Bible Study WELCOME TO AN IN DEPTH STUDY OF MATTHEW'S GOSPEL.

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Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Again with Matt Henry eSword

VI. The pure in heart are happy (Mat_5:8); Blessed are the poor in heart, for they shall see God. This is the most comprehensive of all the beatitudes; here holiness and happiness are fully described and put together.
1. Here is the most comprehensive character of the blessed: they are pure in heart. Note, True religion consists in heart-purity. Those who are inwardly pure, show themselves to be under the power of pure and undefiled religion. True Christianity lies in the heart, in the purity of heart; the washing of that from wickedness, Jer_4:14. We must lift up to God, not only clean hands, but a pure heart, Psa_24:4, Psa_24:5; 1Ti_1:5. The heart must be pure, in opposition to mixture - an honest heart that aims well; and pure, in opposition to pollution and defilement; as wine unmixed, as water unmuddied. The heart must be kept pure from fleshly lusts, all unchaste thoughts and desires; and from worldly lusts; covetousness is called filthy lucre; from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, all that which come out of the heart, and defiles the man. The heart must be purified by faith, and entire for God; must be presented and preserved a chaste virgin to Christ. Create in me such a clean heart, O God!
2. Here is the most comprehensive comfort of the blessed; They shall see God. Note, (1.) It is the perfection of the soul's happiness to see God; seeing him, as we may by faith in our present state, is a heaven upon earth; and seeing him as we shall in the future state, in the heaven of heaven. To see him as he is, face to face, and no longer through a glass darkly; to see him as ours, and to see him and enjoy him; to see him and be like him, and be satisfied with that likeness (Psa_17:15); and to see him for ever, and never lose the sight of him; this is heaven's happiness. (2.) The happiness of seeing God is promised to those, and those only, who are pure in heart. None but the pure are capable of seeing God, nor would it be a felicity to the impure. What pleasure could an unsanctified soul take in the vision of a holy God? As he cannot endure to look upon their iniquity, so they cannot endure to look upon his purity; nor shall any unclean thing enter into the new Jerusalem; but all that are pure in heart, all that are truly sanctified, have desires wrought in them, which nothing but the sight of God will sanctify; and divine grace will not leave those desires unsatisfied.


Jesus , Thank you for your saving grace
 
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Day 36 Saturday 10/18/14 Matthew 5:8 A Pure Sight.

Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

When I think of "pure in heart" I think of a child. I have three great granddaughters who are between one and two years old. When I gaze into their eyes I see "pure in heart." I see innocence all over them. My Wife Debi has a nephew named Johnathan, he has "Down Syndrome" he is about 30 years old. I have seen him quite a few times and whenever I see him interact with others, he is so child like. I see a purity that I don't see in other "normal people." Strange, perhaps he is normal and I am retarded or mentally challenged.

Psalm 24:4 "He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." In this verse, I see a great work of God cleansing His servant thru the power of the shed Blood of Christ Jesus. No man except for the God/man Jesus has ever been without a sin nature. Therefore, unless God makes a mans heart pure, he cannot interact with his Creator. One time, years ago, I was meditating on the first few seconds of being born again. I thought, wow! after being regenerated, I must be as pure as I ever will be. I must be as Christ-like as I ever will be. To bad we can't capture those first few moments to stretch them out to last a lot longer. BUT, the first sinful thought that is acted on, stops the purity.

To be pure in heart is to be free from sin BUT, it must be pursued by being pure or "clean thru the Word." I must have justification pronounced upon me on account of the righteousness of Christ Jesus.

I do see God! In Christ Jesus. He is the visible representative of God on the earth.

Hebrews 12:14 "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." I think peace is a very involved word. It has many facets to it. Just what is "peace" with all men. Certainly love for our fellow man is important, whether saved or unsaved.Here at our Christian Forum we need peace with all members, especially when we record a theory of spiritual position, without slandering another member. I personally have seen a lot of insults back and forth as someone is trying to persuade another to his/her point of view. I have seen way to much hostility in posting. THIS SHOULD NOT BE SO MY FRIENDS! There will be some of our members who will "not SEE God" because they don't really seek to follow peace when debating a subject. It seems to me that some of our members relish in being hostile.

