Blessed Are - Week 6

Blessed Are 

Beatitude and Benefit

Matthew 5:8-9

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” 

How many of you want to see God?

Psalm 24:3-4

3 “Who may climb the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies.”

Ezekiel 36:25-26

25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

Matthew 23:25-28

25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. 27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Omnipresent

Based on the fact that God is omnipresent, we can assume that if we can't see Him, it is not because He isn't there.

Here in the sixth Beatitude “purity” means a heart that does not bring mixed motives and divided loyalties to its relationship with God. It is a heart of singleness in devotion to God—pure, unmixed devotion.”  Kent Hughes

James 4:8

8 “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”

What are peacemakers? 

1) Peace makers are truth speakers

Ezekiel 13:10

“This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by saying, ‘All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash!

Jeremiah 6:14

“They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.”

“The peacemaker does not do this. He is painfully honest about the true status of relationships in the world, in the society in which he moves, and in his own personal dealings. He admits failed relationships. He admits that he is at odds with others if it is so. He honestly acknowledges tension if others have something against him. He does not pretend. He refuses to say, "Peace, peace!" when there is no peace.” -Hughes

2) Peace makers are people who are willing to take risks and sacrifice. 

Colossians 1:19-20 

“For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.”

Our peacemaking efforts are not following an example, but they are empowered by Christ action. 

John 14:27

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.