1 00:00:00,810 --> 00:00:04,050 Not many people realize that directly after the 2 00:00:04,050 --> 00:00:06,990 American Revolution, there was a moral slump in 3 00:00:06,990 --> 00:00:07,470 the country. 4 00:00:14,380 --> 00:00:15,860 Drunkenness became epidemic. 5 00:00:19,580 --> 00:00:22,880 There were reported to be 300,000 drunkards 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,420 in a population of 5 million. 7 00:00:25,900 --> 00:00:28,480 They were burying thousands of them each year. 8 00:00:30,700 --> 00:00:32,040 Immorality was gross. 9 00:00:33,620 --> 00:00:35,240 There were infidel clubs. 10 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,600 Women were afraid to go out for fear 11 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:40,180 of assault. 12 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:43,140 Bank robberies were a daily occurrence. 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:48,960 Perhaps the worst conditions were in Kentucky and 14 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:49,360 Tennessee. 15 00:00:52,260 --> 00:00:53,120 That was the frontier. 16 00:00:54,600 --> 00:01:00,310 Congress discovered that in Kentucky, there had only 17 00:01:00,310 --> 00:01:02,570 been one court of justice held in five 18 00:01:02,570 --> 00:01:02,910 years. 19 00:01:04,430 --> 00:01:08,030 They couldn't bring the criminals to justice. 20 00:01:08,030 --> 00:01:10,990 The decent people formed what we would call 21 00:01:10,990 --> 00:01:14,850 vigilante regiments and fought the outlaws in a 22 00:01:14,850 --> 00:01:16,410 pitched battle and lost. 23 00:01:18,980 --> 00:01:20,260 You say, what were the churches doing? 24 00:01:24,610 --> 00:01:27,370 The largest denomination in those days was congregational, 25 00:01:30,460 --> 00:01:32,120 but the church was in decline. 26 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:40,620 The pastor of the Lenox Congregational Church in 27 00:01:40,620 --> 00:01:43,340 Massachusetts said he hadn't taken anyone into membership 28 00:01:43,340 --> 00:01:45,220 for 16 years. 29 00:01:47,500 --> 00:01:49,990 It was like being chaplain to an old 30 00:01:49,990 --> 00:01:50,730 people's home. 31 00:01:51,490 --> 00:01:52,330 They were dying off. 32 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:58,780 The Presbyterians met in General Assembly to deplore 33 00:01:58,780 --> 00:02:00,240 the ungodliness of the country. 34 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,360 The Episcopalians were even worse off. 35 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:16,080 The Bishop of New York, Samuel Provost, not 36 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:18,940 having confirmed anyone for a number of years, 37 00:02:19,060 --> 00:02:21,560 decided he was out of work, took up 38 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:22,260 other employment. 39 00:02:24,430 --> 00:02:27,190 The Methodists were the most aggressive at that 40 00:02:27,190 --> 00:02:31,270 time, and they were losing more members than 41 00:02:31,270 --> 00:02:32,870 they were gaining in spite of emigration. 42 00:02:34,830 --> 00:02:37,290 The Baptists said they had had their most 43 00:02:37,290 --> 00:02:38,230 wintry season. 44 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,200 Now, you know, the 1960s were bad times 45 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,320 for the churches in this country, but I 46 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:50,640 never heard anyone suggest that the church would 47 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:51,440 be wiped out. 48 00:02:53,940 --> 00:02:56,600 But in the 1790s, that was the case. 49 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:01,940 Walter said, Christianity will be forgotten in 30 50 00:03:01,940 --> 00:03:02,620 years' time. 51 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:09,000 And Tom Paine gleefully repeated this in the 52 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:10,580 newly independent United States. 53 00:03:12,930 --> 00:03:14,710 Now, there were men of God. 54 00:03:16,010 --> 00:03:17,770 George Washington prayed. 55 00:03:19,750 --> 00:03:21,450 But Thomas Jefferson was a deist. 56 00:03:21,570 --> 00:03:24,690 He was a noble man, but he didn't 57 00:03:24,690 --> 00:03:27,410 believe that God was interested in us. 58 00:03:29,010 --> 00:03:31,570 When he wrote the Declaration of Independence, the 59 00:03:31,570 --> 00:03:33,550 first draft didn't have any reference to God. 60 00:03:34,490 --> 00:03:36,570 Some Christians worked on him, and finally he 61 00:03:36,570 --> 00:03:41,650 said, All right, we'll say our Creator, nature's 62 00:03:41,650 --> 00:03:41,970 God. 63 00:03:42,690 --> 00:03:44,230 That was the only concession he would make. 64 00:03:44,470 --> 00:03:48,170 On the other hand, Tom Paine was a 65 00:03:48,170 --> 00:03:51,390 blasphemer, died in disgrace. 66 00:03:54,550 --> 00:03:55,570 Conditions were bad. 67 00:03:55,570 --> 00:03:58,350 They took a poll at Harvard and discovered 68 00:03:58,350 --> 00:04:00,190 not one believer in the whole student body. 69 00:04:01,950 --> 00:04:03,950 At Prince, in a much more evangelical place, 70 00:04:05,270 --> 00:04:08,570 there were only two believers, and only five 71 00:04:08,570 --> 00:04:12,110 students who didn't belong to the filthy speech 72 00:04:12,110 --> 00:04:13,110 movement of that day. 73 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,220 Now, this may be news to you, but 74 00:04:21,220 --> 00:04:22,700 of course the sequel was wonderful. 75 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,760 Some Scottish Presbyterian ministers wrote what they called 76 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:31,500 a memorial. 77 00:04:34,170 --> 00:04:37,230 They addressed it to the people of Scotland 78 00:04:37,230 --> 00:04:38,550 and elsewhere. 79 00:04:39,750 --> 00:04:41,470 I thought that was a very neat division 80 00:04:41,470 --> 00:04:42,530 of the world's population. 81 00:04:45,350 --> 00:04:47,550 And they urged the Christians to set aside 82 00:04:47,550 --> 00:04:50,130 one day a month to pray for revival. 83 00:04:51,150 --> 00:04:53,150 The churches knew they had their backs to 84 00:04:53,150 --> 00:04:53,550 the wall. 85 00:04:59,500 --> 00:05:01,480 A copy of this was sent to Jonathan 86 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,020 Edwards, the great New England theologian. 87 00:05:04,980 --> 00:05:06,460 It deeply moved him. 88 00:05:06,580 --> 00:05:11,940 He had seen the earlier revival, 1734, 1740, 89 00:05:12,620 --> 00:05:13,520 when Whitefield came. 90 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,880 So he wrote a response, and it got 91 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,540 longer and longer until finally it was published 92 00:05:20,540 --> 00:05:21,040 as a book. 93 00:05:22,260 --> 00:05:23,800 My sister writes letters like that. 94 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:28,340 The title of the book, by the way, 95 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:33,520 was A Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement 96 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,000 and Visible Union of All God's People in 97 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,820 Extraordinary Prayer for the Revival of Religion and 98 00:05:38,820 --> 00:05:41,580 the Extension of Christ's Kingdom According to Scriptural 99 00:05:41,580 --> 00:05:44,380 Promise and Prophecies Concerning the Last Days. 100 00:05:44,980 --> 00:05:46,500 That was just the title, not the book. 101 00:05:54,530 --> 00:06:00,430 He sent copies across the Atlantic, and a 102 00:06:00,430 --> 00:06:04,870 minister published the original memorial, and Jonathan Edwards 103 00:06:04,870 --> 00:06:09,470 replied, and sent it to Mr. Baptist, the 104 00:06:09,470 --> 00:06:12,310 editor of the Baptist Register in Bristol, in 105 00:06:12,310 --> 00:06:12,650 England. 106 00:06:15,700 --> 00:06:17,320 He was a busy man, one of these 107 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:18,360 busy executives. 