Transcript: God's Grace: Understanding the True Beneficiary

Music Music Today our message is titled, Who is the Beneficiary of God's Grace? We have a message that was just given recently called, The Grace of God is a Gift, which leads to eternal life. We course through this truth by establishing on the Word of God what it means to live in Christ, using the analogy of the branch being connected to the vine, which Jesus spoke about in John chapter 15, verses 4 through 7. We learned in this message as well that the gift of God is eternal life, which is found in Jesus Christ alone and also works together with our faith in our dear Savior. The grace of God is a gift to sincere, faithful, and obedient children of God, the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ, death, burial, and resurrection. This wonderful gift of grace of God leads the believer into Christ Jesus, into eternal life, through one's faith in the one who gave his life on the cross to make salvation possible for all those who live in him and love him with all of their hearts. In this message today, we are going to look at who is the beneficiary of God's grace and how this free, unmerited grace or favor changes people's lives because of the supernatural revelation that enlightens their spiritual understanding of what and who Christ is and what he has done for them personally. Let's open and let's begin in Matthew's chapter, chapter 11, beginning in verse 25, where Jesus was speaking to the crowd, saying with joy in his heart as he was praying to his heavenly father. Verse 25. At that time, Jesus began to pray to say, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. And I acknowledge openly and joyfully to your honor that you have hidden these things from the wise and the clever and the learned and revealed them to babies, to childish, untaught, unskilled. Yes, Father, I praise you that it was your gracious will and good pleasure. Verse 27. burdened, and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle, neat, and humble, lowly in heart. And you will find rest, relief and ease and refreshment, and recreation and blessed quiet for your souls. For my yoke is wholesome, useful, good, not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant. And my burden is light and easy to be borne. In making a point about Jesus, rejoicing and delighting as he was praying to his father, we see a parallel gospel to Matthew chapter 11, verse 25 and verse 26, which we have just read. We are told in Luke's gospel in chapter 10, verse 21, the same report. In that same hour, he rejoiced and gloried in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have concealed these things relating to salvation from the wise and understanding and learning and revealed them to babes, the childish, unskilled, and untaught. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will and choice and good pleasure. Well now, at this point, we must look at what made Jesus rejoice. And we are told, in that hour Jesus rejoiced and gloried in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for your gracious will, choice, and good pleasure. Was Jesus here glad that the truth was hidden from the wise and prudent? Or was he joyful that it had been revealed to mere babes who were growing in their knowledge of their Savior? You see, Jesus rejoicing in returning thanks to God for his favor or grace, given to the immature or recently new believers in the Christian faith. A babe, according to the Bible dictionary, refers figuratively or represents those who are weak in their Christian faith and knowledge. They are yet ignorant, but growing. They are begotten from above, but they still require the God-given nourishment which is necessary for their maturity. The nourishment at this time is called the sincere milk of the word, which is spoken of in 1 Peter 2, verses 2-5. We read, and precious in God's sight. Verse 5, come and like living stones, be yourselves built into a spiritual house for a holy, consecrated, dedicated priesthood to offer up those spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. You see, dear listener, in our opening scripture in verse 25, where Jesus was praying and thanking his heavenly father and acknowledging joyfully that he had hidden these things from the wise, the clever, and learned, and revealed them to babes who weren't the childish, untaught, and unskilled ones, saying, yes, father, I praise you that such was your gracious will and good pleasure. This was all part of the Father's grace and favor which was given to those babes who had the mysteries of the gospel revealed to them. Their spiritual eyes had been opened up enough to know who Jesus was to them as their Savior, even in the midst of the sin and ruin and sad state of the sinful cities which they lived in. even though this is the reason our dear savior came it was still no doubt very grievous for the lord jesus christ as he could not help but weep over them and have compassion as he did over jerusalem we can only imagine with this this thought knowing that these hidden mysteries were shown to mere babes must have been very refreshing to him because he states it with such joy and such thanksgiving. Praise God. And you must know that even though Jesus is the Son of God, born of a pure virgin birth, he is still fully human and fully God. He knew all things. He knew why he came to this earth. His humanity allowed for him to weep over what he experienced and the reason he came. His humanity allowed for him to rejoice at seeing these young babes yield their hearts and minds to understanding who he was to them and to see his father's gracious goodwill being fulfilled in these little babes. Hallelujah! And the scribes and the Pharisees were humanly wise and foolish ones with their minds vainly puffed up by their fleshly pomp and circumstance. The scripture tells us that their foolish hearts were darkened because they refused to submit to the righteousness of God's way of saving man by sending his son Jesus Christ. They knew the scriptures, which pointed out the signs and times of his coming, but they went about it in their own established ways of defining their own righteousness and the methods of saving themselves. Isaiah the prophet, in Isaiah chapter 53, verse 53, foretold our precious Savior's rejection, saying, He was despised and rejected and forsaken by man, a man of sorrows and pains and acquainted with grief and sickness, and like one from whom men hid their faces, he was despised and we did not appreciate his worth or have any esteem for him? Yes, even though Jesus foreknew before he came to this earth His purpose of salvation for all the whomsoever the Father had chosen to give him throughout the generations of time. He taught and forewarned his disciples on his rejection and what would happen to him before he went to the cross. We see this in Luke chapter 9 verse 22 saying, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be deliberately disproved and repudiated and rejected on part of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be put to death and on the third day be raised again. In other New Testament examples and illustrations, which are largely and mainly warnings against the rejection of God's wisdom and grace, we see that the Pharisees and the scribes observed the law carefully as far as appearances went but their hearts were very far from God scripture shows that their motives were wrong because they wanted the praise of men with all of their outward pomp and circumstance with all of their phylacteries and outward show of pride they also had evil desires that were hidden by their pious shows, and this is why the Pharisees are often called hypocrites. Their hearts did not match their outward appearance. The Pharisees