Sermon 090698

1Tim. 1:5-6                                 Love From A Good Conscience - III                              9/6/98

Series 24.6                                                                                                                          ABCC

I.    Introduction                                                                                                                      636

q      Suppose by a gracious act of God you are given a weekend stay at the finest hotel in ….  You check in & to your surprise …suite…anticipation…upon arrival, room is filthy…

q      Love must come from a pure heart – the scriptures/teaching must address the heart

q      Love must come from a good conscience - the scriptures …must address the conscience

q      “An inner witness that testifies on the rightness or wrongness of one’s actions or motives…”ISBE (Rom 2:14-15)

q      The conscience has a wide range of conditions:  weak, wounded, seared, defiled, evil, good, clear

q      Facts:  a) The conscience is an eye witness to our actions & motives – Richard Sibbes

   b) The conscience records the facts exactly as they happened – Richard Sibbes

II.    Facts About the Conscience (cont’d) – Rom. 2:14-15

A.     The conscience is not your God, it is accountable to God

B.      The conscience is limited in knowledge & understanding, therefore the Holy Spirit must reveal truth

III.   Benefits of a Good Conscience (clear, blameless) = bears witness with the scriptures & God

A.     Comfort & joy in life circumstances (Pr. 10:2; 16:8; 19:22-23; 1Pe. 2:13-3:16 – last week)

B.      Encouragement in worship & service to God (2Tim. 1:3; Heb. 9:9-14; 1Co 11:28) – last week

C.      Aid the believer in effective prayer (Jas. 1:5ff; 5:16b) – last week

D.     Comfort believer in sickness & death (2Tim. 4:6-8) – last week

When faced with death – Hezekiah, Isaiah = called upon the Lord to remember how they have lived upright before God; Stephen could even forget about himself & pray for forgiveness for others…Good Conscience!

Love From A Good Conscience-III, pg. 2

IV.  Consequences of a Bad Conscience (wounded, defiled, evil, seared)

A.     Loss of true fellowship with God, joy & comfort in life (Gen. 3:7-8)

B.      Loss of true fellowship with people (Gen. 3:12)

C.      Leads to a dangerous lifestyle (1Co. 8:7,10) – willingly committing acts that you believe are sinful

D.     Leads to error in understanding & teaching the scriptures (1Tim. 1:6) – bad theology

E.      Leads to a hypocritical lifestyle & apostasy (1Tim. 1:19) – bad theology & ungodly lifestyle

F.      Leads to excommunication from the church & affliction from Satan (1Tim. 1:20)

The conscience is like the rudder of a ship, it guides us through the waters of life so that we don’t crash into a wall of temptation & a sinful lifestyle that rips a massive hole in our ship.  How then can we have a good conscience?  1Tim. 1:18c-19a says that we must fight the good fight & keep a good conscience.  1Tim. 4:15-16 says “Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to all.  Pay close attention to yourself and your teaching…”Are you fighting against temptation & sin?  Eph. 6:13-18 & 2Co. 10:4-5 describe the Christian armor that prepares the believer for this battle.  When you are tempted to sin, do you remember Christ – His sacrifice, your love for Him, the shame that sin brings to His name…?  Do you remember what the scriptures have to say about your actions?  You must win the battle in your mind and conscience!  Be quick to respond when your conscience declares you guilty and rejoice when your conscience bears witness with God & the scriptures to declare you not guilty!

G.     To reveal guilt & prepare a sinner for the gospel (Rom. 2:14-16, 4; 1:18-20)

Even when things are going well for you physically, financially, socially, etc. your conscience can make you miserable because success in this world can never take away the guilt of sin!  Children, why do you feel guilty when you sin?

H.     To give comfort & joy (Rom. 2:15 – “defending them”; Tit. 1:15a – “To the pure, all things are pure”

I.       To aid the believer in worship & service to God (2Tim. 1:3; Heb. 9:9-14)

J.       To aid the believer in a loving relationship with God & people (Ac. 24:16; Matt. 5:23-24; 1Co. 11:28)

K.     To aid the believer in effective prayer (Jas. 1:5ff; 5:16b)

L.      To comfort the believer in persecution & slander (1Pe. 2:13-20; 3:1-2, 7,13-16)

Even when circumstances are troubling or tragic for you physically, financially, socially, etc. your conscience can still bring you great comfort & joy because “all is well with your soul”!

M.     To comfort the believer even in death (2Tim. 4:6-8; Matt. 25:21 – “Well done, good & faithful…)

Can you see it my brother/sister; the great value of a good conscience?  Can you see why God ever gave us our conscience & why we need to labor & strive to keep a good & clear conscience?  When everything else is falling apart around you; when you feel lonely & misunderstood; when family, friends, co-workers, & even other Christians have greatly disappointed you, your conscience can still be of tremendous aid, comfort, joy & encouragement!  What is your conscience bearing witness of today?  Is it telling you that your soul is at rest in Jesus Christ…THE GOSPEL?  Have been ignoring your conscience?  How long will you continue to do so…

V.   Problem Issues Regarding the Conscience in the Scriptures

A.     Attempting to worship God with a guilty conscience (Heb. 9:9-14; 10:19-22

B.      Partaking of the necessities of life once used for evil purposes (1Co. 8:1ff; 10:25,27-29)

-         Food and covering are the necessities of life (Matt. 6:25; 1Tim. 6:8)

-         The conscience with scriptural knowledge knows it is not sinful (1Co. 8:1a,4-6)

-         The conscience lacking in scriptural knowledge thinks it is sinful (1Co. 8:7)

-         The believer with knowledge should abstain until the weaker believer is educated (v. 9,13)

C.      Participating in non-biblical holiday & celebrations (Rom. 14:5ff)

-         Non-biblical holidays or celebrations include everything except the Sabbath or Lord’s day

-          

D.     Facts about the conscience

1.      A sinner’s guilty conscience cannot be permanently relieved without faith in Christ (Rom. 8:1-2; 5:1; Heb. 10:19-22).  Therefore faith & a good conscience before God cannot be separated (1Tim. 1:5,19; 3:9).

2.      The conscience informs you of right & wrong toward God & man (Ac. 24:16)

3.      A person with a perfectly good conscience may be wrong in their actions (Ac. 23:1) – Paul before conversion!

4.      Your conscience may not trouble you until after you’ve done something wrong (1Sam. 24:1-5)

5.      The conscience needs to be educated, informed or taught = scriptures (1Co. 8:10-11)

6.      The heart & the conscience are designed to work together (Rom. 2:14-15; 1Tim. 1:5)

You must never stop listening to your conscience; it is the nerve system or the sensitivity system of your soul.  The conscience will often tell you things that you don’t want to hear – it tells you when you’re right or wrong - it brings guilt & comfort.  Even when you don’t feel guilty, you still may be wrong or in error – so your conscience needs to be educated by the scriptures & the Spirit of God.  How have you been treating your conscience?  Are you sensitive to guilt?  Can you easily live with guilt?  What is your conscience saying to you right now?  Are you at peace with yourself or do you have a war going on inside?  Do you know that you have outstanding issues with God or your neighbor?  The scripture teaches that you should not disobey your conscience because that puts you on the road to hypocrisy & destruction!  Will you obey your conscience today?