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The Inevitable Penalty 7/1/07 |
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You will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny —Matthew 5:26 |
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| There is no heaven that has a
little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure, holy, and
right, and He will not allow you to escape from the scrutiny of the Holy
Spirit for even one moment. He urged you to come to judgment immediately
when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process
began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty. Now you have been "thrown
into prison, [and] . . . you will by no means get out of there till you have
paid the last penny" ( 5:25-26 ).
Yet you ask, "Is this a God of mercy and love?" When seen from God’s
perspective, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you
out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature
you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The
moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces
will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get
you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will
reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road.
Decide to do it right now, saying, "Yes, Lord, I will write that
letter," or, "I will be reconciled to that person now." These sermons of Jesus Christ are meant for your will and your conscience, not for your head. If you dispute these verses from the Sermon on the Mount with your head, you will dull the appeal to your heart. If you find yourself asking, "I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God?"— then ask yourself if you are paying your debts from God’s standpoint. Do now what you will have to do someday. Every moral question or call comes with an "ought" behind it— the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do. |