Since a normal feeling of the conscience originates from life, the Holy Spirit, and spiritual knowledge, it certainly carries with it the supply of grace. This is a glorious characteristic of the New Testament. The Old Testament laws given to man contained only demands without supply. The New Testament law of life dispensed into man contains not only demand, but even more, supply. The demand in the law of life is met by itself as the supply. Therefore, whenever our conscience reveals the demand of the law of life, giving us a normal feeling to deal with a certain matter, we need but to bow down, worship, and acknowledge that this feeling of God’s demand is a preliminary announcement of the supply of grace.
Although the demand of the feeling in the conscience carries with it the supply of grace, yet if we desire to realize this supply, we must fulfill one requirement: we must respond to this demand in faith. The supply of God’s grace is always dependent upon our trust and obedience. If we trust and obey, the supply of God’s grace follows. Otherwise, the supply will not be forthcoming. God always desires that we first obey by faith in response to all His demands. Then He will supply us with His grace. Therefore, our response to God’s demands is our application for God’s supply.
For example, when we ask someone to send a telegram, according to the business principle in the world, we first supply him with money, and then he proceeds to act. But the spiritual principle is that he must first obey and act accordingly; then the money follows. If someone is afraid to act because of no means, then the money surely will not come forth. But while he is acting in faith to pay the expense, the money will be in hand. Many historical facts in the Bible illustrate this principle. When God brought Israel through Jordan, the water did not separate before they stepped down; rather they stepped down by faith, and then the waters were separated. The supply of grace is also obtained by faith and experienced in faith. Therefore, anyone learning to deal with the conscience needs to learn the lesson of receiving the supply of God’s grace in faith. Every time the feeling in the conscience brings forth a demand, we ought to realize that this is God’s supply for us. If we answer this demand in faith, God’s supply will surely come. Our obligation is to respond; God’s obligation is to supply.
We should be grateful to the Lord that even our believing and obeying are also God-given; they do not necessitate our striving or struggling. Normally, when a feeling of the conscience corresponds to the growth in life, we spontaneously have faith and submit in obedience. If ever a feeling of the conscience surpasses our trust in the supply of God’s grace and our ability to obey, it is a premature feeling and proves that our growth of life has not reached this stage. In this case we should hide under the blood and wait until our life advances to this stage. Then spontaneously we will have sufficient faith to apply the grace of God and obey the feeling of conscience.
In conclusion, to fulfill the demand of the feeling in the conscience, we certainly need God’s supply of grace. This supply is received through faith. When we fulfill in faith the demand which is in the feeling of our conscience, immediately God’s grace comes to supply us. On one hand, it gives us strength to deal with the matter and obtain cleansing; on the other hand, this supply and grace become interwoven within us, bringing about the growth of life.
Home | First | Prev | Next