Here’s a story that illustrates many people’s view on the role of the conscience. “A man consulted a doctor, ‘I’ve been misbehaving, Doc, and my conscience is troubling me,’ he complained. ‘And, you want something that will strengthen your willpower?’ asked the doctor. ‘Well, no,” said the fellow. “I was thinking of something that would weaken my conscience.'” There’s more to the conscience than being a ‘right and wrong’ referee. But that’s what we’ve been taught: that the conscience’s only role is to gauge morality.  Conscience is the voice of your spirit. It’s how your spirit communicates with you. Conscience and the Inward Witness, that’s the focus of this week’s Light on Life.

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One Necessary Component You Need for Spiritual Growth in God

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You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
This weeks call is:

Tune into the inner promptings of your heart. Talk to God about them. Ask Him questions. Pray about what you are sensing. Above all do not turn a deaf ear to what you have down on the inside of your heart.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question: Besides what you’ve heard or read here, what have you learned about following your conscience? Please leave your comments in the comments section below.

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the subject of the Spirit-Led Life by clicking on the links above.

1. #S1-001: Does the Holy Spirit Speak Today?[Podcact]
2. #S1-002: Being Led by Peace Conscience and the Inward Witness

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 37 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com

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Podcast Notes

• Every born-again believer on planet earth has the ‘Spirit of God within’, there are no exceptions, there are no special circumstances.
• It is part of the born-again phenomenon.
• If you said yes to Jesus, you have the Spirit of the living God living in your spirit.
• The New Testament alludes to this with a plethora of ‘Spirit within’ verses like 1 John 2:27 for example.

1 John 2:27 (KJV): 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

• So, now you have God in you.
• What’s the potential of that?
• How does having God within help you live your everyday life?
• We can rephrase this question and ask it this way.
• What is the Spirit of God doing in you?
• What can and will He do in you?

The Holy Spirit within You Will Lead You

• Is there anyone here that does not desire to hear from the Spirit of God?
• If there is, quick, run for the door and shut off this podcast because I am going to share with you the main way He communicates.

Romans 8:14 (ESV) 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

• Sons of God can expect to be led.
• But, how does He lead?
• That’s the question we are looking at.
• What main vehicle does He use?
• He doesn’t write messages in the sky.
• We’ve already figured that out.
• As far as we know, He only used the figure of man’s hand to write on the wall one time.

Daniel 5:1 (ESV) — 1 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand… 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote.

God Very Rarely Leads Audibly

• He rarely speaks audibly.
• So, how does He communicate?
• Growing up my Catholic mind was clueless.
• But by the grace of God, I came to know a few things about how the Spirit leads.
• In learning these lessons, there are three sets of words you should know.
• These words will continue to pop up when discussing the Spirit-led life.
• The words are…
  • Peace
  • Conscience
  • Inward witness
• That’s what we are focusing on in today’s podcast.
• Let’s take a Bible walk through the scriptures on the subject of the conscience.

Conscience: A Scriptural Walk

• There are many verses in the Bible which speak of ‘the conscience.’

Acts 23:1 (ESV)1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”

• If you look up the definition of conscience in a Greek dictionary like BDAG, you would find a definition on this order: the inward faculty of distinguishing right and wrong ¹4
• This is a moral definition of the word and the one most people know.

Conscience Is More than a Moral Indicator

• Look at the following two verses.

Romans 8:16 (ESV): 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Romans 9:1 (ESV): 9 I am speaking the truth in Christ — I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit

• If you read these two verses together, what you see is that the Holy Spirit uses your conscience to witness to your heart.
• Conscience is the voice of your spirit.
• It is how your spirit communicates with your mind.
• So, we need to learn to tune into our conscience.
• The Holy Spirit will lead you in all the areas of your life by this method.
• When you get ready to make a purchase, listen to your conscience.
• If there’s a scratchy sense down inside, like the one you remember receiving when you engaged in something immoral, that’s the Spirit of God trying to arrest your attention.
• We haven’t been taught enough to do this, to listen to that inner sense.
• Thinking about applying for a new job in a different state, listen to your conscience.
• It will witness to you.
• Your heart will communicate whether it’s the right move or not.
• Are you getting married, are you wondering if this is THE one?
• Listen to your conscience.
• Many wish they had.
• I have found that ever in the smallest details of life, you can receive that right or wrong sense.
• I mean small, stuff that doesn’t matter in the long run.
• It’s wonderful to know that the Mighty God of the Universe will come alongside your heart and tug on it so that you can know there’s a better choice.

