The Beatific Vision (Matthew 5: 1-12)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.559 Matthew Chapter Five and I'll be reading verses one to twelve. These are the 2 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:12.349 beatitudes, Jesus's introduction to the sermon on the Mount I'll be focusing in on 3 00:00:12.589 --> 00:00:18.030 verse eight, but I'd like to read the entire thing. So Matthew Chapter 4 00:00:18.230 --> 00:00:22.219 Five, beginning in the first verse. This is the word of the Lord 5 00:00:23.940 --> 00:00:27.780 and, seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up on a mountain and when he 6 00:00:27.940 --> 00:00:31.500 when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Then he opened his 7 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:36.210 mouth and taught them, saying blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs 8 00:00:36.369 --> 00:00:40.210 is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall 9 00:00:40.250 --> 00:00:44.250 be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 10 00:00:45.130 --> 00:00:49.329 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. 11 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:54.640 Blessed are the Merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the 12 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:59.600 pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the Peacemakers, 13 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.709 for they shall be called Sons of God. Blessed are those who were persecuted 14 00:01:03.829 --> 00:01:10.189 for Righteousness Sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you, 15 00:01:10.510 --> 00:01:14.430 when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you 16 00:01:14.549 --> 00:01:19.140 falsely. For my sake, rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is 17 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:25.019 your Ward in Heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 18 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:27.739 Thus far, this reading of God, it's holy word, the grass 19 00:01:27.780 --> 00:01:32.739 withers in the flower fades, but the word of our Lord endears forever. 20 00:01:33.370 --> 00:01:45.450 Please be seated. Let us pray, Lord, is we come to listen 21 00:01:45.489 --> 00:01:49.200 to the reading and the preaching of your word. We pray that you would 22 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:53.359 bless us. We pray that you would bless us as we hear your word, 23 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:57.079 that we would hear your voice in your word to us, your people, 24 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:01.950 and we pray, Lord, that you would give us not only ears 25 00:02:02.069 --> 00:02:07.950 to hear, but minds to understand. And not only that, Lord, 26 00:02:07.989 --> 00:02:12.310 we pray that you would give us hearts to belief. We pray, Lord, 27 00:02:12.430 --> 00:02:16.460 that, as needed, you would encourage us, that you would comfort 28 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:20.780 us, that you would bind us up and, as needed, Lord, 29 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:25.500 that you would wound us, not that we might be struck downboard, but 30 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:31.449 that by the wounding you might heal us, that you might draw out the 31 00:02:31.610 --> 00:02:38.210 infection of sin and unbelief. And that you would give us healing and the 32 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:46.439 wholeness that comes from confessing our sins to you and from being cause to trust 33 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:51.639 you to the very core of our being. So we pray this morning that 34 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.879 the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts might be pleasing to 35 00:02:54.960 --> 00:03:05.949 you, for we ask it in Jesus most holy name. Amen. There's 36 00:03:05.990 --> 00:03:10.789 a wind up here, all right. Well, this morning. Does this 37 00:03:12.629 --> 00:03:20.259 okay? This morning we again turn our attention to my occasional on again off 38 00:03:20.340 --> 00:03:25.500 against study of the introduction to Jesus's greatest recorded sermon, which is this portion 39 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:31.330 of the sermon on the Mount, the beattitudes. This is the introduction to 40 00:03:32.009 --> 00:03:37.370 the whole of the sermon on the Mount and it's a wonderful introduction because it 41 00:03:37.930 --> 00:03:42.680 strikes the themes that Jesus will unpack during the rest of the sermon, which 42 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:47.159 is what sort of people need the Kingdom of Heaven and what sorts of people 43 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:53.240 receive the Kingdom of Heaven. And as we've surveyed these be attitudes off and 44 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:59.669 on, we've noted that what Jesus is describing for us here are the characteristics 45 00:03:59.710 --> 00:04:02.270 of those who are happy. If you recall, I said that the word 46 00:04:02.669 --> 00:04:09.069 blessed here means happy. It can even mean supremely happy. There is no 47 00:04:09.349 --> 00:04:15.379 greater happiness than the blessings that Jesus is describing, and in these eight pithy 48 00:04:15.579 --> 00:04:20.259 sayings, these eight blessings are be attitudes. Jesus is telling us what indeed 49 00:04:20.379 --> 00:04:26.689 the happiest people in the war world are like. But, as we've also 50 00:04:26.730 --> 00:04:30.449 seen, for the most part these are not the characteristics of the sort of 51 00:04:30.569 --> 00:04:35.649 people that we would typically think of as being happy people. Jesus says that 52 00:04:35.810 --> 00:04:42.319 the happiest people in the world are, first and foremost, spiritual beggars. 