1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,080 You’re listening to a sermon from pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 2 00:00:07,080 –> 00:00:13,720 To contact us, call us at 1-877-Open 365 or visit our website, OpenTheBible.org. 3 00:00:13,720 –> 00:00:18,299 Let’s get to the message. 4 00:00:18,299 –> 00:00:20,139 Here is Pastor Colin. 5 00:00:20,139 –> 00:00:25,379 Well, we’re looking again then at the theme of regeneration, how Christ changes your soul 6 00:00:25,580 –> 00:00:29,900 and particularly how Christ changes your conscience. 7 00:00:29,900 –> 00:00:35,779 We began on this last week learning that the English word conscience simply means with 8 00:00:35,779 –> 00:00:43,160 knowledge – conscience – and the conscience, therefore, functions according to the knowledge 9 00:00:43,160 –> 00:00:44,259 that a person has. 10 00:00:44,259 –> 00:00:47,720 It’s the ability to act with knowledge. 11 00:00:47,720 –> 00:00:52,540 We thought of your conscience as being rather like an alarm clock, supposed to keep quiet 12 00:00:52,540 –> 00:00:56,299 when you are meant to be sleeping and make a noise when you are supposed to wake up, 13 00:00:56,299 –> 00:01:00,320 and we thought about how an alarm clock can malfunction in two ways. 14 00:01:00,320 –> 00:01:05,980 It can fail to go off when it should, and it can go off indeed when it should not. 15 00:01:05,980 –> 00:01:12,000 And we looked at the first of these last time and the second we look at today. 16 00:01:12,000 –> 00:01:18,199 The Bible calls a conscience that does not go off when it should a corrupt conscience 17 00:01:18,320 –> 00:01:21,360 or a seared conscience. 18 00:01:21,360 –> 00:01:30,680 And we saw that when you overrule your conscience, any time you do that, you diminish its power. 19 00:01:30,680 –> 00:01:35,519 That is by the way the problem that lies at the root of what is sometimes called habitual 20 00:01:35,519 –> 00:01:37,800 sin. 21 00:01:37,800 –> 00:01:43,139 Habitual sin is when a person falls into the same temptation again and again and again 22 00:01:43,139 –> 00:01:46,000 and never gets victory over it. 23 00:01:46,160 –> 00:01:48,720 Now, what is going on when that happens? 24 00:01:48,720 –> 00:01:51,839 Well, here is one thing that is going on. 25 00:01:51,839 –> 00:01:56,239 Every time you sin, your conscience is weakened. 26 00:01:56,239 –> 00:02:02,260 So habitual sin erodes the power of conscience to such a point that it is no longer able 27 00:02:02,260 –> 00:02:06,019 to put up an effective resistance to the temptation at all. 28 00:02:06,019 –> 00:02:11,839 So the whole thing spirals down and becomes therefore the power of a compulsive habit. 29 00:02:11,839 –> 00:02:13,320 This is how sin works. 30 00:02:13,320 –> 00:02:20,679 It saps the strength from your soul by diminishing the power of your conscience, so that, like 31 00:02:20,679 –> 00:02:27,539 a guard at the castle, the guard is disarmed or drugged or asleep or no longer able to 32 00:02:27,539 –> 00:02:30,619 provide an effective kind of defense. 33 00:02:30,619 –> 00:02:35,699 The eroded conscience is like a muscle that is atrophied. 34 00:02:35,699 –> 00:02:39,539 It just doesn’t have the strength to do what it was designed to do. 35 00:02:39,740 –> 00:02:46,320 And so sin rushes in, and the weakened conscience is powerless to do anything about it. 36 00:02:46,320 –> 00:02:49,800 That’s at the root of what we call habitual sin. 37 00:02:49,800 –> 00:02:51,899 Just, the conscience has been eroded. 38 00:02:51,899 –> 00:02:53,580 Constantly overwritten. 39 00:02:53,580 –> 00:02:54,660 Powerless. 40 00:02:54,660 –> 00:03:02,720 Therefore, we saw that restoring a healthy conscience is key to victory over sin. 41 00:03:02,720 –> 00:03:05,360 You say, well, how can that happen? 42 00:03:05,360 –> 00:03:07,559 How can a corrupt conscience become pure? 43 00:03:07,580 –> 00:03:10,479 How can a seared conscience become sensitive? 44 00:03:10,479 –> 00:03:13,460 And we saw that there are three parts to the answer to that question. 45 00:03:13,460 –> 00:03:20,380 A good conscience is powered by the Holy Spirit, it is set by the Word of God, and it is cleansed 46 00:03:20,380 –> 00:03:23,339 by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 47 00:03:23,339 –> 00:03:29,179 And, folks, I’ve seen over the years many folks who have gained victory over what once 48 00:03:29,179 –> 00:03:31,820 was habitual sin. 49 00:03:31,820 –> 00:03:36,940 But in every case where that has happened, there has been a significant work of the Holy 50 00:03:36,979 –> 00:03:43,660 Spirit, a significant entrance of the Word of God into that person’s life, and there 51 00:03:43,660 –> 00:03:49,339 has been a significant grasp of the power of the cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 52 00:03:49,339 –> 00:03:52,639 That’s where there’s hope, that’s where it’s found. 53 00:03:52,639 –> 00:04:00,339 So, that was last week, the first way in which a conscience can malfunction is when the alarm, 54 00:04:00,339 –> 00:04:03,800 as it were, does not go off when it should, and the Bible calls this the corrupt of the 55 00:04:03,800 –> 00:04:05,779 seared conscience. 