WEBVTT 00:00:01.129 --> 00:00:03.339 I want to read to you one verse 00:00:03.339 --> 00:00:07.343 this evening. 00:00:07.343 --> 00:00:10.463 I want to read you one verse this evening. 00:00:10.463 --> 00:00:14.015 And I'll read it just after I share with you 00:00:14.015 --> 00:00:15.602 what I'm going be speaking on. 00:00:15.602 --> 00:00:17.566 And I'll share with you what I'm going to be speaking on 00:00:17.566 --> 00:00:19.487 just after I pray. 00:00:19.487 --> 00:00:26.032 So let's pray together. 00:00:26.032 --> 00:00:27.190 Father, You told us 00:00:27.190 --> 00:00:29.996 that without You we could do nothing, 00:00:29.996 --> 00:00:31.281 and we believe it, 00:00:31.281 --> 00:00:34.810 even though our flesh would rage with pride 00:00:34.810 --> 00:00:37.814 and try to convince us we'll be okay. 00:00:37.814 --> 00:00:43.171 By faith, we believe we can do nothing. 00:00:43.171 --> 00:00:46.280 Lord, faith is the assurance of things hoped for 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:47.614 and we want to put our hope 00:00:47.614 --> 00:00:53.820 in what You have promised. 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:56.587 Lord, You said that whoever believes in You 00:00:56.587 --> 00:00:58.991 would do the work that You do, 00:00:58.991 --> 00:01:01.912 and greater works than these would he do 00:01:01.912 --> 00:01:05.105 because You had gone to the Father. 00:01:05.105 --> 00:01:07.425 Would You allow me to do - 00:01:07.425 --> 00:01:11.763 it's almost unspeakable, Lord - 00:01:11.763 --> 00:01:14.332 greater works than You did? 00:01:14.332 --> 00:01:16.133 Would you equip Your saints so that 00:01:16.133 --> 00:01:19.047 we could all do greater works than You did 00:01:19.047 --> 00:01:21.156 because You have gone to the Father; 00:01:21.156 --> 00:01:23.053 You've ascended, and You've poured out 00:01:23.053 --> 00:01:31.612 the powerful Holy Spirit. 00:01:31.612 --> 00:01:33.815 Father, I want to pray that You would give us 00:01:33.815 --> 00:01:35.592 a spirit of wisdom and of revelation 00:01:35.592 --> 00:01:38.563 in the knowledge of You. 00:01:38.563 --> 00:01:41.306 Lord, I want to pray that You would just 00:01:41.306 --> 00:01:44.214 break chains this evening. 00:01:44.214 --> 00:01:45.726 Lord, wherever there are those 00:01:45.726 --> 00:01:47.866 who are in bondage, that You would free them, 00:01:47.866 --> 00:01:50.777 and wherever there are Christians who are returning to a spirit of slavery, 00:01:50.777 --> 00:01:56.125 that You would destroy it. 00:01:56.125 --> 00:01:58.634 Lord, You know that this topic that we're talking about 00:01:58.634 --> 00:02:01.890 is one that has plagued me, hurt me. 00:02:01.890 --> 00:02:03.738 I just pray that I would be able to pass 00:02:03.738 --> 00:02:08.291 a little bit of the help I've received on. 00:02:08.291 --> 00:02:11.826 Lord, I pray that You'd give me clarity from Your Word. 00:02:11.826 --> 00:02:13.397 Lord, that You'd give me prophecy 00:02:13.397 --> 00:02:17.335 if there's something particular that needs to be pointed out. 00:02:17.335 --> 00:02:18.946 And that You would just allow us 00:02:18.946 --> 00:02:21.133 to know that Your Spirit was among us, 00:02:21.133 --> 00:02:26.880 speaking to us by Your Word. 00:02:26.880 --> 00:02:29.108 Now, Lord, let us preach and listen 00:02:29.108 --> 00:02:32.230 with confidence in Christ who loves us 00:02:32.230 --> 00:02:34.144 and gave Himself for us, 00:02:34.144 --> 00:02:36.639 and promises to be with us always, 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:39.255 even to the end of the age. 00:02:39.255 --> 00:02:44.429 We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:44.429 --> 00:02:46.738 The topic I want to talk to you about tonight 00:02:46.738 --> 00:02:50.326 is one that can cause you either great pain 00:02:50.326 --> 00:02:53.983 or tremendous pleasure. 00:02:53.983 --> 00:02:55.972 What I want to speak to us about 00:02:55.972 --> 00:02:58.091 is a topic that can either be 00:02:58.091 --> 00:02:59.755 pure and perfect - 00:02:59.755 --> 00:03:02.090 something that can either be pure and perfect - 00:03:02.090 --> 00:03:05.979 or, dirty and defiled. 00:03:05.979 --> 00:03:09.430 It can be either good or bad. 00:03:09.430 --> 00:03:11.293 Seared or soft. 00:03:11.293 --> 00:03:15.532 I want to speak to you about the conscience. 00:03:15.532 --> 00:03:19.935 And isn't the conscience where we live? 00:03:19.935 --> 00:03:24.315 So much of our lives as Christians 00:03:24.315 --> 00:03:30.642 are lived interacting with our consciences. 00:03:30.642 --> 00:03:31.949 If the conscience is dirty, 00:03:31.949 --> 00:03:35.919 there's no good day. 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:37.391 If the conscience is pure, 00:03:37.391 --> 00:03:39.433 there is no bad day, 00:03:39.433 --> 00:03:41.976 no matter what's happening. 00:03:41.976 --> 00:03:44.428 If your conscience is clean, 00:03:44.428 --> 00:03:47.594 communion with God is uninterrupted. 00:03:47.594 --> 00:03:49.381 All hell can break loose against you 00:03:49.381 --> 00:03:53.117 and you've got heaven in your soul. 00:03:53.117 --> 00:03:56.854 If there's a hindrance between you and the Lord, 00:03:56.854 --> 00:04:00.284 then everything can be going right, 00:04:00.284 --> 00:04:02.146 and nothing's going right. 00:04:02.146 --> 00:04:07.172 There's no joy in your soul. 00:04:07.172 --> 00:04:09.656 And I want to speak to us about the conscience 00:04:09.656 --> 00:04:12.456 from 1 Timothy 1:5 00:04:12.456 --> 00:04:14.105 where we're told the goal 00:04:14.105 --> 00:04:18.075 of all Christian teaching. 00:04:18.075 --> 00:04:21.246 The goal of all Paul's teaching, 00:04:21.246 --> 00:04:24.280 the goal of all Timothy's teaching, 00:04:24.280 --> 00:04:26.582 the goal of every Sunday school you ever teach, 00:04:26.582 --> 00:04:29.304 and the goal of every interaction you ever have with a friend 00:04:29.304 --> 00:04:33.662 is summarized in this one verse. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:33.662 --> 00:04:39.505 1 Timothy 1:5. 00:04:39.505 --> 00:04:42.952 "The aim of our charge..." 00:04:42.952 --> 00:04:44.818 or as I believe the NASB puts it: 00:04:44.818 --> 00:04:48.112 "The goal of our instruction." 00:04:48.112 --> 00:04:52.260 "The aim of our charge is love 00:04:52.260 --> 00:04:55.611 that issues from a pure heart 00:04:55.611 --> 00:04:58.193 and a good conscience 00:04:58.193 --> 00:05:02.702 and a sincere faith." NOTE Paragraph 00:05:02.702 --> 00:05:07.052 Everything that's ever taught 00:05:07.052 --> 00:05:09.698 in the name of Christianity 00:05:09.698 --> 00:05:13.319 ought to have a singular goal: 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:15.351 love. 00:05:15.351 --> 00:05:17.499 If it's not helping people care 00:05:17.499 --> 00:05:19.147 about other people more, 00:05:19.147 --> 00:05:22.981 it's not Christian teaching. 00:05:22.981 --> 00:05:24.638 If it's not warming your heart 00:05:24.638 --> 00:05:25.972 to care more about God 00:05:25.972 --> 00:05:28.477 and care more about the people He made, 00:05:28.477 --> 00:05:31.134 it's not Christian teaching. 00:05:31.134 --> 00:05:32.860 I don't care how orthodox it is, 00:05:32.860 --> 00:05:35.101 if it doesn't result in love, it's bent, 00:05:35.101 --> 00:05:37.590 and crooked, warped, and sinful, 00:05:37.590 --> 00:05:38.707 and self-condemned. 00:05:38.707 --> 00:05:42.098 The goal of all Christian teaching 00:05:42.098 --> 00:05:45.348 is for you to care more about other people 00:05:45.348 --> 00:05:47.915 for the glory of God. 00:05:47.915 --> 00:05:50.272 The aim of our instruction is love. 00:05:50.272 --> 00:05:54.021 And it issues, it flows out 00:05:54.021 --> 00:05:56.501 of the inside. 00:05:56.501 --> 00:05:58.218 And the inside of us is described 00:05:58.218 --> 00:06:01.605 in three ways: 00:06:01.605 --> 00:06:03.861 We're told that Christian teaching 00:06:03.861 --> 00:06:05.802 that produces love - 00:06:05.802 --> 00:06:09.554 that love actually ought to issue out of a pure heart - 00:06:09.554 --> 00:06:11.149 a heart that's been born again, 00:06:11.149 --> 00:06:12.621 a heart that's been cleansed, 00:06:12.621 --> 00:06:17.951 a heart that has pure motives before God. 00:06:17.951 --> 00:06:20.846 And a good conscience - we'll get to that. 00:06:20.846 --> 00:06:23.043 And a sincere faith - not like the Pharisees. 00:06:23.043 --> 00:06:24.899 They prayed in public, they acted holy, 00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:27.354 they gave their tithes, 00:06:27.354 --> 00:06:31.046 but it was all to have other people watch them. 00:06:31.046 --> 00:06:33.272 It wasn't a sincere faith towards God. 00:06:33.272 --> 00:06:37.712 It was a show faith towards man. 00:06:37.712 --> 00:06:41.522 And then, the Apostle Paul singles out 00:06:41.522 --> 00:06:45.292 the importance of a good conscience 00:06:45.292 --> 00:06:48.003 in producing love. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:48.003 --> 00:06:50.157 And it should be clear almost immediately 00:06:50.157 --> 00:06:51.838 just how very practical this is. 00:06:51.838 --> 00:06:53.765 It is very practical to think about 00:06:53.765 --> 00:06:55.782 how much we need a good conscience 00:06:55.782 --> 00:06:57.548 if we're going to get biblical love. 00:06:57.548 --> 00:06:59.092 So you think about how abortion 00:06:59.092 --> 00:07:01.110 is justified in our day. 00:07:01.110 --> 00:07:03.438 The slaughter of the innocents. 00:07:03.438 --> 00:07:08.567 Sixty million Americans dead since 1973 - 00:07:08.567 --> 00:07:11.171 legally. 00:07:11.171 --> 00:07:14.562 And justified how? 00:07:14.562 --> 00:07:18.064 In many cases, because it's loving. 00:07:18.064 --> 00:07:18.912 Loving. 00:07:18.912 --> 00:07:21.133 It would sacrifice the mother's dreams 00:07:21.133 --> 00:07:22.590 to have a child at this point, 00:07:22.590 --> 00:07:24.038 and we want to be loving 00:07:24.038 --> 00:07:26.353 and let her become all that she was meant to be. 00:07:26.353 --> 00:07:28.057 So, sacrifice the life of the child 00:07:28.057 --> 00:07:30.693 so as not to sacrifice the mother's dreams. 00:07:30.693 --> 00:07:34.024 Or, it's argued that abortion is loving 00:07:34.024 --> 00:07:37.486 to the child. 00:07:37.486 --> 00:07:39.614 Because of course, if you're born in poverty 00:07:39.614 --> 00:07:41.651 or in a family that doesn't want you, 00:07:41.651 --> 00:07:44.720 that couldn't be a life worth living. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.552 So you see what happens 00:07:47.552 --> 00:07:53.428 is that something is justified in the name of love, 00:07:53.428 --> 00:07:56.073 but it's not from a biblical conscience. 00:07:56.073 --> 00:07:57.786 Not from a good conscience at all. 00:07:57.786 --> 00:08:00.217 Really, it's self-deceived. 00:08:00.217 --> 00:08:02.565 One in every three women in America 00:08:02.565 --> 00:08:04.840 by the time they're 40 00:08:04.840 --> 00:08:06.535 has had an abortion. 00:08:06.535 --> 00:08:08.522 So I realize I'm speaking to dear sisters 00:08:08.522 --> 00:08:10.348 who have had abortions, 00:08:10.348 --> 00:08:13.010 and men who have helped them get those abortions. 00:08:13.010 --> 00:08:15.787 And I want to tell you, I'm going to share things with you 00:08:15.787 --> 00:08:18.235 that will cleanse your conscience. 00:08:18.235 --> 00:08:20.895 That will let you know freedom 00:08:20.895 --> 00:08:24.070 and peace and joy. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:24.070 --> 00:08:25.892 It should just be immediately apparent 00:08:25.892 --> 00:08:28.007 that this whole idea of a good conscience 00:08:28.007 --> 00:08:30.217 is really important in the issue of love. 00:08:30.217 --> 00:08:32.262 Why do so many churches not practice 00:08:32.262 --> 00:08:34.702 church discipline? 00:08:34.702 --> 00:08:37.108 Well, it's not loving. 00:08:37.108 --> 00:08:39.631 Rebuking, 00:08:39.631 --> 00:08:41.463 correcting, 00:08:41.463 --> 00:08:43.776 excluding, 00:08:43.776 --> 00:08:44.827 putting out. 00:08:44.827 --> 00:08:46.232 All of that's inconceivable. 00:08:46.232 --> 00:08:47.992 That can't be loving. 00:08:47.992 --> 00:08:50.392 And so you've got bad definitions of love 00:08:50.392 --> 00:08:51.925 moving people into action, 00:08:51.925 --> 00:08:56.020 and you've got a bad idea of love. 00:08:56.020 --> 00:08:58.588 You don't have love from a good conscience. 00:08:58.588 --> 00:08:59.819 A good conscience says, 00:08:59.819 --> 00:09:02.372 hey, Jesus decides what's loving. 00:09:02.372 --> 00:09:03.966 And if you read Matthew 18, 00:09:03.966 --> 00:09:04.998 it's all about love. 00:09:04.998 --> 00:09:06.951 Go get that brother. Go win that brother. 00:09:06.951 --> 00:09:08.391 Go get two or three to win that brother. 00:09:08.391 --> 00:09:10.456 Go get the whole church to try to win that brother. 00:09:10.456 --> 00:09:12.028 It's all about love 00:09:12.028 --> 00:09:13.891 and winning the sinner in, 00:09:13.891 --> 00:09:17.305 and when love divorces itself from the Bible, 00:09:17.305 --> 00:09:20.445 you don't get love anymore. 00:09:20.445 --> 00:09:23.361 And the Bible is interested in cultivating love 00:09:23.361 --> 00:09:24.605 from a good conscience. 00:09:24.605 --> 00:09:26.724 This is important to know when you're talking about new Christians. 00:09:26.724 --> 00:09:28.138 I have a friend named Darren. 