SUNDAY LESSON, 2/18/24
PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS: BE REAL
Matthew 5:8 (selected passages)
We are continuing the sermon series on the beatitudes of Christ titled: PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS. This Sunday we will study the sixth beatitude: “Blessed [Happy] are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
When Jesus spoke of being “pure in heart”, He emphasized the inner person . . . the motive . . . the “heart.” In other words, He is saying that we are to “BE REAL”. Jesus’ sermon on the mount was a direct afront to the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. Jesus would often speak of their hypocrisy—pretending to be something that they were not (Matthew 23). Instead of pronouncing blessings on those religious leaders, Jesus presented a series of “Woes”, as they often hid behind a pious front.
We, too, have hidden behind masks pretending to be something that we are not. Yet, Jesus is emphasizing the importance of being real before God and before others. He calls us to be righteous inside and out.
MATTHEW 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
for they will see God.
MATTHEW 23:27-28
“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.
