LIVING IN HIS GRACE

Read: Matthew 11:27
  Matthew 18:21-35
  John 17:1-3

Eternal life is not a reward that you earn.   It's a gift
that you are given. And it's a gift that comes to you,
not after you die, but now.

"Since thou hast given him power over

 all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom

 thou hast given him."

Divine life. Life that casts no shadow. Unmixed with any
kind of darkness. When this life comes into you, you are
a new being - God lives in you!

There is a Spirit in you that will never die,

never be afraid,
never hold a grudge,
never lust,

never covet,

never hate, because

that Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. And by that Spirit
you know the Father and love the Father with all your
heart.

This is eternal life: that they know thee
the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent.

If you have come into a living relationship with God --

a living relationship with Jesus Christ - you have eternal
life. You are now a partaker of the divine nature. Old
things have passed away, all things have become new.
Everywhere you go, heaven is walking this earth, because
heaven lives in you.

- Lives are healed.
- Sins are forgiven.

- Prison doors fly open.

- The powers of Hell tremble.

And even when the arrows of the Evil One begin to fly, the
victory always belongs to the Christ who lives in you.

On the other hand, if you know all about the bible, live
inside a church mouth prayers from morning till night,
but are not in relationship with the living God and His
glorious Son, then for all your religion and all your
knowledge of the doctrines, you are still the same
creature of flesh you always were.

- You speak the right words - but nothing happens;
- You proclaim healing - but nothing happens.

      - You quote scriptures - but only death comes of it.

 

Eternal life is to know God today - not to glory in some
experience of God you had last week, or some mighty
thing you did in God's name three years ago - but to
know God now.   

The Lord is my light and salvation, whom
shall I fear? (Is not was)

The Lord is the strength of my life, of
whom shall I be afraid?

Not was my strength in better days,
but is right now.

That's eternal life.   It's new every morning,

fresh every hour.

Even as this body of flesh and blood gets older, the life

from God increases - goes from strength to strength.

- It doesn't get discouraged.
- I t doesn't get stale.

- Doesn't go flat.

- Doesn't have moods.

- Doesn't get depressed.

- Doesn't sulk.

It shines on in the darkness and the darkness cannot

over come it.

And the doorway to knowing God this way is exactly where
Jesus puts it in the parable.

Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven may be
compared with a king who wished to settle
accounts with his servants. When he began
reckoning, one was brought to him who owed
him ten million dollars: and as he could
not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold,
with his wife and children and all that he
had and payment to be made. So the servant
fell on his knees imploring him, "Lord, have
patience with me and I will pay you every
thing". And the lord of that servant was
moved with compassion, and released him and
forgave him the debt.

Suddenly you wake up one day and realize that you're in
debt over your head to a God you don't even know. All
those warnings of conscience that you shrugged off turn
out to be true. And all those sins you kept seeing in
other people turn out to be unimportant.

- God is dealing with you.

- God is calling you to account.

There you stand in the glaring light with every pretense
stripped away - your life stretched out before you. Not
as you've been idealizing it in your mind all these years,
but as it is.

The hearts that you have wounded.
The spirits that you have twisted.
Souls that have been injured and stunted by your
neglect.

The beautiful image you always used to see when you
looked in the mirror is gone. And in its place is a
person so stained and so shallow and so warped and
greedy and perverted you have to bury your face in the
dust.

"0 God! If this is what I am, please don't
show me any more.   I can't stand it.

 0 God forgive! 0 God be merciful!"

If there are people reading this who have never experi-
enced this, I tell you in the name of Jesus, you will.
You will be brought to the end of yourself. You will
be delivered of the satanic illusion that your life is
clean. Perhaps today.

Then, when you lift your face from the dust; instead of
angels waiting to drag you to the edge of the Pit and
throw you in, you find yourself kneeling on Judean soil
outside of Jerusalem 20 centuries ago.

- The painful light that exposed your sins
is gone.

- The sky overhead is black,   and framed in

   that sky is the bleeding body of a dying man nailed to a cross.

And, for the first time in your life, you know what that
cross is all about. You literally see

- your self-righteousness
- your greed,

- your hardness of heart,
- your indifference,

- your adultery,

- your homosexual trip,
- your vicious tongue,
- your violence and murder,

- your phony church-going front,

laid on the holy, innocent, Son of God.

And somewhere overhead is a voice which rings with such
love it almost breaks your heart to listen, saying,

"My child, your sins are forgiven".

