1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,040 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 2 00:00:07,040 –> 00:00:16,500 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website, openthebible.org. 3 00:00:16,500 –> 00:00:19,120 Let’s get to the message, here is Pastor Colin. 4 00:00:19,120 –> 00:00:22,719 Now we’re continuing our series, Regeneration, 5 00:00:22,719 –> 00:00:25,280 How Christ Changes Your Soul 6 00:00:25,280 –> 00:00:27,900 We’ve been learning what regeneration is, 7 00:00:27,900 –> 00:00:32,040 this miracle of God’s grace in which he changes you on the inside so that with a new mind 8 00:00:32,040 –> 00:00:35,540 and a new heart, you love him, trust him and follow him freely. 9 00:00:35,540 –> 00:00:40,860 We’ve been seeing the difference that regeneration makes from 1 John, six distinguishing marks 10 00:00:40,860 –> 00:00:45,360 of an authentic Christian, pursing what’s right and turning from what is wrong, love, 11 00:00:45,360 –> 00:00:50,779 faith, power, and all these things secure because the child of God is kept by the power 12 00:00:50,779 –> 00:00:52,980 of Jesus Christ. 13 00:00:52,980 –> 00:00:57,180 You notice that there’s two parts in the title, regeneration, 14 00:00:57,500 –> 00:01:03,459 How Christ Changes Your Soul, and I want us to look at this question a little more closely. 15 00:01:03,459 –> 00:01:08,680 Now we’ve understood regeneration perhaps a little better, how is it then that Jesus 16 00:01:08,680 –> 00:01:12,940 Christ changes the soul? 17 00:01:12,940 –> 00:01:17,519 If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. 18 00:01:17,519 –> 00:01:22,599 But the important question is what’s new about the new creation? 19 00:01:22,599 –> 00:01:26,879 See, when I became a Christian the color of my eyes didn’t change. 20 00:01:27,860 –> 00:01:32,180 The sound of my accent didn’t change. 21 00:01:32,180 –> 00:01:36,599 When we became Christians, when you became a Christian your basic temperament didn’t 22 00:01:36,599 –> 00:01:38,540 change. 23 00:01:38,540 –> 00:01:42,419 Shy sinners become shy Christians. 24 00:01:42,419 –> 00:01:45,260 Strong willed sinners become strong willed Christians. 25 00:01:45,260 –> 00:01:51,139 You look at the apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus and all this passion that’s so destructive 26 00:01:51,139 –> 00:01:53,419 and what does God do in regeneration? 27 00:01:53,459 –> 00:01:58,300 He turns that same passion into the advance of the Gospel. 28 00:01:58,300 –> 00:02:01,620 Fundamental temperament is redeemed, not changed. 29 00:02:01,620 –> 00:02:03,180 Redirected. 30 00:02:03,180 –> 00:02:11,500 So, what does change in the new creation and what does not change because we’re very different 31 00:02:11,500 –> 00:02:15,339 from each other as Christian believers and so this is an important question for us to 32 00:02:15,339 –> 00:02:20,380 understand and we’re going to look at it God willing, over these coming weeks. 33 00:02:20,380 –> 00:02:26,160 Some years ago we did a series here where we talked about battles of the boardroom of 34 00:02:26,160 –> 00:02:27,160 the soul. 35 00:02:27,160 –> 00:02:30,339 You might remember that we pictured your inner life as being like the mind, the heart and 36 00:02:30,339 –> 00:02:34,460 the will, kind of sitting round a conference table and battling out the great issues of 37 00:02:34,460 –> 00:02:35,460 your life. 38 00:02:35,460 –> 00:02:41,419 I find that a helpful way to think about what my inner life, your inner life is really like 39 00:02:41,419 –> 00:02:45,800 and it’s helpful, perhaps, to think of it this way, that when God regenerates a sinner 40 00:02:45,800 –> 00:02:47,839 He touches every part of the inner life. 41 00:02:48,100 –> 00:02:52,240 In other words your mind, your heart, your will, your conscience, memory, imagination 42 00:02:52,240 –> 00:02:57,399 they work in a different way, they are moved in a different direction. 43 00:02:57,399 –> 00:03:00,419 And we’re going to explore that just a little bit over these weeks. 44 00:03:00,419 –> 00:03:05,919 Now today we’re going to begin with how Christ changes your conscience. 45 00:03:05,919 –> 00:03:10,000 And that’s why we read from Acts 24 and verse 16, Paul says, 46 00:03:18,820 –> 00:03:25,800 Now conscience is a wonderful gift from God, it gives you the ability to discern right 47 00:03:25,800 –> 00:03:31,460 from wrong, and to distinguish what is good from what is best. 48 00:03:31,460 –> 00:03:37,919 Without conscience we would be just like the animals, we would just be acting on instinct, 49 00:03:37,919 –> 00:03:40,259 on impulse. 50 00:03:40,259 –> 00:03:46,080 But conscience gives us the ability not only to think and to feel but to reflect on what 51 00:03:46,080 –> 00:03:49,119 we think, and to reflect on what we feel. 52 00:03:49,119 –> 00:03:50,860 It’s a wonderful gift from God. 53 00:03:50,860 –> 00:03:58,339 Therefore it is to be protected and trained, and respected throughout life. 54 00:03:58,339 –> 00:04:03,020 Help me to think about what conscience is to see that there’s really two words in 55 00:04:03,020 –> 00:04:09,139 the English word conscience that are put together, the word con, which of course means with, 56 00:04:09,139 –> 00:04:12,559 and the word science which relates to knowledge. 