Rev. David Holwick L Lies Christians Believe
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 22, 2015
1 Corinthians 4:3-5
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I. We live in an emotional age.
A. Googling "Follow your heart" generates 9.5 million hits.
1) We all want a life with passion and fulfillment.
a) Many say to get this you need to "follow your heart."
b) People quit their jobs, dump their girlfriend, and risk
their fortunes on an emotional hunch.
2) Sometimes they end up with the life of their dreams.
a) But not usually.
b) There are many stories of people who follow their hearts
and get burned.
1> They are convinced that this is the right person
for them, or the perfect business, but it's not.
2> How has it worked for you?
B. Christians often put a spiritual spin on it.
1) We want something, so we pray about it and feel that God
gives us a peace about it, so we do it.
a) We often think this is what it means to be "led by the
Spirit."
b) We are not following rigid rules but the freedom of
the Spirit - as long as it really IS God's Spirit.
2) What if it just our own inclination?
a) I have known Christians who take this approach and it
blows up in their face.
b) What has gone wrong?
c) How can we make the right decisions in life?
II. The Bible associates our inner feelings with our conscience.
A. It is the moral dimension of every human.
1) It involves aspects of our heart and mind.
2) Conscience is a word from the Greeks but the Hebrews
knew the concept.
a) When someone does something they know is wrong, their
heart is said to be stricken even if no one else
knows about their sin.
b) King David is often said to have a guilty conscience
like this.
B. It is placed inside us by God.
1) Even non-religious people have God's natural law in their
hearts.
2) It goes beyond our culture or upbringing or even religion.
a) Paul argues in Romans 2:14-15 that our moral code is
universal:
"Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do
by nature things required by the law, they are a law
for themselves, even though they do not have the law,
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."
b) It helps society because policemen cannot be everywhere.
1> In Romans 13:5, Paul says:
"Submit to the authorities, not only because of
possible punishment but also because of conscience."
2> Our conscience should be just as strong as our fear
of getting jailed.
C. Your inner conscience can be powerful.
1) It can make you feel guilty.
The sensational case of millionaire Robert Durst.
The 71-year-old was suspected of being involved in the
deaths of three people but it could never be pinned
on him. (except for the one he was acquitted for
on the grounds it was self-defense)
HBO even did a documentary on him, following him around
with cameras.
In the final episode, while still wearing a microphone,
he muttered to himself in the bathroom,
"There it is. You're caught. What a disaster. ...
What ... did I do? Killed them all, of course."
It led to his arrest last Saturday.
2) Note that Paul in Romans 2 says our conscience doesn't
always make us feel guilty.
a) Sometimes it tries to get us off the hook by
rationalizing our behavior.
b) People can do horrendous things and not feel any guilt.
III. The goal of believers is to live with a clean conscience.
A. Be clean before God and society.
Toward the end of his life Paul said:
Acts 24:16 --
"So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before
God and man."
B. How clear is your conscience?
1) What do you mutter to yourself in the bathroom?
2) John MacArthur writes:
"When we violate our conscience, it condemns us,
triggering feelings of shame, anguish, regret,
anxiety, and even fear.
When we follow our conscience, it commends us,
bringing joy, serenity, self-respect and gladness."
Sermon #19777
IV. Your conscience has limitations.
A. It is seated in your heart and your heart can be bad.
1) Sometimes it seems like it is ONLY bad.
Jeremiah 17:9 famously says -
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond
cure. Who can understand it?"
2) When your heart is sincere it can still be wrong.
Proverbs 14:12 -
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end
it leads to death."
3) Even if we're made new in Christ, our hearts are
notoriously untrustworthy.
B. We can ruin our conscience.
1) By continually disobeying God, we can sear our conscience.
a) Paul uses this expression to describe people who
follow cults in 1 Timothy 4:1.
b) They are into petty religious rules but their basic
condition is hypocrisy and dishonesty.
2) This is the background of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart
in Exodus.
C. Even a clean conscience can be misleading.
1) This is why Paul points beyond his conscience to God in
1 Corinthians 4:3-5.
a) Plenty of his opponents have been running him down
but he doesn't care.
b) They can't judge him, and he doesn't even judge himself.
c) He says he has nothing to feel guilty about, but that
doesn't make him innocent.
d) Only God knows Paul's real condition.
