Functions of Good Conscience, Part 2

Introduction and Review of the Perseverance of the Saints

0:01 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, December 19th, 1982, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:11 Now let us again seek the face of God in prayer for His help as we seek to understand His Word and what we pray for ourselves. We want to pray for our brother Jeff Lee, who is ministering at the Ringwood Baptist Church at this hour and will also be ministering to us this evening. Let us pray. Our Father, in the language of the psalmist, we have just expressed in Your presence our desire that You would give us understanding in Your holy Word, that You would open our eyes, that we might behold wondrous things out of Your law.

0:55 And we acknowledge, O God, that unless Your Spirit comes to illuminate our minds, unless He comes to give us that understanding, that understanding of His own Word, we shall hear in vain. Unless He comes to enlarge the mind of Your servant and to loose His tongue, He will attempt to speak Your truth in vain. And so we come in all of our weakness, in all of our felt dependentness, and we cry to You, O God, have mercy upon us and help us in our work. And we pray for Your servant who ministers at this hour at the Ringwood Baptist Church as our brother comes into a new situation, into a difficult situation. May he know copious measures of the help of heaven upon his soul. And may Your Word through him be instrumental in accomplishing the designs of our enthroned Lord. O our God, meet with us now as together we confess our need, as together we lay hold of Your promise that if we ask, we shall receive.

2:17 Hear us then for the sake of Your beloved Son. Amen. As we turn to the study of the Word of God this morning, we are in reality returning to the unfinished sermon of two Lord's Days ago. And I'm going to make an honest effort to complete that sermon.

2:44 God willing, next Lord's Day morning, we will have a meditation appropriate to the Advent season. But those of you who were with us two weeks ago, I trust will remember that on that occasion, I was dealing with the subject of the specific ways in which a good conscience is related to our perseverance in the ways of God. Now, those of you who were not with us may well ask whatever would bring a preacher to settle upon such a subject, the specific ways in which a good conscience is related to perseverance in the ways of God. Well, the answer to that question is that for a number of Lord's Days, for about five or six months of Lord's Days, we have been studying that aspect of biblical doctrine commonly called, the perseverance of the saints. The biblical doctrine which clearly teaches that all true believers most certainly shall and most assuredly must continue in the way of faith, holiness, and obedience to the end of their days if they would enter heaven at last. Having established from the scriptures, the nomenclature of the Holy Spirit, the nomenclature of the Holy Spirit, the nomenclature of the Holy Spirit, the necessity of this perseverance,

4:13 having examined many passages dealing with various means by which we are enabled to persevere, we are drawing this study towards a conclusion as we've considered for a number of weeks the strategic place of a good conscience as a means of being kept in the way of faith, holiness, and obedience. We saw, we saw the general relationship between a good conscience and perseverance by examining 1 Timothy 1, 3-5, and verses 18-20, and then we've looked at a number of scriptures answering the simple questions, how do we get a good conscience, and how do we keep a good conscience? Now we're rounding out this whole section of the relationship between conscience and perseverance by addressing ourselves to this issue, what are some of the specific ways in which a good conscience is directly related to our being kept in the way of faith, holiness, and obedience? And in our study two Lord's Days ago, I traced out three lines of thought with you. We saw the relationship between a good conscience, truth, and perseverance.

5:36 Secondly, a good conscience in relationship with God. Secondly, a good conscience in relationship with God. Thirdly, a good conscience in relationship to holiness and perseverance. And thirdly, a good conscience in relationship to prayer and perseverance.

A Good Conscience in Relationship to Suffering and Perseverance

5:49 Now some of you asked if I was going to deal with the final two points, and it's basically the constraint of pastoral credibility, which has led me to conclude with those two points, and some of you pleaded with me at the door, Pastor, please touch those final two points, namely, a good conscience in relationship to God, in relationship to suffering and perseverance, and a good conscience in relationship to confession of Christ, or confessing Christ, and perseverance. So it's those final two matters that I want to take up with you. First of all, then, a good conscience in relationship to suffering and perseverance. It is clearly, emphatically, and religiously, and repeatedly asserted in the Word of God that suffering, affliction, and tribulation are the inevitable attendance of the life and experience of a true believer. Now that's quite a mouthful, but I've chosen every word carefully and purposely. It is clearly,

7:06 emphatically, and repeatedly asserted in the Word of God that suffering, affliction, and tribulation are the inevitable attendance of the life and experience of a true believer. Whoever continues in the way of faith and holiness and obedience will find himself a frequent companion in the persons of suffering, affliction, and perseverance. In the world, you shall have affliction and tribulation. Just three or four texts, which are only specimen texts.

