Pure in Heart, Seeing God: The Summit of the Beatitudes

Introduction

This past Sunday morning, in the King of Spain's chapel, Hugues WESSEL continued his preaching series on the Beatitudes. For some time now, he has been working through Matthew 5 step by step, because in his eyes the Beatitudes are far more than a beautiful speech: they are the very definition of what a Christian is. Some people will tell you, "Being a Christian just means believing Jesus died and rose again." That's true, and it's essential, but it's not yet proof that you are a Christian. That proof is found in the Beatitudes.

That morning, the text went as far as verse 8, the summit of this spiritual ladder: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The preacher didn't choose this verse by chance. There's a progression in the Beatitudes, and this one is the highest, the one that prepares you to become, next, a peacemaker. Here is what the Lord wants to do in your heart.

Outline of the Message

1. The Beatitudes: A Spiritual Progression to the Summit

Hugues WESSEL read Matthew 5:1-8: "Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'"

Why are the Beatitudes built this way? Because Jesus wants to make something clear: someone who comes into his presence and says, "Lord, look at what I've done, I prayed, I went to church, I gave money, are you pleased with me?" should be silent. That is not what pleases the Lord. The right way in is that of the poor in spirit: "Lord, I don't have good works, I don't have the right attitude, I'm a liar, I covet, I sin in every kind of hidden area of my life. Have mercy on me." And the promise falls: the kingdom of heaven is yours.

Then you mourn over the effects of sin in your life, in your family, in the world (injustice, hatred, discrimination), and the Lord promises you comfort through his Spirit. Then you become gentle, because you see around you not enemies to crush but victims of sin. You can still protest against injustice, against powers, against many things (that isn't incompatible with gentleness), but with a certain restraint, an inward attitude that prays.

Next comes hunger and thirst for righteousness, for sanctification, for being ever more filled with the Holy Spirit. Hugues WESSEL says of himself: "I've been a Christian for a long time, a pastor for a long time, and I never have enough time to study, to understand the Word, so that my spirit may be renewed, my mind transformed, my will transformed." Then comes mercy: because you have received mercy, you show it to those around you. And finally, the summit: the pure heart.

2. The Pure Heart, the Highest Summit of the Beatitudes

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." This is the summit. Throughout the history of every religion, people have tried to appease their gods and idols through techniques, symbols, ceremonies, sometimes even sacrifices, all to see whether God might be pleased with them. But the problem was never there. The problem is the heart.

Remember the Pharisees. They knew every rite and every ceremony. They had even invented more of them to be purer before God. Israel was traumatized by the 70 years of captivity in Babylon, because it could no longer offer sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem, and so, under the Law, there was no more forgiveness of sins. After the second temple was built, during roughly 400 to 500 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments, the people were not idle. To avoid another expulsion from the promised land, they invented 613 laws meant to "protect" the 10 commandments. The logic: if you stumble over one of these human laws, you haven't yet touched God's Law, so God won't be angry.

Behind this reasoning, though they never admitted it, lay a question: "How can I manipulate God?" And Jesus arrives and tells them, "You are hypocrites, you say things but your hearts are not pure." This scandalized them. But Jesus holds his ground: you will not see God if your heart is not pure.

3. Seeing God: The Highest Good a Person Can Receive

The highest good a person can have is to see God face to face. Think of Moses. He wanted to see God, but God had to hide him in a rock and pass in front of him. Moses could only glimpse the back of God, because he wasn't yet prepared to see him face to face. And yet, when he came down from the mountain, the glory of God was on him, so much so that the people were dazzled and afraid of him. Moses himself wasn't even aware of it.

Hugues WESSEL finds this remarkable: that glory on Moses was temporary, whereas the glory of the Lord shines today in your heart, in your life, around you. You are filled with the glory of God right now. You are the light of the world, Jesus said so. The world lives in darkness and needs that light. So how do you make your light shine? The answer: be pure, with a pure heart.

Psalm 86 asks for this directly: "Give me an undivided heart." Many people live with a divided heart: "Yes, yes, yes, but... but...," always some self-justification. The pastor says of himself: "I am a pastor and I am a liar. I covet, I stumble. How is that possible? Because I am a sinner, just like you. I am no longer what I once was, but I am not yet what I should be either."

