Oaks of Righteousness
Most men don’t have a group of friends, a band of brothers who will support them through the trials of life. Fellowship of the believers through our Lord Jesus Christ is the bond of love that unites us within the body of Christ. We’re all on a journey together. When we walk in fellowship one with another and with our Lord, we will become the men that God intended us to be.
God will humble us through the tribulation, trails, and disappointments of this life. Through the trials and dashed expectations, Jesus will bring us closer to himself. Peter said to Jesus, “I’ll die for you.” However, he didn’t understand the price he would have to pay to stand up for his Lord. Trials are designed by God to turn our hearts away from the world and back to him.
1 Peter 5-6-11 says,“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
When our hearts are prone to criticize, condemn and complain, we need to return our hearts back to the Lord. Through Pain and tribulation we realize that we can’t find comfort in this world. Tribulation will force us to run to our Lord and to our brothers in Christ for comfort. Our God is the God of all grace. Our relationships are based on grace and not on the obligation of the Law. The law will remind us that we are sinners. However, through his grace we understand that our righteousness is not because of what we do, but because of his gracious gift of salvation. When we come to know the grace and love he had for us, then we can receive grace. We cannot give grace until we’ve received it. When we realize that for which we have been forgiven, then we can forgive others. When we know him and follow him, then we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free. To be a person of grace, we must give grace.
“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
The purpose of trials, difficulty, and tribulation is so that God will get the glory. Our glory is only through or Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. This is The gospel of the good news… That ye who were dead in trespasses and sins may be made the righteousness of God in Him. Through the suffering of this world when we turn to him, he will perfect us, he will establish us, he will strengthen us, and he will settle us.
Isaiah 61 is about “oaks of righteousness.” Isaiah 61:1-3 says: “THE Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees (oaks) of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
Jesus read these verses in his hometown of Nazareth and boldly proclaimed that he came to fulfill this prophecy. This was his mission statement…. The reason for his ministry. He read through the verse that said, his purpose was to “proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” He has come so that we could know him and follow him. He did not come to condemn us. He came so that we could bless God. He said that there is a narrow gate and a narrow road that leads to life. He himself is the narrow road. Through the suffering of this life, we will understand that our life is hid with Christ in God. For what doth it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? Therefore to be his true disciples, we must lay down our own life, take up our cross daily, and follow him. When we’re broken by the trials of this world and run to him, he will give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that we might be called oaks of righteousness to God’s glory. When we realize that we can’t make it on our own, we can confess as Paul did, “thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient in me.”
The doctrine in Matthew 5 is contrary to the “success doctrine of this world.” Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Spiritual vitality will intensify and extend when we forsake our selfish pride and put our trust in him. Jesus said, “Blessed are they when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven.”
God says in Isaiah 55:8-11, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
The hallmark of Christianity is that ” they shall know them by their love for one another.” Our challenge is to reach others by showing them our love for our Lord Jesus Christ and our love for one another. Galatians chapter 5 says “stand fast therefore. In the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Our challenge is to “use not Liberty as an occasion to sin, but to serve one another in love…”
May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael