Peace and Holiness”

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; fail...; or, fall from ...: Or, fall from Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. place...: Or, way to change his mind - Hebrews 12:14-17

    “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” If we would serve the souls of men, if we would do one another good and serve the interests of our own souls, we must set our hearts continually upon Christ. We must earnestly and continually pursue peace and holiness.

    Peace with All

    The Spirit of God here tells us ever to follow the path of peace with all men. ― “As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” We cannot make all men peaceable, or make all men peaceable toward us. Yet, we must seek, as much as possible, to live peaceably with all. In society, in our homes, and especially in the church of God, we should always endeavor to maintain and promote peace.

    “Follow peace” ― be in eager pursuit of peace. Use every means God gives you to live in peace. Spare no energy, no sacrifice, no cost to promote peace. Our God is the God of peace. Our Savior is the Prince of peace. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of peace. The Gospel we profess to believe is the gospel of peace. Let us, therefore, “follow peace with all men,” believers and unbelievers.

    Promoting Peace

    “Let us therefore follow after the things which promote peace, and things wherewith one may edify another” (Rom. 14:19). Bro. Henry Mahan once gave nine, very helpful comments on this text. They are…

    •Be careful to love one another with a true heart. Love covers a multitude of failures.

    •Avoid a spirit of argument and debate. One may win an argument and lose a friend.

    •Beware of jealousy. Jealousy destroys happiness and builds suspicion.

    •Beware of envy. Let us learn to rejoice in another's gifts, blessings, and happiness. God gives as he will!

    •Do not meddle in the private lives and domestic affairs of others.

    •Guard against a touchy temper. “For every trifling thing to take offense shows either great pride or little sense.”

    •Learn to keep a confidence. ― “He that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.”

    •Strive to heal differences. ― “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

    •Be always ready to forgive anything. ― “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

    Pursue Holiness

    If we would serve the souls of men and serve our own souls, if we would help the fallen and heal the broken, we must incessantly pursue that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.

    Let us ever seek to live in all holiness and godliness; but that is not the holiness here spoken of. Let us constantly observe and faithfully keep the holy ordinances of divine worship; but that is not the holiness here spoken of. That holiness without which no man shall ever see God is the holiness that is found only in Christ. The only way we shall ever see God and live, and the only way we can help one another along the way, is to set our hearts upon the pursuit of Christ and constantly urge one another to do the same (Phil. 3:1-21).

    “Lest Any Man Fail”

    There can be no doubt that the holiness spoken of in Hebrews 12:14, that holiness we must constantly pursue, is Christ. Not only is that the only interpretation consistent with the message of Holy Scripture, the illustration used in verses 15-17 is given to verify it.

    Here we are warned that the turning of our hearts away from Christ and the gospel of the grace of God is sure to end in our everlasting ruin. ― “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled” (v. 15). The grace of God cannot and shall not fail; but multitudes fail of the grace of God, multitudes are turned from the gospel of the grace of God (Gal. 5:1-4).

    “Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright” (v.16). Those who fail of the grace of God are those who, like Esau, sell Christ for the world.

    “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears” (v. 17). Esau is in hell today because he sold Christ for the gratification of his lusts, because he sold Christ for the world. Let us not be so foolish!

    We have entered a race that must be run to the end (Matt. 10:20). The prize goes to those who finish the race (Heb. 10:35-39). There are hills of difficulty to climb, troubled seas to cross, and heavy trials to be endured along the way. Many tempting pastures of pleasure, appealing to the flesh, will allure us, and our flesh will oppose us every step of the way. We must go on, ever looking to Christ. Those who, like Esau, give up Christ for something else will some day, like Esau, weep with bitter tears, when it is beyond their power to recover what they have lost