56 00:04:05,800 –> 00:04:11,000 Now, today we are going to look at the second and very opposite way in which a conscience 57 00:04:11,000 –> 00:04:15,759 can malfunction, and that is the alarm goes off when it should not. 58 00:04:15,759 –> 00:04:23,799 The Bible calls this the weak conscience, or the oversensitive conscience. 59 00:04:23,799 –> 00:04:28,839 A few weeks, a few months back, I’m sorry, I was speaking at a conference in another 60 00:04:28,839 –> 00:04:29,839 city. 61 00:04:30,320 –> 00:04:36,799 The plane, the flight was delayed and I got there very, very late in the evening, and 62 00:04:36,799 –> 00:04:41,619 so was taken immediately to the hotel where I was staying, checked in, and crashed out 63 00:04:41,619 –> 00:04:46,000 to get some sleep before the program began the following morning. 64 00:04:46,000 –> 00:04:53,820 What I did not realize was that the television in the hotel room had an alarm and had been 65 00:04:54,100 –> 00:05:01,100 left on standby and some kind and thoughtful person, who presumably had been in the room 66 00:05:01,739 –> 00:05:08,739 the night before, had set the alarm in the television to go off at maximum volume at 67 00:05:09,100 –> 00:05:10,859 two o’clock in the morning. 68 00:05:10,859 –> 00:05:17,059 I’ll tell you an alarm that does not go off when it should is bad news, but an alarm that 69 00:05:17,059 –> 00:05:23,000 does go off when it shouldn’t is a real problem as well. 70 00:05:24,000 –> 00:05:29,320 I lived, as most of you know, 30 years of my life in Great Britain before coming to 71 00:05:29,320 –> 00:05:36,320 this country, and in Britain, just so you know, turns are not allowed when you’re driving 72 00:05:37,579 –> 00:05:42,079 at any time on a red light. 73 00:05:42,079 –> 00:05:47,619 Coming to this country, I was surprised to find that turning on red is, at least in most 74 00:05:47,619 –> 00:05:51,480 cases, legal. It took quite a bit of getting used to. 75 00:05:51,859 –> 00:05:57,459 I’ll tell you, many times in the first year that we were here, I was sitting there quietly, 76 00:05:57,459 –> 00:06:04,459 calmly at the front by the red light, waiting patiently, and these guys blaring horns – oh, 77 00:06:05,000 –> 00:06:08,600 they’re sounding their frustration at me! 78 00:06:08,600 –> 00:06:15,600 You know, once a rule is deeply ingrained in your head, it is hard to make the change 79 00:06:16,500 –> 00:06:21,619 even when you know that that rule no longer applies. 80 00:06:21,619 –> 00:06:26,959 Now, I say that to get us thinking about what the weak conscience is all about. A weak or 81 00:06:26,959 –> 00:06:33,839 an over-sensitive conscience actually is very common among Christians, especially Christians 82 00:06:33,839 –> 00:06:38,880 who were raised in strict families with many rules. 83 00:06:38,880 –> 00:06:44,559 Let me give you some examples of how this works out. A person who is brought up with 84 00:06:44,559 –> 00:06:52,660 a very strict work ethic finds it in adult life difficult to relax. 85 00:06:52,660 –> 00:06:58,140 You know this? You sit down and the over-active conscience tells you there’s something you 86 00:06:58,140 –> 00:07:03,160 should be doing. I find this in, myself still fight that battle. 87 00:07:03,160 –> 00:07:13,739 A person who is brought up with a passion for sexual purity gets married, but now finds 88 00:07:13,739 –> 00:07:23,399 it difficult to feel at ease. Their over-active conscience inhibits even in the place where 89 00:07:23,399 –> 00:07:32,059 God has given freedom. A person who is brought up to be a peacemaker 90 00:07:32,059 –> 00:07:39,040 finds it very difficult to handle conflict. Your conscience condemns you not because you 91 00:07:39,119 –> 00:07:44,959 have done anything wrong in a particular circumstance, but simply because conflict exists. And your 92 00:07:44,959 –> 00:07:50,799 conscience kind of says to you, it shouldn’t. But it does. 93 00:07:50,799 –> 00:08:00,720 Dr. Lloyd-Jones , who I read often, calls this problem morbid scrupulosity. And I love 94 00:08:00,720 –> 00:08:07,640 that phrase. I don’t love the condition, but I love the phrase. Morbid scrupulosity. There’s 95 00:08:07,679 –> 00:08:13,880 a lot of it in churches. He defines it as being in a constant state of fear. Always 96 00:08:13,880 –> 00:08:21,600 worrying anxiously about what we should be doing. He says, and I quote, people who suffer 97 00:08:21,600 –> 00:08:27,500 from morbid scrupulosity are always trying to lay down rules and regulations as to how 98 00:08:27,500 –> 00:08:33,580 everybody else should behave. They are always in trouble about this in regard to themselves 99 00:08:33,859 –> 00:08:38,159 and others. Now this is the world of the weak conscience 100 00:08:38,179 –> 00:08:42,539 that we are going to look at in the Bible today and Paul deals with it in two places, 101 00:08:42,539 –> 00:08:48,500 first Roman’s chapter 14 and second, 1 Corinthians, and chapter 8. We will look at both today. 