Blessed Are the Pure in Motive

Proverbs 16:1-9

Motives are important. The inner workings of the heart matter. While the word “motive” is not found in the Bible; words like heart, spirit, and way are used to describe those inner intentions. You see, God’s not only interested in a person’s actions but his motives. We’re not judged for killing and adultery alone, but for being unjustly angry and lustful. The purity of motives is important. But sometimes we’re confused. Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor. Some argue his motives were noble, so his actions can be forgiven. Or people will downplay motives because the actions are not illegal. Ananias and Sapphira had a self-serving motive; but they gave generously. And yet, they were judged for their motives. Our church retreat will speak about the heart. Proverbs 4:23 teaches us to guard our heart diligently since it will affect all areas of life. Today, I speak on motives, not just to whet our appetite, but to help us examine our conscience for the supper of our Lord. As believers, we know it’s not a public facade of respectability, but an inner life pleasing to God - and that affects what we do. We will examine 3 biblical truths from the passage. Firstly, our motives must be pure before God. Secondly, God judges the wicked for their wicked motives. Thirdly, God blesses the righteous for their pure motives.

We see firstly that our motives must be pure before God. Verses 1-2, show a contrast between us and God. In fact, all of Proverbs does that. We are one way, but God is another. The wicked are like this, but the godly are like that. And here, the contrast is used to show the preeminence of God. Verse 1 says “the preparations of the heart [are] in man, but the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.” Meaning, we all have our plans, solutions, and intentions in our hearts - I want to steal to give to the poor - but the right solution, the right answer is God’s. Verse 2 - “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.” Our intentions may be pure in our own eyes - I care for the poor - but God examines them. Both our solutions and motives may be wrong. Now, the point of these verses is to show we’re subordinate to God. We may think our actions are right, but only God’s are truly right. We may say our motives are pure, but only God truly knows. In these 9 verses alone, God’s name - the Lord - is mentioned 8 times. And these contrasts and comparisons with men serve to emphasize how much greater he is. It’s to show that it’s not about you. In your life, what you do, or want to do, it’s not about you! It’s about God, what he wants, it’s about his pleasure. So as believers, we must subdue our hearts and motives to please him alone. Our Lord said - whoever comes after me must deny himself, take up the cross, and follow me. Children, when you’ve done something wrong and offer excuses to your parents, do you do it to escape punishment or are you humbly asking for mercy and giving pleading with your reasons? Or when you’re playing with a toy with your sibling, do you hold onto it a bit longer because your really want to play, or are you being passive aggressive? God sees.

God evaluates our motives. Do they match up to what he wants? Are they holy? Folks, God’s concerned for your inner life. Again, verses 1-2 tell us that God is concerned with the preparations of the heart, and he weighs our spirit. What are the preparations of the heart? They’re our plans. The things we do and say. And generally, we all have reasons for what we do. We can justify what we do and why. The Bible says they're clean in our own eyes. We can even defend them. But whether or not they’re truly right, only God can say. You may believe what you do is right, but does God? Remember, the Lord weighs our spirits. What no one else can see, what no one else can really know - God can see clearly. Jeremiah 17 says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? Our hearts may even deceive us. But God knows through and through. The parent who gets angry with his child may say - I was really concerned - that’s why I was angry. Really? Your own self say. But maybe it’s because of outrage and pride that you were angry, not concern. But you may not know it. But God knows - whether it was from a sinfully uncontrolled heart or out of weakness from a loving heart. God knows whether your political maneuvers at work were done in your favor or done for integrity’s sake. In our hearts, we can justify what we think and do. We can cleanse them. That’s why there are so many problems in marriage, family, work, and church. We do sinfully, because we are motivated sinfully, but we justify everything. But Hebrews 4:13 says that nothing in creation is hidden from God’s eyes. All are naked and exposed to him. We’re accountable.

And this is why we’re commanded to submit all things to God. Verse 3 - “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” Commit - or literally, roll all your activities to the Lord, and your motives will be established. What’s it saying here? At the very least, we’re to submit to God our plans and motives. What we do, and why we do - must be approved by God. But this can also be taken another way. When we commit our plans to God, then our motives will be established. When we submit to God what we want to do, he will set our motives right. Now, this might sound a bit strange to us. Most of us will think - shouldn’t it be commit our motives to God, and then our plans will succeed? If my motives are right, then what I do will be right, right? But that’s not what it’s saying. And interestingly, our Lord himself used a similar phrase - for where your treasure is, there will be your heart be also. It’s not for where your heart is, there your treasure is also; but where your treasure is. What’s your goal, the most important thing? When you commit that to the Lord, your heart will be subdued to follow it.