57 00:04:12,559 –> 00:04:13,600 So what is conscience? 58 00:04:14,179 –> 00:04:20,320 Well, our English word would indicate that conscience is the ability to act with knowledge. 59 00:04:20,320 –> 00:04:22,079 That’s what it is. 60 00:04:22,079 –> 00:04:25,579 And as soon as you see that conscience is the ability to act with knowledge, you will 61 00:04:25,579 –> 00:04:32,100 realize that the way a person’s conscience functions depends on the knowledge they are 62 00:04:32,100 –> 00:04:36,399 working with. 63 00:04:36,399 –> 00:04:39,760 It’s helped me to try and get a handle on conscience, and how it functions, just to 64 00:04:39,760 –> 00:04:43,519 think very, very simply about an alarm clock. 65 00:04:43,519 –> 00:04:46,019 Here’s one of ours. 66 00:04:46,019 –> 00:04:51,040 We have three, which shows you the problem Karen and I have. 67 00:04:51,040 –> 00:04:58,559 But between them, to get us there, what is an alarm clock supposed to do? 68 00:04:58,559 –> 00:04:59,880 Two things. 69 00:04:59,880 –> 00:05:03,619 First, it really ought to keep quiet when you’re meant to be asleep. 70 00:05:03,619 –> 00:05:04,619 That’s important. 71 00:05:04,619 –> 00:05:05,619 Right? 72 00:05:05,619 –> 00:05:11,119 And secondly, it really needs to make a good noise when you’re supposed to waken up. 73 00:05:11,839 –> 00:05:14,320 Now, that’s a good way of thinking about conscience. 74 00:05:14,320 –> 00:05:17,679 It’s supposed to do these two things. 75 00:05:17,679 –> 00:05:22,519 Let the peace of Christ rule within your hearts, Paul says, in Colossians chapter 3 and verse 76 00:05:22,519 –> 00:05:23,519 15. 77 00:05:23,519 –> 00:05:28,320 In other words, when you’re on the right path, conscience should mark that path with 78 00:05:28,320 –> 00:05:30,899 peace. 79 00:05:30,899 –> 00:05:33,380 Let the peace of Christ rule within your hearts. 80 00:05:33,380 –> 00:05:36,339 His peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 81 00:05:36,980 –> 00:05:41,779 When you are tempted to the wrong path, a good conscience working well will sound the 82 00:05:41,779 –> 00:05:42,779 alarm. 83 00:05:42,779 –> 00:05:45,339 That’s how it’s meant to work in these two ways. 84 00:05:45,339 –> 00:05:47,660 That’s how it’s supposed to work. 85 00:05:47,660 –> 00:05:54,279 The problem of course is that as with every other part of your soul and mind, conscience 86 00:05:54,279 –> 00:05:57,660 has been disordered by sin. 87 00:05:57,660 –> 00:06:01,619 And rather like an alarm clock, it can malfunction in two ways. 88 00:06:01,660 –> 00:06:07,079 It can go off when it should be quiet, and it can fail to go off when it should be making 89 00:06:07,079 –> 00:06:08,700 a noise. 90 00:06:08,700 –> 00:06:11,239 Now, have you had that experience? 91 00:06:11,239 –> 00:06:16,279 Where you set the alarm clock wrong, you know, p.m. instead of a.m. or something. 92 00:06:16,279 –> 00:06:20,279 And so it didn’t go off and you missed a breakfast meeting or something, and you come in with 93 00:06:20,279 –> 00:06:25,679 your head sort of hanging and you say, I’m so sorry I’m late. 94 00:06:25,679 –> 00:06:30,700 My alarm clock, help me, didn’t go off. 95 00:06:31,179 –> 00:06:39,140 Now, the Bible talks about a conscience that doesn’t go off when it should, doesn’t raise 96 00:06:39,140 –> 00:06:42,179 the alarm when it should, in two ways. 97 00:06:42,179 –> 00:06:50,140 It describes such a conscience as a corrupt conscience, or a seared conscience. 98 00:06:50,140 –> 00:06:53,720 I’ll show you that in the Scriptures in just a moment, but I want us to think about how 99 00:06:53,720 –> 00:06:58,079 that works in practice, so that we’ll understand the Scripture well. 100 00:06:58,100 –> 00:07:03,640 So picture with me for a moment a teenage boy. 101 00:07:03,640 –> 00:07:07,760 I want you to picture this guy who is out with a group of friends. 102 00:07:07,760 –> 00:07:14,959 He has never taken drugs before, but his friends have encouraged him to try. 103 00:07:14,959 –> 00:07:19,119 The boy has given it thought, but he knows that drugs are addictive, and he knows that 104 00:07:19,119 –> 00:07:25,880 drugs are destructive, and his conscience tells him that taking them would be wrong. 105 00:07:26,200 –> 00:07:31,079 But as you follow me in your imagination, there are other pressures. 106 00:07:31,079 –> 00:07:33,239 He wants his friends to like him. 107 00:07:33,239 –> 00:07:38,440 He’s curious about what this experience might be, and he thinks to himself as he’s gathered 108 00:07:38,440 –> 00:07:48,500 with his friends, well it can’t hurt just this once, so he overrides his consciousness. 109 00:07:48,500 –> 00:07:50,000 Now let me tell you what that’s right. 110 00:07:50,019 –> 00:07:57,359 You know this, in that moment where the boy summons up the courage to override his conscience 111 00:07:57,359 –> 00:07:59,839 his pulse sort of races. 112 00:07:59,839 –> 00:08:02,059 His heart begins to beat faster. 113 00:08:02,059 –> 00:08:03,980 His palms get sweaty. 114 00:08:03,980 –> 00:08:14,739 There’s a rush of adrenalin that he experiences because he’s going to override his conscience. 115 00:08:14,739 –> 00:08:24,220 What he doesn’t see is that overruling his conscience weakens its power. 116 00:08:24,220 –> 00:08:26,380 That’s what happens. 