HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
“And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.” Matthew 14:2
Is this not a parable of the Preacher, Conscience?
How Conscience rings out solemn and unwelcome truth! It accuses the sinner of his sin. It will not let him rest. It keeps him wretched. Its wounds are keen, though they are most beneficial and wholesome. It is hard for Herod to kick against the sharp point of its iron goad!
How Conscience may be imprisoned and silenced. There are dungeons into which the stern Preacher may be thrust — dungeons of forgetfulness, of rationalization, of self-will. Yet, even now, the weak and headstrong and wayward soul will go down to talk with its mentor at times, and Mr Recorder continues to make his voice heard every little while!
How Conscience may be seared and slain — for the tragedy is deepening, and the heart’s midnight draws on apace. At last, comes a time when God’s Prophet has nothing more to say. It is as though he lay cold and speechless and still in a martyr’s grave. There is peace in the soul, but it is the peace of death, and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
How Conscience rises again from his grave! For, out of the silence and the sepulchre, the Preacher returns before long. But now his name is Remorse, Judgment, Despair! Then, even Jesus and His love are full of dread, fear and terrifying, to the spirit. Its day of grace is done. There is no comfort for it anywhere.
Ah, Lord, grant that Your Preacher, Conscience, may drive me to You, as he seeks to do — and not to these fears and desolations which are without a cure.
THE MYSTICAL COURT 