Page 46 the testimony of Scripture (2 Tim. 3), the renewal of our minds (Rom. 12), the habitual exercise of our spiritual senses (Heb. 5), and the dictates of our conscience (Acts 24). All of these lighthouses cause us to fulfill Paul’s word in Ephesians 5:17, ,Therefore, be not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. The context of this passage is referring to God’s moral will . . . the path of righteousness, which is Christ. If you have been in the Lord for any length of time, it is not difficult to discern the moral will of God. Again, think of God’s moral will as a parking lot. A step out of love is a step outside of the parking lot. Walking in love is walking in the parking lot. Add to that a safeguard: On moral matters, inward promptings are only reliable when they are consistent with the will of God disclosed in Scripture. This is one of the reasons why the ministry of the Word is so vital to us. It not only reveals Christ to us and feeds our spirit, but it also educates us on the way the indwelling Lord directs us. For the Christ revealed in Scripture and the Christ who lives in us is the same Person. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). Praise the Lord! Let us now handle the question of non-moral decisions. That is, how do we choose between parking spaces?
Sink the Bible to the bottom of the ocean, and still man’s obligations to God would be unchanged. He would have the same path to tread, only his lamp and guide would be gone; the same voyage to make, but his chart and compass would be overboard!
Henry Ward Beecher