1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,400 When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, 2 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:05,240 and after he sat down, his disciples came to him, 3 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:07,680 and then he began to teach them, saying, 4 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:10,120 blessed are the poor in spirit, 5 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:12,560 for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 6 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,400 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 7 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,520 Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. 8 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:25,320 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 9 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:26,960 for they will be filled. 10 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,600 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy, 11 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,680 and blessed are the pure in heart, 12 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,640 for they will see God. 13 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:38,680 This is God's word. 14 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:45,320 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, 15 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,200 and incurable, who can understand it? 16 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,400 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, 17 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,840 and incurable, who can understand it? 18 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,480 Jeremiah chapter 17, verse nine. 19 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,440 What comes to your mind when we read those words, the heart? 20 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:13,800 It's certainly not merely the physical muscle 21 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:15,120 in your chest, right? 22 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,400 You might hear something, or someone say in our day and age, 23 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:23,880 follow your heart, but your heart's in your chest. 24 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:25,520 You don't need to follow it. 25 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:26,840 They must mean something else. 26 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:28,560 What do you hear? 27 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:29,800 What do they mean? 28 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,040 Is the heart a metaphor for our passions, 29 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:37,600 for our emotions, for our strong desires? 30 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,840 Well, if we think along those lines, 31 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,000 I would say that that would be far too limiting 32 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,400 of a definition for what is in view 33 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,400 when the Bible uses the metaphor of the heart. 34 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,400 In view of the Bible, the heart represents 35 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,920 the whole inner self, all of it. 36 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,720 Your thoughts, your will, your emotions, 37 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,720 all your collective energies, your personal life. 38 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:07,720 Your heart is the seed of your rational, 39 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,160 emotional, and volitional life. 40 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,920 It is at a heart level that one's moral 41 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:17,720 and religious condition is not just 42 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,600 a religious condition, it's to be measured. 43 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:24,840 Your heart, in biblical terms, 44 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,840 is the center and source of your whole being. 45 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,920 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 46 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:39,640 Here's my amplified version of that scripture. 47 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,560 What a kingdom life! 48 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:45,600 How flourishing! 49 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,880 Fully satisfied are the citizens of the kingdom, 50 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,560 the pure, the clean, the undivided, 51 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,720 the unclouded in the center and source of their whole being. 52 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,360 They will see, yes, they will behold. 53 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,520 They will lift their heads up and lay eyes on God. 54 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:07,560 So let's talk a little bit this morning 55 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,400 about the pure in heart. 56 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,000 Under a couple of points, the first one is this. 57 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,480 What is a pure heart? 58 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,760 It was once said that a pure heart is one 59 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,760 that is single-minded, free from the tyranny 60 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,560 of a divided self. 61 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,160 It's something worth noting in the Beatitudes 62 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,480 is that the Beatitudes are filled with ideas 63 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,400 that are not open to isolated, subjective definitions. 64 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:38,440 So what do I mean by that? 65 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,920 They're not open to isolated, subjective definitions. 66 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,600 I mean, we can't pluck out the Beatitudes, 67 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,000 out of the Beatitudes, and then apply any sort of meaning 68 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,080 to say, let's say, mourning. 69 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:52,440 What does it mean to mourn? 70 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,600 Or to pour in spirit, or to be humble? 71 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:02,480 We can't say that mourning is grief over anything, anywhere. 72 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,480 Each one of these must be read in relation 73 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,360 to the whole revelation of God's word, 74 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,000 and understood in light of that revelation 75 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,360 in order for us to begin to grasp the true meaning of it. 76 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,120 For instance, some have actually tried or attempted 77 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,320 to use blessed are the poor in spirit 78 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,680 to refer both to physical poverty 79 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,200 and the emotional toll that poverty takes on an individual. 80 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,880 Physical poverty and the emotional toll taken on that. 81 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,040 And that would be an inaccurate way of understanding 82 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:39,720 blessed are the poor in spirit. 