102 00:08:48,500 –> 00:08:55,219 Let’s start in Romans 14-1, which was read for us, where Paul opens up the subject. He 103 00:08:55,880 –> 00:09:02,880 him whose faith is weak without passing judgment on disputable matters.” Disputable matters. 104 00:09:05,619 –> 00:09:12,619 Now, disputable matters of course are issues on which the Bible does not give a clear directive. 105 00:09:13,859 –> 00:09:18,940 On any issue where the Bible speaks clearly, there is for us who live under the authority 106 00:09:18,940 –> 00:09:22,500 of the Bible, no dispute. If God has spoken clearly that is the beginning, middle and 107 00:09:22,919 –> 00:09:27,200 matter for us. We are under the authority of the Word. But there are many issues on 108 00:09:27,200 –> 00:09:32,780 which God has not given in the Scripture a clear directive. And these are the issues 109 00:09:32,780 –> 00:09:38,239 that Paul is talking about in Romans 14. So we are not talking about lying, or stealing 110 00:09:38,239 –> 00:09:45,239 or adultery on which God’s Word is abundantly clear. We are talking about matters of conscience 111 00:09:46,140 –> 00:09:50,400 in which God has given us freedom to make our own decisions. 112 00:09:50,400 –> 00:09:56,479 Now let me give you some example. It is amazing by the way how many of these relate to children 113 00:09:56,479 –> 00:10:03,479 and how we bring them up. What should a Christian do about schooling? State school? Christian 114 00:10:04,140 –> 00:10:11,140 school? Home school? What about sports on Sunday? What about dances? What about prom? 115 00:10:15,460 –> 00:10:22,460 What about entertainment? What about movies or rock music? What about whether a Christian 116 00:10:23,239 –> 00:10:30,239 is free to drink alcohol? Now, a weak conscience is always more comfortable with rules than 117 00:10:32,960 –> 00:10:39,960 with freedom. The person with a weak conscience wants clarity about exactly what should be 118 00:10:40,960 –> 00:10:46,559 done in any given situation. For the person with a weak conscience rules provide a certain 119 00:10:46,559 –> 00:10:53,559 security that make that person feel more comfortable. And so, a Christian with a weak conscience 120 00:10:54,440 –> 00:10:59,580 is always in difficulty where Christians disagree. They’ll say, now wait a minute, you know, 121 00:10:59,580 –> 00:11:04,320 we’re both Christians. So we should be able to come to a common understanding. They feel 122 00:11:04,400 –> 00:11:10,739 very disturbed by the ambiguity of Christians disagreeing. Someone must be right, someone 123 00:11:10,739 –> 00:11:17,739 must be wrong. But you see since the conscience functions according to knowledge, it stands 124 00:11:19,159 –> 00:11:25,700 to reason that Christians will disagree on issues of conscience, and that we need to 125 00:11:25,700 –> 00:11:31,820 learn patience, love and forbearance towards one another, and that indeed is part of our 126 00:11:31,960 –> 00:11:37,200 growth. Now, let me give you a specific example and 127 00:11:37,200 –> 00:11:43,559 then we’re going to look at the principles from the Bible. A couple of years ago, a visitor 128 00:11:43,559 –> 00:11:49,200 came to our church and spoke to one of the pastors. She’d been here for a few weeks 129 00:11:49,200 –> 00:11:56,099 and she said she loved the church and she wanted to make it her spiritual home. But 130 00:11:56,099 –> 00:12:06,260 first she wanted to ask a question. What was the church’s position on Harry Potter? Now 131 00:12:06,260 –> 00:12:13,900 this was her question and she had a sensitive conscience about the Harry Potter books. Evidently 132 00:12:13,900 –> 00:12:17,359 she felt that there was, and I’m sure there are a good number among us who would agree 133 00:12:17,359 –> 00:12:24,219 with her, she felt that there was some spiritual harm in Harry and she was looking for a church 134 00:12:24,219 –> 00:12:32,000 that would take a stand on this issue by establishing a rule that church members would not, would 135 00:12:32,000 –> 00:12:37,659 abstain from reading these particular books. Now when the lady discovered from the pastor 136 00:12:37,659 –> 00:12:43,200 that the church had no position on Harry Potter, and more than that we had no intention of 137 00:12:43,200 –> 00:12:49,619 establishing a rule on this particular issue, she promptly decided and said that this therefore 138 00:12:49,619 –> 00:12:59,059 was not the church for her. A weak conscience is the natural condition 139 00:12:59,059 –> 00:13:06,520 of two kinds of people. Very important to understand this. The first is, the weak conscience 140 00:13:06,520 –> 00:13:13,479 is the natural condition of those with a nervous disposition. You can understand that. This 141 00:13:13,479 –> 00:13:19,719 is the person who is unsure of whether they can really trust their own conscience. Can 142 00:13:19,719 –> 00:13:25,320 I really be sure I’ll get it right? So give me a rule, and then I can be much more comfortable. 