Our Spiritual Health: Attaining a Good Conscience

The point: Remember afresh the God-appointed means for your spiritual health in the coming year.

An imaginary world-renowned scholar of early American history loses the ability to distinguish letters of the alphabet. This illustrates how losing grasp of the basic building blocks of the Christian life (like a good conscience) will halt or stunt spiritual growth, just as the scholar's literary production would cease.

Now as we begin our study in the word of God this morning, I want you to activate with me that marvelous God-given faculty that we call imagination. I want you to imagine with me that there is sitting here, in this auditorium this morning, a brilliant, world-renowned scholar. This scholar's expertise is in the field of early American history.

1:50 - 2:24 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon identifies the careful maintenance of a good conscience as the third individual means for spiritual health, following disciplined assimilation of Scripture and habitual…

Conscience is likened to a 'little man' or 'little woman' inside each person, with a long finger pointing to right or wrong, a large hand nudging toward the right, and a loud voice excusing or accusing. This analogy helps explain the internal function of conscience as described in Romans 2:14-15.

biblical witness concerning the importance of maintaining a good conscience and we looked carefully at three texts of scripture two of which were read in your hearing acts 24 16 1st Timothy 1 5 and 1st Timothy 1 18 and 19 and those three texts by way of the Bible were read in your hearing or in church and were the name of the Bible an Bowl standing on the ground you can see and what this book said to me is that that you are not allowed to speak and this was because in the Bible the scripture and theрипhere was your schools before your eyes and in the Gospels exemplo of the church had of the Ho...

9:17 - 10:44 Read in full sermon

Driving home: As one has said, an evil conscience is a conscience burdened and polluted with the sense of unpardoned guilt.

Adam's hiding from God after sinning, driven by a guilty conscience, illustrates how sin creates aversion and distance from God, preventing joyful service and communion.

And notice, it is only then that people can come into the glad service of the living God. What is it that drove Adam from the service of God to hide from God among the trees of the garden? It was a guilty, evil conscience.

20:37 - 21:00 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The conversion of Zacchaeus (Luke 19) is presented as the first scriptural witness, demonstrating his spontaneous commitment to give half his goods to the poor and restore…

The story of Zacchaeus, a short, driven, and rich tax collector, illustrates the spontaneous and thorough rectification of moral abnormalities toward men that accompanies true conversion. His commitment to restore fourfold what he had wrongfully exacted demonstrates the joy of salvation leading to a good conscience toward man.

on what basis dare I say to you my fellow sinners you can never attain a good conscience to God unless you are willing to make a thorough righteous adjustment of rectifiable moral abnormalities toward men well the first text you kids probably already anticipated that little fella who was nicknamed Shorty everybody else got a growth spurt in the early teens he was left behind always hoping his would come but it never came you can imagine some of the psychological battering poor Zacchaeus must have felt one long before everybody called him Shorty and he had to learn to live with his nickname Sho...

44:22 - 45:51 Read in full sermon

Driving home: you can look any fellow creature straight in the eyeballs back to the retinas and stand upright with moral integrity while clothed with Christ like humility

The account of Paul interceding for Onesimus with Philemon, offering to pay Onesimus's debt, illustrates that even after conversion and forgiveness from God, rectifiable moral abnormalities toward men must be addressed to attain a good conscience toward man.

for a bad and an accusing conscience to man is a worm in the cord of any kind of flourishing spiritual health let these texts filter down in and exert their pressure upon your conscience the book of Philemon that precious little one chapter book that lies between Titus and Hebrews you remember the circumstances this man Philemon a godly Christian Colossi had a slave who ran away from him and somehow in the providence of God he ended up in the big city Rome like most runaways they like to get lost in the big city and somehow again even in God's inscrutable providence he ended up under the influ...

56:01 - 57:29 Read in full sermon

Driving home: you can look any fellow creature straight in the eyeballs back to the retinas and stand upright with moral integrity while clothed with Christ like humility

The story of Ephesian believers publicly burning their expensive magical books illustrates the costly, thorough, and public adjustment of moral abnormalities toward men, demonstrating their commitment to a good conscience and a clear break from past sinful practices.

but a thorough righteous adjustment of rectifiable moral abnormalities toward men and here's the third text Acts chapter 19 it's the account of the mighty operations of the Spirit of God in the city of Ephesus there's a great turning to the Lord and people who had been idol worshipers had been up to their ears in the occult pick up the reading with me at verse 17 after this strange incident with the seven sons of Sceva this became known to all both Jews and Greeks that dwelt at Ephesus fear came upon all and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified many also of them that believed came here are...

61:53 - 63:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Young men and women who have openly confessed Christ, seek to be thorough in making right the wrongs, deceptions, lies, and manipulation toward your parents, begging their forgiveness.

Martin recounts his childhood prayer, 'Now I lay me down to sleep,' and how before conversion, he feared dying with a bad conscience. After conversion, the prayer changed to one of assurance, illustrating the peace and rest a good conscience brings.

my soul will keep if I should die before I wake I know the Lord my soul will take you say pastor you changed the word I sure did because the way it's penned is the way I used to pray it every night before I was converted of them oh god don't let me die tonight because i die with a bad conscience that i know is but the four rumblings of the horrors of hell and i shall never forget when as a senior in high school you talk about going to bed with a good conscience being worth more than a whole world it was to me i could put my head on my pillow at night and say now i lay me down to sleep i pray l...

70:40 - 72:05 Read in full sermon