83 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,440 Jesus isn't inventing new concepts here. 84 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,600 What Jesus is doing in the Sermon on the Mount 85 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:51,440 is he's deepening the well of revealed truth. 86 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:53,000 He's digging it deeper. 87 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,880 He's mapping out its implications into our life 88 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,760 so much deeper than the people of his time had ever heard. 89 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:01,160 They were marveling at it. 90 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,440 We called these macarisms blessed are for they, 91 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,200 blessed are for they, these macarisms. 92 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:10,080 Well, these macarisms are rooted 93 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,800 in Old Testament revelation as Jesus begins to unfold them 94 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:18,520 in a new, deep way or a deeper way. 95 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,880 And so as we think of the pure in heart, 96 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:24,240 we would do well to explore that theme, that thread, 97 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,600 throughout the whole of scripture 98 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,200 in order for us to get a plumb line 99 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,200 for what pure in heart actually looks like. 100 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:35,920 Take for instance water, right? 101 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:37,840 We've got some water bottles around here. 102 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:41,240 What makes water pure? 103 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:44,520 What makes water pure? 104 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:50,080 Well, it'd be the absence of anything other than 105 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:53,080 and the presence only of H2O. 106 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,840 You add any other letter in there or number 107 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:01,040 and you probably don't have water. 108 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,800 I'm not a chemist, so I'm assuming, but. 109 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,400 H2O, the absence of anything else 110 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:12,400 and the presence of only H2O makes for pure water. 111 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:16,280 Well, what makes a heart pure? 112 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:19,320 What makes a heart pure? 113 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:24,320 What absence of or presence of makes a heart pure? 114 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,520 And this is gonna take us all the way back 115 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,000 to Deuteronomy chapter four. 116 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:36,000 Deuteronomy chapter four, Deuteronomy chapter six, 117 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,240 verse four, Deuteronomy chapter six, 118 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,960 verse four reads like this. 119 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:47,960 Listen Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 120 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:53,040 Some of you may know what comes next. 121 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,960 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, 122 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,040 with all your soul and with all your strength. 123 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,760 These words that I am giving you today 124 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,680 are to be in your heart. 125 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:07,480 Repeat them to your children. 126 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:09,560 Talk about them when you sit in your house 127 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,000 and when you walk along the road, 128 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,400 when you lie down and when you get up. 129 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:15,800 Bind them as a sign on your hand 130 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,960 and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 131 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:21,360 Write them on the doorposts of your house 132 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:23,880 and on your city gates. 133 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,880 All the way back in Deuteronomy chapter six, 134 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:32,880 verse four through nine, we find that the command is 135 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:37,880 that loyal, faithful love is to be given to God 136 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,200 with an undivided loyalty from the center 137 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:44,840 of our whole being, from our heart. 138 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:49,840 All your heart, all of it. 139 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:52,920 The human heart in obedience to God 140 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,000 is to be filled only with the presence 141 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:01,000 of loyal love, undivided, unclouded by any other element, 142 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:03,960 loyal love for God. 143 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:09,880 So what's the absence of, the presence of? 144 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:12,560 Anything other than loyal love for God 145 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:16,560 makes for impure heart. 146 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,680 Not only that, but we are to retain the words 147 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,560 of this command in the center of our being as well, 148 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:29,120 in our heart, and from there, they are to work their way out 149 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,520 into our everyday life and our actions. 150 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,760 Deuteronomy chapter six sets a plumb line 151 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,600 for what a pure heart looks like. 152 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,560 A pure heart is the whole inner self 153 00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:47,560 devoted to loyal love and fidelity to God alone. 154 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:51,960 These words are so very important 155 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,840 that they are never to be forgotten. 156 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:55,680 You heard him, right? 157 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:57,880 Write it here, do it here, walk when you're walking here, 158 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,200 when you're laying down, put it everywhere, don't forget it. 159 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,880 Jesus even repeats them in what we know 160 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:06,720 as the greatest commandment, right? 161 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:11,440 And that scripture represented the Shema, right? 162 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:13,720 The Jews would often repeat this 163 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,320 because this was to be before them, always. 