SATAN’S ACCUSATION ON THE CONSCIENCE
We must differentiate between the condemnation of the conscience itself and the accusation of the enemy on the conscience. Many Christians do not differentiate these two. The condemnation of the conscience is right and normal, but the accusation of the enemy on the conscience is not only abnormal but wrong. As to the condemnation of the conscience itself, we must deal with it, but as to the accusation of Satan on our conscience, we must reject it.
The condemnation of the conscience is always based on a fact. If it is a fact that we have done something wrong, that we are wrong with God, with others, or with ourselves, our conscience will condemn us. The accusation of Satan, however, is mostly without facts. We may have done nothing wrong, and we cannot find that we are wrong in anything, yet there is a certain accusation in our conscience. It is very easy for those who seek the Lord diligently to be attacked by the enemy, to be accused by him in their conscience. Before the enemy comes in to accuse our conscience, he always sends a fog. He makes our feeling foggy with no sunshine and no clarity. Then we do not know what is right or wrong. If we ask a brother how he is, he may say, “I really do not know whether I am right or wrong. I simply don’t know.” Is he wrong? No, he cannot truly say he is wrong. Then is he right? No, he does not think he is right either. If we are in this condition, we must immediately realize that we are under the accusation of the enemy.
If we do not seek the Lord, we are careless and indifferent Christians, and we do not have the problem of accusation. With so many Christians who are not seeking, every day is bright; they have no problems. However, when we start to seek the Lord, and the more we try to walk in the spirit and fellowship with the Lord, we will have all these problems. Without any fact as the ground, we will have an accusation. We must realize that this kind of accusation is a lie, because it has no basis in fact. We must learn the lesson. If even we ourselves cannot point out how we are wrong, yet we still have an accusation within us, we must conclude that it is something of the enemy and not take it. We must learn to reject it; otherwise, we will be frustrated and bothered day after day, and we will be damaged. There is much danger in letting the accusation be prolonged.
With the accusation of Satan in our conscience, there is never a fact as a ground. There may have been some ground, some fact. We may have been wrong in certain things, but we confessed it and dealt with it. Still the accusation is there. We have to know that this accusation is a lie. After we apply the cleansing of the blood, the ground is gone and the fact is over. The blood solves the problem. However, Satan is subtle, still telling us that we are wrong.
I learned this lesson painfully in 1931. I confessed all my failures, and according to the fact I should have been at peace. First John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. However, even though I confessed and applied the blood, I still had the accusation. At that time I had not learned the lesson, and I did not have anyone to help me, so I confessed again. The more I confessed, the more I was accused. I may have confessed one failure more than fifty times. After confessing I had a little peace, but after five minutes I felt wrong again, so I asked again for forgiveness. We should never repeat our confession. We must tell Satan, “No! The matter is over because the case in the law court is settled by the blood of Jesus. I do not accept this accusation. It is a lie!” Do not repeat your confession. If you confess a second time, you will have to confess the third time. After confessing many times you will even begin to feel nervous. Satan will fool you, and he will fool around with you.
In order to seek the Lord and walk with the Lord in the spirit, we must learn all these matters, because in this spiritual walk there is an enemy. If you do not drive a car, there is no danger, but because we have to drive, we must learn about the dangers. The more you drive, the more dangers there are. I say again, if you are indifferent with the Lord, you will not have these dangers, and I do not need to say these things. However, we need to seek the Lord. We have to go on, but in our seeking, going on, and following Him, there are dangers, so we must learn about them.
If we accept the accusation of the enemy, the accusations will become attacks. The attacks of the enemy always follow the accusation, just as offense follows condemnation. If we leave the condemnation there, it becomes an offense, and if we accept the accusation of Satan on our conscience, it will become an attack. Therefore, we must learn how to reject accusations and thus not be attacked in our conscience. Here we need to know the efficacy of the blood. We must always apply the blood to our conscience. However, we should not apply it in a wrong, foolish way, saying, “Maybe I am wrong, so I apply the blood.” We must be clear with the enemy Satan. If we are not wrong, we must be bold to tell the enemy, “Satan, I am not wrong.” But if we are wrong, we should say, “Lord, I am wrong in this matter. Forgive me. I apply the blood,” and to Satan we say, “Yes, I am wrong, but I have the blood.” Then we must reject any kind of accusation.
Recently I met a dear, lovely sister, who was under the attack of the enemy in this way. All the time she was wrong in her feeling. That was not based on truth; it was a lie, but she could not be helped. She had been under the attack of the enemy for so long that it had produced a kind of illness.
On the one hand, we have to learn to deal with our conscience, but when we go to deal with our conscience, we have to know how to use the “medicine.” Do not accept any kind of accusation from Satan. If you are wrong, you know you are wrong. Then confess and apply the blood. But if you are not wrong, yet there is an accusation within you, do not accept it. Do not be humble before Satan. The enemy always tries to pull us to one end or the other. He would never leave us in a normal, proper state. When you are careless about your situation before the Lord, he pulls you to one end; he would never allow you to have a troubled feeling about yourself. Then when the grace of the Lord comes to you, you realize you are wrong, and you deal with your situation before the Lord, Satan pulls you to the other end. We have to know the subtle ways of the enemy, and we have to be careful.
I say again, if we are wrong, we will have the condemnation in our conscience. Then we must confess our wrongdoing and apply the blood. That is good, and that is all. If, on the other hand, there is nothing wrong, but we have an accusation, we must be bold to tell the enemy that we do not accept it. Then we will be kept and delivered from his attack.
(Practical Lessons on the Experience of Life, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee)