thought they could match God's standards by keeping all of the outward rules of do's and don'ts. Luke chapter 18 verse 9 tells us that they trusted in themselves and that they were righteous. You see, dear one, this can easily happen when people think God's will is the same thing as their list of what they can do and cannot do when they make rules to live by and ignorantly think that God is pleased with them. Can I tell you that the church today is full of people like this? The Pharisees and the scribes put the emphasis on righteous living in the wrong places. Minor details became a major preoccupation and they forgot the more important things which lead to salvation. Let's look at what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 23, beginning in verse 23. He declares, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders, hypocrites, for you give a tenth of your mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected and omitted the weightier, more important matters of the law, right and justice and mercy and fidelity. These you ought particularly to have done, without neglecting the others. Verse 24 You blind guides, filtering out a gnat and gulping down a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders, hypocrites, for you clean out the inside of the cup and the plate, and within they are full of extortion. Pray, spoil and plunder, and grasping self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of a cup and the plate, so that the outward may be clean also. Verse 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. pretenders, hypocrites for you are like tombs that have been whitewashed which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead man bones and everything impure just so you also outwardly seem to people to be just and upright but inside you are full of pretense and lawless and iniquity wow Jesus made it very blatantly clear that the Pharisees thought they were doing their best to keep God's laws while others were not. What deception. They looked down on such sinners, especially people like tax collectors and prostitutes, and yet they themselves were rotten to the core. You see, these people rejected God's counsel and righteousness, And consequently, God sent his peace and salvation of the gospel truth to others whom he designated before the foundation of time. And these blessed people were called the Gentiles. These were some of those who were called babes, Christ's disciples. Jesus' disciples were simple-hearted people who inclined and submitted their hearts to be instructed and saved in God's own way, called the way of righteousness and holiness found in Christ alone. Jesus never rejoiced in the fact that people were lost, but he did rejoice over the fact that they had repented. 2 Peter 3, verse 9 tells us, The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what he promises, according to some people's conception of slowness. But he is long-suffering, extraordinarily patient towards you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance. God's nature is benevolent and he sincerely desires eternal happiness for all people and by what we just read his patience towards sinners proves that he is willing that they should be saved and if he were not willing dear one and if he was not patient and he was not kind it would be an easy thing to just zap them to cut them off and exclude them from the hope of eternal life immediately. But praise God, our God is not that way. He is just and righteous and pure, and he is a God of love. Hallelujah. Now, at this point in the message, today we must ask, How or why is it that the truth is hidden from a fleshly, humanly wise person? Why is that? Well, we must understand here that this hiding refers to those things which are known only to God and are purposely hidden from man's knowledge. No matter how clever, mentally quick, or inventive people may be, they will never find out the secret truths or mysteries hidden from them by God. The truths of God which are hidden and unapproachable cannot be discovered by man in his resourceful, ingenious mind. It's because they can only be revealed by God himself. these truths of God are supernaturally imparted by the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth no human being can possibly discover for example the mystery of Christ in you or the Divine Trinity or the incarnation which is Christ coming into the world as a human being without the divine and supernatural revelation of the Holy Spirit Oh yes, someone can read and know that. But until it is supernaturally given in Revelation, it does not live within the heart. Apostle Paul, in 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, tells us, And a great and important and weighty, we confess, is hidden truth, the mystic secret of godliness. He, God, was made visible in human flesh, justified and vindicated in the Holy Spirit, and was seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up into glory. And Paul also, in Colossians chapter 1, verse 25 through 27, declares, In it I became a minister in accordance with the divine stewardship, which was entrusted to me for you. as its object and for your benefit, to make the word of God fully known among you, the mystery of which was hidden for ages and generations from angels and men, but is now known, revealed to his holy people and saints, to whom God was pleased to make known, how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ within and among you, the hope of realizing the glory. You see, even Jesus spoke in parables to prevent the humanly wise from understanding God's truth. The divine revelation of God is only given to the humble. And Jesus said in Matthew chapter 13 verse 10 It is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven I like us to look at that I like us to go there in Matthew 13 beginning in verse 10 And the disciples came to him and said, Why do you speak to them in parables? And he replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. Verse 12, for whoever has spiritual knowledge, to him will be given more, and he will be furnished richly so that he will have it in abundance. But from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Verse 13, this is the reason that I speak to them in parables, because having the power of seeing, they do not see. having the power of hearing, they do not hear, nor do they grasp and understand. Well, now we have to ask, how is truth given to mere babes and the humble? You see, there are two abilities or capabilities which cannot understand God's purposely hidden mysteries, and they are the wisdom of the worldly wise and the prudence. So prudence in the Bible dictionary means skill, good judgment, and common sense. And both David and Solomon are described as men of prudence and wisdom. You see, there are many people in the world who have good common sense, good judgment, and excellent skills, which help them make good decisions throughout their lives. And the book of Proverbs even speaks a lot about a prudent person. Just as we have covered in Matthew chapter 11, verse 25, where Jesus began to say, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, and acknowledge openly and joyfully to your honor that you have hidden these things from the wise and clever and learned and revealed them to babies, to the childish, undaughtance, and unskillful. Well, again, Jesus makes it clear that these hidden things were hidden or shrouded from the worldly, wise, or clever people of the world. And verse 27, our Lord tells us, All things have been entrusted and delivered to me by my Father, and no one fully knows or accurately understands except the Father. No one fully knows and accurately understands the Father except the Son and anyone, hear it, and anyone to