For example, when you got lost, why didn’t you ask for directions when your wife suggested it? Was it pride? Was it unwillingness because she asked you in an exasperated way? But if your goal was to please her and to get safely to the right place on time, then your motive is affected! But if your goal is to be right and the boss, then that affects your motive. If you commit your goals to God so that your goals are God’s goals, then your motives will follow. If your goal is to lead a pure life - and you’re committing that goal to God, then your motive in getting a Netflix subscription would be clean. But some of us do things without thinking. We operate by habit. And our goals are fueled by unclean motives. What do I mean? We all know that marriage and having children are godly goals. God commands them. But we’re fueled by impure motives. I want to be married because I’m lonely; that’s the need I want to fulfill by getting married. But it’s not first and foremost to grant happiness to another person. Or we get married so I’m praised for being a godly man who took God’s command seriously - but we’re not getting married to glorify God. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to give not to bless God’s people, but to receive honor. You see, if we’re truly honest, how much does godly motivation factor in? Yes, it’s often mixed. But when we know what God’s goals are for us, those he has spoken, our thoughts and motives will be established.

Here’s another example. Some of us are natural fighters in church. In a church like ours, we fight for the purity of doctrine. This is commanded. But if we fight for God’s glory, the saint’s growth, and the gospel’s integrity, with the spirit of a mature Christian, then good - the Lord commends these motives. But often, we do it from naturally combative hearts. We’re fighters; bruisers. And we will change our goalposts so we can win. So what if we’ve made our point? Are we justifying our fleshly motives. One can’t fight for something that destroys the unity of the body just to make a point. It’s the same with friendship and family. If your goal is a godly friendship or family, you’ll work towards that. But if your motivation is to be right, say goodbye to friendship and family. Motivation is important - we must submit it and our goals to God. Why?

Secondly, God judges the wicked for their wicked motives. Verse 4 says God made all things for his own purpose - even the wicked for the day of disaster. God is sovereign over the wicked. Remember, it’s not about us, but about God. Those who don’t see that, we seek not after God, don’t commit their goals to him, impure in motive, but clean in their own eyes - God has a problem with such people. He reserves them for the day of disaster. Their heart - God sees. The Lord said on judgment day in Matthew 12 - “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” There’s no escape. We’ve just studied the Book of Revelation; we saw in each cycle of judgment there’s no escape. The judgment will be so bad that men will take refuge in caves and ask the rocks to fall on them. But they can’t hide. They will feel the fulness of judgment on them. God hates the wicked for their wicked motives. Verse 5 says that “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.” Other Proverbs say the same thing. Proverbs 6:16-19 - there are 6 things God hates, even 7 he finds an abomination - a proud look, a lying tongue, murdering hands, a heart that plots evil, feet that run to do mischief, a false witness, and a divisive man. Now, to be clear, God doesn’t hate us. While we have remaining sin, our hearts are being sanctified, motives purified. But do we know how much God hates wicked motives?

Yes, the thing you’re trying to achieve, the lies you tell, how you try to cleanse it by saying the ends justify the means - God hates it. And you can’t cleanse them. You can’t go to heaven one day and say to God - but it all worked out in the end! God is not like an Egyptian god. In the Egyptian afterlife, souls must pass a trial by Osiris, god of the underworld, where their hearts are weighed on a scale against the white feather of truth. They’d be given the chance to defend themselves - to assert the purity of their hearts. If their hearts are heavier than the feather, they’d be devoured by the crocodile god. But if their motives were lighter, they’d survive. Firstly, this shows a severe lack of understanding of how evil the heart is. No heart could ever be lighter. Secondly, the scale shows a lack of personal investment. Osiris judges based on a feather - not against his laws - meaning, people’s impure motives are not sins against him. On the other hand, God is personally involved - he’s sinned against by man’s heart. That’s why he detests the wicked. In Genesis 6, we learn that “GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

