Educating Standard of Conscience

Driving home: The Bible affirms that all true believers in Jesus Christ most certainly shall and most assuredly must continue in the life of faith, holiness, and obedience to the end of their days.

Paul's warning about those who 'cast off faith and a good conscience they made shipwreck concerning the faith' illustrates the essential companionship of a good conscience to continuing in faith.

And the means that we are presently considering is that which we have described as the getting and the keeping of a good conscience before God. Now according to such passages as 1 Timothy 1, 5 and 6, and verses 18 to 21, we have the following. in 6 and verses 18 to 20 a good conscience is an essential companion to those who are determined to continue in the faith concerning certain ones paul wrote saying when they cast off faith and

2:15 - 2:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Immediately silence every accusation of your conscience by eagerly listening, freely confessing, believingly clinging to divine forgiveness, and thoroughly making amends.

Martin compares his quick review of previous sermons to a 'distillation of about five hours of instruction' to help visitors catch up.

or by giving payola to its accusations, trying to appease its accusations. But we must silence its every accusation by eagerly listening to that voice of accusation, by freely confessing the cause of its accusation, by believingly clinging to the promise of divine forgiveness, and by thoroughly making amends at the horizontal. At the horizontal level, wherever necessary. Now, in about six minutes, I've given you the distillation of about five hours of instruction, and I hope that's not left our visitors in the lurch.

5:51 - 6:33 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third element, continually educating conscience's standard of judgment, is introduced. Martin explains how conscience functions as a judge, not a lawmaker, and how sin has…

The 'statute book' within man's heart is described as having blurred lines, torn pages, and inserted pages after the fall, illustrating how sin corrupted conscience's standard.

Others have been torn out. Pages have been ripped from the statute book to which conscience looks. Others have been inserted that were never put there by God. So that when conscience looks to the statute book to say, Is this man?

11:59 - 12:20 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third element, continually educating conscience's standard of judgment, is introduced. Martin explains how conscience functions as a judge, not a lawmaker, and how sin has…

Sinful man's bias to read the 'statute book' incorrectly is illustrated by putting on 'glasses that make us read it incorrectly,' leading to rationalization.

When we contemplate a given act and we look to the standard, the standard does not accurately reflect all of the mind and will of God. Furthermore, we've got another problem. Instead of having a positive bias to read the statute book correctly, we've got a bias. We've got a bias to put on glasses that make us read it incorrectly.

13:01 - 13:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Using 1 Corinthians 8, Martin illustrates two types of inaccurate conscience judgments: one that condemns when it shouldn't (the weak brother regarding idol meat) and one that…

A detailed description of the practice of pagan worshippers sacrificing animals and priests selling leftover portions as 'bargain cuts' illustrates the context of the 1 Corinthians 8 passage.

Now look at the passage. The whole subject in view is this matter of eating meat that was offered unto idols. And in my background reading, and I think the men whom I've read are to be trusted in terms of their understanding of the customs of that day, apparently it was the practice that when a pagan worshipper came up to the pagan temple, among other things, he would bring his sacrifice. And once that sacrifice was slain, or the animal was brought for a sacrifice, a third was consumed in the offering process, a third was kept by the priest, and a third was kept by the worshipper

24:26 - 25:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: My conscience is bound in the word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything. Since it is unsafe and dangerous to act against conscience, here I stand, I can do no other work otherwise God help me. Amen.

O'Halesby's quote about Luther's stand at the Reichstag at Worms ('My conscience is bound in the word of God') illustrates the principle of conscience being bound by Scripture alone.

And we must never allow anything else to bind our consciences. We must take our stand with Martin Luther. And I referred to that incident several weeks ago, but I want briefly to refer to it again in one of the few treatises on the subject of conscience. O'Halesby has written concerning that incident at the Reichstag at Worms, Luther took the first and decisive step in this regard.

36:48 - 37:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Embrace applicatory preaching that works the Word into your conscience, even if it is uncomfortable.