whom the Son deliberately wills to make him known. When Jesus says, is God-given and it is of God. People who have received these gifts of God's grace through understanding and divine revelation of his word is because of faith and a humble heart. And not only that, they treasure these truths that they have understood. And these truths become protected holy treasures in their inner being. They guard and protect what has been given in understanding of biblical truths so that they do not offend the one who has given the divine comprehension of these treasures that guide them on their journey to eternal life. It is like tending to the garden of your heart, dear listener. If you ever have had a garden, you know that you must keep the weeds out of it from amongst the beautiful plants, otherwise the weeds will completely take over that garden. We have a message called the Garden of Your Soul, which can be heard by going to our website and accessing the audio messages. The website is called ShiningLight7Ministries.com, and this is a numerical number 7, Ministries.com. Dear listener, the hidden mysteries and truths come only by God's grace to a humble heart of a repentant sinner, a repentant believer who believes and trusts by faith in who Jesus Christ is and what he says he is and what the truth of holy scriptures over all teach. the babes in Christ do not stay babies but they grow daily by worshiping their creator that is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and by feeding on the divine manna in the word of God and by meditation upon the lovely and the beautiful and by fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ so you understand that Jesus is teaching that truth comes through faith in the Son, and these truths are given supernaturally by him through his Holy Spirit who lives in them. This you must remember also. This is a gift of God's grace. This is nothing you nor I could possibly understand without God opening one's spiritual eyes to see and know that this revelation is truth, it's real, it's divine knowledge that has pricked your heart in a new dimension of love and admiration for your Savior. Babes are characterized by faith rather than by confidence in themselves. And this is why Jesus says in Matthew chapter 18, verse 3, that we must become as little children in order to receive God's grace. Verse 3. And he said, truly I say to you, unless you repent, change and turn around and become like little children, trusting, lowly, loving and forgiving. you can never enter the kingdom of heaven at all. Whoever will humble himself, therefore, and become like this little child, trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. God's word tells us that the cross is foolish according to the wisdom of this world. But in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 27, Paul tells us that God has chosen the foolish things of the world, the babes, to confound the wise. Let's begin in 1 Corinthians 1, beginning in verse 26, where Paul says, For simply consider your call, brethren. Not many of you were considered to be wise, according to human estimates and standards. Not many influential and powerful. Not many of high and noble birth. Verse 27. No, for God selected, deliberately chose, what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame. Verse 28. God made our wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our righteousness, thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our consecration, making us pure and holy in our redemption, providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin. Verse 31. So then, as it is written, let him who boasts and proudly rejoices in glories, boast and proudly rejoice in glory in the Lord. Hallelujah. All believers who live in Jesus Christ have started out as babes in Christ who have received this wonderful gift of grace, which is meant to continually grow into a beautiful fellowship and divine union with their precious Savior and Heavenly Father. You see, realizing one's own helplessness is the first step to receive the grace or undeserved help of God unto salvation. and you learn as one who is a beneficiary of God's grace, how his free unmerited grace or favor changes your life because of supernatural revelation that enlightens your spiritual understanding of what and who Christ is to you and in you and what he has done for you and what he has sacrificed for you personally. Dear listener, are you on your way as a true child of God? If so, I urge you, I encourage you to press on daily and take your life in Christ serious because life on this earth is very short and each day, every day counts. The days we live in in this year of 2023 are very dark and bleak days for our country and for the whole world for that matter. Because Satan's demons and human agents who belong to him and worship him are hard at work to bring great deceptions and perversions against mankind. Stay close to God and do your part as a beneficiary of his grace because yours and my salvation depend on it. Salvation is ongoing until we take our last breath on this earth. Our joy and peace are found in Christ alone. Hold on tight to your precious Savior and worship him alone. Thank you. I am so glad that you could join us today. I have an important word to share with you, and I've titled it, Toying with God's Grace is Deadly. In other words, playing around with and neglecting the grace of God as it has come to you is a very dangerous place to be regarding your spiritual salvation and place of residence for all eternity. You know, when Jesus was walking on the earth and giving witness of himself by speaking about who he was, he spoke these words that were prophesied in the book of Isaiah 61, verse 2. Jesus said, Well, Jesus had come to bring comfort to the sick, healing and deliverance to the hurting and the oppressed, and vengeance on God's enemies. The vengeance that Jesus is speaking about is only brought in part and some degree on every generation since that time. But the real day of vengeance that he is speaking about yet to come and will culminate and escalate is in the end days at the climax at the battle of Armageddon and the final day of judgment. Jesus' total mission and victory will be won and accomplished when he has finally put all things where Satan is concerned under his feet. We live in an alarming time today, to say the very least. We hear enough bad news when it comes to the world scene, with wars and rumors of wars, the failing global economy, and yet, and saddest of all, even about the church of the living God and how she is falling into air, into heresy and apostasy. It's no wonder then, when Jesus spoke these words of warning in Luke 13, verse 24, striving to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Jesus is saying that we need to strive to enter into the gates of heaven. The word strive here in the Greek is agon. and it means that you should make concerted effort when it comes to laying hold of your eternal life in the celestial city above. This means that you should have some measure of anxiety about it and you should fight and make every effort as though you are in a race for your life, which you really are. Strive here means also to compete for a prize. It means to endeavor to accomplish something, to labor fervently for it. Jesus said this way or gate into this privileged place is very straight and narrow. And by this he is saying that we should be diligent and we should be active and earnest in making it our first and foremost business to overcome the sinful attachments and tendencies and endeavor in order to enter into heaven. You see, this is not a suggestion from our Lord, dear church. This is a command. In the scripture right before the one that we have been discussing, the