00:09:28.138 --> 00:09:29.672 He went on to become a pastor, 00:09:29.672 --> 00:09:31.063 but when he first got saved, 00:09:31.063 --> 00:09:32.358 he was smoking pot, 00:09:32.358 --> 00:09:34.728 he was smoking cigarettes, he was drinking alcohol, 00:09:34.728 --> 00:09:35.844 he was drinking coffee, 00:09:35.844 --> 00:09:38.155 and he got saved and he got so convicted, 00:09:38.155 --> 00:09:46.669 and he quit the coffee and cigarettes right away. 00:09:46.669 --> 00:09:51.430 But it took a little more conscience informing 00:09:51.430 --> 00:09:54.665 before it started firing on all cylinders, 00:09:54.665 --> 00:09:57.512 and he got convicted of what he needed to be convicted of 00:09:57.512 --> 00:09:59.363 in order to repent 00:09:59.363 --> 00:10:01.320 and continue to walk 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:04.584 in a matter worthy of the gospel. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:04.584 --> 00:10:07.403 And so we need to understand the conscience. 00:10:07.403 --> 00:10:09.859 It's because of misunderstandings 00:10:09.859 --> 00:10:11.119 about the conscience 00:10:11.119 --> 00:10:14.517 that so many churches are so small. 00:10:14.517 --> 00:10:16.773 Now listen, I believe that a lot of churches 00:10:16.773 --> 00:10:19.364 are small because they're so faithful. 00:10:19.364 --> 00:10:20.334 I believe that. 00:10:20.334 --> 00:10:22.335 I believe that in the midst of a crooked 00:10:22.335 --> 00:10:23.551 and perverse generation, 00:10:23.551 --> 00:10:26.338 a lot of times the remnant is going to be small 00:10:26.338 --> 00:10:28.089 and there aren't going to be a lot of people that join them. 00:10:28.089 --> 00:10:29.442 I believe that faithfulness 00:10:29.442 --> 00:10:31.022 can keep churches small. 00:10:31.022 --> 00:10:33.112 Did anyone hear me say that? 00:10:33.112 --> 00:10:34.791 Okay, I said that. Right? 00:10:34.791 --> 00:10:36.418 And I believe that if your church 00:10:36.418 --> 00:10:39.002 all becomes about what kind of bread you bake, 00:10:39.002 --> 00:10:41.129 and what homeschooling curriculum you buy, 00:10:41.129 --> 00:10:44.400 you're going to be small for the wrong reasons. 00:10:44.400 --> 00:10:46.562 And you're going to pat yourself on the back 00:10:46.562 --> 00:10:47.834 for your faithfulness, 00:10:47.834 --> 00:10:51.964 while you keep people away from the kingdom of God. 00:10:51.964 --> 00:10:55.564 And that's bad. 00:10:55.564 --> 00:10:58.159 And so understanding issues of the conscience 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:03.889 is critical to living a life of love. 00:11:03.889 --> 00:11:08.342 The goal of our instruction is love 00:11:08.342 --> 00:11:10.504 from a pure heart, 00:11:10.504 --> 00:11:13.776 a sincere faith, 00:11:13.776 --> 00:11:16.643 and a good conscience. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:16.643 --> 00:11:18.219 Now, let's just ask: 00:11:18.219 --> 00:11:19.522 what is the conscience? 00:11:19.522 --> 00:11:21.724 We're looking at 1 Timothy 1:5. 00:11:21.724 --> 00:11:23.662 It tells us that love is supposed to 00:11:23.662 --> 00:11:25.501 come out of a good conscience. 00:11:25.501 --> 00:11:29.012 What is a conscience? 00:11:29.012 --> 00:11:31.192 And I think the best place to get a sense 00:11:31.192 --> 00:11:32.470 of what a conscience is 00:11:32.470 --> 00:11:35.691 is by watching a conscience in action 00:11:35.691 --> 00:11:41.275 in Romans 2:14-16. 00:11:41.275 --> 00:11:44.824 Romans 2:14-16. 00:11:44.824 --> 00:11:47.840 Let us look at the conscience in action. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:49.984 And as we see the conscience acting; 00:11:49.984 --> 00:11:52.077 as we see what the conscience does, 00:11:52.077 --> 00:11:56.787 we get a glimpse of what the conscience is. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:56.787 --> 00:11:58.707 The Apostle Paul, you might remember, 00:11:58.707 --> 00:12:00.468 in the first three chapters of Romans 00:12:00.468 --> 00:12:01.998 is proceeding like a lawyer 00:12:01.998 --> 00:12:03.599 against the human race; 00:12:03.599 --> 00:12:06.490 showing the universal guilt of the human race, 00:12:06.490 --> 00:12:07.923 and how the whole human race 00:12:07.923 --> 00:12:12.812 is under the guilt and under the power of sin. 00:12:12.812 --> 00:12:15.471 And, as he goes and proceeds to do this, 00:12:15.471 --> 00:12:18.094 he explains that Gentiles - that is non-Jews, 00:12:18.094 --> 00:12:19.918 people who didn't deal with Moses; 00:12:19.918 --> 00:12:21.455 didn't have the 10 Commandments; 00:12:21.455 --> 00:12:22.548 didn't have the Bible; 00:12:22.548 --> 00:12:24.192 the people Francis Schaeffer called, 00:12:24.192 --> 00:12:25.854 "the man without the Bible." 00:12:25.854 --> 00:12:27.352 He says these Gentiles, even though 00:12:27.352 --> 00:12:28.702 they didn't have the 10 Commandments, 00:12:28.702 --> 00:12:31.006 none the less, they had the law 00:12:31.006 --> 00:12:34.080 written on their hearts. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:36.856 And their consciences always spoke to them 00:12:36.856 --> 00:12:38.414 about that law 00:12:38.414 --> 00:12:41.956 that was written on their hearts. 00:12:41.956 --> 00:12:44.180 Romans 2:14 says, 00:12:44.180 --> 00:12:47.243 "For when Gentiles that do not have the law..." 00:12:47.243 --> 00:12:48.953 They don't have the law of Moses. 00:12:48.953 --> 00:12:50.622 They don't have the 10 Commandments 00:12:50.622 --> 00:12:53.240 outside their courtyards. 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:57.000 "...By nature, do what the law requires, 00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:59.489 they are a law to themselves, 00:12:59.489 --> 00:13:01.199 even though they do not have the law, 00:13:01.199 --> 00:13:02.924 they show that the work of the law 00:13:02.924 --> 00:13:05.647 is written on their hearts, 00:13:05.647 --> 00:13:09.247 while their consciences also bear witness 00:13:09.247 --> 00:13:12.047 and their conflicting thoughts accuse 00:13:12.047 --> 00:13:14.956 or even excuse them 00:13:14.956 --> 00:13:17.198 on that day when according to my gospel 00:13:17.198 --> 00:13:20.473 God judges the secrets of men 00:13:20.473 --> 00:13:24.451 by Christ Jesus." 00:13:24.451 --> 00:13:27.562 Every single person has the law 00:13:27.562 --> 00:13:28.863 written on their heart. 00:13:28.863 --> 00:13:30.042 And we're not talking about this 00:13:30.042 --> 00:13:31.704 in the way that Hebrews 8 talks about 00:13:31.704 --> 00:13:33.156 the law written on the heart. 00:13:33.156 --> 00:13:34.286 When Hebrews 8 talks about 00:13:34.286 --> 00:13:35.956 the Christian having the law written on their heart, 00:13:35.956 --> 00:13:40.260 it means that the Christian longs to do the law. 00:13:40.260 --> 00:13:41.892 Here, when we look at Romans 2, 00:13:41.892 --> 00:13:44.054 it's just talking about that every person, 00:13:44.054 --> 00:13:45.793 whether they're a Christian or not, 00:13:45.793 --> 00:13:47.954 is aware of the law. 00:13:47.954 --> 00:13:50.181 They know the difference between 00:13:50.181 --> 00:13:51.627 right and wrong. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:51.627 --> 00:13:53.389 I had the privilege of witnessing 00:13:53.389 --> 00:13:57.728 to two gay friends the other day, 00:13:57.728 --> 00:13:59.108 and I said to them, 00:13:59.108 --> 00:14:01.528 "Listen, isn't it amazing that you're living 00:14:01.528 --> 00:14:02.988 in this time and this culture 00:14:02.988 --> 00:14:05.013 where I know there's been persecution 00:14:05.013 --> 00:14:06.619 and hatred against homosexuals, 00:14:06.619 --> 00:14:08.286 but really, at the end of the day, 00:14:08.286 --> 00:14:11.772 this is about as easy a time as you can imagine 00:14:11.772 --> 00:14:17.265 to be gay, and you both feel guilty now." 00:14:17.265 --> 00:14:21.402 And they're like, "Yeah." 00:14:21.402 --> 00:14:24.485 Because they have the law written on their hearts. 00:14:24.485 --> 00:14:26.404 Because their conscience has not been 00:14:26.404 --> 00:14:29.251 completely silenced. 00:14:29.251 --> 00:14:30.923 And what the Bible tells us 00:14:30.923 --> 00:14:32.618 is that the law is written on the heart, 00:14:32.618 --> 00:14:34.570 so we have this knowledge of right and wrong, 00:14:34.570 --> 00:14:36.207 we have this knowledge of what's good and bad, 00:14:36.207 --> 00:14:38.410 and the conscience is a witness 00:14:38.410 --> 00:14:39.631 that's always telling us 00:14:39.631 --> 00:14:41.124 whether we're doing the good 00:14:41.124 --> 00:14:42.203 or doing the bad. 00:14:42.203 --> 00:14:43.310 It's bearing witness. 00:14:43.310 --> 00:14:45.266 It's like having, as one person put it, 00:14:45.266 --> 00:14:47.588 a prosecuting attorney in your heart 00:14:47.588 --> 00:14:49.682 and a defense attorney in your heart 00:14:49.682 --> 00:14:50.876 at the same time. 00:14:50.876 --> 00:14:52.410 So the attorney at one point is saying, 00:14:52.410 --> 00:14:53.624 "You are guilty." 00:14:53.624 --> 00:14:54.790 And then at the next point, it's saying, 00:14:54.790 --> 00:14:55.977 "You are innocent." 00:14:55.977 --> 00:14:58.435 That was good. That was bad. 00:14:58.435 --> 00:15:01.624 There's this constant self-evaluation 00:15:01.624 --> 00:15:04.781 going on within the heart 00:15:04.781 --> 00:15:06.579 being done by the conscience 00:15:06.579 --> 00:15:09.597 as it compares your behaviors, 00:15:09.597 --> 00:15:13.167 your attitudes, and your actions 00:15:13.167 --> 00:15:16.573 to God's law. 00:15:16.573 --> 00:15:18.857 The conscience bears witness. 00:15:18.857 --> 00:15:21.712 It's like an alarm that goes off 00:15:21.712 --> 00:15:24.508 when you're about to do the wrong thing. 00:15:24.508 --> 00:15:27.366 It's like a knife that stabs your heart 00:15:27.366 --> 00:15:30.521 when you do the wrong thing. 00:15:30.521 --> 00:15:39.131 And it's constantly reflecting you to you. 00:15:39.131 --> 00:15:41.916 And it's a bit wrong to say it's part of you, 00:15:41.916 --> 00:15:43.763 but there's also a sense, isn't there, 00:15:43.763 --> 00:15:46.499 where it's independent of you. 00:15:46.499 --> 00:15:48.384 I can close my eyes. They're closed. 00:15:48.384 --> 00:15:49.465 I can't see you now. 00:15:49.465 --> 00:15:54.970 I've not figured out how to shut my conscience off. 00:15:54.970 --> 00:16:00.000 Sadly, there is a way. I'll show you. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.266 But it's not easy to silence the conscience. 00:16:04.266 --> 00:16:05.996 It's there when you go to bed. 00:16:05.996 --> 00:16:09.826 I believe the reason that so many people stay so busy, 00:16:09.826 --> 00:16:13.423 so distracted, so constantly needing noise in their ears 00:16:13.423 --> 00:16:15.785 and visuals in front of their eyes 00:16:15.785 --> 00:16:17.198 is in many ways, just to keep 00:16:17.198 --> 00:16:20.101 their conscience at bay. 00:16:20.101 --> 00:16:22.759 They cannot bear the sound of silence 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:25.612 because as soon as you meet silence, 00:16:25.612 --> 00:16:28.051 there's a sound. 00:16:28.051 --> 00:16:33.962 And it's the sound of your conscience. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:33.962 --> 00:16:36.411 So, the conscience is a witness 00:16:36.411 --> 00:16:40.022 given by God that reflects 00:16:40.022 --> 00:16:42.190 whether we're either disobeying God's law 00:16:42.190 --> 00:16:43.244 or obeying it. 00:16:43.244 --> 00:16:45.077 It's either excusing us or accusing us 00:16:45.077 --> 00:16:45.941 all the time. 00:16:45.941 --> 00:16:48.139 And there's debate about how v. 16 00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:50.398 fits into Romans 2, 00:16:50.398 --> 00:16:52.912 but it does seem that the final judgment 00:16:52.912 --> 00:16:57.863 is not far off from the eyesight of the conscience. 00:16:57.863 --> 00:17:00.131 "On that day, when according to my gospel 00:17:00.131 --> 00:17:02.089 God judges the secrets of men 00:17:02.089 --> 00:17:03.144 by Christ Jesus." 00:17:03.144 --> 00:17:06.145 Your conscience right now is secret. 00:17:06.145 --> 00:17:08.769 I can't see your conscience. 00:17:08.769 --> 00:17:10.291 I don't know who in front of me 00:17:10.291 --> 00:17:11.570 is tormented with guilt, 00:17:11.570 --> 00:17:13.505 and who is genuinely joyful in the Lord. 00:17:13.505 --> 00:17:15.599 I don't know. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:18.624 And you can't see mine. 00:17:18.624 --> 00:17:22.104 Our consciences have a secret operation. 00:17:22.104 --> 00:17:23.633 But there will come a day 00:17:23.633 --> 00:17:25.467 when those secrets are all brought up 00:17:25.467 --> 00:17:27.021 before the Lord. 00:17:27.021 --> 00:17:28.526 And where the Lord will assess 00:17:28.526 --> 00:17:30.369 whether we've done right or wrong 00:17:30.369 --> 00:17:31.571 on the judgment day. 00:17:31.571 --> 00:17:32.863 And I'm going to tell you, 00:17:32.863 --> 00:17:34.832 I believe the conscience knows 00:17:34.832 --> 00:17:36.785 we've done wrong. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:36.785 --> 00:17:39.547 Look at Romans 1:32. 00:17:39.547 --> 00:17:41.610 Romans 1:32. 00:17:41.610 --> 00:17:44.300 He's speaking about the Gentiles. 00:17:44.300 --> 00:17:46.559 He's just listed off this whole list of sins. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:48.911 Homosexuality, lesbianism, 00:17:48.911 --> 00:17:50.577 gossip, slander, 00:17:50.577 --> 00:17:52.152 disobedience to parents. 00:17:52.152 --> 00:17:54.951 He's listed off all these things 00:17:54.951 --> 00:17:56.683 that Kevin pointed out so well. 00:17:56.683 --> 00:17:58.477 We ought to feel compassionate about 00:17:58.477 --> 00:18:01.715 when we see them in other people. 