And with the sound of that voice all the stains are gone,
your fetters break and fall to the ground, peace floods
your soul. Worship and praise and thanksgiving to God
well up and burst across your lips.

Thank you, Father!

Thank you, blessed Lord Jesus!
Thank you, Lord God!

May your name be praised!

You have eternal life and you know you have it. The shadow
of death is gone. God's Spirit has come to dwell in you.

Now comes the next step. And here's where so many people

stumble. You have received the grace of God, now live in

the grace of God - live in that grace.

- Not in the old ways of your flesh.

- Not down those old paths of hate and lust
and fear,

but in God's grace!

Not just God's grace when I say my morning prayers, but

God's grace when I kiss my wife and say good morning to

my children.

- God's grace on my job.

- God's grace ruling my attitude toward the boss.
- God's grace when I bump into my worst enemy.

- God's grace when I drive,

when I get on the bus,
when I do my homework,
when I sit down for supper.

- God's grace when temptations come walking by.
- God's grace when people forget to say hello.
- God's grace when nobody says thanks.

"But that same servant, as he went out,
came upon one of his fellow servants who
owed him a few dollars; and seizing him
by the throat he said, "Pay me what you
owe!".    So his fellow servant fell down
and besought him, "Have patience with

   me, and I will pay you". He refused and
   went and put him in prison till he should
   pay the debt."

This man was given God's grace, but he isn't living in
it. So what happens to his eternal life? It's gone.

Jesus gave eternal life to all who would receive it,
and promised to guard that life from all outward
enemies.

"No one shall pluck them out of my hand."

But Jesus made very clear that the price of keeping this
gift of eternal life is to live it. God has come to
dwell in you, now you can do His will - so do it!

Not everyone who says, 'Lord, Lord', shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does
the will of my Father who is in heaven.

He who loveth not his brother abideth in death.

      "You wicked servant! I forgave you all that
       debt because you besought me; and should not
       you have had mercy on your fellow servant as
       I had mercy on you?" And in anger this lord
       delivered him to the jailers till he should
       pay all his debt."

(And, my friend, if you are going to

pay all your debt there is only one

place you can pay it and that's in Hell.)

So also will my heavenly Father do to every
one of you, if you do not forgive your
brother from your heart.

The message to those who have never received the grace

of God is; it's yours today. Jesus will give you eternal life

this hour,

- deliver you from that bad conscience,
- forgive your sins,

- fill you with His very life,
- make you a new creature.

- Ask Him.

- Turn yourself over to Him, and a miracle will
                  break forth upon you.

And to those who have long since tasted the grace of God,

the message is: live in that grace.

- it's not just that Jesus comes into our life friend,

- you come into His life,
- you walk in His Spirit,

- you abide in His presence,
- you stay in His will.

And this means, above all things, that we show our fellow
servants the same mercy He has shown to us.

Let's not be measuring other people's mercy but concen-
trate on those places in our lives (God is putting His
finger on them) where we lack mercy.

Eternal life, for us my friends, is to do something about

- that grudge,

- that thing you have against your husband,

- that mean, miserly way you get out of helping
the people who need you,

- that attitude against blacks or whites or
Chicanos, or straights, or hippies,
or old folks, or middle class patriots.

Radical discipleship, yes - a radical commitment to Jesus
Christ indeed. But, my friend, if this means for you a
radical disgust for everyone who isn't a radical disciple
by your standards, it's highly probable that your radical
commitment is not to Jesus at all, but to your own
glorious concept of discipleship.

Spirit-baptism, yes. Jesus promised it and gives it to
all who follow Him. But if you are developing a superior
attitude toward all those who don't see Spirit-baptism
the way you do, it's very likely that the spirit that
controls you is not the Holy Spirit of God, but a spirit
from the enemy.

Jesus wasn't exaggerating when He said "seventy

times seven.

- Let an unforgiving attitude get hold of a fellowship

       and you've got death in that fellowship.

- Let an unforgiving attitude harden in your
            spirit and you are driving the mercy of God
            right out of your life.

   so, if you are offering your gift at the altar

   and there remember that your brother has

   something against you, leave your gift there,

   before the altar, and go; first be reconciled

   to your brother, and then come and offer

   your gift.

Make friends quickly with your accuser while
you are on your way to court, lest your

accuser hand you over to the judge and the
judge to the guard and you be put in prison;
truly 'I say you will never get out till you
have paid the last penny.

God will show us what we have to do.
God will give us all the power we need.

But His Spirit is making clear that the time to start
forgiving and getting reconciled with our brother is
not next week, not tomorrow, but now.