2) Ask God to reveal your genuine morality to you.
a) Spend some time meditating on the choices you have
made in life.
b) Look at your priorities and the fruit of your actions.
V. Your conscience can be trained.
A. Recalibrate it with God's Word.
1) Some consciences are not bad, but immature.
a) You may feel guilty about something that is not a big
deal.
b) Many Christians have weak, easily grieved consciences.
1> Paul mentions people who get hung up over religious
food rules in 1 Corinthians 8:7.
2> He says they have weak consciences.
2) A strong conscience understands God's priorities for life.
a) You appreciate the freedom you have as a Christian.
b) You don't get hung up on petty, legalistic things.
c) But to get to this point, you have to have a firm
understanding of God's Word.
1> Not just the warm fuzzy verses here and there.
2> You have to grasp the deeper principles that tie
the whole Bible together.
B. Appreciate the value of guilt.
1) Some things we should get hung up on.
2) John MacArthur on guilt:
Our culture has declared war on guilt.
The very concept is considered medieval, obsolete,
unproductive.
People who trouble themselves with feelings of personal
guilt are usually referred to therapists, whose task it
is to boost their self-image.
No one, after all, is supposed to feel guilty.
Society encourages sin, but it will not tolerate the guilt
sin produces.
But the answer to dealing with guilt is not to ignore it --
that's the most dangerous thing you can do.
Instead, you need to understand that God graciously
implanted a powerful ally within you to aid you in the
battle against sin.
He gave you your conscience. [1]
3) Guilt can be good.
a) If you do something wrong, you should feel guilty.
b) Take the hint and change your behavior.
VI. How to get your conscience back on track.
A. If you are aware you have done something wrong, confess it.
1) If you have done it to another person, confess to them.
2) Proverbs 28:13 says, "He who conceals his sins does not
prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds
mercy."
B. Your conscience is not your guide.
1) Crickets don't give the best advice.
Where in the Bible does it say, "Let your conscience be
your guide"?
Answer: nowhere.
It's actually from a lowly Disney insect named Jiminy
Cricket.
He was trying to give some advice to a wooden puppet named
Pinocchio.
Like many people today, Pinocchio chose to ignore his
conscience and it got him into deep trouble.
Sermon #19778
a) Our conscience is partly our guide, as long as God is
directing it.
b) He uses our conscience to steer us, but we should always
be mindful of our ability to warp it.
2) Keep your conscience sensitive.
Oswald Chambers in his book "My Utmost For His Highest"
said:
"Conscience is that ability within me that attaches itself
to the highest standard I know, and then continually
reminds me of what that standard demands that I do.
It is the eye of the soul which looks out either toward
God or toward what we regard as the highest standard.
This explains why conscience is different in different
people.
If I am in the habit of continually holding God's standard
in front of me, my conscience will always direct me to
God's perfect law and indicate what I should do.
The question is, will I obey?
I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive
that I can live without any offense toward anyone.
I should be living in such perfect harmony with God's Son
that the spirit of my mind is being renewed through every
circumstance of life, and that I may be able to quickly
'prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God.'" #64796
How sensitive is your conscience?
Are you hurt over the things that hurt God?
Do you value the things that he values?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
Sermon #19777 “Understanding Your Conscience,” Rev. Brian Bill, Pontiac
Bible Church of Pontiac, Illinois; <http://www.pontiacbible.org>;
June 22, 2003.
Sermon #19778 “Dealing With A Damaged Conscience,” Rev. Brian Bill,
Pontiac Bible Church of Pontiac, Illinois;
<http://www.pontiacbible.org>; June 29, 2003.
#64796 “Keeping Your Conscience Sensitive,” Oswald Chambers, from his
book “My Utmost For His Highest,” quoted by Rev. Ron Thomas,
Rodgers Baptist Church of Garland, Texas, Kerux Sermon #64789.
#64797 “Our Culture's War On Guilt,” Rev. Dr. John MacArthur;
<http://www.gty.org/resources/print/articles/A195>.
Original article title is “Keeping a Pure Conscience."
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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