The Inevitable Penalty

You will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny —Matthew 5:26

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.

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免不了的刑罰

[沒有一個天堂一個地獄的角落。 ]神一心要使你純潔、正直、無暇；就一刻不容你離開聖靈的監察。他催逼你一知罪，便立刻接受審判。可是你不肯，於是後果就來了，你如今在監牢中，必須還清每一文錢，才可以出來。你會說：[這豈是慈悲仁愛的神麼？ ]從神那方面看來，這正是他榮耀的愛。神要叫你出來時聖潔無暇；同時他要你看透自己的本性－－就是要抓緊權利。一旦你肯讓神改變你，他再造的大能就產生功效。一旦你明白神的用心，時要你與他有正確的關係，也與其他人有正確的關係，神就會用盡宇宙一切的權能，助你走上正途。

請你現在立志－－[我肯，主啊，今晚我必定寫那封信]；[我現在就與那人和好]。

耶穌基督這信息對你的意志與良心而講的，而不是對你的理智而發出。你若拿登山寶訓去強辯，就會把心中的呼召聲沖淡了。

[我不明白為什麼與神沒有進展？ ]你有沒有償還神心目中的債？你一直拖延的事，現在就做吧。每一個道德呼聲背後，都有一個[應該]。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，但願我能看見你的面容，認識你的能力和那使人興奮的恩典。願你靠近我這個已完全復元的生命，並且求你寬恕我忽略了你如何使我複元。