disciples asked Jesus, said, Lord, are there a few who are saved? And then Jesus went on to give the warning about striving to enter into this strait and narrow gator way. He said, Many, I say unto you, will seek. They desire, but they do not strive. But they do not strive, and because of not striving, because of not fighting and pressing on for the great prize and giving it all they've got, because they will not agonize and will not be in earnest in their efforts and take it serious, they shall not get in. When the day of God's grace was before them, they took it lightly. And many throughout the generations of time have taken lightly so great a salvation. And this admonition of our precious Savior has echoed down through every generation or every age. And Jesus had declared that more people will be lost than saved. He said, strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I will say to you, will seek to enter, but will not be able to. Many will not enter into eternal life, but instead enter into eternal death, the place that was originally prepared for Satan and his demons. For more people, Jesus says, will be lost than saved. And this is quite sobering, isn't it? Well, it really ought to be and should cause us to sit up and take notice and account of our own salvation and to examine ourselves and take notice in what we are doing in preparing our souls for the day our Master comes individually for us. And when he does come, we will all have to give account of what we did with our time, our words, our money, and most of all, what did we sow into our hearts as far as his righteousness while we had breath on this earth. Hosea 10, 12 commands that we sow seeds of righteousness in our lives so that on the day Christ comes, we will reap in mercy. I want God's mercy and I want his grace at all times, not just when he comes for me. And I'm sure that you do, too. You see, dear one, Jesus Christ came and he fulfilled his divine commission in Isaiah 61. He provided everything that you and I need to reach this high and lofty and very attainable goal. And let me say the awesome privilege of entering into the narrow gate. Jesus brought the good news of himself. And he made it clear that his heavenly father had sent him and anointed him to heal the sick, to raise the dead and bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and open the prisons and the eyes of those who are bound and entrenched in spiritual darkness. In Luke's Gospel, the scriptures tell us in this particular account that Jesus went to Nazareth, where he was brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read verse 17, according to the NIV version. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. And he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind. To release the oppressed. Verse 19. To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him Verse 21 And then he began by saying to them Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. Isn't this Joseph's son, they asked? Well, Jesus in essence told them, I am the one that Isaiah spoke of. And as he read from Isaiah about divine deliverance, the people gave him their undivided attention. However, when he applied the passage to himself and suggested God wanted to save Gentiles as well as Jews, they became irate and infuriated and threw him out of town and even tried to kill him. But he miraculously escaped because it was not yet his time to go to the cross. After Jesus finished reading from Isaiah with the words, The time of the Lord's favor has come. He stopped and he looked at them. Dear church, God's grace and favor stood before them. All they needed was standing before them in the form of God's Son in a human body. Jesus Christ was fully God and he was fully man. In Christ was everything. Salvation, healing, deliverance from every sort of bondage, both physically and spiritually. In Jesus Christ, God offered the world his mercy and grace and full pardon of their sins. But we saw what happened the moment Jesus said, I am the one that the prophets spoke about. They turned on him and set out to kill him. The year of the Lord's favor stood before them. The day of grace was knocking at the door of their hearts. But instead of receiving him with open arms and standing before him with broken and contrite hearts, most mocked him, spat upon him, and beat him so badly he was unrecognizable. And finally, they killed him. Many during the time that Jesus walked on the earth missed the day of grace that was open to them in accepting the Lord's offer of salvation. They neglected their day of grace. They toyed with God's grace and it proved to be deadly for them. They lost out on eternal salvation because they didn't recognize the greatest king of all who stood before them and offered them a throne in his own kingdom one day. I'm reminded of an account that I read and reminds me of this truism. Although this account has to do with human royalty rather than with the divine kingdom above. the account goes on to say that an artist requested permission to paint a portrait of the queen the favor was granted and the favor was very great indeed because it would make a fortune of the man's work a place was decided and also the time where and when they would meet was decided as well in the fixed place and time the queen appeared but the artist was not there He was not ready yet. He had not shown up at the appointed time. He was late for the appointed time. But when he did finally arrive, the message was communicated to him that declared, Her Majesty had come and would not return. So is the story for many a Christian. The eternal living God acquiesced and yielded to meet man right where he was. He secured and agreed on his covenant promises and blessings and promised in his word the object, the reason, the place and the time of the meeting. And dear church, it is for salvation and it is found in Jesus Christ and the time is now. Jesus Christ has been true to his own appointment. But how often is it otherwise with men and women who neglect so great a salvation that he is offering? Apostle Paul said in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 3, How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. You see, we all need to ask ourselves, what if I reject him? What if I am rejecting him right at this very moment by not taking my eternal life and salvation serious at this time? Considering the overwhelming greatness and power of Jesus Christ, We should pay very close attention to what he said when he declared, This is the year of my favor to you. You have heard it with your own ears. In the Old Testament times, Israel was punished for disobeying God's law. And how much more will we be punished for disobeying God's word given by his own son, whom he loves so dearly? Paul asked in Hebrews 2.3, How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? The answer is, there is no escape, only eternal punishment for those who reject Jesus Christ. I imagine there have been multitudes of millions every generation who have toyed around with God's grace and unfortunately lost out on eternal life. They missed the day of grace when it came to them. God is a God of many chances and many warnings. He is a loving God and he does not relish sending anyone of his precious creations into the lake of fire. But many have taken his grace for granted and deceived themselves right into hell. and the door of the day of grace was shut. And dear one, dear church, we should be warned that it will come suddenly and unexpectedly for each one of us if we are playing games with our Christianity as well. We lost control in the Garden of Eden, but God the Son took control for us when he went to the cross and spilled his precious blood on our behalf. There is hope for us