108 00:06:20,910 --> 00:06:22,150 His name was Don Ryland. 109 00:06:23,870 --> 00:06:24,890 He's never heard of him. 110 00:06:25,450 --> 00:06:28,470 You've heard a story about William Carey, when 111 00:06:28,470 --> 00:06:30,590 he pleaded with the Baptists, sent out missionaries. 112 00:06:30,590 --> 00:06:33,370 The moderator said, sit down young man, when 113 00:06:33,370 --> 00:06:35,550 God decides to win the heathen, he'll do 114 00:06:35,550 --> 00:06:36,610 it without any help from you. 115 00:06:39,540 --> 00:06:41,420 That was Dr. Ryland. 116 00:06:44,340 --> 00:06:46,600 But he didn't want to throw away books 117 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:48,560 on prayer, his conscience wouldn't let him do 118 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:50,420 that, so he sent them to two praying 119 00:06:50,420 --> 00:06:51,100 men that he knew. 120 00:06:55,910 --> 00:06:57,850 One of them, Andrew Fuller, took leave of 121 00:06:57,850 --> 00:07:00,350 absence from his church, and traveled the length 122 00:07:00,350 --> 00:07:03,490 of England, Scotland, and Wales, urging the Baptists 123 00:07:03,490 --> 00:07:05,450 to set aside one day a month to 124 00:07:05,450 --> 00:07:06,710 pray for revival. 125 00:07:08,930 --> 00:07:11,370 The other man, John Sutcliffe, didn't travel for 126 00:07:11,370 --> 00:07:13,810 domestic reasons, but he was a layman in 127 00:07:13,810 --> 00:07:15,370 his church who was a ball of fire. 128 00:07:16,450 --> 00:07:18,730 He was a teenager, his name was William 129 00:07:18,730 --> 00:07:20,430 Carey, shoemaker. 130 00:07:22,270 --> 00:07:24,310 Between them they started what they called the 131 00:07:24,310 --> 00:07:25,070 Union of Prayer. 132 00:07:27,260 --> 00:07:29,940 Soon the Congregationalists joined them, then the Methodists, 133 00:07:30,140 --> 00:07:32,180 then Evangelicals in the Church of England and 134 00:07:32,180 --> 00:07:35,200 the Church of Scotland, until Britain was interlaced 135 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:36,800 with a network of prayer meetings. 136 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,300 The Christians were praying for God to intervene, 137 00:07:40,980 --> 00:07:44,200 and the revival came in 1792, the year 138 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:45,440 after John Wesley died. 139 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:49,420 I'm not going to describe that to you, 140 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:50,300 it was a wonderful time. 141 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,680 But in 1792, conditions were deplorable in the 142 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:56,440 United States. 143 00:07:57,420 --> 00:08:01,360 In 1795, a Baptist minister called Isaac Backus 144 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,720 in Massachusetts adopted the same idea, he called 145 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:06,920 it a concert of prayer. 146 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:11,680 In other words, let's pray concertedly for revival. 147 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:15,340 And within a short space of time the 148 00:08:15,340 --> 00:08:16,080 revival came. 149 00:08:18,260 --> 00:08:19,560 It swept the country. 150 00:08:21,500 --> 00:08:27,910 It began in the Connecticut Valley, spread throughout 151 00:08:27,910 --> 00:08:30,490 New England, into New York, down into the 152 00:08:30,490 --> 00:08:30,770 South. 153 00:08:32,809 --> 00:08:34,690 Completely transformed the country. 154 00:08:36,210 --> 00:08:39,289 The country was going to the dogs, and 155 00:08:42,010 --> 00:08:46,770 yet after that revival it completely turned the 156 00:08:46,770 --> 00:08:47,530 country around. 157 00:08:48,890 --> 00:08:50,390 That was the Second Great Awakening. 158 00:08:52,750 --> 00:08:53,970 I'm not going to take any more time, 159 00:08:54,050 --> 00:08:58,250 I'm just giving you a little appetizer. 160 00:08:59,750 --> 00:09:03,210 You see, the Owens have been singing Lord 161 00:09:03,210 --> 00:09:03,830 Bless Us again. 162 00:09:03,910 --> 00:09:05,110 What do we want them to do again? 163 00:09:05,710 --> 00:09:06,870 Just to bless us? 164 00:09:07,010 --> 00:09:08,390 Lord Bless Us? 165 00:09:08,390 --> 00:09:10,750 There was a Scotsman who prayed Lord Bless 166 00:09:10,750 --> 00:09:11,290 Us. 167 00:09:12,310 --> 00:09:15,030 My son John and me, his wife and 168 00:09:15,030 --> 00:09:17,270 my wife, just us four. 169 00:09:18,350 --> 00:09:19,410 That's not a prayer. 170 00:09:20,530 --> 00:09:21,990 Do you want God to bless us only? 171 00:09:22,130 --> 00:09:23,370 What about the rest of the country? 172 00:09:24,110 --> 00:09:25,810 We live in terrible days. 173 00:09:26,930 --> 00:09:28,770 So we can sing Lord Do It Again. 174 00:09:30,110 --> 00:09:31,530 By the way, I don't know where John 175 00:09:31,530 --> 00:09:33,190 Cramp got those books of mine. 176 00:09:33,490 --> 00:09:35,070 All my books were out of print. 177 00:09:35,890 --> 00:09:40,130 I wrote about ten of them in the 178 00:09:40,130 --> 00:09:40,590 70s. 179 00:09:41,590 --> 00:09:44,170 He's managed to get one, The Eager Feet, 180 00:09:44,250 --> 00:09:48,090 which describes the revivals of the 1790s and 181 00:09:48,090 --> 00:09:48,950 1830s. 182 00:09:51,380 --> 00:09:55,000 Well, that's just a little appetizer to give 183 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,700 you an appetite for what to pray. 184 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:04,460 Now, I wonder how many people here tonight 185 00:10:04,460 --> 00:10:07,840 are over the age of 35. 186 00:10:09,060 --> 00:10:10,280 I'm not going to ask you to raise 187 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:10,860 your hands. 188 00:10:12,020 --> 00:10:13,200 I just want to alert you. 189 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:16,980 Can any of you remember what happened in 190 00:10:16,980 --> 00:10:17,880 1957? 191 00:10:21,940 --> 00:10:22,880 How old were you then? 192 00:10:24,820 --> 00:10:27,480 See, it's no good asking anyone under 35 193 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:29,820 to remember 1957. 194 00:10:32,090 --> 00:10:36,430 Well, I was in Adelaide, Australia, when the 195 00:10:36,430 --> 00:10:37,470 Sputnik came over. 196 00:10:39,730 --> 00:10:43,570 A satellite with a dog called Laika. 197 00:10:45,510 --> 00:10:46,250 Do you remember that? 198 00:10:46,550 --> 00:10:47,750 Those of you who are over 35? 199 00:10:49,470 --> 00:10:52,850 We saw that little bright light going straight 200 00:10:52,850 --> 00:10:53,630 across the sky. 201 00:10:54,470 --> 00:10:56,350 That's what alarmed the United States and got 202 00:10:56,350 --> 00:10:57,390 her into the space program. 203 00:11:02,940 --> 00:11:05,200 Young people today have never seen a satellite. 204 00:11:05,380 --> 00:11:05,980 Isn't that strange? 205 00:11:05,980 --> 00:11:07,320 The sky is full of them, but they've 206 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:08,020 never seen one. 207 00:11:09,500 --> 00:11:11,280 But do you remember in 1957? 208 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:13,980 Everyone was naked-eyed. 209 00:11:14,100 --> 00:11:15,440 We could see that little dot of light 210 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:16,760 going across the sky. 211 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:20,980 I was in Adelaide in a bus sitting 212 00:11:20,980 --> 00:11:24,460 beside an old lady, and she said, You 213 00:11:24,460 --> 00:11:26,540 wouldn't catch me riding in a Sputnik. 214 00:11:27,460 --> 00:11:29,460 She said, I'm just terrified of dogs. 215 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:37,900 Well, it comes as a great surprise to 216 00:11:37,900 --> 00:11:39,760 most of my audiences when I tell them 217 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:46,240 that every human being has his own satellite. 