Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
Revisiting the series so far …
The first four:
- the poor in spirit
- those who mourn
- the meek
- those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
Expressed as negatives, lacking something
An inner acknowledgement that, of myself, I possess nothing of Truth or Good
Then, allowing that realisation to filter down into external attitudes and actions
The next three
- the merciful
- the pure in heart
- the peacemakers
Positives
These are states of being
Manifesting, expressing themselves.
The first group is REGENERATING, the second REGENERATE
The first group: goes against everything that can properly be called ours, our heart, our understanding, our inclinations.
- This is spiritual WORK.
- Equates to the SIX DAYS.
- It requires our obedience to the external authority of the Lord and His Word.
The second: just flows.
- These are SEVENTH DAY, SABBATH states.
- We DO act, but we act from the Lord.
- This recognises that everything Good and True flows from the Lord
- We are no longer standing in the way of that flow.
The first group are states in which truth leads, and good results. We see the reality of our own state, and are blessed from it.
The second, good leads to truth:
There are two states which a person passes through while being regenerated by the Lord; the first exists when he is in possession of truths and is being led by means of them towards good, the second when he is in possession of good and from good sees and loves truths. In the first state the person is, it is true, being led by the Lord, yet by means of what is his own; for when people are motivated by truths they are motivated by something in themselves, but when they are motivated by good they are motivated by the Lord. (Heavenly Secrets, 10729)
So, MERCY is stated first – and is all about the giving and receiving of mercy.
And THIS beatitude is all about the TRANSFORMED PERSPECTIVE that results from this NEW WILL.
“PURE” – [translates as] clean, pure, unstained (either literally or ceremonially or spiritually); guiltless, innocent, upright
Think of the words, “Clean” vs “Unclean” in the Bible!
… IN HEART
It’s not about adherence to an external code of conduct. Contrasts with the [EXTERNAL] purity of the Pharisees:
[Pharisees] “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
[Jesus] “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:2,7,8)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” (Matthew23:25–26)
AGAIN, we are not clean of ourselves – we talked about this last week – rather, what is of ourselves is set aside such that the purity of the Lord becomes the focus.
BUT THE CHANGE that takes place in this beatitude is COUNTERINTUITIVE.
Look at the benefits received previously, and there’s a connection which is fairly easy to make.
NOT SO HERE!
THE PROMISE IS, clarity of sight coming from within, from a heart for what is good, not from external knowledge or learning.
“Perception is …”
“… a certain inward feeling, wholly from the Lord, as to whether a thing is true and good.” (Heavenly Secrets, 104)
It is not a learned knowledge about whether something is true, but a seeing of it.
A switch from (group one) the truth that leads to good, to the good that leads to truth.
WHO KNEW?! That a change of heart would bring about a change of perspective? This is the challenge of the Lord’s words:
And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)
ONE APPLICATION OF “cannot see God and live” (Exodus 33:20)
- The natural man dies if we come to see heavenly truth.
- Confronted with such truth, we would quite willingly put the natural aside,
- But there is also a compulsion about it, which is not good for us, we would have no choice in the matter, and our life would not be our own.
Few of us attain this state consistently, but that is no reason not to strive for it!
Recorded on Sunday 1 September 2024
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