John 16:1-2

This is a sobering verse. In an extreme case it did happen. Jesus' prophecy came true. It clearly shows that it is entirely possible to do an evil thing, like kill, and feel good about it. It can feel so good that the evil is considered to actually be an act of worship to God. Now how about that kind of a conscience?

These people that Jesus was concerned about were Christian people. I think it is clear from the context that He was talking about the persecutions that were going to come from others who were also familiar with the Word of God—most of the Jews who would be familiar with the Old Testament. This just reinforces the apostle Paul and what he did. His education was incomplete, and so he was able to persecute and perhaps even be responsible for the death of some Christians. Certainly he persecuted them to the extent that they were thrown into prison. He persecuted the true church, and he felt justified, he felt good, in what he did.

We can come up into history and think about things that took place during the Inquisition. There again we are faced with a historical situation in which people who were at least supposed to be familiar with the Word of God—in this case not just the Old Testament but also the New Testament—and yet they put to death many people who were really true Christians. They did what they did thinking that they were doing God a service, that they were actually doing an act of worship of God.

We can date that up even further to the present. We have people on earth who feel it is their duty to kill people of other religions because their god requires that of them, and they think they are earning themselves rewards. I am thinking of those who are a part of the Islamic faith, and putting together others who are not Islamic. The mind—the conscience—under the influence of human nature is very adaptable, so we have to be careful of it.