And what’s the result of this abomination? He punished the wicked for their wicked thoughts. Verse 5 says though the wicked join forces, none will be unpunished. We remember in Revelation 20 - the books will be opened. Everyone will be judged. Matthew 12 says that an evil man will bring forth evil from his evil heart and “every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Article 37 of the Belgic Confession says that the secrets and hypocrisy of men will then be publicly uncovered in the sight of all. Yes, Jezebel schemed with impure motives so that Ahab could legally inherit Naboth’s field. Jezebel didn’t fear God, she wanted what she wanted and sought to legitimize it. In the end, she died being flung out of the window and dogs ate her. In Naboth’s field. Ahab also died - in Naboth’s field. God sees our hearts. He does all things according to his counsel. Ananias and Sapphira - because of their impure motives, they dropped down dead. What’s my purpose of speaking about motives from Proverbs? It’s to remind us that our motives are important. And we don’t spend enough time, enough effort to examine them. We just deal with the actions.

But as much as God punishes the wicked for their motives, he blesses the righteous for their right motives. That’s the third point. Verse 6 - “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” Our motives will never be pure. None of us. In every argument at home and at church, we can all admit this - if you can’t, there’s something seriously wrong with your moral compass. But while we’re not perfect, we’re counted righteous because of Christ’s atonement. By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged. When Christ died at the cross, mercy and truth met. He lived and died to fulfill the law, and God showed mercy to those who trust in him. That’s why when we come to the Lord’s table, we’re reminded of Christ’s sacrificial death. Why? He died for our impure motives. All our justification of our sins and wicked motives - Christ has cleansed. And we are counted righteous. And so at the supper, we’re assured of his death, so that if we’re heartily sorry for our many sins - our sinful motives in doing things - and we desire to grow in obedience - and when we submit our plans to him, and seek after pure motives, we’d be worthy partakers of the bread and cup. Dearly beloved, our motives are not pure. I think we must all acknowledge that. But that Christ has counted us pure. And when we reverence him, love him, we’ll guard our motives, we’ll depart from evil. And when we do so, God pours blessings upon the righteous - for their righteousness because of Christ, and because of their pure motives. Verses 7-8 say that when our ways - our motives and actions, please God, he makes even our enemies to be at peace with us. We will be completely satisfied even if we have little. That’s the power of purity. At the start I said all of these verses show that it’s about God - how we must submit ourselves to him - our actions and motives. But when we do, God blesses us. He never shortchanges us. All our desires to be right, to get our way, to maneuver things at work, home, and church - we may get what we want impurely. But did we ever stop to think that if our ways please God, he blesses us even more richly? Even to the extent that our enemies will be at peace with us. You get what you want but at what expense? God offers you something better - a clear conscience. He never shortchanges us when we please him. He continues to lead the lives of the righteous. Verse 9 - “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” We see this in the life of Christ. At Gethsemane, he had his human desires - who wants to suffer the wrath of God? Let this cup pass from me. There were fears. But his motive was one to please God - not my will but thine be done! And God helped him. God strengthened him with angels. God helped him to endure the whipping, the spitting, the false witnesses; God helped him to endure the suffering. When those who had eyes to see, they saw his purity. The centurion cried out - surely this was the Son of God! The thief acknowledged that he had done nothing wrong, and asked for a place in Christ’s kingdom. So even these 2 sinners and enemies were at peace.

Dearly beloved, Christ has made peace between you and God. How are you focusing on your inner man? Your motives? You may come today, repenting of your sins - what’s been obvious to you - but have you wrestled with your conscience? Have you examined your motives. And if you do, you will come to the table of the Lord, not with a sense of your worth, but a sense of your deep unworthiness - that you could have such wicked heart motivations. But take heart, Christ has cleansed you. Would you not live for him?

1. Our Motives Must Be Pure Before God

A. The contrast between us and God

B. The evaluation of our motives by God

C. The command for us to submit to God

2. God Judges the Wicked for Their Wicked Motives

A. God’s sovereignty over the wicked

B. God’s hatred of the wicked heart

C. God’s punishment of the wicked

3. God Blesses the Righteous for Their Pure Motives

A. God atones our sins so we are righteous

B. God pours blessings upon the righteous

C. God leads the lives of the righteous