164 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,760 Any idea of pure in heart, any idea 165 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:23,640 of what it means to be pure in heart 166 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:27,480 must have at its foundation this command. 167 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:32,320 Pure, loyal, faithful love at the center of ourself. 168 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:34,880 Everything else flows out of here. 169 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,080 So how would Psalm 24, for example, 170 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,520 describe what it means to have a pure heart? 171 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,400 So let's look at Psalm 24, verse three and four. 172 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,120 This is a fairly well-known one as well. 173 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,120 Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? 174 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,880 Who may stand in his holy place? 175 00:09:55,880 --> 00:10:00,680 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, 176 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:04,000 who does not appeal to what is false 177 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,400 and who has not sworn deceitfully. 178 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:13,120 You can see here again this theme of being undivided 179 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:17,480 does not appeal to what is false 180 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,080 or swear deceitfully, but appearance alone 181 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:22,040 is not good enough, right? 182 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:25,320 We see that clean hands are good, but not good enough. 183 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,360 Clean hands and a pure heart, 184 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,760 they are the ones who ascend the hill of the Lord. 185 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:33,600 They are the ones who stand in his holy presence. 186 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:35,880 You see the similarities between the Beatitude 187 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,960 we're studying this morning in Psalm 24? 188 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:41,880 Oh, the pure in heart will see God. 189 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:43,400 Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? 190 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:45,000 Who's gonna stand in his presence? 191 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:46,440 Who's gonna see God? 192 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:48,640 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart. 193 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:54,480 In the NIV, it's probably the one 194 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,440 that I'm more familiar with and many of you as well. 195 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,080 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord 196 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:00,960 and who may stand in his holy place? 197 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:03,560 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, 198 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:06,200 who does not trust in an idol 199 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,400 or swear by a false God. 200 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:14,320 Who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false God? 201 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,800 It takes the appeal to what is false 202 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:22,080 and the deceitful swearing as directly related to idolatry. 203 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,320 The translators in the NIV go, 204 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:26,160 oh, we know what he's talking about here. 205 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:27,800 He's talking about idolatry. 206 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,160 He's talking about a divided heart. 207 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:35,680 And this connects us right back to Deuteronomy six. 208 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:41,600 Idolatry is nothing more than disordered loves 209 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:43,320 as Augustine would have put it. 210 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,840 The essence of sin is disordered loves. 211 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:48,720 You guys know what disordered loves is all about? 212 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:51,240 Maybe some of you have heard that before. 213 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,600 We all have loves, things that we give our hearts to. 214 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:58,720 But there is to be an order of those loves. 215 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,840 Those loves, as Jesus says later in the scripture, 216 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,560 he talks about unless a man hates his father and mother, 217 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:07,920 then he's not worthy to follow me. 218 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,240 And we go, well, that sounds pretty severe. 219 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:14,480 Sorry, mom, sorry, dad, Jesus said I need to hate you. 220 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,200 But in reality, we're talking about ordered loves. 221 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:21,760 It's not wrong to love your parents, 222 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:24,720 it's wrong to love your parents supremely. 223 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:26,560 It's not wrong to love your children, 224 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:29,120 it's wrong to love them supremely. 225 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,360 The same with your spouse or any other thing in this world. 226 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:37,360 And so Augustine's elaborated that sin itself is, 227 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:40,680 in essence, is when our loves get out of order. 228 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:44,320 And our desires for things trump our desire to please 229 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,080 and honor God through faithful, loyal obedience. 230 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,000 We move things out of order and that disorder is sinful, 231 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,600 but it also creates chaos, unrest, 232 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:58,320 cloudiness in our minds and our hearts. 233 00:12:58,320 --> 00:12:59,840 Many of you guys have probably felt that. 234 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:00,800 Have you guys ever felt that, 235 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:02,800 where you had a disordered love 236 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,520 that rose too high on the scale, 237 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,560 and it was hard to perceive God's presence 238 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:12,960 and hear his word, feel his nearness, 239 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:17,960 until that love was reordered in its proper place? 240 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:20,880 Idolatry is disordered loves. 241 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:22,920 I think Tim Keller was the one who connected 242 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:26,640 Augustine's perspective with the idea of idolatry. 243 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:30,840 Idolatry is simply a disordered love. 244 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:33,560 And Jesus was very critical of the Pharisees. 