Download the transcript as a Word file to receive access to the full outline and complete sermon.

• Many people go through life wearing masks to disguise who they really are.
  Illustration: A famous cartoon has a wife ask her husband, "Today let's do something different. Why don't you be charming at home and grouchy at church?"
• The condition of our heart before God is of extreme importance to our spiritual lives.
  -1 Samuel 16:7

• The Bible uses the word "heart" as a metaphor of the inner person.
• Our heart is the inner reality that drives our emotions, feelings, and actions.
  -Proverbs 4:23
• Our heart is the source of our troubles.
  -Jeremiah 17:9; Genesis 6:5; Matthew 15:19-20
• Our heart is not simply a product of our environment, education, and social status.
  -Illustration: The movie King Ralph depicts a lazy lounge-singer from Las Vegas who, upon learning that he is a distant heir of the Queen of England, attempts to learn the ways of British Aristocracy.

• Our hearts need to be free from moral contamination.
• Having a pure heart first comes from salvation—through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
• Having a pure heart comes second from our effort to live a life of pure actions.
  -2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Peter 1:14; 1 John 3:3

• We are unable to reject our sinful nature through our own power.
• Throughout history, well-meaning people have sought to purify themselves through destructive means, including: legalism, modernism, self-flagellation, and monasticism.
• Jesus has provided the roadmap to a pure heart: the preceding beatitudes.
• As we purify our hearts, we will be rewarded by seeing God.

• Isn't it time to take off the mask and ask God to help you have a pure heart?