We read in Hebrews 12:15, "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God." What must we understand by that clause?

Literally, fail means "to be missed somewhere."

We read in Hebrews 4:1: "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it" – that is, not attain the expected purpose. Failing also means a deficiency.

I was amazed at the deep meaning of the word "fail."

It can mean to not succeed, to stop short of, to be unsuccessful, to miss the mark, to fall short of, to come to nothing, to abort, to fall through, to turn out badly, to miscarry, to founder, to be defeated, to run aground, to collapse, to meet with disaster, to be in vain, to prove of no use, to end in smoke, to be stillborn.

When we bring these things in relation to the grace of God, this admonition has an especially serious character. Let us read Hebrews 12:15 again: "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God"

It is the nature of those regenerated to grow and to bear fruit. It is the charge and the will of the Lord that they grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is God's promise in Psalm 92: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God."

In Psalm 84 the poet sings:

From strength to strength Thy children dear Go forward, till they all appear In Zion's courts.

That is the life of faith with the Lord through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is the life of grace by and with Christ Jesus. That communion with Christ must be preserved and protected in a life of sanctification. We read that in Hebrews 12:14: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

God's children know in their life a spiritual "winter time," when they see no growth and no fruit. There are times of spiritual strife and assaults, but that is not the same as failing of the grace of God, or backsliding. Spiritual strife and assaults are usually accompanied by much prayer and wrestlings at the throne of grace. Amid spiritual strife and assaults there are also many experiences of God's help and nearness. The fruit of that is growth in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ – living more and more out of and with Christ.

Failing of the grace of God is lacking the grace of God; a failing to have communion with the Lord, not seeking communion with God. The life of communion with God is missing. It is the opposite of growth and fruit-bearing. It is a lessening and decreasing of the exercises of faith. Communion with the Lord decreases. The life of prayer languishes and lacks power.

Samson noticed that the Lord had departed when he laid his head on the knees of Delilah. When the bridegroom tarried, even the wise virgins fell asleep. We read in chapter 5 of the Song of Solomon that the spouse kept her beloved standing and knocking at the door and did not desire communion with Him. That is failing of the grace of God.

Sin gets a grip on us, the world draws us, and we give in more and more to the lusts of the flesh. Sin breaks the communion and life with the Lord. All God's children must watch against the dangers that surround them and resist the temptations of the evil one.

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets us. The sin that is meant here is the sin of the lust of the flesh arising from the remnants of our corrupt nature. They impede us in our Christian walk.

How can we recognize that failing of the grace of God? It is usually a slow process. We become more and more worldly-minded. The close life and communion with the Lord becomes less. Sinful thoughts and desires are not opposed, but encouraged. Spiritual strength decreases. Dependency on the Lord lessens. The exercise of faith, hope and love becomes less. We make less use of the services of Christ as He is made unto us for righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We seek our life in keeping the law in our own strength. Usually we doubt or reject our state. We lay the blame on God, and say, "The Lord has forsaken me." We make a wrong application of the trials the Lord places on our path. Jacob said, "All these things are against me." By discouragement and weakness the light is dimmed. Unbelief and doubt get the upper-hand. The Holy Spirit withdraws Himself more and more.

We sometimes say knowledge of Christ and knowledge of self goes together. Failing of the grace of God is declension in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and also de­creasing in the knowledge of our own heart.

We blame others for our own dry­ness and emptiness.

We blame the Lord and say, "The Spirit is departed.''

We blame the church, and say, "The church is backsliding!'

We blame the preacher, and say, "We miss something in the sermon.''

We do not notice the dryness and spiritlessness of our own heart. We do not notice that we ourselves lack something, and that we ourselves are the reason why the Word has no power in our heart. We ourselves draw back the hand with which we should embrace Christ and all His benefits. We ourselves plug the Fountain out of which the Water of Life flows. We throw away the bucket with which we must haul water, and thus we fail more and more of the grace of God.

Our heart becomes less and less receptive for the message that is brought. We keep ourselves standing with what happened in our lives long ago.

The Lord makes the righteous flourish and bear fruit as the palm tree. He has planted them in the fertile ground of His means of grace. Failing of the grace of God is often caused by not using the means of grace or by using them with undue haste or without heart. It is more a hasty fulfilling of one's duty than a sincere seeking of the Lord. We do not have time for it either anymore; we are too busy with the things of the world and with ourselves.

We complain about the darkness of the times in which we live. Many ask, "Where are Thy former loving-kindnesses?" As we seek to answer this question, let us ask: "Has the Lord changed?" Has the power of His Word decreased? Is the power of the King broken? God's Word teaches us that the Lord and His Word do not change, but the crown shall ever flourish upon the head of the great Son of David.

Failing of the grace of God is our own fault. We yield to sin, to the world and to our own sinful desires. We have grieved and quenched the Holy Spirit. That is the cause of our failing of the grace of God.

But the Lord is faithful. He will not have you remain in that condition. In Hebrews 12:12, the Lord says, "Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed."

The Lord will not quench the smoking flax nor break the bruised reed.

In Revelation 2:5 the Lord shows the way back: Repent, and do the first works. Return to the life of faith, and love Me with all your heart. Say to sin, "Get thee hence." Do the first works, that is, seeking the Lord, and hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of Christ. That is a life of dependence on Him. It is hating and fleeing from sin, and fearing to do, think or desire anything that is contrary to the will of the Lord.

"The first works" – that is needing the Lord in all things. That is coming to Him as an unworthy sinner with empty vessels, so that He shall graciously fill them out of His fulness. That is beseeching the Lord as a poor sinner for His grace and communion. That is a life by and with God's Word, a life of humiliation and contrition.

Then we cannot go farther than Paul, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Then we have low thoughts of ourselves and high thoughts of God and Christ.

Have you seen your life sketched here? Then come to yourself.

How was your life formerly, and how is it now? We read of the prodigal son, that he came to himself. He thought, "So many have a good life with my Father, and I perish with hunger." I am failing of the grace of God.

But he was not satisfied with that knowledge. He continued: "I shall arise and go to my Father, and will say to Him, Father I have sinned against heaven and before Thee, and am no more worthy to be called Thy son."

No, there is no merit in, or condition for, our repentance or return. By grace for Christ's sake the Lord is willing to raise the poor out of the dunghill.

The child of God can decline in the grace of God, but he cannot fall from the state of grace. The Lord Jesus prayed for them that their faith should not fail. Therefore they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.

Look diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

We are looking forward to see growth and blossoms of the children of God, and for the fruit of the life of the Spirit in the heart of sinners. We pray, "Awake, O north wind, and come thou south wind, blow upon the dry and dead garden of Thy church.''

My readers, you must have understood that we are speaking here about the life of God's children. We ask you: Are you already a child of God? We read who they are in Romans 8:14: "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.''

I hope that this article may be for your discovering, for your instruction, and for your admonition. May it spur us all to seek the Lord for the first time or by renewal.