Good Morning, Let us all Praise the Lord!, for what God has done for me is amazing, the devil is still trying to destroy me, this Church, and the membership- the prayers- the people- the staff- but if we continue to love and trust the Lord- we can win this spiritual battle, Love is the answer and to meet each day with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit with thanksgiving and worship, praise, and caring not just for the trinity but for all mankind, it is hard for people to say that they don’t have any grievances with any of their brothers or sisters, or friends, family, neighbors, if it wasn’t for a neighbor this week I could have just passed out from the stress alone, there are days that I get hammered and hammered over and over, about things that just don’t stop, everything you do which may be a certain thing always happens the same, but in the end run God comes to the rescue, and helps me better then before the whole thing happened. There comes a time when your suffering and you can bear with it, but at times when you don’t have a light at the end of the tunnel, or if you do and it turns out to be a train, the constant problems you face and the suffering you have to see, and listen to- like throughout the world, I know God will change things for me, and this Church or Public Charity or Ministry, may soon become a mission or a building or an office, where people can go and receive help from anything to emotional problems, marriage counseling, physical problems, long term sickness, terminal sickness, all of these are caused by the powerless devil himself, but people don’t realize that when people sin, it is like putting another quart of gas into the tank, so satan and his demons can torment people and raise all kinds of havoc, just by making people sick no matter where it is- how it is- and how long- or how bad it is- or even can be. Today the main idea is to show you all that you yourself have been given the authority and power to heal the sick, raise the dead, be fully protected by any beast, bear or tiger, mankind dominates all the beasts of the earth, or any type of something you ate or drank will effect you like any normal thing we eat and drink everyday, for a born again Christian, we know the truth- the thing is today I want to help as many people as I can, if people don’t want to be healed or they think it is a joke or a fairy tale all I can do next is try and teach you to heal yourself through faith and grace. Faith is the key word- if we don’t have any faith, we must have not went through any problems in life to see the power of God working in your life to help you get out of a hole or to get you that dream you always wanted, if it was what you always wanted it would not be work at all. Like if I was able to get a small office and be healthy enough to be there to help people, even handing out sandwiches would be a great blessing, or to just run a video to help someone overcome doubt, or just to preach the Gospel, which may lead to planting seeds, or getting people saved. Then baptized in the Holy Spirit- that too would be a blessing for anyone, any number of things can be done, healings, miracles, if you were in the right place and the right area, but this health thing, I need to be better, it is hard for me to go out two days in a row or two days close together, depending on what day it is- and what day I did the sermon, people don’t realize how much it takes out of me just to type this thing out. Here it is 9a.m. Sunday I have been typing since noon Saturday, The day after I suffer and the day after that usually too, I was going to give up the whole thing at one time, but I have to help people somehow and by helping others I will be making Jesus happy and the Father and the Spirit. I have nothing to even complain about, so I am poor and sick, but God made the poor of this world rich in faith, and soon as Moses told Joshua to keep his head in the word day and night he will then fit into Moses’ shoes and take the people into the Promised Land. And that would be all the knowledge you will ever need. The thing is it is what you learn- as if the bible was a mirror reflecting -special keys- and doorways- and windows, that open and close which helps you make it through this life, even with the devil constantly trying to destroy you, it gets old- walking around with a big target on your back. We loose a lot of ministers every year, and the % is high, many ministers and chaplains are looking for secular jobs because they just can’t make enough to survive, that is the way the devil has them thinking, and God will always take care of the people who preach His word. The word still will always help you and you will be able to understand and it will give you the wisdom to at least explain and learn the truth of all things. Jesus came here to testify upon the truth, but not to much of this world has any- the devil is out there with his gang of demons, causing all kinds of havoc and lies and to seek, kill and destroy- but we look forward to heaven with the new mansions that have already been set up for us, look to the life we will all have after we leave this planet. Just being in a place that tells the truth and no mental and physical games and no envy, strife, jealousy, there is so much more in this world controlled by the power people give evil when they sin. Many don’t realize it but when someone does some kind of sin, evil gets the gas or the power to cause confusion, hatred, with no compassion and caring or even mercy, look at advertising, everything is tempting to the non-believer, do you really need a girl in a nightgown to sell