through him who through his death and resurrection because of a perfect Passover lamb and high priest who is more than able to completely forgive our sins has given us this hope of redemption. It is only with the eyes of faith, only, that we will see Jesus Christ already crowned and reigning over the universe, fulfilling our own lost purpose and reason for being in this world. We were meant to co-reign with him. At this very moment, at this very moment, it is not happening. But if we are living a life united to Christ at this present time and taking our Christian walk serious and obeying his commands, it will be a fact in the future as we are seated next to him on the throne that awaits us. You must make your own calling and election sure, dear ones. Unredeemed and unregenerate human beings cannot subdue their own sinful natures, let alone the environment around them. We need a leader. We need a guide and a teacher. And this is why the Holy Spirit was given to each of us who have truly accepted Christ's offer of salvation. Jesus will bring us into glory one day, allowing us to someday help him rule in the universe as we are faithful and obedient to his commands every day in our life on this earth right now. 2 Timothy 2, verse 12 declares, If we endure, we shall also reign with him. If we deny and disown and reject him, he will also deny and disown and reject us. And if we are faithless, do not believe, and are untrue to him, he remains true and faithful to his word and his righteous character, for he cannot deny himself. If I am truly a child of God, Jesus is not only my creator, but he is also my savior, my shepherd, and my king. How is it then that men and women will have the door of grace shut suddenly in their face? What are some of the ways in which they have toyed with the year of the favor of the Lord in their lives and have taken a chance on so great a salvation? One of the ways is found in Luke 14, verse 15. And Jesus is giving a parable of the Great Supper. Our key in these verses that you should watch and listen for is called excuses. Luke 14, 15 in the New King James Version says, Now when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is the one who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. And then he said to him, A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, Come, for all things are now ready. Verse 18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yokes of oxen, and I'm going to test them. I ask you to have me excused. And still another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. And the servant said, Master, it is done as you have commanded. And still there is room. Verse 23. And then the master said to the servant, Go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. for I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper. You see, dear church, a bad excuse is worse than no excuse at all. Bottom line here is that all of these excuses were really a rejection of God's grace and favor when it came to them. And today, men and women are so ready to make excuses rather than to receive the word of God and obey it. To reject the truth when it comes to you is to reject God and his son Jesus Christ and the sacrifice they have made to accommodate the answer for your sin. This was no ordinary dinner invitation. This was not a one-time invitation to sit at a king's table and dine with him. This was a fulfillment of prophesied scripture where it would be an eternal feast in the kingdom of God. It was offered for many who would come and freely dine and eat with God's own son, Jesus Christ. In Revelation 3.20, Jesus said, Behold, I stand at the door and I knock. And if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with me. and to him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. The invitation given to the dinner supper was saying that the time was at hand. The invitation was given and everything was in place. The spirit was poured out and the gospel church was planted and those who were invited were not to be late or tarry in their coming to keep the date and the invitation. By coming to dine with the master, there would be discoveries made, revelation unfolded, and the mysteries and keys to the kingdom would be opened up and passed out. All things are presently ready. this call is given to each one and is and has been in the realm and sphere of their hearing. The call has gone out and it will not be long until the season of grace for many will soon be over. The excuses for many have kept them from drinking abundantly and eating to taste and see that the Lord is good as they would feed daily upon his word and sit in his presence and experience his love and listen to his voice. Why did all these people in our account who made excuses do it with such ease and not have a twinge of conviction in their hearts? Verse 18 of Luke chapter 14 says, They all with one accord began to make excuses. Now the first said to him, I've bought a piece of ground and I must go see it and ask you to have me excused. And the other one said, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I'm going to test them and I ask you to have me excused. And still the other said, I've married a wife and therefore I can't come. You see, their reasons for easily offering excuses in the first place is because they had no heart in the beginning to accept the invitation to the feast. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. There are many in the church today who sit in the pews of the church week after week and go through the motions. but they are still denying Christ's invitation to come and dine with him and accept all that he has made available to them to bring the desired change that he has made possible. The real fact of denying him here is really that they have hated him and despised his provision. Jesus said in John 14, 24, Anyone who does not really love me does not observe and obey my teachings. Well, there are many people who force themselves several times a week to open up their Bible so they will be politically correct. But they are not honest with themselves or with God. God will not be mocked, dear one. It is only an effort to satisfy what God's word tells us, what we ought to do. If it is not in your heart to do it out of love and appreciation to your Savior and your King, to taste and see that he is good, then it is really a hardened heart that is making the effort in appeasing a God that you have no interest in. This invitation is not a common or ordinary invitation. It is all about your so great a salvation, and the clock is ticking and the time is passing. Many people make all kinds of excuses and have all sorts of sin and have had convictions that haunt them so many times that they do not oppose Jesus Christ to his face. But like these people in our scripture, they justify themselves with their excuses and said, oh, I have asked you to have me pardoned because I am so busy. My business demands all of my attention. I have land to tend to. I have animals to care for. I have a new wife. You see, they were more interested in things of the world than they were their precious King Jesus Christ, the one who says, If you open up your heart to me, I will come in and eat with you. In other words, he would lay out a fare of food before the eyes of your heart and unfold such a wonderful and divine mysteries to you that you could not wait until the next day for a repeat and visitation of his appearance and his presence. You see, Satan is always ready to help men and women with every excuse they need to neglect their precious Savior. He did it with our first parents, and they hid themselves from God and made aprons of fig leaves to hide their sin and nakedness. many will not come to the great supper called the