[Mt 5:8] Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Verse 8. It is said here “blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.” It is said here that the pure in heart will be able to see God. How can a man see God? How can we see God, who is so fearful. We should be able to see God. Seeing God is something to fear, but how are we able to see Him? Jesus said here that when you have a pure heart, then you will be able to see God.
[Ps 11:7] For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.
[Ps 24:4-6]
4. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
5. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior.
6. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Selah
[Ps 73:1] Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
These also record this message. Psalm 11:7 It is said here that upright men will see his face. It is said here that upright men, men with pure hearts, will be able to see God.
Pure Heart What is chastity, what is having a pure heart? Purity, chastity, the heart that is pure: it is a heart that is clean, not mixed with any evil. It is not a dark and gloomy heart; it is a very bright heart. What is cleanness? This is very important.
In the Bible, whenever people gave offering and sacrificed to God, they always washed and cleaned them before. So the most important thing about an offering is being clean; the cleanness. If it is not clean, if it is dirty, it is not used as an offering.
So even for us, it is important for us to be clean. In the Bible they gave doves as offering and sacrifice. Doves represent and symbolize purity. So it is very important for us to give a pure offering. Our offering, our sacrifice, is our life. We need to focus on our life being clean and pure. So it is very important for us to try very hard not to become filthy.
Becoming Clean How can we be clean? We want to be clean, but how? We became filthy because of sin. How can we wash away, how can we be clean of sin? And how can we have our sins forgiven? The Bible gives us the answer, the solution. When we believe in God, we will be forgiven. The Bible tells us that by believing in Jesus, we will have our sins washed away. So no matter how hard and harsh and how dirty our sins are, by believing in Jesus we can be forgiven, and we can have our sins washed away.
[Isa 1:18] “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Believing is Important God said, even if our sins are dark and red as scarlet and crimson, it will be like snow. Believing in this is important. Believing in this, believing that because I believe in Jesus my sins are forgiven, believing in this is very important.
Faith So what is faith? We say that through faith we gain salvation. Through faith our sins are forgiven. What is this faith? It is very important for us to know what this faith is. Faith is not just believing, that which we commonly think about. We are not talking about believing, as in “I believe in God. I believe in the thing that is believable.” This is not the faith that we are talking about right now. This faith is about faith in salvation, not the believing that we just mentioned.
The faith that the Bible is teaching us has a deeper meaning. Although I am a sinner, God loved me, and He accepted me. Acknowledging this; believing and accepting this is faith.
This is not just talking about simply, believing and I have faith. This doesn’t say, I believed and that is why God saved me, that is not what it is talking about, conditionally like that. Whether I believed or not, God first came to me and He loved me. Even though I was a sinner, God came to me. Although I am a sinner, even though I am a sinner, God forgave me. We have to know this. When we live accepting this, believing in this, is faith.
[1Co 13:12] Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
Knowing God Loves Me It tells us here that before I knew about God, God knew about me. Before I loved God, God first loved me. I know that God loved me, and God knew me. Me knowing this is faith. How can we have a perfect relationship with God? When I know that God loves me, and I love God, having this kind of love gives us perfect relationship.
Love of God Entering So how can we see God? When we accept the love of God, we can see God. When that love enters us, the darkness inside us fades. When the love enters us, the sins inside of us get blotted out.
It is just like when light shines on mold and mildew, they disappear and fall off. Just like that we have sin and evil inside of us. But when we open up our hearts and allow the light of love to shine inside of us, then the sins inside will fall away like this.
When the love of God enters us, we are able to have that perfect relationship with God. We are able to feel the love of God. So knowing about, getting to know, that love of God, that endlessly giving love of God, is being able to see God.
Lawful Religion So this is how Christianity is different from any other religion. Any other religion in this world teaches Law. They have a relationship, saying, if you do this then you will receive that. It is like this: if you do this, then this sin will be taken out. If you do that, then that sin will be taken out.
Burden That is why there are so many laws to obey. That is why all those laws pile up and become heavy, and they press down on the people. So the laws in the Old Testament were like that.
The laws were over 600. So the religious leaders had so many laws like this that they had to obey ? over 600; so they must have been so weary. If I obey this then I break that. We only have one body, but 600 laws. So as time passes, those laws will pile up and become so heavy. That is why Jesus said, ‘those who are weary and burdened, come to me.’
[Mt 11:28] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
So many laws of religion made so many people tired, weary and burdened. Finally because they couldn’t obey so many laws, they sinned. Going on, they had no way to wash away so many sins; it became harder. How can we unload this heavy load?
Not By Law Jesus tells us that these cannot be unloaded only with Law. A human cannot take away all those great sins all by his own power and method.
Through God’s Love Jesus taught us that we are able to get rid of these, unload all of these, only through the grace and love of God. With the love of God, God forgave us, that is why we are able to restore and recover back to our original relationship. It is not through our own merit or work. So the crucifixion of Jesus on the Cross shows the love of God. We are able to get rid of all our sins only through the love of Christ, the way he carries all our sins, for us, and he forgave all our sins.
[Jn 3:16] “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Is it a Condition? It is said here that if we believe in Jesus, we will be saved. If we believe, then we will be saved. What does this mean? Pastor David worried and worried over this verse for 1-2 years. If you believe, you will be saved; does that mean it is a condition? If you believe, then you will be saved; is this a condition just like one of the laws again? Because of this, Pastor David worried and worried so much. So he prayed so much about this. One day, God told him.
Revelations It is said that the revelation from God, when you receive revelation from God, it is like lightning. One short fast instant like lightning ? just like that it shines for one second. So something that he reads so much about for so long; in one instant God taught him. This solved the essential problem.
So this Word, “if you believe in Jesus, you will be saved.” This is true, because if you don’t believe in Jesus you won’t be saved. This is true. So this Word is not false; it is true.
Not a Condition But it is still not a condition. What kind of Word, what kind of message is this? This means: because God so loved the world, He gave his one and only son; He gave his one and only son because He loved the world this much; so know and understand this love of redemption, this love of atonement, lowering and lowering Himself. When you know this love, when you realize this love, you will be electrified. You will be touched. Then all your sins will fall away.
So this means ? this is telling us ? to know this love, to realize this love. This is telling us to realize how much God forgives you, how much God loves you. This is faith. When we realize this love, the sins inside of us will disappear. When we realize this love, we will see God. We are able to recover and restore the original relationship we were supposed to have a long time ago. When we open our hearts, and when we accept and receive that, then we experience God.
Seeing God is Experiencing Love So seeing God, this means “love.” What is knowing God? That is love. Remember before 1Corinthians 13:12, it is recorded: although now we only see unclearly as in a reflection in a mirror, we only know a part of it; but then later on we will know clearly, just as He knows me. So the mirror that is recorded here; the mirror a long time ago was very vague and unclear. It is not today’s mirror. Today’s mirror is very clear. So it is said here that we will know God, we will see God. This means that we will know the love, and we will see the love. We will know the love of God. So knowing, the greatest knowledge of all knowledge is love, knowing love.
[Php 3:8] What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
It is telling us here that knowing Christ Jesus is the highest, the most noble. What is knowledge? This noble knowledge is the love of God.
Pure in Heart Will See God It is said here that the pure in heart will see God, this means experiencing the love of God. I wish that we will be the ones who become pure and clean inside, with the heart of God, and experiencing this love, seeing God. So being able to see God is a blessing. This is the sixth blessing. That is seeing God. This is telling us: those who see God are blessed. I wish that you will be the ones who will be able to see God. I wish that you will truly be able to experience the true God of love. And by doing so, I wish that you will truly be purified.