The Heart
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will
see God.”
Christianity is all about the heart. What is meant by this term
“the heart”? We may define the heart in many different ways, but according to
the general scriptural usage of the term, the heart means the center of the personality, the
center of our being. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.” The Message Bible says, “Keep vigilant watch
over your heart; that's where life starts.”
It starts with the heart. So here Jesus is saying, “Blessed are those who are
pure, not just on the surface, but in the
center of their being.” Jesus talks about inner purity, inner
righteousness.
The problem is that all our troubles arise from the heart. Jesus said, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'” (Matt 15:19-20). Jeremiah also said, “The heart is more deceitful than anything. It is incurable” (17:9). That is the natural state of our human condition. So basically, by nature it’s impossible for our hearts to be pure. That’s what we are by nature.
“Pure” in Heart
Our question is then, “How can our
hearts become pure?” This question is the same as the one Nicodemus once asked Jesus, “How can a man be born again
when he is old?” Because it is supernatural.
“Heart-change” “Transformation” is the supernatural work of God. With man this
is impossible, but with God all things are possible!
In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress Christian arrived at the Interpreter’s house. The Interpreter showed him many things. He took Christian into a large hall that was full of dust because it had never been swept. After they looked at it for a moment, the Interpreter called for a man to sweep. As he swept, the dust rose in such clouds that Christian was almost choked. The Interpreter then told a maiden, “Bring water and sprinkle the room.” The room was then swept clean. “What does this mean?” asked Christian. The Interpreter answered, “This hall is the heart of man: the dust is the sin that has defiled him. He that began to sweep at first is the Law. Trying hard to keep all the laws in order to cleanse the heart with our strength only increases sin in the soul. The maiden who brought water and sprinkled it is the Gospel. When we believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit enters into us and cleanses the heart for us.” That’s what Jesus meant when he said to Nicodemus, “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). When the Holy Spirit comes to us, our hearts are cleansed from within. When the Holy Spirit comes to us, our whole life, public and private, becomes transparent and congruent. When the Holy Spirit comes to us, our hearts, our thoughts, and our motives become pure, single-mined, and holy. The Holy Spirit is our only hope. He will do it for us.
Our Part
Although the cleansing of the heart
is all God’s work, we must be sensitive and obedient to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit. Let me share the story of Pyongyang Great Revival in Korea back in
1907. At that time, along with other missionaries, Pastor Gil Sun-Joo was a
leader of the Korean church. In January 1907, new year’s prayer meeting was
held. Although many people came for the meeting (1500), Pastor Gil felt like
something hinders the work of God. He felt like the whole church was covered
and suppressed. But he didn’t know what it was. He even rebuked his
congregation to repent. But nothing happened. While he was praying, the Holy Spirit
convicted/reminded of his unconfessed sin. In fact, he had promised his dying
friend to look after his estate because his wife was unable to, but in the
process he had taken one hundred dollars for himself. Thankfully, Pastor Gil
obeyed the promptings of the Holy Spirit. In front of 1,500 people he confessed
his sin of Achan. The next day he gave the money back. Then the revival
began. After that, the prayer turned to
weeping. Missionary Graham Lee wrote: ‘Man after man would rise, confess his
sins, break down and weep, and then throw himself to the floor and beat the
floor with his fists in perfect agony of conviction.’ Another missionary
Jonathan Goforth wrote: ‘Day after day the people assembled now and always it
was manifest that the Refiner was in His temple.” Writing about Pastor Gil’s
confession he wrote: “It hindered the Almighty God while it remained covered,
and it glorified Him as soon as it was uncovered; and so with rare exceptions
did all the confessions in Korea that year.” Soon Pyongyang became known as the
“Jerusalem of the East.”
Have you had the similar experience that Pastor Gil had – convicted by the Holy Spirit? I do. When I came to the US in 2006, I had my own plan. It was to earn a doctoral degree as soon as possible and become a pastor of a large church. So it was very important for me to get good grades. I studied very hard and was able to earn good GPA. One day the Holy Spirit convicted my sin. He reminded me that I submitted the reading reports of some of the classes not in good conscience. Although the reading report instruction says, “Skimming is not counted as reading,” I had just skimmed through part of the required readings in a hurry but checked them off as 100% completion. I had good grades. Not only that, I borrowed other people’s ideas and pretended that it was mine. But the Holy Spirit exposed all my sins – plagiarism, dishonesty, and ambition deep in my heart. I knew what was the right thing to do. But I struggled for days. I was afraid that I might be expelled from seminary. Then, I heard the Inner Voice saying, “My son, I can use you without degree, but I cannot use you if you are not clean.” So finally, I confessed my sins before my professors, some of my friends and classmates, and church family members. Thankfully, I was not expelled. But the grades of the four classes were significantly reduced. And it became very difficult for me to pursue further study. But instead, God restored to me the joy of my salvation. I was able to see God once again.
Seeing God
When we are obedient to the
promptings of the Holy Spirit, our hearts are cleansed and pure and holy. The
heart without guile. The heart without hypocrisy. The single-minded heart. The
heart that is filled with holy love – love for God and love for others. We are then
able to see God – his beauty, his glory, his will, his way more clearly. Here
seeing God is a metaphor to describe fellowship
with God.
Seeing God, or having fellowship with God, is always social (communal) as well as personal. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit spread like tongues of fire and came to rest upon each of them. They saw God personally one on one. But then, they began to speak in other languages. So people from all nations could hear what God had done in their own tongues. The Holy Spirit broke down all the barriers. The Holy Spirit power was a communicating power, so that all the people could hear and communicate with one another. By this, they saw God, experienced God in community.
1 John 4:12-13 says, “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us (i.e. we see God!), and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” When the Holy Spirit comes to us, our hearts are cleansed. When we are obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). We then love each other. We see God.
[Spiritual Exercise] I want to invite you to make a big circle with me. Now imagine God is at the center. Every time we confess our sins and invite the Holy Spirit to come and cleanse our hearts, we take one step forward. Every time we obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we take one step forward. We are now closer to God. But not only that, we are now closer to each other. By the work of the Holy Spirit we see God in community as well as personally. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
With Cords That Cannot Be Broken
Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together in Love
There Is Only One God,
There Is Only One King
There Is Only One Body,
That Is Why We Sing.
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