143 00:13:25,320 –> 00:13:32,039 And secondly, the weak conscience is the natural condition of those who want to control other 144 00:13:32,039 –> 00:13:39,320 people. Control other people. I want you to understand that a weak conscience 145 00:13:39,380 –> 00:13:44,859 can lead a person into sin as much as a corrupt conscience and a seared conscience. You say, 146 00:13:44,859 –> 00:13:51,859 how does that happen? Well, it happens by fostering a proud, critical, and censorious 147 00:13:52,159 –> 00:13:57,760 spirit towards those who are our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. So this is a 148 00:13:57,760 –> 00:14:04,440 very important issue. A brother just after the first service came up to me. He said, 149 00:14:04,520 –> 00:14:11,159 thank you for this message. I have been in the past in a controlling church, and today 150 00:14:11,159 –> 00:14:16,960 I was set free. And my prayer is that this message will be genuinely helpful to many 151 00:14:16,960 –> 00:14:22,500 to discover our freedom in Christ in a new and in a fresh way. 152 00:14:22,500 –> 00:14:25,940 So now please follow me in your Bible, and we’re going to look at how Paul deals with 153 00:14:26,539 –> 00:14:33,539 in 1 Corinthians and chapter 8. 1 Corinthians and chapter 8, and he doesn’t deal with any 154 00:14:34,940 –> 00:14:39,419 of the particular issues I listed a few moments ago in our culture, but he deals with one 155 00:14:39,419 –> 00:14:45,380 that was a real hot topic in those days, and that was the issue of food sacrificed to idols. 156 00:14:45,380 –> 00:14:51,179 You say, now, what in the world was that? Let me take just a moment to explain it, and 157 00:14:51,400 –> 00:14:56,780 we’ll get the principles, and you will see easily how they apply to our issues today. 158 00:14:56,780 –> 00:15:01,419 John MacArthur points out quite helpfully in his commentary that the Greeks and the 159 00:15:01,419 –> 00:15:07,940 Romans were polytheistic, that means they worshipped many gods, and polydemonistic, 160 00:15:07,940 –> 00:15:11,580 that is they believed the air was filled with many demonic spirits that were seeking to 161 00:15:11,580 –> 00:15:18,179 gain an entrance into the lives of men and women. I quote him. He says, it was believed 162 00:15:18,260 –> 00:15:23,679 that the evil spirits were constantly trying to invade human beings and that the easiest 163 00:15:23,679 –> 00:15:30,679 way for these spirits to do this was to attach themselves to food before it was eaten. See, 164 00:15:31,140 –> 00:15:36,940 this was the polydemonistic kind of belief in the culture at Corinth, that demons attached 165 00:15:36,940 –> 00:15:41,580 themselves to food, and then you ate the food, and that was the way the demons got into you. 166 00:15:41,580 –> 00:15:45,460 The only way, therefore, that the spirit could be removed from the food was through it being 167 00:15:45,460 –> 00:15:50,580 sacrificed to a god. The sacrifice, therefore, served two purposes. It gained the favor of 168 00:15:50,580 –> 00:15:54,380 the god and it cleansed the meat from demonic contamination. 169 00:15:54,380 –> 00:15:59,559 He then explains that what happen was that the meat was divided into three parts. One 170 00:15:59,559 –> 00:16:05,659 part was burned as a sacrifice. The second part was given as a payment to the priest 171 00:16:05,659 –> 00:16:10,619 who was superintending the sacrifice, and the third part was taken home by the worshiper 172 00:16:10,619 –> 00:16:13,919 and consumed. Now what that meant, if you think about it, 173 00:16:13,919 –> 00:16:21,380 in these vast, pagan temples where priests were superintending many sacrifices and each 174 00:16:21,380 –> 00:16:25,239 one they’re receiving a large part of an animal, what did the priests end up with? 175 00:16:25,239 –> 00:16:30,039 Massive amounts of meat, much more than they could eat. So what do they do with that? Well, 176 00:16:30,039 –> 00:16:34,880 of course, they sold it in the marketplace and they sold it as meat that was sacrificed 177 00:16:34,880 –> 00:16:38,299 to idols. This is the best meat you would get, they would say, because if you eat this 178 00:16:38,299 –> 00:16:41,599 meat you could be absolutely sure that nothing bad is ever going to happen to you. 179 00:16:41,940 –> 00:16:46,419 already been cleansed, you see, there’s no contamination in it. And therefore if you 180 00:16:46,419 –> 00:16:52,020 went to a wedding reception or a banquet or you went to a fancy top restaurant, it was 181 00:16:52,020 –> 00:16:56,400 the best meat that was served, you see, this meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Now 182 00:16:56,400 –> 00:17:03,780 that raised the question, if you’re a Christian in Corinth, should you eat that meat? Or should 183 00:17:03,780 –> 00:17:07,619 you have nothing to do with it? Well, you see, it was a question of conscience, and 184 00:17:07,640 –> 00:17:15,599 what happened was that Christians came to different conclusions. Now, Paul deals with 185 00:17:15,599 –> 00:17:20,640 this issue of conscience, and although it’s a very different issue from our issues today, 186 00:17:20,640 –> 00:17:27,199 the principles he gives apply clearly, powerfully, and obviously for us today. 