In past generations, people that walked successfully with God were only able to do so by His grace, and it’s this ‘grace of God’ we also rely on in this generation to see us through. From a biblical perspective, Grace means: “divine help“, (which is the help that comes from God), “approval“, and “unmerited gift (favor)”.
TEXT: 1 PETER 5:10, ACTS 15:11, REVELATIONS 17:1, MATTHEW 23:14,27-39, MATTHEW 24:1-8,25, JOHN 1:11, ACTS 13:46, ISAIAH 64:6, ROMANS 10:3, EPHESIANS 2:8, GENESIS 11:31, ROMANS 9:16, MATTHEW 24:11-12
The world is in such shambles, so much so, that no mortal man can fix it. Our collective strength and intellect channeled towards the betterment of our nation, and the world at large, over time, have been futile. And now, it should be clear to everyone that no human wisdom can salvage the situation we find ourselves in. For instance, think about the drive we have when elections are fast approaching, to go out to vote, with the hope that the new regime would be better, but the reverse has always been the case. Brethren, we should not be ignorant of the fact that we are living in the last days, and that we are faced with the manifestations of the fulfilling of the prophecies of this peculiar time, as prophesied by our Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew 24. And except you want to deceive yourself, you know that nothing can change God’s words from fulfilling – They must come to pass! So, I can only encourage you to rely on the grace of God to succeed through these times.
The grace of God is given to children of God
You cannot have the grace of God unless it is made available to you, and if you’re a child of God, you will not reject the grace of God. Because, it is possible for one to reject the grace of God. In the time of Jesus, there were five sects of denominations of which the Pharisees were the strictest. Yet, Jesus kept declaring woe upon them, because they rejected the grace of God. The Pharisees were not idol worshippers, they were also carrying the Bible, they believed in self-righteousness, and turned down the word of God, just like many people do today.
Dear friends, the grace of God does not cover your unbelief, but the grace of God covers your weakness and mistakes. A child of God who is filled with the Holy Ghost will not deliberately sin, neither will a child of God turn down the grace of God.
An unbeliever is one who turns down the grace of God and is therefore, not covered (Ephesians 2:8). Because the grace of God is Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the Word of God, whom you turned down.
The Pharisees, though strict with the laws of Moses, rejected the grace of God. Outwardly, they were beautiful and could be called Christians. Jesus compared them with ‘a white sepulchre’. A white sepulchre is a tomb painted white, that appears beautiful outward but within, full of dead men’s bones. When you turn down the grace of God, no matter how religious you may be (by taking off earrings, going to church regularly, putting on long and free dresses, etc.), you are still not different from the Pharisees whom Jesus likened to a white sepulchre.
When Jesus called out his disciples, it wasn’t because they were better people than others; but the grace of God reached out to them, and they did not turn it down. They all became faithful stewards of the kingdom. When God chose Abraham over Lot, and Jacob over Esau, it was all the grace of God in action. The grace of God does not come by any human righteousness but is given to make one righteous, and this righteousness is found in Christ alone. Amen!
One way to prove that you’re a child of God is that you will not turn down the grace of God!
The Great Whore and Her Harlots.
Brothers, the word of God comes to us to make us brides of Jesus Christ, and chaste virgins. And if truly we’ve received the grace of God, and have been baptized into the body of Christ, then it can be said of us that we are brides of Christ. What makes us chaste virgins is the pure unadulterated doctrine of Jesus Christ. The church is a woman, and her bridegroom is washing her by His pure word.
In Revelations 17, we saw another woman (church) who claimed to be a virgin of Christ but the Bible calls her a great whore. She has intoxicated the world with the wine of her fornication, which is in her golden cup – looks good on the outside but the content is an abomination unto God. This means that although she claims to be a bride, and she is religious outwardly (which is her golden cup that looks good outside), the content of the cup, (Her wine of her fornication which symbolizes her wrong doctrines), is an abomination. The great whore is the Roman Catholic church and being a church, she gave birth to churches which are her daughters (a whorish church, birthing churches, like her). She has fed her children with her abominations (doctrines; including, Trinity, Christmas celebration, Ash Wednesday, etc.). These doctrines have become accepted and practiced generally by the church world(denominations). Both the great whore and her daughters will be judged.
Let it be known to you that when we talk about denominations, we’re not talking about the people there, but the system. And mind you, a true Church of God is never likened to a whore, they are the bride of Christ; and although there are foolish virgins amongst them, God will never call his bride a whore. The true Church of Jesus is likened to the heavenly Jerusalem, not Babylon.
Have you stopped to ask, ‘When Jesus was born and started His ministry, why didn’t he belong to any of those denominations of His day?’ It’s simply because God is not in denominationalism!
Every process through salvation takes the grace of God and the grace of God enacts obedience, humility, perseverance, endurance, faith, etc. Having known that no man can overcome without the grace of God, it’s then important that you embrace the grace of God now that it’s within your reach.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ see us through. Amen!