218 00:11:50,260 --> 00:11:51,720 Now, you know, there are so many satellites 219 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,760 in the sky, we forget the original one, 220 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:54,140 the moon. 221 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:55,760 The moon is the satellite of the earth. 222 00:11:56,420 --> 00:11:58,140 You know, the word Sputnik is the word 223 00:11:58,140 --> 00:11:58,760 they use. 224 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:04,000 The word Sputnik in Russian means accompanying one. 225 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:06,060 Nik means one. 226 00:12:10,580 --> 00:12:12,040 And the moon is the Sputnik of the 227 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:12,320 earth. 228 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,060 As I say, most people don't know that 229 00:12:16,060 --> 00:12:18,620 every human being has his own Sputnik. 230 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,700 A student at UCLA said to me, Well, 231 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:29,750 we have television in the sitting room and 232 00:12:29,750 --> 00:12:30,230 in the den. 233 00:12:31,830 --> 00:12:34,270 We've got two cars in the garage, but 234 00:12:34,270 --> 00:12:36,170 I doubt if we'll ever have a helicopter 235 00:12:36,170 --> 00:12:36,750 on the roof. 236 00:12:37,470 --> 00:12:40,190 And certainly we'll never have a Sputnik because 237 00:12:40,190 --> 00:12:40,690 we're out of light. 238 00:12:41,890 --> 00:12:42,710 But he misunderstood. 239 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:50,880 The New Testament word, I don't know how 240 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:52,920 many of you understand Greek, because I'm giving 241 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:58,940 you the clue, is sonidesis, accompanying knowledge. 242 00:13:02,420 --> 00:13:05,220 The Latin is more familiar, conscientia. 243 00:13:06,060 --> 00:13:07,220 Now you've got the idea. 244 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,820 The English word is conscience, conscience con with 245 00:13:11,820 --> 00:13:14,440 science knowledge. 246 00:13:16,180 --> 00:13:17,540 Everyone has a conscience. 247 00:13:19,620 --> 00:13:21,180 I don't think anyone would stand up and 248 00:13:21,180 --> 00:13:22,640 contradict me and say, I don't have a 249 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:22,980 conscience. 250 00:13:24,980 --> 00:13:27,500 Every human being has a conscience. 251 00:13:31,190 --> 00:13:32,370 But it's a kind of satellite. 252 00:13:35,010 --> 00:13:36,830 You say this is entirely new to me. 253 00:13:37,570 --> 00:13:39,350 All right then, I'm going to ask you 254 00:13:39,350 --> 00:13:40,030 some questions. 255 00:13:40,170 --> 00:13:42,790 By the way, my little grandson came back 256 00:13:42,790 --> 00:13:44,690 from school and he said, my teacher sure 257 00:13:44,690 --> 00:13:45,250 is dumb. 258 00:13:46,190 --> 00:13:48,610 She's always asking questions, doesn't know anything. 259 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:53,940 I'm going to ask some questions, but this 260 00:13:53,940 --> 00:13:55,640 is what we call the Socratic method. 261 00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:02,620 A man puts his shoes on his feet, 262 00:14:03,660 --> 00:14:04,980 his watch on his wrist. 263 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:06,300 Where do you keep your conscience? 264 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:10,580 Well, you have one, haven't you? 265 00:14:10,620 --> 00:14:11,240 Where do you keep it? 266 00:14:12,700 --> 00:14:14,500 It's part of my mind, is it? 267 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:18,120 Would you say that the conscience is part 268 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:18,620 of the intellect? 269 00:14:20,830 --> 00:14:23,230 Would you say that a student who gets 270 00:14:23,230 --> 00:14:28,200 straight A has a better conscience than a 271 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:29,620 poor guy who has to work hard to 272 00:14:29,620 --> 00:14:30,780 manage an average C? 273 00:14:33,530 --> 00:14:34,690 The answer is no. 274 00:14:40,230 --> 00:14:41,930 Would you say that a professor in a 275 00:14:41,930 --> 00:14:45,790 university has a better conscience than the man 276 00:14:45,790 --> 00:14:46,990 who looks after the classrooms? 277 00:14:48,130 --> 00:14:49,670 No, it's not part of intellect. 278 00:14:52,100 --> 00:14:54,240 Well then, is it part of your will? 279 00:14:54,420 --> 00:14:55,980 Would you say a person with a strong 280 00:14:55,980 --> 00:14:58,040 will has a better conscience than a person 281 00:14:58,040 --> 00:14:58,720 with a weak will? 282 00:15:00,020 --> 00:15:02,000 I read an item in the paper, I 283 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:03,700 wonder if you've ever seen it, called Peanuts. 284 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:08,680 Little Lucy Van Pelt held up her five 285 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,640 fingers and she said, Charlie Brown, these five 286 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,540 fingers by themselves don't mean very much, but 287 00:15:14,540 --> 00:15:16,340 combined into a fist are going to make 288 00:15:16,340 --> 00:15:17,660 you do what I want you to do. 289 00:15:18,580 --> 00:15:20,160 And Charlie Brown capitulated. 290 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,000 Which had the stronger will? 291 00:15:28,370 --> 00:15:29,230 Charlie Brown. 292 00:15:29,910 --> 00:15:32,230 No, Lucy. 293 00:15:32,790 --> 00:15:34,210 She had the stronger will. 294 00:15:34,790 --> 00:15:36,310 But which had the better conscience? 295 00:15:37,290 --> 00:15:37,750 Charlie. 296 00:15:38,710 --> 00:15:39,850 Conscientious little fellow. 297 00:15:40,870 --> 00:15:42,890 In fact, so conscientious sometimes he's afraid to 298 00:15:42,890 --> 00:15:43,350 do anything. 299 00:15:49,870 --> 00:15:51,630 Well then, is conscience part of your emotion 300 00:15:51,630 --> 00:15:52,050 or feeling? 301 00:15:53,090 --> 00:15:55,190 Would you say a warm-hearted person has 302 00:15:55,190 --> 00:15:57,030 a better conscience than a cool-headed person, 303 00:15:57,130 --> 00:15:57,830 or vice versa? 304 00:15:58,730 --> 00:16:00,870 Now the warmest-hearted people in the world, 305 00:16:00,990 --> 00:16:02,330 without a doubt, are Brazilians. 306 00:16:02,670 --> 00:16:03,870 Anyone here has ever been in Brazil? 307 00:16:06,710 --> 00:16:07,730 Well, you've missed it. 308 00:16:08,950 --> 00:16:10,830 You should go and preach in Brazil if 309 00:16:10,830 --> 00:16:11,510 you want encouragement. 310 00:16:11,910 --> 00:16:13,610 They not only shake hands with you and 311 00:16:13,610 --> 00:16:15,890 say, I enjoyed that, or whatever you used 312 00:16:15,890 --> 00:16:17,910 to hear, but they give you a big 313 00:16:17,910 --> 00:16:19,290 hug they call the abraço. 314 00:16:21,010 --> 00:16:22,770 If you've done well, they'll kiss you on 315 00:16:22,770 --> 00:16:23,350 both cheeks. 316 00:16:24,610 --> 00:16:26,950 And if they're really enthusiastic, they'll lift you 317 00:16:26,950 --> 00:16:28,270 off your feet and set you down again. 318 00:16:30,190 --> 00:16:32,210 I have never met people as warm-hearted 319 00:16:32,210 --> 00:16:32,970 as the Brazilians. 320 00:16:34,390 --> 00:16:37,170 Now, it's not like that in Scotland. 321 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:41,420 I was speaking at New College in the 322 00:16:41,420 --> 00:16:44,500 University of Edinburgh when the principal said to 323 00:16:44,500 --> 00:16:47,820 me in a burst of Scottish enthusiasm, Well, 324 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,140 Mr. Orr, we're not averse to having you 325 00:16:51,140 --> 00:16:51,600 in Scotland. 326 00:16:53,630 --> 00:16:55,130 That was as much as he could say 327 00:16:55,130 --> 00:16:56,370 without blowing a fuse. 328 00:16:59,540 --> 00:17:01,200 In the north of Ireland, it's very like 329 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:01,560 Scotland. 