4. What Comes Out of the Heart: Jesus's Diagnosis

Jesus sheds further light on the heart in Matthew 15:19: "For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies." What was true in Jesus's day remains true today. Nothing has changed.

Hugues WESSEL shares that at the theology faculty where he serves as chaplain, he sometimes discusses this with students. One day he told them, "When you dream of impure things, you sin against God. How many of you think that's not your fault, that we're not responsible for our dreams?" Many were taken aback. His answer: "Your dreams come from you, they come from your heart which is not pure. They don't come from outside. And you should praise the Lord for those dreams, because he is revealing your own character to you: 'Purify my heart, Lord, make my heart undivided for your glory.'"

The prophet Jeremiah had said it: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). If you're honest, you'll see that you're never fully satisfied, that this heart needs to be purified again and again.

5. Two Kings, Two Hearts: Saul and David

The Lord gives you two examples of this in the Bible. Israel's first king, Saul, was tall, handsome, humble. At first, he did what needed to be done, then went home to work his fields. You couldn't ask for better: a humble man, filled with the Holy Spirit. But little by little, he forgot. He didn't guard his heart. He became proud, self-centered, touchy, jealous. And the Lord himself removed him as king, because his heart was no longer pure.

Now look at David. Scripture says of him that he was a man after God's own heart. How so? He committed both adultery and murder; it's written in the Bible. So how could he have a pure heart? Because in Psalm 51, he confesses his wrongs. He doesn't hide them. A sign of a pure heart is precisely to acknowledge your faults, not hide them, not fake it. David had begun to cover things up because he had power, until the prophet Nathan came and confronted him. David repented, and his heart was counted as pure. This should encourage you: it's not "100% or nothing." You are on a journey, and the Lord is purifying you. Don't resist his Holy Spirit.

6. The New Heart God Promises

The Lord hasn't left you without a promise. In Ezekiel 36:26, he declares: "I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." He will write his law on your heart. He will sprinkle you with clean water. And the symbol of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus, then tongues of fire on the disciples, says the same thing: God wants to fill you with his glory.

All these passages are there to encourage you: the Lord is at work transforming you and giving you a pure heart. It's not your effort that will save you. It's he who is doing the work.

7. Living Sacrifices: The New Testament Answer

In the Old Testament, sacrifices had to be offered without ceasing. An entire tribe, that of Levi, served at the temple day and night, seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, so that a pleasing fragrance would rise continually to God. It was heavy, it was difficult. The purpose was for Israel to be a light to the world, with pure hearts, so that the nations would come to God through them. But Israel failed. Almost no one came, apart from a few figures like Rahab, Ruth, or Naaman the Syrian.

Then something new arrives in the New Testament: Jesus, the light of the world. He shone in the darkness, and people came. Today, you are filled with his Spirit, and people come because of the light shining in the lives of Christians. It isn't perfect in us, but it's real.

This is where Paul says in Romans 12:1: "Present your bodies a living sacrifice." Since you are in Christ, your service to him is to die to yourself in order to guard your heart. This living sacrifice isn't a burden; it's a genuine freedom. When you hold the things of this world loosely, you're not devastated if something breaks or is lost. But if, on the other hand, you can't do without something, if you're depressed when it's missing, that's a sign God isn't yet the main object of your desire.

8. "I Lost My Wife": A Testimony of Purification

Hugues WESSEL shared a moving personal testimony. When he lost his wife, he was devastated, deeply saddened. But because of this exhortation from the Word (holding the things of the world loosely), he wasn't crushed, unable to function. "I miss her, that's real, but I'm not paralyzed, the way I see some people become when they lose a child or a spouse. I understand, I sympathize. Through my wife's death, the Lord revealed to me just how much I had been gripped by his grace, so that I could pass it on to others."

This isn't natural strength; it's the fruit of a heart being purified. It's the same grace God wants to place in you, right in the midst of trials.

9. The Means God Gives You to Keep Going

How does God purify you in practical terms? Through confession of sin, through the communion of saints, through the Lord's Supper, through your baptism. All these means the Lord has given you bring you back again and again to the work of Jesus Christ, dead and risen for you. You respond in your heart by God's grace, and you understand that he sympathizes with your weaknesses.