3John 1:11 "Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God."

Here is a very simple formula for seeing God. "follow that which is good" and "do good."

See God? Well for now, it seems to me that in the actions of others, we either see God or not. If I meet the need of a homeless man by buying him dinner, he sees God in action in me....Sometime in the future. 1John 3:2 "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

I desire to be pure in heart and the only way that I know of, is to study the Word of God and live out in my goings and comings what I read.
 
I would love to see more of you who read our Study, respond. You don't have to write very much at all. It would encourage us that put a lot of time in preparation for the study. Let us know what you think of the study. Do you have any suggestions?
 
I'm one of the 'silent' ones. By the time I arrive online, the main focus of the daily discussion has touched on the points I would have made, had I been here earlier. So my silence is one of agreement with what has been presented.

There have been several new details I've learned while following the discussion of one of my favorite books of the Bible. Bless you for this!
 
Day 37 Sunday 10/19/14 Matthew 5:9 Peace Makers.

Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."

Albert Barnes in his commentary on Matthew made this statement which I thought was really good.
"Blessed are the peacemakers - Those who strive to prevent contention, strife, and war; who use their influence to reconcile opposing parties, and to prevent lawsuits and hostilities in families and neighborhoods. Every man may do something of this; and no man is more like God than he who does it." Wow! "no man is more like God than when he does it." O, that we all would be peacemakers! Especially here at CF.net!

Hebrews 13:20 "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant."

I don't see a lot of peace making in the Hebrew Scriptures (O.T.). I see a lot of warfare. Now, in the New Testament, I see, "the God of peace" with the introduction of the resurrected Christ Jesus. It's a whole new "ball game." Now, we have the peace of God Philippians 4:7 says,
"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." And the peace with God. Romans 5:1 says "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Every Christian has a duty not only to attempt to bring peace to a conflict, but to be peaceable himself/herself. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:17-19.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
2 Corinthians 5:18 "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation."
2 Corinthians 5:19 "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." Before we were saved, the only thing we were concerned with was that people leave us alone and let us live in peace. Our focus was a selfish inward role for the most part. Of course there are exceptions. NOW! We have found a peace that cannot be explained it has to be experienced spiritually. That peace that we have experienced fits into our new life in Jesus and is to be shared with others. We have been reconciled, now we have been given the message of reconciliation thru spreading the Gospel.

The reason we are called "children of God" is our Heavenly Father is called the God of peace, that peace that the Father is, becomes an attribute of ours because we are His children. Like Father, like son.
 
three different peace makers...
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Chopper,
I have tried and tried to involve my young Pastor in this study but he seems to, just, run out of time learning to fulfill his role as Pastor/counselor/moderator/father of four/husband/community spokesman and encourager.
reba said:
three different peace makers...
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LOL! Reba, I put one of those away November 24, 1969 and I tell it truly, I ain't killed no one to make peace with them since! I'll bet you know which peace maker that was.
 
reba said:
Some times Chopper when things are going smooth and quiet it is because people agree... a peace maker.. ?
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Yea, I appreciate that reply Reba, it's just that the amount of time that I spend on this study every morning, about 3 hours of more, there are so many things around the house that I should be doing instead of this study. I honestly have thought of not doing it anymore because it doesn't seem to be a blessing to the people That said they would be involved. I have posted in a few different formates hoping one of them would be received better than the others. Oh well, that's life. :whirl
 
Chopper said:
Yea, I appreciate that reply Reba, it's just that the amount of time that I spend on this study every morning, about 3 hours of more, there are so many things around the house that I should be doing instead of this study. I honestly have thought of not doing it anymore because it doesn't seem to be a blessing to the people That said they would be involved. I have posted in a few different formates hoping one of them would be received better than the others. Oh well, that's life. :whirl
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But you know that you really don't have any idea who this study and your posts are touching. We have people say they read and seldom post. Planting seeds, watering seeds, God reaps the harvest.
 
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