7:47 In John 16 and verse 33, our Lord speaking to His apostles, but speaking to them here as believers, says, in the world, ye shall have tribulation. Flipsis. You shall have affliction. You shall have tribulation.

8:13 But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. But notice, His overcoming does not exempt us from the undergoing of tribulation at the hand of the world. And then in Acts chapter 14, we find that this was the emphasis given to young believers.

8:36 Acts 14 and verse 22, the apostle Paul, the apostle and his companions go back to the believers in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, and this is what they do. Acts 14, 22, confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith. Here's an explicit exhortation to perseverance, and in conjunction with it, notice the emphasis, and that through many tribulations we must endure, enter into the kingdom of God. There is no continuance in the faith, but in the companionship of many tribulations.

9:21 And then in Romans 8 and verse 17, we have this very explicit statement that if we would be those glorified with Christ in the last day, we shall be found such as who have suffered with Him here on earth. If children, then heirs. Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him. And then the statement of the apostle well known to many of us, 2 Timothy 3, 12, yes, all, all, all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall, shall, shall, shall, shall, shall suffer persecution. And if perseverance is anything, it's living godly in Christ Jesus. So we could paraphrase, paraphrase all who are truly persevering shall suffer persecution. So it is clearly, emphatically, and repeatedly asserted in the word of God that suffering, affliction, and tribulation are the inevitable attendance of the Lord God.

10:41 Of the life and experience of a true believer. Now these inevitable accompaniments of true discipleship come in a multitude of sizes, shapes and forms, colors, and everything else. Sometimes they come in terms of open verbal abuse from loved ones. Sometimes they come in the more subtle social rejection and alienation of neighbors and work associates and former friends, friends.

11:12 Sometimes they come in terms of intense physical pain. Sometimes in the form of the emotional trauma of rejection and disappointment and broken relationships. The tribulation promised by our Lord, the affliction, the trouble, the suffering that we share in union with Christ comes in many forms, in many shapes, through many, many avenues, but come it will all along the path between here and our entrance into glory. Now you say, what in the world does all of that have to do with a good conscience and perseverance in relationship to the subject of suffering? Well, just this. It is the reality of this fact that becomes the great sifting situation between true believers who persevere and temporary believers who do not persevere. If you'll turn to Matthew chapter 13, you will notice in the words of our Lord interpreting the parable of the sower, when he comes to interpret the stony ground hearer, that hearer who is like the ground that received the seed and there is immediate germination and the apparent prosperity

12:41 of tremendous harvest and yet the sun rises and it withers that plant. Our Lord interprets the spiritual significance of that imagery. We read in verse 20 of Matthew 13, He that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that hears the word and straightway with joy receives it. Yet hath he not root in himself but endures for a while.

13:11 Perseveres only for a time. And when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, straightway he stumbles. Tribulation and persecution which come inevitably to all true disciples and come to those who are only professed disciples, those things become the very things that reveal that there was no root of the matter in such a person. You see, that person who is prepared to give up a good conscience for the comfort of a good set of circumstances shows that he has never known the preciousness of a truly good conscience before him. The man who is prepared to give up a good conscience for the sake of social acceptance or the relief of pressure and persecution and affliction manifests that he has never prized a good conscience as every true believer has learned to prize it. Now whatever temporary lapses

14:38 a true Christian may experience, the true believer finds that the companionship of Christ and a good conscience are more than enough to ride through the pressure of suffering, affliction, and of tribulation. And you see, that's where the two things come together. Perseverance and a good conscience come together in the crucible of affliction right at this point. The true believer, no matter how painful his affliction knows, there's a greater pain than any form of affliction, persecution, or suffering.

15:23 Whatever man may do to bring affliction to my body, whatever God in His providence may allow to come upon me in the way of physical distress, social distress, bitterness and rejection and disappointment and emotional trauma, no pain brought from any source is greater than the pain of affliction. It is greater than the pain of the clouded face of my Savior and an accusing conscience. So that the true believer has his own sonship attested again and again when he finds himself standing the test of the burning rays of affliction and tribulation manifesting that his roots are indeed sunk deeply into the felt presence of Jesus and his own sonship. And no amount of the burning sun of tribulation and affliction in the course of obedience to the Word will cause him to relinquish his attachment to Christ. Now I want you to look with me at two passages in which that connection that I've sought to demonstrate is explicitly set before us. The first one is 2 Corinthians chapter 1.

The Testimony of a Good Conscience in Affliction (2 Corinthians 1)

16:40 2 Corinthians chapter 1.

16:44 This is the first one. This is one of the greatest chapters on the subject of affliction. It's one of the chapters that I find in pastoral ministry to the sick and afflicted that I turn to again and again.

