Month: August 2019

361. Peaceable fruit of righteousness

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

The peaceable fruit of righteousness is actually a conditional promise; it is conditioned on first being disciplined by the Lord. If you are chastened, then you will enjoy the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Righteousness is a gift of God gifted to us by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is God’s righteousness shared with us; it is ours, but it is alien; it comes from outside not from the inside. The Holy Spirit plants it inside of us by faith in the Gospel.  

However, the peaceable fruit of righteousness is not a gift. It grows and develops within and affects the outward behavior. The fruit of righteousness arises out of gifted righteousness. The gift is sudden; the fruit is a gradual process. The fruit of righteousness is nurtured and developed by the husbandman, the gardener, which is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He nurtures and produces fruit by hearing with faith. Our flesh and our own effort cannot produce it. The branch simply abides in the vine, and when it does the fruit appears. Thus, going to church to hear the Gospel weekly and spending time alone with God daily grows the fruit; it all depends on being connected to the Vine (Jesus).

The Spirit uses the Word, and He also uses daily life experiences. The Gospel is the power, and the school of experience is the setting in which the Spirit works. Life experience involves chastening, or discipline, to yield the peaceable fruit. When we learn the lesson and repent and believe, then the Spirit goes on to the next lesson. This process never ends until we die (the final discipline). The promise of fruit signifies that it will happen; it will come in time. Learn from the Word and the experience, repent from the discipline, and believe the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins and the gift of life. Trust and humility allows the work to proceed. Self-will and pride will only prolong the process.

For example, patience can be developed only by enduring the thing about which we must be patient. We don’t ask for patience, or any other aspect of the fruit; patience will come from the Spirit if we do not complain, blame, resist, rebel, or try to do it by our self in our own strength. Accept the discipline with quiet trust in the kindness and the promises of God for Christ’s sake. We don’t ask for the discipline; it will come if God loves us. We ask for God’s presence to endure with hope. The promise of “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” is worth the wait. God wants you to bear fruit, and He will make sure it happens, when we do not hinder.

360. Partakers of His Holiness

Hebrews 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

God promises chastening; and that’s a good thing because we need it. And it’s a good thing for us to take it to heart and learn and grow from it. Connected to the promise of chastening is the fact that, like our human fathers, He does it for our profit. Discipline should never be done out of anger or to satisfy the emotions or the convenience of the parent. Discipline is always and only done for the benefit and the profit of the disciplined. It is always and only out of love for the child. Human parents err and are often guided by the wrong emotions, but the Lord God and Father only disciplines out of love for the child. This truth should always be remembered when we feel disciplined by the Lord. He always disciplines for our good and our benefit, for His love and wisdom is perfect.

The promise and result of wise discipline is that we might be partakers of God’s holiness. This is no small feat: make saints out of sinners. It is hard, but the Lord does not shrink from the task. He will do what He has to do for our good. Just think: He loves us so much He wants to share His own holiness with us. He shared His Life with us when he gave us eternal life. A part of that life is holiness. We are a long way from holy, but the Holy Spirit is incessantly working to make us holy, not just in the heart but also in the life. We can be humble enough to let the Lord work His will and His way in our lives. He will make us more and more like Him as spiritual life and awareness grows. We can’t change ourselves, but the Lord can change us. Believe the amazing promise: God shares His Holiness with us. The process may not be pleasant, but the outcome is glorious.

359. Chastening

Hebrews 12:6, 7 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

God promises to chasten us. This doesn’t sound like a promise, because it is not something we want or look for, and we could well do without it. But in hindsight chastening has a pleasant purpose and a good result. It changes us for the better. Verse 11: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” We want the results and the benefits without going through the pain of the discipline, but we all know it doesn’t work that way. There is no gain without pain.

