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The Pure in Heart (Part 2) |
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By Ralph I. Tilley
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I once heard the Scottish evangelist and former chaplain to the Queen of England, Dr. John S. Logan, relate a tour he made with a group to a British coal mine one day. The thing that caught Logan's attention was the miners' eyes. After spending ten to twelve hours mining coal, with black dust particles saturating the underground cavern where they labored, upon their return to the top-side, although their clothing and bodies were totally covered with coal dust, their eyes were white, their eyes were clean. Amazing, isn't it? For the two members of the human body which are essential for working in a filthy, coal-black environment, our Creator-God designed a way in which tear ducts would continually provide the eyes with a lubricant to keep them clean. I ask you, if our wonderful Creator designed such mechanisms for the human eyes in order to keep them clean in a coal dust environment, has he provided less for the heart of man through the atoning sacrifice of his Son and the blessed Holy Spirit ? The Scriptures inform us of the availability of a powerful cleansing. The Promise of Purity In Part 1 of this series, we cited a few Old Testament promises that pointed to a coming day in which God said he would make provision for such heart-purity that many of his people would later appropriate. To reiterate: "I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you" (Ezek 36:25).1 "Many will be purified, made spotless and refined" (Dan. 12:10a, NIV). "For he is like a refiner's fire and like a fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings of righteousness to the LORD" (Mal. 3:2b-3). The last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, said of the consummate Baptizer, the Lord Jesus Christ: "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Mt. 3:11). This promised future purity for God's people is symbolically linked to three purifying agents: water, soap, and fire. God is saying that what these cleansers can accomplish in the physical world, I will accomplish through the Cross and Pentecost, through my beloved Son and indwelling Spirit. New Testament Facts Do we really believe these promises for a deep inner, moral cleansing, or do we try to explain them away? Have our ears grown accustomed to those teachers who insist that Christians cannot live a single day without lusting, coveting, having evil thoughts, getting angry, causing dissension, committing immorality, lying and cheating, stealing and fornicating, committing adultery, worshiping mammon, and idolizing the forbidden? To listen to many of these well-intentioned writers and teachers—many whom are godly men and women—what God offers to the Christian under grace is no better than what the sinner had under the Law and bondage of sin. Where is the freedom from sin's bondage in such teaching? Where is the abundant life in such teaching? Where is there victory over temptation and sin in such teaching? Where is the power to love God with all one's heart, soul, mind and strength in such teaching? Such teachers don't have the answer to these questions. They have explained away God's provision for such a deliverance and have reduced the biblical passages which address these issues to only goals to be sought, ideals never to be reached, and a reality left for the next world when one receives a glorified body. Some answers! The Lord Jesus and the holy apostles thought otherwise. Jesus announced, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Mt. 5:8). Concerned about his vacillating converts, Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ." (2 Cor. 11:2). The apostle's prayer-burden for his Philippian converts was: "And it is my prayer that ... you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ" (Phil. 1:9a-10). After charging Pastor Timothy with what the content of his teaching should consist of, Paul reminded him, "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Tim. 1:5). To the same man, Paul exhorted, "keep yourself pure" (1 Tim. 5:22b). The apostle reiterates the same moral admonition in his second letter to this first century pastor, and says that by complying with his apostolic commands Timothy will identify himself with the pure-hearted: "So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart" (2 Tim. 2:22). To Elder Titus, the apostle mentions a category of Christians he identifies as "the pure": "To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled" (Titus 1:15). In 1 Peter 1:22, Peter exhorts the believers of his day to experience a greater degree of love for one another: "Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart." Then, in testifying before the Jerusalem council as to what actually occurred among the Gentiles when he preached among them, the apostle Peter reported that Cornelius' household experienced substantially what the disciples themselves experienced on the day of Pentecost: "God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:8-9). In the above selected quotes on this subject of heart-purity, the Lord Jesus spoke of those who "are the pure in heart"; Paul wrote to those he wanted to present some day as a "pure virgin to Christ"; and the same apostle prayed that his converts would be "pure ... for the day of Christ." Paul also wrote about a "pure heart" and exhorted a pastor to live a sexually "pure" life. And Peter said the substantive essence of what occurred in the hearts of all who were present in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, as well as those present in Cornelius' house when Peter preached, was that their hearts were "cleansed ... by faith." These, and the entirety of Scripture make clear to all who will see, that God promises a pure heart, that the apostles prayed for their converts to have a pure heart, that the Holy Spirit wrought a deep inner cleansing in the hearts of the 120 on the day of Pentecost, and that Jesus said it is the pure-hearted who experience God in a dimension that cannot be experienced otherwise—such people "shall see God." Not Sinless Perfection To teach the biblical doctrine of heart-purity is not the same as espousing the erroneous teaching of sinless Christian perfection. The one is Christ-centered; the other man-centered. The one is totally reliant on Christ; the other exalts the will. The one walks in humility before an absolutely holy God; the other boasts of his righteousness and purity; the one freely acknowledges how far short of God's glory he falls; the other is incapable of admitting trespasses and failing in his love; the one lives at the foot of the Cross of Christ Jesus; the other is proud and self-righteous; the one's hope is in "nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness"; the other trusts in his good works, resolutions, and ecstatic experiences; the one is fully conscious that in himself he is altogether unrighteous, unholy, and defiled; the other boasts of his personal sanctity and enjoys showcasing his Christian maturity. These two categories of believers are as different as the two men Jesus spoke of worshiping in the Temple. The one was guilty of comparing his holiness to those he perceived to be beneath him: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector." The other knew that compared to God's holiness, his was nothing: "He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' Which one caught the eye of Jesus? The latter: "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:9-14). It is important to note this distinction between sinless Christian perfection and the biblical teaching of heart-purity, because too many Christians reject the biblical teaching for fear of accepting an unbiblical doctrine. However, we should not allow our fears of adopting the one to cause us to be prejudiced against exploring the other. God desires that his people experience more than the forgiveness of sins; he challenges them to trust him for a deep inner renewal, whereby there is a death to selfism and an infused fullness of the Spirit's energizing purity and power. Pentecost The pure heart the Lord Jesus and the apostles spoke of is a gift—a gift not unlike what was given on the day of Pentecost to each thirsty-hearted disciple. Where the Spirit comes in power and fullness, prepared hearts have been purified by the Spirit's fiery presence to a degree that was not experienced in regenerating grace. Peter is a prime example. The founder of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, Dr. A. B. Simpson, came to discover the reality of this truth while pastoring a Presbyterian church in Louisville, Ky., many years ago. Speaking of Peter and all who were filled with the Spirit at Pentecost, Simpson wrote, "The change produced by the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon the first disciples was more remarkable in their own lives than even in their service and testimony. "Peter was the irresolute disciple—always running ahead of his Master. Boasting in his self-confidence of what he would do or would not do, yet he ran away at the threat of a servant girl. The power of the Spirit transformed him into the fearless hero who stood before the murderers of his Lord and charged them with their crime. With lowly spirit and humble heart, Peter went forth to walk in his Master's steps, and at last to die upon his Master's cross with downward head. The miracle in Peter's personal life is greater than the wondrous power of his public testimony." Then Dr. Simpson added, "Nothing is so strong as the influence of a consistent, supernatural, and holy character."2 English Methodism's Samuel Chadwick, in writing about the impact of the Spirit as "the Spirit of fire" upon ministers of the Word, observed, "Pentecost transforms the preacher. The commonest bush ablaze with the presence of God becomes a miracle of glory."3 Fire energizes; fire purifies. Pentecost energizes; Pentecost purifies. The Holy Spirit energizes; the Holy Spirit purifies. In the words of Chadwick: "Suppose we try Pentecost!"4 The God Who is Able Could we now ask the Spirit of God to search our hearts? Let us ask: Have I fallen into the ground and died to self? Am I existentially crucified with Christ? Am I living to please myself, or the Lord? Can I say with Peter that God has cleansed my heart by faith? Am I totally the Lord's? Dear friend, If God can keep a coal miner's eyes clean from coal dust, don't you think the same God can purify and keep your heart clean as you walk through a filthy world? - Soli Deo Gloria - 1. All Bible references are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted. |
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