53 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:48.319 The happy people the head scratcher. The happy people are the sad. It's 54 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:53.949 those who are starving for justice and can't find it. It's those who defer 55 00:04:54.149 --> 00:04:58.430 to the needs of other people, and so on and so forth. But 56 00:04:58.550 --> 00:05:01.629 see, the irony is that, though these aren't the characteristics of the sort 57 00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:08.620 of people that we think of as being the care of Happy People, nevertheless 58 00:05:08.620 --> 00:05:14.019 Jesus tells us that they are. And we're on firm footing when we believe 59 00:05:14.220 --> 00:05:17.540 that maybe these are the characteristics of happy people, because, after all, 60 00:05:17.939 --> 00:05:23.970 Jesus is God, so you would think he would know right. He made 61 00:05:24.050 --> 00:05:29.050 us, he knows what makes us happy, in the same way that perhaps 62 00:05:29.170 --> 00:05:31.529 gm made your automobile, and so they know what kind of old will make 63 00:05:31.569 --> 00:05:39.560 its motor happy. And these counterintuitive be attitudes here provide us with insight into 64 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:45.120 what truly will make you and I happy. That will make us blessed, 65 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:50.389 Happy People, and we all want that, I know. So what do 66 00:05:50.470 --> 00:05:55.670 we find here? Well, this morning we turn our attention to the sixth 67 00:05:55.829 --> 00:06:00.750 beatitude. He says blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 68 00:06:00.910 --> 00:06:08.540 God. Now what he's describing here is part of what the church fathers described 69 00:06:08.579 --> 00:06:15.339 when they talked about the beatific vision. The beatific vision, it's the happy 70 00:06:15.540 --> 00:06:20.889 the blessedness of this beatitude is to see God, it's to have a blessed 71 00:06:21.170 --> 00:06:27.329 beatific vision. And so this morning I'd like us to consider what we can 72 00:06:27.410 --> 00:06:30.850 learn about this beatific vision in two parts. But I want us to look 73 00:06:30.850 --> 00:06:39.319 at the beatitude and reverse order. So first I'd like us to see they 74 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:43.800 shall it, they shall see God, which is the promise that Jesus describes. 75 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:47.069 So we'll start with the promise. And second I'd like us to see 76 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:53.509 the path to realizing that promise in our lives, which is blessed are the 77 00:06:53.629 --> 00:06:59.589 pure in heart. Now I have to confess something to you all as we 78 00:06:59.829 --> 00:07:04.779 turn our attention to this beatitude, and that is this. When I was 79 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:11.779 first looking forward to preaching on this Sixth Beatitude, this is the one I 80 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:18.490 was least looking forward to, and the reason is I wasn't interested in it 81 00:07:20.009 --> 00:07:27.410 because, honestly, it looked pretty boring. That's a terrible thing to say, 82 00:07:27.449 --> 00:07:30.199 but it looked boring. You know, he says blessed are the pure 83 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:34.360 in heart, and that just didn't excite me very much. You know, 84 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:40.000 over the years I've heard a lot about being pure and hard to the point 85 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:42.759 that, you know, you think, oh, it's another sermon on purity 86 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:48.029 or whatever, and he says for they shall seem see God, and again 87 00:07:48.230 --> 00:07:55.589 it being completely honest, it seems sort of abstract to me, see God. 88 00:07:57.110 --> 00:08:01.180 And so I imagine, having confessed that, it may not be too 89 00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:03.339 much of a stretch to say that, if I wasn't very interested in this 90 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:07.379 beatitude, some of you may have felt that way about it yourselves over the 91 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:11.889 years. But here's the thing that we find over and over and over again 92 00:08:11.930 --> 00:08:18.610 about scripture. When you begin to dig into it, you know what you 93 00:08:18.689 --> 00:08:24.610 discover? As I dug into this beatitude, I came to the