The Way to a Conscience draft

intro

Would you join me in prayer once more?

Heavenly Father, with the psalmist we ask that You open our eyes, that we might behold wonderful things from Your law, for it is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and like a fine surgical instrument, Your Word spiritually pierces as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow, and it claims to be able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. To that Word we come now. Help me to speak and assist Your people to hear and understand, I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today i want to minister on one of the most neglected aspects of Christian life. The Conscience.

Why a sermon on the conscience? I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.

There are three reasons that I want to speak to it.

First, the conscience, particularly the Christian conscience, is rather complicated. And yet it is rarely the subject of biblical teaching, and as a result due to a lack of understanding, believers can often be confused about their consciences.

Some subjects in Christianity are so fertile, so abundantly promising and useful on so many different levels, that studying them reaps a harvest far beyond expectations. It’s like buy one, get ten free. Conscience is one of those subjects. It touches on salvation, progressive sanctification, church unity, evangelism, missions, and apologetics.

Second, a sermon on the Christian conscience is important because the age in which we live diminishes and distorts the conscience.

Third reason I want to speak about conscience with you this morning is that in my pastoral counseling I deal routinely with folks whose consciences are broken and not serving them well, much like a diseased human heart with clogged arteries, it’s not pumping blood correctly, putting the patient at risk of heart attack or even death.

In the case of conscience, the risk is arguably as great for a conscience that isn’t working properly can lead, as we’ll see, to destruction of everything physical and spiritual that we claim to cherish.

I’ve seen it happen more times than I wish.

The funny thing is, both a diseased heart and a diseased conscience can lie undetected unless one takes the initiative to become informed of the risk and have them examined.

And to this morning, with the help of Scripture, I want to answer some important questions about the conscience.

What is the conscience, how does it work, and why is it important?

Second question is: How should we respond to our conscience when it warns us, or convicts us, of sin?

Third: What are some symptoms and dangers of a neglected conscience?

Fourth: What are the benefits of a good conscience?

And finally: How do we cultivate a good conscience?

There is no single Bible passage that answers all the questions about conscience, but we’ll begin with the primary text found in 1 Timothy chapter 1.

I hope you will see the importance of a good conscience and the potential ultimate consequences of neglecting it or dismissing it.

In his address, Paul warns the elders to watch carefully over the flock for whom Christ shed His blood because there would rise from among them those who would lead God’s people astray or away from the faith by distorting the Gospel.

And so with that backdrop, follow along with me as I read verses 1 through 7.

1 Timothy 1:1–7 AV

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; 2 Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. 5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: 6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; 7 Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

In verses 3 through 7, Paul immediately puts his finger on a big problem.

False teachers had arisen who were distracting God’s people from the apostles’ doctrine with myths and speculations and endless genealogies and other controversies.

But look with me at verse 5.

That’s where I want us to focus.

There Paul contrasts the controversies provoked by false teaching which oppose God’s work with the goal of apostolic preaching and teaching, the sort of preaching and teaching I hope you will always hear from this pulpit. We read in verse 5

1 Timothy 1:5 AV

5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

Without getting too detailed, think with me about what Paul is saying in verse 5.

Trustworthy, biblical teaching should have as its goal genuine love, and this love Paul says is woven together by three necessary components:

A pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

Now look with me at verses 18 to 20. Paul continues:

1 Timothy 1:18–20 AV

18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; 19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: 20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Paul says that there are certain persons, who have set aside a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith resulting in their doom.

He says “by rejecting this,” that is, a good conscience, they “have made shipwreck of their faith.”

And so it would seem that a good conscience is very important to the Apostle Paul and he compels Timothy to address this in his teaching.

I think that sets the table well for the questions I hope to answer this morning.

And so here’s the first question, which is actually several questions in one. I am trying to get three for the price of one here, and it’s this:

What is the conscience, how does it work, and how important is it?

But there are a number of helpful definitions that clarify the meaning of conscience. Here are a few.

Thomas Aquinas said that the conscience is the inner voice we have that either accuses us or excuses us for our actions.

John Frame, a contemporary Reformed philosopher and theologian, defines conscience as the God-given ability to discern good and evil.

Franz Delitzsch says that the conscience is the knowledge of divine law that every man bears in his heart.

And John Trapp, a 17th century English minister, said the conscience is God’s spy in the bosom. I like that, “God’s spy in the bosom.”

