Beloved, I am glad to share with you today, once again, on the other two examples evoked by the Lord Jesus Christ with regard to inner purity, which we have spoken of earlier during the study on the steps of the spiritual ascension that brought us to the esplanade of the temple of truth.
It was about the beatitudes, in reference to Matthew 5.8: ” Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”. We said that inner purity is the proof of more noble attitudes that lead to the divine vision. For, in the direct moral sense, is “holy” all that belongs to the domain of divinity, and which is thereby set apart, and separated from the whole profane world.
And when we shared the previous weeks about eternal law, self-control, and reconciliation, we learned that it is also punishable to be angry with one’s neighbor, that it is essential to control one’s language and attitudes, and to be reconciled with one’s neighbor, to avoid, as in the case of the debtor that spoke the Lord Jesus, to be in prison, after having gone to a judge who might well be unfair.
In the same vein, we are now examining other examples he has taken to further explain the need for inner purity. Indeed, he tells us in Matthew 5.27-30:“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
- EXPLANATIONS OF LAW AND PURITY
The Pharisees saw the violation of the law only in the material act of adultery, while the Lord speaks of the very thought, upstream of the action, to say that sin is already consumed in the heart from the intention of the person concerned.
Like his first example of murder, he says that anyone who is angry with his brother is punishable by judgment, and whoever says “crazy” or “unholy” will be punishable by fire hell. Hatred, anger and contempt deserve divine justice, the same punishment as murder itself. Adultery is not in the eye alone, but in the acquiescence of the will to covetousness, for every man who looks at a woman in such provisions is already committing sin.
For every sin of intention, which circumstances prevent consumption, is done in the sight of God, who looks to the heart. It’s here that self-denial and above all self-control can help to move us away from the deadly trap represented by gehenna.
The eye that sees becomes here as a material obstacle put in front of the steps of a person to make him/her fall. It’s as he said to Peter: ” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”(Matt 16.23). Earthly things seem to interest us more than heavenly things.
In the same way, the image of the right hand which makes fall, shows well that one willingly consent to undergo the amputation of an eye or a hand if necessary, to save the life of the whole body. Thus, the most painful sacrifice is better than if the whole being was thrown into hell.
So it’s about giving up oneself to follow Jesus in his path of obedience and humility. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of him, will find it. Note that the contrast between life and death is striking, for one can not have one without losing the other; but in his goodness, God recommends us to choose life.
- Thus, it becomes clear that every promise that responds perfectly to the disposition described in each of the Beatitudes is held because he promises nothing without being able to accomplish it; therefore, those who are pure in heart are happy because they will see God. That is to say, they will live here below in his communion, and will contemplate it one day immediately in the supreme beauty of his perfections, an inexhaustible source of the happiness of heaven. Here are some verses: 1 Corinthians 13.12: ” For now we see only a 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. ” 1 John 3.2: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
And the Bible edified us in relation to the purity and seeing God: Exodus 33.20: “But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” John 1:18: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” 1 Timothy 6:16: “who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.”
1 Peter 1:22: ” Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.”
- This is why progress is perceptible in the Christian life:
It is important for this progress, to divest oneself of any disposition contrary to charity, in order to desire, like newborns, the pure milk of the Word, in order to grow in salvation, if you have experienced the goodness of the Lord.
1 Peter 1.22 -23 “ Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
In the previous verses, the apostle expressed the thought that we are children of the heavenly Father. He concludes that we must love each other like brothers. Thus the purification of the soul, the seat of affections, the destruction of all its selfish and impure inclinations, takes place only by practical obedience to the divine truth received in the heart. And it is this which alone makes possible a true brotherly love, and to love according to God we must love in God, because only He makes us capable of loving one another ardently, of a love which perseveres in its intensity. And because the iniquity will be multiplied, the charity of the greatest number will be cooled.
II. SEEING THE ETERNAL GOD
The passages below speak clearly about seeing God: Genesis 32.30 “The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
Exodus 24.10 “and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky.”
Judges 13.21-22 “When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD. 22 “We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!”
Job 42.5 ” My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.”
Psalms 141.8 “But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.”
John 14.9 “Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
It is with sadness that Jesus reproaches his disciple for not having known him, despite all the experiences that he had been able to make with him for so long. So he affectionately calls him by his name: Philippe, to invite him to reflect on the request he had just made to him.
- The Christian often tends to look far beyond what is within his reach. Does it not come from the double personality that goes back to Jacob whose mother Rebecca has put her hand in a garment of skin that would make him look like Esau while the voice is Jacob? We should have one personality.
So whoever saw Jesus saw the Father, the God who is holiness and love, and whose perfect Savior was on earth. This great revelation is consistent with all the teachings of the New Testament as in John 1:18; John 12.45; Colossians 1.15; and Hebrews 1.3.
- Yet, to purify oneself from sin inwardly results from two important and indissociable prerequisites. First, the need to purify oneself. This is what the Bible tells us in Matthew 23: 25-28: 25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
- The purification process is divided into four points:
- the believer must make the request: Psalms 51: 3-9 “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.”
1 John 1.9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
- it is done in our heart: Psalms 24: 4-5: “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. 5 They will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God their Savior.”
- it occurs through the death of Christ: Hebrews 9.14: “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! “Hebrews 10.19-22: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
1 John 1.7: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
- it is done through the Word of God: Ephesians 5.25-27: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
- But what are the effects of purification?
- holiness: 2 Cor. 7.1 ” Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
- Purity: 1 John 3.2-3 “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”
- love: 1 Peter 1.22 “Having thus purified your souls in obedience to the truth, to have brotherly love without hypocrisy, love one another ardently from the heart. It is therefore fraternal love and spiritual growth.”
From all of the foregoing, it follows that the good man draws good from this inner treasure of brotherly love, emphasizes the need to purify his heart, and that occurs through the death of Christ ; this includes the regeneration of his spirit. God is love, holy and redouble and wants us to be holy. Let us choose life instead of death as God Himself recommends to us and he will watch over us as long as we remain obedient and humble. That’s why holiness, purity and love will be the immediate effects of purification. May the glorious Holy Spirit strengthen you all and sustain your efforts on purification so that by becoming pure you may see God the Father Almighty. Our prayers are with you.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite anyone who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me as follows :
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you and ask forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as my Lord and personal Savior. I acknowledge that you died on the cross of Calvary and that you rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me each day to eternal life you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal to me and strengthen my heart and my faith so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me in your divine family so that I too can contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you all worship, power, and glory, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be glad to respond to your queries and comments as necessary, before sharing with you next week on the sacred marriage.
May the Almighty God bless you profusely.
David Feze, Servant of the Lord Almighty.
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