realization that 94 00:08:24.970 --> 00:08:30.160 this is actually one of the greatest hopes of the all of the authors of 95 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:33.639 Scripture. It's the one of the greatest hopes of all of God's people down 96 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:37.519 through the ages. It is, in fact, one of the great themes 97 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:46.669 of the Gospel itself to see God in exit is chapter thirty three. After 98 00:08:46.789 --> 00:08:50.870 Moses had given the ten commandments to the people, he was meeting with the 99 00:08:50.990 --> 00:08:56.100 Lord on Mount Sinai and, if you recall, he asked the Lord to 100 00:08:56.259 --> 00:09:03.740 show him his glory. Moses wanted very much to see the God who was 101 00:09:03.860 --> 00:09:09.659 his deliverer. And then, much later, if you're reading through the psalms, 102 00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:13.450 you find that this is also one of the chief desires of David. 103 00:09:13.289 --> 00:09:18.210 In the Twenty Fourth Psalm, David asks he says, what does it take 104 00:09:18.850 --> 00:09:24.210 to ascend to God's place and stand in his presence? You see the great 105 00:09:24.250 --> 00:09:31.480 psalmist also wanted to see God. You find it again in the Apostle Paul's 106 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:35.000 writing. He talks often about seeing God. See this is one of the 107 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:45.190 greatest hopes and desires of God's people throughout all of scripture. Why is that? 108 00:09:46.909 --> 00:09:50.710 Why would it seem boring, perhaps diwssinners such as you and I, 109 00:09:52.980 --> 00:09:58.220 and yet be one of the great longings of the authors of Scripture? Well, 110 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:03.820 I think the reason is is that we just don't really understand what Jesus 111 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:09.889 is promising to us here. And as I reflected on it, it seems 112 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:15.090 to me that they're at least four key ass spects to the promise of seeing 113 00:10:15.169 --> 00:10:20.289 God that should make us long for it deeply, and one of those is 114 00:10:20.450 --> 00:10:24.279 that here, when Jesus says that we will see God, what he's promising 115 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:30.320 us is his presence. To See God is to enjoy his presence. It 116 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:37.149 is indeed to be in the actual presence of God. Now that seems obvious 117 00:10:37.190 --> 00:10:41.149 enough, you know, especially in a day and age before television and movies 118 00:10:41.230 --> 00:10:46.509 and photography and all these sorts of things, if you were to see someone, 119 00:10:46.950 --> 00:10:54.139 you definitionally had to be in that person's presence. But to understand why 120 00:10:54.500 --> 00:11:00.980 this is such a great hope in scripture, think about this. Consider how 121 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:05.409 you feel, or how it makes you feel to be in the presence of 122 00:11:05.610 --> 00:11:13.009 someone you love and whom you know loves you. Have you ever noticed in 123 00:11:13.129 --> 00:11:16.250 your life how so often it is that even before you say a word to 124 00:11:16.370 --> 00:11:22.759 that person, just the side of someone you love, the sight of someone 125 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:26.960 who loves you, it just swells your heart with joy. You know, 126 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:31.639 like when, after a long wait at an airport, those doors finally open 127 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:37.350 and your friend that you haven't seen and forever comes walking down that jet way. 128 00:11:37.629 --> 00:11:43.870 It just brings a smile to your face like that. Or the classic 129 00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:46.379 example, I suppose, is the way your dog responds when you walk in 130 00:11:46.460 --> 00:11:50.820 the House. My Dogs Jamie has a little thing on our phone that goes 131 00:11:50.899 --> 00:11:56.340 dealing when I'm like a block away, because the Google knows everything, and 132 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:01.690 our dogs all run out of the house, right up to the gate and 133 00:12:01.809 --> 00:12:05.450 they howl. I can sometimes hear them from the end of the street and 134 00:12:05.529 --> 00:12:09.129 there are so excited. When your dog sees you, it is the highlight 135 00:12:09.330 --> 00:12:18.000 of his day. But these things don't even hold a candle to the presence 136 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:24.320 of the Lord. His presence, his presence with us, isn't just great, 137 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:31.309 it doesn't just make you feel happy. God's presence with us is the 138 00:12:31.509 --> 00:12:39.190 abolition of loneliness. The abolition of Loneliness God made you and me to have 139 00:12:39.350 --> 00:12:45.539 intimacy and closeness with him and with one another. And the sight of God 140 00:12:46.340 --> 00:12:50.340 is to have that presence. It's to have that intimacy, it's to have 141 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:56.500 the beginning, the erosion, that collapse, the abolition of your loneliness. 