So conscience is a spotlight of your moral judgment shining back on yourself, your thoughts, and your actions.

Further, they say that conscience feels like an independent judge, pronouncing verdicts.

How does the conscience work?

A biblically informed conscience is to our soul what pain is to the body. Physical pain serves as a warning to protect us from danger and harm physically.

The pain of putting your hand on a hot stove will quickly convince you not to do it a second time.

And the conscience operates in a similar way.

A biblically informed conscience functions in four ways:

As a guide, as a monitor, as a witness, and as a judge.

It has both preventative and remedial purposes for us.

The conscience guides us to help us conform to God’s moral standard, preventatively it warns us before we do wrong and urges us to do right, much like warning lights and sounds on the dashboards of our cars.

It monitors how we conform to that standard.

And it testifies to how well or poorly we conform to them.

It will either commend and defend us when we conform, or accuse and condemn us when we do wrong, resulting in, and appropriately, guilt.

How important is the conscience?

As we established, I hope, in 1 Timothy 1 the Apostle Paul must have felt the conscience was pretty important.

He refers to it 20 times in his writings, and the two occurrences of conscience in the book of Acts are quotes from Paul, so out of 30 mentions of conscience in the New Testament, 22 are attributable to the Apostle Paul.

Here are just a few Scriptures that reveal why Paul made the focus of a good conscience such an important matter in his epistle to Timothy.

Acts 24:16 is one of my life verses.

Acts 24:16 AV

16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

Just a chapter earlier in Acts 23:1 as he stands before the Sanhedrin to defend himself, we read,

Acts 23:1 AV

1 And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.

In Romans 9:1, as Paul describes the great and unceasing sorrow he bears in his heart for his Jewish kinsmen who dismiss the Gospel, he says

Romans 9:1 AV

1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

In addressing the qualifications of deacons in 1 Timothy 3, he says

1 Timothy 3:8–9 AV

8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; 9 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

And finally, as Paul emphasizes the integrity of his stewardship of the Gospel, he says in 2 Corinthians 4:2,

2 Corinthians 4:2 AV

2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

Paul has a lot more to say about the conscience.

The conscience informs everything in his life and ministry. These passages are just a sampling.

But I hope you can see from both frequency of his mention of conscience as well as his personal commitment to always maintain a blameless conscience before God and man, that a good conscience is vital to the believer.

A God centered Conscience changed history.

Perhaps there’s no greater example of the importance and significance of the conscience in church history than Martin Luther’s defense of his understanding of the Gospel at the Diet of Worms in 1521 called for the express purpose of forcing Luther to recant his theological views that stood in opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Do you remember his response after he had prayed all night, understanding that his answer might result in his death?

These are his famous words to that assembly that launched the reformation in earnest.

He said: “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason, I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.”

Let me ask, what if Luther had not obeyed his conscience and caved to the dictates of men rather than the Holy Scripture?

It isn’t a stretch, I don’t think, to suggest that the Protestant Reformation might have been set back.

Conscience is very, very important.

Our next question is this: How should we respond to our conscience when it warns or convicts us of sin?

A healthy, informed conscience in the hands of the Holy Spirit will and should warn us of moral danger and convict us when we sin.

We should be very troubled and curious when it doesn’t.

We must however remember that our conscience is NOT our highest authority of what is right and wrong.

The Bible is our highest authority.

Your conscience is ultimately only as reliable as it is biblically informed.

A conscience that is moulded by biblical authority will be a bright light.

An uninformed conscience is a little bit like the earliest days of GPS.

Sometimes the conscience is too scrupulous and warns us that something is wrong which really isn’t.

That was the problem in Colossians 2 in the Colossian church and Paul sternly addresses that head on.

Colossians 2:20–23 AV

20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

Both extremes are wrong.

Like a conscience that offers a green light to sin, the solution for an overly scrupulous conscience is the same:

Look to God’s Word and godly people for clarification, then train or calibrate your conscience for the future.

Here’s our next question: What are some symptoms and dangers of a neglected conscience?

John Calvin speaks again. He said that the torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul.

Sobering words, aren’t they?

The Scriptures warn us over and over again about neglecting our conscience. We read in Romans 14, verses 22 and 23, as Paul is discussing the importance of Christian conscience in the realm of Christian liberty, he says

Romans 14:22–23 AV

22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. 23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Our thoughts, our words, our deeds, even eating, should derive from a confident faith informed by a good conscience.