117 00:08:26,380 –> 00:08:32,200 When you overrule your conscience, you make it weaker, less sensitive and therefore less 118 00:08:32,200 –> 00:08:35,039 effective next time. 119 00:08:35,039 –> 00:08:41,400 So that next time when he’s with the friends and the same situation comes about, the heart 120 00:08:41,400 –> 00:08:43,739 doesn’t race quite so fast. 121 00:08:43,739 –> 00:08:44,739 Or the pulse. 122 00:08:44,739 –> 00:08:47,619 The hands don’t sweat like they did the first time. 123 00:08:47,619 –> 00:08:48,619 Why? 124 00:08:48,619 –> 00:08:51,559 Because the power of his conscience is diminished. 125 00:08:51,559 –> 00:08:53,539 It’s reduced. 126 00:08:53,539 –> 00:08:56,859 It’s been weakened. 127 00:08:56,859 –> 00:08:58,640 So let’s roll this story forward. 128 00:08:58,640 –> 00:09:02,580 Let’s suppose that the boy now repeats the choice that he has made and he takes the drug 129 00:09:02,580 –> 00:09:06,219 again and after a while it becomes a pattern in his life. 130 00:09:06,219 –> 00:09:07,940 Here’s what happens. 131 00:09:07,940 –> 00:09:14,460 Over time, his conscience actually changes. 132 00:09:14,460 –> 00:09:19,940 Because the boy overrules his conscience repeatedly and the conscience realizes that it is becoming 133 00:09:19,940 –> 00:09:25,400 increasingly futile to object, because it’s getting overruled anyway, the conscience conforms 134 00:09:25,400 –> 00:09:27,659 itself to the new reality. 135 00:09:27,659 –> 00:09:30,859 It begins to say, well really, there’s not that much wrong and eventually there’s nothing 136 00:09:30,859 –> 00:09:33,359 wrong with what is being done. 137 00:09:33,500 –> 00:09:37,619 And the conscience is re-educated in the light of the boy’s behavior. 138 00:09:37,619 –> 00:09:40,419 Now, the Bible has a word for that. 139 00:09:40,419 –> 00:09:41,679 What has happened? 140 00:09:41,679 –> 00:09:47,580 The boy’s conscience has been corrupted. 141 00:09:47,580 –> 00:09:51,940 And you’ll find that in Titus chapter one and verse fifteen, where Paul speaks about 142 00:09:51,940 –> 00:09:52,940 this. 143 00:09:52,940 –> 00:09:58,059 He speaks about how to the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and 144 00:09:58,059 –> 00:10:06,039 do not believe nothing is pure, in fact, both their minds and their consciences are corrupted. 145 00:10:06,039 –> 00:10:09,359 The corruption of the conscience. 146 00:10:09,359 –> 00:10:13,979 What I want us to understand – I’ve taken one simple illustration here about the teenage 147 00:10:13,979 –> 00:10:20,419 boy, but I want you to understand that any time any of us overrule conscience in any 148 00:10:20,419 –> 00:10:26,460 way, we weaken its power on any issue. 149 00:10:26,640 –> 00:10:30,840 Acting against your conscience will bring a change to your own inner life, it will change 150 00:10:30,840 –> 00:10:35,200 how your conscience functions, it will weaken its power. 151 00:10:35,200 –> 00:10:41,119 And a corrupt conscience is a conscience that approves the wrong things, because it’s conformed 152 00:10:41,119 –> 00:10:48,539 itself to the overriding that you have produced over time. 153 00:10:48,539 –> 00:10:52,719 Now what happens if a corrupted conscience continues over time? 154 00:10:52,900 –> 00:10:55,659 Well further down the line here is what happens. 155 00:10:55,659 –> 00:11:01,000 A corrupted conscience eventually can become seared. 156 00:11:01,000 –> 00:11:06,400 And for this you might like to turn to 1 Timothy, chapter 4, in verse two. 157 00:11:06,400 –> 00:11:13,820 Paul speaks here about the seared conscience, and he talks about hypocritical liars whose 158 00:11:13,820 –> 00:11:20,479 consciences have been seared, as with a hot iron. 159 00:11:21,440 –> 00:11:26,099 Now prepare to wince a little bit, because the picture here is very vivid. 160 00:11:26,099 –> 00:11:34,099 But in the ancient world, when the doctors were unable to stop the flow of blood in a 161 00:11:34,099 –> 00:11:39,640 wound, one of the ways in which they could do that in an extreme emergency was to cauterize 162 00:11:39,640 –> 00:11:43,679 the wound and for that it was a hot iron that was used. 163 00:11:43,679 –> 00:11:45,859 Can you imagine this before anesthetic? 164 00:11:46,780 –> 00:11:50,739 You know, your arm’s bleeding and the doctor’s not able to get it stopped and you see some 165 00:11:50,739 –> 00:11:53,539 guy and there’s an iron in the fire and he brings it over. 166 00:11:53,539 –> 00:11:55,479 You think, no, what is gonna happen? 167 00:11:55,479 –> 00:11:58,719 And the hot iron gets pressed on the wound. 168 00:11:58,719 –> 00:12:04,960 You pass out with the pain of it, when eventually you come to again, number one, you think, 169 00:12:04,960 –> 00:12:07,039 hey, I’m alive, that’s good. 170 00:12:07,039 –> 00:12:11,159 Number two, the bleeding stopped, that’s good. 171 00:12:11,159 –> 00:12:15,000 And eventually when you’re able to come to your senses, what you realize is that not 172 00:12:15,020 –> 00:12:21,400 only has the bleeding stopped, but the whole area to which the hot iron has been applied, 173 00:12:21,400 –> 00:12:25,599 in that area you no longer have any feeling. 174 00:12:25,599 –> 00:12:29,479 Because not only has the wound been cauterized, but in the application of the hot iron to 175 00:12:29,479 –> 00:12:34,340 this area of your arm, let’s say, all of the nerve endings have been killed off in that 176 00:12:34,340 –> 00:12:35,340 area. 177 00:12:35,340 –> 00:12:39,380 So you could stick a pin in that area of your flesh and you wouldn’t feel a thing. 