142 00:12:58.129 --> 00:13:03.490 But better than that, when we have the sight of God, we also 143 00:13:03.690 --> 00:13:07.929 have his acceptance. To see God doesn't just mean that you get to be 144 00:13:09.049 --> 00:13:13.480 in his presence. It means that you are accepted by him. To See 145 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:18.519 God means that everything, everything is all right between you and the creator of 146 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:26.480 the universe. Moses asked to see God, to see his glory, but 147 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:31.629 the Lord responded by saying to Moses that no one can see his face and 148 00:13:31.870 --> 00:13:37.470 live. And the reason for that is that God is so holy that he 149 00:13:37.509 --> 00:13:43.820 has presence is all consuming. No one, nothing that is unholy or sinful, 150 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:50.340 can stand in his presence without being destroyed. Our Sin, as we 151 00:13:50.500 --> 00:14:00.129 know, separates us from God's acceptance. And yet in this beatitude, Jesus 152 00:14:00.250 --> 00:14:05.970 tells us the citizens of his kingdom can enter into his presence without being destroyed. 153 00:14:07.850 --> 00:14:13.759 These Happy People Jesus are described as describing have every cause for their separation 154 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:18.919 removed, so that they can enter into his presence and be accepted by him 155 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:24.309 perfectly and joyfully. You See, those whom he bids come into his presence 156 00:14:24.470 --> 00:14:31.990 are already at one with him. They have every cause of his displeasure removed 157 00:14:33.230 --> 00:14:37.740 from them. They have unity with God in his loving acceptance of them. 158 00:14:41.059 --> 00:14:45.940 Now, I imagine that, like me, some of the best times in 159 00:14:46.100 --> 00:14:50.460 your life have been with when you were with someone with whom there was no 160 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:54.490 cause of separation from you. Right, you know someone, likely they used 161 00:14:54.529 --> 00:15:00.690 to call them boon companions back in the day, did somebody who's a really 162 00:15:00.889 --> 00:15:05.730 close friends, someone who's a Jonathan to your David, who was so close 163 00:15:05.850 --> 00:15:11.519 to you. It's a person who accepts you and loves you unreservedly because you 164 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:18.759 two are at one now. It probably won't surprise anyone for me to say 165 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:22.590 this, but the nearest example I can think of in my life is when 166 00:15:22.629 --> 00:15:30.549 my low life smiles at me. It's her smile for me, far beyond 167 00:15:30.789 --> 00:15:35.070 just having her present with me, fills me with joy. When she's sad 168 00:15:35.190 --> 00:15:39.419 or hurting or something like this, I feel like I sort of shrivel inside, 169 00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:45.980 but when she smiles, then I feel I got a flutter in my 170 00:15:46.059 --> 00:15:50.330 stomach even thinking of it. Right here I get this this feeling of being 171 00:15:50.370 --> 00:15:58.929 accepted and loved and everything is okay in that moment, and that is what 172 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:04.639 Jesus promises. When we see God, hit's his smile for us as his 173 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:14.120 own dear children and as his own dear and accepted children. We also have 174 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:18.309 a third promise. It's the promise of his peace, protection and perfect provision. 175 00:16:19.190 --> 00:16:22.509 Thought I'd try being a baptist there for a second. It says peace, 176 00:16:22.629 --> 00:16:27.309 perfect our protection and perfect provision. When we see our father, we 177 00:16:27.629 --> 00:16:33.620 are fearless, we are safe and strong in his presence, because there is 178 00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:41.500 nothing left to be afraid of. In Philippians, chapter four, versus off 179 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:48.169 six and seven, Paul says this, be anxious for nothing, but in 180 00:16:48.289 --> 00:16:52.929 all things, through prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving, let your requests be 181 00:16:52.049 --> 00:16:56.490 made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 182 00:16:56.809 --> 00:17:03.039 will guard your hearts and minds. Through Christ Jesus. Paul tells us 183 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:07.359 that when we make our requests known to God, he takes away our anxiety 184 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:14.559 and he fills us with a sense of Thanksgiving and he gives us his peace, 185 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:21.670 which is the apostle says, surpasses understanding, and we have that peace 186 00:17:21.950 --> 00:17:27.549 and