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!