wedding supper of the lamb because of their excuses they are too busy to take time for the Lord in developing a wonderful and eternal relationship with him while they had time and breath on this earth some say well I have a big family and I have to work so hard and others say my business demands all of my time and still others say, my pleasures are so many and they require so much of my time. Others say with their excuses, believe it or not, I am too great a sinner to be saved. Their excuse does not hold up because God's word says, believe in Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Some have excuses that they use to justify their vices, such as drinking, drugs, sexual appetites, homosexual lifestyles, lust for material things, perversion, and for some even holding on to their past life such as sexual abuse, verbal abuse, physical abuse, etc. Some go through years of counseling with psychiatrists and psychologists and never seem to make progress. But Jesus said, Behold, I make all things new. And dear one, he meant just that. The Holy Spirit is very good at deliverance. The word declares the truth will set you free. The precious blood of Jesus and the renewing power of the Holy Spirit can free any repentant person from the bondage of sexual sin. The United States of America is lost in a moral fog and has greatly affected and infected God's church today. Two major Protestant denominations, the Episcopal Church in the U.S. and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, have voted to ordain gay clergy. We have pastors of megachurches standing up and coming out of the closet announcing that they are homosexual like they are proud of it. There is no repentance, no shame, and no stepping down from their pulpits. And on the other hand, in the news recently, there is another pastor of a mega church who was accused and sued but settled out of court for giving favors to young boys in cars and money These boys were 17 to 18 years of age in his congregation and he did all this in exchange for sex Four young boys accused him He denies that he had done anything wrong. He has lost a great number in his membership, and he has received rebukes and admonition from other pastors, but he still denies the sin. God's word tells us that this way of life is incompatible with biblical truths. We cannot tiptoe around the issue when it comes to the truth, but we must allow God to put his rod of uprightness, righteousness into our backs and address these issues and speak the truth in love. Nobody was born with this sexual deviation, although we are all born with issues of some kind. King David declares in Psalms 51 verse 5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Well, David is acknowledging that he had an inborn nature, and this is true of every one of us. But for every sin, including any perverse sexual sin such as homosexuality, bestiality, fornication or adultery, Jesus Christ by his spilled blood and by his stripes offers forgiveness and healing. Lee and I have been personally involved in the healing and deliverance of people who have lived in these lifestyles and have seen the wonderful transformation of their lives and have been completely healed and set free of this spirit and this sinful way of life after they had come to faith in Jesus Christ and learned to live and dwell in his truth and in his love. We must warn those, according to Hebrews 10, 29, who turn away from Christ and turn to abominable practices that they have trampled on Christ's blood and that they have insulted the spirit of grace. Some say with their excuses, and this is especially true of young people. It is too soon for me to come to the dinner feast. I need to have a look at the world, and I need to experience what it has to offer because after all, I am barely 15 or 16 years of age. you see dear church it is never too late for you to accept Christ's invitation to dine with him while your foot is out of the grave Holy Spirit the most wonderful gift was given to each true child of God and the word says if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them than ask him neither you nor I can make a new heart for ourselves. But we certainly should have asked God for a new heart that dwells in sincerity and in truth. You see, we were given a promise. God said in Ezekiel 36, 26, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. and I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Well, it is very foolish to make excuses for not coming to Christ and taking him up on his invitation to dine and feast with him. One last point I wish to make with the issue of excuses. Remember with whom it is that you are dealing with. You are not making excuses before an individual who may be deluded or deceived by your excuses, but you are making these excuses before the all-knowing, the all-seeing God who searches your heart and rightly divides the whole matter. 1 Chronicles 28 verse 9 declares, As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your fathers and serve him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. And if you seek him, he will be found by you. But if you forsake him, he'll cast you off forever. Or in Revelation 2.23, Jesus declares, I am he who searches the minds, the thoughts, the feelings and purposes in the inmost hearts. And I will give to each of you the reward for what you have done as your work deserves. Remember what it is that you are toying around with. It is your very own soul. The soul will never die. It keeps on living either in heaven or in hell. Remember also that you are toying around with the almighty God creator of all things whom you will never see if you keep on making excuses. In 2 Timothy 4.3, according to the NIV, the word declares, preach the word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they'll gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. Well, Paul was instructing his spiritual son here to be prepared to proclaim the truth at every opportunity, even though many, wanting to have their ears tickled, would look for teachers to say what they wanted to hear. Well, this is a prevalent practice today in the church. And this is called error. It's called heresy and apostasy. Apostasy is defined as falling away from the truth. And the nation of Israel fell into repeated backsliding, and prophet Jeremiah predicted the judgment of God upon such disloyalty. Error and false belief is a result of ignorance. And people are ignorant because they haven't taken the time to learn the truth of God's word. But apostasy is generally defined as the determined and willful rejection of Jesus Christ and his teachings by a Christian believer. Hebrews 10.26 tells us that if we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of truth, there is no sacrifice for sins left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. In other words, once the truth of the air is made clear to the individual, and the person who was corrected continues in believing and promoting the air, then it is willful falling away from the doctrine or truth of God's word, and only a fearful expectation of God's judgment is left. As was mentioned previously, there is rampant air and apostasy taking place right now in the church. And this, I had said, is another reason that for some, they will miss the day of God's grace and favor because they've hardened their hearts to the truth of his word. Many are running here and they're running there to sit under different teachers to hear what their itching ears want to hear. Well, Paul warned Timothy that many would turn from the truth to hear lies, to hear myths and false teachings. 