16:58 In it the apostle describes God in terms that suit an afflicted saint. He is blessed and praised as the God and Father of the Lord Jesus. Verse 3 of 2 Corinthians 1. The Father of mercy.

17:15 And the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction. Flips this again. He comforts us in all our affliction. And then he begins to open up this whole subject of the divine purpose and affliction particularly in terms of its ministry to the body of Christ.

17:42 But now picking up the thread of thought in verse 8. For we would not have you ignorant brethren concerning our affliction which befell us in Asia that we were weighed down exceedingly beyond our power insomuch that we despaired even of life. Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead who delivered us out of so great a death and will deliver on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication that for the gift bestowed upon us by means of many thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for now there's the connective word for for our glorying is this the testimony of our glorying that in holiness and sincerity of God not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world and more abundantly to you word. What is the apostle saying? Well it appears to me that he's at least saying this much

19:09 that in the midst of this unusual unusual concentration unusual concentration of afflictive circumstances which caused him and his companions even to despair of life itself there was something that brought them to the place where they thought this is it we've had it finute dumb we've had it and yet he said God intervened in the midst of that situation and when God intervened how did he find us? Did he find us afflicted saints whose consciences were tormented is this unusual circumstance of affliction which has come upon us chastisement for our deviation from the will of God is it God dealing with a group of disobedient Jonah's who have run from the call of God the apostle says no in the midst of this deep affliction he says our glorying is this the testimony of our conscience that in sincerity of God in true holiness not in fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we behaved ourselves two directions or two dimensions in the world

20:38 amongst those who are strangers to grace and more abundantly amongst the people of God you see the apostle is indicating that he was able to hold a steady course in the most in the midst of the most severe affliction because in the midst of it he had the testimony of a good conscience before almighty God and my dear Christian friend there are few things that will help you to keep your hand more steady upon the rudder of your life from the standpoint of your own perspective your own internal stability in the midst of unusual circumstances of affliction and suffering and persecution than the testimony of a good conscience in the presence of almighty God you say though I do not know what God is doing in this affliction though I may not have a clue as to why he is permitting me to do this but I do not know to be brought to the very brink of death itself this much I know my conscience is void of offense to God and to man both before the world and the people of God

Maintaining a Good Conscience Amidst Persecution (1 Peter 3)

22:05 now is that carnal boasting no he says by the grace of God but grace can so work in us as we are as we work to keep a good conscience that we with the apostle in the midst of affliction knowing the companionship of a good conscience can hold steady as we go no matter how much the seas may rage about us and then the second passage is first Peter chapter 3 remember what we're doing now simply attempting to look at two passages in which a good conscience in relationship to suffering and perseverance are clearly demonstrated now one of the great themes of first Peter is the theme of suffering not here eclipsis often translated tribulation or affliction but here you have paschal and some of you that have at least a little acquaintance with how to use some of your linguistic aids it's interesting when you look at the concordance in which the words are listed as they are found in the original when you come to first Peter you find a block

23:34 of the use of this word pasco such as you do not find in any other of the biblical writers no fewer than twelve times the word suffer is found in Peter's first letter so one of the major themes if not the major theme of first Peter is the subject of suffering suffering suffering suffering suffering now in this particular context first Peter chapter 3 he is giving directions and encouragements to those Christians who are suffering in the way of righteousness and he begins by asking a question in verse 13 first Peter 3 13 and who is he that will harm you if you be zealous of that which is good it's a rhetorical question if you're zealous of that which is good you're not going to be who is he that will harm you he may be asking are people going to harm the person who walks righteously or can anyone really be harmed in the way of righteousness realizing that his suffering only intensifies his fellowship with Christ increases his weight of glory can you hurt the man that the more you hurt him the more good you do to him can you really hurt him he asked the question who is he that will harm you if you be zealous of that which is good but even if you should suffer for righteousness sake blessed are you and now he gives some specific directives

25:03 first of all negative do not fear their fear neither be troubled then he moves to the positive directives in verse 15 but sanctify set apart in your hearts Christ as Lord ready always to give answer to every man who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you yet with meekness in fear having a good conscience that wherein you are spoken against they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ now the imperative of verse 15 the major direction is in the verb sanctify that is set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts always maintain the spiritual posture no matter what kind of opposition may rage around you and here the tribulation is obviously opposition from the ungodly those unsympathetic to the life and way of righteousness he says no matter what kind of pressure they bring upon you don't lose your spiritual equilibrium set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts no matter what men do he changes not he's worthy of your love worthy of your allegiance worthy of your affection