330 00:17:02,460 --> 00:17:04,280 Nobody comes up and says, I enjoyed that. 331 00:17:05,579 --> 00:17:09,180 They might, in enthusiasm, say, that wasn't bad. 332 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:20,210 But on the other hand, I'd rather leave 333 00:17:20,210 --> 00:17:22,970 my suitcase in a bus station in Scotland 334 00:17:22,970 --> 00:17:23,810 than in Brazil. 335 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,800 They're such warm-hearted people, but even though 336 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:33,520 they may swipe your suitcase, the Scots are 337 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:34,160 very honest. 338 00:17:38,350 --> 00:17:40,190 Now, you see, it's not part of emotion. 339 00:17:40,990 --> 00:17:41,950 It's not part of intellect. 340 00:17:44,140 --> 00:17:45,340 It's not part of will. 341 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,060 Adolf Hitler had a strong will but a 342 00:17:49,060 --> 00:17:49,940 miserable conscience. 343 00:17:51,740 --> 00:17:54,440 On the other hand, Winston Churchill had a 344 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,740 strong will but a pretty good conscience. 345 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:01,180 So, you see, what I'm telling you is 346 00:18:01,180 --> 00:18:06,640 this, that your conscience is not part of 347 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,220 the intellect, not part of the will, not 348 00:18:08,220 --> 00:18:10,080 part of the emotion, yet it's influenced by 349 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:11,900 your intellect and your will and your emotion. 350 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,780 What you think will affect your conscience. 351 00:18:18,470 --> 00:18:20,930 What you want to do will affect your 352 00:18:20,930 --> 00:18:21,370 conscience. 353 00:18:23,070 --> 00:18:25,090 How you feel will affect your conscience. 354 00:18:26,250 --> 00:18:28,810 We lived for 36 years about a mile 355 00:18:28,810 --> 00:18:29,730 west of UCLA. 356 00:18:31,770 --> 00:18:34,090 The university notified the neighbors. 357 00:18:34,370 --> 00:18:37,150 They'd very much appreciate it if American families 358 00:18:37,150 --> 00:18:40,270 would invite foreign students for Thanksgiving dinner. 359 00:18:41,870 --> 00:18:44,270 Because come Thanksgiving, all the American students take 360 00:18:44,270 --> 00:18:44,850 off for home. 361 00:18:45,890 --> 00:18:47,510 And they leave a bunch of foreigners rather 362 00:18:47,510 --> 00:18:49,170 lonely and wondering what's going on. 363 00:18:49,650 --> 00:18:51,670 Now, Thanksgiving is one of the most wholesome 364 00:18:51,670 --> 00:18:53,650 of American institutions. 365 00:18:54,490 --> 00:18:56,410 However, we decided we'd invite six. 366 00:18:57,970 --> 00:18:59,690 My wife made preparations. 367 00:18:59,870 --> 00:19:02,610 We got plenty of turkey and so forth. 368 00:19:02,610 --> 00:19:06,630 They all came except a Hindu from India. 369 00:19:10,180 --> 00:19:11,680 My wife was a little peeved. 370 00:19:11,900 --> 00:19:13,540 She might have phoned to say he wasn't 371 00:19:13,540 --> 00:19:13,900 coming. 372 00:19:14,580 --> 00:19:15,620 I said, he was too embarrassed. 373 00:19:16,340 --> 00:19:17,860 She said, what is there to be embarrassed 374 00:19:17,860 --> 00:19:18,200 about? 375 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,640 I said, if he were a conscientious Hindu, 376 00:19:21,780 --> 00:19:24,020 he would not come to a Thanksgiving dinner. 377 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,360 Hindus not only believe in reincarnation, which is 378 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:31,520 such a fad these days, but they believe 379 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:35,760 in reincarnation into lower animal forms, as called 380 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:37,240 transmigration of souls. 381 00:19:39,260 --> 00:19:40,300 Their idea is this. 382 00:19:40,820 --> 00:19:44,040 If you behave yourself, perhaps next time around 383 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:46,380 you'll be a multimillionaire or a princess. 384 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:50,580 But if you don't behave yourself, you may 385 00:19:50,580 --> 00:19:52,540 come back as a cockroach and get tramped 386 00:19:52,540 --> 00:19:52,840 on. 387 00:19:54,380 --> 00:19:55,540 So you better behave yourself. 388 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:56,360 That's their religion. 389 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:00,780 No Hindu would come to a Thanksgiving dinner. 390 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:04,200 That turkey might be his grandmother. 391 00:20:08,620 --> 00:20:11,600 You see, his conscience wouldn't let him come 392 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:12,580 to a Thanksgiving dinner. 393 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,880 What you think will affect your conscience. 394 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:22,540 A man may say, what you will will 395 00:20:22,540 --> 00:20:23,140 affect your conscience. 396 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:24,440 A man may say, I'm going to make 397 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:25,940 a million dollars and I don't care how 398 00:20:25,940 --> 00:20:26,540 I do it. 399 00:20:26,780 --> 00:20:27,640 He becomes a rogue. 400 00:20:27,980 --> 00:20:32,180 There are such people, so determined, they'll break 401 00:20:32,180 --> 00:20:32,840 any rule. 402 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:35,900 They may try to avoid jail. 403 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:38,540 Sometimes they don't escape it. 404 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,360 And then as far as emotions are concerned, 405 00:20:41,460 --> 00:20:42,700 I remember when I was a chaplain in 406 00:20:42,700 --> 00:20:44,020 the Air Force, a girl coming to me 407 00:20:44,020 --> 00:20:44,720 with tears. 408 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,580 She said, chap, I can't help my feelings. 409 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:49,200 I love the guy. 410 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,560 I said to her, you have no business 411 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:54,380 loving the guy. 412 00:20:56,020 --> 00:20:57,860 You knew when you dated him first, he 413 00:20:57,860 --> 00:20:59,680 was a married man with three little children. 414 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,120 Now you want me to persuade his wife 415 00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:04,940 to give him a divorce, to marry you? 416 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:07,320 I don't know how he'll feel about you 417 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,040 in a year's time, or if he goes 418 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:09,500 overseas. 419 00:21:15,940 --> 00:21:17,640 So, there's a strange thing. 420 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:23,120 Conscience is not part of the intellect, the 421 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:25,000 will, or the emotion, yet it's affected by 422 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:26,800 what you think and what you want to 423 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:28,220 do and how you feel. 424 00:21:29,300 --> 00:21:31,420 Just as the moon is not part of 425 00:21:31,420 --> 00:21:34,300 the earth, but it pertains to the earth. 426 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,820 What we call the moon is not the 427 00:21:37,820 --> 00:21:39,520 satellite of Jupiter. 428 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:44,920 So I say everyone has his own little 429 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:47,180 satellite. 430 00:21:48,380 --> 00:21:48,840 Sputnik. 