How the believer can miss out on Gods Grace

The speaker discusses the parable of a servant who owed a large debt to a king. Despite being unable to pay, the king forgives the debt completely. The speaker emphasizes the importance of believers appropriating the forgiveness and grace of God in their lives. They explain that just accepting God's gift of salvation is not enough, but believers must internalize and incorporate it into their lives. The speaker also discusses the concept of putting on the garment of salvation and the need for believers to continually abide in Christ and display his attributes. They stress the importance of being committed to the truth and allowing Jesus to reveal it to them. The overall message is that believers should reflect the character of Christ until his return. Welcome to our weekly exhortation. Thank you for joining me today. Thank you for your precious time. My name is Gil Amil, Servant of God, Servant of Jesus Christ. In our today's message, we were wondering how can the believers participate in the advancement of the Kingdom of God. I will start this message with a story. In fact, there was a king who called his servants for an appointed day of accounting. Upon verification, it turned out that one of them owed him a huge amount of money. This amount of money is comparable to a state's budget. A state budget is an amount of money that any government can use to implement its economy policies and to realize its program priorities. This budget is in the range of billions of dollars, even trillions. So this debt that the servant owed the king is far beyond what any individual might owe. Since the servant could not pay this amount of money he owed the king, the king ordered that he be sold along with his wife, his children, and all his assets, all his possessions. When the servant heard the verdict, he fell upon his knees before the king and begged for mercy. Be patient with me, he said, and I will pay back everything. How he proposed to pay back the money he owed, we don't know. The fact of the matter is that he would need many lives to pay back his debt in its entirety. Amazingly, the king's response was extraordinary. He took pity on the servant. He did not just give him extra time, but he canceled the debt completely and let him go. Hallelujah! I know this story does not end here. You will find it in Matthew chapter 22, verse 1 to 14. You know, the first thing to understand is that the king represents God and the servant represents the disciples. The debt that the servant owed the king represents the debt of sin to God. I purposely chose this story to remind us how marvelous the forgiveness of God is and how important it is to keep it cherished. Friend, what I would like us to know is that the forgiveness of God, the grace of God, the gift of salvation could be ineffective if the believer doesn't appropriate it. To say that I have accepted the free gift of God means absolutely nothing. Even by accepting it, I have simply put it in my pocket. To this end, let me read this passage to you. It is found in John chapter 6, verse 53 to 54. Then it is written, Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Praise the Lord. You know, according to this verse, Jesus is saying that whosoever will eat his flesh and drink his blood will have eternal life. First, we should note that when Jesus uses the expression verily, verily, he is declaring that what he is about to say is true, important, and deserves full attention. So please, let's pay attention to this message. The question to raise after reading this passage is how do we eat the flesh of Jesus and how do we drink the blood of Jesus? Well, according to this verse, John chapter 6, verse 53 to 54, to eat of the bread of life and to drink Jesus' blood is a figure of belief which means to appropriate Christ as one's life. Otherwise, no one will eat of what he cannot trust to be edible. Will he? Taking the meal of the Lord cannot be a condition for salvation. That's why John says a few verses earlier, he who believes has everlasting life. John chapter 6, verse 47. Now, we can make an analogy with medicine. Let's suppose that there is a pandemic who is killing everyone. And God says, here is my gift to you which will heal you from that pandemic. Anybody who takes this medicine will be healed. We call this grace, isn't it? That is grace. You just have to take it and be healed. We call it grace, right? But that grace will not do anything to you until you take that grace. That is until you internalize it and it becomes part of you. That's what the medicine does. Once you take it, it goes into your system, into your bloodstream and it begins to do something in your body. But, if you just take that medicine, if you just take the gift in your hand and you put it in your pocket or leave it on the table, then nothing is going to happen. You are going to be just as sick as before because that medicine did not work as a result of not being taken. Spiritually, it is the same. Only we receive the grace of God, we have to internalize that grace which is the spiritual medicine. Believers have to appropriate the grace of God for the lack of internalizing it will not change your heart and mind. You are going to be the same selfish person you used to be before meeting Jesus as we can see from your conduct. That is what we mean by an appropriate response to God's forgiveness. That's why John says further in verse 56 that, He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. Remember what he says