187 00:17:27,199 –> 00:17:34,099 So I want you to see what he says. Look at verse 4 of 1 Corinthians and Chapter 8. “‘We 188 00:17:34,099 –> 00:17:43,459 know that an idol is nothing at all.’” Now, remember that conscience functions according 189 00:17:43,459 –> 00:17:49,979 to knowledge, and so what we know is important here. And he says, we know that an idol is 190 00:17:49,979 –> 00:17:54,579 nothing at all. We know that there is only one God, he continues, from whom all things 191 00:17:54,579 –> 00:18:00,500 come and for whom we live and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things come and through 192 00:18:00,579 –> 00:18:05,560 whom we live. So, let’s now picture a member of the Church 193 00:18:05,560 –> 00:18:12,459 in Corinth, let’s give him a name, I’m going to call him John. He is a Christian brother 194 00:18:12,459 –> 00:18:19,400 and he knows what Paul says here, that an idol is nothing at all, it’s just the vain 195 00:18:19,400 –> 00:18:25,140 projection of the imagination of an unbelieving person, it’s nothing at all. So, when he goes 196 00:18:25,140 –> 00:18:30,260 to the butcher, he cares nothing as to whether the meat has been sacrificed in a temple some 197 00:18:30,260 –> 00:18:36,140 place before it arrived in the butcher’s shop, and he eats it with a clear conscience. 198 00:18:36,140 –> 00:18:48,660 Verse seven, but not everyone knows this. Notice the emphasis on knowledge. We know 199 00:18:48,660 –> 00:18:54,459 that an idol is nothing at all, verse four, but verse seven not everyone knows this. Because 200 00:18:54,500 –> 00:19:01,060 he says some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they 201 00:19:01,060 –> 00:19:08,520 think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol. So here now are some folks who were 202 00:19:08,520 –> 00:19:13,479 brought up in idolatry and in all these wretched festivals. Here’s a person who’s been 203 00:19:13,479 –> 00:19:18,520 converted now to faith in Jesus Christ, but that person, whenever they see meat that’s 204 00:19:18,520 –> 00:19:22,300 been sacrificed to idols, it’s marked that way in the butcher’s, or served that way 205 00:19:22,300 –> 00:19:26,880 in a banquet or whatever, they can’t separate in their mind where this meat has been and 206 00:19:26,880 –> 00:19:32,339 what has been done and that whole world and remember that conscience is the ability to 207 00:19:32,339 –> 00:19:37,760 act with knowledge and that the way your conscience functions depends therefore on the knowledge 208 00:19:37,760 –> 00:19:41,800 that it is working with. So see what Paul is saying. We know that an idol is nothing 209 00:19:41,800 –> 00:19:46,800 at all, but not everyone knows this. Some Christians they’re so accustomed to idols. 210 00:19:46,800 –> 00:19:50,760 They came from that background that their consciences tell them it’s wrong to eat 211 00:19:50,900 –> 00:19:55,719 this meat. I ought to have nothing to do with it. So here’s Mary. Let’s imagine this 212 00:19:55,719 –> 00:20:04,140 Christian lady. Mary has been brought up in Corinth, surrounded by idols. She has horrible 213 00:20:04,140 –> 00:20:09,699 memories of these idolatrous festivals and the wretched things that happened during them. 214 00:20:09,699 –> 00:20:14,819 Now she has wonderfully become a Christian, and she feels that it is wrong now for her 215 00:20:14,819 –> 00:20:20,160 to have anything to do with that past, even for her to eat the meat that was slaughtered 216 00:20:21,040 –> 00:20:26,040 idolatrous festivals and just because you can’t always be sure which meat is in which 217 00:20:26,040 –> 00:20:31,239 tray in the butcher’s shop window, she’s decided, I’m just not going to eat any meat at all. 218 00:20:31,239 –> 00:20:35,199 And then there’ll be no doubt at all in my conscience. I’m just having nothing to do 219 00:20:35,199 –> 00:20:48,640 with this. Okay? Now, one evening, John meets Mary, and they go out together for a meal 220 00:20:48,719 –> 00:21:01,140 in a restaurant. John orders a tea-bone steak, and Mary orders a salad, and John says to 221 00:21:01,140 –> 00:21:10,319 Mary, Mary, why are you ordering a salad? I’m buying. Have a steak. Well Mary says, 222 00:21:10,319 –> 00:21:25,119 I don’t feel right about that. Now, this story could have three possible endings. And 223 00:21:25,119 –> 00:21:29,000 I want to give you the three endings as a way of explaining the teaching of the Apostle 224 00:21:29,000 –> 00:21:32,760 Paul here. So that we get this teaching clearly in our mind. It’s very important. I’m sure 225 00:21:33,000 –> 00:21:38,079 could think of some additional endings, but I have three. 226 00:21:38,079 –> 00:21:46,959 Ending number one, Mary overrules her conscience. It goes like this, you got the picture in 227 00:21:46,959 –> 00:21:54,959 the restaurant now, okay, and the ordering’s been done. Why are you ordering a salad, Mary? 228 00:21:54,959 –> 00:22:04,199 I’m buying of a steak,” says John, oh, I don’t think I feel right about that, says Mary. 229 00:22:04,199 –> 00:22:10,920 Why ever not? says John. An Idol is nothing at all, Mary, listen, Christ has set us free 230 00:22:10,920 –> 00:22:16,500 from all of that. Mary, you are really way too inhibited. You’ve got to break free from 231 00:22:16,500 –> 00:22:27,699 all of this stuff. He waves at the waiter. Make that two steaks he says, done rare. Mary 232 00:22:27,699 –> 00:22:36,699 eats the steak. She overrules her conscience. But that night her conscience is troubled. 