The Gospel of Peace
Bringing Forth the Heart
In our negative thinking, we have assumed that the Lord could change man only through harsh, painful dealings. But praise God that is not the case.
Only a fool has to learn the hard way.
God does not relate to us as fools, but as sons.
Under the old covenant, He had to deal with man from the outside.
He used negative circumstances to urge people in the right direction.
He brought about pain and affliction to make one realize the error of his way.
However, that is not needed for the pure of heart.
Even under the old covenant, God tried every way possible to help man avoid ultimate destruction. Because man was not regenerated, God could not speak to his heart. He always dealt with man from the outside. There were no parents, elders, teachers, prophets, and others who would instruct a person in the way. There was the teaching of the Word of God. There were many avenues for man to hear instruction, learn, and change.
A wise man would hear a rebuke and learn. A wise man could be taught. A wise man did not have to experience pain to heed his ways.
Pro 10:9 He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways shall be found out
A foolish man is very different.
Pro 19:29 Judgments are prepared for scoffers, And stripes for the back of fools.
A fool is one who will not learn by instruction. He will learn only from the consequences. Pain is the only hope for the man who will not read the Word and believe. Consequences are the only deterrents to a person who will not be led by the Holy Spirit.
What God did on the outside under the law, He now does on the inside in the heart.
When Jesus came into our lives, He made us new creations.
We no longer have a sin nature.
We are no longer able to live in sin comfortably.
We are not righteous!
The Holy Spirit is continually convicting us that we are righteous.
Consequently, we are not compatible with sin.
Besides the pain of our conscience, sin also brings pain into our lives from several sources.
One of the main areas sin causes pain and difficulty is in our relationships.
It effects and destroys meaningful relationships and separates us from those we love.
We must never falsely assume that all the pain we experience from our foolish or sinful ways is the wrath of God.
God said sin would kill us.
If we do not believe that and do not avoid sin, we will learn about the pain of sin as an unteachable fool does.
God does not add pain to our sin, either.
Rather, He draws us out of sin and gives us the strengthen to change.
How does the Lord change and chasten us?
Chasten = to train a child.
Augustine decided to change the word under the assumption that in Christianity it had to have a harsher meaning.
Therefore, we still have a negative view of God’s dealings with His children.
Chasten described a father developing and compelling his child in the right direction.
Heb 12:5 You have forgotten the encouragement that is addressed to you as sons: "My son, do not think lightly of the Lord's discipline or give up when you are corrected by him.
Heb 12:6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he punishes every son he accepts."
Pro 3:12 because the LORD corrects the person he loves, just as a father corrects the son he delights in.
God delights in you because you are in Jesus, not because of your works.
Because we are in Jesus, we have the high calling of being conformed in the likeness of Jesus.
Rom 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son might be the firstborn among many brothers.
This is God’s will for us; this is our high calling.
God wants to make us just like Jesus.
To accomplish this, God deals with our hearts.
The change is a work of His grace in our hearts.
Pro 17:3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.
In order to make gold and silver pure, it must be put in the furnace.
The heart causes the precious metals to separate from the impurities and come forth as treasure.
The scripture does not say the furnace does this and the Lord tries the heart.
It does say that it takes the furnace to make the metals pure; it takes the Lord to make the heart pure.
Trieth = to bring forth.
What God does in you does not come by the furnace; it comes from the heart.
The way God purifies us is to bring forth our hearts.
If God can get our hearts pure, then our lives will be pure.
Psa 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden parts You teach me wisdom.
David realized that God desired more than good works. He desired truth in the heart.
Change that comes from the heart abides:
- It governs our every action.
- It is second nature.
- It is effortless to walk in the beliefs of the heart.
Change on the outside is nothing more than behavioral modification:
- That change will last only as long as we put forth effort.
- Its motive cannot be trusted.
God wants a heart change in us.
God can work in us in any situation, and He will; but be assured, He did not bring the hardship.
His desire is for us to be teachable and changeable through fellowship and communion with Him.
John 15:2 He cuts off every branch that does not produce fruit in me, and he cuts back every branch that does produce fruit, so that it might produce more fruit.
John 15:3 You are already clean because of what I've spoken to you.
Jesus did not purge His disciples by creating hardship and disaster; He did it through the Word that He spoke to them.
He cleanses, purges, chastises, and brings forth our hearts by His Word.
Operating the Word, walking with God, and resisting temptation will make us grow up in the midst of affliction and persecution.
The Bible says we should come to the throne of grace in our time of need.
If I believe I am rejected by God, I will not have the confidence to come to Him in my time of need.
Even if I do come to Him, I will not feel free to receive His forgiveness and restoration.
Grace is a divine influence that works in one’s heart to make him able to do the will of God.
I do not come to the throne of grace and get a whipping.
I come to the throne of grace and get mercy and find grace to help.
In that environment of peace, love, and acceptance, God works in my heart.
In my heart, He changes me and makes me able to overcome the things that have placed me in need.
Heb 4:16 So let us keep on coming boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
God wants to help in my time of need.
Maybe is it time we reexamine our view and opinion of God.
It is time we find the God whom Jesus showed and demonstrated.
Maybe it is time we let His love, mercy, and grace help us out of our problems.
We should put forth every effort to allow the Lord to work in our hearts to produce real change from within.
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