The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-10-18
CONSCIENCE IS TEXT
OF SERMON
REV. HENRY VAN ENGEIEN
breaches INTERESTINGLY
AT BAPTIST CHURCH.


morning Rev. Henry Van r.ngelen
spoke on The Satisfac Lon Of a Clear
Conscience and How t. Obtain It
taking as his text Acts 4-I6 ~ Con-
science Void of Offensc Toward C d
and Man Always. In part he said:
We recall how 80 men had con-
spired to kill Paul at Jerusalem,
, binding themselves not 10 eat. or
drink until they had accomplished
their murtlcrous purpose. The Roman
officer. learning Of this plot. conveys
him safely to caesarea under the pro-
lection OF a guard of 400 infantry and
20 cavalry. Here he will be tried by
Felix. the governor. and the high
priest Annanias and representatives of
the Sandherdrin are summoned to
present their charges against him.
What IA trying ordeal for the apostle
TO stand before such a judge, repre-
scented by historians as one Of the
. meanest. most venal and most, con-
temptible of men. Tertullus, the
smooth tongued advocate of the ac-
cusers. opens his address with UNI
blushing, sickening flattery. implying
that noble deeds and worthy reform
had been accomplished by the Judge
Both the flattcrer' and flattered knew
these statements to be absolutely
false When the false arraigumcnt is
, ended naughty nod on the part of
the Roman governor is the signal for
Paul to make his reply. The bearing
of the apostle Is that of a Christian
gentleman. dignified and refined. He
viii not stoop to flattery: he Is cour-
teous and not rude. and respects the
sfficc, Ii he cannot respect the man
who fills il. Without excitement or
resentment he calmy denies the
charges preferred against him and as
sures them that he believes all things
I that are written in the law and the
prophets and so hearty and genuine
/ Is his acceptance of divine truth ana
SO thoroughly is his life conformed
To this truth that he has Il conscience
void of offense toward God and man
Could his accuscrs honestly say rs
much? Would Felix dare to make
such testimony as that?
A great many people have very
vague and confused ideas as to what
conscience Is. Some seem to regard
| IT as "A special faculty of the soul dis
tinct from other mental powers. We
/ speak Of mans mathematicalr fac
ulty or linguistic faculty. but we
/ think that not "A part but his whole
mind is occupied. whether he solves
problem in geometry or translates
! a paragraph Of Greek. So conscience
/ =
from other mental powers but it
/ simply reason passing judgment on
ones own acts. II is the moral self
passing. on every personal question of
/ right or wrong. When conscience
/ speaks all the faculties of the mind
are engaged with moral questions re
lating To ourselves only. 81 IL is the
souls moral Judiciary and an integral
] part of human personality. As moral
beings. therefore. we are SO consti-
I tuted that we must arraign ourselves
before ourselves. and bring ourselves
To account with ourselves. and SO pass
judgment upon our own acts.
rs conscience reliable? This uues-
tion answers itself when we consider
that the inerrancy of its decisions de
pend altogether upon the degree of its
enlightment 1t never furnishes any
| light by which ii judges. but makes
its decisions only by such light as the
/ soul, by means of all its powers. has
gathered around itself. II that light
be dim. or false. its judgments must
be erroneous In proportion.
Every now and then we read in
our newspapers of some man in whose
integrity great confidence was placed
until he had been promoted To some
very important position in the COM
mercial world. suddenly there comes
the shocking news that careful in
designations have proved this highly
esteemed individual guilty of gross
dishonesty. Even then in the face of
such charges men have been known
To make the bold assertion that they
/ had always lived a clean life and
wronCed no one. Men have been
known 10 keep diseputabie dives
where men were robbed and where
even murders We're not unknown. and
even such villains have been known
tn have ideals and be in some respects
moral men. What about the CON
sciene of such men? Let MS bear in
mind that its functions are judicial
and not legislative and that it has
nothing whatever Ia do with furnish
/ ing standards by which il may judge
only by those standards which the
united powers of his whole being
have accepted as authority: only in
/ the light of these, will his conscience
/ pronounce upon his own individual
Il acts. So the best means for the en-
iishtment of our moral consciousness
may be- ours. such as wholesome moral
environment. exemplary associates
knowledge of passing events. acquain-
lance with history. religious privi-
leges. etc. and yet through ignor-
ance. vice. bigotry or prejudice w
may shut out all this light from GU,
souls and leave conscience in tnt
dark.
Paul. as man of culture and re
finemcnt. has his moral consciousness
enlightened i'm many ways. but es'
nccially by tn, word nf God. The fact
that he en,il,l honestly say t''at hc be-
licved all things written in the Law
AM the prophets made ii als1 nossIia'
for him To boldly testify that he has
'couseience void of offensc towara
God and man always
- a