The story of Scottish boys walking 40-50 miles overnight to hear applicatory preaching illustrates a deep hunger for holiness and a ministry that works the Word into the conscience.

You remember the story told at one period of Scottish church history where a group of boys who worked in the fields were so thirsty for a ministry that would work the word into their consciences and there was none to be had in their district. They would leave the fields on Saturday afternoon and walk all night. I forgot what the distance was. It was something like 40, 50 miles, singing psalms and hymns and sit under such a ministry all Lord's Day and then walk back Sunday night and show up in the fields Monday morning.

42:10 - 42:53 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And an aversion to applicatory preaching is an aversion to a holy life.

A personal anecdote about two people praying before driving in the metropolitan area to deal with anger illustrates the practical impact of specific, applicatory preaching on conscience.

And therefore, as long as God gives some of us breath and spiritual sanity and any spiritual vivacity, this pulpit will be a pulpit by close, fervent, applicatory preaching. Because it is in that way that your consciences are educated to the will of God. How thrilled I was this past week when someone called me and said one of the applications a couple of weeks ago I was using an illustration about how we must be dealt with even in the area of our thoughts and I talked about that whole matter

44:02 - 44:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Engage in personal self-examination, diligently searching your heart in light of God's Word.

The Psalmist's 'diligent search' of his spirit is compared to a man taking a candle to search every nook and cranny of his house, illustrating thorough self-examination.

You see the beautiful conjunction of a happy singing Christian who's engaged in earnest intense self-examination. There are those who tell us self-examination leads to nothing but morbidity. He says I call to remembrance in my present state of distress my song in the night. I call to remembrance the time when there was greater joy than there now is and in the night seasons like a man who would take a candle searching in every nook and cranny of the house for some possession.

46:41 - 47:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Live in the preceptive parts of the Word of God (e.g., Proverbs, Sermon on the Mount) to develop and hone your conscience.

A quote from O'Halesby emphasizes that conscience develops as a believer is enlightened by God's Word, especially its preceptive parts.

O'Hallisby, speaking to this very point, again let me give you this brief quote from him, says this, In general we can say that a believer's conscience will develop as far as its conscience is concerned in the same degree that the believer permits himself to be enlightened by the word of God concerning the will of God. The development of conscience is therefore conditioned fundamentally upon the believer living himself in the word of God, particularly, now listen, particularly that part of the word which deals with the will of God,

48:28 - 49:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not try to educate your conscience when it is accusing you; instead, listen and address the accusation.

The analogy of children having to go to school every weekday, contrasted with conscience not being 'sent to school any old time,' illustrates the specific timing required for conscience education.

Now it's very vital that you learn a simple lesson about the timing of its education. You see, conscience should not always be sent to school under any circumstances. Unlike you kids, unless you're really sick and got a bad heart, a bad tummy ache and got the flu, you've got to go to school Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Too bad, but it's got to be.

50:30 - 50:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not try to educate your conscience when it is accusing you; instead, listen and address the accusation.

The example of a man trying to educate his conscience while cutting a piece of meat offered to idols illustrates the danger of trying to teach conscience when it is accusing.

You just shut up and listen. Often people try to educate conscience when conscience is accusing. Take that man, you see. He got too close to his brother's piece of meat and it smelled so good and he began to salivate and he began to think how nice that piece of meat would taste.

51:08 - 51:25 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not try to educate your conscience in the midst of enticement to sin or temptation, as your remaining sin will bias your judgment.

Examples of hammering out courtship boundaries before emotions are high and avoiding educating conscience about a new car purchase after it has become an idol illustrate the danger of educating conscience in the midst of temptation.

Don't try to teach him in a situation of temptation because your remaining sin will put a bias in your judgment. It will blur what you read in the statute book. You young people, hammer out such issues as how much physical contact will I indulge in the relationship of courtship. Hammer it out before all your juices are flowing and before you're looking into it.

52:15 - 52:47 Read in full sermon