If we were perfect people, and not sinners, we wouldn’t need the discipline. But we are sinners, and as children of God we are loved beyond belief, and as sinners we do not naturally do the right or good thing. We must be trained and disciplined. God loves us too much to just be tolerant and overlook our weaknesses and flaws. He is constantly working on our character and behavior. And thank God that He is persistent for we need a lot of change. We are always in process, and we will not be complete until death and resurrection. Death is the final discipline that produces the final and permanent change.

Chastening, scourging and dealing are not pleasant, but they are definitely needed. We are children, and God loves His children so much. Rebellious sinners must have boundaries, so God gives the Moral Law, the Ten Commandments, to make life bearable and lovely. Only prideful and unrepentant unbelievers do not think they need the chastening of the Lord. But even Job, one of the most righteous men ever, learned that he, too, needed the discipline of the Lord; and it caused him to shut his mouth and to repent in dust and ashes. After he learned the lesson of humanity he was blessed beyond belief.

Therefore, the chastening of the Lord is a wonderful promise, for when we submit to God we are able to believe that tough times are good times. God has a purpose in mind a good outcome for every difficulty. We really need to believe that.

358. Author and Finisher of Faith

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The promise for us is that Jesus will finish what He started. He authored our faith, a faith that justifies, by dying and rising for us, and He spoke the Gospel word to us and the Holy Spirit used the Gospel to generate faith. Jesus started salvation off for us and regenerated a new and eternal life in us. This is fact; this is truth; this is history; it is done. The promise given to us is that He will finish what He began. We will have doubts from time to time, but Jesus promises us He will see it through to the final completion of our faith and its eternal reward. God promises to lead us through the valleys of doubt and death and bring us safely to the other side. We can hold on to this promise when going through the valley. “I will fear no evil.”

Philippians 4:6: “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” We may believe today that we are saved even if we should suddenly die, but then we may ask, “Will I still believe later on when I am on my deathbed?” The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Jesus is the finisher of our faith. We may also claim this promise as a comfort for our loved ones who may presently be wandering off or straying away. Trust the Lord to finish what He started. He will finish the faith He generated. Because of this promise we can confidently pray for our loved ones.

The “joy” that was set before Him is the rejoicing over one sinner who repents. As Jesus endured the suffering and death in our place He was able to see it through, because as He looked down through the centuries He saw you and me in desperate need of forgiveness and salvation and life. It is my salvation that overjoyed Jesus enough to give Him the strength to endure. After He authored our faith He sat down at the right hand of God. The one who saved us is the One who is in charge of our life and our history and our future. He has the power and the love to finish the faith He started. Count on the Finisher of our faith.

357. Race Set Before Us

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race set before us.

The heroes of faith listed in Hebrews chapter 11 are witnesses in history to the faithfulness of the God we also can believe in. A witness points to something else that happened or to someone else who did something. We have surrounding us in our Bible and in history and in our own lives a cloud of witnesses who are pointing us to Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has done. The witness of the Word of God is all that we need to convince us of the “things not seen.” Nothing but our own prideful stubbornness prevents us from believing in the God who does great things. This prideful self-will is the Sin, which leads to sins that so easily beset us.

If we could lay aside these weights we could run the race better. This metaphor makes it easier to see the real weight that sin actually is. To “lay aside every weight” is to repent, to confess our sin and believe the Gospel. The lightness we feel allows us to live a better life (run the race). Repentance and faith go together, for it is sin that blinds us, deadens us, and weighs us down. The Holy Spirit, through the Gospel, gives us sincere repentance and simple faith. The place to begin is with the sin that so easily besets us. We know what it is, if we are willing to see. If we don’t know what it is, ask the Spirit to reveal it to us. Daily we must repent and believe, and for some easily besetting sins it must be done over and over again.