178 00:12:39,380 –> 00:12:42,960 It’s been seared, as with a hot iron. 179 00:12:43,039 –> 00:12:47,080 Now, see what Paul is saying in 1 Timothy 4.2, he is saying that’s exactly what some 180 00:12:47,280 –> 00:12:50,400 people’s consciences are like. 181 00:12:50,400 –> 00:12:53,880 They no longer feel evil. 182 00:12:53,880 –> 00:12:58,239 They no longer are sensitive to sin. 183 00:12:58,239 –> 00:13:05,880 Some great acts of evil could happen, and a person with a seared conscience doesn’t 184 00:13:05,880 –> 00:13:07,919 feel anything wrong going on. 185 00:13:07,919 –> 00:13:08,919 The feeling has gone. 186 00:13:08,919 –> 00:13:12,359 It’s a tragic state to be in. 187 00:13:12,359 –> 00:13:16,919 That is what Paul describes here – hypocritical liars whose consciences have been seared, 188 00:13:16,919 –> 00:13:18,599 as with a hot iron. 189 00:13:18,599 –> 00:13:20,260 They have lost all sensitivity. 190 00:13:20,260 –> 00:13:21,919 You may know some folks like this. 191 00:13:21,919 –> 00:13:26,919 They can lie without a blush. 192 00:13:26,919 –> 00:13:30,799 They can cheat and steal and sleep at night. 193 00:13:30,799 –> 00:13:37,380 They have found a way to accommodate themselves to what they do to such an extent that they 194 00:13:37,380 –> 00:13:42,460 no longer feel bad about it in any way. 195 00:13:42,460 –> 00:13:47,760 At its extreme point, the person who lies compulsively does not even know that he is 196 00:13:47,760 –> 00:13:55,099 lying – lost sensitivity to it. 197 00:13:55,099 –> 00:14:01,619 Suicide bombers go to their deaths, not feeling that what they did was the worst event of 198 00:14:01,619 –> 00:14:05,239 their lives but feeling that what they are doing is the best event of their lives and 199 00:14:05,400 –> 00:14:09,080 we accept it. 200 00:14:09,080 –> 00:14:13,059 You see, how in the world is that possible? 201 00:14:13,059 –> 00:14:15,500 And Paul is telling us right here. 202 00:14:15,500 –> 00:14:20,880 Because the conscience can become seared and when the conscience becomes seared, here is 203 00:14:20,880 –> 00:14:29,260 how Isaiah puts it in Isaiah 5-20, he says, at that point, a person calls evil good and 204 00:14:29,260 –> 00:14:31,799 they call good evil. 205 00:14:31,880 –> 00:14:34,539 We’re no longer able to discern the difference between the two. 206 00:14:34,539 –> 00:14:38,140 That’s what the conscience is meant to do for us. 207 00:14:38,140 –> 00:14:43,140 In fact Jesus spoke about this very specifically in John chapter 16 and verse 2. 208 00:14:43,140 –> 00:14:45,440 Have you ever noticed these words of Jesus? 209 00:14:45,440 –> 00:14:51,960 He says to the disciple, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think that 210 00:14:51,960 –> 00:14:54,099 he’s doing a service to God. 211 00:14:54,099 –> 00:15:01,299 See, how in the world could someone who kills Christians think that he’s offering a good 212 00:15:01,340 –> 00:15:02,559 service to God? 213 00:15:02,559 –> 00:15:05,780 Well of course, that’s exactly what Saul of Tarsus thought. 214 00:15:05,780 –> 00:15:10,219 When he was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, did he have a bad conscience about 215 00:15:10,219 –> 00:15:11,219 it? 216 00:15:11,219 –> 00:15:12,219 Absolutely not. 217 00:15:12,219 –> 00:15:18,419 He thought he was doing the right thing, and he thought he was offering a service to God. 218 00:15:18,419 –> 00:15:25,159 As a man’s deeds grow more evil, have you noticed this? 219 00:15:25,159 –> 00:15:28,099 His capacity for denial increases. 220 00:15:28,099 –> 00:15:30,820 Isn’t that an amazing thing? 221 00:15:30,820 –> 00:15:36,140 As a person becomes more evil, their awareness of their own evil and their denial of any 222 00:15:36,140 –> 00:15:37,739 evil is greater. 223 00:15:37,739 –> 00:15:42,979 The capacity of denial is increased. 224 00:15:42,979 –> 00:15:49,460 The person who continues longest in a pattern of sin is least sensitive to the sinfulness 225 00:15:49,460 –> 00:15:50,460 of their behavior. 226 00:15:50,460 –> 00:15:51,460 Why? 227 00:15:51,460 –> 00:15:56,059 Because conscience is being diminished all the time. 228 00:15:56,059 –> 00:16:00,559 The longer a person engages with any particular sin, the easier it becomes for that person 229 00:16:00,559 –> 00:16:03,760 to live with it and justify it. 230 00:16:03,760 –> 00:16:04,760 Why? 231 00:16:04,760 –> 00:16:07,239 Because conscience is changing. 232 00:16:07,239 –> 00:16:12,880 See, I think we often think that, you know, sin, we do things that are wrong, then we 233 00:16:12,880 –> 00:16:15,719 need to ask for forgiveness and cleansing as we do. 234 00:16:15,719 –> 00:16:21,659 What we don’t often understand is the way in which our own sins affect the inner life 235 00:16:21,659 –> 00:16:23,440 of our own being, your own soul. 236 00:16:23,440 –> 00:16:25,440 It changes your conscience. 237 00:16:25,440 –> 00:16:29,000 It doesn’t work right! 238 00:16:29,119 –> 00:16:34,599 When people say, as is often said, you know, we must all follow our own conscience. 239 00:16:34,599 –> 00:16:38,679 That’s obviously a true statement and a very reasonable one, it’s right. 