The Beatitude of Purity

J. R. Miller

Record of Christian Work

A little child was asked which of the beatitudes she would chose, if she could have but one of them. After reading them over thoughtfully she said she would choose the beatitude of a pure heart, for if she had this one she would have all the others with it.

There is an Old Testament beatitude which throws light upon this word of Christ's. It reads, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven." We would have filled in the sentence differently, "Blessed is he who has never sinned;" but the way it is in the Bible is far better. Our way of writing it would have shut out all the world; God's way leaves twelve pearl gates which are never shut by day nor by night, and there is no one so guilty that he may not come within the circle of blessing.

Then we remember that there is a word in an old book which runs thus: "Wash you, make you clean. ... Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." There is a New Testament word also which answers as antiphonal to this: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

It is very clear, therefore, that this beatitude, lofty and heavenly as it is, is not impossible of attainment and does not exclude any sinner of the human family. The pure in heart are sinners who have been forgiven and cleansed.

Yet it is no ordinary holiness which is described in this beatitude. All the beatitudes are for lofty spiritual attainments, attainments which are not easily reached. It costs to be good and to wear the honors of real sainthood. Not all Christians are pure in heart. Too many live on a low plane. They are borderland Christians. Like the Israelites settling in their promised land, they do not drive out all their enemies. They tolerate some of them. They allow favorite sins to share life with them.

Christians with a pure heart have exterminated every Canaanite. They have made an entire consecration of their life to God. This means that they have Christ full possession.

"They shall see God." This is a wonderful promise. We know that in glory the redeemed shall see God. But the promise refers to this life as well as to the beatific vision in heaven. The pure in heart shall see God here. In the olden days holy men sometimes were granted wonderful visions of God. Theophanies, we call these exceptional manifestations. The most marvelous of all revealings of God to men was when Jesus Christ was on the earth. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," he said when one of his disciples implored him to show them the Father.

Jesus has now passed out of mortal sight, and yet we have his promise to be with us always. He who sees Christ now sees the Father revealed in him. We see Christ by faith,—the pure in heart see him. The clouds and mists and dust that hide the blue sky, the shining sun, and the glory of the stars all are earthborn. They are never part of the sky itself. The heavens breed nothing that hides or dims their beauty. In like manner, whatever hides God's face from any life is born of the life itself. Only sinful thoughts and feelings obscure the heavenly vision. But when the heart is clean and pure, with no mists and clouds of sin arising, we can look unhindered into God's very face.

It is possible to live in close fellowship with God, conscious evermore of His approving smile. The story of Brother Lawrence, the simple-minded cook of a Carmelite monastery, illustrates what is attainable in the way of seeing God in this present life. The phrase he used continually to describe his theory of Christian living was "the practice of the presence of God." He said that for many years he had never lost the sense of the presence and companionship of Christ, and that he was as conscious of it while serving in the noise and clutter of his kitchen as when engaged in the holiest exercises of devotion. What he learned to do we may learn to do. The pure in heart shall see God, and the vision need not be interrupted by any task or duty, by any sorrow or trial.

To enter the beautiful gate of this beatitude we must seek the purifying of our heart and the cleansing of our life. Without Christ all such striving is in vain.

Extract from an article by J. R. Miller, D.D., in Record of Christian Work.

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