00:18:01.715 --> 00:18:04.615 And he tells us how the Gentiles 00:18:04.615 --> 00:18:09.394 feel about all these sins they commit. 00:18:09.394 --> 00:18:11.860 They tell you it doesn't bother them. 00:18:11.860 --> 00:18:14.551 They tell you it's no big deal. 00:18:14.551 --> 00:18:21.065 They tell you they stopped feeling guilty about that years ago. 00:18:21.065 --> 00:18:23.871 Romans 1:32. 00:18:23.871 --> 00:18:26.097 "Though they know God's righteous decree 00:18:26.097 --> 00:18:27.800 that those who practice such things 00:18:27.800 --> 00:18:29.874 deserve to die, 00:18:29.874 --> 00:18:31.040 they not only do them, 00:18:31.040 --> 00:18:35.469 but give approval to those who practice them." 00:18:35.469 --> 00:18:38.262 People know that God has decreed 00:18:38.262 --> 00:18:40.888 the death sentence against their sin. 00:18:40.888 --> 00:18:42.495 They know that. 00:18:42.495 --> 00:18:45.140 Deeply. 00:18:45.140 --> 00:18:46.975 Their consciences remind them 00:18:46.975 --> 00:18:48.702 that they deserve to die 00:18:48.702 --> 00:18:50.211 because of their sin. 00:18:50.211 --> 00:18:51.829 And they gather around them people 00:18:51.829 --> 00:18:53.816 who go, "that's okay. It's no big deal." 00:18:53.816 --> 00:18:57.353 "Oh, don't get into that old antiquated morality." 00:18:57.353 --> 00:18:59.369 "That's all false. That's all lies." 00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:02.460 "You need to understand that we're free of all that stuff now." 00:19:02.460 --> 00:19:04.504 And they surround themselves with voices 00:19:04.504 --> 00:19:06.355 that say it's all okay. 00:19:06.355 --> 00:19:08.532 But when they put their head on the pillow, 00:19:08.532 --> 00:19:10.948 or have a moment of silence, 00:19:10.948 --> 00:19:14.159 it's there. 00:19:14.159 --> 00:19:18.847 I've done wrong. 00:19:18.847 --> 00:19:22.682 And I deserve to die. 00:19:22.682 --> 00:19:24.726 And I wonder how many of you here 00:19:24.726 --> 00:19:27.523 know you've done wrong 00:19:27.523 --> 00:19:30.900 and you deserve to die, 00:19:30.900 --> 00:19:33.108 and tonight will be the time you taste freedom 00:19:33.108 --> 00:19:36.523 for the first time. 00:19:36.523 --> 00:19:38.399 Wouldn't that be great? 00:19:38.399 --> 00:19:40.622 Come out of the shadows? 00:19:40.622 --> 00:19:42.873 Come out of the secrets? 00:19:42.873 --> 00:19:45.921 And have your conscience cleansed? NOTE Paragraph 00:19:45.921 --> 00:19:49.648 I used to teach a Bible study in prison, 00:19:49.648 --> 00:19:52.190 and there were a number of men in the Bible study 00:19:52.190 --> 00:19:55.128 who had killed their wives. 00:19:55.128 --> 00:19:57.749 One of them denied it for years and years 00:19:57.749 --> 00:19:59.381 and years and years and years. 00:19:59.381 --> 00:20:01.877 And when he finally admitted that he'd killed his wife, 00:20:01.877 --> 00:20:05.023 they said he changed color. 00:20:05.023 --> 00:20:08.363 It was just life giving 00:20:08.363 --> 00:20:11.754 to come clean; 00:20:11.754 --> 00:20:15.473 to confess. NOTE Paragraph 00:20:15.473 --> 00:20:19.008 So, here is a definition. 00:20:19.008 --> 00:20:21.563 I've been helped out with this. 00:20:21.563 --> 00:20:23.644 The conscience is that aspect 00:20:23.644 --> 00:20:26.436 because we're made in the image of God - 00:20:26.436 --> 00:20:28.930 the conscience is that aspect of us 00:20:28.930 --> 00:20:31.548 that tells us what's right 00:20:31.548 --> 00:20:33.129 and what's wrong. 00:20:33.129 --> 00:20:34.960 The conscience is that aspect of us 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:36.871 because we're made in the image of God 00:20:36.871 --> 00:20:38.035 that witnesses to us 00:20:38.035 --> 00:20:40.127 about what is right and what is wrong. 00:20:40.127 --> 00:20:41.625 We're made in the image of God, 00:20:41.625 --> 00:20:43.429 and God is the kind of God who says, 00:20:43.429 --> 00:20:45.235 that's good; that's good; that's good. 00:20:45.235 --> 00:20:46.281 Man alone? Not good. 00:20:46.281 --> 00:20:48.171 Man with a wife? Very good. 00:20:48.171 --> 00:20:49.874 He is the God who says what's good, 00:20:49.874 --> 00:20:51.794 not good, and very good. 00:20:51.794 --> 00:20:53.664 We're made in His image. 00:20:53.664 --> 00:20:55.962 And so we have a conscience that bears witness 00:20:55.962 --> 00:21:01.638 to good, evil, not good, very good. 00:21:01.638 --> 00:21:03.279 We're made in the image of God 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:05.074 and so like God, we cannot help 00:21:05.074 --> 00:21:11.233 but to witness to the reality of morality. 00:21:11.233 --> 00:21:13.188 That's what the conscience is. 00:21:13.188 --> 00:21:15.887 Everyone has one. 00:21:15.887 --> 00:21:18.918 Only you experience yours. 00:21:18.918 --> 00:21:21.091 It witnesses to what's going on in your heart 00:21:21.091 --> 00:21:22.154 regarding God's law - 00:21:22.154 --> 00:21:24.801 whether you're obeying it and you should be excused, 00:21:24.801 --> 00:21:28.556 or you're disobeying it and should be accused. 00:21:28.556 --> 00:21:32.037 And ultimately, all of our secret thoughts 00:21:32.037 --> 00:21:34.853 will be brought up to the judgment of God 00:21:34.853 --> 00:21:38.168 on the last day. NOTE Paragraph 00:21:38.168 --> 00:21:41.333 This is my second point if you're keeping notes. 00:21:41.333 --> 00:21:43.109 If you're keeping notes, I'm sorry. 00:21:43.109 --> 00:21:45.008 I'm just the worst preacher for that. 00:21:45.008 --> 00:21:50.960 But, here's the second point. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:53.714 We've looked at what the conscience is, 00:21:53.714 --> 00:21:55.613 and now we want to look at the fact 00:21:55.613 --> 00:21:59.158 that the conscience has different states. 00:21:59.158 --> 00:22:01.308 The conscience can be in different states. 00:22:01.308 --> 00:22:03.204 And I don't mean the conscience can be 00:22:03.204 --> 00:22:04.531 in Mississippi and Alabama. 00:22:04.531 --> 00:22:09.401 I mean that it can be in different places before God. 00:22:09.401 --> 00:22:11.234 It can be in different states. 00:22:11.234 --> 00:22:12.756 This is implied in the verse. 00:22:12.756 --> 00:22:15.553 We wouldn't really need to go further than 1 Timothy 1:5. 00:22:15.553 --> 00:22:18.200 We will go further than 1 Timothy 1:5, 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:20.847 but it's implied right there in 1 Timothy 1:5. 00:22:20.847 --> 00:22:23.039 The goal of our instruction is love 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:24.696 from a good conscience. 00:22:24.696 --> 00:22:25.843 So one of the states 00:22:25.843 --> 00:22:27.714 that a conscience can be in 00:22:27.714 --> 00:22:29.837 is it can be good. 00:22:29.837 --> 00:22:31.953 You can have a good conscience. 00:22:31.953 --> 00:22:33.475 The implication of the verse is 00:22:33.475 --> 00:22:35.234 that when you start your Christian life, 00:22:35.234 --> 00:22:37.274 the conscience isn't as good as it should be 00:22:37.274 --> 00:22:39.956 and so you need Christian teaching 00:22:39.956 --> 00:22:44.380 to learn how to walk with a good conscience. 00:22:44.380 --> 00:22:46.448 The conscience can be in different states. 00:22:46.448 --> 00:22:48.273 And it's going to benefit us, I think, 00:22:48.273 --> 00:22:53.095 this evening. 00:22:53.095 --> 00:22:55.889 It's going to benefit us to think through 00:22:55.889 --> 00:22:57.849 some of the states 00:22:57.849 --> 00:22:59.738 the conscience can be in. 00:22:59.738 --> 00:23:00.970 This isn't exhaustive, 00:23:00.970 --> 00:23:04.067 but I hope it's helpful. NOTE Paragraph 00:23:04.067 --> 00:23:08.024 The first is the conscience can be weak. 00:23:08.024 --> 00:23:11.684 The conscience can be weak. 00:23:11.684 --> 00:23:14.665 Look at 1 Corinthians 8. 00:23:14.665 --> 00:23:18.771 1 Corinthians 8, if you will. 00:23:18.771 --> 00:23:23.679 And we'll read verses 7-12. 00:23:23.679 --> 00:23:28.980 We'll put our fingers on v. 10. 00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:33.882 1 Corinthians 8:7-12. 00:23:33.882 --> 00:23:37.331 The situation is that some of the Corinthians 00:23:37.331 --> 00:23:40.800 were eating meat sacrificed to idols. 00:23:40.800 --> 00:23:42.339 And they'd gotten saved; 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:44.172 they's realized that Zeus and Hermes 00:23:44.172 --> 00:23:46.075 and all these idols, they were nothing. 00:23:46.075 --> 00:23:47.535 They didn't even exist. 00:23:47.535 --> 00:23:49.907 And so the fact that in Corinth, 00:23:49.907 --> 00:23:51.428 all the meat in the meat market 00:23:51.428 --> 00:23:54.230 was sacrificed to idols didn't bother them 00:23:54.230 --> 00:23:57.605 because all the idols didn't exist. 00:23:57.605 --> 00:24:01.232 But Paul says in v. 7, 00:24:01.232 --> 00:24:03.731 not all possess this knowledge. 00:24:03.731 --> 00:24:05.543 Not every Christian's worked it out. 00:24:05.543 --> 00:24:07.154 Even though there's only one God, 00:24:07.154 --> 00:24:08.810 and Zeus and Hermes don't exist, 00:24:08.810 --> 00:24:11.073 not every Christian has fully appreciated that, 00:24:11.073 --> 00:24:12.464 fully understood that, 00:24:12.464 --> 00:24:13.776 fully gotten that. 00:24:13.776 --> 00:24:16.737 They're worshiping God and God alone, 00:24:16.737 --> 00:24:18.603 but man, Zeus and Hermes are real, 00:24:18.603 --> 00:24:22.762 and I don't want anything to do with them. 00:24:22.762 --> 00:24:23.959 And it says there, 00:24:23.959 --> 00:24:26.011 "not all possess this knowledge..." 00:24:26.011 --> 00:24:28.728 this knowledge that there is only one God, 00:24:28.728 --> 00:24:31.294 and there are no idols, 00:24:31.294 --> 00:24:34.666 "...but some through former association with idols 00:24:34.666 --> 00:24:38.795 eat food as really offered to an idol 00:24:38.795 --> 00:24:41.298 and their conscience being weak 00:24:41.298 --> 00:24:42.965 is defiled. 00:24:42.965 --> 00:24:44.855 Food will not commend us to God, 00:24:44.855 --> 00:24:47.104 we are no worse off if we do not eat, 00:24:47.104 --> 00:24:50.346 and no better off if we do, 00:24:50.346 --> 00:24:52.921 but take care that this right of yours 00:24:52.921 --> 00:24:55.304 does not somehow become a stumbling block 00:24:55.304 --> 00:24:56.278 to the weak. 00:24:56.278 --> 00:24:58.705 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge 00:24:58.705 --> 00:25:00.068 eating in an idol's temple, 00:25:00.068 --> 00:25:01.645 will he not be encouraged 00:25:01.645 --> 00:25:03.307 if his conscience is weak 00:25:03.307 --> 00:25:05.659 to eat food offered to idols 00:25:05.659 --> 00:25:08.204 and so by your knowledge, this weak person 00:25:08.204 --> 00:25:09.518 is destroyed, 00:25:09.518 --> 00:25:12.849 the brother for whom Christ died, 00:25:12.849 --> 00:25:14.482 thus sinning against your brother 00:25:14.482 --> 00:25:17.508 and wounding their conscience when it is weak, 00:25:17.508 --> 00:25:19.756 you sin against Christ. 00:25:19.756 --> 00:25:22.152 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, 00:25:22.152 --> 00:25:24.187 I will never eat meat, 00:25:24.187 --> 00:25:31.594 lest I make my brother stumble." 00:25:31.594 --> 00:25:33.252 The idea here is that 00:25:33.252 --> 00:25:35.491 some of these Christians, 00:25:35.491 --> 00:25:37.333 they couldn't get over the connection 00:25:37.333 --> 00:25:39.219 between the meat and the idols. 00:25:39.219 --> 00:25:40.437 They couldn't get over it. 00:25:40.437 --> 00:25:41.792 They couldn't get it out of their mind. 00:25:41.792 --> 00:25:42.980 It was like when I got saved. 00:25:42.980 --> 00:25:45.265 I had been to every nasty punk show 00:25:45.265 --> 00:25:46.497 before I got saved, 00:25:46.497 --> 00:25:47.986 and when I got to Bible college 00:25:47.986 --> 00:25:49.284 and found all these Christians 00:25:49.284 --> 00:25:50.960 listening to Christianized punk music, 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:53.111 I couldn't understand how it could be good. 00:25:53.111 --> 00:25:55.050 It couldn't possibly be decent, 00:25:55.050 --> 00:25:57.541 because it had too many associations 00:25:57.541 --> 00:25:59.615 with the evil I had come out of 00:25:59.615 --> 00:26:03.519 for me to even conceive of it possibly being good. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:05.066 And these Christians in Corinth 00:26:05.066 --> 00:26:07.941 had so many memories of the pagan temples 00:26:07.941 --> 00:26:09.758 and so many memories of the wickedness 00:26:09.758 --> 00:26:10.840 that happened there, 00:26:10.840 --> 00:26:13.457 that the idea of eating meat 00:26:13.457 --> 00:26:15.447 that was sacrificed to those gods, 00:26:15.447 --> 00:26:18.291 they just couldn't handle that. 00:26:18.291 --> 00:26:21.175 They couldn't tolerate that. 00:26:21.175 --> 00:26:25.249 And so their consciences were weak. 00:26:25.249 --> 00:26:27.071 They were weak because they were not 00:26:27.071 --> 00:26:30.852 walking in the fullness of what God has revealed. 00:26:30.852 --> 00:26:32.115 And what God has revealed 00:26:32.115 --> 00:26:34.258 is that Zeus and Hermes don't exist. 00:26:34.258 --> 00:26:36.888 Mohammad and Allah don't exist. 00:26:36.888 --> 00:26:38.805 Vishnu doesn't exist. 00:26:38.805 --> 00:26:41.324 All the gods, all the false gods of this world, 00:26:41.324 --> 00:26:43.364 don't even exist, 00:26:43.364 --> 00:26:45.724 so you can sacrifice food all you want to them, 00:26:45.724 --> 00:26:48.367 they don't exist! 