431 00:21:50,980 --> 00:21:52,840 Now, I expect you to think that over. 432 00:21:53,180 --> 00:21:55,540 I mean, I'm not asking you to agree 433 00:21:55,540 --> 00:21:57,220 with me right away, but I think you'll 434 00:21:57,220 --> 00:21:57,500 see. 435 00:21:57,980 --> 00:22:00,140 I'm going to ask you another question, if 436 00:22:00,140 --> 00:22:01,900 I may be so dumb. 437 00:22:02,780 --> 00:22:06,060 Is your conscience your friend or your enemy? 438 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:13,760 This is quite scriptural. 439 00:22:14,900 --> 00:22:19,720 Romans 2.15 Their conscience will either accuse 440 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:21,500 or excuse them. 441 00:22:21,900 --> 00:22:22,560 That's what it says. 442 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,460 Your conscience can be your friend, and it 443 00:22:29,460 --> 00:22:30,460 can also be your enemy. 444 00:22:31,420 --> 00:22:34,820 How do you account for the independence of 445 00:22:34,820 --> 00:22:35,400 your conscience? 446 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:41,280 Can your conscience be your friend? 447 00:22:43,500 --> 00:22:47,020 2 Corinthians 1.12 The apostle says, Our 448 00:22:47,020 --> 00:22:51,320 boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, 449 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,560 that we behaved in this world with godly 450 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:55,060 sincerity. 451 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:57,760 What's that really mean? 452 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,440 If we do what we believe to be 453 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,180 right, our conscience is our friend. 454 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,400 I was having breakfast in a pancake house 455 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:07,700 in Tempe in Arizona. 456 00:23:07,700 --> 00:23:13,300 I stepped out onto the sidewalk when I 457 00:23:13,300 --> 00:23:15,040 noticed the young lady had given me too 458 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:16,620 much money in my change. 459 00:23:18,100 --> 00:23:19,400 Fifty cents too much. 460 00:23:20,860 --> 00:23:21,760 So I went back. 461 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:24,660 I looked her straight in the eye. 462 00:23:27,140 --> 00:23:29,240 I said, You gave me the wrong change. 463 00:23:31,620 --> 00:23:32,880 She said, Oh, did I? 464 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:36,340 The temperature had dropped a couple of degrees. 465 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:38,980 I said, Yes, you did. 466 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,320 She said, Can you prove that? 467 00:23:43,120 --> 00:23:45,280 I said, Yes, I can. 468 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,140 You gave me fifty cents too much, and 469 00:23:50,140 --> 00:23:51,800 I gave her two quarters back. 470 00:23:53,420 --> 00:23:55,220 What a change in climate. 471 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:57,780 She said, Oh, thank you, sir. 472 00:23:58,600 --> 00:23:59,960 Thank you very much, sir. 473 00:24:00,660 --> 00:24:02,560 God bless you, she said as I went 474 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:02,840 out. 475 00:24:03,820 --> 00:24:05,900 And when I got out on the sidewalk, 476 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,620 my conscience said, Good for you. 477 00:24:09,300 --> 00:24:11,000 Down in Australia they would say, Good on 478 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:11,180 you. 479 00:24:13,990 --> 00:24:15,350 My conscience was my friend. 480 00:24:16,750 --> 00:24:18,050 I had done what I thought was the 481 00:24:18,050 --> 00:24:18,550 right thing. 482 00:24:19,290 --> 00:24:20,330 Have you ever had that experience? 483 00:24:20,990 --> 00:24:21,750 Of course you have. 484 00:24:24,210 --> 00:24:25,790 But can conscience be your enemy? 485 00:24:27,470 --> 00:24:30,190 Surely you know the story of the woman 486 00:24:30,190 --> 00:24:31,170 taken in sin. 487 00:24:32,610 --> 00:24:35,190 The Pharisees dragged her before the Lord. 488 00:24:37,810 --> 00:24:39,850 They weren't interested in justice. 489 00:24:39,850 --> 00:24:42,150 They wanted to embarrass him, but they were 490 00:24:42,150 --> 00:24:43,950 willing to sacrifice a woman to do it. 491 00:24:45,190 --> 00:24:46,730 They said, The law says she should be 492 00:24:46,730 --> 00:24:47,450 stoned to death. 493 00:24:47,690 --> 00:24:48,610 She was caught in the act. 494 00:24:49,990 --> 00:24:50,690 Now what do you say? 495 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:03,920 Our Lord stooped, wrote with his finger on 496 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:04,380 the ground. 497 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:08,100 Have you ever wondered what he wrote? 498 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:11,580 Did he just doodle? 499 00:25:14,820 --> 00:25:16,100 They must have thought, What's he doing? 500 00:25:18,410 --> 00:25:20,970 I think he wrote scripture on the ground. 501 00:25:22,250 --> 00:25:24,190 When the devil tempted him, he said, It 502 00:25:24,190 --> 00:25:24,630 is written. 503 00:25:25,890 --> 00:25:27,230 But this time he wrote it. 504 00:25:28,770 --> 00:25:30,330 And I remember going all the way through 505 00:25:30,330 --> 00:25:32,730 scripture, looking for what he might have written. 506 00:25:33,890 --> 00:25:36,410 This is only speculation, but I think this 507 00:25:36,410 --> 00:25:38,050 would certainly suit the circumstances. 508 00:25:39,550 --> 00:25:41,230 I think what he wrote on the ground 509 00:25:41,230 --> 00:25:42,430 was from the book of Hosea. 510 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:50,800 I will not punish your daughters when they 511 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:52,000 play the prostitute. 512 00:25:52,740 --> 00:25:55,940 Nor your wives when they commit adultery. 513 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,920 For you yourselves are doing the same thing. 514 00:26:02,010 --> 00:26:02,850 That's Hosea. 515 00:26:03,310 --> 00:26:04,590 If you want to look it up sometime, 516 00:26:04,750 --> 00:26:08,730 not now, but it's Hosea 4.14. You 517 00:26:08,730 --> 00:26:11,070 know, this double standard has been a curse 518 00:26:11,070 --> 00:26:12,390 of civilization. 519 00:26:13,930 --> 00:26:16,590 That a man can get away for anything, 520 00:26:16,830 --> 00:26:19,550 and a woman is punished. 521 00:26:21,980 --> 00:26:22,620 What happened? 522 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,580 He stood up and he said, Whoever is 523 00:26:26,580 --> 00:26:29,380 without sin among you, let him cast the 524 00:26:29,380 --> 00:26:29,960 first stone. 525 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,800 It was as if our Lord had summoned 526 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,380 a hundred hornets and said, Sting these men. 527 00:26:36,420 --> 00:26:38,660 They were so busy beating off the stings 528 00:26:38,660 --> 00:26:40,480 of their conscience, they forgot all about the 529 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:42,320 woman, they beat a hasty retreat. 530 00:26:44,420 --> 00:26:46,100 Have you ever seen anyone running away from 531 00:26:46,100 --> 00:26:46,500 bees? 532 00:26:47,660 --> 00:26:48,840 Or angry wasps? 533 00:26:51,060 --> 00:26:52,180 And what does the scripture say? 534 00:26:52,180 --> 00:26:55,600 Being convicted of their own conscience. 535 00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,760 They went out one by one. 536 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,680 Conscience had become their enemy. 537 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:07,700 Now tell the truth. 538 00:27:08,180 --> 00:27:10,920 Has your conscience ever given you a bad 539 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:11,260 time? 540 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:14,740 Well, it's your conscience. 