In the previous chapters we saw the dealings with the flesh, the self, the conscience, and the world. Christians today speak much about spiritual gifts and power, but even though we love, follow, and serve the Lord with a sincere heart, we can only realize the spiritual gifts and spiritual power in a real way through all the above dealings. We can say this with all assurance. If we do not know how to deal with the flesh, if we do not practice dealing with the self, if we neglect our conscience, or if we do not pay the price to deal with the worldly matters with us and in us, then no matter how seeking we are, we can never realize anything real in the spiritual realm.
The real growth of the spiritual, inner life depends one hundred percent on our dealing with the conscience. If we neglect our conscience, we may gain much self-knowledge, but we cannot have even a little spiritual growth. We must have a good conscience, a conscience without any kind of accusation or offense. Our conscience must be pure, good, and in a condition of constant peace and rest with God. If we have a problem, accusation, or offense in our conscience, it is very difficult to advance in the life of the Lord.
While we are dealing with our conscience, we must also keep our flesh and self under a strict dealing. Otherwise, we can never advance in the spiritual life. This includes many lessons of the application of the cross of the Lord. In order to deal with the flesh and the self, we need many lessons on applying the crucifixion of the Lord in our daily life. However, all these dealings with the flesh and the self depend upon our dealing with the conscience. If our conscience is not good, pure, and without offense, it simply does not function well, and many times we will not know whether or not we are in the flesh. We may be in the flesh, speak in the flesh, act in the flesh, and even serve the Lord in the flesh, but we do not have the sense, the knowledge, that we are in the flesh because our conscience is not functioning well.
When light shines, it is a regulating power; where there is no light, there is confusion. If we are in a room without windows, we are in darkness; we can see, know, and realize nothing around us. In such a case there is no regulating power. In this sense, the conscience is a spiritual window, a window to our spiritual life. If we are in the light of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual light is a regulating power, regulating us all the time and pointing out to us what is of the flesh and of the self. This spiritual consciousness comes from a conscience that is pure, good, and without any kind of accusation.
In addition, there is the problem of the world. Dealing with the flesh, the self, and the conscience have very much to do with the growth of life, while dealing with the world has very much to do with power. Today people speak much about the power of the Holy Spirit, the power from on high, and people seek speaking in tongues and the Pentecostal experiences. However, true spiritual power comes from dealing with the world. The more we sacrifice the worldly things, the more we are powerful. Our gospel preaching must be prevailing and powerful, but the way to preach the gospel in power is to sacrifice. The more we sacrifice, the more we give up and deal with the worldly things, the more we are empowered. If we give up all the usurpation of the worldly things, we will be released, and we will be clothed with power from on high.
Home | First | Prev | Next