Guidance from the Voice in the Car

• A certain man states that a good friend of his in North Carolina bought a new car with a voice warning system. At first, Edwin was amused to hear the soft female voice gently remind him that his seat belt wasn’t fastened. Edwin affectionately called this voice the “little woman.” He soon discovered his little woman was programmed to warn him about his gasoline. “Your fuel level is low,” she said one time in her sweet voice.
• Edwin nodded his head and thanked her. He figured he still had enough to go another fifty miles, so he kept on driving. But a few minutes later, her voice interrupted again with the same warning. And so it went over and over. Although he knew it was the same recording, Edwin thought her voice sounded harsher each time. Finally, he stopped his car and crawled under the dashboard. After a quick search, he found the appropriate wires and gave them a good yank. So much for the little woman. He was still smiling to himself a few miles later when his car began sputtering and coughing. He ran out of gas! Somewhere inside the dashboard, Edwin was sure he could hear the little woman laughing.

The Lesson

• People like Edwin learn before long that the little voice inside, although ignored or even disconnected, often tells them exactly what they need to know.²
• There are many more verses along this line of the conscience.
• There are about thirty verses in the New Testament which contain the word ‘conscience.’

Conscience in the Book of Romans

Romans 2:15 (ESV): 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

• This verse is a recognizable descriptor of what you experience when your conscience flags you down.
• Do you see the phrase conflicting thoughts?
• It means ‘reasonings’ in the original language.
• Our conscience’s bears witness but then our heads get into the game.
• That’s what happens.
• Your heart bears witness, you get that inner stop signal and what you do?
• You begin reasoning.
• Your conscience bears witness and then comes your head with conflicting thoughts accusing or excusing.
• We begin to ‘reason’ out why we got the check in or hearts.
• ‘It’s okay.’
• ‘It’s not so bad’, we tell ourselves.
• Our reasoning overrides what our conscience has communicated.
• Don’t let your head talk you out of God’s blessings.
• Listen to your heart.
• Here’s another Romans verse.

Conscience and Elected Leaders

Romans 13:5 (ESV): — 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

• The context of this verse is God ordained civil authorities.
• You know in America they would be, the President, governors, mayors, senators, all the way down to police and local law enforcement.
• Paul states that believers in Jesus should be subject to these ‘higher powers’.
• But, we shouldn’t just obey the laws of the land to try and avoid God’s wrath.
• We should be subject for the sake of our conscience.
• It’s always best to keep a tender conscience.
• It will pay rich dividends in life.
• To keep your heart supple and tender to the God, His Word, and His things, obey the promptings and the urges of your heart.
• Paul strove mightily to this end.

Paul Listened to His Conscience

Acts 24:16 (ESV): 16 So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

• The Greek word ‘take pains’ means to take pains, to labor, or to strive.
• The word ‘ascetic comes’ from this word.
• Ascetic meaning one who seeks to gain piety by rules and severe hardship.
• The UBS Handbook on the Book of Acts states that the phrase ‘I always take pains’ translates a word which was originally used of athletic training, that is, “I exercise” or “train myself”. ³
• Some translations translate ‘I take pains’ this exact way.
• Paul was all business when it came to his conscience.
• He took pains.
• Paul strove.
• He labored.
• Paul trained himself to respond to his conscience as an Olympian would respond to the challenge of getting ready for an athletic event.
• Day after day, situation after situation, Paul went for the gold.
• He mastered his flesh and made it come in line with the voice of his spirit.
• This is what it takes to be accurately led.
• Work with the Spirit of God in these areas.
• Be severe on yourself where conscience is concerned.
• Paul left a good example for all of us in the Spirit-led life.

Some Areas Where the Spirit Will Prick Your Heart

2 Corinthians 1:12 (ESV): 12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.

• This verse of scripture lays out for believers areas where your conscience will register positive or negative.
• The four areas are simplicity, sincerity, operating by earthly wisdom, and not moving in the Grace of God.
• Let’s take them up one at a time.

Living in Simplicity

• Simplicity is defined in the original languages as holiness.
• Holiness is the quality of being personally dedicated to God; either by being set apart, by being morally pure or by being devoted to God.
• This is the area that most people are familiar with when it comes to conscience.

Romans 16:19 (KJV) — 19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

• We are to be ‘simple’ or pure, guiltless, innocent where evil is concerned.
• If you sin, if you intentionally flirt with unholy thoughts or partake of compromising activities, if you set wicked things before your eyes, your conscience will let you know about that.
• You’ll get that grungy sense on the inside.
• That yucky no peace feeling that gnaws at you.
• By this most commonly known sense, you can locate where your spirit is.
• But, sin is not the only thing that will set the alarm bells off inside of you.

The Zoe Life of God in the Person of Jesus

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