Messages on Conscience
Christian Conscience
by Pastor John Khng
Scripture Reading: Acts 24:13 -16
“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.” – Acts 24:16
In this passage from the Bible, we see Paul’s defence against false accusations before Felix, the governor. Paul said about his way of living that he would discipline himself to live in such a way that his conscience is empty of offence toward God and toward men.
What is Conscience?
"What is Conscience?" said a Sunday School teacher one day to the little flock that gathered around to learn the words of eternal life.
Several of the children answered, one saying one thing, and another, until a little timid child spoke out, "It is Jesus whispering in our hearts."
- Selected
Christian Conscience is a conscience that is regulated by Christian values. Christian values are primarily found in the Bible, the Word of God.
Conscience is God’s Divine Guide.
Let your Conscience be your Guide.
Have you heard this song, “Give a little whistle…and always let your conscience be your guide.”? Remember Pinocchio? The fairy gave him a talking cricket called Jiminy Cricket as his conscience. And Jiminy Cricket appears often to convince Pinocchio to do what is right.
You may like to watch a short video on Jiminy Cricket, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOZzNOkcEgM
Conscience can be a poor guide if it is not based on God’s Word.
Some people say, “I Live by my Conscience.”
The question we need to ask ourselves is “I live by your conscience but is my conscience based on God’s Word?”
Conscience is God’s umpire.
“And I will place within them as a guide
My Umpire Conscience, whom if they will hear, [ 195 ]
Light after light well us'd they shall attain,
And to the end persisting, safe arrive.
This my long sufferance and my day of grace
They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste;
But hard be hard'nd, blind be blinded more, [ 200 ]
That they may stumble on, and deeper fall;”
John Milton in his poem, Paradise Lost
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_3/index.shtml
Conscience is God’s umpire within the heart of man.
Example - Olympics Games – What is my favourite sport? - Table Tennis – We see in every game there is an umpire who decides whether the ball is in or out, right or wrong, acceptable or not acceptable just like what a conscience does
Conscience is God’s Alarm Clock
In Singapore, vans can travel only at 60 kmh. Above this speed limit, the alarm will sound – making a lot of noise. Some people disabled the alarm to silence the noise and it is an traffic offence to disable the alarm. Some people go around it by reducing the sound of the alarm to a tolerable level – let the alarm sound but I still keep driving at more than 60 kmh – just like conscience being silenced or conscience’s protest being reduced to a tolerable level.
The Bible speaks of:
I. The Working of Conscience
II. Desirable Kinds of Conscience
Expired License - When Sgt. Ray Baarz of the Midvale, Utah, police department opened his wallet the other day, he noticed his driver’s license had expired. Embarrassed at having caught himself red-handed, he had no alternative. He calmly and deliberately pulled out his ticket book and wrote himself a citation. Then Baarz took the ticket to the city judge who fined him five dollars. “How could I give a ticket to anyone else for an expired license in the future if I didn’t cite myself?” Baarz asked. (Source Unknown - http://bible.org/illustration/expired-license)
III. Undesirable Kinds of Conscience
Conclusion:
The Friend Inside - Throughout his administration, Abraham Lincoln was a president under fire, especially during the scarring years of the Civil War. And though he knew he would make errors of office, he resolved never to compromise his integrity. So strong was this resolve that he once said, “I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.” - Today In The Word, August, 1989, p. 21
Is your conscience your friend or your foe?
Scripture Reading: Acts 24:13 -16
“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.” – Acts 24:16
In this passage from the Bible, we see Paul’s defence against false accusations before Felix, the governor. Paul said about his way of living that he would discipline himself to live in such a way that his conscience is empty of offence toward God and toward men.
What is Conscience?
- “the part of you that judges how moral your own actions are and makes you feel guilty about bad things that you have done or things you feel responsible for” – Cambridge Dictionary
- “the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action: to follow the dictates of conscience.” – Dictionary.com
- “the ideas and feelings you have that tell you whether something you are doing is right or wrong” – Macmillan Dictionary
"What is Conscience?" said a Sunday School teacher one day to the little flock that gathered around to learn the words of eternal life.
Several of the children answered, one saying one thing, and another, until a little timid child spoke out, "It is Jesus whispering in our hearts."
- Selected
Christian Conscience is a conscience that is regulated by Christian values. Christian values are primarily found in the Bible, the Word of God.
Conscience is God’s Divine Guide.
Let your Conscience be your Guide.
Have you heard this song, “Give a little whistle…and always let your conscience be your guide.”? Remember Pinocchio? The fairy gave him a talking cricket called Jiminy Cricket as his conscience. And Jiminy Cricket appears often to convince Pinocchio to do what is right.
You may like to watch a short video on Jiminy Cricket, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOZzNOkcEgM
Conscience can be a poor guide if it is not based on God’s Word.
Some people say, “I Live by my Conscience.”
The question we need to ask ourselves is “I live by your conscience but is my conscience based on God’s Word?”
Conscience is God’s umpire.
“And I will place within them as a guide
My Umpire Conscience, whom if they will hear, [ 195 ]
Light after light well us'd they shall attain,
And to the end persisting, safe arrive.