541 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:16,100 Why didn't it take your side? 542 00:27:17,940 --> 00:27:21,440 Down in Brazil, there's one of the funny 543 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:23,040 punchline jokes they have. 544 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,780 A couple of Brazilians went out hunting jaguars. 545 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:30,800 Sometimes they call them tigre, tigers. 546 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:35,220 It's one of the cat family, you know. 547 00:27:38,020 --> 00:27:39,680 In Brazil it's called the onça. 548 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:42,740 And one of them shot an onça. 549 00:27:43,860 --> 00:27:46,320 But when they're back telling about it, every 550 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,240 time he described it, the onça got bigger 551 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:49,340 and bigger and bigger. 552 00:27:53,900 --> 00:27:56,540 Until his friend said, Now, just a moment. 553 00:27:56,540 --> 00:28:00,000 And the Brazilian other fellow turned to him 554 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:01,700 and said, Whose friend are you? 555 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:03,080 Are you my friend or are you the 556 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:03,760 tiger's friend? 557 00:28:05,540 --> 00:28:07,160 And you could say to your conscience, Whose 558 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:07,900 friend are you? 559 00:28:10,590 --> 00:28:12,550 Your conscience can become your enemy. 560 00:28:21,010 --> 00:28:23,330 I remember asking in a meeting, Anyone remember 561 00:28:23,330 --> 00:28:25,390 any verse of scripture about conscience? 562 00:28:26,050 --> 00:28:27,350 One man raised his hand right away. 563 00:28:27,670 --> 00:28:29,410 Let your conscience be your guide. 564 00:28:32,820 --> 00:28:34,160 Well, that's not in the scripture. 565 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,640 But I could ask you the question, What 566 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:40,960 do you think is the business of conscience? 567 00:28:43,180 --> 00:28:45,420 If you're looking for a street address and 568 00:28:45,420 --> 00:28:47,380 you turn right instead of left, will your 569 00:28:47,380 --> 00:28:48,840 conscience prompt you? 570 00:28:50,220 --> 00:28:50,820 No. 571 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:56,080 If you're learning Spanish and you have difficulty 572 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,280 with the verbs, will your conscience help you? 573 00:28:58,980 --> 00:28:59,400 No. 574 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,820 If you're playing chess and you make a 575 00:29:02,820 --> 00:29:04,620 wrong move, will your conscience help you? 576 00:29:04,620 --> 00:29:05,480 No. 577 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,960 Will your conscience help you with a mathematical 578 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:11,520 problem? 579 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:13,320 Yes. 580 00:29:14,700 --> 00:29:17,240 But only in your income tax returns. 581 00:29:20,420 --> 00:29:22,860 You can make all sorts of mistakes in 582 00:29:22,860 --> 00:29:23,660 your check stubs. 583 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:30,660 Well, I might as well tell the truth. 584 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,220 My wife sometimes has quite a job trying 585 00:29:34,220 --> 00:29:36,040 to find out why my balance isn't the 586 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:37,160 same as the bank's balance. 587 00:29:37,660 --> 00:29:39,700 So she'd go over all those check stubs. 588 00:29:42,660 --> 00:29:44,600 But make a mistake in your own favor 589 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:46,700 and your income tax return and your conscience 590 00:29:46,700 --> 00:29:47,440 says, uh-oh. 591 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,620 Why is it that conscience is not concerned 592 00:29:54,660 --> 00:30:00,040 with street directions, learning Spanish, playing chess, or 593 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:01,120 mathematical problems? 594 00:30:03,270 --> 00:30:05,440 Because it's not the business of conscience. 595 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:14,220 If a teenager takes a girl out on 596 00:30:14,220 --> 00:30:15,940 a date and she refuses to kiss him 597 00:30:15,940 --> 00:30:18,700 goodnight, not much good calling the police. 598 00:30:19,460 --> 00:30:20,420 They'll warn you. 599 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:21,640 They'll be very much annoyed. 600 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:23,480 They'll say, you tend to your own business, 601 00:30:23,740 --> 00:30:24,460 wasting our time. 602 00:30:26,700 --> 00:30:28,560 So conscience is not concerned with these other 603 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:28,880 things. 604 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:30,700 Well, what is conscience concerned with? 605 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:32,560 Moral law. 606 00:30:36,710 --> 00:30:37,870 You say, what do you mean by that? 607 00:30:38,810 --> 00:30:40,770 Well, just take what we call the social 608 00:30:40,770 --> 00:30:43,550 commandments in the Ten Commandments. 609 00:30:45,010 --> 00:30:46,290 Thou shalt not commit murder. 610 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,540 Thou shalt not steal. 611 00:30:53,260 --> 00:30:55,100 Thou shalt not bear false witness. 612 00:30:56,460 --> 00:30:57,820 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 613 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,000 Conscience goes to work on that. 614 00:31:04,500 --> 00:31:06,400 Now one of the troubles today is that 615 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:12,980 professors in our universities and teachers in our 616 00:31:12,980 --> 00:31:15,700 high schools tell our kids that there is 617 00:31:15,700 --> 00:31:18,860 no such thing as morality as far as 618 00:31:18,860 --> 00:31:20,320 absolute morality is concerned. 619 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:25,060 They say it's just what we arrange in 620 00:31:25,060 --> 00:31:25,780 our society. 621 00:31:26,420 --> 00:31:30,460 As one guy put it to me, cannibalism 622 00:31:30,460 --> 00:31:33,800 is wrong in Canada, but it's okay in 623 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:34,120 New Guinea. 624 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:41,600 How can I illustrate this? 625 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,640 Well, Immanuel Kant, the great German philosopher who 626 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,820 was not a Christian, said the test of 627 00:31:50,820 --> 00:31:53,360 morality is its universal application. 628 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:56,860 In other words, if it's wrong in Canada, 629 00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:58,500 it must be wrong in New Guinea and 630 00:31:58,500 --> 00:31:59,040 vice versa. 631 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:03,980 And if it's not, then it's not a 632 00:32:03,980 --> 00:32:04,720 moral question. 633 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:08,240 There are such things as mores. 634 00:32:10,060 --> 00:32:13,780 You know, in Argentina, a young man wants 635 00:32:13,780 --> 00:32:14,940 to take a girl to a concert. 636 00:32:15,060 --> 00:32:16,180 He has to buy three tickets. 637 00:32:17,020 --> 00:32:18,940 One for himself, one for the girl, one 638 00:32:18,940 --> 00:32:21,540 for her grandmother or her aunt, a chaperon 639 00:32:21,540 --> 00:32:22,180 that goes along. 640 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,720 That's the custom, but it's not a moral 641 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:26,160 question. 642 00:32:26,260 --> 00:32:28,300 It would not be immoral to take a 643 00:32:28,300 --> 00:32:30,220 girl to a concert without a chaperon. 