2 Timothy 4.4 says they will turn their ears away from the truth and aside to myths. Well, myths can be anything that is delusionary, false, deceptive, or inventive. Sound doctrine was and is not enough for these kinds of people. They have allowed their ears and minds to be filled with stories of dreams and visions, of teachings and angelic appearances with their names and activities. These people have made up or borrowed the ungodly practice, self-invented devotions such as centered prayer or contemplative meditation, which is nothing more than the practice of yoga and many other foolish inventions that people have made up in order to present something new. There is a woman who is in high visibility in the church and calls herself a prophetess who is promoting a dance called ecstatic dance. And this kind of dance comes from shamanism. Shamanism is a communication with the spirit world where these spirits heal through trance dancing. And this ungodly tap includes kundalini dancing, dancing through shamanic portals, which carry one away into another world. That other world is Satan's dark realm. Many churches have allowed this infiltration and form of dancing to be acted out in the church and even exercise classes that are church related. They don't mind being called shamas. They have another tap and they are proud of it. The church must wake up. We must begin to renounce this air and apostasy in the church at once. It is pagan worship, and it is the worship of evil spirits. With so many of these kinds of evil practices being allowed in the church today, many precious souls are being turned away from the truth and the simplicity of the gospel. By the hypocrisy and lies, the invention of dreams and visions, and doctrine of devils of this sort, they infect God's people with vain delusions and the practice of foolish superstitions that steal what little sound doctrine that many of these people might have known. Just to touch on a wave of air and apostasy that has infiltrated the church big time today, and it is known as a counterfeit movement, it's called the NAR or the International Coalition of Apostles Organization. This movement has spread worldwide, and it has infiltrated almost every denomination with its heretical teachings. This group claims authority to lay the foundation for the new global church, which demands strict obedience and submission to them in all matters. Their goal is to eventually gain utter control of the church and subjugation of our current governance to them. They have set up territories all over the world and have carved out their own dominion of power and pursue total control in their designated spheres of authority granted them by the leaders of the International Coalition of Apostles organization. They believe that the world is awaiting fulfillment of a takeover by a militant church that governs and dominate the world politically and spiritually. And this is a highly organized group with a global agenda. According to Wikipedia, the Kingdom Now Theology, which the International Coalition of Apostles ascribe to, they believe that God had lost control over the world to Satan when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. And since then, this group portend that God has been trying to reestablish control over the world by seeking a special group of believers. Through these people, known as a covenant people or chosen ones, social institutions, including government and laws, would have to be brought under God's authority. These people believe that they are little gods. That is, God's extension in the world to regain authority from the devil. The church, under the leadership of the restored apostles and prophets, Therefore must take over the world and put down all opposition to it before Christ can return. Anyone who rebels against the church along with other evildoers must convert or be punished. Dear church, it is so amazing that many Christians are not aware of this movement. Even many Christians who attend apostolic prophetic churches are unaware of the movement's abnormal and bizarre teachings. teachings which are often introduced through the back door of churches that claim to have standard evangelical statements of faith. Not only is the doctrine and theology of the International Coalition of Apostles in great air, but their allowance and serious implications of their New Age infiltration, dominionist doctrine, undue attention to angelic activity, kabbalistic dogma, Sundar Singh, which is Middle Eastern philosophy, kundalini spirit, and other occultic practices are all seriously damaging to the body of Christ. Many are toying with God's grace, and it is dangerous. They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. Paul warns in 2 Timothy 3.5 to turn away from such people as these. And once the warning of their error and heresy goes out to them, they are held responsible to repent and turn away from these practices. And if they do not, then it is considered apostasy. God, through prophet Micah in Micah 3.4, declares, Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil that they have done. Also in Hosea 5.6, with their flocks and herds they shall go seek the Lord, but they will not find him, for he has withdrawn himself from them. Dear believer, this is a horrible place to be. It is like being on the outside looking in. Not hearing from God and having answers to your prayers is like standing naked before the world for which Satan is the ruler and the prince of the power of the air. There is no divine protection to protect you from the arrows and the onslaught of the devil. You are fair bait for Satan. In the New Testament in Matthew 7.21, according to the New King James Version, Jesus spoke very sobering words of warning that ought to cause each of us to examine our own hearts at time. In Matthew 7.21, Jesus said, I never knew you. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. The day of grace was over for these people who thought that they were in the will of God. They had toyed with God's grace too long and had totally deceived themselves right into the lake of fire for all of eternity. John 9.31 says, We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and a worshiper of him and does his will, he listens to him. Church, we need to wake up. Jesus is coming very soon. And with him is the reward of eternal life. And also the reward that will be given to each according to what we have done while we had breath on this earth. In Revelation 22 verse 12, Jesus announces, Behold, I am coming soon. And my reward is with me. And I give it to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and I am the Omega. the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, everyone who loves and practices falsehood. Our Lord also said in Revelation 21, verse 5, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and I am the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things. And I will be his God and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers and sexually immoral, the sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death. Jesus has made the opportunity for all things to be made new that is in your spirit and your soul mine too. We are without excuse when it comes to the renewing and the transformation of our lives because if your salvation was genuine and real then there will be an honest and a sincere change taking place in your life. And evidence of this new way means that you are turning away from all known sin in your life. You flee from evil. You resist the evil and you confront the evil and you hate evil. And that means that you are quick to repent of all sin in your life. And let me say here, there are those who make it a practice of repenting, But they do not turn away from their sin. They do not change. Repentance has become their Jesus. Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins. True repentance means that you turn away from that sin 180 degrees and you commit it no more. It does not control you or have a hold on your life anymore. When some people disobey what God commands in his word, they find some plausible excuse for their disobedience and sinful lifestyles because they know that they will be most uncomfortable and uneasy in their minds. People who frequently work at gathering excuses and pleas for the neglect of their inward transformation soon become very clever and sharp and capable of self-justification. that they have sidled up to and engaged in warfare with their mind of reason, their judgment and any other unctions from God are stifled because they've chosen to ignore the witness and conviction of his spirit. And that sin is not okay with God. Those who become proficient at deceiving themselves are really hardening their hearts to God's truth and God's correction. There is a way of escape from the door of God's grace being shut on our lives if we will only bow our knees and our hearts to him. True repentance for toying with sin in our lives and God's grace will mean that there is a deep sense of genuine indwelling, inherent evil of sin in our lives and there will be a hearty sorrow for it as we understand it is all done against God first, then ourselves and others secondly. Sin of all kinds should appear as being poisonous to the one who truly repents and turns away from it. True repentance means that you are deeply sorry for it. It is not only hateful, but because it is deadly and destructive, it is abominable and despicable in itself because it is contrary to the divine nature of God and expresses our ingratitude and thanklessness to God. King David said that he hated every false way, and that should be our heart too, dear ones. True repentance always includes change and transformation. By confessing your sins and forsaking them, God will have mercy on you. He says further in the book of Psalms, cleanse your hearts, O you sinners, and turn from evil and learn to do good. Well, these are expressions which signify not only sorrow for our sins, but also the true transformation and restoration of our hearts and souls. It is vain to pretend to repent and then go on in the same sins. God will extend no mercy here, only a fearful and raging judgment for those who practice this way of life. God's command to all men everywhere is to repent now. The times of ignorance are over and the gospel has been shed abroad and has gone forth in every generation. God will no longer wink at yours or my connived or insincere repentance. but he will take notice of it with righteous and just indignation now while the day of grace lasts. But soon will come the day where the door to his grace will be slammed shut. And at this time it will be too late to cry out for his mercy because he knows that you had hardened your heart through the deceitfulness of sin. But I say to those of you who have an ounce of the Spirit's conviction left in your hearts while you have time, fall to your knees and repent and ask his forgiveness and hold fast to the truth of Scripture. Stay close to God and have communion with him every day. Desire to be around people who love the Lord and long to please him in every area of their lives. True fellowship with God produces humility. Do not allow yourselves to fall back into the hands of the enemy and be enslaved by him once again by making excuses for sin in your life. Remember, dear believer, you and I are in a race for our lives. Jesus said, strive to enter through the narrow gate. For I say to you, many will seek to enter and will not be able to. Strive means to fight, to struggle, to accomplish something important in your life. Strive here is good in this sense because after all it is sin that we are fighting against and eternal life is the prize that we receive if we continue to the end. Hold on fast to precious Holy Spirit who was given to you as your helper, your teacher and your guide and he will never fail you. Thank you. The End very excited to be speaking about is talking about the grace of God, which is a gift to sincere, faithful, and obedient children of God, God the Father, through his Son, Jesus Christ, death, burial, and resurrection. This wonderful grace of God alone leads the believer in Jesus Christ to eternal life through one's faith in the one who gave his life on the cross to make salvation possible for those who live in him and love him with all of their hearts. First, we need to establish what it means to live in Christ. Living in Jesus Christ is likened to an analogy of the branch being connected to the vine, which Jesus spoke about in John chapter 15, beginning in verse four. Our Lord begins by saying, dwell in me and I will dwell in you. Live in me and I will live in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself with abiding in being vitally united to the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me. Verse 5 I am the vine and you are the branches whoever lives in me and I in him bears much abundant fruit however apart from me cut off from vital union with me you can do nothing if a person does not dwell in me he is thrown out like broken off branch and withers. Such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire and they are burned. Verse 7. If you live in me, vitally united to me, and my words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you. Wow. Verse 7 tells us that if we continue to abide vitally connected to our Lord and his words remain in our hearts that we may ask what we will and it'll be done for us but but I wonder how many people skip to the last part of this verse and think in their ignorance that just because they've gone to the altar and given their life to Christ, now they can ask whatever it is in their little old heart's desire to wish for. Truth is, many have gone to the altar in vain and never had entered into true understanding of salvation and living their lives in Jesus Christ. Some in their request to God desire things of the world and all of its glamour and fair. Some desire more money to buy everything that they ever wanted. Some want bigger homes because they think this will make them happy. None of these desires are in Christ's offer of salvation or living in him. Jesus has commanded that we come out of this world. Dear listener, when we see that Jesus Christ is the vine, the true vine, we see that it is an example of the humility that he is pleased to speak of himself in such a low and humble comparison. Let's not forget that he is the creator of the universe who spoke all things into existence. He is the bright and morning star and he is the sun of righteousness. He is the way and the truth and the life who meekly and subserviently compares himself to the vine. He is the vine planted in the vineyard. He is not a spontaneous by-product planted in the earth. He is the word who was made flesh and came into this world for the salvation of mankind by identifying himself as a vine. He claims that participation in the kingdom of God is possible only for those who remain in him. Those disciples or followers who do will bear much fruit. Scripture tells us that this true vine had nothing that people should desire him. Christ had no form or comeliness, we are told in Isaiah chapter 53 verses 2 and 3, which tells us, For the servant of God grew up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of the dry ground. He has no form or comeliness, royal kingly pomp, that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a man of sorrows and pains, acquainted with grief and sickness, and like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we did not appreciate his worth or have any esteem for him. Since believers are branches of this vine imagery, which then concludes that Jesus C