245 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:35,280 You guys remember this? 246 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:36,560 What did he say about the Pharisees 247 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:39,120 with regard to whitewashed tombs? 248 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:42,880 He said, woe to you, you scribes and Pharisees, 249 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:44,080 you're hypocrites. 250 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:47,040 You are like whitewashed tombs 251 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,520 which appear beautiful on the outside, 252 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,160 but inside are full of the bones of the dead 253 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,240 and every single kind of impurity. 254 00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,520 Beautiful on the outside. 255 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:05,520 You done good, but the inside is rotten to the core. 256 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:08,840 They lived in falsehood and deceit. 257 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:11,760 Right, who can extend the hill of the Lord? 258 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,160 Not the one who lives in falsehood and deceit, 259 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:16,040 for their heart's not pure. 260 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:17,840 But they lived in falsehood and deceit. 261 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:19,200 They're hypocrites, right? 262 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:23,360 Hypocrites, play actors, fakes. 263 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,960 They fabricated an outer nature 264 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:30,680 that did not correspond to their inner nature. 265 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:33,800 They fabricated an outer nature. 266 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:36,400 They lived a divided, idolatrous life 267 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:38,480 and Jesus says you're a whitewashed tomb. 268 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,160 Like you had dead bones, dead bones unclean, 269 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:43,440 they were unclean. 270 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,440 Uncleanliness within you, all kinds of impurity. 271 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:49,160 You think you're doing so well 272 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:50,760 because the outside looks good? 273 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:53,320 Have you ever been there? 274 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:57,600 Have you ever judged yourself for someone else's purity 275 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,800 on the basis of the outside alone? 276 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,040 Well, they live a good life. 277 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:04,120 They're pretty good. 278 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,320 They're kind, they look good on the outside. 279 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:09,880 And Jesus had a way, and we're gonna see this more and more 280 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:11,560 as we walk through Matthew, 281 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:15,040 but Jesus had a way of flipping the light switch on, 282 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:16,640 the light switch of truth, 283 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:20,320 in order to expose the hypocrisy at a heart level. 284 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,560 Because many of us can say, 285 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:26,080 and we've talked about this in weeks past, 286 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,320 oh, they're good, they're a good person. 287 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:32,880 They do good. 288 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:34,440 And we think that is enough, 289 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,400 and Jesus comes along and flips the switch of truth on, 290 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:38,560 the light switch of truth, 291 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,560 and shines light into our darkest heart 292 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,040 to expose the hypocrisy at our heart level. 293 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,360 As we'll study in the coming chapters, 294 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:47,960 Jesus says more or less this. 295 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:51,680 He says, okay, men, we'll talk about men right now, 296 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,400 you've never cheated on your wife with another woman? 297 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,200 You look pretty pious and pure. 298 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:00,040 Good job. 299 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,560 You ever looked at a woman lustfully though? 300 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:07,080 Oh, you did? 301 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,480 Oh, you committed adultery. 302 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:11,840 You committed adultery. 303 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,920 By that definition, by Jesus' definition, 304 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:17,880 how many adulterers are in the room? 305 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:19,760 How many adulterers are in the room? 306 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,680 By Jesus' definition, He flips that switch on 307 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:29,280 and says, oh, your outside looks pretty good. 308 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:33,680 Yeah, no, no cheating, no unfaithfulness, no whatever. 309 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:38,680 Have you ever looked from the inside out with lust? 310 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:42,560 Well, that came from the corruption in your heart. 311 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,880 You give to God, what is God's? 312 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,320 You pray faithfully, wow, you're looking pretty super pious, 313 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,880 worshiper of God, good for you. 314 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:54,680 But how did you treat the poor? 315 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:57,600 How did you treat the prisoner? 316 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,640 How did you treat the immigrants? 317 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,960 Because whatever you did for them, you did for me. 318 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:09,520 And whatever you withheld from them, 319 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,120 you withheld it from me. 320 00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:13,120 Are there any murderers here today? 321 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,280 Have you ever harbored anger or bitterness 322 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:19,720 in your heart against someone? 323 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:24,240 Have you ever shown contempt or that seed of hatred 324 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,280 allowed it to grow within you? 325 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:31,080 Jesus said that you killed them 326 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,320 over and over again in your heart. 327 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,320 And on that point, you're guilty, you stand in sin. 328 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:41,480 And on that point, you're guilty, you stand condemned. 