240 00:16:38,679 –> 00:16:43,280 But remember this that if your conscience is calibrated by the wrong values it will 241 00:16:43,280 –> 00:16:47,219 approve of the wrong things, because conscience is acting according to knowledge. 242 00:16:47,219 –> 00:16:50,979 If you’re working with the wrong knowledge, if you’re working with a lie that’s been fed 243 00:16:50,979 –> 00:16:55,799 to the conscience, if you’re working with the conscience that has accommodated itself 244 00:16:55,799 –> 00:16:58,580 to a pattern of sin then it will approve the wrong things. 245 00:16:58,580 –> 00:17:02,179 It just won’t work right, it will be like the alarm clock that doesn’t go off, when 246 00:17:02,179 –> 00:17:04,199 it should. 247 00:17:04,199 –> 00:17:10,140 And the seared conscience is not troubled even by the greatest of evils. 248 00:17:10,140 –> 00:17:15,060 So remember that conscience is never the ultimate judge of right or wrong. 249 00:17:15,060 –> 00:17:18,979 Which is why Paul says, and this is a very important statement in 1Corinthians chapter 250 00:17:18,979 –> 00:17:25,359 4 and verse 4, Paul is being accused by the folks in the church at Corinth, wrongly accused 251 00:17:25,859 –> 00:17:27,400 of a number of things, and he says this to them. 252 00:17:27,400 –> 00:17:34,400 He says, my conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. 253 00:17:35,000 –> 00:17:37,160 It is the Lord who judges me. 254 00:17:37,160 –> 00:17:42,500 You see what he’s saying, I’ve got a clear conscience, but I do want you to understand, 255 00:17:42,500 –> 00:17:46,300 I don’t think that just because I’ve got a clear conscience that means that I’m completely 256 00:17:46,300 –> 00:17:47,040 innocent. 257 00:17:47,040 –> 00:17:51,920 It could be that my conscience just isn’t working right here, and so where I ultimately 258 00:17:51,979 –> 00:17:56,319 have to rest my case, and where ultimately I will be judged is it is the Lord who judges 259 00:17:56,319 –> 00:18:03,319 me, which is the great reminder that all of us ultimately stand not before the bar of 260 00:18:04,400 –> 00:18:11,400 our own conscience but before the judgment seat of Christ. 261 00:18:12,520 –> 00:18:18,959 So the first way in which a conscience can malfunction is like the alarm clock that doesn’t 262 00:18:19,020 –> 00:18:26,020 go off when it should. Now there is obviously a second way and I originally thought that 263 00:18:26,540 –> 00:18:30,140 we would try to tackle this today as well but I think it is so important we need to 264 00:18:30,140 –> 00:18:34,160 come back to it next week, but just to give you a heads-up as to where, God willing, we 265 00:18:34,160 –> 00:18:39,040 will go next week, the other way in which the alarm clock can malfunction is that it 266 00:18:39,040 –> 00:18:44,719 goes off when it shouldn’t. And the Bible calls that a weak conscience, a conscience 267 00:18:44,719 –> 00:18:48,859 which is worried about the wrong things, fixated on the wrong things, and doesn’t背 have 268 00:18:48,859 –> 00:18:52,760 peace when it should have peace. And we are going to come back to that if you want to 269 00:18:52,760 –> 00:18:59,760 read ahead, that is 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans chapter 14. But that is for next week. I just 270 00:19:00,319 –> 00:19:03,800 want you to know there is another side. For the rest of our time today, the question 271 00:19:03,800 –> 00:19:10,800 that really matters is how can I get a good conscience? Paul says I strive always, because 272 00:19:11,619 –> 00:19:15,359 I know I’ll stand before the judgment seat of Christ. I know there is a resurrection. 273 00:19:15,359 –> 00:19:21,560 I strive always to keep a clear conscience before God and man. How can you do that? And 274 00:19:21,560 –> 00:19:28,560 if a conscience has been corrupted, how can it be made clean, pure? Suppose a conscience 275 00:19:30,800 –> 00:19:37,800 has been seared, can it be made to feel again? These are huge questions. How can our free 276 00:19:41,119 –> 00:19:46,560 conscience? How can you get and keep a good conscience? Because the Apostle Paul, one 277 00:19:46,560 –> 00:19:52,479 of the greatest men who has ever lived, he says, I strive always, this is a priority 278 00:19:52,479 –> 00:19:57,439 for me, to keep a clear conscience before God and man. 279 00:19:57,439 –> 00:20:03,760 Now, I want just to lay out the three ways, the three ingredients, the three legged stool 280 00:20:03,760 –> 00:20:10,760 as it were of a good conscience, getting a good conscience, and keeping a good conscience. 281 00:20:11,459 –> 00:20:17,400 And here’s the first. If you’re to get and keep a clear conscience, a good conscience 282 00:20:17,400 –> 00:20:24,180 is powered by the Holy Spirit. Now, let’s just look back for a moment at John 283 00:20:24,180 –> 00:20:31,180 and chapters 16 and verse 8 and the words of Jesus about the Holy Spirit. John 16 and 284 00:20:33,020 –> 00:20:40,020 verse 8. Jesus says when he comes, talking about the Spirit, he will convict the world 285 00:20:41,660 –> 00:20:48,660 of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. Jesus is saying when the Holy 286 00:20:51,040 –> 00:20:58,040 Spirit does his work, when he comes, when he gets working in your life, here is what 287 00:21:00,699 –> 00:21:05,400 is going to happen. And don’t expect it to be comfortable. The Holy Spirit when he gets 288 00:21:05,959 –> 00:21:12,959 working in your life is going to convict you, convict me in regard to our guilt. That’s 289 00:21:13,979 –> 00:21:17,560 what Jesus says. Now we think of guilt as a terrible thing, and we’ve got to get rid 290 00:21:17,560 –> 00:21:23,719 of guilt. We don’t want any feelings of guilt. Jesus is talking about guilt here in a way 291 00:21:23,719 –> 00:21:30,719 that is good. The problem with the corrupt conscience is that it doesn’t feel guilt. 