To call another a fool is to commit murder, to look with lust is adultery. These sins of the mind are immediately equated with the greater horrible act we never would think ourselves capable of committing. Jesus himself tells us better that we would be better to gouge out an eye or cut off a hand than remain in that state of thought.
We are also instructed that if we have anything against our brother or he against us as we go to pray that we should immediately leave to go make things right. Prayer and altar time “belong to God with all our reverence”
Wouldn’t we be justified to stay at an altar and pray? But Jesus says get up and go, do it immediately without any hesitation. Why? Because every moment we hold the thought or withhold the forgiveness we take ownership the hurt feelings and the right to our self grows stronger and deeper in our hearts. That thought becomes something we believe we are entitled to and we begin to develop rationalizations and defense mechanisms to justly defend ourselves.
If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift—Matthew 5:23-24
It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. The Christian life requires preparation and more preparation.
The sense of sacrifice in the Christian life is readily appealing to a new Christian. From a human standpoint, the one thing that attracts us to Jesus Christ is our sense of the heroic, and a close examination of us by our Lord’s words suddenly puts this tide of enthusiasm to the test. “. . . go your way. First be reconciled to your brother. . . .” The “go” of preparation is to allow the Word of God to examine you closely.
Your sense of heroic sacrifice is not good enough. The thing the Holy Spirit will detect in you is your nature that can never work in His service. And no one but God can detect that nature in you. Do you have anything to hide from God? If you do, then let God search you with His light. If there is sin in your life, don’t just admit it— confess it. Are you willing to obey your Lord and Master, whatever the humiliation to your right to yourself may be?
Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, “I will not give up my right to myself”— the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. O.C.
You don’t have the “time” to wait. We are walking time bombs of lust, violence and murder; being consumed by that we despise, leaving destruction in our wake. Time is never on your side, Christ is, and we must run to Him. When we find Him we must do as he says.
Forgiveness is the very heart of God the very core of His nature, the act which he specifically came to earth to carry out, then it follows that you have no room for debate, rationalization, putting up walls, defending yourself on this. Reject un-forgiveness out of hand. Pitch it as far and as fast as you can. Throw it off of you as if it was a venomous serpent. Then go immediately and make right the thing between you and the other person that brought all this about and give the glory to God.
Wrongs and harm may come against you by the words and actions of others but all sin is against God. Which moral code of conduct did we set up in the heavens to instruct and deliver others from torment? What was our divine plan to create a people capable of living at peace in fullness of life with us and having the capacity of possessing the divine nature as if they were our closest friend or relation? What was our plan written and handed down through the ages to lead, teach and guide others like a loving school master on the wonder and beauty of our nature and deep desire to save those from death?
Which sacrifice did we offer in the face of every rejection and every despicable insult to our eternal desire to simply be in love with those wrong doers? We did not create, reveal mercy, teach, love, guide or sacrifice for one soul. We do not own or have the right to begrudge one person for their sin.
Those are the acts of God. To the extent that any such thing is evident in us it is a testimony of His mighty Spirit alive in us.
We tally the wrongs and own the grudge even though we have no basis to accuse others. He died for us while were sinners, casts our sins to the bottom of the deepest sea and separates us from sin as far as east from west even though He has every right to condemn for the smallest transgression.
God sees all events which ever have occurred or are occurring or ever will occur throughout all of what we call “time” as if they were on one single page. He sees them all at once and they all happening in what we call “now”. God has one time reference and it is always “now”. Because we live in the past, present and future existence of time we naturally tally and record the existence of dates and events as part of our reality. This is an illusion we use to justify withholding forgiveness. The wrong occurred at a certain “time” and at a certain “time” I may get around to processing my feelings about that event and resolving those feelings in a proper way. In the intervening passage of “time” I will be at liberty to examine the tally chart to determine the full weight or effect of the wrongs against me to equitably deal with the “situation”. Perhaps I will have “time” to confer with others on the subject to gain wisdom and insight of mutual benefit to me and the wrong doer. Stop this. Forgive “now” because you have received forgiveness now and you have ask God for a forgiving spirit which you shall have now.
Agree with your adversary quickly . . . —Matthew 5:25
In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, “Do what you know you must do— now. Do it quickly. If you don’t, an inevitable process will begin to work ’till you have paid the last penny’ (Matthew 5:26) in pain, agony, and distress.” God’s laws are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to the heart of our being.
Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural thing. But Jesus says that it is a matter of inescapable and eternal importance to me that I pay my adversary what I owe him. From our Lord’s standpoint it doesn’t matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don’t cheat someone else. Am I insisting on having my own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ’s standpoint?
Do it quickly— bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. If you don’t, the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience. The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience. No wonder the Spirit of God so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (see John 3:19-21).
“Agree with your adversary quickly . . . .” Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly— make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person— do it now! O.C.
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. O.C.
O.C. Oswald Chambers / My Utmost for His Highest