toothpaste! Heaven awaits us, no more pain, no tears, no worries, fellowship with God and Jesus and the Spirit- will be awesome! We are all here still on this planet and there are many spirits that will read these words long after I am gone. I have to be better, but this sickness can keep me down for days, I have a real good friend that I have been so sick that I started a sermon so late- and I was so sick and weak afterwards for days, that I feel so ashamed that I can’t even call him and tell him, how sick I really am, I even had a chance to volunteer and play bass for some group with some other ministry, I was looking forward to that but that day I was supposed to play, I was lying down unable to do anything except hold up a book, the days I went out- and the days I had to go to the pharmacy,- the days going up to the small store, for like a roll of toilet paper, or a can of broth, or a small box of tea bags, taking that walk for one thing gets old after a while, and the days I walked downtown, and met some other people that were healthy, it feels good to be around people, other times I am in to much pain or I can’t sit right, and your around normal people and you are doing all you can just to sit up and carry on a expanded conversation and have the fellowship we all need, plus I need more of that, but I find out it just isn’t possible to be around normal people, All these sicknesses have broken my heart, I want to play music and sing and be like I was in the church orchestra. Then I was healthy and was doing everything I could for others, plus I worked in real upscale fine dining restaurants, plates where going out that where a foot high with all kinds of artwork you just didn’t want to even eat it, you would want to look at it for a while to see the design and the networking of international foods, mixed with various countries flavors, herbs, pastries, stacked with the main entrée, painted plates with all kinds of exotic sauces, with all kinds of color, these specials ran out about 9 and I made 5-6 each night with enough for about 20 servings each- so that is about a hundred plates at about 26.00 average a plate. The deserts were not even seen in magazines, being an executive Chef is long and hard work, I went weeks without even thinking about taking a day off. I loved my work, and I loved playing in church, and I even had time for the gym, which I kept in good shape, all that is gone, the life I had the life I led, is all different, now I sit on a computer and try and write a decent sermon and half the sermon disappears, and hours of writing is gone. I need to be around people, I want what I had which I need more of, I also enjoy what I do now, if the computer worked like it should. I have not been with a group of people for more then a few minutes in a long time, and I have been asked just to hang out and be around people, and to be around, but I just can’t walk downtown a lot anymore, it isn’t bad going downtown, the hill I have to walk coming back- you just feel like your going to die. Sometimes the pain is unbearable, it is better that I just stay home and read. You add all that up, and some days I am just too sick and unable to even read my bible, because I pushed myself thinking it will get easier after I walk enough, but if I walk to far or do something where I can’t lie down, it makes it not possible to even live a normal life, the devil stole these years from me, and took away my life as far as being a normal person, it just does not seem to end, the only thing that keeps me going is the fellowship with God, and reading the bible with communication with the trinity as I read, just speaking to God in prayer, or Jesus or talking to the Holy Spirit. When you come to the crossroads, people still think it is a flesh and blood battle but it isn’t, it could be, if two men were guided by the “prince of the air” or the “prince of darkness” and they both had an enmity towards each other, and something just broke the camels back, so to say it could be a war, a bloody and flesh war, but mostly it is just spiritual, but that could also happen not just between two men it could be two towns that are next to each other- or just two states that touch each other, it could go even higher and bigger then that. Satan has caused much spiritual warfare! But as long as we have God and Christ and we are “in Christ” and “with Christ”, or “dead with Christ”, and so on- we all have to be as close as we can to our beloved Jesus, that is the ticket, that is the key, that is the way we should carry ourselves just like Christ. God has given me the miracles when I needed them, when I had to walk up the highest hill in town, and then walk an incline for about a mile, then they tell you they are out and it will be a long time till they get what medicine you need. Then you’re stuck in confusion, you don’t know what to do or where to go, or even how will I get there, and are they still open? But God took care of the whole thing, got me a ride and got me to the place which is far away, but it all worked out- I got the things I needed, even milk from the store, that was more then a blessing, liquid is heavy and hard to carry but after the day I was so exhausted- I could not sleep, then finally after prayer and making lines and color coding scriptures, I went to sleep, but the same old thing starts, and I am not going to complain or even say anything negative, God did more for me then- I guess- He saved my life. There are times that I almost drop on that big hill and someone comes out of nowhere and gives me a ride, and half the time they don’t know why they stopped either, so I know it is God.