233 00:22:36,699 –> 00:22:41,800 Now, the principle here, if you want just to take a very few notes, there are three 234 00:22:42,219 –> 00:22:46,920 scriptures for us to note down. Here’s the first. The principle here is in Romans chapter 235 00:22:46,920 –> 00:22:53,280 14 and verse 14. Let me read that to you. Paul says, as one who is in the Lord Jesus, 236 00:22:53,280 –> 00:23:01,280 I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. That’s Paul’s conviction. But if 237 00:23:01,280 –> 00:23:09,359 anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. In other words, Mary 238 00:23:09,359 –> 00:23:16,239 must live by her conscience. If she feels that it is wrong to eat the steak, she should 239 00:23:16,239 –> 00:23:22,079 not eat the steak. Why? Not because there is anything intrinsically wrong with the steak, 240 00:23:22,079 –> 00:23:26,540 but because there is everything wrong with Mary overruling her conscience. If Mary overrules 241 00:23:26,540 –> 00:23:32,920 her conscience, what happens, is she diminishes its power. Her own conscience is weakened. 242 00:23:32,920 –> 00:23:39,000 It is spiritually damaging to her own person to do that. Even if her conscience is operating 243 00:23:39,040 –> 00:23:45,199 on the wrong knowledge. That is why Paul says in Romans chapter 8 verse 7, notice the wording 244 00:23:45,199 –> 00:23:49,859 there. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food, they 245 00:23:49,859 –> 00:23:54,479 think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, 246 00:23:54,479 –> 00:24:00,800 it is defiled. It’s not the meat that’s defiled, it’s the conscience that’s defiled. That’s 247 00:24:00,800 –> 00:24:05,680 what he’s saying. And, it’s defiled because it’s being over-ridden. You’re doing something 248 00:24:05,699 –> 00:24:11,380 against your conscience, and that is always wrong. By the way, for John to put pressure 249 00:24:11,380 –> 00:24:17,000 on Mary in that regard is terribly wrong. Never put pressure on a person to override 250 00:24:17,000 –> 00:24:26,900 their conscience. Never. If you over-rule your conscience, you diminish its power. So, 251 00:24:26,900 –> 00:24:32,160 Romans chapter 14 and verse 14 says to Mary and says to all of us, if your conscience 252 00:24:32,280 –> 00:24:41,140 tells you that this is wrong, just don’t go there. You follow your conscience, because 253 00:24:41,140 –> 00:24:46,500 if anyone thinks something is unclean then for him it is unclean, Romans 14 and verse 254 00:24:46,500 –> 00:24:52,079 14. You don’t override your conscience. Now, here’s the second ending, which is 255 00:24:52,079 –> 00:24:58,400 very different. The first ending was that Mary overrules her conscience. Don’t go 256 00:24:58,400 –> 00:25:04,060 there. Second ending, John loses his freedom. Let me run the scene again. 257 00:25:04,060 –> 00:25:10,540 They’ve made their orders, and John says to Mary, Mary why are you ordering a salad? 258 00:25:10,540 –> 00:25:18,560 I’m buying. Have a steak. Mary says, no I don’t think I’d feel right about that. 259 00:25:18,560 –> 00:25:24,959 John, don’t you realise that this meat has been sacrificed to idols. John maybe you don’t 260 00:25:25,560 –> 00:25:30,699 these idol festivals are like. I’ll tell you, I’ve been there, and they are wretched and 261 00:25:30,699 –> 00:25:35,479 they are debased. In fact John I don’t understand how you could have anything to do with that. 262 00:25:35,479 –> 00:25:38,819 John, you’ve got to break free from that kind of stuff. She waves at the waiter she says 263 00:25:38,819 –> 00:25:53,060 make that two salads! Green! John eats the salad. And that night his conscience is troubled. 264 00:25:53,060 –> 00:26:00,599 Has he really been wrong to eat the meat? Is Mary right about this or is this the beginning 265 00:26:00,599 –> 00:26:10,780 of Mary controlling him? The principle here is in Galatians chapter 5 in verse 1. Galatians 266 00:26:10,780 –> 00:26:21,219 chapter 5 in verse 1. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and 267 00:26:21,219 –> 00:26:30,319 do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians chapter 5 in 268 00:26:30,319 –> 00:26:36,280 verse 1. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let 269 00:26:36,280 –> 00:26:41,880 yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 270 00:26:41,880 –> 00:26:47,839 Mary is free to eat the salad. Indeed her conscience dictates that’s what she should 271 00:26:47,839 –> 00:26:57,660 do, but she has no right whatever to impose the salad on John. Now of course John is entirely 272 00:26:57,660 –> 00:27:05,760 free to choose salad and forgo his stake freely as an act of courtesy or sensitivity towards 273 00:27:05,760 –> 00:27:10,859 Mary. If he chooses to do that it would be very good thing for him to do in fact. But 274 00:27:10,900 –> 00:27:20,199 if John allows himself to be bound by Mary’s scruples, he is placing himself under her 275 00:27:20,199 –> 00:27:26,780 control. He is no longer living before God with his own conscience, he is living before 276 00:27:26,780 –> 00:27:34,500 God under someone else’s conscious, and that will diminish the power of his own. Being 277 00:27:34,619 –> 00:27:43,000 bound by another’s conscience is always wrong. Trying to bind someone else by your conscience 278 00:27:43,000 –> 00:27:54,000 is always wrong. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. You stand fast in that freedom. 279 00:27:54,000 –> 00:27:58,140 You are not placed in a position where you become a slave to other believers telling 280 00:27:58,140 –> 00:28:06,839 you what to do all the time. A son, a daughter of God indwelled by the Holy Spirit, able 281 00:28:06,839 –> 00:28:11,180 to follow the directive of Scripture, and where there is no clear directive, able and 282 00:28:11,180 –> 00:28:17,739 free to follow conscience and to grow in it. It’s a wonderful thing and it’s a very 283 00:28:17,739 –> 00:28:18,920 important principle. 284 00:28:19,640 –> 00:28:27,880 Now here’s ending number 3. John and Mary grow in Christ by accepting each other. The 285 00:28:27,900 –> 00:28:32,160 first one was Mary overrules her conscience. Don’t ever go there. Second is John loses 286 00:28:32,160 –> 00:28:37,020 his freedom. Don’t ever go there. Third possible ending is that Mary and John 287 00:28:37,020 –> 00:28:42,199 grow – both of them grow in Christ by accepting each other. And this really is what Paul is 288 00:28:42,199 –> 00:28:48,160 talking about in Romans 14. And here’s our Scripture here. Romans chapter 14 and from 289 00:28:48,359 –> 00:28:55,359 verse 1. Accept him whose faith is weak without passing judgment on disputable matters. One 290 00:28:55,640 –> 00:29:00,520 man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man whose faith is weak eats only 291 00:29:00,520 –> 00:29:07,520 vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the 292 00:29:07,780 –> 00:29:14,780 man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 293 00:29:15,699 –> 00:29:22,699 So, the third ending to the story I guess would be something like this. John orders 294 00:29:22,699 –> 00:29:29,699 his steak, Mary orders her salad and they enjoy their meal together. John does not look 295 00:29:30,880 –> 00:29:37,880 down on Mary because of her salad and Mary does not condemn John because of his steak. 296 00:29:38,420 –> 00:29:43,920 They eat together to the glory of God and with a thankful heart, rejoicing in God’s 297 00:29:43,920 –> 00:29:50,339 grace that is at work in both of their lives. And Paul really makes that principle explicit 298 00:29:50,339 –> 00:29:54,979 at the end of his long argument in Romans, it’s chapter 15 and verse 7, he says, 299 00:29:54,979 –> 00:30:01,979 “…accept one another then as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise and glory to 300 00:30:03,199 –> 00:30:08,959 God.” Now, let me just offer one reflection on the 301 00:30:08,959 –> 00:30:13,359 lady who came and then left the church because we didn’t have a position on Harry Potter, 302 00:30:14,160 –> 00:30:21,160 that was a couple of years ago. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that long since she will 303 00:30:22,599 –> 00:30:29,599 have found a church that addresses her issues and takes a position and that she is with 304 00:30:32,420 –> 00:30:36,979 a narrower group of Christians who toe the same line. 305 00:30:37,219 –> 00:30:45,719 Here’s my question. How does that help this dear lady to grow? See I think for this dear 306 00:30:49,900 –> 00:30:56,560 lady to grow what she really needed was to be in a church that did not have a position 307 00:30:56,560 –> 00:31:03,560 on Harry Potter where she could follow her own conscience and learn to accept other believers 308 00:31:04,319 –> 00:31:11,319 and not condemn them where they took a different position on this issue of conscience. That 309 00:31:11,520 –> 00:31:17,219 friends is one of the joys of a body of Christ like this where we will find on lots of issues 310 00:31:17,219 –> 00:31:24,060 that we take a different position in our personal conclusions on issues of conscience. And rather 311 00:31:24,060 –> 00:31:29,640 than that being a frustration to you, you should see this as one of the means by which 312 00:31:29,979 –> 00:31:36,979 God helps us to grow. Committed to Scripture where Scripture speaks, absolutely. Committed 313 00:31:38,239 –> 00:31:45,239 to liberty where Scripture is silent, so that we may learn to grow by not condemning Christians 314 00:31:46,319 –> 00:31:50,319 who take a different position on an issue of conscience, not looking down on people 315 00:31:50,319 –> 00:31:55,719 who take a stricter position than you do. But honoring Christ and learning to accept 316 00:31:56,599 –> 00:32:03,599 as he has accepted us. That is a key to spiritual growth. Thank God for it. 317 00:32:05,079 –> 00:32:09,339 Now here’s the very last thing in these last moments. The burden of this message has 318 00:32:09,339 –> 00:32:14,760 been how we live in fellowship together where our consciences lead us to different conclusions 319 00:32:14,760 –> 00:32:18,880 on many cultural issues. 