This is how we live better, live free, and run with patience. We can live with patience because we have so many promises of the prize at the end of the race, of the rewards of grace waiting for us, and for the eternal life that shall be revealed. By way of encouragement He gives us this promise: there is a race that is set before us. My life, in God’s hands, has a plan and a purpose, and my life is meaningfully going somewhere definite. God sets this race, this life, before us. The race is unique to each person that the Lord calls to faith. We do not run someone else’s race; we have our own. We do not need to know where it leads or when it ends, but we do need to know thatthe Lord, who saves us, has already laid out the course and set the finish line. Because we have the promise of a race set before us we can the more readily repent and believe. We can be sure that God will not leave us without a race. God created and saved us for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We can trust the word and promise: there is a path and a racecourse.

356. A Better Resurrection

Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.

By faith we shall obtain a better resurrection. The resurrection of the body may be the greatest and most precious promise we have been given, as it includes many other promises. By faith the promise is substantial and real.

Women have in human history received their dead raised to life again. Elijah, Elisha and Jesus have returned dead children to their mothers. The resuscitations of Lazarus, the daughter of Jairus, and the son of the widow of Nain are wonderful signs, but they are not actually resurrections, because each of them died again later. Thousands of plain people have been resuscitated and many have had near death experiences, but they died again later. Jesus is the only real resurrection because He rose from the dead never to die again for eternity. No one else did that.

We who believe in Christ partake in His resurrection; we know that we shall rise again in the body never to die again ever. This is why it is called “a better resurrection.” It is better because it is permanent: the body lives forever with no threat of ending. By faith we have obtained that better resurrection. We have it already by faith, but it has not actually happened yet because we have not physically died yet. But we know what is going to happen and that future reality is as good as present by faith. We have life and no one can take it away. Satan and Death have been given permission to afflict us in soul and body with threats and scares, but they are not allowed to touch the soul and body with eternal death. Indeed, we have obtained a better resurrection.

355. Recompense of Reward

Hebrews 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

By faith Moses was able to comprehend the rewards that would come from faithfulness to the Lord. By faith we also can trust the promise of reward. The promise tells us both the certainty and the worth of the rewards of grace. Following Christ is worth it. By faith we know there is a reward and that reward is great riches worth more than the treasures of the world.

Moses by faith was able to bear the reproach of Christ; even though he did not know Christ in 1500 B.C. he believed Him. To the believer, the reproach of Christ is great riches. The reward is greater than the treasures of Egypt (the world). The wealth and promises of the world cannot compare with the knowledge of Christ. Believers are willing to suffer for Christ and remain faithful to Him in the face of the threat of suffering. Also believers know that the wealth and fame that the world offers is not worth the riches of Christ.

We have a great reward coming; that’s a promise. Because we know and believe this to be true we are able to endure many things during this life. It is important to remember that the promised rewards are rewards of grace, not of merit. “Reward” sounds like some payment we have earned or worked for. But No, the reward is earned by Jesus Christ and given by grace. If the reward depended upon us we could never be sure; but if the recompense of the reward depends upon Christ we can be sure. Nothing can compare to the rewards of grace that are coming our way by faith in Jesus Christ.

354. A Better Country

Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

God is moving us to a better country. God has prepared for us a city. The better country is the Kingdom of God. It is eternal and full of life forever. In this country the Lord God Almighty rules absolutely and sovereignly for the positive benefit of the citizens of it. This country must contend with enemies from without and rebellion from within. The war goes on while victory has been secured by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The war is won, but it is not over; however, we are more than assured that it will be over. Then the “better country” that we desire will be established securely in eternity. For this better country God prepared a city in which the inhabitants may live.

The country is better than the country in which we presently reside in every way: physically, environmentally, emotionally, socially, serenely, abundantly, intellectually, and spiritually. This country is better also because everything negative and hostile is completely eliminated. Nothing is present to oppose harmony and bliss and the constant access to God’s Love. The King of this country is always good, kind, gracious, and beneficent.