329 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:44,320 Why? 330 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:46,720 Because sin doesn't begin with the action. 331 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,240 It begins in the heart. 332 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,320 And God's word tells us that the heart is more deceitful 333 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,560 than anything else and incurable. 334 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:01,920 Who can understand it? 335 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,400 I would say when we consider the scriptural theme 336 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,920 of being pure in heart and then hold up our lives against it 337 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:13,800 as we have lived, then we are encountering 338 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:17,680 that sinking reality that in and of ourselves, 339 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:19,440 we are not pure in heart. 340 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:22,880 And Lord knows how to become it. 341 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:28,760 So let's talk about that, how do we get it? 342 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:29,640 How do we get it? 343 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,640 If our heart is in such a deplorable condition, 344 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,880 then we need a heart transplant. 345 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:40,480 We need a heart transplant. 346 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:43,800 We need a new heart. 347 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,720 It's said, it's corrupted and incurable. 348 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:52,120 We need a new heart. 349 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,680 And I'm here to tell you the good news of the kingdom of God 350 00:18:56,680 --> 00:19:00,640 is that is exactly what is given to a citizen of the kingdom. 351 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:04,080 That is exactly what is given to a citizen of the kingdom 352 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,360 of God, to the one who's put their only hope and faith 353 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:11,040 in Jesus Christ, he gives them a new heart. 354 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:16,160 He gives them a new heart and he gives them the spirit, 355 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:19,560 the Holy Spirit, to incline them their will 356 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:21,400 toward obedience. 357 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,480 Jesus gives that to them, to the citizen of the kingdom. 358 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,320 Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 25 through 27 says, 359 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,240 I will also sprinkle clean water on you 360 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:33,600 and you will be clean. 361 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:35,760 I will cleanse you from all your impurities 362 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:37,960 and all your idols. 363 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,480 Who's talking here, this is God talking. 364 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,600 I will cleanse you from your impurities and all your idols. 365 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,040 I will give you a new heart 366 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,400 and I will put a new spirit within you. 367 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:51,680 I will remove your heart of stone 368 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:54,560 and give you a heart of flesh. 369 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:56,880 And I will place my spirit within you 370 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,960 and cause you to follow my statues 371 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:04,440 and carefully observe my ordinances. 372 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:07,400 In Ephesians, we are told that we were once dead 373 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,800 in our sins and our transgressions 374 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,200 and we were carrying out all the inclinations of our flesh 375 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:14,560 and the desires and thoughts 376 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:16,520 that come from the corrupted heart. 377 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,840 But then it goes on in verse four, it says, 378 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:23,360 but God, who is rich in mercy, 379 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:25,520 what was Ezekiel all about? 380 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:28,480 It was all about God and what he was doing, 381 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,440 what he was working in us. 382 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:33,200 But God, who was rich in mercy, 383 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:37,240 because of his great love that he had for us, 384 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:42,240 made us alive in Christ, 385 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,600 even though we were dead in trespasses. 386 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,360 By grace, you are saved. 387 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:52,200 In other words, how do we get it? 388 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:57,200 Well, it's not do, do, do, do, and do more. 389 00:20:57,880 --> 00:20:59,200 It's done. 390 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:02,400 It's done. 391 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,160 And I've said it before, the blessed state of the Beatitudes 392 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,280 is not a list of do's and don'ts, 393 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:09,040 but more of a proclamation. 394 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,960 It's kind of like, what a crazy, cool, awesome, 395 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,280 flourishing life, the one who has made pure in heart 396 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:20,320 when they entered into the kingdom of God through Christ. 397 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:25,320 How blessed, what a life, living the life. 398 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,680 If you're in Christ, you're living the life, 399 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:31,600 the blessed life. 400 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,320 How blessed is the one who is declared righteous. 401 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,120 How blessed is the one whose sins 402 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:37,680 are not counted against them. 403 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,320 How blessed is the one who is made pure. 404 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,680 In Christ, all is ours. 405 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,120 In Christ, all is ours. 406 00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:51,720 All is ours, but some of you are probably sitting there 407 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:56,720 going, but my experience tells me differently. 408 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,480 That's nice, my experience tells me differently. 409 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,520 So, final point, how do we experience more of it? 410 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,960 I don't know if you know this, but something can be true 411 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:17,960 and yet not fully experienced by the one it's true of. 412 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,360 Something can be true and yet not fully experienced 413 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:23,800 by the one that it is true of. 414 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,280 We see this with regard to inheritance. 