320 00:32:18,880 –> 00:32:23,719 But I want to ask this question just very, very briefly in the last moments and it’s 321 00:32:24,239 –> 00:32:36,439 how can a weak conscience become strong? You see Mary’s dinner selection doesn’t matter 322 00:32:36,439 –> 00:32:46,599 a bit, but her fearfulness does. Her sense that she’s surrounded by all this threatening 323 00:32:46,599 –> 00:32:53,280 world and the inhibition of her soul, that does matter. She’ll be in the presence of 324 00:32:53,280 –> 00:33:01,859 the Lord, but what would it look like for Mary to grow? How can the weak conscience 325 00:33:01,859 –> 00:33:11,300 become strong? It would be a good thing if Mary could see that her freedom in Christ 326 00:33:11,300 –> 00:33:15,920 was greater than she realized. It would be a good thing if the weak conscience could 327 00:33:15,920 –> 00:33:22,640 become strong. It would be a good thing if the person who feels they can never rest because 328 00:33:22,640 –> 00:33:31,239 of a compelling work ethic, or can never be at ease within marriage, or a person who just 329 00:33:31,239 –> 00:33:35,640 cannot somehow live where there is conflict without condemning themselves. It would be 330 00:33:35,640 –> 00:33:40,599 a good thing if that person could grow to the point where they experience a greater 331 00:33:40,599 –> 00:33:45,599 degree of liberty in Jesus Christ, would it not? I mean a weak conscience isn’t where 332 00:33:45,640 –> 00:33:54,719 you want to be forever, is it? The weak want to become strong. So how can a conscience 333 00:33:54,760 –> 00:34:01,760 that perhaps has been bound too long by too many rules that were imposed by others, how 334 00:34:02,619 –> 00:34:07,880 can that weak conscience become strong? Well we already answered it last time, didn’t we? 335 00:34:07,880 –> 00:34:13,600 How does Christ transform and renew the conscience? It is powered, the good conscience, by the 336 00:34:13,600 –> 00:34:18,959 Holy Spirit. It is set by the Word of God and it is cleansed by the blood of the Lord 337 00:34:18,959 –> 00:34:23,939 Jesus Christ. And exactly the same way in which the corrupt or the seared conscience 338 00:34:23,939 –> 00:34:28,100 becomes pure and sensitive, that’s exactly the same way in which the weak conscience 339 00:34:28,100 –> 00:34:32,719 becomes strong. So I want to give you this invitation and this encouragement in the last 340 00:34:32,719 –> 00:34:39,719 moment. Why would you not today, if you recognize, as many have done in the services this weekend, 341 00:34:39,739 –> 00:34:44,840 as many have done in the services this weekend, that there is a binding in me that is imposed 342 00:34:44,840 –> 00:34:51,840 by others and I need to grow in freedom in Christ? Why would you not ask the Holy Spirit 343 00:34:52,239 –> 00:34:56,340 to help you here? There is a real work of the Holy Spirit. Where the Spirit is, there 344 00:34:56,340 –> 00:35:03,340 is freedom. Lord, set me free from the spirit of fear. 345 00:35:03,780 –> 00:35:10,780 Cut me loose from morbid scrupulosity. I don’t want to live there. 346 00:35:13,100 –> 0035:18,600 Then let me encourage you in this. Study what the Bible has to say about your Christian 347 00:35:18,600 –> 00:35:25,600 freedom. Today has been a start. Read Galatians this week, just read Galatians. 348 00:35:26,020 –> 00:35:30,439 Notice everything that it says in Galatians about your freedom in Jesus Christ. It will 349 00:35:30,659 –> 00:35:37,659 really help you. And then remember the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are cleansed 350 00:35:41,159 –> 00:35:48,159 by the shed blood of Jesus Christ and not by your own scruples. How is it that we set 351 00:35:49,439 –> 00:35:55,540 our hearts at rest in his presence? When our hearts condemn us we set our hearts at rest 352 00:35:55,560 –> 00:36:02,560 in his presence how? By becoming more scrupulous? No, but because God is greater than our hearts. 353 00:36:05,139 –> 00:36:12,139 And we have his promise sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Friends, the more clearly 354 00:36:13,139 –> 00:36:20,139 you grasp the gospel, the more fully you will enter into the joy of God-honoring freedom 355 00:36:21,139 –> 00:36:28,139 in Jesus Christ. Father, set many free from morbid scrupulosity, 356 00:36:32,739 –> 00:36:39,739 from living life under the control of others, from the fear of men and women that we may 357 00:36:39,939 –> 00:36:46,939 enter ever more fully into the joy and freedom that is ours in Jesus Christ, and honor you 358 00:36:47,820 –> 00:36:54,820 joyfully in it. For these things we ask together in the Savior’s name. 359 00:37:09,739 –> 00:37:15,580 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. To contact 360 00:37:15,580 –> 00:37:23,419 us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website Open-the-Bible.org