freedom from anxiety because we see him, and seeing him we are reminded 187 00:17:29.549 --> 00:17:34.339 that he has everything on her control. When we have this beatific vision, 188 00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:41.339 we see that we are close to him as his own dear children. He 189 00:17:41.539 --> 00:17:48.289 is our father, but he's not just any father. He's omniscient and he's 190 00:17:48.369 --> 00:17:52.809 omnipotent. He knows all, he is all powerful. He knows everything that 191 00:17:53.009 --> 00:18:02.200 we need before we ask it, and he is so powerful that he can 192 00:18:02.359 --> 00:18:08.559 provide it every time we need it. And this experience of his peace and 193 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:15.230 protection and perfect provision for us it's like that of a child's on a scary 194 00:18:15.269 --> 00:18:19.710 night. You know, the thunder booms, the lightning flashes, the little 195 00:18:19.789 --> 00:18:23.789 guy has these horrible dreams and he cries out. But when daddy runs in 196 00:18:23.910 --> 00:18:29.420 the room and grabs him and he says I'm here, Daddy's here, everything 197 00:18:29.660 --> 00:18:37.460 is okay, then that little guy knows that he is safe. But no 198 00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:42.049 matter how wonderful our human fathers may have been, they were never all powerful, 199 00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:48.289 but our father in heaven is. And when you are with him, 200 00:18:48.289 --> 00:18:55.609 when you have this experience of seeing him, he assures you of that. 201 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:03.960 But perhaps the pinnacle of the beatific vision is that he allows us to see 202 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:10.589 as he sees. When we're close to the Lord, he draws us into 203 00:19:10.670 --> 00:19:15.069 such union and fellowship with him that he actually gives us the grace that we 204 00:19:15.230 --> 00:19:22.549 begin to look at the world as he looks at the world. William Hendrickson, 205 00:19:22.109 --> 00:19:26.700 favorite commentator of mine, in his commentary, notes this. He says 206 00:19:26.059 --> 00:19:34.500 when we see God he changes the way we look at the world. When 207 00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:38.450 we see God, he changes the way that we look at the world. 208 00:19:38.730 --> 00:19:45.410 He allows us to see his world, his creation and even our own lives 209 00:19:45.609 --> 00:19:52.440 through his eyes. And though you know this side of glory we see, 210 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:56.599 as it were, through a glass darkly, as St Paul says. Yet 211 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:03.319 in glory we will finally have that ability to see all things clearly as God 212 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:11.069 sees. There's a book I really like. It's called the Sacred Romance. 213 00:20:11.869 --> 00:20:17.789 I've tried to get victor to read it but he just keeps putting it off. 214 00:20:18.190 --> 00:20:22.980 But the author, John Eldridge, says this. He says this is 215 00:20:23.180 --> 00:20:26.579 interesting. He says a friend of mine, as a missionary to Muslims and 216 00:20:26.700 --> 00:20:33.460 Sonegal he tells me that after conversion, Muslims will often notice flowers for the 217 00:20:33.619 --> 00:20:38.849 first time. Prior to salvation, Muslims in that arid country live a very 218 00:20:38.890 --> 00:20:45.809 utilitarian existence. Things are valued only for what they can do. Their houses 219 00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:49.200 are dull and drab. Trees are only appreciated if they are fruit trees, 220 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:53.440 if they have a function. It is as if the Muslims have lived without 221 00:20:53.559 --> 00:21:00.279 beauty for their whole lives and now, having their souls released from bondage, 222 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:07.430 they are freed into the pleasures of God's creative heart. That really stuck with 223 00:21:07.589 --> 00:21:11.750 me when I first read that and I've thought about it since. See, 224 00:21:11.789 --> 00:21:15.829 when we catch this vision of God in our lives, he opens our eyes 225 00:21:17.109 --> 00:21:22.500 to the glories of his handiwork like these former Muslims that eldridge describes. Day 226 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:26.940 by day, as we walk with the Lord, we find that he opens 227 00:21:26.980 --> 00:21:33.130 our eyes to the joy and the delight that he has for his creation, 228 00:21:33.890 --> 00:21:38.529 for us and for other people, and he allows us to participate in his 229 00:21:38.890 --> 00:21:45.730 joy and delight. It's a joy and a blessedness in all that God has 230 00:21:45.890 --> 00:21:52.680 made and a consequent desire to praise and thank him for his glory and His 231 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:56.559 Majesty and His goodness. So, as a for instance, when you go 232 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:03.029 out and you look at one of our glorious Arizona Sunsets, it won't just 233 00:22:03.230 --> 00:22:07.150 be to say, well, I better turn the