644 00:32:34,970 --> 00:32:39,660 One fellow asked me in university, he says, 645 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:41,340 in certain countries a man can have four 646 00:32:41,340 --> 00:32:41,780 wives. 647 00:32:42,300 --> 00:32:43,220 That's okay for them. 648 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:44,020 It's wrong for us. 649 00:32:46,340 --> 00:32:47,160 I said, what do you mean it's wrong 650 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:47,580 for us? 651 00:32:47,700 --> 00:32:48,880 Well, he said, it's just okay for them. 652 00:32:48,940 --> 00:32:50,280 That's their way of doing things. 653 00:32:51,580 --> 00:32:53,120 I said, look, I know Afghanistan. 654 00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:56,720 I've travelled in Afghanistan. 655 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:00,460 I remember asking the governor of Herat, one 656 00:33:00,460 --> 00:33:04,080 of the provinces, do you have more than 657 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:04,560 one wife? 658 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:09,360 He said, people misunderstand what the Prophet taught, 659 00:33:10,060 --> 00:33:10,840 the Prophet Muhammad. 660 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,420 He said, a man may have four wives 661 00:33:15,940 --> 00:33:20,800 if he can afford it, and second, if 662 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:21,800 he can love them equally. 663 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:25,400 He said, I can't afford it, he said, 664 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:27,820 and I don't think I could love four 665 00:33:27,820 --> 00:33:28,600 women equally. 666 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:30,960 So I'm quite satisfied with the girl I 667 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:31,280 married. 668 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:37,040 But it's the law in Afghanistan, a man 669 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:38,480 may have four wives. 670 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:44,380 It's interesting in South Africa, in the cities, 671 00:33:45,220 --> 00:33:47,340 a black man can only have one wife, 672 00:33:47,780 --> 00:33:51,540 but in the home territories, he may follow 673 00:33:51,540 --> 00:33:55,180 the local law and be a polygamist. 674 00:33:56,500 --> 00:34:00,140 What I said to the university student, supposing 675 00:34:00,140 --> 00:34:03,500 25% of the men in Afghanistan have 676 00:34:03,500 --> 00:34:07,620 four wives each, that would use up 100 677 00:34:07,620 --> 00:34:11,280 % of all the eligible females in Afghanistan. 678 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,020 What would the other 75% do? 679 00:34:16,460 --> 00:34:18,719 Would they apply to the United Nations for 680 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:19,100 aid? 681 00:34:21,510 --> 00:34:21,850 No. 682 00:34:22,290 --> 00:34:24,010 Mathematics features monogamy. 683 00:34:27,290 --> 00:34:30,969 Now there have been occasions in history when 684 00:34:30,969 --> 00:34:32,409 polygamy was practiced. 685 00:34:32,590 --> 00:34:36,290 After the Thirty Years' War in Germany, the 686 00:34:36,290 --> 00:34:38,969 number of German males was decimated. 687 00:34:39,909 --> 00:34:42,250 It meant about nine women to every man. 688 00:34:43,030 --> 00:34:45,409 So some of the German states permitted polygamy 689 00:34:45,409 --> 00:34:48,330 for one generation only, because you see, in 690 00:34:48,330 --> 00:34:53,980 polygamist families, you may have a man and 691 00:34:53,980 --> 00:34:56,760 four wives, but you have equal numbers of 692 00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:57,500 boys and girls. 693 00:35:04,420 --> 00:35:05,940 So you see, it makes sense. 694 00:35:09,730 --> 00:35:11,610 Thou shalt not murder. 695 00:35:15,810 --> 00:35:18,890 There are many more murders in Mexico than 696 00:35:18,890 --> 00:35:20,530 in the United States per population. 697 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,800 But in case we congratulate ourselves too soon, 698 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:28,940 there are more murders in Houston in one 699 00:35:28,940 --> 00:35:32,160 year than in England, Scotland, and Wales put 700 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:32,580 together. 701 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:37,080 You say, well, that's not proving anything. 702 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:39,460 That shows there's a different attitude in different 703 00:35:39,460 --> 00:35:39,760 countries. 704 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,280 Ah, but I've traveled very widely, and I've 705 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:44,100 met people by the hundreds, thousands, if not 706 00:35:44,100 --> 00:35:46,420 by the millions, and I've found this. 707 00:35:46,580 --> 00:35:48,340 I've never met anyone who liked to be 708 00:35:48,340 --> 00:35:48,640 murdered. 709 00:35:50,380 --> 00:35:51,540 There's your Brissett morality. 710 00:35:52,580 --> 00:35:55,640 And in the Declaration of Independence, among these 711 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:59,700 rights, inalienable rights, the right to life, even 712 00:35:59,700 --> 00:36:00,360 before liberty. 713 00:36:00,620 --> 00:36:02,860 Not much good giving a member vote than 714 00:36:02,860 --> 00:36:03,640 executing him. 715 00:36:06,660 --> 00:36:07,880 So you see, there's some basis. 716 00:36:08,220 --> 00:36:10,180 I have known of places where they steal 717 00:36:10,180 --> 00:36:13,860 right and left, what nobody likes to be 718 00:36:13,860 --> 00:36:14,500 stolen from. 719 00:36:17,150 --> 00:36:20,250 I remember in India, a gang of train 720 00:36:20,250 --> 00:36:24,630 thieves from Bengal murdered the passengers. 721 00:36:25,930 --> 00:36:28,070 But the train had been boarded by a 722 00:36:28,070 --> 00:36:30,690 gang of Gujarati train thieves. 723 00:36:32,190 --> 00:36:36,610 And they robbed the Bengalis, train thieves, who 724 00:36:36,610 --> 00:36:37,330 were furious. 725 00:36:39,070 --> 00:36:40,730 Nobody likes to be stolen from. 726 00:36:41,090 --> 00:36:42,610 Have you ever met somebody who can look 727 00:36:42,610 --> 00:36:44,190 you straight in the eye, they've trained themselves 728 00:36:44,190 --> 00:36:45,610 to do it, and tell you a blatant 729 00:36:45,610 --> 00:36:45,970 lie? 730 00:36:46,890 --> 00:36:48,790 But they don't like to be lied to. 731 00:36:48,950 --> 00:36:49,930 They don't like to be deceived. 732 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:53,920 And then when it comes to murder of 733 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,660 sex morality, see, our young people say, well, 734 00:36:57,220 --> 00:36:59,660 I love my old folks, but they're old 735 00:36:59,660 --> 00:37:00,040 fashioned. 736 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:01,820 They don't know what we know. 737 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:04,400 It doesn't change things. 738 00:37:05,860 --> 00:37:07,240 There's a basic morality. 739 00:37:13,310 --> 00:37:14,850 Now, when that man said to me, let 740 00:37:14,850 --> 00:37:18,310 your conscience be your guide, I said, you 741 00:37:18,310 --> 00:37:20,330 can't always let your conscience be your guide. 742 00:37:22,900 --> 00:37:24,920 I can't go into all the details, but 743 00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:28,740 the scriptures speak of a clear conscience. 744 00:37:32,670 --> 00:37:35,030 The apostle said, I have a clear conscience 745 00:37:35,030 --> 00:37:36,510 towards God and towards men. 746 00:37:38,310 --> 00:37:39,690 An obedient conscience. 747 00:37:41,030 --> 00:37:44,210 It is not for the sake of avoiding 748 00:37:44,210 --> 00:37:46,490 punishment only, but also for conscience sake. 749 00:37:46,850 --> 00:37:48,630 If you're going to pick up some dry 750 00:37:48,630 --> 00:37:51,350 cleaning, and when you get down there, you 751 00:37:51,350 --> 00:37:53,310 find a new parking space, so you drive 752 00:37:53,310 --> 00:37:55,450 around the block, hoping that someone will move. 753 00:37:55,890 --> 00:37:56,530 Nobody has moved. 