00:26:48.367 --> 00:26:50.777 But these believers had not been 00:26:50.777 --> 00:26:53.084 fully able to appreciate 00:26:53.084 --> 00:26:55.733 all of God's truth. 00:26:55.733 --> 00:26:57.622 Now, we're going to get into this later, 00:26:57.622 --> 00:26:59.340 but notice Paul's approach is not: 00:26:59.340 --> 00:27:01.394 "What's wrong with you not appreciating 00:27:01.394 --> 00:27:06.559 all of God's revealed truth?" 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:08.511 His answer is: 00:27:08.511 --> 00:27:11.930 care for the weak brother. 00:27:11.930 --> 00:27:14.253 Don't offend him. 00:27:14.253 --> 00:27:17.692 He doesn't understand everything in the Bible, 00:27:17.692 --> 00:27:20.920 but he understands the things that save him. 00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:22.582 Don't hurt him. 00:27:22.582 --> 00:27:25.536 His conscience is weak. 00:27:25.536 --> 00:27:27.181 And there are people in our day 00:27:27.181 --> 00:27:29.820 who think that any touching of alcohol 00:27:29.820 --> 00:27:34.004 is a sin even though Jesus made wine. 00:27:34.004 --> 00:27:38.396 And your conscience is weak. 00:27:38.396 --> 00:27:39.975 There are people who think 00:27:39.975 --> 00:27:41.919 one day is holier than all the others, 00:27:41.919 --> 00:27:45.583 and Paul says their consciences are weak. 00:27:45.583 --> 00:27:46.940 Now, that's kind of hard, right? 00:27:46.940 --> 00:27:48.612 Because when your conscience is weak, 00:27:48.612 --> 00:27:52.265 you feel like it's pretty strong. 00:27:52.265 --> 00:27:53.522 Right? 00:27:53.522 --> 00:27:55.955 I've got a few of those issues myself. 00:27:55.955 --> 00:27:57.869 I've got a pretty good unbiblical case 00:27:57.869 --> 00:28:03.642 for what I believe. 00:28:03.642 --> 00:28:06.448 Nonetheless, Paul identifies 00:28:06.448 --> 00:28:08.802 certain consciences that have not 00:28:08.802 --> 00:28:11.253 walked into the fullness of God's revelation. 00:28:11.253 --> 00:28:15.945 He identifies them as weak. 00:28:15.945 --> 00:28:18.187 You're going to have a weak conscience. 00:28:18.187 --> 00:28:20.493 And conversely, you can have a strong conscience. 00:28:20.493 --> 00:28:22.825 A strong conscience is one that fully walks in 00:28:22.825 --> 00:28:30.387 what God has revealed to be okay. NOTE Paragraph 00:28:30.387 --> 00:28:32.754 A conscience can also be seared. 00:28:32.754 --> 00:28:36.229 1 Timothy 4:1 please. 00:28:36.229 --> 00:28:46.979 A conscience can also be seared. 00:28:46.979 --> 00:28:49.139 1 Timothy 4:1 00:28:49.139 --> 00:28:50.848 Remember we're now in the same book 00:28:50.848 --> 00:28:56.284 that our first passage comes from. 00:28:56.284 --> 00:28:58.730 Paul says, "Now the Spirit expressly says 00:28:58.730 --> 00:29:00.193 that in later times, some will 00:29:00.193 --> 00:29:02.443 depart from the faith by devoting themselves 00:29:02.443 --> 00:29:04.025 to deceitful spirits 00:29:04.025 --> 00:29:06.131 and the teachings of demons 00:29:06.131 --> 00:29:08.254 through the insincerity of liars 00:29:08.254 --> 00:29:12.861 whose consciences are seared, 00:29:12.861 --> 00:29:15.345 who forbid marriage, 00:29:15.345 --> 00:29:17.406 and require abstinence from food 00:29:17.406 --> 00:29:19.242 that God created to be received 00:29:19.242 --> 00:29:21.154 with thanksgiving by those who believe 00:29:21.154 --> 00:29:22.237 and know the truth. 00:29:22.237 --> 00:29:24.660 For everything created by God is good 00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:26.183 and nothing is to be rejected 00:29:26.183 --> 00:29:28.104 if it is received with thanksgiving, 00:29:28.104 --> 00:29:32.810 for it is made holy by the Word of God and prayer." NOTE Paragraph 00:29:32.810 --> 00:29:34.649 Now some of you could come up to me 00:29:34.649 --> 00:29:36.373 after the service, 00:29:36.373 --> 00:29:38.003 and if my experience is true, 00:29:38.003 --> 00:29:39.337 some of you will, 00:29:39.337 --> 00:29:42.598 and you've got burns. 00:29:42.598 --> 00:29:45.202 Places where your skin has been seared. 00:29:45.202 --> 00:29:46.443 And of course, you know, 00:29:46.443 --> 00:29:48.818 if you put out a match with your two fingers, 00:29:48.818 --> 00:29:50.207 it's no big deal, 00:29:50.207 --> 00:29:55.293 but if you fall onto the top of the stove 00:29:55.293 --> 00:29:58.350 or you wind up in a fire, 00:29:58.350 --> 00:30:00.931 you wind up with skin where the nerve damage 00:30:00.931 --> 00:30:04.001 is terrible, where you can no longer feel 00:30:04.001 --> 00:30:06.772 what's going on on the skin. 00:30:06.772 --> 00:30:09.891 And so what ought to be sensitive 00:30:09.891 --> 00:30:12.142 and sensitive to touch, 00:30:12.142 --> 00:30:16.142 you actually can't feel because it's seared. 00:30:16.142 --> 00:30:18.185 And the Bible says that the conscience 00:30:18.185 --> 00:30:21.430 can become like that. 00:30:21.430 --> 00:30:22.824 You know, one time, you say 00:30:22.824 --> 00:30:25.965 your first cuss word. 00:30:25.965 --> 00:30:28.024 Then years later, you're swearing like a sailor 00:30:28.024 --> 00:30:31.449 and you don't even notice. 00:30:31.449 --> 00:30:33.913 A person looks at their first pornographic image, 00:30:33.913 --> 00:30:35.519 and it's seared into their minds. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:36.882 It's blazed in there. 00:30:36.882 --> 00:30:38.208 And then, ten years later, 00:30:38.208 --> 00:30:39.846 they can't even remember how much 00:30:39.846 --> 00:30:41.261 garbage they've seen. 00:30:41.261 --> 00:30:42.888 The first time, it just bothered them, 00:30:42.888 --> 00:30:44.654 it tormented them. 00:30:44.654 --> 00:30:46.671 Ten years later, they didn't even realize 00:30:46.671 --> 00:30:51.007 it was wrong. 00:30:51.007 --> 00:30:54.626 That's a seared conscience. 00:30:54.626 --> 00:30:57.699 It's not sensitive 00:30:57.699 --> 00:31:00.414 the way it ought to be. NOTE Paragraph 00:31:00.414 --> 00:31:01.899 And we tend to think about that 00:31:01.899 --> 00:31:03.097 with drugs and alcohol. 00:31:03.097 --> 00:31:04.871 If you get into drugs and alcohol, 00:31:04.871 --> 00:31:06.276 you'll sear your conscience, 00:31:06.276 --> 00:31:08.743 and you really will. 00:31:08.743 --> 00:31:12.481 But Paul's concern is actually with legalism. 00:31:12.481 --> 00:31:14.765 There's some people that say marriage is bad, 00:31:14.765 --> 00:31:18.939 and I'm here to tell you they're demonic. 00:31:18.939 --> 00:31:22.158 Isn't that what the verse says? 00:31:22.158 --> 00:31:24.399 "By devoting themselves to deceitful spirits 00:31:24.399 --> 00:31:28.387 and the teaching of demons." 00:31:28.387 --> 00:31:29.881 Some people forbid marriage. 00:31:29.881 --> 00:31:32.102 Some people make new rules and regulations 00:31:32.102 --> 00:31:33.966 where you've got to be just about like Jesus 00:31:33.966 --> 00:31:37.365 before you're allowed to marry anybody. 00:31:37.365 --> 00:31:38.939 They make it almost impossible 00:31:38.939 --> 00:31:41.294 for anyone to get married. 00:31:41.294 --> 00:31:48.566 You can court my daughter once you're perfect. 00:31:48.566 --> 00:31:52.869 That sounds godly. 00:31:52.869 --> 00:31:55.494 Sounds a lot like 1 Corinthians 7. 00:31:55.494 --> 00:32:00.812 If you're struggling, let them get married. 00:32:00.812 --> 00:32:02.246 Some people don't realize 00:32:02.246 --> 00:32:10.136 that tacos are a gift from God. 00:32:10.136 --> 00:32:12.323 Amen? 00:32:12.323 --> 00:32:14.141 If you don't agree, 00:32:14.141 --> 00:32:21.230 well, go back to that demonic verse. 00:32:21.230 --> 00:32:23.601 And we need to watch those things 00:32:23.601 --> 00:32:26.260 because it can feel very holy 00:32:26.260 --> 00:32:29.616 not to do certain things. 00:32:29.616 --> 00:32:31.673 When you get a zeal for the Lord, 00:32:31.673 --> 00:32:33.794 it's very easy for Satan to hijack that 00:32:33.794 --> 00:32:35.664 with a do not taste, do not handle, 00:32:35.664 --> 00:32:39.269 do not touch mentality. 00:32:39.269 --> 00:32:41.514 I used to do those things, but now I don't. 00:32:41.514 --> 00:32:43.483 Well, if what you mean is you used to be 00:32:43.483 --> 00:32:45.102 an adulterer, but now you're not? 00:32:45.102 --> 00:32:48.729 Good. 00:32:48.729 --> 00:32:50.844 But if you mean you used to enjoy food, 00:32:50.844 --> 00:32:52.972 but now you don't? 00:32:52.972 --> 00:32:55.751 Bad. 00:32:55.751 --> 00:33:00.989 Your conscience is being seared. NOTE Paragraph 00:33:00.989 --> 00:33:03.803 Another aspect or state of the conscience 00:33:03.803 --> 00:33:06.097 can be in is guilty, 00:33:06.097 --> 00:33:08.518 or in the words of Hebrews in the ESV, 00:33:08.518 --> 00:33:09.540 "evil." 00:33:09.540 --> 00:33:12.754 Hebrews 10:22. 00:33:12.754 --> 00:33:21.122 Hebrews 10:22. 00:33:21.122 --> 00:33:25.742 Here the writer of Hebrews writes 00:33:25.742 --> 00:33:29.884 in Hebrews 10:22, 00:33:29.884 --> 00:33:32.308 "Let us draw near..." 00:33:32.308 --> 00:33:36.355 meaning, draw near to God. 00:33:36.355 --> 00:33:38.249 "...With a true heart 00:33:38.249 --> 00:33:40.297 in full assurance of faith, 00:33:40.297 --> 00:33:42.946 with our hearts sprinkled clean 00:33:42.946 --> 00:33:44.538 from an evil conscience..." 00:33:44.538 --> 00:33:46.035 Or as some translations put it: 00:33:46.035 --> 00:33:47.709 "from a guilty conscience, 00:33:47.709 --> 00:33:50.800 and our bodies washed with pure water." 00:33:50.800 --> 00:33:52.021 Isn't this interesting? 00:33:52.021 --> 00:33:53.751 When we draw near to God, 00:33:53.751 --> 00:33:57.442 the conscience comes up, doesn't it? 00:33:57.442 --> 00:33:59.873 Because as soon as you go to draw near to God, 00:33:59.873 --> 00:34:02.985 ooh, that thing you said to your wife pops up. 00:34:02.985 --> 00:34:04.518 The fact that you weren't just 00:34:04.518 --> 00:34:06.291 biblically correcting your children, 00:34:06.291 --> 00:34:12.811 but you were screaming comes up. NOTE Paragraph 00:34:12.811 --> 00:34:14.245 Years ago, I was preaching, 00:34:14.245 --> 00:34:16.626 and I hadn't planned on mentioned it, 00:34:16.626 --> 00:34:18.293 I just mentioned, 00:34:18.293 --> 00:34:20.539 maybe some of you have cheated on your taxes, 00:34:20.539 --> 00:34:22.313 and immediately, a lady comes up to me 00:34:22.313 --> 00:34:23.595 after the service and said, 00:34:23.595 --> 00:34:25.548 "I've never cheated on my taxes before. 00:34:25.548 --> 00:34:29.103 I cheated on them this year." 00:34:29.103 --> 00:34:32.489 It's amazing how things can just surface 00:34:32.489 --> 00:34:35.264 when we go to approach God. 00:34:35.264 --> 00:34:36.995 And if we're going to approach God 00:34:36.995 --> 00:34:38.619 and really enjoy it and actually 00:34:38.619 --> 00:34:41.558 commune with God, 00:34:41.558 --> 00:34:43.218 the guilt or the evil 00:34:43.218 --> 00:34:44.576 that's on our consciences 00:34:44.576 --> 00:34:46.805 needs to be cleansed. 00:34:46.805 --> 00:34:49.119 It needs to be washed away. 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:50.693 Because otherwise, you know 00:34:50.693 --> 00:34:53.729 you're approaching a holy God 00:34:53.729 --> 00:34:55.937 as a dirty sinner. 00:34:55.937 --> 00:34:57.729 And that's simply not possible, 00:34:57.729 --> 00:35:00.557 because His eyes are too pure 00:35:00.557 --> 00:35:04.237 to behold what's sinful. 00:35:04.237 --> 00:35:06.367 So there's a guilty or evil conscience. NOTE Paragraph 00:35:06.367 --> 00:35:08.650 And then, let's remember this one really quickly. 00:35:08.650 --> 00:35:11.839 There is such a thing as a purified conscience. 00:35:11.839 --> 00:35:14.991 A cleansed conscience. 00:35:14.991 --> 00:35:18.348 Hebrews 9:11-14. 00:35:18.348 --> 00:35:22.332 We'll look at v. 14. 00:35:22.332 --> 00:35:26.474 Hebrews 9, "How much more 00:35:26.474 --> 00:35:29.529 will the blood of Christ, 00:35:29.529 --> 00:35:31.531 who through the eternal Spirit 00:35:31.531 --> 00:35:35.413 offered Himself without blemish to God, 00:35:35.413 --> 00:35:39.551 purify your conscience 00:35:39.551 --> 00:35:42.140 from dead works... 00:35:42.140 --> 00:35:45.378 (works that call out for your death) 00:35:45.378 --> 00:35:48.304 to serve the living God." 00:35:48.304 --> 00:35:49.965 The apostle here is talking to us 00:35:49.965 --> 00:35:51.478 about how in the Old Testament, 00:35:51.478 --> 00:35:53.403 worship of God and the approach to God 00:35:53.403 --> 00:35:55.160 was when you approached His temple 00:35:55.160 --> 00:35:56.749 and approached His tabernacle, 00:35:56.749 --> 00:35:58.948 and this was done by sacrificing animals 00:35:58.948 --> 00:36:00.955 year after year after year. 00:36:00.955 --> 00:36:04.023 And we're told that the sacrificing of animals 00:36:04.023 --> 00:36:09.855 never took away the knowledge of sin. 00:36:09.855 --> 00:36:13.777 But how much more the blood of Christ, 00:36:13.777 --> 00:36:17.334 who was the Sheep without a blemish; 00:36:17.334 --> 00:36:18.645 who wasn't just one lamb, 00:36:18.645 --> 00:36:20.174 but was the Lamb of God. 00:36:20.174 --> 00:36:21.618 Behold, the Lamb of God, 00:36:21.618 --> 00:36:26.439 who takes away the sins of the world. 00:36:26.439 --> 00:36:29.048 It says here, "How much more will the blood of Christ, 00:36:29.048 --> 00:36:30.490 who through the eternal Spirit 00:36:30.490 --> 00:36:32.427 offered Himself without blemish to God, 00:36:32.427 --> 00:36:34.745 purify your conscience from dead works 00:36:34.745 --> 00:36:36.529 to serve the living God." 00:36:36.529 --> 00:36:37.387 Listen to me. 00:36:37.387 --> 00:36:40.280 Your conscience screams out for your death. 