porch light on because it's 234 00:22:07.150 --> 00:22:14.549 going to be dark soon. Rather, it's to stand there in utter awe 235 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:21.579 that your father in heaven created this astounding Vista with all of its color and 236 00:22:21.859 --> 00:22:26.259 majesty, possibly just for your eyes. Have you ever thought I could be 237 00:22:26.420 --> 00:22:33.970 the only person in all of Tucson looking at this sunset right now? And 238 00:22:34.130 --> 00:22:38.849 if you do, you know we known from scripture. He created that he 239 00:22:40.089 --> 00:22:44.519 painted it in his mind's eye before the foundation of the world, just for 240 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:55.359 you at that moment. And as this happens, he'll start to look at 241 00:22:55.400 --> 00:23:00.549 other people with his eyes. You'll start to see people in light of Christ 242 00:23:00.670 --> 00:23:03.430 is see us, Lewis says, will start to see people as they shall 243 00:23:03.430 --> 00:23:10.349 be in glory, and that will change the way that we look at them. 244 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:17.420 This is what he's talking about when he's saying that the pure and heart 245 00:23:17.539 --> 00:23:22.420 shall see God. It's all of this and far, far far are more. 246 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:30.130 And he then tells us, in the preceding part of this be attitude, 247 00:23:30.250 --> 00:23:36.170 how we can find this beatific vision. And of course, he says 248 00:23:36.210 --> 00:23:41.759 it comes to the Pure and heart. Now, when Jesus refers to the 249 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:47.240 pure and heart, he's referring to those whose hearts, that is their innermost 250 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:52.039 being, their emotion, their will, their thoughts, that the fruit through 251 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:59.509 their actions. It's those whose hearts are utterly pure and without spot. And 252 00:23:59.670 --> 00:24:02.910 the word that's used here for pure is a word that has been said to 253 00:24:03.069 --> 00:24:08.509 describe something that has once been polluted or corrupted, but which has been so 254 00:24:08.829 --> 00:24:15.940 thoroughly cleansed and purged to the point that it's one hundred percent clean. It's 255 00:24:15.019 --> 00:24:21.140 something that was filthy that is meant been made blindingly white in its cleanliness. 256 00:24:22.380 --> 00:24:26.930 And in this beattitude, Jesus says that that kind of pure, undefiled, 257 00:24:26.009 --> 00:24:34.930 sinless person, that guy will receive this beatific vision. Now we all know 258 00:24:36.210 --> 00:24:41.319 that that sort of purity is impossible. and Jesus then goes on and he'll 259 00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:45.759 spend the rest of the sermon on the mountain, large part to show us 260 00:24:45.799 --> 00:24:52.990 how corrupt and impure our thought, thoughts and words and deeds and desires are. 261 00:24:56.509 --> 00:24:59.869 And I suspect that most of us have been around church long enough to 262 00:25:00.029 --> 00:25:04.869 know the next thing I'm going to say. We know what the answer to 263 00:25:04.950 --> 00:25:14.539 our problem is. Right it's Jesus. Jesus came into the world to take 264 00:25:14.579 --> 00:25:18.980 away our sinfulness that separates us from God. He came into the world to 265 00:25:19.259 --> 00:25:25.130 wash US clean and to usher us into our father's presence, to make us 266 00:25:25.170 --> 00:25:30.089 accepted, to give us the promise of his peace, protection, imperfect provision 267 00:25:30.130 --> 00:25:36.799 and to give us eyes to see as God sees. Jesus cleanses us. 268 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:45.799 We all know that part of the Gospel and I think that it's changed our 269 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:53.190 lives. But here's the problem, here's my problem with this. I so 270 00:25:53.589 --> 00:26:00.549 very often feel like I haven't received this vision or that, having had it, 271 00:26:00.750 --> 00:26:06.980 perhaps I've lost this seeing of God. Y'All know what I mean. 272 00:26:07.740 --> 00:26:12.859 You Do, don't you? You've lost that first love that John Talks about. 273 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:18.089 You look around and you mind that. You look at the world with 274 00:26:18.250 --> 00:26:26.130 this jaded, cynical I there's no childlike delight in you. You look at 275 00:26:26.130 --> 00:26:29.849 other people and you see them in light of their faults and their sins and 276 00:26:29.930 --> 00:26:33.920 the things they've said or done, and you don't see them in light of 277 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:40.799 Christ. You feel, you act as though you have defend for yourself, 278 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:47.150 like there is no perfect provision for you. You don't feel all that accepted 279 00:26:47.269 --> 00:26:52.910 by God and you wonder where that sense of his presence went. You know 280 00:26:52.950 --> 00:27:00.619 what I mean. We see the hope and the promise of this beatific, 281 00:27:00.819 --> 00:27:10.579 this blessed vision, and we don't