When Jesus appeared as a man on the earth He proclaimed, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” “The country you desire has come.” That country and its King is Jesus Christ. The country is ruled by the very person who gave Himself up for us in unlimited love. No wonder we desire it! It is also good news for the citizens that the Sovereign Ruler is delighted to by called their God. God loves to be God when He can share His life and His love with His creatures. God is pleased with His Son and He is pleased with all people who believe in Him. He promises: “I will be their God.”

For this better country God prepared a city: it is the New Jerusalem come down out of heaven from God. The city is beautifully pictured at the end of the Book. The Lord shows us what is waiting for us; therefore, we desire and long for such a place and such a heavenly existence. We live by faith in this new country, the kingdom of God, during this earthly life in a strange and alien country. While we are tormented by the “prince of the power of the air” we may at any time turn to the King of kings and enter into the heavenly country and find peace and justice.

353. City with Foundations

Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Abraham looked for a city that has foundations, a city built by God. This is God’s promise to us: a building with foundations, built by God Himself. We do not look for great and beautiful things in this world. We are looking for a wonderful mansion as a dwelling place. We are not looking for a nice new place to live in this world, a city that is prosperous and peaceful, friendly and beautiful. Any such place built by humans cannot be found, for it does not have foundations and will not last forever. Anything built by humans needs constant maintenance and will eventually crumble.

We need, and we look for, a city built by God on permanent foundations that will last forever. And we have such a promise. Look at the last two chapters of the Bible and we see the fulfillment of that promise: the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, whose walls have twelve huge foundations. This is the wonderful, beautiful city in which redeemed humanity will dwell safely and happily forever without threat of sin or death or devil, where the Lord Himself is the light.

We tend to forget, but we basically know, that nothing in this world is permanent; there is nothing, no city, no institution, no life, which does not grow old and eventually die. We yearn for such a place, such a condition, for we innately know that God created things to be endless and last forever without end. Sin destroyed that purpose of God, and we lost the permanence. But down deep eternity is still in the heart and the yearning for such an eternal utopia cannot be quenched. When we read and hear God’s Word and Promises we are overjoyed and our hope is kindled: it really is true; all our hopes will be realized because Jesus Christ has restored eternal life and paradise for all who believe in Him.

So we, like Abraham, look for anything and everything that God made and built, and we know that the unseen is eternal. God made a city for us and we shall dwell in it. The environment of the new heaven and new earth will continually be renewed and refreshed along with our resurrected bodies, all of which will never or die or deteriorate. Now that is a promise.

352. Heir of Righteousness

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

By faith Noah was a hero because He obeyed the Lord in regard to things he could not yet see. He was moved by faith in God to prepare an ark in the desert; God said a Flood was coming, and he believed God. This action of faith condemned the world around him, for the ark judged the world for its sin and rebellion against God.

By faith, Noah became the heir of righteousness. By faith we also have become heirs of the righteousness, which is by faith. Faith does not make us righteous; it simply receives the righteousness of God that Christ earned for us and gives to us for free by grace. It is not a righteousness of faith, nor is it a righteousness of works, nor is it certainly a righteousness of self. It is all of Grace; it is all of God. Heirs do not earn the inheritance; they just receive it because they are sons of a wealthy man. And the wealth of our Father in heaven is exceeding great. And all of it God grants to us; He grants to us all the riches of grace to each of us, and there is enough to go around so each one receives the entire inheritance; it is not split up.

Abraham’s faith is counted as righteousness; David speaks of the blessing of the one to whom god counts righteousness apart from works; Noah became an heir of the righteousness, which is by faith. It is exactly the same for us. God counts our faith as righteousness and we are heirs of righteousness by faith. Faith makes personal and real the grace of God. Jesus merits it; grace gives it; faith receives it. The Holy Spirit comes along with the proclamation of the Gospel to create and strengthen faith within our spirit. That personal faith in Jesus Christ makes righteousness our own possession, our inheritance. It is not technically our own righteousness; it is the righteousness of God, an alien righteousness, but it is counted as ours. What an amazing gift we did not deserve!