People all over this planet are lacking purpose for their lives, and they constantly experience the provocation of demons who whisper to them that they are no good, that there is no hope, and that the best one can expect in this life is to drink in whatever experiences they can before they die. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" was the old-fashioned pronouncement of this philosophy. Today, it's "ride hard, life's short," or "no fear."

Drive through the big city, and what do you see? Young people dressed like the videos they watch, like the album covers that the rich fat-cat on a yaught somewhere sold them through his record company while he laughed at their naivete and took the cash they picked and scraped for from them. The fat-cats laugh at me and they laugh at you when we buy their products because of their hype. Why do people dress like they do? Can I throw a possible reason for this out to you? Why do people wear their baseball caps backwards on their head? In fact, why do we wear baseball caps?

Could it be that we've heard so much of Satan's hate-propaganda constantly directed at us that he has pressed his message that we are worthless way down deep inside of us, and we are trying to acquire new identities expectating that we'll become cool enough to be worth something? Do we think that we mostly need to be replaced by a new-and-improved glitzier-version of ourselves--maybe one more muscular for guys or more attractive for gals?

What am I suggesting to you? Satan, the adversary, is no fool. He's sharp. Do you know what he specializes in? He specializes in getting us to parrot his hate-propaganda about ourselves, to ourselves. Oh, he's a busy fellow. He and his demons are quite outnumbered down here by God's loyal angels. They've got a lot to do to keep us all confused, and it is so much more convenient for them to get us to do their work for them. So that's what I want to share about with you today. I want us to stop for a moment and figure this thing out together. Because there are things that you and I say to ourselves that no Christian should ever say to himself. We are the property of God, and we'd best be careful how we treat that property, in particular, in the psychological area. We have been bought with a price--the price of God's only begotten Son--and we ought to glorify God in both our body and in our spirit; we're not just to eat healthfully, but to think healthfully. My mind and your minds are not garbage cans or radios to receive just any broadcast, or just any propaganda! No, O no, no, no. It isn't that way at all.

There is a widely recognized problem in this world, in that vast numbers of people hate themselves. This is why there is such a major emphasis on "self-esteem." Maybe this isn't yuour problem right now. But if it isn't, then I can assure you that thre are many persons whom you know to whom it is a problem. If you try to understand it, then maybe you won't contribute to the problem.
 

"Tell everyone that they're fine, that they are actually truly good on the inside."

Here's another popular solution:

"Turn off your brain and live a rowdy, sensation-filled life; just admit that you're bad and indulge yourself."

Yes, we are born into a broken humanity, and we constantly try to fill it with anything but God, He who fills all in all. We are thirsty, but not for the wealth or sensation of that solution, or the demigod-hood of the first solution. We are thirsty for God. David said: "O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is." Psalm 63:1. And because of that, we need to seek out the third solution, and that's too...

"Check into what God has to say about this."

In contrast, God has a powerful solution. We don't need to replace our identity with an image from the movie screen or the cover of a CD. We don't want to fool ourselves with the lie that humanity is just fine as it is. God's solution says that

1. God made man upright in the beginning. He made us to have a built-in love for truth and justice and mercy. He made us in His own image, a high and wonderful variety of being with measureless possibilities before him.
2. In the fall our human race was warped and ruined, almost totaled. The relationship between our will and our emotions and our intellect was shattered and wrongly re-formed. We still are attracted to God and truth, but now we are inclined to serve ourselves instead of Him. We lost the strength to control ourselves and became a degenerate race of slaves to our own desires.
3. But our Father's gospel is His plan to restore us to His likeness, and repair us. He loves you and me and refuses to write us off. We are valuable to Him, so valuable that He sent His Son to die in our place so that we could come back to Him all the way.

How Reliable is the Conscience?

Take your conscience to the Word of God and see if your life and character are in accordance with the standard of righteousness which God has there revealed. You can then determine whether or not you have an intelligent faith and what manner of conscience is yours. The conscience of man cannot be trusted unless it is under the influence of divine grace. Satan takes advantage of an unenlightened conscience, and thereby leads men into all manner of delusions, because they have not made the Word of God their counselor. Many have invented a gospel of their own in the same manner as they have substituted a law of their own for God's law. --Ellen G. White in Review and Herald 3 September 1901.

