The Diseases of Conscience, Part 1

The point: Learn to recognize and treat the common diseases of the conscience.

Martin compares common diseases of conscience to childhood diseases like mumps, measles, and chicken pox, suggesting they are prevalent and recognizable spiritual disorders.

Because of the reality of remaining sin in a believer, the reality of physical and psychological disorders and imbalances due to the presence of sin and this present condition of infirmity, there are common diseases of the soul and therefore of the conscience. And if we are to exercise ourselves to have a conscience void of offense to God and man, we must learn to recognize and to treat some of these common diseases of the conscience. Now when I grew up, there were certain common childhood diseases. You normally did not get

6:46 - 7:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces the first disease: an excessively scrupulous conscience. He defines 'scrupulous' as giving careful attention to what is right, honest, or proper, but notes that…

An example of someone 'scrupulous in the handling of his money' is given to explain the basic meaning of the word 'scrupulous' as being careful and precise.

cu entschex cu� give careful attention to what is right honest or proper we say about a certain person he's scrupulous in the handling of his money what do we mean well we mean he doesn't throw around dollars like rockefeller threw around dimes we're talking about a man who's very careful to keep very close accounts of how he handles his money and so we say he's very scrupulous in the handling of his money or we might say that man is scrupulous about his manners what do we mean he's very careful to say please when he ought to say please to say thank you when he ought to say thank you

8:51 - 9:32 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces the first disease: an excessively scrupulous conscience. He defines 'scrupulous' as giving careful attention to what is right, honest, or proper, but notes that…

An example of someone 'scrupulous about his manners' is given to further illustrate the meaning of 'scrupulous' as being very careful and precise in social interactions.

cu entschex cu� give careful attention to what is right honest or proper we say about a certain person he's scrupulous in the handling of his money what do we mean well we mean he doesn't throw around dollars like rockefeller threw around dimes we're talking about a man who's very careful to keep very close accounts of how he handles his money and so we say he's very scrupulous in the handling of his money or we might say that man is scrupulous about his manners what do we mean he's very careful to say please when he ought to say please to say thank you when he ought to say thank you

8:51 - 9:32 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces the first disease: an excessively scrupulous conscience. He defines 'scrupulous' as giving careful attention to what is right, honest, or proper, but notes that…

An example of a child 'scrupulous about keeping his room neat' is used to solidify the understanding of the word 'scrupulous' before applying it to conscience.

to say excuse me pardon me and he knows the difference when he ought to say them he knows when to bow when to stand erect when to shake a hand when not to he's very scrupulous about his manners he's very careful he's very precise he's very upright with respect to his manners now someone might say though it would be very shocking perhaps in most cases of a certain youngster that he's very scrupulous about keeping his room neat now every mom and dad here would love to be able to say my son or daughter is scrupulous about keeping his room neat and once in a while you meet a neat nick who's that w...

9:32 - 10:16 Read in full sermon

Driving home: he has a concern for what is right and honest and proper that goes beyond the standard of the word of god

A man walking in a cornfield breaks off a stalk and then becomes tortured by anxiety over whether he stole it, illustrating the crippling preoccupation with precise actions and motives.

distracting and crippling anxiety concerning the precise form and motive of every action and word a distracting and crippling anxiety concerning the precise form and motive of every word and action a person afflicted with this disease is the kind of person who may be taking a walk on a lord's day afternoon out in a cornfield and it's fall and the corn has been harvested and

11:30 - 12:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: he has a concern for what is right and honest and proper that goes beyond the standard of the word of god

A husband helps his ill wife but then lies awake questioning if his motive was pure love for Christ or merely seeking thanks, illustrating crippling anxiety over motives.

distracting and crippling preoccupation with the precise form and motive of every action he seeks to be thoughtful and considerate of his wife perhaps she's ill and it's meant that she's not been able to carry her normal amount of workload and so when he comes home from work he says now dear you go lie down and he goes into the kitchen and he seeks to help that puts supper on the table and help with getting children to bed and when he goes to bed at night and have instead of having a sense of well-being that by the grace of god he's been able to minister to his wife you know what he does he li...

