e
indebtedness, none being forgiven! grace enough to think whether we
would not this very moment be in the abyss of hell! But so must it
finally be with those who disregard the question and continually heap
to themselves the wrath of God, being at the same time unwilling for
him to deal otherwise with them than he did with the servant he
forgave. But against that servant was finally passed the irrevocable
sentence which, without mercy, delivered him to the tormentor till he
should pay the debt, something he could never do.

14. Nor is there any wrong or injustice in this ruling. For, as St.
Bernhard says, ingratitude is an evil damnable and pernicious enough
to quench all the springs of grace and blessing known to God and men;
it is like a poison-laden, burning, destructive wind. Human nature
will not tolerate it. Nor can God permit you, upon whom he has
bestowed all grace and goodness, all spiritual and temporal blessing,
to go on continually in wickedness, defiantly abusing his benevolence
and dishonoring him; you thus recklessly bring upon yourself his
wrath. For God cannot bless you if you are ungrateful, if you reject
his goodness and give it no place in your heart.

In such case the fountain of grace and mercy that continually springs
for all who sincerely desire it, must be quenched for you. You cannot
enjoy it. It would afford you an abundant and unceasing supply of
water did you not yourself dry it up by the deadly wind of your
ingratitude; by shamefully forgetting the ineffable goodness God
bestows upon you; and by failing to honor the blood of Christ the
Lord, wherewith he purchased us and reconciled us to God--failing to
honor it enough to forgive your neighbor, for Christ's sake, a single
wrong word.

15. What heavy burden is there for the individual who, in submission
and gratitude to his God, and in honor to Christ, would conduct
himself something like a Christian? It will cost him no great effort
nor trouble. It will not break any bones nor injure him in property
or honor. Even were it to affect him to some trifling extent, to
incur for him some slight injustice, he should remember what God has
given him, and will still give, of his grace and goodness.

Yes, why complain even were you, in some measure, to endanger body
and life? What did not the Son of God incur for you? It was not
pleasure for him to take upon himself the wrath of God, to bear the
curse for you. It cost him bloody sweat and unspeak