Maybe you're telling yourself, "This is too hard for me." The Lord knows. He sympathizes. But don't turn your eyes away from him. You will stumble, you will fall, the pastor acknowledges this about himself too. So come back: "Lord, I've fallen again. Forgive me." These are the signs of a pure heart: the ability to confess and to humble yourself before the Lord. If you say, "I can't do anything, I only have bad reactions," humble yourself, confess, and he will do his work.

10. The King's Return and Entry into the Peacemakers

Look at Revelation 21 and 22: God gives you a picture of the glory to come. Time is growing shorter. Christ's return is drawing near. The table is set, everything is accomplished. We are waiting for the King to return. Are you ready? Your transformation will be instant when he returns. If you resist, saying "No, I still want to do this or that," then repent, confess your sins.

May the Lord encourage you with this summit Beatitude, the pure heart. Because next, you will be sent out in the name of the Gospel, with your pure heart, and you will be a true peacemaker, bringing peace between God and the person in front of you. And being a peacemaker requires being pure, as the Lord is pure.

Key Takeaways

1. The Beatitudes form a spiritual ladder. Each one prepares the next: from poverty of spirit to the pure heart that will see God, then to the peacemaker sent out.
2. A religion of rituals isn't enough. The Pharisees had 613 laws, and yet Jesus told them: your heart is not pure. It's not your religious performance that pleases God.
3. Seeing God is the highest good a person can have. Moses only saw the back of God, but you are called to see his glory, and already to reflect it now.
4. A pure heart isn't a perfect heart; it's a transparent one. Like David, you can fall, but you confess, you don't hide your faults.
5. God himself is committed to transforming you. Ezekiel 36 promises it, and the Lord's Supper reminds you of it. Don't resist his Spirit.

Personal Application

Take a moment before God and let yourself be searched by these questions:

1. Where am I today on the ladder of the Beatitudes? Am I still justifying my sins, or am I truly coming as poor in spirit?
2. Am I a "double-hearted" Christian? On what specific point do I answer God with "yes, yes, yes, but... but..."?
3. What has been coming out of my heart lately, in my thoughts, in my dreams, in my words? Do I dare name it before the Lord instead of hiding it?
4. Do I hold the things of this world "loosely"? Is there an object, a status, a relationship whose loss would devastate me because God doesn't yet hold first place there?
5. Am I truly using the means God has given me (confession, fellowship with other believers, the Lord's Supper), to let my heart be purified week after week?

Verses Cited

• Matthew 5:1-8 · the Beatitudes, with the pure heart that will see God at the summit.
• Matthew 15:19 · evil thoughts come out of the heart.
• Psalm 86:11 · "Give me an undivided heart, to fear your name."
• Jeremiah 17:9 · the heart is deceitful above all things.
• Psalm 51 · David's confession after his sin.
• Ezekiel 36:26 · a new heart, a new spirit.
• Romans 12:1 · your bodies as living sacrifices.
• Exodus 33:18-23 · Moses sees only the back of God.
• Revelation 21-22 · the glory of God that is coming.

FAQ

Why does Hugues WESSEL say the pure heart is "the summit" of the Beatitudes?
Because the Beatitudes form a spiritual progression. They start at the lowest point (poverty of spirit, the awareness that we have nothing to offer God) and rise to the highest. The pure heart makes it possible to "see God": that's the highest promise of all. Only after that comes the 7th Beatitude, that of the peacemakers, who are sent out to others from that transformed heart.

Can you have a pure heart while you're still sinning?
According to the message, yes, as long as you don't hide your faults. David committed adultery and murder, and yet Scripture says he was a man after God's own heart, because he confessed (Psalm 51). The sign of a pure heart isn't perfection, it's transparency: acknowledging, confessing, humbling yourself. As Hugues WESSEL puts it: "I am no longer what I once was, but I am not yet what I should be either."

Practically speaking, how does God purify my heart?
Through the means he himself has given: confession of sin, the communion of saints (fellowship in the church), the Lord's Supper, and baptism. These means bring you back again and again to the work of Jesus Christ, dead and risen, and let the Holy Spirit work in you. It's a journey, not a single moment. The Lord sympathizes with your weaknesses and walks with you, even through setbacks.