Hebrews 12:15 – 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;

Hey all, new blog today, and a short one. Following on from the other blog of failing of the grace of God. God gives grace to all men, it’s why there is good in the world. Jesus said he is the light of the world. The Bible speaks of Jesus as the “Sun of righteousness”. If you took the sun out, the world would be totally dark, it is the light source, Jesus is the light of the world. Not “a” light, he is “THE” Light. Everything good in this world originates from God, he alone is good. The Bible says every good gift is from the Father. The Bible makes it clear there is no good in man, man possesses nothing good, in fact the Bible says all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked above all things, we are conceived and born in sin, the Bible says this whole world lies in wickedness. There is a lie that there is good in every person, but there isn’t, whatever good is there is from God, because of God. God’s gentle Spirit strives with mankind, pleading with mankind, restraining evil and wickedness, God does send the rain on the just and the unjust.

In the desert where no man is, God is there, he knows the animals, the grains of sand, the particles of air, he knows whats going on everywhere, he knows everything, he is above and before everything, and in fact by him all things consist and have their being. God is in complete control, we may even call him God, but we don’t understand what that means. Job reasoned with God, why is this happening to me!? … and God said to him, knowest thou, canst thou? Read for yourself God’s answer to Job, and answer that caused Job to lay his hand upon his mouth and shut up, a man who suddenly saw his own pride and sin and wickedness, who repented in dust and ashes.

We often say in normal speech, by the grace of God I will do this. By the grace of God this will happen. By the grace of God I won’t do that. Well it’s true. It takes God’s grace not to sin, it takes God’s grace to live the Christian life. It takes God’s grace to be saved to begin with. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s grace to us. It all takes God’s grace, we are helpless without it. It is by God’s grace I will keep the faith, it is by God’s grace that I live and have my being, it is by God’s grace that I will endure unto the end, it is by God’s grace I am an overcomer in this world.

So… Esau failed the grace of God. He made a terminally bad decision. One might think, he made one bad call, why hang him on it, we all make mistakes. But if God’s grace had not been withdrawn from him, he wouldn’t have become the man that made that decision. He was a wicked man long before he sold his birthright. This was not a decision in isolation, he had no interest in God, he was a man of the world, and God hated him. It took God’s grace to see the value of his birthright, it took God’s grace not to sell it. But he didn’t value it (and in fact he despised it) and he did sell it. Esau failed of the grace of God in his life. Where was God’s grace? Gone. And with the withdrawing of the grace of God from his life came bad decisions, a life set on the fires of hell. It was only by grace he would keep his birthright, but he failed of God’s grace.

The grace of God is so misunderstood and mistaught. The Bible does say that the unlearned and unstable wrest the scriptures to their own destruction. The Bible says the law came by Moses… well we could not keep or do the law, it had no power to save, only power to condemn… but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ… he kept the law perfectly, and his life gives us life and power to live and walk in righteousness. God says, be ye holy for I am holy. Many Christians excuse their sin as being “under grace” but in reality they are the furthest from it. Their defeated, sinful lives show that they are missing in fact what they claim, it takes God’s grace NOT to sin, so living in wickedness shows they lack God’s grace… God’s grace sets the prisoners free from bondage to sin, from living in darkness and wickedness. John 8;34 – Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. These Christians show that they are still servants, that they are in fact under law and not under grace, and very much under the yoke of Satan and sin even as they speak. Be not deceived.

Because they don’t even understand the grace of God. Being set free from the bondage of sin and fear of death results in a person who is changed, who will have victory over sin where there was none. God’s grace will spare you of sin. David found Saul twice and could’ve easily killed him, but he didn’t. God gave him grace to do what was right. He coulda, shoulda, woulda but did not slay Saul. It takes God’s grace to do right, and where God’s grace abounds you will find a faithful Christian living under the blood of Christ, salt and light in the midst of a dark, perverse and crooked generation. The Bible says Noah found grace in the eyes of God… the state of the world in Noah’s day was despicable, so bad that God repented of his creation, but Noah found grace in God’s sight. Noah was a preacher of righteousness, Noah was a burning and a shining light.

