Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5 v 10 - 11: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences."
1 Timothy 4 v 1 - 2: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrine of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;"
It is a shock and surprise to know that we are born sinful. Our dead spirit is alienated from God by this that neither He nor we can cross. In His mercy and desire to break through that barrier He gave us a conscience. Truly if there is no God there would be no need of a conscience. It certainly did not manufacture itself.
Our conscience, before salvation, is our yardstick of right and wrong, our desire to do the right thing, to have good morals and good manners. Of course, our old enemy knew all about this conscience installed in our souls and was quick to use his mind control powers on Eve.
Genesis 3 v 1 - 5: " Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
The word 'subtil' in verse 1 means sly and deceiving, and this serpent was full of the devil. He immediately sowed doubt in God's Word into Eve's mind, then added the first lie...you shall not surely die! He caused her to disobey God's commands and seal her own fate. And Adams. And all of us since.
Her conscience and Adam's was seared, burnt out, permanently dysfunctional because they believed Satan over Almighty God, creator of the universe and every living thing. Satan can only create chaos, mayhem and misery. The knowledge of good and evil is our Achilles heel. He is the Tempter and a genius at it.
If we never had to choose between good and evil, or worse still, the lesser of two evils, our conscience would be undisturbed. We would only know the goodness of God and His love. Why spoil a good thing? What lies in our nature that can't resist temptation? Sin. Ugly word and uglier consequences. Not a fashionable word these days, not in the repertoire of most of today's preachers.
And why not? Mainly because they have compromised in order to have a full church and good income. Each will have his or her own justifications for the compromise of their conscience, but they are on a slippery slope keeping the congregation eating from the forbidden tree.
The congregation are blissfully unaware that the enjoyment of Sunday entertainment does not please God. In most places He is not even present to observe those who worship Him in vain. The musicians can produce a great atmosphere that is called the presence of God, if He was truly present they would be blinded and fallen to the floor like Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. He cried out, Who are You Lord? And so would they!
As Timothy says they have listened to seducing spirits and followed doctrines of demons and have zero conscience because it is seared with a hot iron. And those who blindly follow and idolize their pastors are heading down the broad way with the many on their way to destruction.
When we meet Jesus to receive salvation through being born again, we have already encountered the Holy Spirit. He has convicted us of sin. And our sins have become a heavy burden to us, a horrible stain on our souls. And the conviction of sin keeps up the pressure until we cry out to God for mercy. Oh how He loves to hear that cry! He has reached out and had a response, the right response, and nothing will stop Him from following through.
The next twinge to hit our conscience is the conviction of righteousness. The desire in our hearts to be clean, pure and holy before God. We may encounter a Christian whose peace, love and joy impress us as an example of how our lives should be. Not long after this the Holy Spirit convicts us of the judgment to come if we choose to neglect our salvation.
If we are truly walking in the light then the Holy Spirit shines that light into people we encounter. If they feel uncomfortable around us, think we are too holy Joe for their liking, its because they are resisting the Spirit of God. As the Lord said to Samuel the prophet, They do not reject you, Samuel, they reject My Lordship over them.
And that is true today. They want the rewards of salvation without the Lordship of Jesus. They want to live worldly, compromised lives that do not bug anyone around them, their faith is very low and they will sadly, and with astonishment, hear Jesus say, I never knew you.
Jesus just wants to ensure He can spend eternity with all of us. He loves us but hates sin of all kind because it will block us from eternity in Heaven.
As Dave Hunt explains:
"Many Protestants live in uncertainty, fearful that they may yet be lost if they fail to live a good enough life or lose their faith or turn their backs upon Christ. There is a blessed finality to the Cross that delivers us from such insecurity. Christ need never be crucified again; nor can those who have been "crucified with Christ" be "uncrucified" and then "recrucified"! Paul declared: "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). What assurance for time and for eternity!"
Protestants need to be born again and find a church that preaches the full gospel. The Cross took away our sins but free will must be guided by the conscience of man. We have the Holy Spirit to convict us and bother our conscience. It's up to us to prevent it being seared through bad habits and repeated disobedience to God's will.
1 John 1 v 7: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Let us keep walking in that perfect light, and enjoy fellowship with one another so that His Blood cleanses us from all sin.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we rejoice in Your presence and learn from the mistakes made in Eden. Let us be different, and choose the path less travelled, to spend time at the feet of Jesus, learning more about Him. Let us have a vibrant relationship with Him to ensure we do not fall away into heresy through following after the false doctrines abounding today. Please keep our consciences active and alert always. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen.