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.
Tag Archives: work of the holy spirit
The Inevitable Penalty (borrowed)
Christianity is not a spectator sport
Christianity is not a spectator sport
Luke 24:46-47 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
You can’t sit under Dr. Ed Gravely and not see the gospel in wherever he might be teaching from at that time. Of how it is woven into the entire Bible, and the way we are to share it. We are starting a study of Acts, which I label a book of action. The book of Acts is a book full of the reassurances of our risen Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit He has enabled believers with. We have Christ residing in us; and the evidences of Him are everywhere in the book of Acts. The book of Acts and the gospel of Luke go hand in hand and written by the same author; the great physician Luke.
Are you living a life of action in relation to what you believe? Are you professing Christ, but yet living in sin? Are you claiming heaven, but yet never sharing your faith? Are you ashamed or fearful of sharing that faith you proclaim? There are many direct warnings of denying Christ, but do you share Christ? An assurance of Salvation is the desire from deep within for those who are lost without Christ. From that desire comes a heart that lives for God and desires to share a hope that eternally saves. Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. We are by no means saved by works, but we are called to and judged by them. Can you imagine standing before God saved; yet telling Him you never shared or did anything?
You always hear of peoples death bed requests, or their dying words. Sometimes a summary of life’s lessons, and a word to live by for those left behind. A ‘charge’ if you will. Christ’s last words came from a man that had RISEN from the dead, and returned to edify and charge those He was leaving behind to do His remaining work. He not only charged them with the work, He in-dwelt a part of Himself with them to help them. His call to them was to spread His name throughout the world so that the world may be saved. His parting words were known as The Great Commission. Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. You too are called to action. Christianity is not a spectator sport.
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