00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:42.487 Your conscience gnaws away at you 00:36:42.487 --> 00:36:43.535 for your death. 00:36:43.535 --> 00:36:45.236 Your conscience screams 00:36:45.236 --> 00:36:47.679 like the blood of guilt and says, 00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:50.000 "you deserve to die for that thing you did 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:51.388 and for those things you did 00:36:51.388 --> 00:36:53.055 and for those attitudes you harbor. 00:36:53.055 --> 00:36:55.022 You deserve to die." 00:36:55.022 --> 00:36:57.220 And then Christ comes shedding His own blood 00:36:57.220 --> 00:36:59.110 and says, "I died." 00:36:59.110 --> 00:37:01.431 Your conscience screams for the wrath of God 00:37:01.431 --> 00:37:02.661 to be poured out on you. 00:37:02.661 --> 00:37:04.340 And Christ stands before you 00:37:04.340 --> 00:37:05.992 and takes the wrath of God; 00:37:05.992 --> 00:37:07.843 propitiating the wrath of God; 00:37:07.843 --> 00:37:11.148 taking all the wrath of God on Himself. 00:37:11.148 --> 00:37:13.147 The way to deal with the conscience 00:37:13.147 --> 00:37:18.594 is not to say, "Oh, everybody does it." 00:37:18.594 --> 00:37:23.728 "Oh, it's not that bad." 00:37:23.728 --> 00:37:27.778 "Oh, I'll forget about it eventually." 00:37:27.778 --> 00:37:31.388 Beloved, some of you will find 00:37:31.388 --> 00:37:33.366 that the conscience comes to haunt you 00:37:33.366 --> 00:37:36.083 in your last minute 00:37:36.083 --> 00:37:37.552 before you die. 00:37:37.552 --> 00:37:41.472 Those secrets will not go away. 00:37:41.472 --> 00:37:45.095 They must be dealt with by the blood of Christ. 00:37:45.095 --> 00:37:47.821 You feel dirty? He is clean. 00:37:47.821 --> 00:37:50.425 You feel defiled? He is pure. 00:37:50.425 --> 00:37:52.754 You feel like your conscience rages 00:37:52.754 --> 00:37:55.112 and calls out for the wrath of God? 00:37:55.112 --> 00:37:57.528 He has satisfied the wrath of God 00:37:57.528 --> 00:38:00.969 by taking upon Himself in His body 00:38:00.969 --> 00:38:02.375 on the tree. 00:38:02.375 --> 00:38:05.079 Beloved, you can be clean. 00:38:05.079 --> 00:38:08.353 I don't care if you killed your children, 00:38:08.353 --> 00:38:11.465 or if you drove your girlfriend to the abortion clinic, 00:38:11.465 --> 00:38:12.771 or if you've shot someone 00:38:12.771 --> 00:38:14.496 that you've never told anyone about, 00:38:14.496 --> 00:38:16.011 or if there's a harem in your mind 00:38:16.011 --> 00:38:17.943 from all the pornography you've looked at, 00:38:17.943 --> 00:38:20.570 or if you told a lie to your mother or your father, 00:38:20.570 --> 00:38:22.674 or you stole from your children, 00:38:22.674 --> 00:38:24.988 or you stole from your parents, 00:38:24.988 --> 00:38:26.645 or you stole from your boss - 00:38:26.645 --> 00:38:30.805 whatever it is, if you will lay it before Jesus, 00:38:30.805 --> 00:38:32.918 He will cleanse it. 00:38:32.918 --> 00:38:34.293 And He will take away 00:38:34.293 --> 00:38:37.692 even the consciousness of guilt. 00:38:37.692 --> 00:38:40.493 He will cleanse your conscience. 00:38:40.493 --> 00:38:42.566 A cleansed conscience is not a conscience 00:38:42.566 --> 00:38:44.263 that managed to forget guilt. 00:38:44.263 --> 00:38:46.334 It's a conscience that has experienced 00:38:46.334 --> 00:38:50.746 guilt dealt with by the price being fully paid 00:38:50.746 --> 00:38:53.403 at the cross. 00:38:53.403 --> 00:38:55.825 Oh, in the sea of God's forgetfulness. 00:38:55.825 --> 00:38:57.425 That's good enough for me. 00:38:57.425 --> 00:39:03.156 Praise God, my sins are gone! NOTE Paragraph 00:39:03.156 --> 00:39:05.532 And then a conscience - 1 Timothy 1:5 - 00:39:05.532 --> 00:39:09.404 can be good. 00:39:09.404 --> 00:39:13.298 What's a good conscience? 00:39:13.298 --> 00:39:15.457 A good conscience is a conscience 00:39:15.457 --> 00:39:18.243 that is purified 00:39:18.243 --> 00:39:22.263 and is learning God's path. 00:39:22.263 --> 00:39:24.047 The good conscience is a conscience 00:39:24.047 --> 00:39:26.394 that is purified 00:39:26.394 --> 00:39:30.344 and is learning God's path. 00:39:30.344 --> 00:39:34.394 Think about the rest of the book of 1 Timothy. 00:39:34.394 --> 00:39:37.022 It unfolds how we ought to behave 00:39:37.022 --> 00:39:38.982 as people of the church. 00:39:38.982 --> 00:39:41.290 It teaches us how a person ought to behave 00:39:41.290 --> 00:39:43.606 when they are part of the household of God. 00:39:43.606 --> 00:39:45.111 And they way they ought to behave 00:39:45.111 --> 00:39:47.651 is explained and it's conscience-liberating 00:39:47.651 --> 00:39:48.959 to read the Word of God 00:39:48.959 --> 00:39:50.900 to realize what God expects of you. 00:39:50.900 --> 00:39:53.283 There are some pastors who feel terribly guilty 00:39:53.283 --> 00:39:55.215 because they're caring for their wives, 00:39:55.215 --> 00:39:56.827 caring for their children; 00:39:56.827 --> 00:39:58.348 they feel like they should be out every night. 00:39:58.348 --> 00:40:00.728 They need to go, go, go, go, go 00:40:00.728 --> 00:40:02.805 because people are dying and going to hell. 00:40:02.805 --> 00:40:05.014 And then the Bible comes along to their conscience 00:40:05.014 --> 00:40:10.249 and says no, you need to manage your own household well. 00:40:10.249 --> 00:40:15.241 Because if you can't manage your own household well, 00:40:15.241 --> 00:40:20.016 how will you manage God's church? 00:40:20.016 --> 00:40:21.652 And there's moms who think, 00:40:21.652 --> 00:40:24.041 I should be counseling; I should be evangelizing. 00:40:24.041 --> 00:40:26.785 but instead I'm just caring for these kids and caring for this husband. 00:40:26.785 --> 00:40:29.197 Kids and husband. Kids and husband. 00:40:29.197 --> 00:40:31.382 All the time. All the time. All the time. 00:40:31.382 --> 00:40:34.358 And then 1 Timothy comes along 00:40:34.358 --> 00:40:38.403 in 1 Timothy 2 and says, 00:40:38.403 --> 00:40:41.221 you'll be saved through childbearing. 00:40:41.221 --> 00:40:43.142 "...If you continue in faith and love 00:40:43.142 --> 00:40:44.715 and holiness with self-control." 00:40:44.715 --> 00:40:49.356 That doesn't mean you have a baby, you go to heaven. 00:40:49.356 --> 00:40:51.074 It means the ordinary context 00:40:51.074 --> 00:40:52.604 in which a woman who's married 00:40:52.604 --> 00:40:54.948 will work out her salvation with fear and trembling 00:40:54.948 --> 00:40:58.785 will be in the task of mothering. 00:40:58.785 --> 00:41:01.624 Are you preoccupied with mothering? 00:41:01.624 --> 00:41:06.350 Well, if you're a mother, praise God! 00:41:06.350 --> 00:41:08.048 Let the truth of God's Word 00:41:08.048 --> 00:41:10.354 inform your conscience 00:41:10.354 --> 00:41:12.293 so that it's good. 00:41:12.293 --> 00:41:14.755 You know how many places it says in the Bible 00:41:14.755 --> 00:41:17.129 that if you have a pile of laundry in the basement, 00:41:17.129 --> 00:41:20.496 you're in sin? 00:41:20.496 --> 00:41:24.892 Nowhere. 00:41:24.892 --> 00:41:26.964 And if you let it bind your conscience, 00:41:26.964 --> 00:41:28.695 it will ruin you. 00:41:28.695 --> 00:41:30.258 We're laughing, but there are 00:41:30.258 --> 00:41:34.127 depressed, demoralized, discouraged women 00:41:34.127 --> 00:41:36.148 who are binding their consciences 00:41:36.148 --> 00:41:37.988 with the things the Word of God 00:41:37.988 --> 00:41:40.054 says nothing about. 00:41:40.054 --> 00:41:41.105 You've got a friend, 00:41:41.105 --> 00:41:42.652 and they're selling vitamins, 00:41:42.652 --> 00:41:44.228 and if you buy these vitamins, 00:41:44.228 --> 00:41:50.024 you'll be broke but your kids will live forever. 00:41:50.024 --> 00:41:52.980 What kind of a mother am I 00:41:52.980 --> 00:41:58.855 buying Happy Meals? 00:41:58.855 --> 00:42:00.444 Well, you're a good mother. 00:42:00.444 --> 00:42:06.873 There's good toys in the Happy Meals. 00:42:06.873 --> 00:42:09.562 We don't dare bind ourselves. 00:42:09.562 --> 00:42:11.059 It's no small issue. 00:42:11.059 --> 00:42:13.552 Calvin said people think that we reformers 00:42:13.552 --> 00:42:14.869 are making a big deal 00:42:14.869 --> 00:42:17.286 by speaking about holy days and vestments 00:42:17.286 --> 00:42:19.079 and saying that they have no place in the church. 00:42:19.079 --> 00:42:21.212 He said we are right on target 00:42:21.212 --> 00:42:23.107 because as soon as the conscience 00:42:23.107 --> 00:42:25.561 binds itself with things that are 00:42:25.561 --> 00:42:27.250 beyond the Word of God, 00:42:27.250 --> 00:42:30.618 it produces no end of misery. 00:42:30.618 --> 00:42:32.602 He says that first, a person will say 00:42:32.602 --> 00:42:33.803 I can't drink wine. 00:42:33.803 --> 00:42:35.019 And then, they'll think, 00:42:35.019 --> 00:42:36.534 I can't drink sparkling water. 00:42:36.534 --> 00:42:40.641 And then they won't be able to find a water that's clean enough. 00:42:40.641 --> 00:42:43.761 That's what your conscience will do 00:42:43.761 --> 00:42:46.350 if it's not gripped by the Word of God 00:42:46.350 --> 00:42:48.664 and the Word of God alone. NOTE Paragraph 00:42:48.664 --> 00:42:50.157 I remember as a young pastor, 00:42:50.157 --> 00:42:52.018 I was pastoring all these young people. 00:42:52.018 --> 00:42:53.915 I'm still pastoring all these young people. 00:42:53.915 --> 00:42:55.033 And I was really young. 00:42:55.033 --> 00:42:56.915 I'm still pretty young, but I was even younger. 00:42:56.915 --> 00:42:58.675 And they were even younger. 00:42:58.675 --> 00:43:01.607 So we were just the blind leading the blind. 00:43:01.607 --> 00:43:04.164 And I thought I need to preach on marriage and the family, 00:43:04.164 --> 00:43:05.228 and I need to give them 00:43:05.228 --> 00:43:07.137 all kinds of instructions on how dad's need to 00:43:07.137 --> 00:43:08.635 take their kids deer hunting 00:43:08.635 --> 00:43:10.709 to make them real men and eat steak with them. 00:43:10.709 --> 00:43:12.906 And moms need to do this and that. 00:43:12.906 --> 00:43:14.055 I need to give them all these 00:43:14.055 --> 00:43:15.813 incredible, great family values 00:43:15.813 --> 00:43:18.799 to protect them from the ungodliness of the world. 00:43:18.799 --> 00:43:21.977 And then you read your Bible, and? 00:43:21.977 --> 00:43:29.021 None of it's there! 00:43:29.021 --> 00:43:31.928 Paul's writing to pagans 00:43:31.928 --> 00:43:36.427 converted to Christianity in Colossians. 00:43:36.427 --> 00:43:38.133 And he's going to teach them 00:43:38.133 --> 00:43:44.163 how to do marriage. 00:43:44.163 --> 00:43:49.284 Husbands, love your wives. Next verse. 00:43:49.284 --> 00:43:50.808 What about the date night? 00:43:50.808 --> 00:43:55.759 What about the full financial plan? 00:43:55.759 --> 00:43:58.528 What about putting a maximum security prison 00:43:58.528 --> 00:44:03.790 around your daughter until she's 25? 00:44:03.790 --> 00:44:08.326 Who forgot that part? NOTE Paragraph 00:44:08.326 --> 00:44:10.653 Listen to me. 00:44:10.653 --> 00:44:14.613 Believing in the sufficiency of Scripture - 00:44:14.613 --> 00:44:16.893 that's the doctrine that Scripture is enough 00:44:16.893 --> 00:44:19.549 to lead us into all godliness - 00:44:19.549 --> 00:44:21.588 believing in the sufficiency of Scripture 00:44:21.588 --> 00:44:22.933 not only means that you 00:44:22.933 --> 00:44:27.565 say all that Scripture says, 00:44:27.565 --> 00:44:30.053 but that you don't say 00:44:30.053 --> 00:44:33.308 what the Scripture doesn't say. 00:44:33.308 --> 00:44:35.690 Because if God shuts His mouth, 00:44:35.690 --> 00:44:38.613 He knows what He's doing. 00:44:38.613 --> 00:44:40.721 And what happens when you pare down 00:44:40.721 --> 00:44:42.912 godliness to those basic things, 00:44:42.912 --> 00:44:44.444 is you get a gospel that can 00:44:44.444 --> 00:44:46.041 take the planet by storm, 00:44:46.041 --> 00:44:47.303 instead of getting caught up 00:44:47.303 --> 00:44:49.631 in your cultural baggage. 00:44:49.631 --> 00:44:50.986 You wind up with a gospel 00:44:50.986 --> 00:44:53.184 that can go to every single part of the planet 00:44:53.184 --> 00:44:54.910 not wrapped in American clothes 00:44:54.910 --> 00:44:56.566 or Victorian English clothes, 00:44:56.566 --> 00:44:59.204 but wrapped in the clothes of Christ, 00:44:59.204 --> 00:45:01.784 bringing people to the essence of godliness. 00:45:01.784 --> 00:45:03.449 Love your wife. How do you do it? 00:45:03.449 --> 00:45:04.759 Well, we do a date night. 00:45:04.759 --> 00:45:09.660 Oh yeah? We don't. But I love her too. 00:45:09.660 --> 00:45:11.443 Which one of us is godlier? 00:45:11.443 --> 00:45:14.190 That's not the point. 00:45:14.190 --> 00:45:16.659 A good conscience is one 00:45:16.659 --> 00:45:22.319 that is led by the Word of God alone! 00:45:22.319 --> 00:45:26.263 And it's not a little holier to add to it. 00:45:26.263 --> 00:45:28.369 It's demonic. 00:45:28.369 --> 00:45:30.344 And it wrecks people souls, 00:45:30.344 --> 00:45:32.042 and it eats their consciences up, 00:45:32.042 --> 00:45:34.587 and it steals their joy from loving 00:45:34.587 --> 00:45:37.379 the pure sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:45:37.379 --> 00:45:39.735 It's not a joke. 00:45:39.735 --> 00:45:41.417 We've got people who are so serious 00:45:41.417 --> 00:45:43.308 about not being worldly 00:45:43.308 --> 00:45:45.118 in the drugs and alcohol way, 00:45:45.118 --> 00:45:47.128 but who love to flirt with worldliness 00:45:47.128 --> 00:45:50.454 in the legalism way. 00:45:50.454 --> 00:46:00.275 Deadly! NOTE Paragraph 00:46:00.275 --> 00:46:02.217 Now, what I want to do with the time 00:46:02.217 --> 00:46:04.100 we have remaining - 00:46:04.100 --> 00:46:06.729 and I'm planning to have quite a bit of time remaining, 00:46:06.729 --> 00:46:12.756 just in case you're curious - 00:46:12.756 --> 00:46:14.765 what I want to do in the time remaining 00:46:14.765 --> 00:46:16.750 is I want to discuss the relationship 00:46:16.750 --> 00:46:22.453 (incomplete thought) - 00:46:22.453 --> 00:46:27.088 three different relationships your conscience is in. 00:46:27.088 --> 00:46:32.881 The relationship between your conscience and the devil. 