in John chapter 15 verse 5, I am the wine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. Praise the Lord. Please notice another point. In Galatians chapter 3 verse 27, the Apostle Paul says, So, in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized in Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Praise the Lord. This means that the day we receive the justification, the day we were saved from the power of sin, Jesus clothed us with himself. Jesus is pictured here as the clothing, as a garment that we have put on. This is stated beautifully in Isaiah chapter 61 verse 10, In my opinion, Isaiah chapter 61 verse 10 is probably the best Old Testament cross reference to the topic of wedding garments. Isaiah says, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. Hallelujah. For he has clothed me with the garment of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom deckets himself with ornaments and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Hallelujah. Can you see this? We can see that a garment symbolizes a new way of life. It is immortality. It is eternal life. It is Jesus himself. Immortality is pictured as a clothing that we put on, according to Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 53 to 54. Furthermore, in Matthew chapter 22, we read about a wedding garment. In fact, there is a king who is celebrating the wedding of his son. He called people over to celebrate it. When the king entered the wedding room, he noticed that there was a young man who did not put on his wedding garment. And the king asked the young man, How did you come in here without your wedding garment? See, the implication of the question is that the young man who did not put on a garment could not have been at the banquet in the first place without a wedding garment. And if he did have a wedding garment when he first came in, then where is the wedding garment now? If we say that the king's question implies that no guest could be at the banquet without wedding clothes, then we have to conclude that those garments, those clothes were being supplied as people entered the wedding. The man who did not have it was wearing it initially. But then, for some reason, he decided to take it off. Maybe it was too hot. Maybe he dirty it and he felt embarrassed to wear it. The point is that he did have a wedding garment and he should have kept it on. But he didn't. You know, putting on the garment and keeping it on is our part of responsibility. It is the job of the Christian. It is the job of the believer to keep that garment on all the time. Friend, like we all know, our job or works are not necessary for salvation. But, they must necessarily be part of Christian life since they are a sign of true faith. I want to conclude by saying that to eat the flesh and to drink the blood of Jesus means to abide in Christ as described in John 15 verse 4. We are to put on Christ. And how do we put on Christ? Well, we put on Christ through faith and baptism. Galatians chapter 3 verse 26 to 27. In fact, John chapter 6 verse 53 to 54 is calling you and I to submit our life to Jesus to the point that His attributes come to be incorporated in us. When we abide in Jesus, when we are committed to know the truth by all costs, God will reveal Himself to us. In Mark chapter 11 verse 27 to 33, Jesus was approached by three groups of religious leaders, a chief priest, the scribes, and the elders. They confronted Jesus with this question. Jesus, by what authority do you do these things? What things? The cleansing of the temple. You remember when Jesus drove out the moneylenders? He overturned their table. He prevented the merchants from carrying goods through the temple. So, they were asking Jesus, with what authority are you doing this? Who gives you that power? And Jesus told them, before I answer your question, you will answer my question first. And he asked them, the Baptist of John, where was it from? From heaven? Or from man? They answered Jesus, we don't know. And Jesus says, well, neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing this thing. This means simply that, if we are not committed to the truth, Jesus will reveal nothing to you. The scribes and the leaders say, we don't know. And Jesus says, me neither, I will not tell you anything. Would they have known the question Jesus asked them? Jesus will reveal the truth to them. So, this is the heart of this message. You must be committed to the truth. When you are prepared to be committed to the truth, Jesus guaranteed that you will know the truth. The prerequisite is that you must be unconditionally committed to loving the truth. Friend, this is the point I want to raise. If you professed to be Christian, the character of Christ should continue to be represented in you until he returns. Praise the Lord. Well, this is the end of today's message. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you make good use of it. If God wills, we'll be together next Sunday. Abundant blessings. Shalom. I look to the cross where my Savior died As I picture Him there killed and crucified Then I see Him resurrect and see that He's alive God's sweet presence helps me realize My hope is found in the blood of the Lamb Day after day He takes my hand My hope in Jesus is all that I have My hope is found in the great I Am My hope is found in the blood of the Lamb Day after day He takes my hand My hope in Jesus is all that I have My hope is found in the great I Am My hope in Jesus is all that I have My hope is found in the great I Am