Sunday, December 30, 2012
pm
Sermons in Song
PURER IN HEART OF GOD
Song #53
Purer in Heart, O
God was written by Fannie E. Davison, who was born in Cuyahoga Falls, OH
1851. She died in 1887, in
her mid-30s. She wrote
several hymns of which the one we are studying is her best known.
IT was put to music by James H. Fillmore, SR.
who was born in 1849 in Cincinnati, OH.
He was the son of a Disciples of Christ preacher.
He and his brothers founded the Fillmore Brother’s Music house in
1874. He composed the tunes
to several hymns including: The Beautiful Garden of Prayer, I Know that
My Redeemer Liveth, We Are Going Down the Valley, I Will Sing of the
Mercies of the Lord Forever, and I Am Resolved.
HE was also the father of Henry Fillmore Jr, who was a band
composer who composed such pieces as “The President’s March” “Rolling
Thunder March”, etc.
Fillmore SR. died in 1936.
This song is written as a request (or prayer) to God to help
us become purer in heart. In
this song we find some things that can draw us closer to God by
purifying our hearts. Let us
notice the message.
a.
What is purity?
The idea of purity can have 2 meanings.
It can refer to being unpolluted or it can have reference to
being undiluted (i.e. 100% pure juice means it’s not diluted with
water). Both principles are
found throughout the Bible and are necessary in our lives and our heart.
The premise of our song can also apply to both definitions as well.
It addresses true devotion to God which means we will remove
anything that corrupts that devotion, INCLUDING diluting it. Let us keep
this in mind as we examine this song.
b.
There are many verses in
scripture that deal with purity of heart.
i.
Matt. 5:8, “Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
ii.
Acts 15:9, “And
made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.”
iii.
1 Timothy 1:5, “Now
the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from
a good conscience, and from sincere faith.”
iv.
1 Peter 1:22 – “Since
you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in
sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure
heart”
v.
1 John 3:3, “And
everyone who has this hope purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
vi.
Phil. 4:8, “Finally
brethren, whatever things are true…whatever things are pure…if there is
any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these
things.”
c.
Purity of heart involves
2 things:
i.
God must purify us in
the first place – it is the blood of Jesus that purifies our souls.
Heb. 9:22, 9:13, etc.
We need His purification and we need to believe it if we are to move
ahead.
ii.
We must seek to purify
ourselves – by living a life that is pleasing to God.
That involves removing anything that pollutes the heart
spiritually (i.e. putting to death the man of sin) and filling it with
that which IS pure. Consider
2 Tim. 2:22, “Flee also youthful
lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call
on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
Our song actually addresses SOME of these things.
a.
May I devote my life, wholly to thee
– is our desire to fully dedicate ourselves in service to Him?
This is where purity of heart is going to begin.
We sometimes describe it as the decision – we must make up our
minds that we are going to do the right thing.
God demands that He be first – Matt. 22:37, when asked what was the
first commandment, Jesus answered, “You
shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul,
and with ALL your mind. This
is the first and great commandment.” (emphasis mine – TT)
Paul gives us a good example in Gal. 2:20 where he said,
“I have been crucified with Christ; It is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me;…”
b.
Watch thou my wayward
feet – in
this we find the desire for God to watch over us.
Do we really want Him watching over us?
#1 - He is! (Heb. 4:13), #2 – that means that we are striving to
live in a manner pleasing to Him.
David said, “Search me, O
God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there
is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm
139:23-24)
c.
Guide me with counsel sweet –
Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
His word is the source of our guidance.
But there is only one way for it to guide us – if we learn it and
study it often.
And such ought to be a pleasant task - Psalm 119:24 says, “Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.”
Psa. 1:1-2, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But
his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law He meditates day
and night.”
d.
Purer in heart, help me
to be.
a.
Teach me to do thy will most lovingly
– Here is a request for learning.
Not just learning facts but learning obedience.
There is a desire to OBEY! IN Matt. 28:19-20, Jesus said to make
disciples who not only obey the gospel but, “teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded you…”
It is also done, “most lovingly” – Do we love and cherish His word?
Psa. 119:97, “O how I love Your law! It is
my mediation all the day.”
Do we love Him as we ought to? 1 John 4:19, “We love Him because He first loved us.”
Is that the source of our obedience?
Jesus said, “IF you love
Me, keep My commandments.” (Jn. 14:15
IF our obedience is driven by fear or other motives, it will not
be pure in heart.
Consider the example of our Lord - Heb. 5:8-9 says, “Though He was a son, yet He learned obedience by the things which HE
suffered. And having been
perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey
Him…” As I read this I ask
the question, “Am I teachable?”
b.
Be Thou my friend and
guide –
In John 15:14-15, Jesus speaking to His apostles described them as His
friends. Why?
Because they kept His commandments.
He has certainly been a friend to us –(cf. John 15:13 – He died
for us on the cross. 1
John 4:9-11 – it is the greatest demonstration of God’s love.)
c.
Let me with thee abide – do we desire a relationship with the Father and the Son.
Remember what Jesus told His disciples in John 14:23, “If anyone
love Me, he will keep My word; and MY Father will love him, and We will
come to ham and make our home with him.”
This too is tied to keeping His word - John 15:9-10, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you
keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My
Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
d.
Purer in heart, help me
to be!
a.
That I Thy holy face one day may see
– What is the hope of our purity?
That one day we will be with the Lord living in purity.
1 John 3:1-3, “Behold
what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be
called children of God!
Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been
revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as
He is pure.”
Is our desire to absent from the body that we may be present with the
Lord? (2 Cor. 5:6-8)
Psalm 24:3-5 says, “Who may ascend
into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and
a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn
deceitfully.”
Do not forget Matthew 5:8, the “pure in heart” shall see God!
b.
Keep me from secret sin
– We need to understand that it is sin that separates us from God.
Whether we want to face it or not, we are commanded to remain
faithful until death. (Rev. 2:10)
WE must realize that we can become disqualified (1 Cor. 9:27) or
fall from grace (Gal. 5:4).
Therefore, we need to strive to overcome sin.
1 John 3:6, 9 tells us that if we abide in Him we will not sin
(not that it’s impossible, but rather that we are not to abide in sin).
When the author speaks of secret sin, I think of sin that someone
doesn’t know about. BUT, we
must realize that God DOES know (Heb. 4:13).
There are two ways to commit secret sins – one is ignorance (we don’t
know about it) and the other is what we do know about but others don’t –
e.g. the temptation, “no one will find out.”
WE ought to try and avoid both! The
request of this song calls for us to live in such a way that we are not
fearful of any sin in our lives.
That means we learn as much as we can.
Psa. 19:12-13, David prayed, “Cleanse me from my secret faults.”
Psa. 90:8, we read that Israel realized that God was aware of
their secret sins.
Psalm 139:23-24 finds David saying, “Search
me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if
there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
So what do we learn from this?
We need to take care of our sins.
1 John 1:5-9. We
repent, confess our sins and pray to God about it.
Purity of heart will only come to those who strive to overcome
sin in his life.
c.
Reign Thou my soul within – Does He reign within us (much like abiding in Him)?
Col. 3:16 says, “Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly.”
1 Pet. 3:15 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts…”
Rom. 8:9-10, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of
God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he
is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin,
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and
purity your hearts, you
double-minded.”