The Inevitable Penalty (borrowed)
Matthew 5:26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
As I sat down this morning I saw the opened devotional from yesterday; one that struck a deep chord inside me. Mr. Chambers spoke of the power of the conviction of sin through the Spirit; he spoke of giving our lives up for Christ completely; he spoke of the desire of God to make us more like his Son at all costs. So much that is being preached in the pulpits today is lush Christianity; lost is the work of the Holy Spirit in the convictions of sin and all that come with it through a repentant heart. You cannot claim the promises of heaven and continue to live in sin today. An assurance of Salvation is a heart that desires to flee from that sin that ensnared us for so long. What do you believe? Are you submitting to those convictions, or are you denying that wrenching inside you to continue in that temporal pleasure of sin that has eternal consequence? Mr. Chambers wrote:
“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.”
God’s goal is to make you more like Christ; period. All that He places on your heart requires that action that Mr. Chambers speaks of; the knowledge of knowing what we should or should not do. That response will determine your walk with God; that obedience either draws you closer to him, or lets you drift away if you deny it. Let the Spirit do His work in you. Respond with pleas for strength to fight the temptations of sin, the heart of forgiveness, the heart of compassion for others who struggle too. Let go and let God do his work in you. Your life will never be the same.