Our conscience can be seared, it can be neutralized. The Bible is our infallible external compass, a baseline against which we may even compare our conscience. Thus, we are not operating on the same plan as the person who makes a good feeling or a sense of peace their conscience-checker.
 

False conviction means that one comes to recognize that they've done wrong, and they are motivated by the fear they have of how it'll bounce back on them. Pharoah admitted wrong, but went right on being what he insisted upon being. Judas realized what he had done, but instead of repenting he went out and hanged himself. These are radically different from the kind of conviction that God has in mind for us. The false conviction is marked by an absence of hope in its message. It brings despair because there is no hope in it. We could summarize it as following this pattern:

1. Conviction of sin
2. Recognition of guilt
3. Provocation to self-devaluation
4. Hopeless despair

1. Conviction of sin, righteousness, and justice
2. Recognition of guilt
3. Offer of reconciliation
4. Hope

When the heart yields to the influence of the Spirit of God, the conscience will be quickened, and the sinner will discern something of the depth and sacredness of God's holy law, the foundation of His government in heaven and on earth. The 'Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,' illumines the secret chambers of the soul, and the hidden things of darkness are made manifest. John 1:9. Conviction takes hold upon the mind and heart. The sinner has a sense of the righteousness of Jehovah and feels the terror of appearing, in his own guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcher of hearts. He sees the love of God, the beauty of holiness, the joy of purity; he longs to be cleansed and to be restored to communion with heaven. Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 24.

Satan says, "Yes, you have sinned, and its because you are a valueless little wretch. You are a worm. God knows you're a loser. God doesn't love you. He hates you. You will never be saved. You will never be in the kingdom. You might as well get as much cake as you can right now. Your position is hopeless." When you sin, Satan says to you exactly what he said to Job through Job's wife: "Curse God, and die." Job 2:9. "Just give up," he says.

Do you see the vast difference? The content of the conviction that God sends condemns sin, notes your guilt, but offers hope. The counterfeit conviction that Satan presses upon you condemns sin, notes your guilt, and then gives you no hope at all. The content of the messages differ. The Bible was given to us so that we might have hope (Romans 15:4). But Satan tries to take us away from the Bible, so that we might NOT have hope.

The genius and desperation of Satan meet in his skillful plan to destroy you. See, he makes this little "kick me" sign, and then he doesn't pin it on you. He hands it off to you, and says, "Here, this is for you. Just pin it right on your behind." He wants you to pin this kick-me sign on your own behind and then he wants you to do the kicking too! He wants you to run his subliminal tape in your mind that says, "give up" over and over until you do give up. He wants you to feel overwhelmed, to roll-up into a ball and assume the fetal position on the floor.

God shows you your sins to help you realize your need. Satan rubs your nose in your sins to lead you to hate yourself. God urges you to repent, but Satan just tells you that you are really bad.

The devil has got us hating ourselves. But these aren't God's thoughts; His thoughts are thoughts of hope and love toward us. Turn with me to Jeremiah 29:11, and see what God's thoughts toward you are: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (margin)." O, how different from Satan's representations! So we are talking about getting rid of the junk--his propaganda that we've absorbed like lint over the years. We are talking really about Satan's psychological neutron bomb. It's his weapon to wipe out people but leave the tombstones still standing. He's out here amongst us stealing candy from the babies, and laughing all the way to his bank.

I don't know about you. But I am tired of him laughing at my expense. In fact, my sense of humor doesn't see anything funny in his Satanic kick-me signs stuck to my behind, or in his getting me to kick myself over and over again. This devil is sick, and he needs to be put away.
 

By the way, we need to be careful about our terms. When topics like this were mentioned a century ago, "self-respect" meant what "self-esteem" means today. Self-respect meant that we should value ourselves because we are valuable in God's sight. "Self-esteem" back then meant to regard one's self over-highly; to think one's self more valuable than others. So when you read these phrasings in Ellen White's writings, you need to think carefully and make sure that you catch the right meaning.
 

"For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things."

In fact, this passage in 1 John where this verse comes from is dealing with how a Christian can know when he has passed from death to life. Look at the context:

1 John 2:28-3:12 Abide in Jesus who works to make us righteous. Assurance that we can be righteous.
1 John 3:13-3:15 The world's response to you on its own terms should not distract you. When we love each other, it is evidence that a great change has come into us and that we are walking the pathway of life.
1 John 3:16-24 We know God loves us because He gave His life for us. We should be willing to do the same for each other. Turn your love into action--not just words. This is how we know that we belong to the truth, and shall persuade/assure our own hearts in His presence.

