Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord

Jesus tells in John 5:19 that He does only those things which she sees the Father do. In particular as a man He saw the Father. It is in this sense that I want to to blog this verse from Hebrews 12:14 this morning. It may well mean more than this, for example some think it refers to the second coming of the Lord, but I’m not going to get into that debate this morning. So it may mean more, but if it does, it certainly includes the sense I just described.

So at least part of what the Lord is telling us through this verse, is that if we want to walk like Jesus walked, and do the greater things that He promised (John 14:12) then there are certain steps that we need to take. And two of them are found things here in this verse. The first is that we should pursue peace with everyone. Thayer says of the word translated pursue that it means to seek after eagerly, to earnestly endeavour to acquire. So while we are to make strenuous efforts in this direction, the context (pursue holiness) clearly shows that it is not a peace at any price kind of pursuit. Also elsewhere in Scripture we are told as much as possible within us to pursue peace, clearly indicating that it is not always possible.

This Scripture is relevant to me this morning, as there is need within the fellowship for me to be a peacemaker. And it’s helpful to me to know again that it’s not always possible. The spirit of the age rejects correction, and it has strongly infiltrated the church. This means in particular, that if we seek to discipline even in love (and it certainly should be in love), then the one who needs correction will likely run. I know that this grieves the Father’s heart, because it grieves mine!

The second admonition here is to holiness. We talk a lot in our fellowship about hearing God’s voice, and about prophecy. So the relevance of this morning’s Scripture to this, is that without holiness our seeing and hearing is likely, if we hear or see at all, to be distorted.

Father, I repent on behalf of the church for our disunity, and our lack of holiness. I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of the people of unclean lips, and I long to see Your glory. Have mercy upon us Lord, and grant us repentance, unity and holiness in Jesus Name Amen