This my long sufferance and my day of grace
They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste;
But hard be hard'nd, blind be blinded more, [ 200 ]
That they may stumble on, and deeper fall;”
John Milton in his poem, Paradise Lost
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_3/index.shtml
Conscience is God’s umpire within the heart of man.
Example - Olympics Games – What is my favourite sport? - Table Tennis – We see in every game there is an umpire who decides whether the ball is in or out, right or wrong, acceptable or not acceptable just like what a conscience does
Conscience is God’s Alarm Clock
In Singapore, vans can travel only at 60 kmh. Above this speed limit, the alarm will sound – making a lot of noise. Some people disabled the alarm to silence the noise and it is an traffic offence to disable the alarm. Some people go around it by reducing the sound of the alarm to a tolerable level – let the alarm sound but I still keep driving at more than 60 kmh – just like conscience being silenced or conscience’s protest being reduced to a tolerable level.
The Bible speaks of:
I. The Working of Conscience
- Conscience Accusing – Rom. 2:15
- Conscience Excusing – Rom. 2:15
- Conscience Witnessing – Rom. 2:15; 9:1
“Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;” – Rom. 2:15
“I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,” – Rom. 9:1 - Conscience Convicting – John 8:9
“And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” – John 8:9 - A Weak Conscience – 1 Cor. 8:7; 10; 12 – How to take care of a weak conscience?
“Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.” - 1Cor. 8:7
“For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;” - 1Cor. 8:10
“But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.” - 1Cor. 8:12 - A Guilty Conscience – Judah Iscariot – Mat. 27:1-5 – How to take care of a guilty conscience?
“When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.” - Mat 27:1- 5
Guilty conscience refers to a bad feeling because you have done something wrong.
“It is often said that conscience is like a triangular arrowhead with three sharp points inside the heart…when you sin, it turns, and the sharp points cut at your heart, but over time, if you ignore it and allow it to keep turning, the sharp points become rounded, and you can’t even feel it anymore as it spins away.”
How to handle guilt? Not to ignore it and not to go and hang yourself but to hand them over to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. - For Conscience Sake – Rom 13:5; 1 Cor. 10:25, 27-29.
“Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.” – Rom. 13:5
“Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:” - 1Cor. 10:25
“If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?” - 1Cor.10:27-29 - Troubled Conscience – either you obey your conscience and change your life or you weaken your conscience to let you live by your sins.
A man consulted a doctor, "I've been misbehaving, Doc, and my conscience is troubling me," he complained. "And you want something that will strengthen your will power?" asked the doctor. "Well, no," said the fellow. "I was thinking of something that would weaken my conscience." Bits & Pieces, May 27, 1993, p. 21.
Instead of weakening our conscience, we should act according to our conscience - for conscience sake - our own conscience and also another man's conscience.
II. Desirable Kinds of Conscience
- A Good Conscience – Act 23:1; 1 Tim. 1:5; 19; Heb. 13:18; 1 Pet. 3:16.
“And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” – Acts 23:1
“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:” - 1Tim.1:5
“Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:” - 1Tim.1:19
“Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.” – Heb.13:18
“Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.” - 1Pet. 3:16 - A Pure Conscience – 1 Tim. 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:3
“Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.” - 1Tim.3:9
“I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;” - 2Tim.1:3 - A Purged Conscience – Heb. 9:14
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” – Heb. 9:14 - A Clear Conscience – Acts 24:16; 1 Pet.2:19; 3:21
“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.” – Acts 24:16
“For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.” - 1 Pet. 2:19
“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:” - 1 Pet. 3:21
Clear conscience is the knowledge that you have done nothing wrong.
Contrast to a Guilty Conscience - Guilty conscience refers to a bad feeling because you have done something wrong.
Expired License - When Sgt. Ray Baarz of the Midvale, Utah, police department opened his wallet the other day, he noticed his driver’s license had expired. Embarrassed at having caught himself red-handed, he had no alternative. He calmly and deliberately pulled out his ticket book and wrote himself a citation. Then Baarz took the ticket to the city judge who fined him five dollars. “How could I give a ticket to anyone else for an expired license in the future if I didn’t cite myself?” Baarz asked. (Source Unknown - http://bible.org/illustration/expired-license)
III. Undesirable Kinds of Conscience
- An Evil Conscience – Heb. 10:22
“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” – Heb. 10:22 - A Defiled Conscience – Tit. 1:15
“Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” – Tit. 1:15 - A Seared Conscience – 1 Tim. 4:2
“Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;” – 1 Tim. 4:2
Once we assuage (appease, pacify) our conscience by calling something a “necessary evil,” it begins to look more and more necessary and less and less evil. - Sidney J. Harris
Conclusion:
The Friend Inside - Throughout his administration, Abraham Lincoln was a president under fire, especially during the scarring years of the Civil War. And though he knew he would make errors of office, he resolved never to compromise his integrity. So strong was this resolve that he once said, “I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.” - Today In The Word, August, 1989, p. 21
Is your conscience your friend or your foe?
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