Take Off the Masks

Matthew 5:8 “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”

Romans 12:9-10 “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”

Once a man was sitting at a stop light going through some papers on the front seat and ignoring the green light. The driver behind him honked his horn and began screaming and beating on his steering wheel, and telling him he was number one and pitching a holy fit! Just before the light turned red again, the first driver finally took off.

As soon as the other man made it through the light, he saw blue lights flashing in his rear view mirror, so he pulled over. The cop quickly got out of his patrol car, drew his gun, and ordered the man to get out of the car and drop to the ground. The man obeyed, but kept asking “What’s going on. You’re not arresting me for hollering in my car are you?"

The cop said, “No, I saw you screaming and beating your steering wheel and flipping that other driver off, and noticed the Cross hanging from your mirror, and the ‘Jesus’ sticker, and the Fish symbol, on your bumper, I knew this had to be a stolen car." Sometimes our actions don’t measure up to our claims do they?

We all wear masks at different times.  We might wear a mask to work then take it off when we come home.  Or wear a mask to church then take it off when we come home.  We might wear a different mask when we are with our friends. 

A cartoon showed a pastor talking with his wife. She said, "Today let's do something different. Why don't you be charming at home and grouchy at church?"

We wear masks so that others don’t see the real us.  Maybe we are afraid that we will not be liked or accepted or maybe we are ashamed of some deficit we perceive in our character. We may be able to fool our friends, employer, church, or even our family but we can never fool God.  He sees right past the mask to the person we are inside. 

God wants us to be genuine and have pure hearts.  If we are living a lie (wearing a mask) our hearts are not pure.  Purity is transparent.  It has nothing to hide. 

Diamonds are measured by their clarity.  Clarity is an indication of a diamond's purity. Clarity is determined by a diamond's naturally occurring internal characteristics. These characteristics are sometimes not visible to the naked eye and they are what make each diamond unique. The characteristics, or inclusions, may look like crystals, feathers, clouds or dark spots and the quantity, size, and location of these inclusions does have an affect on a diamond's value. Diamonds with fewer and smaller inclusions generally are more brilliant, assuming that the color and cut are the same.

Clarity Grade	Description	Appearance
F	Flawless	Clear stone, free of all flaws, even under 10x magnification
IF	Internally Flawless	No inclusions visible at 10x magnification

http://www.myjewelrysource.com/toplevelpages/diamond_definitions.htm

Webster’s Dictionary defines clarity as: the quality or state of being clear.

Like diamonds, Christians are measured by our purity/clarity.  God looks at our motives, attitudes, thoughts, and desires.  He measures our purity in comparison to that of Christ.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says that the pure in heart will see God.  The pure in heart are those who take off the masks and learn to be genuine/real with God and others. 

What does it mean to be pure in heart? 

In the Scripture the heart represents the deepest part of a person’s thoughts and being.  Proverbs 23:7a (KJV) “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:”    Matthew 9:4 “Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, ‘Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?’”

Proverbs 4:23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”  Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”

We see from the verses above the God is concerned with our hearts.  We also see that our hearts are capable of evil or good.  David in Psalm 1:10 asked God to create in him a clean heart.  He knew first- hand how easy it is to fall into temptation and sin; to live with impurity in his heart.

So, being "pure in heart" means being saved, having the righteousness of Christ covering your heart and living on the outside what God has made you on the inside. (http://www.sonoraville.org/sermons/archives/mar25_07_am.pdf)

How do we have a pure heart?

     1.       Be born again.  The first step in having a pure heart is being reborn from our sin nature into the nature of Christ.  Ephesians 2:8-9 “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

     2.       Be Tapped into the Vine. John 15:5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”  We get our strength and power to live this life in purity from the Vine (Christ).  He is our source and without him “we can do nothing!!”

     3.       Be in the Word. Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”  We must be in the Word daily.  The Bible is our road map for living in purity.  Every time we open the Word we give the Holy Spirit opportunity to cut away at the impurity in our hearts. 

     4.       Be led by the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.” If we are listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit we won’t want to put the masks back on.  We will be walking in the Light as he is in the Light. 1 John 1:7 “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”

     5.  Be in prayer often. Ephesians 6:18 “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”   1 John 1:9 “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”    As we spend time in prayer we will become more like Christ in our thoughts.  As our thoughts are transformed our lives will be transformed.  We will no longer feel the need to wear the old masks. 

What are the benefits of living a pure life?

     1.       Being blessed. Being blessed includes living a life of joy and peace.  Romans 14:1 (NIV) “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” When we live righteously, in purity, we will experience the joy of the Lord which leads to peace!

     2.       Seeing God.  Our reward for living our life mask-free is eternity with the Father!  Matthew 5:8 “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”                

Let us begin today taking off the masks we've been hiding behind and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out!

All Scriptures are NLT unless otherwise stated.