The Penalties of the Spirit

He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy, under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy, who hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace.”

HEBREWS x. 28, 29.

aa HE thought is that there is no penalty

so great as the punishment inflicted by the Spirit. If I am only convicted by bucwate witnesses, if I do rot feel the pain from within, it is only my body that suffers. But if I am convicted by the witness of my own heart, if I am confronted by the stings of a violated conscience, my punishment is sore indeed. There is no pain like spiritual pain; there is no spiritual pain like the sense of having done wrong. If I have outraged the law of love in my own soul, it is no solace to me that there are not outward witnesses of my deed. It is no consolation to me that eye hath not seen it, that ear hath not heard it, that visible tribunal shall not avenge it. It is the reverse; if 1 could only get outward punishment it would be a relief. Why have men in all ages sought penance? Why have they wounded themselves, lacerated themselves, starved themselves? It is that thereby they may avert the greater penalty — the stroke of a wounded conscience. Not by accident is it written that the first punishment was not physical Why is no man suffered to kill Cain? It is to teach the world at the beginning that the penalties of the Spirit are in God’s sight heavier than the penalties of the Law.

My soul, is there any escape for thee? The stroke of the outer law was sharp but it was shortlived; one brief pain and all was over. But the remorse for deeds misdone: can there be any end to that? Yes, there can. There is One who has been coming up behind thee, lifting the crosses thou hast left by the wayside. There is One who has been gathering thy misdeeds into His kingdom and making them work for good. There is One who has been not only forgiving thy past, not only cancelling thy past, but atoning for thy past. The crosses left by thee on the wayside have not merely been lifted, but have been beaten into the steps of a golden ladder on which the world instead of stumbling shall rise; the dungeon thou madest for Joseph has become the road to hig throne, Wouldst thou have thy past uns spoken? Wouldst thou have thy deeds undone? Wouldst thou have the sense of being a child again — with the page still to write, the race still to run, the road still to traverse? Come then to Him who crucifies thy misspent years. Come to Him who beats thy sword into a ploughshare, thy spear into a pruning hook. Come to Him who maketh the wrath of the wicked to praise Him. Come to Him who turns the water of the past into wine and tells thee thou art born anew. The penalties of the outraged Spirit shall be crucified on wae bosom of the Son of man.