292 00:21:31,239 –> 00:21:38,119 The seared conscience doesn’t see sin. The problem with that is that it leads a person 293 00:21:38,119 –> 00:21:41,579 often to think that they’re on the way to heaven, when in actual fact they’re on the 294 00:21:41,579 –> 00:21:47,979 path to hell. And so what Jesus says is that the Holy Spirit is going to waken a person 295 00:21:47,979 –> 00:21:54,880 up to the reality of our true position. Our guilt in relation to sin, and in relation 296 00:21:54,939 –> 00:22:01,939 to righteousness and relation to judgment. In relation to sin, what is Jesus saying? 297 00:22:02,260 –> 00:22:09,260 The Holy Spirit’s first work will be to activate your conscience. He will show you in a way 298 00:22:11,719 –> 00:22:17,180 that you’ve not seen before your own sins. And this is a work of God’s grace in your 299 00:22:17,180 –> 00:22:22,579 life when it happens and as it continues. Not only will He convince you of guilt in 300 00:22:22,780 –> 00:22:27,660 regards to sin but He’ll also convince you of guilt in a second way, in regards to righteousness. 301 00:22:27,660 –> 00:22:33,300 It’s very easy for us to think, oh we’re moral good people, Church people, religious 302 00:22:33,300 –> 00:22:37,219 people, generous people, kind people. We must be righteous people. 303 00:22:37,540 –> 00:22:42,660 You don’t know what righteousness is until you see Jesus. And then when the Holy Spirit 304 00:22:42,660 –> 00:22:48,079 opens your eyes to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, you begin to see that His righteousness 305 00:22:48,260 –> 00:22:54,819 is so far beyond your very best that you have no hope of getting near it. 306 00:22:54,819 –> 00:22:59,060 That’s what happened to the Apostle Paul. He used to go on about being a Pharisee of 307 00:22:59,060 –> 00:23:03,640 the Pharisees, and how he was the most moral of men. 308 00:23:04,640 –> 00:23:08,959 And then on the Damascus road he sees the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and now he 309 00:23:08,959 –> 00:23:10,920 says, I’m the chief of sinners. 310 00:23:11,839 –> 00:23:15,800 See, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit to reactivate conscience, which is the means 311 00:23:15,839 –> 00:23:20,719 by which you evaluate, and as a result of it Paul says that I’ve got a complete re-evaluation 312 00:23:20,719 –> 00:23:24,020 of my life. I now see myself as a sinner in need of a Savior. 313 00:23:24,020 –> 00:23:26,900 I used to think I was a very righteous man. 314 00:23:26,900 –> 00:23:31,040 Has that happened to you? 315 00:23:31,040 –> 00:23:36,040 Or do you still think that you’re a very righteous man? 316 00:23:36,040 –> 00:23:45,439 The Holy Spirit will convict of guilt in regard to sin, of guilt in regard to righteousness, 317 00:23:45,640 –> 00:23:48,000 of guilt in regard to judgment. 318 00:23:48,000 –> 00:23:51,479 Of course that’s where we started in Acts 24-16. 319 00:23:51,479 –> 00:23:57,660 Paul says I know there’ll be a resurrection and it’ll be for all of us whether we’re 320 00:23:57,660 –> 00:24:01,359 Christs or whether we’re a rebellion against Christ we’ll all stand before the judgment 321 00:24:01,359 –> 00:24:06,520 seat of Christ, and that’s why Paul says I strive always to keep a good conscience, 322 00:24:06,520 –> 00:24:11,739 a clear conscience before God and man. 323 00:24:11,739 –> 00:24:16,599 So when a person is awakened by the Holy Spirit, when God really begins to work in your own 324 00:24:16,599 –> 00:24:21,260 life, you want more of this not less. 325 00:24:21,260 –> 00:24:26,040 See, a person who doesn’t belong to Christ, I mean even in what’s been said from the 326 00:24:26,040 –> 00:24:29,599 Bible here you’ll be saying right now, hey I really don’t want any more of this. 327 00:24:29,599 –> 00:24:32,439 I don’t want that. 328 00:24:32,439 –> 00:24:36,479 But if you truly have a work of the spirit of God going on in your life you’ll say, you 329 00:24:36,520 –> 00:24:38,020 know I need more of that. 330 00:24:38,020 –> 00:24:39,800 You’ll be saying something like this. 331 00:24:39,800 –> 00:24:43,859 Search me, O God, and know my heart. 332 00:24:43,859 –> 00:24:47,420 Test me and know my anxious thoughts. 333 00:24:47,420 –> 00:24:53,280 See if there is any offensive way within me and lead me in the way everlasting. 