13:30 - 14:10 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first symptom is a distracting and crippling anxiety concerning the precise form and motive of every action and word. Martin illustrates this with examples like questioning…

A man plants garden seeds, then becomes so anxious about the precise depth and soil fineness that he digs them up and replants them repeatedly, never getting a crop, illustrating crippling preoccupation with form.

and of every deed he's like the man who goes out to plant his garden and he takes the package of seeds and he reads in the back and it says plant in early spring in finely in fine soil one each deep one inch deep and pack the earth lightly so he looks at the direction and he makes sure that where he's going to plant his row of seed that he either sifts the soil or works it through his hands to get it nice and fine and he plants the seed what he thinks is about an inch deep and he covers it over and pats it then he gets back in the house and he begins to be troubled

14:54 - 15:35 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first symptom is a distracting and crippling anxiety concerning the precise form and motive of every action and word. Martin illustrates this with examples like questioning…

A runner so concerned with perfect form that he stops to check his feet and hands at every stride, never finishing the race, illustrates how scrupulosity cripples Christian life.

so convinced that the law of god touches every detail of his life even the deepest springs of his motives that he becomes so preoccupied with examining the precise form and motive of every action and word that he is utterly crippled in walking the christian life he is like a runner so concerned about his form that every step in the race he stops looks down at his feet and sees if they're pointed exactly as a good runner's feet ought to be pointed if his hands are placed properly he

16:59 - 17:42 Read in full sermon

Driving home: for when consciences once ensnare themselves they enter a long and inextricable maze

Martin quotes Calvin's Institutes, where Calvin describes how consciences ensnared by trivial doubts enter an 'inextricable maze' of ever-increasing scruples about lawful things like linen, hemp, and even water.

scrupulous conscience Calvin with a little bit of humor describes such people as he observed them in his own day in his classic treatment of the subject of Christian liberty in the Institute's Calvin speaks of this whole matter of God and the world and the Christmas dinner at the discussion table matter of the christian's liberty from any kind of bondage to things that are not condemned by the word of god any kind of bondage to think he cannot partake of them if god has not forbidden them and he says these matters are more important than is commonly believed for when consciences

22:39 - 23:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third symptom is a general tendency to strain at gnats and swallow camels, illustrated by Jesus's rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 23. Martin explains how scrupulous…

Martin explains the ancient practice of straining wine to remove gnats, setting up the metaphor of 'straining at gnats' from Matthew 23.

Now, the Lord is using a very vigorous, and what we would say, a grotesque figure of speech. In those days, the wine was pressed in open vats. The wine, the grapes would be brought in from the fields, and people would tromp them in hollowed-out stone vats. And obviously, you know what happens in our day if you have a bowl of fruit and leave it out for a day or two. Where do those crazy little fruit gnats come from?

27:10 - 27:39 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third symptom is a general tendency to strain at gnats and swallow camels, illustrated by Jesus's rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 23. Martin explains how scrupulous…

The vivid image of someone carefully straining gnats from wine, only to gulp down a camel, illustrates the disproportionate focus on minor issues while neglecting major ones.

Well, knowing that some of those little winged creatures might have gotten in when the wine was trampled out, it was not uncommon to take what we would call a piece of cheesecloth or muslin, and you would put it over the mouth of the vessel into which you were going to collect the wine and from which you're going to serve it. Now, here's the picture. Someone so concerned he won't have any gnats in his wine, so he's very carefully putting a strainer over the mouth of the vessel, and after he's carefully strained it and all the little dead winged creatures are cast aside and he knows that his wi...

28:28 - 29:12 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third symptom is a general tendency to strain at gnats and swallow camels, illustrated by Jesus's rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 23. Martin explains how scrupulous…

Martin mentions receiving a 90-page letter from someone preoccupied with their conscience problems, illustrating how scrupulosity can make individuals self-absorbed and drain others' spiritual energy.

and mental and spiritual energies of others. I know of an incident where someone so taken up with this kind of mentality wrote me a 90-page letter and expected me to answer it and to read it as though I had nothing to do but read and answer 90-page letters.