415 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,920 Someone can inherit something and not know about it, 416 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:36,240 and it's theirs, legally, but they haven't experienced it yet. 417 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:37,080 They don't know. 418 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,960 They haven't laid hold of it, they haven't seized it. 419 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:42,800 They haven't walked in the experience of it 420 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:44,680 or grown in the experience of it. 421 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,320 So all that I said before is true 422 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,400 according to the word of God. 423 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,080 True, and if you are a person of faith, 424 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:54,280 then that means you believe it by faith. 425 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:57,360 Right, you don't see it, right? 426 00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:59,400 But you believe it by faith. 427 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:04,840 When we understand what is true, we can begin to live it out 428 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:06,880 and we can begin to live out of it. 429 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:10,960 Our lives take on a new way of operating 430 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,040 as we understand what is true 431 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,680 and we begin to live out underneath it. 432 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:17,840 It's like when someone goes from, 433 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:19,280 as a young man in the video, 434 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:24,040 when someone goes from being an orphan to being adopted, 435 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,760 oftentimes that transition is very difficult. 436 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:29,560 They don't know what it's like to be a son. 437 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:31,920 They can be fully, completely a son 438 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,200 and yet even rejecting love and advancements of care 439 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:36,920 and love and comfort that are brought to them 440 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,080 because they don't know how. 441 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,120 They don't know how yet, 442 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,680 but as they grow in knowledge and experience of that, 443 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:45,280 they begin to experience more and more 444 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:47,720 of what is absolutely true of them, 445 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,440 that they are a son or a daughter. 446 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:52,640 As we understand what is true 447 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,360 and we begin to live out of it, 448 00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:57,720 we will see more and more, our eyes will be open 449 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:01,400 to the implications that it has on all areas of our life. 450 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,520 But before Christ, this is important, 451 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:06,800 before Christ we had a heart. 452 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:07,640 You and I had a heart. 453 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,560 You were before Christ, you hadn't received him yet. 454 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,920 You had a heart that was in union, in union with your flesh. 455 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,240 They were like pals, walking along, 456 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,960 heart and flesh, making it all happen. 457 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,160 In Christ, we have a new heart 458 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,400 that is at war with the flesh 459 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,720 and is inclined toward obedience by the Spirit. 460 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,520 In Christ, we have a heart that's at war with the flesh 461 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,280 and is inclined toward obedience by the Spirit. 462 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:41,720 Before Christ, we had a heart 463 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:43,560 that was in union with the flesh. 464 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:46,760 They were going all out. 465 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:48,000 One writer put it this way, 466 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,040 the difference between an unconverted 467 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,480 and a converted person is not that the one has sins 468 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:55,840 and the other has none. 469 00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:58,720 The unconverted has sins, 470 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:00,520 the converted one now doesn't sin. 471 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:02,600 But that the one, 472 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:07,600 the one takes part with his cherished sins against God. 473 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:11,320 He's in union with his cherished sins against God 474 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,880 and the other one, the converted man, 475 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:20,640 takes part with a reconciled God against his sins. 476 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:23,080 You see the difference? 477 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,080 Are you in partnership with your sin? 478 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,320 To go about in an unholy, unpure life 479 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,640 or are you in partnership with the Spirit of God within you 480 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,720 to fight and wage war against sin in your heart? 481 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:37,800 Our flesh that remains corrupted by sin in the fall 482 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:39,320 must be sanctified. 483 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,760 It must be put to death and mortified. 484 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:43,600 That's a big word, mortified. 485 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,240 And in this in between that we exist in, 486 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,520 while we continue to live in this flesh, 487 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:52,520 we will be at war. 488 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:55,640 We will be at war. 489 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,120 It's true that when God regenerates us, 490 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:03,160 he gives us power to fight against and overcome sins, 491 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:04,800 1 Corinthians 10, 13. 492 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:08,760 But because we will continue to struggle with sin 493 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,120 until we are ultimately glorified, 494 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:13,880 we have to remember that genuine repentance 495 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:18,360 is more fundamentally a matter of the heart's attitude 496 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:22,120 towards sin than it is a mere change in behavior. 