Joyful are The Pure in Heart

Joyful Are: “The Pure in Heart”
Matthew 5:1-8
Page # 960

I. What does God say about the heart?

"Heart" – (kardia) inner person – our affections, cravings, emotions, thoughts, and our will

Proverbs 23:7 – "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

Proverbs 4:23 – “Watch over your heart with all diligence…from it flows the springs of life.”

Matthew 9:4 – Jesus asked … "Why do you think evil in your hearts?"

Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…”

Psalm 51:10 – "Create in me a clean heart, O God."

Psalm 119:36 – “Incline my heart to Your testimonies…”

Psalm 86:11 – “…Unite my heart to reverence Your name.”

II. What does God say about righteousness?

“Pure" (Katharos) - righteousness, truly clean, free of contamination

     1. God’s righteousness
         Matthew 5:48  

     2. Our righteousness with God    

2 Corinthians 5:21 – “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God.”

     3. Real world righteousness

Ephesians 4:24 – “…and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Matthew 5:21  

     4. Ultimate purity    

1 John 3:2 – "We know that when Jesus is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

III. What does God mean when He says we can see Him?

      Know Him, Treasure Him, and Make Him Known

Matthew 10:32-33 – “…everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

Faith Sheet  

Main Themes    
~ Purity of heart means we have been given the righteousness of Jesus
  Christ by faith in Him, and we are also growing in our desire to be like
  Christ in our daily lives.

~ We are now sent into a world that does not possess a right walk with God.
   We are to proclaim Christ as Lord and by the Holy Spirit live in a way that r
   reveals to the world that Jesus is worth following.

#1- Reviewing this Past Sunday    
Joyful Are: “The Pure in Heart”  
Matthew 5:1-8

1. Read Matthew 5:1-8. Discuss the message with someone.
2. Pure in heart means to be righteous in God’s eyes and to become more
    like Him in desires and actions. Read Jeremiah 17:9-10 and Matthew
    15:19-20. Discuss why it is so important to focus on the heart, motives,
    and our desires instead of primarily focusing on behaviors when making
    changes in our lives or in correcting our children. Why is this process
    difficult at times?
3. Read Proverbs 4:23. Discuss how this can be lived out in our busy, sinful,
    and troubled world.
4. Use Psalm 51:10 as a prayer.

# 2- Preparing for Next Sunday    
Joyful Are: “The Peacemakers”  
Matthew 5:1-9

1. Read Matthew 5:1-9. What does Jesus say about peacemakers?
2. Read Romans 5:1 and Colossians 1:19-20. How does one become a
    person who is saturated by God’s peace?
3. Read John 14:27 and Philippians 4:7. What type of peace is available to
    us?
4. What or whom can take away your peace and why?
5. Read 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, and discuss this great calling of ours. In what
    specific ways can this practically be lived out at home, school, work, and
    church? What are the challenges in desiring to be peacemakers in a
    broken world? Pray as God leads.