If you want some insight on this issue of true and false repentance, study Steps to Christ, pp. 26-29. There you'll find that three times Ellen White points out that true conviction comes when the sinner first sees Jesus and then sees one's self.

"It is as we behold Him, as the light from our Saviour falls upon us, that we see the sinfulness of our own hearts." SC 26.

"We may have flattered ourselves, as did Nicodemus, that our life has been upright, that our moral character is correct, and think that we need not humble the heart before God, like the common sinner: but when the light from Christ shines into our souls, we shall see how impure we are; we shall discern the selfishness of motive, the enmity against God, that has defiled every act of life. Then we shall know that our own righteousness is indeed as filthy rags, and that the blood of Christ alone can cleanse us from the defilement of sin, and renew our hearts in His own likeness." SC 28

"One ray of the glory of God, one gleam of the purity of Christ, penetrating the soul, makes every spot of defilement painfully distinct, and lays bare the deformity and defects of the human character. It makes apparent the unhallowed desires, the infidelity of the heart, the impurity of the lips. The sinner's acts of disloyalty in making void the law of God, are exposed to his sight, and his spirit is stricken and afflicted under the searching influence of the Spirit of God. He loathes himself as he views the pure, spotless character of Christ." SC 29

"When the prophet Daniel beheld the glory surrounding the heavenly messenger that was sent unto him, he was overwhelmed with a sense of his own weakness and imperfection. Describing the effect of the wonderful scene, he says, "There remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength." Daniel 10:8. The soul thus touched will hate its selfishness, abhor its self-love, and will seek, through Christ's righteousness, for the purity of heart that is in harmony with the law of God and the character of Christ." SC 29

Do you see the great similarity in these paragraphs? Notice that in true conviction, we first see Christ, then ourselves, and then hope in Christ. But in cases of counterfeit conviction, Satan never shows us Christ, nor does Satan ever lead us to seek for righteousness or drop one ray of hope upon us.

God is immensely interested in us. All heaven was excited when God was preparing to create man. I'm sure they all knew that a new world and a new race was coming. And perhaps this was one of the points that disturbed Satan so much. You know how it is when you have one child and the new child is born. Suddenly mom and dad's attentions are lavished on the new squirt on the block. And big brother or big sister might feel left out a bit. And if Satan was increasingly anxious to be worshiped by the other angels, wouldn't God's exercise of His creative power remind Satan again of the fact that he, Lucifer, was just a created being?

Just look at the creation account and see God's love for man! He could have made the world in a single flash of unspeakable power and glory. But He played it out for six long, wonderful days while the universe watched. Step by loving step He prepared an environment for the human race to thrive in. Finally on the sixth day Adam and Eve were made, and then came the best part of all; communion between man and his Maker on the seventh-day together! Oh how God loves man!

When man sinned, he was not immediately blotted out. Instead, Jesus stood ready, and promised to expire on the cross for humankind in the fullness of the time. Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). That's love. God made coats of skins and covered Adam and Eve. What a price God would pay to buy-back, to redeem man! The separation of the infinite personalities of the godhead would mean a bottomless experience of suffering for the infinite God, but for His finite created beings, He would follow through anyway.

Jesus humbled Himself and joined our race more fully than we can grasp, becoming as human as we are so that we could become as obedient as He is. He became a helpless child in the womb of a human teenager. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." John 1:14. Is God indifferent and uncaring? Not for a moment! He's deeply involved.

When Jesus was baptized, a voice was heard from heaven. Does anyone remember what it said? "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3:17. Do you know that in that mighty saying, the Father is telling us that He embraces all of humanity? He spoke to Jesus as our representative when He said that. He accepts Jesus, and in Jesus He accepts us. He did not cast off the rebel race, but entered into the rebel race to make possible its repair and restoration. That's a far cry from what Satan wants us to think. God is intimately involved in saving us. How dare we let Satan tell us that God doesn't love us. He ought to be laughed out of the room when he pitches that line to us!

