Wiesbrock https://www.facebook.com/bill.wiesbrock?ref=tn_tnmn
The
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe
it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus
I know I am a sinner. I confess my sins
to you; I am sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a
sinful lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness of all
of my sins. I believe that only you can
forgive sin. I commit my life to you and
ask you to come into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my Savior.” I believe this and have faith you will make a
new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart and lead
me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John 3:16,17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
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