26:30 worthy of your obedience set him apart as Lord and in that context when people see that no matter what kind of pressure they bring to bear upon you your fundamental perspectives and activities with respect to life don't change a bit sooner or later that's going to bug them to the place where they're going to say look mister what in the world makes you tick? you can't when can I that? you can't that's over never mind you can't take some wouldn't work that's the problem so that's hard he makes no sense you make no sense think theymil� he kind of I'matem I want you to ask such a question I found her I was quiet we do, you remain constant. What in the world makes you tick, Buster? I can't figure you out. Here's the man who has sanctified Christ as Lord in his heart. Well, you see, Christ

27:42 claims over him. Christ's directions for him. Christ's presence with him. Those things are not affected by what men do to him, are they? No, not at all. And so he has set apart Christ as Lord, ready always to give a reason of the hope that is in him to any who will ask him, meekness and fear. But now what is to be the context in which he does this? Here you have a form of the verb which points to a continuous state. Notice, having a good conscience. In the midst of this activity of setting apart Christ as Lord, in constant readiness, readiness to give an answer to everyone who asks, to give a reason, the bottom line of constant internal spiritual condition is having or possessing a good conscience. In the midst of all of their changes, in the midst of their fickleness, in the midst of their attempts to needle you, in the midst of their attempts to seduce and pressure you to conform to their ways, you don't change.

28:56 Why? Because you are living in the context of keeping, of having a good conscience. And when he says they speak evil of you, those words are lies and it will put them to shame because your life has been so real that their consciences will accuse them when they make up false stories about you.

29:27 But you see the connection now between the suffering in this passage, practically what we would call various forms persecution and social rejection and pressure from the ungodly. You see the connection of being able to hold to our course in a steady manner and the maintenance of a good conscience before God. And isn't that the pattern that is set before us in the Word of God when we read the history of the men of God in the history of the people of God?

Historical Examples of Perseverance Through a Good Conscience

29:59 old and in the New Testaments. Reading our Bibles with this perspective, we see the great sufferer Job and what held that man on his course when he didn't have a clue of what was going on in the invisible spiritual world. If only Job could have been there when the adversary presented himself before God and says, ha, look at the way you treat Job. No wonder he loves you and serves you. Why, you've just blessed him with everything materially and his family's well and he's prospering and, why, he's a fair-weather Christian. Job didn't know there was this conversation between God and the enemy, the adversary of the souls of men. He did not have any idea at the beginning of what was going on behind the scenes. And so when God in a day allows all of his children to be slain and all of his possessions taken in a short time afterwards.

30:55 His whole body is afflicted from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet with running ugly boils and he sits on ashes and scrapes his skin with a potsherd. How can such a man say, though he slay me, yet will I trust him? In one ear he's got a wife who's saying curse God and die. In the other ear he's got his so-called friends telling him, look, we've got it all figured out.

31:26 God blesses people who walk uprightly and with a good conscience. God chastises people who are hypocrites. And you're obviously under chastisement, therefore you must be a hypocrite. Give up your integrity.

31:38 And though Job is confused at times and tortured in his soul, the undergirding motif of the book of Job is this. I have walked in all good conscience before God. And he's able to hold on to God. He's able to hold steady as she goes. Because in the midst of unexplained affliction and tribulation and suffering of every form, he has this blessed companion, a good conscience.

32:17 We read in the word of God about Joseph. His life of obedience brought him to what? Brought him to being sold into slavery? Brought him to the accusation?

32:31 the accusation of being an immoral man and into a prison. And yet in amidst of all of that what do we see in Joseph? A man holding steadily to his way. Why? Because in the midst of all the false accusations he has the testimony of a good conscience. Daniel. The three Hebrew children. They can face a den of lions. They can face the fiery furnace. Why? How? How? Why? Why is that in the book? Oops! Why not? No good conscience!

33:01 How? Because their consciences were void of offense to God and man.

33:09 And I say to you, dear child of God, if you're a true Christian, affliction, persecution, suffering, and difficulty are going to be your companions until the day you die. Many shapes, many forms, many colors, but they're going to be your companions. Now, what assurance do you have that you will not turn aside when God begins to tighten the screws of affliction upon your thumbs,

33:45 when God begins to intensify and augment the heat of the afflictive furnace that He's preparing for you?

33:55 You can have no assurance that you will ever hold to your course unless you're determined in fairer days to walk with a good conscience, a conscience before God and man, so that if, like Job, you are brought into a set of circumstances in which there seems to be no rhyme or reason to God's dealings with you, you can hold to your integrity and let men who think they are your friends try to give a rationale for what God is doing with you. And though you cannot prove them wrong, you know they are wrong, and you're able to say, though I may sound like a proud man or woman, whatever is the rationale for my circumstances, it is not that I am a hypocrite. I am walking in integrity before my God,

34:55 and though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Next to the presence of Jesus, sanctified as Lord in the heart, there is no companion in suffering. Like the companion of a good conscience.