497 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,200 Here's the big question for you. 498 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:29,160 Do you hate sin and war against it 499 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,880 or do you cherish it and defend it? 500 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,160 Do you hate sin and war against it 501 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,240 or do you cherish it and defend it? 502 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,800 So how do we war against this flesh then? 503 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:45,040 How do we war against it? 504 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,960 Well, Psalm 119 has a pretty cool scripture in it. 505 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,640 How can a young man keep his way pure? 506 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,480 By keeping your word. 507 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,560 I have sought you with all my heart. 508 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:00,400 Don't let me wander from your commands. 509 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:02,920 I have treasured your word in my heart 510 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:05,200 so that I may not sin against you. 511 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:09,120 Sounds like this young man is living out Deuteronomy 6, huh? 512 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:11,080 He's riding in on him, he's walking in it, 513 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:12,280 he's thinking about it. 514 00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:15,520 First, how do we war against the flesh? 515 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:19,200 Number one, we are devoted to the word. 516 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:20,520 Devoted to the word. 517 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:24,600 We must treasure God's word. 518 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:29,600 We must feast on it as food for our new heart. 519 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,680 The word of God is food for our new heart. 520 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,160 We must obey it as if it were a good, 521 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,600 benevolent, loving caretaker. 522 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,120 God's word is a caretaker for me, 523 00:27:41,120 --> 00:27:44,520 a caretaker for my soul to walk with me and help me 524 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:46,560 and provide guardrails and guidelines 525 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:50,760 to help keep me from straying, from wandering 526 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:54,320 as I'm so prone to do with everything that's shining. 527 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:59,320 We must trust in God's word over our own wisdom 528 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:01,760 and our own cleverness. 529 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:03,360 Some of y'all are pretty clever. 530 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,920 We must see and acknowledge and worship the God 531 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,200 from which this word proceeds. 532 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,040 Colossians tells us to let the word of Christ 533 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,240 dwell richly among you. 534 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,000 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you. 535 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,480 In all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another 536 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,080 through Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, 537 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:26,120 singing to God with gratitude in your heart. 538 00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:27,760 We gotta devote ourselves to the word. 539 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:32,400 Number two, we must not leave room for the flesh. 540 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,720 We must not leave room for the flesh, 541 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,400 but we must destroy the flesh. 542 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:41,720 I don't know if you know this is true, 543 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,440 but what you feed grows. 544 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:49,480 What you feed grows. 545 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,640 If you feed the flesh, the flesh will grow 546 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,000 in size and strength. 547 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:59,800 If you feed anger, anger will send out its roots 548 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:01,440 into your heart. 549 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,640 If you feed self-centeredness, you will find yourself 550 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,720 more and more entangled in yourself. 551 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,760 If you feed sexual impurity, your flesh will crave it 552 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,040 more and more and more. 553 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:18,960 What you feed will grow. 554 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:23,960 But what you cut will bleed and die. 555 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:28,280 We wanna destroy the flesh. 556 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:32,000 We don't just wanna starve the sins of the flesh. 557 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:33,320 Oh, let's abstain. 558 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,480 We wanna destroy them. 559 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:38,200 We wanna destroy them. 560 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,480 And so I'm saying don't just abstain from it. 561 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:42,520 Target it. 562 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:43,360 Target it. 563 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,520 Target sin when you see it in yourself 564 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:49,480 or someone else sees it in you. 565 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:50,320 Lock in on it. 566 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:54,840 Lock your radar in on that sin and go after it. 567 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:59,840 Because sin flourishes in the darkest corners of hiddenness. 568 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:03,320 Sin flourishes there. 569 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:04,440 So how do you cut it? 570 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:05,280 How do you cut it down? 571 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,080 How do you destroy it? 572 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:08,400 Confess it. 573 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:11,080 Confess it out loud. 574 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:14,800 I know this is scary for a lot of people, 575 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:17,040 but that's because sin has taken such a big role 576 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:18,920 in making such a root in your heart 577 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,200 that you believe that you will be condemned 578 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:22,160 if you confess it. 579 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:24,960 And I'm telling you, you confess it to bring it to the light 580 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,920 so that you're healed, not condemned. 