PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

A Conscience Void of Offense (2)

For the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose, the human vessel must be trained that it may become a container to receive God resulting in His divine attributes being expressed in human virtues. Of course, in our natural life, we are neither qualified nor are we able to stand righteously before God and man. Hence, we must receive Christ as our righteousness inwardly and put on Christ as our righteousness outwardly. Yet the human vessel as the container must be prepared to receive and express the life of God. This principle of preparing the human vessel to receive the life of God is seen in the law of God keeping His people "under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father" (Galatians 4:1-2). The purpose of the law is not to produce righteousness in its keepers; rather it is designed to "shut up " its hearers unto the faith (cf. Galatians 3:23 ff.).

In the same principle, we must train our children to live a proper human life, i.e. to shut them up to the faith in the Lord Jesus. This training will both prepare the vessel to be a proper container and, at the same time, will give to the Holy Spirit the ground to convict them of righteousness, of sin, and of judgment at the time of their regeneration.

In this issue of Parenthood, we once more focus our attention on the recovery and training of man's conscience. Our children desperately need training and discipline to prepare them for salvation and to preserve them with a view to faith. In Matthew 5:23-26, the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to take care of any offense that a brother may have against them in a very serious way—doing whatever is humanly possible to make peace with their brother. The Lord warned the disciples not to try to have a proper relationship with God while they were out of favor with their brothers.

Similarly, Paul urged us, "Repay no one evil for evil; take forethought for things honorable in the sight of all men. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live in peace with all men" (Romans 12:17-18). We should set an example of and teach our children to live by the light of the Word in all aspects of human living, at the same time praying that they may be preserved to be "vessels of honor…useful to the master, prepared unto every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21).

After we have believed in the Lord, we must build up a habit of confessing and recompensing. If we have offended anyone or have come short of anyone, we should learn to confess or to recompense. On the one hand, we have to confess to God, and on the other hand, we have to confess to and recompense man. If a man does not confess to God nor apologize or recompense man, his conscience will easily become hardened. Once the conscience becomes hardened, a serious and fundamental problem develops: It becomes difficult for God's light to shine into a man. A person must build up a habit of confessing and making recompense so that he can maintain a sensitive and keen conscience before the Lord. (Watchman Nee, Messages for Building Up New Believers, Vol. 2, Chapter 22, p. 323)

Editor's note: In the October, 1999, edition of Parenthood, we reviewed the first half of Watchman Nee's fellowship concerning the maintaining of a clear conscience. We saw the need to take care of material debts owed to others through our negligence in the way we handle items put into our trust by others or through our acts of intentional defrauding of others. Brother Nee's sharing was based on Leviticus chapter six.

Now let us turn to another portion—Matthew 5. This chapter is different from Leviticus 6, which speaks of transgressions against man just in terms of material things. Matthew 5 deals with more than just transgressions in material things.

Matthew 5:23-26 says, "Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and first go and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Be well disposed quickly toward your opponent at law, while you are with him on the way, lest the opponent deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, You shall by no means come out from there until you pay the last quadrans." The quadrans spoken of here do not refer to just physical quadrans. They refer to the principle of coming up short in something.

The Lord says, "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you." This specifically refers to disputes among God's children and among the brothers. If you are offering a gift at the altar, that is, if you are offering something to God, and suddenly remember that your brother has something against you, this remembering is God's leading. The Holy Spirit often gives you a necessary thought and reminds you of necessary things. When you remember something or are reminded of something, do not put the thought aside and think that it is merely a thought. As soon as you remember something, you should carefully deal with it.

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