THE BEATITUDES A SERIES: PART 8 OF 11. Golden Gate Church of Christ Clay Hooper July 17, 2011

Transcription

1 THE BEATITUDES A SERIES: PART 8 OF 11 Golden Gate Church of Christ Clay Hooper July 17, 2011

2 LAST WEEK S MEMORY VERSE: Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 2 John 1:3 NASV

3 THIS WEEK S MEMORY VERSE: and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:27 NASV Instructions: Read aloud as a group Repeat as a group

4 LET S PRACTICE BLESSING EACH OTHER! FIND A PARTNER AND BLESS THEM WITH: The Lord Bless You, And Keep You; The Lord Make His Face Shine On You, And Be Gracious To You; The Lord Lift Up His Countenance On You, And Give You Peace. Numbers 6:24-26

5 PART 8 THE PURE IN HEART The Text For This Series: Matthew 4:23-5:12 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

6 THE HEART When the Bible talks about the heart, it s talking about what s in the deepest portion of your mind and soul. Let s compare Proverbs 23:6-8. What ideas do you get from these comparisons? King James: 6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. 8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. New American Standard: 6 Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, Or desire his delicacies; 7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you. 8 You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten, And waste your compliments. Revised Standard: 6 Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies; 7 for he is like one who is inwardly reckoning. "Eat and drink!" he says to you; but his heart is not with you. 8 You will vomit up the morsels which you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words. New International: 6 Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies; 7 for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you. 8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.

7 The theme of the heart referring to the mind and soul is throughout the Bible. Jesus tells his disciples and followers a similar story to the OT Proverbs 23:6-8 example that we just read. Let s read together Matthew 15:1-20 An analogy is when someone relates an idea through comparative examples / constructs, or similarities. In both the OT analogy found in Proverbs 23:6-8 and the NT analogy found in Matthew 15:1-20, the analogous example is about food what goes into the body comes out of the body. What do you think both passages are really teaching?

8 Food that can feed your mind and soul (your heart) can be either good for you or bad for you. Examples? Analogies Jesus might use in today s lingo: You are what you eat! Or, like a computer, whatever you put in is what will come out. Garbage in Garbage out! The output is only as good as the input. Or, like a bank account, you can only withdraw what you have previously deposited.

9 The Scriptures tell us it is the heart (the mind) that: Imagines Genesis 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Understands I Kings 3:9 So give Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Thine? Reasons Mark 2:8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Thinks Luke 9:47 But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, Believes Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; Loves 1 Peter 1:22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.

10 And, the New Testament tells us there are two ways to purify the heart: By Faith Acts 15:8-9 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. By Obedience 1 Peter 1:22-23 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.

11 We are also told we should: Believe with the heart Ac 8:37; Ro 10:10 Do the will of God from the heart Eph 6:6 Keep God s statutes with all your heart Dt 26:16 Love God with all your heart Mt 22:37 Love one another with a pure heart I P 1:22 Return to God with all your heart Dt 30:2 Sanctify (set apart) God in your heart I P 3:15 Serve God with all your heart Dt 11:13 Trust in God with all your heart Pr 3:5 Walk before God with all your heart I K 2:4

12 And, we are told our hearts (minds) should be: Applied to wisdom Ps 90:12; Pr 2:2 Given to God Pr 23:26 Guided in the right way Pr 23:19 Kept with diligence Pr 4:23 Perfect with God I K 8:61 Prepared for God I S 7:3 Purified Ja 4:8 Single Eph 6:5; Col 3:2 Tender Eph 4:32

13 Has any man already seen the actual face of God? This may be a question for great debates. However, consider these scriptures: Genesis 33:24-32 Exodus 33:11 Exodus 33: Number 12:8 Deuteronomy 5:4 Deuteronomy 34:10 Ezekiel 20:34-36 What we DO know for sure, is:

14 It s A Pure Heart That Will See God