Your Conscience Bear Witness
Jan 17
A conscience can be a reliable guide, however, only if it is a good conscience. The Scriptures, on the other hand, speak of some who have a "weak conscience" (1 Corinthians 8:7, 10, 12) which may become a "defiled conscience" (Titus 1:15) and eventually a "seared conscience" (1 Timothy 4:2) or even an "evil conscience" (Hebrews 10:22).
When God Says, “Leave Him Alone”
May 13
Our God is long-suffering and full of mercy, but there is a line which must not be crossed. It is dangerous to presume that God will always continue to forgive; He can become a "consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). The leaders of Ephraim (a collective term for the ten northern tribes of Israel) had passed this point of no return. They had become completely infatuated with the pantheistic polytheism of the nations, being "joined" to their symbolic models of natural forces and all the immoral practices which accompanied such nature worship. The word for "joined" means "fascinated by." They had been brought so deeply under the occult powers behind these nature-god idols as to be irrevocably committed to them, so that it would be a waste of time and tears to try to reclaim them now.
Know and Walk in the Truth
Apr 21
"Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." (1 Timothy 1:5) Much of modern, self-oriented Christian preaching and writing has tended to downgrade biblical "doctrine" in favor of an emphasis on "love" and "fulfillment," the "pursuit of happiness," "sharing and caring," and other such sentiments. Some popular religious leaders major on "confident living," "self-improvement," "personal success," and the like. Doctrine is thus downgraded in favor of practice, and "works" are considered more important than the Word. But this type of emphasis places the cart before the horse and can never succeed for very long. "Doctrine" is simply "teaching," and true teaching must come from God’s infallible Word, whether that teaching relates to great divine truths (creation, atonement, sanctification, etc.) or to the daily Christian walk. As the apostle Paul reminds us, "evil communications corrupt good manners" (1 Corinthians 15:33). "Profane and vain babblings . . . increase unto more ungodliness" (2 Timothy 2:16). We cannot escape being taught doctrine somewhere. If we will not receive true doctrine from God’s Word, we will inevitably become indoctrinated with the world’s humanistic deceptions, for these impinge upon our thinking continually, from classroom and journal, from television and (unfortunately) sometimes even from the pulpit. If we are really concerned about love and happiness and such things, we must acquire them from the right source, the doctrinal truths of the Word of God. It is knowing and obeying the commandment, as our text says, that generates pure love, a faithful heart, and a daily life that supports a clear conscience. When we "know the truth" (John 8:32), then and then only can we "walk in truth" (3 John 4). HMM
How God expects us to pray to Him…
Sep 30
Jesus promised that "whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you" (John 16:23). This condition for answered prayer and its resulting fullness of joy is not just a formula with which to end a prayer. "In my name" implies representing Him and what He stands for, so that our prayer could truly be His prayer as well. For example, our prayer must be in His will. "If we ask any thing according to his will . . . we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him" (1 John 5:14-15). We need also to recognize that God's great purpose in creation is of higher priority than our own personal desires, so this should be of first order in our prayers. Jesus said: "When ye pray, say, Our Father. . . . Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth" (Luke 11:2). We can also pray for our own needs, of course, especially for God to "deliver us from evil" (Luke 11:4), the closing request in His model prayer.
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