31:56 - 32:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third symptom is a general tendency to strain at gnats and swallow camels, illustrated by Jesus's rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 23. Martin explains how scrupulous…

Martin quotes Bridges' commentary on Psalm 119, describing the 'endless and causeless' exercises of the scrupulous mind, its harassment, and how it hinders grace and produces hard thoughts of God.

The whole world is always revolving around the mint and the anise and the cumin and the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith are overlooked. Bridges, in his commentary on Psalm 119, has a very, very perceptive description of this malady and of this particular symptom of it. The exercises of this state of feeling are both endless and causeless. In the well-intentioned endeavor to guard against a devious track, the mind is constantly harassed with an over-anxious inquiry whether the right path is accurately discovered,

32:37 - 33:22 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second part of the remedy is to rest in the truth of Philippians 3:13-16. Martin shares a personal testimony of how this passage helped him overcome paralyzing scrupulosity…

Martin shares a personal story of standing before a refrigerator, paralyzed by conscience over whether drinking a glass of milk would glorify God, illustrating the depth of his own predisposition to scrupulosity.

Then the second part of the prescription is this. Rest in the great truth of Philippians 3, 13 to 16. And I don't often do anything that borders on personal testimony from the pulpit for the simple reason that I'm called to preach the word, but this text, I must confess, has been God's greatest immunizing principle in my own life because I speak as one who is constitutionally predisposed to this malady.

38:54 - 39:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Listen to the series of Sunday School lessons on the biblical doctrine of good works to understand that God's children do please Him.

Martin contrasts the unwearied, undistracted service of angels with human frailty, emphasizing that God knows our 'frame' and remembers we are 'dust,' which should comfort the scrupulous.

Grace has implanted within us a longing to serve him like angels. There is no hesitancy in their obedience. There is no weariness. An angel sent this morning from the throne of God to the farthest part of the universe on an errand can go there and come back and not have a drop of sweat upon his brow.

47:25 - 47:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Constantly demand that your conscience speak to you with the word of scripture (Psalm 119:105).

Martin compares an unchecked conscience to a child given permission to 'bark orders' for an hour, who then becomes drunk with power and wants to rule the household, illustrating how conscience becomes bold without Scripture's authority.

You see, the problem with the person who gets this disease is they begin to listen to conscience when conscience doesn't come speaking with a Bible in his hand. And once you begin to let conscience, conscience mouth off to you without a Bible in his hand, he gets very bold and he'll start barking orders left, right, and center. It's like a little kid in the house. Maybe just for fun you think you let him give orders for an hour.

52:34 - 53:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Learn to distinguish between your feelings and the voice of conscience.

A former Roman Catholic, converted to Christ, struggles with the ingrained habit of saying the rosary, feeling guilt if he doesn't, illustrating the need to distinguish between feelings and a conscience enlightened by Scripture.

Well, let me illustrate. Here's a person born in an old-time Roman Catholic home. And from his infancy he has been taught every morning and every night to say the rosary. The kid says, the kid can't remember or the adult now when he or she did not have a string of beads in his hand every morning and every night and say so many Hail Marys and so many Our Fathers.

54:51 - 55:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Take that string of beads out to the nearest trash bin and dump them, even if it feels like sacrilege, if your conscience enlightened by the word of God tells you it is not your duty.

Martin recounts his own struggle with eating an expensive steak, feeling it was wasteful given world hunger, but learning to distinguish his feelings from a conscience informed by Scripture's teaching on enjoying God's gifts.

Even though he may feel like it's an act of sacrilege his conscience enlightened by the word of God tells him it is not his duty to say the rosary. See the difference? I can remember being brought up borderline poor. I never felt it was that but it was.

57:36 - 57:57 Read in full sermon