Guardians of the Heart

 

 

Sermon on the Mount- 6

 

TITLE: Guardians of the Heart

TEXT: Matthew 5:8

TONE: Encouragement

TARGET: Believers

TASK: To help believers understand and practice purity of heart.

TEACH: King Josiah (2Kings 22) was 8 years old when he began to reign. The Bible says, “he did what was right in eyes of the Lord…and he did not turn aside to the right our to the left.” At the age of 16, he began seeking the Lord. He demonstrated faithfulness by making repairs to the Temple. When he turned 20 he began purging Jerusalem of all the high places because previous generations had disregarded the law. During the repairs on the Temple the book of the law was found and brough to Josiah. Upon reading the law, he tore his clothes and grieved over the magnitude of Israel’s sin. He recognized that judgment was inevitable, therefore, he led the nation to reform their ways and renounce their idols. He demonstrates the essential nature of a pure heart.

 

TRUTH: Heart translates kardia, from which we get cardiac. Throughout the Bible, as well in other cultures and languages the heart is used metaphorically to represent the inner person, the seat of emotions, motives and attitudes. In Scripture it represents much more, it represents the whole of man, especially his will. In Proverbs we are told, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Pr. 23:7). The heart is the control center of the mind, will, and the emotions.

 

Jesus also used the word Pure, which translates katharos, a form of the word from which we get catharsis. Cartharsis is a term used in psychology and counseling for a cleansing of the mind or emotions. The term was also used of metals that had been refined until all impurities were removed, leaving pure metal. Jesus is calling for a single-minded devotion.

 

When we look at Scripture we discover several different kinds of purity:

 

1.        Primal Purity: Exist only in God.

2.        Created Purity: Existed in God’s creation before corrupted by the Fall.

3.        Positional Purity: Exist the moment we trust in Christ by way of imputation.

4.        Practical Purity: Exist through our participation. That is way Paul implores, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2Cor. 7:1).

 

I.                             A pure heart seeks undivided devotion to God.

 

Explanation: This is a heart with a single-minded devotion focused and total allegiance to God without corrupting loyalties. James wrote, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts you double-minded” (4:8). Double-mindedness has always plagued the church. It is what characterized the Pharisees.

 

Hypocrites have a double heart. They claim to have a heart for God, but their lives testify they have a heart for sin. God loves a broken heart, but not a divided heart. This truth is clearly expressed in verses that highlight the cost of discipleship.

 

Matt. 16:24 -Then Jesus said to His disciples, “if anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”

 

Lu. 14:26 – “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

 

Matt.6:24 – “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other.”

 

Ja. 4:4 – “Do you now know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

 

The great hymn writer Francis Ridley Havergal (1874) expressed this truth in the great hymn of our faith “Take My life, and Let it Be.”

 

1 Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.

2 Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee,
swift and beautiful for thee.

3 Take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from thee,
filled with messages from thee.

4 Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose,
every power as thou shalt choose.

5 Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.

6 Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.

Spurgeon identified the divided heart as powerless in religion, useless in the church, dangerous to the world. He wrote, “Such a man is like a leper going abroad in the midst of healthy people; he spreads the disease” (Spurgeon, Sermon: A Divided Heart, 1859).

 

Illustration: People are often intensely focused on what they are most passionate about. Think about dieting. It involves not just adhering to a balanced, nutritious diet but also committing to regular physical activity. Beyond the physical aspects, it demands mental resilience to overcome challenges and temptations. Setting realistic goals, tracking progress, and making sustainable lifestyle changes. This process also often involves unlearning poor habits and replacing them with healthier ones, requiring mindfulness, patience, and perseverance over the long term.

 

Sadly, many will not give the same intense focus to their spiritual wellbeing. Paul wrote this to Timothy, “For bodily exercise profits little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1Tim. 4:8).

 

Application: Eliminate distractions and idols in your life, dedicating your heart fully to God.

 

II.                         A pure heart prioritizes God’s will over personal desire.

 

Explanation: Jesus embodied this principle in His prayer at Gethsemane: “Not my will, but Yours be done” (Lk. 22:42). This intense moment of surrender illustrates the essence of a pure heart, a willingness to set aside personal gain, comfort, and plans in favor of divine direction and purpose. Christ’s submission stands in stark contrast to that of Adam, whose choice in Eden (Gen. 3) introduced sin and death into the world. His decision was self-centered, leading to the fall, Jesus as the “Second Adam” (1Cor. 15:45) exemplifies self-denial and divine obedience, opening the way for redemption and eternal life. Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).