Moses saw God. “The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Moses communed with God. He was a friend of God. What a high honor and privilege! But even Moses could not look upon the “glory” of God and live. Yahweh said in Exodus 33:19-23,
And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen" (Exodus 33:19-23).
No one had looked into the face of God until He became flesh and dwelt among men. The apostle John says, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him" (John 1:18).
However, Moses had an unusual experience with God. When he came down from Mount Sinai “Moses didn’t know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him” (Exodus 34:29). Such shining is always unconscious. His brother Aaron saw that “the skin of his face shone, and they became afraid to come near him” (v. 30). “When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and speak to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him” (vv. 33-35).
A general irradiation and illumination radiated from the face of Moses. His whole face was irradiated in a strange, wonderful and unusual manner in which those familiar with him had never seen before. The Hebrew word is used for a sunrise. This spiritual illumination for Moses was so mighty, so powerful that it irradiated his countenance. His spirit had entered into a new fellowship with God. His whole personal being was mastered, captured and illuminated by fellowship with God. He was supremely conscious of God.
King David asked the age-old question, “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?” Then he proceeded to answer it, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart . . .” (Psalm 24:3-4). Jesus said the spiritually prosperous shall see God.
Pure in heart
Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). That is what Christianity is all about. The gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned about the condition of the heart and our seeing God.
"Blessed are the pure in heart"
The Pharisees in Jesus day, much like legalists in our day, were scrupulously concerned with the external, ritual purification. They ignored the inside. They kept the letter of the law, but the heart was unclean. Jesus was not concerned with religious rituals but “the defiling influences of sin upon the inner man” (Matt. 23:25, 28). “Out of the heart proceeds . . .” Jesus went on to emphasize evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies, etc. The condition of the heart was the center of all His teachings. Everything comes from the heart.
The word "heart" refers to the center and source of the whole inner life, with its thinking, feeling, and volition. It is the place where we make our moral decisions. It is the computer center or control room of our personality. The heart represents the whole of our inner state, thought and will as well as emotions. It is the center and source of the whole personal life, with its thinking, feeling and volition. Psychologically it is the seat of man’s combined energies, the focus of his personal life, the seat of the rational as well as the emotional and volitional elements in human life. This is the center of the moral and religious life of the individual. The spiritual influence and activity have their origin in the heart of man.
Jesus is concerned that the very center of our being is pure. He demanded purity of heart. He stated that this is the core of the problem with man. It is not his circumstances but the center of his personality where problems develop.
The result of this kind of purity is that “they shall see God.”
The word "pure" has the root idea of one that is being cleansed, free from impure mixtures, without blemish, spotless. The basic idea is single-mindedness. The pure in heart have clarified their values, and have pure motives. There are no hidden agendas, no double motives, and no self interests. They declare with all of their heart, "I can do nothing else so help me God." There is a singleness of mind as to motives of service. The pure in heart is completely loyal to God because cleansing of the heart has taken place. They are free of dishonesty and deceit.
The pure in heart have an intimate fellowship with God which can come only from a personal encounter with Christ. It is not a once in a lifetime, or once in a great while, but a daily surrender to Christ as lord of your life.
A religious leader asked Jesus one day, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment" (Matthew 22:36-38).
If your relationship with God is right you will love Him with your total being. The pure in heart is one in whom there is no deceit, but genuine honest, open transparency before God and men. The primary idea is sincerity with God. Motives and goals are not divided when the heart is pure. There is a single-minded focus on the kingdom of God. The pure in heart do not try to serve God and self at the same time. There is a clear motive and loyalty to God. The goal of the pure in heat is to please God alone. Therefore the thoughts and emotions are focused on a right relationship with Him. Their only interest is to serve God with complete, total sincere devotion to Him.
When we have such a relationship with God we are free to take off the masks and enter into His holy presence as His welcome friend.
The opposite of a pure heart is one that is divided. Without singleness of purpose it is impure. The double-minded person tries to serve both God and the world system. The apostle James in 4:8 wrote: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."
The divided self tries to serve two opposing masters at the same time. The double-minded are blind spiritually and their loyalties are divided and therefore cannot see God.
Pure in heart is closely related to faith in James 1:5-8. "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
There are no hidden agendas when the heart is pure. There is no ulterior motive in service of the Master. It is focused with one clear objective to glorify Him alone.