The Comfort and Agony of Conscience in Suffering

35:20 That's what's enabled little girls and boys to go to the stake and die singing in times of open persecution.

35:32 That's what enabled Martin Luther to stand before that august body at Worms. And you remember what he kept referring to? It is never proper for a Christian to violate his what? His conscience.

35:47 My conscience is held captive to the word of God. He could face that whole imposing system of Rome, fearless. Why? His conscience was clear before his God.

36:08 That's what's enabled tender, sensitive women to be thrown to the lions singing psalms of praise,

36:18 and men to go to their deaths as though they were going to a birthday party, because they had the companionship of Christ and of a good conscience in the midst of their sufferings. One of the most pitiable things, one of the most difficult exercises in pastoral work is to try to minister to a professing Christian who is in the midst of an intense time of affliction or suffering, be it physical, emotional, whatever it is, and to say, to have that Christian acknowledge that they don't have a good conscience. All the torture and torment they go through. Is this because of that that I haven't dealt with? Is this upon me because of this situation that was not resolved, and this relationship that was not rectified, this area of restitution that was not made? What a terribly agonizing experience to try to minister to an afflicted, a saint who has a bad conscience.

37:32 But I tell you there are few joys akin to the joy of ministering to an afflicted saint who has a good conscience. To put one's arm around the shoulder of such a man or a woman and assure them as you weep with them, I do not know what lies behind that opaque veil of God's hidden dealings, but my brother, my sister, know this, that if you can glorify, glory before God and in the presence of God that you are walking in all good conscience before Him, and then quote the words of that hymn we love to sing, ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, the clouds you so much dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. Blind unbelief is sure to err in scantiness, in his work in vain. God is his own interpreter and he will make it plain, sometimes down here, sometimes not, until we see him face to face.

38:50 Now let me ask you, afflicted, tried Christian, someone who this morning is in the midst of an unusual concentration of affliction,

39:02 is Christ and a good conscience, are they your companions this morning?

A Good Conscience in Relationship to Confessing Christ and Perseverance

39:08 Oh, how that affliction could be turned to God's glory and to your profit if only you make the straightest line to get and to keep a good conscience. But I must hasten on, touch less fully, but at least with several Scriptures on the last point, a good conscience in relationship to confessing Christ and perseverance. A good conscience in relationship to confessing Christ and perseverance. As clearly and as emphatically as suffering, affliction, and tribulation are set forth as the inevitable attendance of the life of faith, so also is open confession of Christ set forth as a necessary accompaniment and fruit of faith. Whoever enters upon and continues in the way of faith, holiness, and obedience enters upon and continues in the way of confessing Christ. Romans 10, 9, and 10, when do we get into the way? If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

40:30 For with the heart man believes unto righteousness. And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. We come into the way confessing Christ. But we continue in the way confessing Christ.

40:45 Matthew chapter 10 and verse 32. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men. And he's speaking to disciples in the context of the dangers that may attend them even to death along the way. Verse 28 of Matthew 10.

41:01 Don't fear those who kill the body. But cannot destroy the soul. Whosoever shall confess me before men. Him will I confess before my Father who is in heaven.

41:10 Whosoever shall deny me before men. Him will I deny before my Father. 2 Timothy 3, 1 Timothy 3, 11 and 12. If we deny him, he also will deny us.

41:24 Now that's not speaking of a lapse in courage such as Peter had. When he cursed and swore and said, I do not know him. There is the denial that is a lapse in grace. The grace of courage.

41:40 But this is speaking of the denial. The resolute refusal to be a confessor of Christ. The refusal to be identified with him in his reproach. And in his suffering.

41:52 And the scriptures know nothing of true faith. That is not confessional on the threshold. And all along the way. Do you hear that?

42:01 The scriptures. The scriptures know nothing of a true faith. That is not confessional on the threshold. And all along the way.

42:09 Now again, granted. And I want to be very cautious here. The manner in which we confess Christ. The frequency with which we explicitly confess him.

42:21 The occasions upon which we openly, verbally confess him. The degrees of boldness. All of that will vary in terms of personality. Background, temperament, growth, and a host of other variables.

42:38 And that's one reason why we don't try as elders to mold you into a body of little wooden soldiers who all witness and confess Christ the same way at the same time with the same motions and the same words and in the same set of circumstances. Are you hearing me now? All variables. Granted, I understand that from a pastoral and biblical standpoint.

