Bible Truths Illustrated by J. C. Ferdinand Pittman

BIBLE TRUTHS ILLUSTRATED
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repented. To the word of the Lord all should hearken, lest
they sin against Him, whilst living "before him in all good
conscience."
"Conscience, without a divine light, is like a dial without the
sun, a shade, a blank, a useless instrument." "Conscience is a
Latin word (though with an English termination), and, according
to the very notation of it, imports a double or joint knowledge,
one of a divine law or rule, and the other of a man's own
action ; and so is properly the application of a general law to a
particular instance of practise." It is to be regretted that so
many look to conscience to be its own guide, instead of educating
conscience in the divine law. Revelation alone can be relied
upon. If conscience speaks upon its own authority, men should
turn a deaf ear to its voice.
188. Conscience, of itself alone, is not a sufficient guide for
life. Every night, set in the front of the locomotive as it dashes
on through the darkness, gleam the rays of the headlight, piercing
the gloom for a mile ahead. So, say many, man is himself
luminous. Surround him with whatever darkness, and at once
it is pierced and thrust aside by a blaze of inherent radiance.
But neither Scripture nor experience sustains such notion.
Conscience does not possess the power of origination. It
cannot make right right, or wrong wrong. It is only our power
of recognising the distinction already made, and as eternal as
the heavens. And, just as a blind eye cannot distinguish between
night and day; just as a guide-board wrongly written may send
the wearied and famished traveller from the warmth and help
of home, so may a blinded, misinformed conscience lead toward
wrong instead of toward the right. Wayland Holt.
189. "The iron of which steamers are built has a powerful
influence in deflecting the needle of the compass, so that it no
longer points to the north. In some cases the deflection is
more, in others less. They therefore have to take the steamer
into a quiet lake where the points of the compass are clearly
marked on the shore. The ship is then placed in an accurate
position north and south, and the size of the angle of deflection
is easily ascertained and allowed for. So, from time to time,
conscience has to be taken into the calm lake of God's word.