Is there a singleness of purpose? Read what Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-24. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
When was the last time you tried to walk in both directions at the same time? Why try to do it spiritually?
First John 2:15-16 reminds us, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."
Our purity of heart is threatened by anything that causes us to lose our "first love" relationship with God. Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (17:9). Our trouble is in the heart. It is wicked and it is deceitful.
How do we lose that first love? Anytime we love money or things more than the Lord will break our fellowship with Him. Sinful, forbidden cravings and lust can capture your first love relationship. You can fall in love with what you have, or with what you are able to do. When our love is not pure toward God, our fellowship with Him is broken. Our relationships with other believers reflect upon our relationship with God.
Jesus demanded that we have pure hearts, open, honest, genuine, nothing hidden, with sincerity and single–mindedness. Can you give some examples of such people?
EXAMPLES OF THE PURE IN HEART
We have already noted Moses who “By faith left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen” (Hebrews 11:27).
Isaiah experienced inner cleansing
The Prophet Isaiah saw a thrice-holy God sitting on the throne of eternity. Isaiah 6:1-7 describes that personal experience.
"In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.’"
Isaiah experienced cleaning of his heart by the Lord God. The apostle John helps us to understand Who Isaiah saw in John 12:41. “These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him” referring to the preincarnate Word of God.
David experienced a catharsis in his own heart
Origen said, “Every sin stains the soul.” King David is the only person in the Bible who is described as “a man after God's own heart” (Acts 13:22). When we turn to the Psalms we see the man who saw God in his heart because God had cleansed him. Psalms thirty-two and fifty-one beautifully illustrate this cleansing of the soul.
“How blessed is he whose transgressions is forgiven, whose sin is covered!” (32:1). “Oh, how blessed many times over,” or “How blessed many times over, blessing upon blessing, upon blessing.” We could read, “Deeply blessed, satisfied, and marvelously blessed over and over again.” That was Yahweh’s cure for David’s sin of murder and adultery. Only God can cleanse like that!
In Psalm fifty-one King David shares the cleansing of his heart. The imagery is powerfully set against the ugliness of filthy sin. “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (v. 2). We can hear the pounding, stamping and vigorous rubbing of the clothes against the stones to loosen the dirt. “Behold, Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part Thou wilt make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (vv. 6-7). Only after cleansing has taken place can he hear the “joy and gladness” of the LORD. “Hide Thy face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquity” (v. 9). “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (v. 10). “Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit” (v. 12).
God is not interested in the “sacrifices and burnt offerings” of our modern society. He is not interested in our religious platitudes and intense religious emotions without a pure heart. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise” (v. 17). What God longed for in David’s heart is the same thing He desires of us. Then we too, like David, can “Be glad in the LORD and rejoice you righteous ones, and shout for joy all you who are upright in heart” (32:11). This is a theme you will find through out the Psalms.
What made David “a man after God’s own heart” was his single-minded focus. He was a Jesus described “the pure in heart.” He loved the LORD God with all of his mind, with all of his heart and all of his soul.
The apostle Paul experienced a change of heart
The Apostle Paul saw Jesus as one born prematurely out of time. After giving evidence of those who saw the resurrected Jesus the apostle Paul then says, “And last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also” (1 Corinthians 15:9). When did that happen? Acts 9:3-7 records the event.
Paul was approaching the city of Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him and the impact caused him to fall to the ground. He heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Paul said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” The men who traveled with him stood speechless. They heard the voice but saw no one. Paul alone had an encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus and it radically revolutionized his life. From that time on with singleness of purpose he lived Christ. He had a singleness of purpose to serve Christ and his life was characterized as being “in Christ.” It was so radical for Paul he could say, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17a; cf. Philippians 3:8-16).
Jesus is our best example
If we are going to be pure in heart it means we are going to be like Jesus Christ. He had an undivided heart. He alone has loved the LORD God with all His heart, and with all His soul and with all His mind. Jesus is our best example of a single–minded pure heart. He was set on doing the will of God and He stayed in the shadow of the cross during His whole ministry. Listen to Him praying in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was facing the cup of the wrath of God the next day. He was praying, "Not My will, Your will be done." In Matthew 6:33 Jesus got to the heart of our problem when He said to His disciples, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
The Psalmist said in Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.”
