A Pure Heart

Introduction: A man persistently courts a woman telling her of his sincere love. You
say words like cross my heart, I promise, peksman just to say how sincere or how
pure your intentions or your heart is to an object. But what does a pure heart
means?
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Definition
The word pure means free from the presence of any substance or
free from contamination of admixture.
Having a pure heart then means a heart free from any evil thing or
sin.
It is similar to holiness
Gods Holiness
1 John 1:5 says, God is light. This definition of God is not only
associated with revelation and salvation but also in Gods flawless
perfection.
Soaps in commercials tell us that they are 99 percent pure, 99 point
something pure. That might be a great achievement for soaps but
that is definitely not true with God because He is 100% holy and
blameless. He has no sin.
Hebrews 4:15. Holiness means without sin and the perfect definition
of holiness is Jesus Christ Himself.
Mans sinfulness
1 Peter 1:16 says, Be holy, because I am holy. Paul here is telling
us to live a holy life. A life that is pleasing to the Lord. Anybody who
does not pursue holiness misses out Gods plan for his life. We have
been called to live a holy life.
Holiness should be the goal of every Christian. Granted, we will
never reach this goal in our lives but it should be our supreme
objective and the object of our efforts and prayers.
John says is 1 John 2:1, My dear children, I write this to you so that
you will not sin. He is not telling his audience that they are not to
sin very much but that they are not to sin at all. Every sin, no
matter how small it may seem to us is still sin. It is an insult to the
authority of God, a disregard to his law and rejection of His love.
When Paul was instructing Timothy about his relationship with
younger women, he said to treat them as sisters, with absolute
purity (1 Timothy 5:2). His every thought, look and act toward them
was to be conditioned by a perfect standard of Holiness absolute
purity.
When Paul was instructing the Ephesian Christians about the
importance of holiness, he said, So I tell you this, and insist on it in
the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles

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do.(Ephesians 4:17) He insisted on holiness. It is a must, not an

option.
Of course, there will always be a failure in pursuing holiness. 1 John
1:8 says, If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves. We
still have a sinful nature and we still live in a sin-sick world.
Temptation is on every hand and our old nature responds to it. But
what is the desire of our heart? What is the object of our earnest
prayer?
When Paul exhorted the Ephesian Church to a life of holiness, he
pointed 3 general areas of immorality. A) honesty B)Peaceableness
C) Purity.
We acknowledge that each Christian has to walk vigilantly in each
of these 3 areas. At the same time, we also recognize how difficult
it is to do so. In our society today, honesty is no longer a big deal.
To save reputation, one lies. Stealing and cheating are everywhere.
Morality is already an acceptable practice. (Same sex marriage,
homosexuals)
The Christians in Pauls days were living in the same society we live
today. Having lost all sensitivity, they indulge in every kind of
impurity, with a continual lust for more. (Ephesians 4:19) In the
midst of this scenario, the Christians were expected to put off their
old selves and put on righteousness and holiness.
God expects no less of us today. We are to pursue holiness and
have a pure heart, even in the midst of a wicked society. Though it
gets harder each year, we are still called to be holy as He is holy.
The necessity of having a pure heart
Why is it necessary to have a pure heart?
Psalm 24:3-4
Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy
place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift
up his soul to any idol or swear by what is false.
Only when we have a pure heart that we experience God fully.
The elements of holiness
1. Convictions: knowledge of the truth
Be made new in the attitude of your minds, Ephesians 2:23
Romans 12:1, Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Renewing of your mind involves convictions. As we do our quiet
time and listen to God through the Scriptures, we begin to
understand Gods standards for conduct and character. Then when
the Holy Spirit applies Gods Word in our lives and as we become
obedient to the His promptings, we begin to develop Bible-based
convictions. Our values begin to change so that Gods standard
becomes our delight and our desire.

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It will be step by step. God will reveal you a sin in your life. Things
in the past that you didnt expect to be unfavorable to the Lord.
Then another one of greater level, then you will desire to live a life
of holiness.
Commitment to Obedience
A conviction is not truly conviction unless it includes a
commitment to live by what we claim to believe. A commitment
is not a vow but a resolution a determined purpose to live by
Gods word as he applies it to our lives.
We need a total commitment to holiness. Holiness is very
important to God and it deserves a priority attention in our lives.
We cannot choose our own ways, we have to obey Gods. Lying
is same as killing. It not just that sins are equally offensive to
God, all sins are offensive to God. The measurement of sin is not
just its effect to our neighbor but in its disrespect to the majesty
and holiness of a sovereign God.
The Bible is full of Gods commandments and standards and He
expects us to obey them. God wants us to obey Him. To have a
pure heart is to obey His commands
The Discipline of Choices
We must make the right choices in the face of every trial and
temptation.
Titus 2:11-12, The grace of God teaches us to say NO to
ungodliness ad worldly passions.
Romans 8:13, put to death the misdeeds of the body. We do
this by the choices we make not only to say no to temptations
but also to say yes to the positive steps we must take to pursue
holiness.
We must exercise ourselves in the disciplines of choosing to feed
upon the Scriptures so that our convictions will conform more
and more to Gods will for us, of choosing to pray constantly for
His enabling grace to say no to temptation, of choosing to take
all practical steps to avoid known areas of temptation and flee
from those that surprise us.
Dependence on the Spirit
We are in danger when we think that we can have a pure heart
on our own. We cannot change our hearts, that is the exclusive
work of the Holy Spirit.
The renewal is the work of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 119:36-37,
Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish fain.
Turn your eyes away from worthless things, renew my life
according to your word. He expressed his deep
acknowledgement of his dependence to God.
A God-centered Desire

VI.

We have to have Godly desires. We want to feel good about

ourselves and we know we will not as long as we are allowing
some sin to gain mastery over us. God does not honor earthly
desires.
It is not easy, we should practice it daily.
Quiet time
Includes daily reading and prayer. How are you doing with the Lord.