THE REMOVAL OF GOD’S GRACE
Matthew 13:10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?
Jesus had just given the parable of the sower to a group of people. The disciples were having a hard time understanding what it meant, so in frustration they questioned Jesus as to why he bothered to do it. No doubt they felt that if they couldn’t understand probably most of the other people there couldn’t either.
Maybe to their surprise Jesus answered that the secrets of the kingdom of heaven was given to them, but not to all. Then he said that whoever has will be given more, and have abundance. But then added that whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from them.
Most people and even many preachers believe that the parables were given to help explain spiritual truths that Jesus felt that the people couldn’t understand on their own. Well, as we see here that this is not the case at all. Maybe they did this to cover up the reality that there are some that are undesirable for heaven in God’s thinking.
Going to heaven to be with Jesus, the Heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit and all God’s holy angels is a privilege and reward and not an obligation of God. It will be a wonderful place where there will be no more tears, pain or death. The old order of the earth will not be there and only blessings will fill it. (Rev 21:4) Everyone there will be Christ-like filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. We will be transformed at death in a twinkling of an eye, raised imperishable in the likeness of Jesus. We will be raised with glory, power and immortality. (ICor 15:35-58). We will be with the Lord forever more. (II Cor 5:8) There will not even be a need for a sun or moon to give us light, because the glory of the Lord will give us light. It will be a glorious place of splendor. There will be nothing that our earthly life could offer in comparison to it. There will not be a moment goes by that is not filled with the joy and happiness of being with Jesus, the Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit. There will be great singing and celebration. There will even be a great wedding banquet for Jesus and his Bride, all who have received him as their Lord and Savior. Time in eternity will stand still for us. A day will be like a thousand years and a thousand years as a day. There will be nothing in heaven that we will regret. Heaven will be a wonderful place filled with God’s glory and grace. (Rev 21:22-27)
Why wouldn’t everyone want to be in that place? Probably it is the same reason that evil people and people that have a hard heart towards God and Christians do want to go to church on Sunday. These people would hate being in heaven, and make it terrible for others in heaven. As those in heaven will be in one accord in heaven with Jesus, those in hell will be one accord with Satan and the powers of darkness. This is not to say that because of this those in hell will be happy or find some sort of satisfaction there. It will be quite the opposite. For everyone in hell including Satan and the powers of darkness (fallen angels) there will only be torment. There will be no fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace and etc) there. There will be nothing good about hell, and this is the way it will be for them for all eternity. It will be a sad ending to the potentially blessed creation. God never intended for anyone to spend eternity in the torment hell. In fact he created Satan as gloriously beautiful with the privilege of being in the presence of the Lord. But Satan and the other fallen angels chose to use their free will to rebel against God, and it was their rebellion against God that caused themselves to spend eternity in hell.
Sad to say that there are people just like the antichrist that will try to use the grace of God against him for their own evil doing. (Dan 7:25) God knows this, but he will not let them use his grace for evil. No one, not even Satan can outsmart God. God knows what Satan is thinking before he even does something.
Jesus demonstrated this ability even when he was on earth. God’s grace is his unmerited favor given to us. Jesus points out in verse 12 that what a person has will be taken from them. This means that for the people that have hardened their heart toward God and his salvation through Jesus, God will remove his offer of grace to them. So for these people they will have eyes to see, but never perceive. They will have ears to hear, but will never understand. The reason for this is that it takes God’s help for everyone to understand him. This is why some people that you may know can’t understand why you feel the way you do about Jesus, or what you do regarding living for him. Sad to say these people will be eternally lost. There is nothing you or anyone can do for them. They have condemned themselves to eternity in hell. God’s grace has been removed from them just as he says in verse 12. This is why anything you do or say to get them to become a Christian only frustrates and outrages them. Doing this you are casting pearls to pigs as it says in Matthew 7:6.
While this message may seem somewhat depressing to you it is God’s word and truth just the same. What we need to take from this is that we do God’s word and honor no good by frustrating people giving it to them when they don’t want it. God will always respect their free will even if they choose poorly. We must respect their free will as well. Not to do this will find ourselves going against God’s will.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us your word. Thank you for your wonderful grace that helps us to come to you, and to relate to you. Please help us to relate to others even our loved one with your grace and also your understanding regarding free will. We love you Jesus. Thank you for dying for our sins, so we can go to be with you for all eternity.