really know where it's gone. David could 282 00:27:10.579 --> 00:27:15.849 relate or the sons of Cora in the forty two psalm. We read this 283 00:27:17.049 --> 00:27:21.369 as the dear pants for the water brooks. So pants my soul for you, 284 00:27:21.529 --> 00:27:25.329 Oh God. My Soul thirsts for God, for the Living God. 285 00:27:26.289 --> 00:27:30.759 When shall I come and appear before you? My tears have been my food 286 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:34.480 day and night, while they continually say to me, where is your God? 287 00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:40.119 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me, 288 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:44.119 for I used to go with the multitude. I went with them to the 289 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:47.750 House of God with the Voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that 290 00:27:47.869 --> 00:27:57.579 kept a pilgrim feast. What happened? Well, what has happened is that 291 00:27:57.660 --> 00:28:03.779 we keep on sitting even after we come into a relationship with Christ. We 292 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:07.740 sin and we lose sight of God, we fall down and we lose the 293 00:28:07.819 --> 00:28:12.450 joy that David says he used to experience when he dwelt in God's sight, 294 00:28:14.849 --> 00:28:22.690 and it is awful when that happens. The Psalm is says that he's wept 295 00:28:22.849 --> 00:28:27.680 for the loss of that intimacy. But the sad part is that, unlike 296 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:33.559 the Psalm as, so many of us finally tire of weeping and we lose 297 00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:40.559 hope of returning with the multitude, as David says, like we're alone. 298 00:28:41.950 --> 00:28:47.150 We accept a life, a Christian life, that is devoid of the joy 299 00:28:47.390 --> 00:28:49.750 that comes from living in the side of God, that comes from this beatific 300 00:28:51.069 --> 00:28:53.829 vision, and we lose hope. We can even get to the point where 301 00:28:53.829 --> 00:28:59.740 we lose hope of having hope. We lose the hope of recovering the joy 302 00:28:59.859 --> 00:29:03.059 that what we once knew in our Christian experience, so that it seems like 303 00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:10.970 those people over there at some super duper conference have. So here's the question. 304 00:29:11.130 --> 00:29:18.809 What happened to us and how do we recover? Where do we find 305 00:29:19.049 --> 00:29:26.960 the purity of heart that Jesus says is necessary for us to see God well 306 00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:32.960 again? What happened is that you and I have continued to sin since we've 307 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:37.839 become Christians. We've sinned little bit, e teeny tiny seat sins, and 308 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:42.230 we've sinned great, big, awful, terrible sins. And when we send 309 00:29:42.349 --> 00:29:48.910 those sins, the Lord removes a bit of the experience of his presence from 310 00:29:48.950 --> 00:29:55.380 us. Now he doesn't actually pull away from us. He will need neither 311 00:29:55.700 --> 00:30:00.500 abandon US nor forsake us. He's still there with us. But what he 312 00:30:00.579 --> 00:30:06.579 does is he removes a bit of the experience, the feeling of his presence. 313 00:30:06.660 --> 00:30:11.609 And as he does that, that's when we lose sight of him. 314 00:30:12.569 --> 00:30:18.130 Our sin is like a fog that makes our sight dim and it obscures our 315 00:30:18.210 --> 00:30:23.720 view of the Lord. It makes us lose the present awareness and feeling of 316 00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:30.559 the blessedness of seeing God. And the Lord does that, he allows us 317 00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:34.519 to lose sight of him in this fog in order to get us to the 318 00:30:34.710 --> 00:30:40.869 point that the psalmist comes to in Psalm Forty two, the point at which 319 00:30:40.869 --> 00:30:45.630 we come to thirst for God, the point that we long for the side 320 00:30:45.710 --> 00:30:49.460 of him that we used to have, the point that we are desperate to 321 00:30:49.619 --> 00:30:55.819 experience the blessings of seeing him that he promises to us. And he does 322 00:30:56.180 --> 00:31:00.019 that. He does that so that we will despair of our human efforts. 323 00:31:00.059 --> 00:31:03.730 It will despair of our sin, will even despair of our despair, and 324 00:31:03.890 --> 00:31:07.650 we will turn to him and come to him all over again like it was 325 00:31:07.809 --> 00:31:15.210 the first time. And what he wants from US in order to restore to 326 00:31:15.329 --> 00:31:22.960 us that sense and experience of the promise that we've spoken of, is simply 327 00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:29.960 for us to trust him and come to him and confess our sins and faults 328 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:33.309 to him. Says why, for instance, that we so often it's a 329 00:31:33.309 --> 00:31:37.910 little bit of an explanation of why we have written prayers of confession. It's 330 00:31:37.990 --> 00:31:41.670 to teach us how to pray, to pray with those who prayed before us, 331 00:31:41.950 --> 00:31:48.180 so that we can learn how to pray. God wants us to confess, 332 00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:52.819 and when we do that, when we do come and confess to him, 333 00:31:52.339 --> 00:32:00.299 then he restores to us that sense of purity of the heart that we 334 00:32:00.500 --> 00:32:05.849 need if we're going to see him clearly again. And if you ever wonder 335 00:32:05.890 --> 00:32:08.650 why it is, you say to yourself, it's okay, Austin, I 336 00:32:08.690 --> 00:32:12.890 know all this. I've heard this ten million times. Maybe you wonder yourself. 