The Inner Witness
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SOME PEOPLE REFER TO IT AS THE 'STILL SMALL VOICE'
OTHERS REFER TO IT AS OUR 'CONSCIENCE'
OTHERS SAY "FOLLOW YOUR HEART"
SOME CALL IT A 'GUT FEELING'
OTHERS SAY 'USE YOUR COMMON SENSE'
OTHERS SAY IT'S YOUR 'INTUITION'
THE BIBLE CALLS IT 'YOUR SPIRIT' WHICH IS IN 'YOUR HEART'
IF GOD IS LIVING IN YOUR HEART THROUGH HIS HOLY SPIRIT
(IF YOU ARE 'REGENERATED' OR 'BORN AGAIN')
HE CAN WITNESS WITH YOUR SPIRIT
AND SPEAK TO YOU THROUGH YOUR CONSCIENCE
WE NEED TO LEARN TO TUNE INTO OUR CONSCIENCE AND KNOW IT'S LIMITATIONS
The Holy Spirit
Ps.143:10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
Dan 5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father--your father the king, I say--appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.
Dan 5:14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.
Luke 2:26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
John 3:7-8 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
John 6:63 The spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 15:26 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
Rom 5:5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Ro.8:9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Ro.8:14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Ro.8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Ro.9:1 I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit-1Co.2:10-17 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Ga.5:16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Ga.5:17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
Ga.5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Ga.5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.Ga.6:8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Ep.2:18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Eph 3:5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets.
Heb.10:15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
1Jn.4:13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
1Jn.5:6 This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
1Jn.5:8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement
Our Spirit
Num 14:24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.
Num 27:18 So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him.
2 Ki 2:9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.
2 Ki 2:15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
2 Ki 5:26 But Elisha said to him, "Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants?
2 Ki 19:7 Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.'"
Job 7:11 "Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Job 26:4 Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?
Job 32:8 But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
Job 32:18 For I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me;
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
Psa 34:18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psa 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Psa 77:6 I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired:
Psa 142:3 When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me.
Prov 20:27 The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man ; it searches out his inmost being.
Mark 2:8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things?
Ro.8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
1 Cor 2:11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the spirit of God.
1Co.6:17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Our conscience
Ac.24:16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
Ro.2:15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.
Ro.9:1 I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit-
1Co.4:4 It is the Lord who judges me.
1Cor 8:7 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
1Cor 8:12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
2Co.1:12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace.
2Co.4:2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
2Co.5:11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
1Ti.1:5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
1Ti.1:19 holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
1Ti.3:9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
1Tim 4:1-2 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
2Ti.1:3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.
Titus 1:15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
Heb 9:9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.
Heb 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Heb 10:2 If these sacrifices could have made the worshipers perfect, the sacrifices would have stopped long ago. Those who worship would have been cleansed once and for all. Their consciences would have been free from sin.
Heb.10:22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb.13:18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.
1Pe.2:19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
1Pe.3:16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
1Pe.3:21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
1John 3:18-20 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Our Heart
Deu 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.
1Kings 8:38 and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel--each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple--
Psa 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Psa 73:21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
Psa 77:6 I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired:
Psa 78:8 They would not be like their forefathers-- a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
Psa 143:4 So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.
Prov 15:13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.
Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Isa 19:3 The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.
Isa 57:15 For this is what the high and lofty One says-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isa 65:14 My servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts, but you will cry out from anguish of heart and wail in brokenness of spirit.
Ezek 11:19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Ezek 18:31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?
Ezek 21:7 And when they ask you, 'Why are you groaning?' you shall say, 'Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every knee become as weak as water.' It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD."
Ezek 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Hosea 5:4 "Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the LORD.
Zec 7:12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry.
Mark 2:8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things?
Luke 1:17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
Acts 5:3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
Acts 7:51 "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
Acts 15:8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.
Ro.2:15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.
Rom 2:29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.
Rom 5:5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Rom 8:27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
2 Cor 1:22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
2 Cor 3:3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Gal 4:6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."
Ti.1:5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Heb.10:22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