43:01 But the bottom line is still this. If we deny him, he'll deny us. If we refuse to confess with the mouth, we cannot truly believe with the heart. And therefore, we cannot be saved.

43:15 Romans 10, 9, and 10 is plain. Matthew 10, 32, and 33 are plain. And so, the life of perseverance in faith, holiness, and obedience is the life in perseverance of a confessor of Christ. Now, follow closely.

Paul's Bold Confession Rooted in a Good Conscience (Acts 22-24)

43:32 What is the connection between confessing Christ and a good conscience? We've seen that confessing Christ is part and parcel of the path of perseverance. But now, where does a good conscience fit into all of that? Well, I want you to turn to two passages in the book of Acts.

43:51 Acts chapter 20.

43:57 Acts chapter 20. If you have the old 1901 edition. I'm sorry, Acts 22. Just look up at the top.

44:08 Where you have a summary of the contents. Paul is mobbed in the temple. Paul is rescued by the chief captain. Paul addresses the people.

44:18 So, this is a situation where Paul's really under the heat. I mean, they're really knocking him around like a football at this stage of things. He's not exactly about to win a popularity contest there at Jerusalem. He's mobbed in the temple.

44:35 Rescued by the military authority. And now, he's going to address the people. And we read of that address in chapter 22. And then, beginning in verse 22.

44:46 And they gave him audience unto this word. But then, when he had said the word Gentiles, they lifted up their voice and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth! It's not fit that he should live. And then, they go into a frenzy.

45:01 They cried out, threw off their garments, cast dust up into the air. Can you kids see what a time that would have been? Can you imagine? Coming on a group of people, where people are tearing their clothes off, they're grabbing their dirt, they're throwing it up into the air, saying, Kill him! Kill him!

45:15 Not fit that he should live! It's a frightening thing. I don't know if you were like myself. When I see a scene, even on a television news report, of an uncontrolled mob, I get scared to death.

45:27 To me, it's one of the most frightening things in all the world. Well, Paul was in the midst of that kind of a situation. He'd already experienced it shortly before. And now, again, the mob is all stirred up.

45:37 And they want to have him killed. And so, the chief captain comes in and intervenes. And then the next day, verse 30, on the morrow, desiring to know the certainty whereof he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him, commanded the chief priests, and all the council, that's all the chief honchos there in Jerusalem, the very crowd that condemned our Lord to death, the Roman authority brings them together and brought Paul down and set them before them. Now, you try to get the picture.

46:08 Here's the crowd that you know condemned the Lord Jesus to death. It's nothing for them to put people to death at the hand of the Roman government. They have no conscience about it. The one time men had God incarnate in their hands, they killed him.

46:28 They killed him. The whole spirit of Psalm 2 that we've been hearing about Sunday nights. Now, you put yourself in Paul's situation. You've already seen that angry mob twice.

46:40 In the very recent past. You've seen them grabbing the dirt and throwing it up into the air, saying it's not fit that this man should even encumber the ground. Kill him! Away with him!

46:50 Get rid of him! And yet the language of chapter 23 gives me the goosebumps, and I hope it gives you the goosebumps too. Look at verse 1. And Paul, looking steadfastly on the council.

47:08 Now, why did Luke record the activity of his eyes? That word, looking steadfastly, is translated other times in our English Bibles, fastening the eyes upon. Now, you know what happens when you kids go into a situation where you're afraid. Now, you can always tell, watch your eyes.

47:34 You're looking, what's going to happen? When we're afraid, our eyes dart from one place to another. Our fear registers in our eyes. You see a man walk right up to our house.

47:46 You see a man walk right up to our house. You see a man walk right up to our house. You see a man walk right up to our house. Anywho, no ball could cut through him.

47:48 We walk full force through the eyes of a lion. No cage around him. No nails pulled out of him. No teeth pulled out from him.

47:54 You walk and watch a man walk right up to a lion, looking straight in the eye. You see, that guy is crazy, or he's got more courage than I have got. All you need to do is, watch his eyes. And look what the passage says.