 

A pure heart, therefore, isn’t just moral purity but an undivided, sincere devotion to God, seeking His will above all else. This purity is both a gift of divine grace and a mandate for spiritual single-mindedness. The ability to prioritize God’s will originates from the transformational work of the Holy Spirit within believers (Rom.12:2, Ezek.36:26-27). Through regeneration and sanctification, the Holy Spirit continually molds our desires, aligning them with God’s. Hence, purity of heart is dynamic, involving the active role of divine grace purifying and enabling us to desire and choose God’s will.

 

The man with a pure heart follows after meekness, longsuffering, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, government of his tongue. He will bear much and overlook much. He is slow to speak and quick to listen. He is a man of temperance and self-denial. He labors to mortify the desires of his body -to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts -to curb his passions  -to restrain his carnal inclinations, lest at any time they break loose (J.C. Ryle, Holiness, pg. 50). Paul stated, “I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1Cor. 9:27).

 

God provides the way for us to prioritize our hearts under His perfect will:

 

1.        We must realize we cannot live a single holy moment without the Lord’s guidance and strength.

2.        We must stay in the Word. It is impossible to stay in God’s will apart from the Word.

3.        We must keep in step with the Spirit. “Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).

4.        We must pray. We are to always pray in the Spirit.

 

Illustration: The account of Peter walking on water is found in the Gospels of Matt.14:22-33. After Jesus had fed the five thousand, He sent His disciples ahead of Him in a boat while He went up on a mountainside to pray. Later that night, the disciples’ boat was being tossed by the waves in the middle of the sea of Galilee. Jesus approached them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw Him, they were terrified, thinking He was a ghost. Jesus reassured them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Peter, eager to join Jesus, asked to come to Him on the water. Jesus invited him, and Peter stepped out of the boat, walking on the water toward Jesus. However, when Peter noticed the strong wind, he became frightened and began to sink. Crying out, “Lord, save me!”, Jesus immediately reached out his hand, caught him, and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

 

Application: Regularly pray for God’s will to be revealed in your life and surrender to it.

 

 

 

III.                      A pure heart exhibits true repentance and transformation.

 

Explanation: Genuine repentance from sin is a hallmark of purity of heart, leading to ongoing transformation and sanctification. David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10).

 

Repentance means a change of mind-set. It means a change of your fundamental attitudes and outlooks on life. In Hebrew terms, it means changing the desires of your heart, consequently changing the orientation of your whole life.

 

When Jesus spoke of repentance in connection with the coming of God’s kingdom, He was not referring to superficial change. He was not talking about breaking off from some particular sin and reforming your life, though, of course, that is included. Rather, He was calling for a total change of orientation.

 

The story of the Prodigal Son shows the meaning of true repentance. When the prodigal returned to his father, he did not say, “I’m sorry I did wrong, but there were the following circumstances…” No, he fully confessed his own iniquity and asked to be readmitted to the household on the father’s terms.

 

A pure heart follows after charity and brotherly kindness. He will endeavor to observe the golden rule of doing as he would have men do to him, and speaking as he would have men speak to him. He will be full of affection towards his brethren. He will strive to adorn his walk with outward spiritual behavior.

 

He will dread all filthiness and uncleanness of spirit and seek to avoid all things that might draw him into it. He knows his own heart is like tinder and will diligently keep clear of the sparks of temptation. He will live and walk according to the fear of the Lord. I do not mean the fear of a slave, who only works because he is afraid of punishment, and would be idle if he did not dread discovery. Rather a child who wishes to live and move as if he was always before his father’s face, because he loves him (J.C. Ryle, Holiness, pg. 51).

 

He will desire, in lowliness of mind, to esteem all others better than himself. He will see more evil in his own heart than in any others in the world. Furthermore, he endeavors to set his affections entirely on things above and to hold things on earth with a very loose hand. He will aim to live like one whose treasure is in heaven and to pass through the world like a stranger and pilgrim traveling to his home.

 

His highest aim is to commune with God in prayer, in the Bible, and in the assembly of his people -these things will be the holy man’s chiefest enjoyments.

 

Application: Practice honest confession and repentance daily. Be disciplined in order to walk in integrity.

 

TAKE-AWAY: Coram Deo, literally means “Before the face of God.” To live coram deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, to the glory of God. To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God. We are to live whole lives dedicated to God, not fragmented lives of inconsistency and compartmentalization. But lives of integrity found in patterns of consistency. A life lived by principle, not expediency. Humility before God, not defiance. A conscience held captive by the Word.

 

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