337 00:32:12.970 --> 00:32:16.119 You say, okay, why do these preachers keep on and on and 338 00:32:16.279 --> 00:32:22.200 on and on, not about all this old stuff? Well, the answer 339 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:27.640 is this. You never grow beyond it. You never grow bere you they 340 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:30.549 no matter how wise or smarter educated you may be, no matter how long 341 00:32:30.589 --> 00:32:36.630 you've walked with Jesus, you never ever get be hot, beyond those simple 342 00:32:36.829 --> 00:32:44.579 Gospel truths. Every day you need to remind yourself of those simple truths. 343 00:32:44.859 --> 00:32:49.539 Every day. You need the milk of the Gospel, like Little Linda needs 344 00:32:49.619 --> 00:32:55.380 milk so she can grow up to be strong. One of my professors in 345 00:32:55.500 --> 00:33:00.690 seminary, Dr Knox Chamblin, he used to always tell us with this wonderful 346 00:33:00.690 --> 00:33:07.210 Mississippi accent that he had. Oh, Ladies and gentlemen, the most important 347 00:33:07.250 --> 00:33:16.079 thing y'all can do is preach the Gospel to yourselves every day. Preach the 348 00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:24.400 Gospel to yourself every day. You've got to remember those simple truths. Jesus, 349 00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:29.910 for instance, did not come for the righteous, but the unrighteous. 350 00:33:30.470 --> 00:33:34.349 Jesus didn't come for people who have it all together, but for people who 351 00:33:34.349 --> 00:33:37.190 are all screw it up, for people who are so screwed up that they 352 00:33:37.230 --> 00:33:42.380 don't know their right hand from their left, which is good news for me, 353 00:33:43.339 --> 00:33:51.779 and I'll tell you this. We hold onto these simple truths and, 354 00:33:51.940 --> 00:33:57.130 though it seems too good to be true that if we confess, it's over. 355 00:33:57.529 --> 00:34:00.769 If we turn to him, he draws near to us. Though it 356 00:34:00.890 --> 00:34:06.049 seems to be too good to be true, it seems to be too easy, 357 00:34:08.090 --> 00:34:12.559 the fact is that when you look around and you see that you cannot 358 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:17.239 see, when you find that you've lost sight of God and you've become sadly 359 00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:24.750 accustomed to not experiencing God's presence and his acceptance and his peace, protection and 360 00:34:24.869 --> 00:34:30.349 perfect provision, when you look around and you realize that you do not see 361 00:34:30.670 --> 00:34:37.309 with God's eyes, this is what I want you to know. That is 362 00:34:37.389 --> 00:34:45.059 the Holy Spirit and he's speaking to you and he says come, come and 363 00:34:45.340 --> 00:34:50.900 confess, turn around and trust me, tell me about it, tell me 364 00:34:51.099 --> 00:34:53.690 what you've done, and I will wash you wider than snow. I will 365 00:34:54.010 --> 00:34:58.570 cleanse you with hiss up, as scripture says, and you shall be clean. 366 00:34:58.650 --> 00:35:02.170 I will make your heart as pure as the driven snow, and you 367 00:35:02.530 --> 00:35:12.599 will see me, says the Lord. And you know what, though, 368 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:19.440 confession is hard and we avoid it like the plague because we hate to face 369 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:24.829 the ugly truth about ourselves. Nevertheless, when we confess our sins, it 370 00:35:27.309 --> 00:35:31.150 is good, for the more you confess what you've done, even those little 371 00:35:31.190 --> 00:35:36.579 arrant thoughts. You're impure motives. The more you confess, the more you 372 00:35:36.619 --> 00:35:39.900 will be forced to remind yourself of his Gospel promises, and the more that 373 00:35:40.019 --> 00:35:45.139 you remember those promises, the more you'll see God and that side of him, 374 00:35:45.219 --> 00:35:52.010 that that beatific vision. It is in itself transforming, it is cleansing. 375 00:35:52.329 --> 00:35:55.130 It's like a fire that stokes its own fire. The more you see 376 00:35:55.289 --> 00:36:00.489 and experience the Lord, the more you will want to see and experience the 377 00:36:00.650 --> 00:36:09.679 Lord and all you lack. Repent to belief, which literally means turn around 378 00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:21.070 and trust me and confess. Seek his cleansing touch, for then you will 379 00:36:21.429 --> 00:36:28.989 see God and brothers and sisters. That is good news. Let's pray.