If God is so bored, then why does He value us so highly? Why has he sent His Son on the most expensive errand that ever has been or ever will be? Out of boredom? Ha. Give me a break. What does the Bible say?

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8.

We are valuable to God. We are not made in the image of a germ or a virus, or even of a show-horse. We are made in the image of God. You are valuable. You are a child of the king. "Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons of God" 1 John 3:1. Haven't you heard the saying, "God don't make no junk." Satan is trying to make us into junk. But God is into restoring treasure. And that's why He's so interested in us.

Don't forget it.
 

By personhood, I mean those areas where the function of the heart involves the deep things of the person.

Involves self-perception self-revelation. Revelation 18:7; Acts 8:22
Involved in understanding. Matthew 13:15
Seat of emotions. John 14:1, 27; 16:6
Conviction. Acts 7:54
Is what you set upon the things you value. Matthew 6:21

Is connected with the operation of faith. Hebrews 3:12
Is purified by faith Acts 15:9
With the heart one believes unto righteousness. Romans 10:10

God's word interacts with. Hebrews 4:12
The place where God's law is written. Hebrews 8:10; 10:16
Satan has access to it. Luke 8:12

End-time Elijah message changes the hearts Luke 1:17
To be healed. Luke 4:18
Can be purified. James 4:8
God dwells in. 2 Cor 1:22; Gal 4:6
Receives God's love. Romans 5:5

We can begin by being aware of his plan to inject his own self-hatred and self-despair into us. Could it be that Satan really hates himself like he wants us to hate ourselves? Why should we echo his self-inflicted psychosis?

We need to be serious about managing our heart. See what Solomon wrote in Proverbs 4:23: "Keep they heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." What comes out of the heart determines what goes into your heart. If you keep faith operational in your heart, you'll be ready to receive all that God wants to do in it, and defend against Satan's attempted accesses into your heart. Why should he plant his brain-computer-virus into your mind when you can block his access into your mind?

We need to recognize our value to God, and reclaim our self-respect. Satan wants us to sin. He knows that when we sin, we lose a portion of our self-respect. He wants us to lose all of our self-respect. He wants us to hate ourselves. So where do we find our value? We find it in Jesus Christ. Do you remember that provocative line from the first chapter of Steps to Christ? On p. 13 we read that This great sacrifice was not made in order to create in the Father's heart a love for man, not to make Him willing to save. No, no! 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son.' John 3:16. The Father loves us, not because of the great propitiation, but He provided the propitiation because He loves us. Christ was the medium through which He could pour out His infinite love upon a fallen world.

He loved us first. Jesus didn't have to plead with Him to love us. He loved us first, and thus sent Jesus. We find our value in Christ. God lifted up the race, He did not cast it down. He cast the accuser down, but lifts us up into heavenly places with Jesus. Ephesians 1:3, 20, 21.

Finally, We need to make healing our first priority. Look with me at Luke 1:17.

"And he [John the Baptist] shall go before Him [Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elias [Elijah], to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

How are we going to do that if we are busy kicking ourselves and assuming the fetal position while Satan gleefully joins in? Our hearts can be healed. We don't have to go through life like drooping weeds, but we can go through like shining flowers: radiant, beautiful, lovely, turning our face to Jesus, following the Lamb wherever He goes. Let's reverse the kick-me stuff. Let God put you back on track, and we can all give this Christ-centered end-time message and go on home to see Jesus face to face. It's time to see Jesus. He will heal us.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Those who overcome as Christ overcame will need to constantly guard themselves against the temptations of Satan. The appetite and passions should be restricted and under the control of enlightened conscience, that the intellect may be unimpaired, the perceptive powers clear, so that the workings of Satan and his snares may not be interpreted to be the providence of God. CD 59

There is nothing in the popular ministry that stirs the wrath of Satan, makes the sinner tremble, or applies to the heart and conscience the fearful realities of a judgment soon to come. EW 273

Satan does not want anyone to see the necessity of an entire surrender to God. When the soul fails to make this surrender, sin is not forsaken; the appetites and passions are striving for the mastery; temptations confuse the conscience, so that true conversion does not take place. Ev 317

When the word of God, as a sharp, two-edged sword, cuts its way to the heart and arouses the conscience, many suppose that this is enough; but the work is only begun. Good impressions have been made, but unless these impressions are deepened by careful, prayerful effort, Satan will counteract them. Let not the laborers rest content with what has been done. The plowshare of truth must go deeper, and this it will surely do if thorough efforts are made to direct the thoughts and establish the convictions of those who are studying the truth. GW 367