00:46:32.881 --> 00:46:37.648 The relationship between your conscience and the world. 00:46:37.648 --> 00:46:38.938 And then your relationship 00:46:38.938 --> 00:46:43.575 between the conscience and the church. 00:46:43.575 --> 00:46:49.398 First, your conscience and the devil. 00:46:49.398 --> 00:46:53.458 You can turn to Colossians 2. 00:46:53.458 --> 00:46:57.011 Relationship between your conscience 00:46:57.011 --> 00:47:01.510 and the devil. 00:47:01.510 --> 00:47:03.734 It all sounds so easy when I say it, right? 00:47:03.734 --> 00:47:05.753 A good conscience is one that's purified 00:47:05.753 --> 00:47:10.709 and follows God's path. 00:47:10.709 --> 00:47:17.985 Go. 00:47:17.985 --> 00:47:20.109 A good conscience is one that's purified 00:47:20.109 --> 00:47:21.620 and follows God's path, 00:47:21.620 --> 00:47:23.225 but we have an enemy who's called 00:47:23.225 --> 00:47:29.216 the accuser of the brethren. 00:47:29.216 --> 00:47:33.575 And he loves to accuse our consciences. 00:47:33.575 --> 00:47:35.529 He likes to throw fiery darts at them. 00:47:35.529 --> 00:47:39.973 He likes to hail us with accusations. 00:47:39.973 --> 00:47:42.545 He likes to assault us 00:47:42.545 --> 00:47:46.741 by reminding us of the condemnation of God's law, 00:47:46.741 --> 00:47:48.490 and then he'll even condemn us 00:47:48.490 --> 00:47:52.797 with laws that go beyond God's law. 00:47:52.797 --> 00:47:55.558 And you need to know how to deal with the devil. 00:47:55.558 --> 00:47:58.268 Because you can lay hold of Christ, 00:47:58.268 --> 00:48:00.253 and you can try to follow God's path, 00:48:00.253 --> 00:48:03.497 and the devil will be there pelting you 00:48:03.497 --> 00:48:04.714 with accusations. 00:48:04.714 --> 00:48:09.818 You didn't do that one perfectly enough. 00:48:09.818 --> 00:48:13.072 Have you ever thought about it - 00:48:13.072 --> 00:48:15.558 the devil doesn't have a conscience 00:48:15.558 --> 00:48:16.647 holding him back. 00:48:16.647 --> 00:48:19.491 He doesn't have a heart holding him back. 00:48:19.491 --> 00:48:20.953 Even the wickedest human being 00:48:20.953 --> 00:48:23.382 has some semblance of good left in them. 00:48:23.382 --> 00:48:26.694 There is no good in the devil. 00:48:26.694 --> 00:48:29.567 He is all evil. 00:48:29.567 --> 00:48:33.129 And he wants us all dead and destroyed. 00:48:33.129 --> 00:48:36.452 He will accuse you until your joy is gone. 00:48:36.452 --> 00:48:41.363 And if he can, he'll have you leave Jesus. 00:48:41.363 --> 00:48:42.960 And you need to know what to do 00:48:42.960 --> 00:48:44.803 when he comes to you with accusations. 00:48:44.803 --> 00:48:46.503 And I would suggest one thing to do 00:48:46.503 --> 00:48:55.055 is to remember Colossians 2:13-15. NOTE Paragraph 00:48:55.055 --> 00:48:56.822 Paul talking to Christians says, 00:48:56.822 --> 00:48:59.269 "You were dead in your trespasses and sins 00:48:59.269 --> 00:49:01.078 in the uncircumcision of your flesh." 00:49:01.078 --> 00:49:03.169 You were dead - walking in the way of sin, 00:49:03.169 --> 00:49:05.998 following the way of the devil, Ephesians 2 says. 00:49:05.998 --> 00:49:08.831 Unresponsive to God. 00:49:08.831 --> 00:49:11.222 "And God made you alive together with Him..." 00:49:11.222 --> 00:49:12.301 Together with Christ. 00:49:12.301 --> 00:49:14.699 "...Having forgiven all of our trespasses 00:49:14.699 --> 00:49:17.176 by cancelling the record of debt 00:49:17.176 --> 00:49:19.084 that stood against us 00:49:19.084 --> 00:49:20.551 with its legal demands. 00:49:20.551 --> 00:49:21.748 This He set aside, 00:49:21.748 --> 00:49:23.059 nailing it to the cross." 00:49:23.059 --> 00:49:24.710 So the law says to you, 00:49:24.710 --> 00:49:27.417 "you owe God perfect obedience 00:49:27.417 --> 00:49:29.231 and if you're not perfectly obedient, 00:49:29.231 --> 00:49:30.924 you deserve to die. 00:49:30.924 --> 00:49:32.514 You owe God your life. 00:49:32.514 --> 00:49:36.891 You deserve to die." 00:49:36.891 --> 00:49:42.209 But Christ came and died for believers. 00:49:42.209 --> 00:49:45.007 He came and took the curse of the law, 00:49:45.007 --> 00:49:46.968 says Galatians 3, on Himself, 00:49:46.968 --> 00:49:50.137 so that the death penalty that you and I deserve 00:49:50.137 --> 00:49:51.470 was poured out on Christ, 00:49:51.470 --> 00:49:53.957 so that that death penalty is no longer there to be had 00:49:53.957 --> 00:49:56.335 because it's been, as our brother said yesterday, 00:49:56.335 --> 00:50:00.595 paid in full. 00:50:00.595 --> 00:50:01.886 Now what the devil will do 00:50:01.886 --> 00:50:03.596 is he will put a gun to your head, 00:50:03.596 --> 00:50:05.767 and he will say, "you are guilty 00:50:05.767 --> 00:50:07.256 and you will be condemned. 00:50:07.256 --> 00:50:09.550 You are guilty and you will be condemned. 00:50:09.550 --> 00:50:11.711 You have not loved God with all your heart, 00:50:11.711 --> 00:50:12.823 with all your soul, 00:50:12.823 --> 00:50:13.868 and with all your mind, 00:50:13.868 --> 00:50:16.077 and you have not loved your neighbor as yourself, 00:50:16.077 --> 00:50:19.003 and you are going to be condemned." 00:50:19.003 --> 00:50:20.348 And when the devil does that 00:50:20.348 --> 00:50:22.327 with his gun to your head, you say, 00:50:22.327 --> 00:50:29.219 "There's no bullets in the gun, devil." 00:50:29.219 --> 00:50:32.511 "This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. 00:50:32.511 --> 00:50:34.624 He disarmed (that is, God disarmed) 00:50:34.624 --> 00:50:36.385 the rulers and authorities 00:50:36.385 --> 00:50:37.994 (that's the satanic powers - 00:50:37.994 --> 00:50:40.289 the principalities and the powers of this world) - 00:50:40.289 --> 00:50:42.288 He disarmed the rulers and authorities 00:50:42.288 --> 00:50:44.529 and put them to an open shame 00:50:44.529 --> 00:50:47.916 by triumphing over them in Him." 00:50:47.916 --> 00:50:49.409 The devil comes and tells you 00:50:49.409 --> 00:50:50.461 you're condemned; 00:50:50.461 --> 00:50:52.018 your sins can't be forgiven, 00:50:52.018 --> 00:50:53.907 you've got that one sin; 00:50:53.907 --> 00:50:56.923 or your sanctification hasn't been fast enough, 00:50:56.923 --> 00:50:59.141 and he puts you under God's law, 00:50:59.141 --> 00:51:00.921 and he tells you you're condemned, 00:51:00.921 --> 00:51:03.522 and he will roar and he will rage 00:51:03.522 --> 00:51:05.773 and he will do everything to convince you 00:51:05.773 --> 00:51:08.168 that he has all the power to condemn you, 00:51:08.168 --> 00:51:09.520 and you need to remind him, 00:51:09.520 --> 00:51:13.271 he is disarmed. 00:51:13.271 --> 00:51:16.143 Because what's he threatening you with? 00:51:16.143 --> 00:51:18.981 The condemnation of the law? 00:51:18.981 --> 00:51:20.765 Well, if Jesus did anything, 00:51:20.765 --> 00:51:24.018 He took the condemnation of the law away. 00:51:24.018 --> 00:51:26.010 "God made Jesus who knew no sin 00:51:26.010 --> 00:51:28.100 to be sin for us, that we might become 00:51:28.100 --> 00:51:30.151 the righteousness of God in Him." 00:51:30.151 --> 00:51:33.042 "There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." 00:51:33.042 --> 00:51:37.505 And the devil has only empty threats. 00:51:37.505 --> 00:51:41.032 You remember that when he comes to rage at you. 00:51:41.032 --> 00:51:44.352 You hold on to that, and he will flee. NOTE Paragraph 00:51:44.352 --> 00:51:46.287 The other thing you need to remember 00:51:46.287 --> 00:51:48.699 when you're dealing with the devil 00:51:48.699 --> 00:51:51.622 is that he always wants you in front of the law, 00:51:51.622 --> 00:51:55.982 not in front of the Father. 00:51:55.982 --> 00:51:58.447 The devil always wants you in front of the law, 00:51:58.447 --> 00:51:59.924 not in front of the Father. 00:51:59.924 --> 00:52:01.918 The law says you've got to do everything 00:52:01.918 --> 00:52:05.004 I've commanded, or you're dead. 00:52:05.004 --> 00:52:07.321 The Father says I had everything done 00:52:07.321 --> 00:52:11.270 for me in Christ, and you're Mine. 00:52:11.270 --> 00:52:14.221 The law accepts only perfect obedience 00:52:14.221 --> 00:52:16.525 or you're dead. 00:52:16.525 --> 00:52:18.578 The Father has received perfect obedience 00:52:18.578 --> 00:52:20.616 through Christ and now delights 00:52:20.616 --> 00:52:25.369 in your growing imperfect obedience. 00:52:25.369 --> 00:52:27.606 The law expects perfection 00:52:27.606 --> 00:52:29.923 and executes perfect righteousness. 00:52:29.923 --> 00:52:31.745 The gospel says perfect righteousness 00:52:31.745 --> 00:52:32.935 has been satisfied 00:52:32.935 --> 00:52:34.677 and now delights to see 00:52:34.677 --> 00:52:36.817 the flower of the new birth 00:52:36.817 --> 00:52:39.896 growing in your soul. NOTE Paragraph 00:52:39.896 --> 00:52:43.128 You say, where's that in the Bible? 00:52:43.128 --> 00:52:47.406 Well, there's one example in John 17:6. 00:52:47.406 --> 00:52:50.663 John 17:6. 00:52:50.663 --> 00:52:54.735 Here's Jesus praying for Peter, 00:52:54.735 --> 00:52:57.321 and James, and John, 00:52:57.321 --> 00:52:59.174 and all those disciples who would 00:52:59.174 --> 00:53:02.661 fight about who was the greatest. 00:53:02.661 --> 00:53:04.254 And who would stumble 00:53:04.254 --> 00:53:07.535 in their discipleship. 00:53:07.535 --> 00:53:09.178 And Jesus prays in John 17:6. 00:53:09.178 --> 00:53:10.865 Now remember, He's praying to God. 00:53:10.865 --> 00:53:12.638 He's not putting on a show for man. 00:53:12.638 --> 00:53:14.628 He's praying to God. 00:53:14.628 --> 00:53:16.647 He says, "I have manifested Your name 00:53:16.647 --> 00:53:18.778 to the people whom You gave Me out of the world." 00:53:18.778 --> 00:53:22.404 I showed Your people You. 00:53:22.404 --> 00:53:23.923 I have manifested Your name - 00:53:23.923 --> 00:53:25.614 Your character - 00:53:25.614 --> 00:53:29.108 to the people You gave Me out of the world. 00:53:29.108 --> 00:53:31.523 "Yours they were, 00:53:31.523 --> 00:53:36.565 and You gave them to Me, 00:53:36.565 --> 00:53:41.769 and they have kept Your Word." 00:53:41.769 --> 00:53:44.005 Do you know who He's talking about? 00:53:44.005 --> 00:53:46.837 Have you read the Gospels? 00:53:46.837 --> 00:53:48.818 Peter, James, John... 00:53:48.818 --> 00:53:50.658 the other ones. 00:53:50.658 --> 00:53:52.286 "I want to be on His right hand." 00:53:52.286 --> 00:53:54.384 "Go tell mom to argue that I should be 00:53:54.384 --> 00:53:56.882 on His right hand." 00:53:56.882 --> 00:54:00.688 These guys. 00:54:00.688 --> 00:54:06.651 "They have kept Your Word." 00:54:06.651 --> 00:54:09.454 Now Jesus isn't saying they were perfect. 00:54:09.454 --> 00:54:13.587 But He's saying that the direction of their life was pleasing. 00:54:13.587 --> 00:54:15.073 And He was assessing their life 00:54:15.073 --> 00:54:19.379 like a father assesses his own child. NOTE Paragraph 00:54:19.379 --> 00:54:22.380 Have you ever seen a 5 year old clean their room? 00:54:22.380 --> 00:54:26.873 It's fairly pathetic. 00:54:26.873 --> 00:54:28.487 But if you walk into that room 00:54:28.487 --> 00:54:30.420 and see that the covers were basically 00:54:30.420 --> 00:54:31.649 moved in the direction, 00:54:31.649 --> 00:54:34.934 and the toys weren't all just hidden under the bed, 00:54:34.934 --> 00:54:36.718 if you're a halfway decent father, 00:54:36.718 --> 00:54:38.586 you celebrate right then and there. 00:54:38.586 --> 00:54:41.573 You did what I said. 00:54:41.573 --> 00:54:43.729 And the Lord loves to delight 00:54:43.729 --> 00:54:47.598 in the imperfect obedience of His children. 00:54:47.598 --> 00:54:50.537 Oh, He will discipline His children when they're disobedient, 00:54:50.537 --> 00:54:53.447 but there's only imperfect obedience, 00:54:53.447 --> 00:54:55.070 and He delights in it. 00:54:55.070 --> 00:54:56.139 And you need to know 00:54:56.139 --> 00:54:58.797 that the devil will never let you see that. 00:54:58.797 --> 00:55:03.735 But Christ will keep that before your eyes. 00:55:03.735 --> 00:55:08.279 Without that, you'll have no freedom in your conscience. NOTE Paragraph 00:55:08.279 --> 00:55:11.403 Second one, real quick. 00:55:11.403 --> 00:55:15.789 Your conscience's relationship to the world. 00:55:15.789 --> 00:55:20.975 2 Corinthians 4:1. 00:55:20.975 --> 00:55:24.767 Our brother gave such a good definition 00:55:24.767 --> 00:55:27.237 of natural Christianity; 00:55:27.237 --> 00:55:28.620 being a normal person; 00:55:28.620 --> 00:55:31.096 hanging out with your unbelieving friends 00:55:31.096 --> 00:55:33.284 and relatives in a normal way. 00:55:33.284 --> 00:55:38.078 Kevin did such a great job of that. 00:55:38.078 --> 00:55:43.064 What's your job once you're washing the dishes with them? 00:55:43.064 --> 00:55:45.675 Maybe even occasionally singing the secular song 00:55:45.675 --> 00:55:48.071 that's in the background while you're doing it? 00:55:48.071 --> 00:55:51.127 But not if it's a bad one. 00:55:51.127 --> 00:55:55.304 What's your job then? 00:55:55.304 --> 00:55:59.429 2 Corinthians 4:1. 