King's Business - 1936-06

234

T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S

June, 1936

NOTES on Christian Sndeavor B y M a r y G. G o o d n e r

JULY 5, 1936 CONSCIENCE, THE DIVINE VOICE IN MAN

matter?” Then let us say with Peter, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

And turned my face away; And Conscience, smitten sorely, Returned not from that day. But a time came when my spirit Grew weary of its pace; And I cried: ‘Come back, my conscience, And I long to see thy face.’ But Conscience cried: ‘I can n ot; Remorse sits in my place.’ ” —Five Thousand Best Illustrations, by Hallock, JULY 12, 1936 THE DIVINE VOICE “All Scripture” is “ God-breathed,” for that is the literal meaning o f the phrase, “given by inspiration of God.” How im­ portant that we believe this — that the whole Bible is the Word of God; not be­ lieving merely that the Bible contains the Word of God, but that it is the W ord! Whenever doubt o f any part o f the Bible comes in, spiritual danger begins at that exact point. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave His im­ primatur to the Old Testament when He said: “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18). He declared: “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35), and He charged the Pharisees and scribes with “making the word of God of none effect through your tradition” (Mk. 7 :13). And on that mem­ orable first resurrection day, He began with “Moses and all the prophets,” and “ ex­ pounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Lk. 24:27). Many proofs could be submitted to show the inspiration o f the Bible, such as the evidence from its remarkable unity, its miraculous preservation, its transforming power, its- fulfilled prophecy. Christian young people, constantly in contact with those who question or deny God’s Word, will do well to give time to a study o f some of the books written in this field. But, in the last analysis, our Lord’s own words are sufficient for His children, for those who truly know Him have found Him absolutely true. What does this “ God-breathed” Word do for the Christian? It is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” “Where­ withal shall a young man cleanse his way ? by taking heed thereto according to thy- word” (Psa. 119:9). “Righteousness” can come only through Jesus Christ, and He is known through the written Word. Thus we have the figure o f a “perfect” (R. V., “complete” ) “man of God,” “thoroughly furnished” with dependable “ doctrine” or teaching, chastened by “reproof” and “cor-B rection,” instructed in righteousness, even the righteousness of Christ, ready to do good works. IN THE BIBLE 2 T imothy 3:16, 17 Meditation on the Lesson

Helps for the Leader I. “ F ollowing ” C onscience

P roverbs 20:27; A cts 5 :29 Meditation on the Lesson

Adam and Eve knew, upon the authority of God’s commands to them, what was right for them to do. After they had sinned, they came to a personal and experimental knowledge o f good and evil. On account of that knowledge, they were conscious of sin, for they possessed a “ conscience,” that inner voice within every man, warning and accusing. The philosophers and psychologists who declare that conscience is fallible are cor­ rect. Then these individuals go on to say that standards of right and wrong vary according to the customs of the group and the training that the young receive. But that is not the whole truth, and therefore the view is false. God created man with a responsibility to obey the One who gave him life (Gen. 2:16, 17). God gave man a conscience to be a sentinel, a watchdog, an instrument of safety, but fallen man so often has failed to regard the warnings, that no unaided conscience is a perfectly safe guide. Espe­ cially is this condition true of all who have not received the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, for these have not received the Holy Spirit as their Guide. “Unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled” (Tit. 1 :15). But all too often those who are Christians fail to yield to the indwelling Holy Spirit. W e need to keep our conscience checked by the Word of God, educating it by God’s standards, in order to keep our bearings accurately. Dr. Stalker says, “The conscience re­ quires to be enlightened. God’s law is written on it; but the lettering is like that of an old inscription where the words are filled up with moss and mold, so that they are apt to be misread and require to be recut.” Victor Hugo says, “A man may be a wreck as well as a ship. Conscience is an anchor; but it is as terrible as true that, like the anchor, conscience may be dragged.” Happily for the early church, Peter and the other apostles in our lesson had not had their “conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:2 ), but were true to the revealed will o f the Lord and thus could say with boldness, “We ought to obey God rather than men.’SBThey, like Paul, exer­ cised themselves “to have always a con­ science void of offense toward God, and toward men.” God’s supremacy, His au­ thority over them, and their allegiance to Him were subjects so uppermost in the minds o f these apostles that no threats o f prison or other punishment could shake their firm resolve to preach Jesus Christ. The safest way, the only way, is to ask, “What does God’s Word say about this

A wise man said once: “Most people follow their consciences as a man follows a wheelbarrow, pushing it before him the way he wants it to go.”—G. B. F. H allock . II. W hen C onsciences D isagree Alexander Smellie said . . . " ‘I ought’ is a noble rule when conscience has once been enlightened from above. But into what errors and excesses, foolishnesses and sins, the rule may plunge us when our ‘ought’ is opposed to Christ.” Thus a Hindu said to a British administrator in India, “Our con­ sciences tell us to burn our widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands” ; and the Englishman replied: “ Our consciences tell us to hang you if you do.”— The Sunday School Times. III. T he S un and the W atch A man once asked me, “ Is not conscience as safe a guide as the Holy Spirit?” I just took out my watch and said, “ Is not my watch better than the sun? Sup­ pose I said to you, I will tell you the hour by my watch, and you must always take the time from me.” It is the sun that is to rule the time. Conscience is fallen and corrupt. I f we had an unfallen conscience, such as Adam had at first, it would be as if my watch were always to agree with the sun. But now, it is a most unsafe guide. Sometimes we hear men say, “I don’t see any harm in this practice; my conscience doesn’t condemn me.” It is not your conscience or your consciousness-that is the rule o f right and wrong; the law is the standard. By the law is the knowledge of sin. Sin is the transgression of the law, not of con­ science.—A ndrew B onar . IV. R ejecting C onscience 1. An Indian who was asked to define con­ science said, “ It is a little three-cornered thing in here. When I do wrong, it turns around and hurts very much. If I keep on doing wrong, it will turn until it wears the edges all off, and then it will not hurt any more.”— The Christian Herald. 2 . A tender conscience is one which is in­ stantly obeyed. But if we disobey con­ science, it will speak less plainly after a while. Perhaps we may not hear it at all. I wonder whether you have read that poem written by the colored poet, Paul Law­ rence Dunbar: “ ‘Good-by,’ I said to my conscience— ‘Good-by for aye and aye.’ And I put her hands off harshly,

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