The true Christian obtains an experience which brings holiness. He is without a spot of guilt upon the conscience or a taint of corruption upon the soul. The spirituality of the law of God, with its limiting principles, is brought into his life. The light of truth irradiates his understanding. A glow of perfect love for the Redeemer clears away the miasma which has interposed between his soul and God. The will of God has become his will, pure, elevated, refined, and sanctified. His countenance reveals the light of heaven. His body is a fit temple for the Holy Spirit. Holiness adorns his character. God can commune with him, for soul and body are in harmony with God. HP 200

If he can, he will fasten the mind upon the things of the world. He will endeavor to excite the emotions, to arouse the passions, to fasten the affections on that which is not for your good; but it is for you to hold every emotion and passion under control, in calm subjection to reason and conscience. Then Satan loses his power to control the mind. 1MCP 31

You may have a conscience and that conscience may bring conviction to you, but the question is, Is that conviction a working agent? Does that conviction reach your heart and the doings of the inner man? Is there a purification of the soul temple of its defilement? MS 13, 1894. 1MCP 324

Every emotion and desire must be held in subjection to reason and conscience. 5T 177

Mark the words "deceitfulness of sin." Satan always presents his temptations under the guise of goodness. Beware that you yield not to them. One violation of straightforward truthfulness prepares the way for the second violation, and wrongs are repeated, until the heart of unbelief becomes hardened, and the conscience loses its sensitiveness. OHC 81

Conscience was at last aroused to know that there is a God who ruleth in the heavens. They called upon Him earnestly, but His ear was not open to their cry. In that terrible hour they saw that the transgression of God's law had caused their ruin. Yet while, through fear of punishment, they acknowledged their sin, they felt no true contrition, no abhorrence of evil. PP 99

"[Man] possesses reasoning powers to understand the claims of the divine law and a conscience to feel the guilt of transgression and the peace and joy of obedience. SL 76

The higher attributes of His [Jesus'] being it is our privilege to have, if we will, through the provisions He has made, appropriate these blessings and diligently cultivate the good in the place of the evil. We have reason, conscience, memory, will, affections--all the attributes a human being can possess. Through the provision made when God and the Son of God made a covenant to rescue man from the bondage of Satan, every facility was provided that human nature should come into union with His divine nature. In such a nature was our Lord tempted. He could have yielded to Satan's lying suggestions as did Adam, but we should adore and glorify the Lamb of God that He did not in a single point yield one jot or one tittle. 3SM 130

They now became fearful lest Jesus would expose their guilt to all present, and they therefore "being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst." 2SP 350

But when the heart yields to the influence of the Spirit of God, the conscience will be quickened, and the sinner will discern something of the depth and sacredness of God's holy law, the foundation of His government in heaven and on earth. The "Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," illumines the secret chambers of the soul, and the hidden things of darkness are made manifest. John 1:9. Conviction takes hold upon the mind and heart. The sinner has a sense of the righteousness of Jehovah and feels the terror of appearing, in his own guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcher of hearts. He sees the love of God, the beauty of holiness, the joy of purity; he longs to be cleansed and to be restored to communion with Heaven. SC 24

As your conscience has been quickened by the Holy Spirit, you have seen something of the evil of sin, of its power, its guilt, its woe; and you look upon it with abhorrence. You feel that sin has separated you from God, that you are in bondage to the power of evil. The more you struggle to escape, the more you realize your helplessness. Your motives are impure; your heart is unclean. You see that your life has been filled with selfishness and sin. You long to be forgiven, to be cleansed, to be set free. Harmony with God, likeness to Him--what can you do to obtain it? SC 49

The appetites and passions, clamoring for indulgence, trample reason and conscience underfoot. This is the cruel work of Satan, and he is constantly putting forth the most determined efforts to strengthen the chains by which he has bound his victims. Those who have been all their lives indulging wrong habits do not always realize the necessity of a change. And many will persist in gratifying their desire for sinful pleasure at any cost. Let the conscience be aroused and much is gained. Nothing but the grace of God can convict and convert the heart; here alone can the slaves of custom obtain power to break the shackles which bind them. The self-indulgent must be led to see and feel that a great moral renovation is necessary if they would meet the claims of the divine law; the soul-temple has been defiled, and God calls upon them to arouse and strive with all their might to win back the God-given manhood which has been sacrificed through sinful indulgence. 4T 552