48:07 ''And Paul, looking steadfastly'' I can imagine what they were expecting to see. Knowing what their attitude had been, how it had been expressed through the mob's stirred up perhaps at their own wedding. own instigation maybe they expected to see him coming in cowering his eyes cast down looking from one side to another trembling like a relief he walks in like a king approaching his throne comes in with firm stride and he just looks them all straight in the eyeball fastens his eyes upon the council he is the very essence of courage in the face of these men how does a man get to that place well let him tell us look at his language brethren and what's the first thing that comes out of his mouth you want to know what's behind my eyes i'll tell you it's my conscience i have lived before god you in all conscience until this day when a man stands before the living god with a conscience at rest through the blood of christ and by the grace of god in the context of a walk and life

49:33 of righteousness that man has the boldness to be a true confessor no matter how threatening the circumstances are I will not be afraid what can man do unto me I have lived in all good conscience before god there is no timidity there is no shrinking there is no nervousness there is no fear there is no fear there is no fear there is no fear im concise there is where in Hum strengthening on his God a real夕 in this good conscience because among other things he stood before them with a good conscience and you remember that the context of the text we refer to again and again in this aspect of our series on conscience starts twenty four he's against adding in a dangerous place he's accused by a heathen orate dear for a series unconscious acts 24 he's against ending in a dangerous place murderer prophet murder attorney paul acus của Lença causing evil for the synagogue attracting the worship of therieben reader Paul at a ez gamble polenta accused by tertullus in the presence of felix and now he gives his defense in acts 24 beginning

50:56 with verse 10 and when the governor had beckoned unto him to speak paul answered and as he begins to give his defense notice embedded in the midst of that confession verse 14 but this i confess unto thee that after the way which they call a sect so serve i the god of our fathers believing all things that are according to the law on which are written in the prophets having hope toward god which these also themselves look for that there shall be a resurrection both of the just and of the unjust herein i also exercise myself to have a conscience void of offense toward god you and men always in the midst of making his confession he acknowledges that he has a conscience void of offense to god and to man you see my dear fellow christian it's very difficult to be bold in confessing christ when your own conscience is the voice of christ accusing you when your own conscience becomes not the voice of christ but the vehicle through which the voice of christ is accusing you

The Hindrance of a Bad Conscience to Confession

52:20 how can you boldly confess a christ who is at that moment accusing you through the faculty of your own conscience that is wounded and bloodied because of unconfessed sin because of unfulfilled duty and how can you look men in the eye and confess christ when you have the gnawing suspicion that they are wrong and not knowing the reason behind our sin but in the mean time that they see the chinks and the inconsistencies in your pattern of life. That's why some of you as fathers and mothers can't even boldly confess Christ to your children.

52:58 You can't confess Christ boldly to your children because you know your own inconsistent, unconfessed, unrectified patterns of life would rebound in the very cynical looks that your children would give you if you tried to confess Christ as a parent should. And what is confessing Christ? Not just saying, I'm a Christian, but bringing the word of Christ to bear upon every facet of your life as a Christian. Bringing the word of Christ to bear upon the husband-wife, parent-child relationships, how you spend time and money, what is and is not watched on the television, what motion pictures are and are not seen, all of those things. Confessing Christ is seeking to bring the word of Christ to bear openly and unashamedly upon the totality of that home life. Why can't some of you men do that? It's not because you're ignorant of the word of Christ.

53:59 It's because of your own bloody, weakened, defiled conscience that shuts your mouth.

54:10 Isn't it true? Isn't that why you can't give loving, positive, assertive leadership to your wife? Because you've got the sneaking, haunting suspicion the moment you do, she's got a case that will shut your mouth.

54:32 I tell you, I'd rather die than live one day in that condition as a Christian husband.

54:40 And I preach that with my wife sitting in this building.

54:45 And that's why some of you can't confess Christ before your children. You can't say to son and daughter, look, it's not good to confess Christ before your children. It's not good to watch this particular program because they would turn right around and say, but daddy, I see you watching.

55:04 Yes, they would, wouldn't they? So you can't confess Christ before your own children. You can't confess Christ to your neighbors because your conscience is not void of offense to your neighbors in your dealings with them. You have not manifested a full or submission to the word of God.

55:26 That's why you can't confess Christ in the office, in the shop. That's why you can't confess Him amongst your peers, in the university and in the college. Why? Because you know if you did, they'd say, wait a minute, you mean to tell me you've got something I don't have?

55:42 How come? And they begin to then point to the areas of inconsistency in your life. You see, a bold confession of Christ that is not joined to a legitimately earned, graciously earned, good conscience is a tragic contradiction. The best thing we could do for the cause of Christ for some of you is to zip up your mouths.

56:08 You don't have any more sense than to go on boldly confessing Him when your shoddy life causes the enemies of God to blaspheme. The best thing we could do for some bold confessors is to zip up and sew up their mouths until they come to a level of sanctification in life that will give credibility to their wagging tongues.

The Call to a Good Conscience for Credible Confession

56:31 But I don't believe that's the major problem in this place. I'm much more inclined to believe it's the problem that some of you are very timid in confessing Christ because you don't have a good conscience. And you do have nervous eyes. You wonder who's going to be around that may have seen the double standard by which you live.

