7月1日 免不了的刑罰

我實在告訴你，若有一文錢沒有還清，你斷不能從那裡出來。（太五26）

 “沒有一個天堂有一個地獄的角落。”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嗎？”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，是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”。

耶穌基督這信息是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原的生命，並且求你寬恕我忽略了你如何使我復原。

July 1 The Inevitable Penalty

“Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the uttermost farthing.” Matthew 5:26

There is no heaven with a little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure and holy and right; He will not allow you to escape for one moment from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit. He urged you to come to judgment right away when He convicted you, but you did not; the inevitable process began to work and now you are in prison, and you will only get out when you have paid the uttermost farthing. “Is this a God of mercy, and of love?” you say. Seen from God's side, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you out pure and spotless and undefiled; but He wants you to recognize the disposition you were showing – the disposition of your right to yourself. The moment you are willing that God should alter your disposition, His recreating forces will begin to work. The moment you realize God's purpose, which is to get you rightly related to Himself and then to your fellow men, He will tax the last limit of the universe to help you take the right road. Decide it now – “Yes, Lord, I will write that letter to-night”; “I will be reconciled to that man now.”

These messages of Jesus Christ are for the will and the conscience, not for the head. If you dispute the Sermon on the Mount with your head, you will blunt the appeal to your heart.