05/13/2023
We will all be resurrected into judgement, so, is our conscience clear as we live out our lives in faith? This morning I am concerned with allowing my own conscience to help guide me in following God's commandments, and preparing me for judgement. Is every believer equally concerned with his salvation? Paul spoke these words to Felix regarding the prophets, resurrection, and conscience...
“having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.”
Acts 24:15-16 ESV
We all have a sense of conscience, but what is it? The dictionary defines it in two ways 1) the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct and motives, impelling one toward right action; and 2) the complex of ethical and moral principles that control or inhibits the actions or thoughts of an individual... but I like the more spiritually oriented definition as applied by Oswald Chambers:
"Conscience is that facility in me which attaches itself to the highest that I know, and tells me what the highest I know demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either towards God or towards what it regards as the highest, and therefore conscience records differently in different people." - Oswald Chambers
As we mature in our faith and understand the Word of God more deeply, our conscience changes. From understanding comes a new sense of right and wrong. We hold children to a different standard as they grow and mature, and likewise we change as we mature in our faiths.
I was listening as an art critic spoke of a painting by one of the great masters. He was so detailed in his criticism and praise. As he went on, my mind wandered to a painting held to my refrigerator by magnets. The painting had been done by one of my children and was signed "I Love Mommy." I remember Ann and I making over this picture when it was first pulled out of a backpack... along with a partially eaten lunch and some wadded up papers. That painting was perfect in our eyes, but apparently as one's understanding of art becomes more refined the nuances of brush strokes and colors take on new meaning. Our conscience changes as well, but there is one characteristic that sets it apart from studied determination... it happens without our needing to think. Conscience is a sense, a subtle smell of spoil, the sound of an airplane engine that isn't quite right, such is the reminder of right and wrong that comes from somewhere in the dark recesses of our minds... it is a feeling more than a thought.
Sin can be black or white, and bold, but quite often it is subtle to the point of being nearly imperceptible. It mixes in with the background noise in a busy room, or wafts intermixed with the carnival smells of life, and slips past our wakened minds. This nearly unperceivable notion of sin awakens the conscience of faith and is detected with the keen nose of a hungry predator. This is the product of a mature faith that has filled every nook and cranny of our being.
I am certain that there have been times when you just knew something wasn't right, but couldn't put your finger on it. This is the same feeling that we get when some seemingly innocuous event is masking a cleverly hidden sin. Our spiritual sense of right and wrong is heightened to supernatural by the Holy Spirit that resides within us. God said as much to Israel and it applies to us as well...
“And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
Ezekiel 36:27 ESV
We each have a conscience that is commiserate with our maturity in faith; this is why we are not to judge others. Our conscience is as delicate as our understanding of Jesus and the Father. We live within the parameters of our faith. Just as I would not judge my children's paintings on the fridge in the same way as a Rembrandt, neither would a new Christian be judged as if they were Isaiah.
Is our faith maturing as it should? Is our attentiveness to our conscience keeping pace?
Prayer:
Thank you Father for that inner sense of right and wrong that guides me during those times when my armor of faith is hanging on the post. Thank you for your Holy Spirit that lives within me and stands guard while I sleep, or am in unawares. You nudge me when I am about to take an errant step; you use my conscience to alert me to unforeseen danger that could harm my faith and soul. Father, you are my protector, and my champion; you are with me even in my slumber, and inattention. Holy Father, you return me to Jesus when I lose track of the way, and you are faithful when my own faith alludes me. Even in the most subtle of attacks, you speak to me of the danger... softly, nearly imperceptible, you lead me away from hidden sin. You lift my foot above the snare before I can see it... you are my keeper, my shepherd, my strong tower. Praise be your name! Your love for me comes in whispers as well as shouts, you are in my mouth, my heart, and in attributes and reaches of me that none can see. You are the breath of my mind that moves as gentle as a breeze within me. Great art thou in the quiet places of my soul.
Rich Forbes