00:55:59.429 --> 00:56:01.815 "Thereby having this ministry by the mercy of God 00:56:01.815 --> 00:56:04.506 we do not lose heart. 00:56:04.506 --> 00:56:08.909 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. 00:56:08.909 --> 00:56:10.400 We refuse to practice cunning 00:56:10.400 --> 00:56:13.869 or to tamper with God's Word..." 00:56:13.869 --> 00:56:20.572 We're not slick and fancy in our ministry. 00:56:20.572 --> 00:56:22.513 "But by the open statement of the truth, 00:56:22.513 --> 00:56:23.890 we would commend ourselves 00:56:23.890 --> 00:56:26.719 to everyone's conscience in the sight of God." 00:56:26.719 --> 00:56:28.398 That's all we're called to do. 00:56:28.398 --> 00:56:30.544 Openly state the truth 00:56:30.544 --> 00:56:35.612 and place it on people's consciences. 00:56:35.612 --> 00:56:39.782 But when I say that we're sinners, 00:56:39.782 --> 00:56:41.430 they don't listen. 00:56:41.430 --> 00:56:43.038 When I say Christ died for sins, 00:56:43.038 --> 00:56:44.665 they don't listen. 00:56:44.665 --> 00:56:46.984 No, they just haven't repented and believed yet. 00:56:46.984 --> 00:56:49.138 They heard you. 00:56:49.138 --> 00:56:51.037 That seed's been sown. 00:56:51.037 --> 00:56:52.526 It's laying on the conscience. 00:56:52.526 --> 00:56:54.096 It can do its work when the head 00:56:54.096 --> 00:56:56.232 goes on the pillow. 00:56:56.232 --> 00:56:59.085 And God will redeem all of His own 00:56:59.085 --> 00:57:01.665 who hear the Gospel. 00:57:01.665 --> 00:57:03.195 You lay it on their conscience 00:57:03.195 --> 00:57:06.571 in gentleness and love. 00:57:06.571 --> 00:57:08.497 If they hate you or love you, 00:57:08.497 --> 00:57:12.247 you simply make an open statement of the truth 00:57:12.247 --> 00:57:14.521 and lay it on men's consciences 00:57:14.521 --> 00:57:15.727 in the sight of God. 00:57:15.727 --> 00:57:17.254 You don't need to be fancy. 00:57:17.254 --> 00:57:19.840 You don't need to get a blimp and get the gospel up in the air. 00:57:19.840 --> 00:57:22.535 You don't need to do anything like that. 00:57:22.535 --> 00:57:24.582 You just need to talk to people honestly 00:57:24.582 --> 00:57:26.077 about sin and salvation, 00:57:26.077 --> 00:57:28.783 laying it on their consciences 00:57:28.783 --> 00:57:32.089 and God will do His work. 00:57:32.089 --> 00:57:33.823 You know, oftentimes people think, 00:57:33.823 --> 00:57:35.356 well, I can't share the gospel. 00:57:35.356 --> 00:57:38.658 These people don't even believe in God. They don't understand the Bible. 00:57:38.658 --> 00:57:41.545 They don't really believe any of the same things I do about right and wrong. 00:57:41.549 --> 00:57:43.137 We have missionaries now in our day 00:57:43.137 --> 00:57:45.543 who don't think they can just go to other countries and share the gospel. 00:57:45.543 --> 00:57:47.147 They have to do like six months 00:57:47.147 --> 00:57:48.484 of ethnographic research 00:57:48.484 --> 00:57:50.469 before they can even share the gospel. 00:57:50.469 --> 00:57:52.532 Listen, there isn't a place on the planet 00:57:52.532 --> 00:57:55.899 where people don't have consciences. 00:57:55.899 --> 00:57:58.393 It's part of the image of God. 00:57:58.393 --> 00:58:00.498 You have an ally in evangelism 00:58:00.498 --> 00:58:04.885 everywhere you go. 00:58:04.885 --> 00:58:06.698 And the minute the Spirit wants to 00:58:06.698 --> 00:58:08.494 make that conscience alive and awake, 00:58:08.494 --> 00:58:10.685 He will do it. 00:58:10.685 --> 00:58:12.738 You just ask Him that you would speak 00:58:12.738 --> 00:58:15.439 the open statement of the truth 00:58:15.439 --> 00:58:19.286 and commend yourself to every man's conscience 00:58:19.286 --> 00:58:20.306 in the sight of God. 00:58:20.306 --> 00:58:25.719 What a liberating look at evangelism! NOTE Paragraph 00:58:25.719 --> 00:58:28.242 Lastly, and by lastly, I don't mean briefly. 00:58:28.242 --> 00:58:31.595 So turn to Romans 14. 00:58:31.595 --> 00:58:39.883 Romans 14. 00:58:39.883 --> 00:58:42.863 This issue of the conscience is so critical 00:58:42.863 --> 00:58:50.712 in our relationships in the local church. 00:58:50.712 --> 00:58:54.130 All of the members of local churches 00:58:54.130 --> 00:58:56.493 have consciences. 00:58:56.493 --> 00:58:59.257 And when they're members of churches like ours, 00:58:59.257 --> 00:59:01.123 they have enlightened consciences. 00:59:01.123 --> 00:59:03.259 And when they're members of churches like ours, 00:59:03.259 --> 00:59:05.507 they have convictional consciences 00:59:05.507 --> 00:59:07.578 that believe things strongly. 00:59:07.578 --> 00:59:10.093 And that's good. 00:59:10.093 --> 00:59:12.383 But you've got to know how to handle it. 00:59:12.383 --> 00:59:14.113 You've got to know how to handle it. 00:59:14.113 --> 00:59:15.505 It's good to have 50 people 00:59:15.505 --> 00:59:17.193 or 100 people or 1,000 people 00:59:17.193 --> 00:59:19.924 who are fully convinced in their own mind 00:59:19.924 --> 00:59:21.708 that they are doing the will of God 00:59:21.708 --> 00:59:23.241 in every detail of their lives. 00:59:23.241 --> 00:59:24.607 That's good. 00:59:24.607 --> 00:59:26.570 I'm not saying anything to lessen that. 00:59:26.570 --> 00:59:29.112 We need more of that, not less of it. 00:59:29.112 --> 00:59:32.335 But you need to know how to handle it. 00:59:32.335 --> 00:59:34.893 Or it will destroy the unity 00:59:34.893 --> 00:59:36.488 and the love of the church, 00:59:36.488 --> 00:59:38.135 and if you destroy the unity 00:59:38.135 --> 00:59:39.438 and the love of the church, 00:59:39.438 --> 00:59:44.380 you destroy the witness of the church. NOTE Paragraph 00:59:44.380 --> 00:59:48.380 Let me read to you Romans 14:1. 00:59:48.380 --> 00:59:52.307 We'll bring out a few things, and then we'll be done. 00:59:52.307 --> 00:59:54.845 "As for the one who is weak in faith..." 00:59:54.845 --> 00:59:58.574 That's another way of saying has a weak conscience. 00:59:58.574 --> 01:00:00.590 "As for the one who is weak in faith, 01:00:00.590 --> 01:00:02.471 welcome him, but not to quarrel 01:00:02.471 --> 01:00:11.295 over opinions." 01:00:11.295 --> 01:00:14.338 My brother used to have a "Whole Foods" bumper sticker. 01:00:14.338 --> 01:00:16.982 You know Whole Foods grocery stores? 01:00:16.982 --> 01:00:18.649 Everything in there is awesome. 01:00:18.649 --> 01:00:25.673 We call it "Whole Paycheck" at our church. 01:00:25.673 --> 01:00:27.615 And that bumper sticker said, 01:00:27.615 --> 01:00:31.072 "Friends don't let friends eat junk." 01:00:31.072 --> 01:00:35.545 And I cleared it with him before I preached on this. 01:00:35.545 --> 01:00:38.267 But I said according to Romans 14:1, 01:00:38.267 --> 01:00:43.651 sometimes friends do let friends eat junk. 01:00:43.651 --> 01:00:46.126 "As for the one who is weak in faith, 01:00:46.126 --> 01:00:48.335 welcome him, but not to quarrel 01:00:48.335 --> 01:00:51.834 over opinions." 01:00:51.834 --> 01:00:55.489 Secondary, tertiary matters 01:00:55.489 --> 01:00:59.664 that are so far from the center of the gospel. 01:00:59.664 --> 01:01:01.962 Do you use nutberries in your bread? 01:01:01.962 --> 01:01:07.732 I had a guy show up on my doorstep one time - 01:01:07.732 --> 01:01:09.136 one of our members - 01:01:09.136 --> 01:01:10.999 and he said to me, 01:01:10.999 --> 01:01:13.294 "You know, Ryan, I've just been learning so much 01:01:13.294 --> 01:01:15.219 about the biblical diet lately." 01:01:15.219 --> 01:01:26.981 And I just said, "No, you haven't." 01:01:26.981 --> 01:01:29.077 "As for the one who is weak in faith, 01:01:29.077 --> 01:01:31.591 welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 01:01:31.591 --> 01:01:35.041 One person believes he can eat anything, 01:01:35.041 --> 01:01:39.978 while the weak person eats only vegetables." 01:01:39.978 --> 01:01:41.736 No, I don't mean to harp on this, 01:01:41.736 --> 01:01:43.807 but do notice that the weak person 01:01:43.807 --> 01:01:47.460 is the more restrictive person. 01:01:47.460 --> 01:01:51.748 It's humbling. 01:01:51.748 --> 01:01:53.201 "Let not the one who eats 01:01:53.201 --> 01:01:56.040 despise the one who abstains. 01:01:56.040 --> 01:01:57.604 And let not the one who abstains 01:01:57.604 --> 01:02:00.562 pass judgment on the one who eats. 01:02:00.562 --> 01:02:05.293 For God has welcomed him. 01:02:05.293 --> 01:02:06.758 Who are you to pass judgment 01:02:06.758 --> 01:02:08.042 on the servant of another? 01:02:08.042 --> 01:02:09.468 It is before his own master 01:02:09.468 --> 01:02:11.210 that he stands or falls. 01:02:11.210 --> 01:02:16.286 And he will be upheld, 01:02:16.286 --> 01:02:23.756 for the Lord is able to make him stand." 01:02:23.756 --> 01:02:27.916 Even if he listens to Christian hip-hop, he can stand? 01:02:27.916 --> 01:02:30.246 Yes, even him. 01:02:30.246 --> 01:02:34.669 He can be made to stand. 01:02:34.669 --> 01:02:37.033 What if he only listens to the Gaithers? 01:02:37.033 --> 01:02:39.634 Yes, he can stand too. 01:02:39.634 --> 01:02:44.426 God can keep him standing. 01:02:44.426 --> 01:02:47.759 I know it's hard to believe. NOTE Paragraph 01:02:47.759 --> 01:02:50.057 You get these differences in the church, right? 01:02:50.057 --> 01:02:53.062 One guy's like, "I would never get a tattoo." 01:02:53.062 --> 01:02:59.813 Another guy's like, "Revelation 7's right here." 01:02:59.813 --> 01:03:02.821 You're like, how is this guy going to stand? 01:03:02.821 --> 01:03:06.042 His Master is going to make him stand. 01:03:06.042 --> 01:03:08.204 That's how it's going to happen. 01:03:08.204 --> 01:03:11.419 His Master has a personal interest in him. 01:03:11.419 --> 01:03:16.824 And He's going to make him stand. 01:03:16.824 --> 01:03:18.790 "He will be upheld, for the Lord is able 01:03:18.790 --> 01:03:19.792 to make him stand. 01:03:19.792 --> 01:03:22.345 One person esteems on day as better than another, 01:03:22.345 --> 01:03:26.436 while another esteems all days alike. 01:03:26.436 --> 01:03:29.820 Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind." 01:03:29.820 --> 01:03:34.781 We're not diminishing convictional Christianity. 01:03:34.781 --> 01:03:37.482 We're learning how to deal with it. 01:03:37.482 --> 01:03:40.141 If you will never get a tattoo, 01:03:40.141 --> 01:03:42.511 you should be fully convinced in your own mind. 01:03:42.511 --> 01:03:44.151 If you're going to get a tattoo, 01:03:44.151 --> 01:03:47.113 you better not get one because everyone else got one. 01:03:47.113 --> 01:03:50.083 You should be fully convinced in your own mind 01:03:50.083 --> 01:03:58.809 or you ought not to touch that thing. 01:03:58.809 --> 01:04:00.381 "The one who observes the day, 01:04:00.381 --> 01:04:01.795 observes it in honor of the Lord. 01:04:01.795 --> 01:04:03.440 The ones who eats, eats in honor of the Lord 01:04:03.440 --> 01:04:04.960 since he gives thanks to God, 01:04:04.960 --> 01:04:07.566 while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord 01:04:07.566 --> 01:04:09.760 and gives thanks to God. 01:04:09.760 --> 01:04:11.364 For none of us lives to himself, 01:04:11.364 --> 01:04:13.422 and none of us dies to himself. 01:04:13.422 --> 01:04:15.203 For if we live, we live to the Lord, 01:04:15.203 --> 01:04:16.925 and if we die, we die to the Lord. 01:04:16.925 --> 01:04:18.770 So whether or whether we die, 01:04:18.770 --> 01:04:21.332 we are the Lord's. 01:04:21.332 --> 01:04:23.524 For to this end, Christ died and lived again, 01:04:23.524 --> 01:04:28.135 that He might be Lord both of the dead 01:04:28.135 --> 01:04:31.198 and the living." NOTE Paragraph 01:04:31.198 --> 01:04:37.934 Three principles and I think we're done. 01:04:37.934 --> 01:04:40.345 Your primary responsibility 01:04:40.345 --> 01:04:44.514 towards people who differ with you 01:04:44.514 --> 01:04:46.934 on secondary matters 01:04:46.934 --> 01:04:48.420 is to have them over for dinner 01:04:48.420 --> 01:04:55.524 and make it a welcoming, warm experience. 01:04:55.524 --> 01:04:57.559 "As for the one who is weak in faith, 01:04:57.559 --> 01:05:00.565 welcome him, but not to quarrel 01:05:00.565 --> 01:05:02.393 over opinions." 01:05:02.393 --> 01:05:04.750 If all the people who ever get into your house 01:05:04.750 --> 01:05:06.263 homeschool just like you homeschool, 01:05:06.263 --> 01:05:10.287 you're doing something wrong. 01:05:10.287 --> 01:05:11.808 If you only let your kids play with 01:05:11.808 --> 01:05:13.131 the other public school kids, 01:05:13.131 --> 01:05:15.462 you're doing something wrong. 01:05:15.462 --> 01:05:17.695 If two Christians can't differ on schooling methods, 01:05:17.695 --> 01:05:21.720 we've got a problem. 01:05:21.720 --> 01:05:25.261 If you only invite people who eat your special diet, 01:05:25.261 --> 01:05:28.186 you've got a problem. 01:05:28.186 --> 01:05:30.589 And maybe you ought to be willing, 01:05:30.589 --> 01:05:33.067 if it's not a convictional issue, 01:05:33.067 --> 01:05:34.896 to not eat your diet, 01:05:34.896 --> 01:05:36.564 to be able to get over and show 01:05:36.564 --> 01:05:41.270 hospitality in someone's home. 01:05:41.270 --> 01:05:42.664 And when you get together, 01:05:42.664 --> 01:05:44.642 the point isn't: 01:05:44.642 --> 01:05:50.610 here's the roast beef. 01:05:50.610 --> 01:05:53.765 There are some issues I've been wanting to talk to you about 01:05:53.765 --> 01:05:59.542 in the Lord, brother. 01:05:59.542 --> 01:06:02.368 Just let it go. 01:06:02.368 --> 01:06:04.912 Just let it go. 01:06:04.912 --> 01:06:06.804 Now, that doesn't mean there can't be 01:06:06.804 --> 01:06:08.661 those conversations among the body, 01:06:08.661 --> 01:06:10.360 but let there first be 01:06:10.360 --> 01:06:13.453 a warm environment of hospitality and love 01:06:13.453 --> 01:06:17.247 where it's abundantly clear that I view you 01:06:17.247 --> 01:06:20.152 as a fellow servant of Christ. 01:06:20.152 --> 01:06:21.871 Now, I'm going to talk to people 01:06:21.871 --> 01:06:23.603 who watch movies I wouldn't watch, 01:06:23.603 --> 01:06:25.062 and I'm going to have a conversation with them. 01:06:25.062 --> 01:06:27.197 Sure I am. 01:06:27.197 --> 01:06:28.691 If I'm worried about something, 01:06:28.691 --> 01:06:30.338 I'm going to talk to someone about it. 01:06:30.338 --> 01:06:33.659 But first, first is not 01:06:33.659 --> 01:06:36.763 the quarreling over opinions. 01:06:36.763 --> 01:06:38.870 First is the warm relationship 01:06:38.870 --> 01:06:42.056 of welcome and love. NOTE Paragraph 01:06:42.056 --> 01:06:44.008 Second, you need to realize 01:06:44.008 --> 01:06:45.682 that the weak and the strong 01:06:45.682 --> 01:06:49.116 both have unique temptations. 01:06:49.116 --> 01:06:51.690 The weak and the strong both 01:06:51.690 --> 01:06:54.097 have their unique set of temptations. 01:06:54.097 --> 01:06:55.273 You notice that? 01:06:55.273 --> 01:06:57.493 "One person believes he may eat anything, 01:06:57.493 --> 01:06:59.708 while the weak person eats only vegetables. 01:06:59.708 --> 01:07:01.978 Let not the one who eats despise 01:07:01.978 --> 01:07:03.270 the one who abstains. 01:07:03.270 --> 01:07:04.708 Let not the one who abstains 01:07:04.708 --> 01:07:06.541 pass judgment on the one who eats." 01:07:06.541 --> 01:07:09.890 Despising and judgment. 01:07:09.890 --> 01:07:14.780 Okay, strong people are tempted to despise. 01:07:14.780 --> 01:07:17.135 Weak people are tempted to judge. 01:07:17.135 --> 01:07:18.645 And this was so clear years ago 01:07:18.645 --> 01:07:20.532 when everything on the blogs was about 01:07:20.532 --> 01:07:24.200 who could drink beer and who couldn't. 01:07:24.200 --> 01:07:26.737 The people who could drink beer 01:07:26.737 --> 01:07:29.230 despised - "how do you even live 01:07:29.230 --> 01:07:31.518 without tasting a craft beer?" 01:07:31.518 --> 01:07:33.637 "How do you even be a Christian?" 01:07:33.637 --> 01:07:35.548 "How do you enjoy life to the full, 01:07:35.548 --> 01:07:40.949 you fundamentalist fools?" 01:07:40.949 --> 01:07:42.519 And then on the other side, 01:07:42.519 --> 01:07:44.840 nothing but judgment. 01:07:44.840 --> 01:07:46.182 Worldly. 01:07:46.182 --> 01:07:47.581 Backslidden. 01:07:47.581 --> 01:07:50.486 Heathen. 01:07:50.486 --> 01:07:54.876 Both are displeasing sins to Jesus. 01:07:54.876 --> 01:07:56.703 Both of them. 01:07:56.703 --> 01:08:00.051 They are both wrong. 01:08:00.051 --> 01:08:03.170 It's wrong to judge someone 01:08:03.170 --> 01:08:04.752 in a way that condemns them, 01:08:04.752 --> 01:08:08.340 when they're different than you on a secondary matter. 01:08:08.340 --> 01:08:10.370 And it's wrong to despise someone 01:08:10.370 --> 01:08:12.902 who doesn't have the same freedom as you. 01:08:12.902 --> 01:08:15.422 It's wrong because the goal of our instruction 01:08:15.422 --> 01:08:17.153 is love. 01:08:17.153 --> 01:08:18.603 Love. It's always love. 01:08:18.603 --> 01:08:25.248 We're always after love. 01:08:25.248 --> 01:08:28.053 But Ryan, how do I love 01:08:28.053 --> 01:08:32.057 when I feel the person's compromising? 01:08:32.057 --> 01:08:34.977 I mean, I'm really, I'm trying to be faithful, 01:08:34.977 --> 01:08:37.292 and I really believe that I should only 01:08:37.292 --> 01:08:38.736 listen to Christian music. 01:08:38.736 --> 01:08:40.619 I believe it. 01:08:40.619 --> 01:08:43.032 I'm not trying to be a legalist. 01:08:43.032 --> 01:08:44.085 I love Jesus. 01:08:44.085 --> 01:08:46.450 And that's just where I'm at. 01:08:46.450 --> 01:08:48.515 And that's where a lot of you are at, 01:08:48.515 --> 01:08:49.806 and praise God for you, 01:08:49.806 --> 01:08:52.446 for just trying to live before the Lord in everything. 01:08:52.446 --> 01:08:53.776 And others of you are like, 01:08:53.776 --> 01:08:56.299 Ryan, I really believe I have the liberty 01:08:56.299 --> 01:08:59.258 to do this, and I'm not trying to sin. 01:08:59.258 --> 01:09:01.959 I'm not trying to get away with anything. 01:09:01.959 --> 01:09:05.576 I want to be holy in everything I do. 01:09:05.576 --> 01:09:08.617 Praise God for you. 01:09:08.617 --> 01:09:10.018 How do those people get along 01:09:10.018 --> 01:09:12.365 without feeling like they're compromising? 01:09:12.365 --> 01:09:14.612 Because that's what you're afraid of right? 01:09:14.612 --> 01:09:16.731 You're afraid if you welcome this person in, 01:09:16.731 --> 01:09:21.578 you're going to compromise your walk with Jesus. 01:09:21.578 --> 01:09:24.179 How do you do it? 01:09:24.179 --> 01:09:27.335 You learn to recognize something deeper 01:09:27.335 --> 01:09:31.492 than the superficial stuff. 01:09:31.492 --> 01:09:33.953 You learn to recognize a heart 01:09:33.953 --> 01:09:36.434 that wants to honor the Lord, 01:09:36.434 --> 01:09:38.448 even though they're not honoring the Lord 01:09:38.448 --> 01:09:40.782 exactly the way you would. 01:09:40.782 --> 01:09:43.297 You see that in the text? 01:09:43.297 --> 01:09:44.827 It says there, 01:09:44.827 --> 01:09:47.774 "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?" 01:09:47.782 --> 01:09:49.702 We're in v. 4. 01:09:49.702 --> 01:09:52.262 "It is because of his own master that he stands or falls, 01:09:52.262 --> 01:09:54.993 and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 01:09:54.993 --> 01:09:57.455 One person esteems one day as better than another, 01:09:57.455 --> 01:09:59.992 while another esteems all days alike. 01:09:59.992 --> 01:10:02.795 Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 01:10:02.795 --> 01:10:04.801 The one who observes the day (listen here) 01:10:04.801 --> 01:10:07.404 observes it in honor of the Lord. 01:10:07.404 --> 01:10:09.804 The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord 01:10:09.804 --> 01:10:11.384 since he gives thanks to God, 01:10:11.384 --> 01:10:12.780 while the one who abstains, 01:10:12.780 --> 01:10:14.298 abstains in honor of the Lord, 01:10:14.298 --> 01:10:15.629 and gives thanks to God." 01:10:15.629 --> 01:10:16.822 When we put all the focus 01:10:16.822 --> 01:10:18.230 on these secondary matters, 01:10:18.230 --> 01:10:20.008 all we notice is: 01:10:20.008 --> 01:10:24.265 you watch movies I wouldn't watch. 01:10:24.265 --> 01:10:29.454 And we miss a heart to honor the Lord. 01:10:29.454 --> 01:10:31.325 Come on, are there too many hearts 01:10:31.325 --> 01:10:33.258 in the world that want to honor the Lord 01:10:33.258 --> 01:10:38.336 that you want to miss even one of them? 01:10:38.336 --> 01:10:41.533 What we want to learn is how to detect 01:10:41.533 --> 01:10:43.855 a heart that wants to honor the Lord 01:10:43.855 --> 01:10:45.577 and is thanking the Lord. 01:10:45.577 --> 01:10:47.852 Now, you may not be able to do what they do. 01:10:47.852 --> 01:10:49.150 And don't do what they do, 01:10:49.150 --> 01:10:52.323 if you're not convinced in your own mind. 01:10:52.323 --> 01:10:56.616 But notice a heart that wants to honor 01:10:56.616 --> 01:10:58.732 the Lord, and when you notice that, 01:10:58.732 --> 01:11:02.249 you have the most important bond in the world. 01:11:02.249 --> 01:11:04.113 And God's going to uphold people 01:11:04.113 --> 01:11:06.480 who try to honor Him. 01:11:06.480 --> 01:11:11.760 Even if they don't get it exactly right in every detail. 01:11:11.760 --> 01:11:16.783 Let me give you an example of this. 01:11:16.783 --> 01:11:17.881 In the church I pastor, 01:11:17.881 --> 01:11:22.656 if I knew a guy was looking at pornography, 01:11:22.656 --> 01:11:25.858 was messing around sexually, 01:11:25.858 --> 01:11:28.127 and was watching movies - 01:11:28.127 --> 01:11:32.071 they weren't pornographic, but they were just risque, 01:11:32.071 --> 01:11:33.594 I would get right into his face 01:11:33.594 --> 01:11:36.507 and say you are so compromised. 01:11:36.507 --> 01:11:39.727 You are just flirting with all kinds of temptation 01:11:39.727 --> 01:11:41.649 and you need to get out of that. 01:11:41.649 --> 01:11:43.229 You need to cut off your hand 01:11:43.229 --> 01:11:44.446 and gouge out your eye. 01:11:44.446 --> 01:11:45.394 End of story. 01:11:45.394 --> 01:11:47.256 That's absolutely what you need to do. 01:11:47.256 --> 01:11:48.346 In the words of Titus, 01:11:48.346 --> 01:11:49.948 I insist on these things. 01:11:49.948 --> 01:11:53.877 I will not let you ignore me. 01:11:53.877 --> 01:11:55.998 And then I've got another guy in the church 01:11:55.998 --> 01:11:57.665 who teaches the Bible, 01:11:57.665 --> 01:11:59.707 loves the Bible, visits widows, 01:11:59.707 --> 01:12:01.062 cares for his wife, 01:12:01.062 --> 01:12:02.826 seeks to honor the Lord, 01:12:02.826 --> 01:12:04.632 and there's a few movies he watches 01:12:04.632 --> 01:12:07.729 that I wouldn't watch. 01:12:07.729 --> 01:12:09.829 I'll be honest. I don't like that. 01:12:09.829 --> 01:12:10.751 I don't like it. 01:12:10.751 --> 01:12:12.946 I want everyone to draw their movie lines 01:12:12.946 --> 01:12:14.341 right where I draw them. 01:12:14.341 --> 01:12:15.644 I do. 01:12:15.644 --> 01:12:21.567 I'm fully convinced in my own mind. 01:12:21.567 --> 01:12:23.319 And I'm going to have a warm lunch 01:12:23.319 --> 01:12:24.450 with that guy. 01:12:24.450 --> 01:12:26.504 I'm going to commend all the godliness within him, 01:12:26.504 --> 01:12:28.714 and then, we may get around to talking about, 01:12:28.714 --> 01:12:30.362 hey, what are these different convictions? 01:12:30.362 --> 01:12:32.920 Because this is looking like it would be bad for me. 01:12:32.920 --> 01:12:34.368 For me, that would be sin. 01:12:34.368 --> 01:12:37.713 How do you do that? 01:12:37.713 --> 01:12:39.511 But the way you're handling that 01:12:39.511 --> 01:12:41.637 is so different, 01:12:41.637 --> 01:12:43.948 than just going on a tirade against everyone 01:12:43.948 --> 01:12:50.999 who is not holding the exact same convictions as you. NOTE Paragraph 01:12:50.999 --> 01:12:53.088 So beloved, 01:12:53.088 --> 01:12:56.178 I leave you with this. 01:12:56.178 --> 01:12:59.293 The goal of every sermon you ever hear 01:12:59.293 --> 01:13:02.296 is love. 01:13:02.296 --> 01:13:04.337 Caring for people. 01:13:04.337 --> 01:13:07.327 Having a warm regard for them. 01:13:07.327 --> 01:13:11.271 And it needs to come from a good conscience. 01:13:11.271 --> 01:13:12.899 You get one of those by plunging 01:13:12.899 --> 01:13:14.156 your dead, evil conscience 01:13:14.156 --> 01:13:16.856 under the blood of Jesus 01:13:16.856 --> 01:13:20.511 that purifies you from all unrighteousness. 01:13:20.511 --> 01:13:23.994 And then you begin to walk in His path. 01:13:23.994 --> 01:13:25.794 And as you walk in His path, 01:13:25.794 --> 01:13:28.040 you will face many people who aren't quite 01:13:28.040 --> 01:13:31.732 figuring out His path exactly the way you are. 01:13:31.732 --> 01:13:33.534 And our job there is to discern 01:13:33.534 --> 01:13:35.760 an honor for the Lord, 01:13:35.760 --> 01:13:38.414 and a thankfulness for the Lord. 01:13:38.414 --> 01:13:41.820 And to just shower those people with love. 01:13:41.820 --> 01:13:44.910 When that kind of love relationship exists, 01:13:44.910 --> 01:13:47.148 you will have the best kind of context 01:13:47.148 --> 01:13:49.116 to actually have the good discussions 01:13:49.116 --> 01:13:52.166 to refine our consciences with 01:13:52.166 --> 01:13:55.503 and to think about following Him more closely 01:13:55.503 --> 01:13:59.519 and walking in love before Him together. 01:13:59.519 --> 01:14:01.886 Oh, may God make us as free 01:14:01.886 --> 01:14:04.838 as the gospel wants us to be, 01:14:04.838 --> 01:14:07.068 and just enjoy Jesus as much as the gospel 01:14:07.068 --> 01:14:09.398 wants us to enjoy Jesus. 01:14:09.398 --> 01:14:12.105 Father, thank You so much 01:14:12.105 --> 01:14:15.498 for Your grace. 01:14:15.498 --> 01:14:17.303 Lord, I have probably revealed 01:14:17.303 --> 01:14:19.157 some convictions of my own 01:14:19.157 --> 01:14:20.518 in the course of this sermon 01:14:20.518 --> 01:14:24.188 that would tempt some to despise me. 01:14:24.188 --> 01:14:28.126 I pray that You would just keep us from despising. 01:14:28.126 --> 01:14:30.074 I'm probably sure I'll meet some folks 01:14:30.074 --> 01:14:33.019 who hold convictions that I think are weaker than my own. 01:14:33.019 --> 01:14:34.748 I pray that I would not judge them 01:14:34.748 --> 01:14:37.965 or despise them. 01:14:37.965 --> 01:14:40.543 Lord, fill us with love. 01:14:40.543 --> 01:14:42.251 Lord, we pray that this teaching 01:14:42.251 --> 01:14:44.176 would not be used to justify anything 01:14:44.176 --> 01:14:47.722 that is clearly wicked or sinful. 01:14:47.722 --> 01:14:49.573 Lord, Christian liberty is meant 01:14:49.573 --> 01:14:52.215 to help us walk in love and holiness; 01:14:52.215 --> 01:14:55.434 not sin and degradation. 01:14:55.434 --> 01:14:57.482 Lord, we pray that You'd use this teaching 01:14:57.482 --> 01:15:00.491 to free us from all the extra-biblical expectations 01:15:00.491 --> 01:15:01.834 we heap on ourselves 01:15:01.834 --> 01:15:05.196 that destroy our joy. 01:15:05.196 --> 01:15:08.169 Lord, we pray this in Jesus' mighty name. 01:15:08.169 --> 01:15:08.873 Amen.