Through indulgence in sin, self-respect is destroyed; and when that is gone, respect for others is lessened; we think that others are as unrighteous as we are ourselves. 6T 52

When sin struggles for the mastery in the human heart, when guilt seems to oppress the soul and burden the conscience, when unbelief clouds the mind, who lets in the beams of light? Whose grace is sufficient to subdue sin, and who gives the precious forgiveness and pardons all our sins, expelling the darkness, and making us hopeful and joyful in God? -- Jesus, the sin-pardoning Saviour. He is still our Advocate in the courts of heaven; and those whose lives are hid with Christ in God must arise and shine, because the glory of the Lord has risen upon them. BTS, May 1, 1915

This is the work which the Lord proposes to do for all who consecrate themselves to him. There are many whom he has called to positions in his work for the same reason that he called Saul, because they are little in their own sight, because they have a humble and teachable spirit. In his providence he places them where they may learn of him. To all who will receive instruction he will impart grace and wisdom. It is his purpose to bring them into so close connection with himself that Satan shall have no opportunity to pervert their judgment or overpower their conscience. He will reveal to them their defects of character, and bestow upon all who seek his aid, strength to correct their errors. Whatever may be man's besetting sin, whatever bitter or baleful passions struggle for the mastery, he may conquer, if he will watch and war against them in the name and strength of Israel's Helper. The children of God should cultivate a keen sensitiveness to sin. Here, as well as elsewhere, we should not despise the day of small things. It is one of Satan's most successful devices, to lead men to the commission of little sins, to blind the mind to the danger of little indulgences, little digressions from the plainly stated requirements of God. Many who would shrink with horror from some great transgression, are led to look upon sin in little matters as of trifling consequence. But those little sins eat out the life of godliness in the soul. The feet which enter upon a path diverging from the right way are tending toward the broad road that ends in death. When once a retrograde movement begins, no one can tell where it may end. RH, November 8, 1887

The beginning of yielding to temptation is in the sin of permitting the mind to waver, to be inconsistent in your trust in God. The wicked one is ever watching for a chance to misrepresent God, and to attract the mind to that which is forbidden. If he can, he will fasten the mind upon the things of the world. He will endeavor to excite the emotions, to arouse the passions, to fasten the affections on that which is not for your good; but it is for you to hold every emotion and passion under control, in calm subjection to reason and conscience. Then Satan loses his power to control the mind. The work to which Christ calls us is to the work of progressive conquest over spiritual evil in our characters. Natural tendencies are to be overcome; for the natural disposition is to be transformed by the grace of Christ. Appetite and passion must be conquered, and the will must be placed wholly on the side of Christ. This will not be a painful process, if the heart is opened to receive the impression of the Spirit of God. "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." RH, June 14, 1892 par. 3

There is a conscience that is not good. There are those whose words are yea and nay in regard to the same thing. RH, November 27, 1900 par. 10

From Genesis to Revelation the conditions upon which eternal life is promised, are made plain. God requires that those who shall enter heaven shall be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Keep my commandments and live, is the requirement of God. But one says, "My conscience does not condemn me in not keeping the commandments of God." But in the word of God we read that there are good and bad consciences and the fact that your conscience does not condemn you in not keeping the law of God, does not prove that you are uncondemned in His sight. Take your conscience to the word of God, and see if your life and character are in accordance with the standard of righteousness which God has there revealed. You can then determine whether or not you have an intelligent faith, and what manner of conscience is yours. The conscience of man cannot be trusted unless it is under the influence of divine grace. Satan takes advantage of an unenlightened conscience, and thereby leads men into all manner of delusions because they have not made the word of God their counselor. Many have invented a gospel of their own in the same manner as they have substituted a law of their own for God's law. RH, September 3, 1901 par. 6

Even in this world obedience is for man's highest good; and it is surely for his eternal interest to submit to God and be at peace with him. Of all the creatures that God has made on the earth, man alone is rebellious; yet he alone possesses reasoning powers to understand the claims of the divine law, and a conscience to feel the guilt of transgression and the peace and joy of obedience. ST, February 5, 1885 par. 9