334 00:24:53,280 –> 00:24:58,459 So the man who wrote that prayer which you’ll find in Psalm 139, that’s not a man in rebellion 335 00:24:58,459 –> 00:24:59,459 against God. 336 00:24:59,459 –> 00:25:01,739 That’s a man who’s seeking God. 337 00:25:01,739 –> 00:25:06,099 A godly person says I want you to search me, I want you to know me, I want you to show 338 00:25:06,140 –> 00:25:08,459 me what needs to change now in my life. 339 00:25:08,459 –> 00:25:13,660 I want you to lead me in the knowledge of my sin and righteousness and judgment so that 340 00:25:13,660 –> 00:25:18,040 I may turn to you in fresh and deeper and new ways. 341 00:25:18,040 –> 00:25:23,359 So I invite you, we’re going to come around the Lord’s Table in just a few moments time. 342 00:25:23,359 –> 00:25:28,640 You prepared today to come before the Lord and use these moments of quietness. 343 00:25:28,640 –> 00:25:35,619 To say search me, know me, show me, O God, what needs to change in me now. 344 00:25:35,619 –> 00:25:40,540 Show me the sins from which I need to be turning. 345 00:25:40,540 –> 00:25:45,800 If you wouldn’t do that around the Lord’s Table today, when are you planning to do that? 346 00:25:45,800 –> 00:25:47,619 When would you ever do it? 347 00:25:47,619 –> 00:25:55,420 But a godly man, a godly woman will say, search me, O God. 348 00:25:55,420 –> 00:26:02,300 That’s the work of the Holy Spirit that brings you to that place where you’d want to do that. 349 00:26:02,400 –> 00:26:04,959 The good conscience is powered by the Holy Spirit. 350 00:26:04,959 –> 00:26:07,959 You’ll never get there simply by an education process. 351 00:26:07,959 –> 00:26:09,339 My alarm clock needs some power. 352 00:26:09,339 –> 00:26:12,060 If I take the battery out there, this thing is useless. 353 00:26:12,060 –> 00:26:17,359 And your conscience needs the life and the power that comes from the Holy Spirit of God. 354 00:26:17,359 –> 00:26:21,459 O God, work in my heart. 355 00:26:21,459 –> 00:26:22,459 Show me my sins. 356 00:26:22,459 –> 00:26:24,140 Show me where I need to change. 357 00:26:24,140 –> 00:26:31,739 There’s a work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus speaks about here that powers a good conscience. 358 00:26:31,780 –> 00:26:35,119 Then a second thing much more briefly, we’ll come back to it next time. 359 00:26:35,119 –> 00:26:38,619 A good conscience is not only powered by the Holy Spirit. 360 00:26:38,619 –> 00:26:41,660 It is set by the Word of God. 361 00:26:41,660 –> 00:26:45,900 Say, I could have this alarm clock powered. 362 00:26:45,900 –> 00:26:50,699 But if the thing is not accurately set, it’s not a lot of use either. 363 00:26:50,699 –> 00:26:53,140 So these two things have to come together as they always do. 364 00:26:53,140 –> 00:26:57,479 The work of the Word, the work of the Spirit, the two are intertwined at the very heart 365 00:26:57,479 –> 00:26:59,380 of our faith. 366 00:26:59,380 –> 00:27:00,560 And let me give you this text. 367 00:27:00,579 –> 00:27:07,660 We’ll come back to this next time, but David says this, I have hidden your word in my heart 368 00:27:07,660 –> 00:27:10,859 so that I might not sin against you. 369 00:27:10,859 –> 00:27:14,380 That’s Psalm 119, and verse 11. 370 00:27:14,380 –> 00:27:16,660 You see what he’s saying? 371 00:27:16,660 –> 00:27:23,040 If I take the Word of God and instead of just let it skate over my brain, if I hide it in 372 00:27:23,040 –> 00:27:29,900 my heart, what it will do is it will reset, recalibrate, re-teach, re-educate my consensus. 373 00:27:29,939 –> 00:27:32,500 Re-educate my conscience. 374 00:27:32,520 –> 00:27:37,439 And if my conscience is renewed according to the Word of God, it will be the best defense 375 00:27:37,439 –> 00:27:40,959 in this world against falling into sin. 376 00:27:42,760 –> 00:27:46,939 Conscience is working with the truth, 377 00:27:46,939 –> 00:27:49,560 working with knowledge. 378 00:27:49,560 –> 00:27:54,219 So, to have a conscience that is going to reflect the will of Christ, I have to hide 379 00:27:54,319 –> 00:28:00,780 the Word of God in my heart so that I can teach again my conscience how to recognize 380 00:28:00,780 –> 00:28:01,780 sin. 381 00:28:01,780 –> 00:28:06,140 That is why the Word of God is at the very heart of our worship, why we want to encourage 382 00:28:06,140 –> 00:28:10,280 one another in it being at the very heart of our lives and not just letting it float 383 00:28:10,280 –> 00:28:14,839 over us but hiding it in your heart so that you will not sin. 384 00:28:14,839 –> 00:28:17,239 This is David’s strategy. 385 00:28:18,180 –> 00:28:31,619 No one will be able to break with a long-term pattern of sin without a significant input 386 00:28:31,619 –> 00:28:38,640 of the Word of God into your life and into your heart. 387 00:28:38,640 –> 00:28:43,280 Without that, you might manage some psychological change which will merely make you exchange 388 00:28:43,280 –> 00:28:48,339 one compulsion for another, which doesn’t move you forward in godliness at all. 389 00:28:48,339 –> 00:28:53,160 But the Word of God hidden in your heart, powered by the Spirit, set by the Word—real 390 00:28:53,160 –> 00:29:02,000 change in you and change in your conscience—strengthening it will lead to change in the outcome when 391 00:29:02,000 –> 00:29:03,459 you face temptation. 392 00:29:03,459 –> 00:29:04,459 Really will. 393 00:29:04,459 –> 00:29:06,000 And here’s the last thing. 394 00:29:06,180 –> 00:29:13,839 A good conscience is kept and it is set and it is cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus 395 00:29:13,839 –> 00:29:14,839 Christ. 396 00:29:14,839 –> 00:29:19,319 Now, just in our last couple of minutes, would you turn with me to this last passage of scripture? 