How many of us have been told by well-meaning people that we are to “Let your conscience be your guide.” This works fine IF our conscience is founded on God’s Word. There is a false belief that for those in “the church,” their conscience is automatically geared to His Truth. This makes for a good sound byte and looks good on paper, but it simply isn’t so. One’s conscience reflects what one believes to be true, regardless of how far from God’s Truth it might be. Church people join and attend religious organizations where they hear what they want to hear (the “truth” according to ….). In 99% of the cases, this “truth” is what the congregation has instructed their hireling to tell them. This is not new; the Old Testament prophets had the same problem with their parishioners. In response to their attempts to micromanage the prophets’ message, God told Isaiah what to tell the uber religious people of his day, a message meant also for today’s super religious false church: “Now go, write it (this warning) before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll (the Book of Isaiah), that it may be for time to come (today also), for ever and ever … this is a rebellious people, lying children, children who WILL NOT HEAR THE LAW (WORDS) OF THE LORD; who say to the seers (ministers), ‘DO NOT SEE (GOD’S RIGHT WAYS) … PROPHESY TO US RIGHT THINGS; SPEAK TO US SMOOTH THINGS, PROPHESY DECEITS. GET OUT OF THE WAY (TAKE GOD’S WORDS ELSEWHERE), TURN ASIDE FROM THE (LORD’S) PATH, CAUSE THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL TO CEASE FROM BEFORE US (STOP PRESENTING HIM TO US).'” These people had grown fond of false prophets who told them smooth things (“you’re saved,” etc). As a result their conscience had embraced their lies as truths. Therefore, hearing God’s Truth did not prick their conscience, but rather had the opposite effect.

Today’s churchites reflect their religious ancestors’ sentiments: “Don’t preach God’s Word to me; I don’t want to hear it, nor do I need to hear it. Tell me what I want to hear–scratch my itching ears.” See I’m Okay; You’re Okay and The Stephen Syndrome. Which brings up a question: Why do church people, who have God’s Word at hand, refuse to believe it and obey it? Answer: Because it fails to prick their conscience. Having been raised on a steady diet of heathenism, the “things of man” and pleasant sounding mantras, hearing God’s Word elicits an immediate negative response from them–the more religious the person, the more negative the response. Having dined continuously on the smooth, ear-scratching elixer coming from church pulpits and podiums, the hearer comes away with a false concept of God’s Will. His Word not being designed to please man, when confronted with it churchman automatically rejects it, opting for that which pleases him–Satan’s perverted gospel (Gal. 1:6-9). A personal example will show the reader how Satan uses his instilled conscience to his advantage when dealing with church people.

Having been “born and raised” in “the church,” I was convinced that Sunday was the Lord’s Sabbath, that He had, at some point, either changed it or allowed man to change it. This belief was presented, not as a theory, but as a Biblical Fact–God’s Truth that was not to be questioned. So engrained was this unquestionable “truth” that when I missed a Sunday service my conscience would trouble me greatly. Later, when I came to know God’s Truth about His Sabbath, I still continued to feel a twinge of conviction when Sunday passed and I was not in church, even though I had attended church on God’s Sabbath the previous day. Such is the power of Satan even on those who know, believe and obey God’s Truth. Eventually he gave up and stopped hounding me about it.

To emphasize how important it is that church people realize that, because they believe and obey Satan’s doctrines, they are not God’s people, but are being allowed to qualify for that honor. To emphasize this fact, let us examine the Words of Jesus Christ to His chosen disciples, men who had been in His presence continually for 3 1/2 years, had preached, healed the sick and cast demons out of the afflicted. Thesewere the men He had pointed to and announced that they were His spiritual brethren because they did the will of God (Mat. 12:48-50). The casual reader of the Bible would take this as meaning that the 12 disciples were saved and born again. But notice what Jesus said to the disciples later as recorded in Matthew 18:3, “Assuredly, I say unto you, UNLESS YOU ARE CONVERTED …. YOU WILL NOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.” Conversion is the initial act that eventually results in salvation for those who enter God’s strait gate and walk His narrow path. Later, just before His death, Jesus said to Peter, “WHEN YOU ARE CONVERTED, HELP YOUR BRETHREN” (Lk. 22:32). Did you see it? These men who would be accepted into any church in the world as born again, saved saints HAD NOT YET BEEN CONVERTED–they had only repented of their sins. This is the condition of the Institutional Church as proven by her rampant heathenism and outright rejection of the Lord and His Word. This condition serves as the foundation of her collective conscience. To be continued. L.J.