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The number one way that the born again man receives direction is by the inner witness. What is the inner witness? The conscience is the voice of the reborn human spirit. This agrees with the scripture that says,
"Those who habitually violate their conscience have great difficulty in discerning My voice." Direction In The Affairs Of Life: He thought for a moment and then said, "Well, I was about to go watch a movie with some friends a few nights ago. Just as we were about to enter the theater, 'something' within me seemed to say, 'Don't go in there. Go to the church and pray during this time instead." I asked him, "Did you obey that instruction?" He said, "No. I ignored it and watched the movie with my friends." This man doesn't have a problem with hearing God. He has a problem with obeying God. The Holy Spirit was speaking through the man's conscience, giving him precise instructions on what to do. He has formed a lifestyle pattern of habitually overruling the voice of His conscience. The conscience is the voice of our human spirit, the number one place where God speaks to us. Habitually violating the "inner witness" (the conscience) is the surest path to becoming hardened to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Direction For The Gospel Entrepreneur: If all of us, from the day we were born again, would "instantly obey" the voice of our conscience, then we would avoid many of the pitfalls of life that the enemy plans for us. The Holy Spirit would be able to easily lead us through life. The problem is, however, most of us ignore many of those promptings of the new nature. Over a period of time, we "deaden" our ability to hear the voice of our conscience. We become "hard of hearing" when it comes to the voice of our new nature. It's not that our new nature stops speaking to us through the voice of the conscience. We simply learn to "tune it out," much like parents do with the sound of their children playing. 1 Tim 4: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
From Strong's Dictionary, the Greek word translated "seared" is: When you cauterize a flesh wound, a scar is formed making that area insensitive to feeling. When we ignore the voice or our reborn human spirit (the conscience) we thicken the barrier between our soul and our spirit, making ourselves more and more insensitive to the leadership and direction provided by the Holy Spirit through our new nature. Direction in "righteousness" and direction in your "call" both come through the same channel … your reborn human spirit! The voice of your reborn human spirit is your conscience. If you want precise direction and leadership in your "call" as a Gospel Entrepreneur, you must be very tender and sensitive to the voice of your reborn human spirit. It is folly indeed to try and be sensitive to the voice of your conscience only in the areas of your "call" and at the same time try to deaden your ability to hear that voice in your daily "walk" in areas of righteousness. You are either tender and sensitive to the voice of your conscience or you are not. The new nature, your reborn human spirit, is still alive within you. Your new nature receives leadership and direction from the Holy Spirit. God IS speaking to you through the conduit of your reborn human spirit … the new nature. The "voice" of that new nature is the conscience.
"Father, in the name of Jesus, restore unto me a pure, undefiled conscience. Awaken my conscience in those areas where I have seared it." Rom 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. One thing I know for sure; the more time a believer allows his reborn human spirit to fellowship with the Holy Spirit through meditation of the Word and praying in other tongues, the more tender and sensitive that believer becomes to the voice of his conscience. Referring back to the diagram at the beginning of this lesson, as a person spends hours of time in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, the "barrier" between the new nature and the soul is being torn down. Little by little, the light of righteousness from the born again human spirit begins to shine in all of those darkened chambers of the soul again. The conscience comes "alive" once more … even in areas where we have seared it for many years. In the plainest language I know how to speak, nobody can continue to habitually spend lots of time in the Word and praying in other tongues without becoming sensitive again to the voice of the new nature … the conscience. The Holy Spirit is like a refiner's fire, and He will begin exposing those areas where we have been violating our conscience for many years. John the Baptist said, Mat 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. One by one, the believer will come face to face with habits, thought patterns, unforgiveness, and many other forms of unrighteousness that he has allowed in his soul for years. As he comes face to face with each one he will be faced with a decision: Repent or quit praying in tongues. Most people quit somewhere along the way, and then they wonder why they have so much difficulty "hearing" the leadership of the Holy Spirit in their "calling." Once more, the number one way that we receive the leadership of the Holy Spirit is through the inner witness. The conscience of a believer is the conduit by which that leadership comes. If we have seared our conscience regarding leadership in "righteousness," we have unknowingly also seared our conscience regarding leadership in our "calling." For the Gospel Entrepreneur, it is imperative that the conduit of his conscience be clean, righteous, and holy in order that the leadership of the Holy Spirit may flow through it unhindered. Back
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