Grace is not a license to sin, it is not a free pass to do whatever you want and get by with it. If you have ever “received” God’s grace (because it is something you have to receive, just like forgiveness – God’s grace does you no good if you never receive it and lay it to your own heart), it will produce a person who hates their sin and wickedness of their former life, who doesn’t want to sin, who wants to draw near to God, who loves the blood of Christ which paid the enormous unpayable debt for their sin. It produces a person of gratitude, sincerity, virtue, holiness, wisdom… and yes, we all struggle with sin, but heart and character is evident. And the Holy Spirit works in our lives, empowering and transforming us into a Christ-likeness, because it is the Spirit of Christ.

If you have failed of the grace of God in your life, it is time to panic. If you are outside those gates and walls of Revelation, if you are not in the holy city, it is time to panic. The day is drawing to a close… if you’re outside, you’re not in, and if you died today, you will be shut out forever. Maybe even now, it is too late, maybe… it was too late for many people in the Bible even while they were yet alive. It was too late for Cain, and he had many years to live. Nabal was still breathing and God was done with him. Hophni and Phineas, those treacherous sons of their weak father, were dead men walking a long time before they were slain at the hand of the Philistines. Ahab and Jezebel, well God was done with them, and judgement pronounced, and Jezebel in particular had many years yet to live on this earth. It goes on and on. While Noah found grace in the eyes of God, the rest of the corrupt, wicked world was given space to repent, but there came a day where the ark was shut. The rain had not started yet, the ground beneath was not yet shaking with the water bursting from within… and yet it was too late. The rain drops started falling, they believed Noah, no doubt the thought crossed their minds that he was right and they were wrong… but it was too late.

Genesis 6:3 – And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. God will not always strive with you, he will give up on you and let you go, he will give you over to yourself, he will take away his hedge of grace that keeps you safe and sane, and when he withdraws his still small voice, you will be done for. Salvation belongs unto the Lord. If he withdraws it, you cannot approach God yourself. John 6:44 – No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is scary stuff. Belshazzar saw the hand writing on the wall, he had profaned the holy, he had blasphemed God, and judgement had passed, even as he partied his life away. And then the party was over. Belshazzar saw the hand and he was terrified, beyond terrified, yet there was no salvation for him. That same night he was slain… God weighed him in the balances and he was found wanting.

God’s grace is not something to play around with. God is not someone to play games with. He is not deceived, not mocked, not fooled, and not amused with your rebellion and wickedness. You trample the blood of his Son, and you will pay for that for eternity. The Bible says see that ye refuse not him that speaketh from heaven. God’s grace will not produce sin in a person’s life, it will produce true holiness, true love for God and others, true character, true virtues, truth, an attitude and life that reflects the preciousness of the blood of Christ, a life that is light and salt in this dark world. Esau failed the grace of God, and many people today, Christians included, or so called, fail the grace of God. They know not God’s grace, just as they do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, just like they do not see or enter the kingdom of God… even after a lifetime of hearing about it, a lifetime in church, a lifetime of bearing the name of a Christian, but a life that is anything but. The only reason everyone gets by with it is not because God winks at sin, but because of his great longsuffering. But the Bible does say that while God is longsuffering, if people do not repent, then as sure as God lives… whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. Don’t fail of the grace of God.

When will we get it through our heads what grace truly is. By the grace of God. Well where has God’s grace been in your life? You live in sin and wickedness and yet claim God’s grace? God is far from the wicked the Bible says, he is angry with the wicked every day.  God’s grace is not your free pass, your blank cheque to do whatever the hell you want and get by with it. People that live their lives and attach God’s name to their actions, towing him and his name through the mire they love to wallow in and through the vomit they love to go back to again and again. Any  person that has truly received and lives in the grace of God will produce the true, sincere fruit of the Spirit, and will have victory over sin in their life. Proverbs says a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again, by God’s grace we live and will make it to the end, by God’s grace we will overcome. Don’t fail of the grace of God in your life.

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