Let not self be fostered. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, else moral feeling will be blunted, and the sense of duty clouded, the response of conscience more feeble, and unsanctified self-reliance will dictate and control. May God help you to secure a clear title to an inheritance among the sanctified. Do not wait for a more favorable time. Whose time are you using? It is God's. He gave it to you to use for this very purpose. You are not to put business first and your soul's interest second; but you are to be doers of the words of Christ. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all necessary things shall be added." See that your life is hid with Christ in God before you enter into any business. Pray, believe, take Jesus with you, and he will guide your efforts; and if success attends them, do not become puffed up and think it is yourself that should receive the praise. It was God who worked in you to will and to do his good pleasure. You are not to take one atom of the glory; but you are to glorify God, and try to help everyone engaged in his work to understand that the secret of success is in Christ Jesus. Shall we become just such workers as he would have us become? Shall we have a firm hold from above? Shall we be true to God in every place, to co-operate with him? God help us is my earnest prayer. Satan will throw around us his influence to inspire us with ideas, to supply our motives, and lead us to have increased attachment to the world, by blunting our moral sensibilities, and by confirming us in selfishness and self-esteem. We need a great increase of spiritual perception, in order that we may not be ignorant of Satan's devices. ST, May 19, 1887 par. 3

To those who will open their eyes, the law presents a perfect likeness of the soul, a complete photograph of the inner man; and as this picture is unveiled before the sinner, he is constrained to acknowledge that he is sold under sin, but that the law is holy, and just, and good. ST, November 3, 1890 par. 8

Under the influence of Satan we are led to pursue a course of evil until our hearts become hardened, our conscience seared, and our thoughts are brought into captivity to the prince of evil. But God is ever seeking to impress our hearts by his Holy Spirit, that we shall be convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come. We may place our will on the side of God's will, and in his strength and grace resist the temptations of the enemy. As we yield to the influence of the Spirit of God, our conscience becomes tender and sensitive, and sin that we have passed by with little thought, becomes exceeding sinful; for we begin to realize that our secret sins are in the light of his countenance. ST, September 4, 1893 par. 1

Man is an intelligent being, and has a mind by which to understand God's will, and a conscience by which to feel his accountability. He has a heart with which to love the law of God, which is holy and just and good. ST, October 1, 1894 par. 1

The heart must be kept with all diligence, that the human be not exalted above the Divine. If those who profess to love and serve God, follow blind impulse, rather than reason and conscience, they will fall by the artifice of Satan. The affections should be guarded and controlled, lest they be placed upon unworthy objects that are forbidden in the Word of God. ST, July 1, 1903 par. 1

We cannot afford to sin against the light that God has given us; for by so doing, the conscience becomes blunted. YI, July 27, 1893 par. 5

The word of God appropriated is the preparation for eternal life. But men have placed such an interpretation upon this word it has been made meaningless. Heart and conscience have become hardened and corrupted. Brethren, in the name of Jesus, I ask, Do you believe the word of God? Are you sons and daughters of God? If you are, it is because you have been converted, and have received Christ into your soul-temple, and your minds have been brought under the new law, even the royal law of liberty. SpTA10 29

The Word not obeyed hardens the heart, makes the conscience unimpressible, and their ruin more sure than if they had no knowledge of the truth. The affections must be drawn away from worldly pleasures, worldly enjoyments, and centered on Heaven and heavenly things. The heart is the soul temple, and until that is fully on the Lord's side it will be the stronghold of the enemy; for the partial surrender to truth and the partial indulgence of self give free access to Satan; his suggestions become mixed and mingled in the mind with truth, and are received as all truth and the effect is that souls over whom these minds have influence are led far away from the grand old landmarks into false paths which separate from God. PH167 9

Jesus sees the guilt of the past, and speaks pardon, and we must not dishonor Him by doubting His love. This feeling of guiltiness must be laid at the foot of the cross of Calvary. The sense of sinfulness has poisoned the springs of life and of true happiness. Now Jesus says, "Lay it all on Me. I will take your sins. I will give you peace. Banish no longer your self-respect, for I have bought you with the price of My own blood. You are Mine. Your weakened will I will strengthen; your remorse for sin I will remove." TSB 259

Last Modified 23 March 2000