IS CONSCIENCE A SAFE GUIDE?


     Thank you and once again we express to each one a very
pleasant good morning. It is good to have you in our listening
audience. Do you have your Bible before you, with pen and paper, to
study together with us the great lessons found in God's Word? I
trust that you are telling others about the program each week.
     Now to our study for the morning: In Proverbs 16:25, the
inspired writer states, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a
man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." There are many
today who think that it does not matter what one believes or does
in religion just so he/she follows his/her conscience and does the
best that he/she knows. Yet, the Bible, God's inspired Book,
declares that a person may follow a way that seems right; that
feels right; and yet in reality, be wrong. This is true in everyday
affairs of life as well as it is in religion.
     It is not safe to just follow one's conscience in secular
matters. After considering the question from this viewpoint, maybe
we can better understand it from the religious side. We certainly
should strive to be as safe with our souls, in fact more so, as we
are with the daily affairs of life.
     I am sure that almost all of us have had the experience of
honestly taking the wrong road in traveling, and going several
miles some times, feeling all the time that we were on the right
road.  However, our feelings so did not make it right. Our sincere
honesty did not cause us to be on the right road. We just did not
check the road map closely enough, or failed to read the signs.
Maybe we did not understand the directions that we received.
     Anyway, when we found that we were on the wrong road, we just
turned around and proceeded to find the right road and started
traveling it. No, it did not make us angry at the person who
informed us that we were going in the wrong direction. Why is it
that all persons cannot be as reasonable and appreciative in
religion? Why does a person think that one is "running him down" if
he points out to him that he is on the wrong road religiously? He
would not think so if he were taking an earthly trip. Why should he
not have the same appreciation for the friend who is trying to help
him get on the right road that leads to eternal bliss? Are we more
interested in visiting earthly friends than in gaining a heavenly
home? Maybe not, we certainly should be more interested in going to
heaven than any other place; but our conscience is not a safe guide
in traveling here upon the earth. Why then, should one think that
it a safe guide in going to heaven?
     Doctors sometimes conscientiously treat for the wrong disease
until it is too late to save the patient. Their being honest and
sincere does not change the facts. Sometimes it is the honest
mistake of the patient. although he followed his conscience, he
just went to the wrong doctor. Suppose a person by mistake takes
poison. Will his honesty save him? In taking medicine, is it safe
to just follow one's conscience? Is it not best to read the label
and follow the written instructions?
     In religion, why not read the Bible and follow the written
instructions of the Lord! Yet, many disregard the written commands
and instructions of the Lord and just follow their feelings and
conscience. Sincerity does not change the physical laws of nature
in matters of health. Neither are God's other laws in the physical
realm changed by being conscientious. If a person by accident takes
hold of a powerful live electric wire, it will kill him regardless
of his conscience in the matter. Neither can a linesman tell which
wires are safe and which are not by merely following his
conscience. The spiritual laws of God are not changed by honesty
and sincerity any more than his physical laws. Merely following
one's conscience does not save from spiritual death and damnation.
Both the physical and spiritual laws of God must be respected and
obeyed.
     Many business enterprises have been failures although they
were entered into with all good conscience. Maybe the investment
was made without investigating. Sincerity does not keep banks from
going broke, or the stock market from collapsing.
     Many have gone to the marriage altar and there exchanged their
solemn vows in all good conscience later to learn that they had
been tragically disappointed. The broken hearts, broken homes, and
broken hopes attest this fact. All stand as living evidence that
conscience is not a safe guide in marriage.
     If we cannot safely follow our conscience in all these affairs
of every day life: travel, health, business, and marriage, why
should it be thought safe to just follow one's conscience in
religion?
     Conscience is the exercise of one's judgment or power of
feeling that enables him to know when he is doing what he has been
taught to be right. The conscience either excuses or accuses one
for his conduct. It bears witness. It is that part of the mind that
enables us to know when we go contrary to what we have been taught
to be right. The conscience is similar to a court of law. The court
does not make the law. The court decides if actions or conduct has
been in accord with the established law. When one is doing what he
has been taught to be right his conscience is referred to as
"good." (Acts 23:1). Or, as "pure," (2 Timothy 1:3). Or, as "void
of offense," (Acts 24:16). If one violates the warnings of the
conscience, he "defiles it," (Titus 1:15). Or, one may eventually
"sear it," (1 Timothy 4:2). The conscience should not be
violated. We should never do that which we know or think is wrong.
However, to think a thing is right does not make it right. If we
doubt the safety of a bridge, the proper thing is to stay off of it
until we find out and know it is safe. The same principle applies
in moral and religious questions.
     Conscience is formed by teaching. Although there may be some
inherent perception of right and wrong concerning questions of
morals, yet religious convictions are only formed by teaching.
Those who practice sprinkling of a candidate as a religious
practice do so because they have been taught that is it right.
Those who conscientiously try to keep the seventh day Sabbath today
do so because they have been taught that is right. Those who live
with several wives also argue that they do it conscientiously. This
does not make it right.  Because a person does a thing with a good
conscience does not prove it is right, neither does it prove that
one is right with God.
     Instead of conscience being a safe guide, it must be safely
guided. It must be formed by the right teaching of God's Word.
Hence, we are commanded to teach. Only the truth can make one free.
Jesus states in John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free."
     The practices of heathens prove that conscience is not a safe
guide. Having been left to themselves, their practices are far from
being in harmony with the truth of God's Word. If conscience were a
safe guide, it would guide the heathens safely. There would be no
need for mission work, and no need for teaching.
     When Paul went to Athens, he found a city filled with idols
and idol worship. They were very religious, but very wrong. They
did not know the true God nor how to worship Him. Read Acts 17:22-
31. Their conscience had not guided them correctly. They needed the
truth of God's word to guide their conscience.
     Before his conversion, Paul was a violent persecutor of the
church. Listen to him in Acts 26:9, 10, "I verily thought with
myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus
of Nazareth, And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up
many saints in prison, having received authority from the chief
priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against
them." Paul thought that he was right. Did that make him right? He
acted with all good conscience. Look at Acts 23:1, "And Paul,
looking steadfastly on the council said, Brethren, I have lived
before God in all good conscience until this day." This was spoken
by Paul after he became a Christian and looked back over his life.
While he was persecuting the church with all good conscience, he
did so because he did not know the truth, or else did not believe
it. His conscience did not guide him correctly. While his teaching
was wrong, his conscience was not a safe guide. By living up to his
teaching he was living up to his conscience; but he was still
wrong.
     So, one may live in accord with false doctrine and have a good
conscience. No, it is not sufficient just to live according to the
dictates of one's conscience. When Paul's understanding was
changed, his conscience was changed, and his life was changed
accordingly. He repented of his sins, confessed Christ, and was
baptized in order to have the guilt of his past life removed.
Although he had prayed and fasted, he could not have his sins
removed and become a child of God until he did what the Lord
commanded: "And now why tarriest thou, arise, and be baptized, and
wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).
     Today, Christ has all authority in religion. He makes this
very clear in Matthew 28:18, when He states, "All authority hath
been given unto me in heaven and on earth." His written word, as
guided by the Holy Spirit through the inspired writes of the New
Testament, is our guide. We are to be guided and governed by the
inspired word, the Bible, in life; and we shall be judged by it in
the last day. Hear Christ, "He that rejected me, and receiveth not
my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). We are not
going to be judged by how we think or feel, but by the revealed
Word of God.
     I see that our time has been used for this lesson, but we
shall continue these thoughts next Sunday morning at 8:30. Until
then, I wish you a most pleasant good morning.
 
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