397 00:29:19,319 –> 00:29:22,260 And I just want to read a few verses. 398 00:29:22,260 –> 00:29:26,140 Powered by the Spirit, set by the Word, cleansed by the blood of Christ, and we’re going to 399 00:29:26,140 –> 00:29:30,020 Hebrews chapter 9 in these last moments. 400 00:29:30,020 –> 00:29:32,939 Hebrews 9—this will bring us to the table. 401 00:29:33,560 –> 00:29:39,459 Now, I want you to notice the question that’s being answered here, in Hebrews 9 in verse 402 00:29:39,459 –> 00:29:45,160 9, the problem that’s being answered is, how do you get a clear conscience. 403 00:29:45,160 –> 00:29:49,920 When you know you’ve done wrong, when you know that there’s sin in your life, how do 404 00:29:49,920 –> 00:29:50,920 you get clean? 405 00:29:50,920 –> 00:29:54,760 How does your conscience get clean? 406 00:29:54,760 –> 00:30:00,280 And in verse 9, the writer says, well, the sacrifices that were offered, that’s the Old 407 00:30:00,739 –> 00:30:06,099 sacrifices, were not able to the conscience of the worshipper. 408 00:30:06,099 –> 00:30:12,579 People do all kinds of things to get a clear conscience, to find peace. 409 00:30:12,579 –> 00:30:16,859 All kinds of religion, all kinds of destruction. 410 00:30:16,859 –> 00:30:21,599 And it doesn’t do any good, but look at verse 11. 411 00:30:21,599 –> 00:30:26,260 Here’s what will touch the deepest place of your conscience. 412 00:30:26,859 –> 00:30:34,319 Verse 11, when Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are 413 00:30:34,319 –> 00:30:41,020 already here, so we’re into good things that are for us here, He went through the 414 00:30:41,020 –> 00:30:45,300 greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a 415 00:30:45,300 –> 00:30:51,500 part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, 416 00:30:51,579 –> 00:30:57,680 but He entred the Most Holy place once for all, by His own blood, having obtained 417 00:30:57,680 –> 00:31:02,219 eternal redemption. Christ entering into heaven through the triumphant victory of 418 00:31:02,219 –> 00:31:07,380 the cross. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on 419 00:31:07,380 –> 00:31:11,339 those who were ceremonially unclean sanctified them, so that they are 420 00:31:11,339 –> 00:31:15,579 outwardly clean and we want more than that. More than outwardly clean we’re 421 00:31:15,579 –> 00:31:21,260 about the inside here, and so here it comes. Verse 14, underline it how 422 00:31:21,319 –> 00:31:30,020 much more than will the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered 423 00:31:30,020 –> 00:31:40,819 Himself unblemished to God cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death 424 00:31:40,819 –> 00:31:47,819 so that we may serve the Living God. That is an amazing promise, an amazing 425 00:31:47,839 –> 00:31:57,040 promise. Cleansing for your conscience from acts that lead to death and how 426 00:31:57,040 –> 00:32:01,260 through the blood of Christ who offered himself, offered his perfect life, his 427 00:32:01,260 –> 00:32:09,260 unblemished life as a sacrifice to God for us on account of our sins. Through 428 00:32:09,260 –> 00:32:15,239 the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says there is washing, there is 429 00:32:15,319 –> 00:32:23,000 forgiving, there is cleansing, there is renewing for you and for your conscience. 430 00:32:23,000 –> 00:32:27,959 So today as we have the joy of coming around the Lord’s table the blood of 431 00:32:27,959 –> 00:32:38,160 Jesus Christ can cleanse you from every sin. You can be washed today. You can be 432 00:32:38,160 –> 00:32:43,400 cleansed today by the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why he 433 00:32:43,520 –> 00:32:50,040 died. Your conscience may have been corrupted, its power may have been 434 00:32:50,040 –> 00:32:55,680 diminished to the lowest feeblest level, where it doesn’t help you stand 435 00:32:55,680 –> 00:32:59,800 against temptations so you just fall, and fall and fall. That conscience can be 436 00:32:59,800 –> 00:33:04,319 made good by Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit, by the Word of God, by the 437 00:33:04,319 –> 00:33:10,479 blood of Jesus. It can be a new creation. 438 00:33:10,479 –> 00:33:18,680 This is God’s work of grace in the conscience. The deepest place in your 439 00:33:18,680 –> 00:33:27,439 soul. Christ can make your conscience good by the power of the Spirit, by the 440 00:33:27,619 –> 00:33:33,319 Word of God, by the blood of Christ. And Paul says, 441 00:33:33,319 –> 00:33:45,680 I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. Is that what 442 00:33:45,680 –> 00:33:51,140 you’re doing? Let’s pray together, shall we? 443 00:33:51,839 –> 00:33:56,560 Father, as we prepare to gather around the table we thank you for the power of 444 00:33:56,560 –> 00:34:09,199 the Spirit, for the Word of God, and for the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in 445 00:34:09,199 –> 00:34:16,199 whose name we pray, Amen. 446 00:34:16,199 –> 00:34:17,659 You’ve been listening to a sermon with 447 00:34:17,659 –> 00:34:22,600 Pastor Collin Smith of Open the Bible. To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 448 00:34:22,600 –> 00:34:36,239 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website Openthebible.org