And so to ignore the warning lights of conscience has real consequences.

The Scriptures use several descriptive words to capture the health or lack of it in a conscience.

In addition to a good conscience, a clear conscience, that Paul sought for himself and his hearers, he describes consciences that seem in some form of progressive unhealthiness or distress.

He mentions the weak conscience in 1 Corinthians 8. In verse 7 he says,

1 Corinthians 8:7 AV

7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

A weak conscience is one that is sincere but immature.

It has not been fully informed from the Scripture and thus might be overly scrupulous to avoid things the Lord actually permits, or it might not be scrupulous enough, permitting things the Lord does not.

I’d love for you to go with me there, to Hebrews 3, as I read this. It’s a very important passage.

The writer of Hebrews says there

Hebrews 3:12–13 AV

12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

The writer of Hebrews is urging his readers to encourage one another daily lest any of them find their consciences hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

This is probably what I run into most in my pastoral counseling.

It’s a conscience that’s become sloppy, or lazy, and has lost its desire and ability to recognize and respond promptly and effectively to sin.

The power of sin, by the way, is by and large in its deceitfulness.

Without a vigilant conscience, sin will slip into our souls and if unaddressed, become our master, and so a hardened conscience is a troubling concern.

Finally Paul describes a seared conscience that we talked about a few moments ago.

1 Timothy 4:1–3 AV

1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

A seared conscience is an apostate conscience.

From the Greek word used here, we get the medical word “cauterized.”

A cauterized conscience is one that’s been anesthetized or deadened.

By constantly arguing with conscience, stifling its warnings and muffling its bell, its voice is smothered and eventually silenced.

Your Conscience acts like a smoke detector, but the follish get annoyed by it and take the battries out.

This was also the conscience of Herod that gave him permission to put the innocent children of Bethlehem to death without any apparent conflict of conscience.

Let’s ask a more encouraging question: What are the benefits of a good conscience?

I’ll keep my answer to this question brief.

Clearly, from 1 Timothy 1, the Apostle Paul declares that a good conscience, united with a pure heart and a sincere faith, makes it possible for us to love as Christ loved.

I hope that’s a compelling thought for you. It’s certainly rare in our world these days.

But a good conscience also provides other benefits.

It brings peace with God and with others.

And very importantly, a good conscience is liberating.

It produces freedom.

We have one last question to answer. It’s very practical. How do we cultivate a good conscience?

And I think I want to answer this question by asking you a few questions.

Are you here this morning and living with a conflicted or compromised conscience, one that is speaking and you’re not listening to it, or worse, one that is shutting down due to your neglect?

Do you want the freedom and peace of a good conscience?

Then you must commit yourself to cultivate and calibrate your conscience. We’ve already discussed how it’s done. Let me remind you.

First, you must commit to heed your conscience.

Are you experiencing temptation?

Tell the Lord and seek the way of escape He offers.

If you’re coddling sin in your heart or life, confess it to the Lord and ask His forgiveness.

If you sinned against others, go to them and confess and seek their forgiveness as well.

He’s made the remedy for our sin perfectly clear and simple. The Gospel is His beautiful provision for fallen men and women with guilty consciences.

Second, you should commit yourself to learn what pleases and displeases the Lord by spending ample time in His Word.

Read it. Meditate on it. Listen to it preached and taught.

The opportunities to imbibe God’s Word in our day our countless.

Third, commit yourself to regular prayerful self-examination.

Our times in communion are intended for this purpose, if you’re paying attention when we have communion on Sundays.

There is no better place to do this in our noisy world than in prayerful solitude.

Finally, make worship and the means of grace a priority.

Every Lord’s Day we are together before the Lord employing all these means that I’ve outlined above. It’s hard to imagine a healthy conscience that isn’t committed to the Lord’s Day.

conclusion

Perhaps you’re here this morning and you’ve not considered the importance of a good conscience.

Perhaps you have questions about the God who created and is Lord of your conscience and His Son who makes it possible to level with the freedom of a good conscience.

We would welcome a conversation with you.

Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, thank you for the provision of a conscience designed to cooperate with Your Holy Spirit to protect us from the deceitfulness of sin and the schemes of the evil one. In the coming year, would You grant us a renewed interest and commitment to cultivate a good conscience so that it serves its intended purposes in our souls and secures our peace and our freedom so that we might glorify and enjoy you. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.