56:57 Can you come any Lord's Day open-faced, unashamed, to have any of your work companions show up in this church and sit down next to you

57:07 and see you bowing your head and singing hymns of praise? Would you have annoying suspicion that they may wonder, huh, what in the world is this guy doing here? From the way I see him with at the office. Hey, what in the world are you doing in this place?

57:20 I never expected to find you in a place like this. These people are rather straight-laced.

57:28 Come on now, let your conscience work. Let it work! It's painful, isn't it? Let it work.

57:35 Let it work. Let it work. Let it work. A time is coming when God will make it work.

57:51 What makes bold confessors of Christ? Not seminars on witnessing.

57:59 Not sermons that are cracking the whip over God's people. Witness, witness, witness, witness, witness, witness! No.

58:09 When there is a proper, balanced, biblical emphasis on the duty of confessing Christ in a context where people are more and more walking with a good conscience, before God and man, you will find a people bold in confessing Christ. Bold in a manner consistent with their own God-given personality, with their present knowledge, with their circumstances, with their age, with their relationship. We're not talking about boldness in any wooden, flattened, stereotyped manner. But there will be underneath the most timid, reticent human personality, there will be a rock-like determination to be identified with Jesus Christ. And when their chips are down, that person will be found confessing his Lord and being able to make it stick.

59:11 I can remember as a kid, even before I was converted, laughing about it with some of my buddies on the block. And I don't say this proudly, you young people. I trust you never do this. But when we would sneak off and smoke a cigarette because we knew it would displease our parents, when I'd go home and my folks would find out, and they laid into me for it, they could lay into it and lay into me and make it stick.

59:38 Why? Because my dad wasn't polluting his lungs with cigarettes. But when the neighbor's kid's dad would beat the tar out of him, don't you ever let me find you in a cigarette, wop, wop, pow, pow. Kid would come and say, hey, you know what my old man did?

59:55 Look at him. Three packs a day. And he knocks me around for touching one. Could see right through it.

60:05 You see the point? You see the point? Children are very quick to see through the inconsistencies. And I'm reluctant to leave this series unconscious because I fear that some of you have yet to come to the place where you have much credibility with your own kids.

Exhortation to Seek a Good Conscience and Trust God in Suffering

60:29 You won't confess Christ until your life is the amen of that confession. There are some of you here this morning, no doubt, who are strangers to a good conscience. You wonder what in the world the preacher's even been talking about. Well, my friend, may I urge you this morning to remember that every time you felt that twinge when you've lied, when you've lusted, when you've coveted, when you've been dishonest in business, in your words, in your relationships, that twinge, that temporary pain, albeit very slight at times, that's a little preview of that day when Almighty God will summon you into His presence and make you give an account of all the deeds done in the body, of all the thoughts and the intents of your heart, of all your words. And the only way for you to silence that accusation, which is a preview of judgment, is to run to the Lord Jesus, who died upon the cross for sinners, who bore the brunt of divine wrath, that sinners might find forgiveness and a good conscience through His precious blood. And for you, my suffering sister or brother, and some of you do suffer in ways known only to God and known a little bit by some of your pastors. It's not the suffering of physical affliction, though some of you do suffer greatly physically, and I think I can speak from experience.

61:58 I know what heightened physical suffering is, what it is to lie upon a rock, a bed every nerve screaming out with pain but i also know that that pain is relatively nothing compared to the pain of rejection the pain of inward suffering of fractured and broken relationships and some of you suffer this morning oh suffering saint may i encourage you hold on your way if your conscience is clear before god in the light of his word hold on your way hold on your way someday he'll make it all plain he'll make it all plain and meanwhile the proving of your faith is working patience steadfastness may you say with joe though he slay me yet will i trust him may god give us you to see the value of a good conscience in the way of perseverance in its relationship to truth to holiness to prayer and as we've seen this morning in relationship to suffering and in

63:18 relationship to confessing christ all may we have a good conscience as our companion until we look upon his face and then we'll never have to worry about conscience again let us pray our father we're so thankful that you've given us your holy word that word which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway may that word be powerfully applied to all of our hearts by the holy spirit we pray for those who this very day our father cannot cannot in honesty before you say with job though he slay me yet will i trust him who are it is in the midst of their present afflictions because they have a troubled conscious well lord dickens with them we play we asked school board for those who smile so relatively sealed from confessing your son because they have been coerce or contaminant conscious sole called took glimpse with we trade that you know great sin

64:43 you will bring to our remembrance again and again the things we have considered this morning to the end that our lord jesus may see more fully of the travail of his soul in us as a people and may be satisfied seal then your word to our hearts and may the benediction and blessing of your grace and presence be with us we ask through our lord jesus christ amen