581 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:29,840 Confess it. 582 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:31,880 Say it out loud to a brother or sister. 583 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,360 And then the Bible says to have them pray for you. 584 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:36,200 Have them pray for you. 585 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,400 Have them stand with you against that sin. 586 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,360 Get an ally, a partner who will wage war with you 587 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:43,520 against that sin. 588 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,360 Name it. 589 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:47,200 This is big. 590 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:48,200 Name it. 591 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:49,200 Call it out. 592 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,320 Don't pretend you don't have it. 593 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:55,320 And whatever you do, please, don't give it a pet name. 594 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,560 Don't give it a pet name so it takes the sting out of it. 595 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:04,440 What I'm telling you is to use the language 596 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,320 you are learning as you are devoted to the word. 597 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:10,640 Use the language of the word against it, 598 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:12,120 not your own pet name. 599 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:13,840 Use the language of the word against it, 600 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:15,480 not your own pet names. 601 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,880 If the Bible calls it sexual immorality, 602 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:24,040 don't say, oh, I have a problem 603 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:25,960 with looking at things I shouldn't. 604 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,440 Call it what it is. 605 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:33,200 Call it lust. 606 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:35,960 If you're married, call it adultery. 607 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,400 I have a problem looking lustfully. 608 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:42,120 Don't give it a pet name. 609 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:43,760 Call it out, confess it. 610 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,600 And finally, we devote ourselves to the word. 611 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:48,440 We destroy the flesh. 612 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,800 And finally, by faith, we depend on the finished work 613 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:55,840 of Jesus Christ. 614 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:57,480 In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, 615 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,120 we're told that Moses left Egypt, 616 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,720 which Egypt was like an archetype of sin's corruption 617 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:07,000 in humanity and how sin had corrupted humanity so much. 618 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,800 We're told in Hebrews 11 that Moses left Egypt 619 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:14,800 by faith as one who sees him who is invisible. 620 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,880 He left by faith as if he saw God and was following him. 621 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,240 He left as if he saw God. 622 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,240 What is the promise of today's scripture 623 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:25,560 for the pure in heart? 624 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:28,600 That they will see God. 625 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:35,280 There's both an initial and an ultimate fulfillment of this. 626 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:37,240 The initial fulfillment is that through the gift 627 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:38,920 of the Holy Spirit within us 628 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,560 and at work in us, we can ever grow in our knowledge 629 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,720 of who God is by faith and can better perceive 630 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:47,040 his presence in our life. 631 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:51,360 That is yours, that is your promise if you are in Christ. 632 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:53,960 You can better perceive his presence in all areas 633 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,000 of your life as you grow in the knowledge of who God is 634 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:59,320 by the power of the Holy Spirit and as you say no 635 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:01,400 to ungodliness and worldly passions. 636 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:05,560 But the ultimate fulfillment of this promise 637 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,320 that we will see God is what scholars call 638 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:09,920 the beautific vision. 639 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,760 The beautific vision, it's another one from Revelations. 640 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,720 Revelation chapter 22 and verse four. 641 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:22,280 And we'll wrap up with this. 642 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:27,160 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, 643 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:31,960 clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God 644 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:35,960 and the lamb down the middle of the city's main street. 645 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,560 The tree of life was on each side of the river 646 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,880 bearing 12 kinds of fruits and producing its fruits 647 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:44,680 every month. 648 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:48,640 The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations 649 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:52,480 and there will no longer be any curse. 650 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:58,360 The throne of God and of the lamb will be in the city 651 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:02,400 and his servants will worship him there. 652 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:07,400 Verse four, they will see his face 653 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:10,080 and his name will be on their foreheads. 654 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:13,560 Nights will be no more. 655 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:15,440 People will not need the light of a lamp 656 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,720 or the light of the sun because the Lord God 657 00:34:18,720 --> 00:34:23,720 will give them light and they will reign forever and ever. 658 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:30,200 They will see his face, not veiled, they will see it. 659 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:33,280 This is a promise by faith for all of the citizens 660 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:35,040 of the kingdom of God. 661 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,720 All those who by faith follow Christ. 662 00:34:37,720 --> 00:34:41,520 How blessed are they who are pure in heart 663 00:34:41,520 --> 00:35:10,520 for we shall behold him.