754 00:37:56,590 --> 00:37:58,350 You drive around the second time, nobody has 755 00:37:58,350 --> 00:37:58,570 moved. 756 00:37:58,630 --> 00:38:00,690 The third time, you think, I wonder if 757 00:38:00,690 --> 00:38:02,110 I could get away with double parking. 758 00:38:03,370 --> 00:38:06,810 Before you double park, what do you do? 759 00:38:08,170 --> 00:38:10,730 You look this way, and you look that 760 00:38:10,730 --> 00:38:10,970 way. 761 00:38:11,930 --> 00:38:12,990 What are you looking for? 762 00:38:14,070 --> 00:38:15,150 To see if there's a cop. 763 00:38:16,030 --> 00:38:17,670 And if a police car comes by, do 764 00:38:17,670 --> 00:38:18,290 you double park? 765 00:38:18,290 --> 00:38:19,930 No, you drive around the ground. 766 00:38:21,770 --> 00:38:23,190 Why do you do that? 767 00:38:23,330 --> 00:38:24,370 To escape punishment. 768 00:38:25,370 --> 00:38:26,410 That's a good motive. 769 00:38:26,930 --> 00:38:29,150 But not for the sake of escaping punishment 770 00:38:29,150 --> 00:38:31,250 only, but also for conscience sake. 771 00:38:31,590 --> 00:38:32,930 Double parking is a hazard. 772 00:38:34,730 --> 00:38:37,090 Down in Latin America, I've seen not only 773 00:38:37,090 --> 00:38:40,110 double parking, but treble parking, and quadruple parking, 774 00:38:40,250 --> 00:38:43,210 and some poor guy in a circle, blowing 775 00:38:43,210 --> 00:38:44,330 his horn for an hour and a half, 776 00:38:44,390 --> 00:38:44,970 trying to get out. 777 00:38:47,130 --> 00:38:48,770 Accidents happen through double parking. 778 00:38:52,300 --> 00:38:54,020 You can have a mistaken conscience. 779 00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:57,280 Paul said, I've lived in all good conscience 780 00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:57,940 to this day. 781 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:00,000 Yet he was guilty of the murder of 782 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:00,320 Stephen. 783 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:02,500 He said, I'll take the responsibility. 784 00:39:04,500 --> 00:39:06,040 Well then, how do you dare say I 785 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:07,100 always had a good conscience? 786 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:09,940 He was a conscientious Jew. 787 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:16,580 And the law said that a man could 788 00:39:16,580 --> 00:39:18,300 be stoned to death for blaspheming. 789 00:39:19,300 --> 00:39:21,020 I mean, he thought he was right, but 790 00:39:21,020 --> 00:39:22,480 how mistaken he was. 791 00:39:24,870 --> 00:39:27,950 I wonder what Paul would have to say 792 00:39:27,950 --> 00:39:30,910 to Stephen in the hereafter. 793 00:39:34,530 --> 00:39:36,070 You can have a weak conscience. 794 00:39:37,330 --> 00:39:39,490 If eating meat causes my brother to offend, 795 00:39:39,570 --> 00:39:40,410 I will not eat meat. 796 00:39:41,770 --> 00:39:43,770 That's not our problem so much today, although 797 00:39:43,770 --> 00:39:45,110 sometimes it is, you know. 798 00:39:45,410 --> 00:39:48,930 But I would say, if drinking a cocktail 799 00:39:49,710 --> 00:39:51,670 would set some boy off on a road 800 00:39:51,670 --> 00:39:53,610 to alcoholism, then I won't touch the stuff. 801 00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:58,580 You can have a seared conscience. 802 00:39:59,660 --> 00:40:00,080 Seared. 803 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:03,440 That's an old Anglo-Saxon word for burned. 804 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:06,140 Any of you womenfolk have ever put on 805 00:40:06,140 --> 00:40:07,500 the iron to do a little bit of 806 00:40:07,500 --> 00:40:07,900 ironing? 807 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:11,980 Then the phone rings, and after a short 808 00:40:11,980 --> 00:40:14,880 feminine conversation of 55 minutes, you come back 809 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,080 again, and you wonder whether the iron is 810 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:17,560 on or not. 811 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:19,600 So you take your finger and you grab 812 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:20,580 it, and you put it on. 813 00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:21,580 Oh, it burned. 814 00:40:22,260 --> 00:40:22,860 Did you feel it? 815 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:23,600 You felt it. 816 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:25,680 But you don't feel it the next day. 817 00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:27,020 As a matter of fact, if you take 818 00:40:27,020 --> 00:40:28,240 your finger and put it on the point 819 00:40:28,240 --> 00:40:29,440 of a pin, you can't feel it. 820 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:31,980 You've burned the nerve endings. 821 00:40:32,580 --> 00:40:33,820 You've lost feeling. 822 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:36,120 And I'm saying this. 823 00:40:36,220 --> 00:40:37,000 It's worth remembering. 824 00:40:37,380 --> 00:40:40,700 If you keep on doing what you shouldn't 825 00:40:40,700 --> 00:40:43,220 do, you lose all conviction. 826 00:40:49,910 --> 00:40:51,670 That's one of our problems today. 827 00:40:54,710 --> 00:40:59,490 You know, they talk about alternative lifestyles, but 828 00:40:59,490 --> 00:41:04,390 they never discuss them, because nature would tell 829 00:41:04,390 --> 00:41:05,490 you what's right and what's wrong. 830 00:41:10,340 --> 00:41:16,820 The sex relationship was designed by almighty God 831 00:41:16,820 --> 00:41:25,020 with primary purpose of companionship, primary purpose of 832 00:41:25,020 --> 00:41:26,540 companionship and offspring. 833 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:32,260 But what goes today as an alternative lifestyle, 834 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:36,460 Mother Nature abhors. 835 00:41:41,230 --> 00:41:43,340 Surely the worst warning of all is the 836 00:41:43,340 --> 00:41:44,120 word to Titus. 837 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:48,380 To the pure, all things are pure. 838 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:53,360 But to the impure and unbelieving, nothing is 839 00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:53,640 pure. 840 00:41:54,380 --> 00:41:57,380 Their very minds and consciences are defiled. 841 00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:04,670 To put it in colloquial English, their minds 842 00:42:04,670 --> 00:42:07,790 and consciences are rotten. 843 00:42:09,950 --> 00:42:12,290 All the way from a good conscience to 844 00:42:12,290 --> 00:42:13,390 a rotten conscience. 845 00:42:14,610 --> 00:42:16,590 How can you say, let your conscience be 846 00:42:16,590 --> 00:42:17,130 your guide? 847 00:42:24,190 --> 00:42:26,890 Now that brings us to a question that 848 00:42:26,890 --> 00:42:27,870 some people have asked me. 849 00:42:30,460 --> 00:42:32,180 Is conscience the same as a conviction of 850 00:42:32,180 --> 00:42:32,800 the Holy Spirit? 851 00:42:33,720 --> 00:42:34,700 The answer is no. 852 00:42:39,220 --> 00:42:41,260 See, your conscience can be mistaken, but the 853 00:42:41,260 --> 00:42:42,740 Holy Spirit cannot be mistaken. 854 00:42:45,390 --> 00:42:47,990 Your conscience can be disobedient, but the Holy 855 00:42:47,990 --> 00:42:50,150 Spirit, of course, couldn't permit disobedience. 856 00:42:53,870 --> 00:42:56,830 But conscience is the mechanism the Holy Spirit 857 00:42:56,830 --> 00:42:57,990 uses to convict you. 858 00:42:59,710 --> 00:43:01,190 He'll bring things to your remembrance. 859 00:43:02,650 --> 00:43:06,250 But where you've been used to excusing it, 860 00:43:06,290 --> 00:43:11,610 then he breaks in conviction the crust of 861 00:43:11,610 --> 00:43:13,090 resistance and resentment. 862 00:43:17,470 --> 00:43:19,370 I'm Irish by birth. 863 00:43:20,530 --> 00:43:23,070 What are the Irish noted for? 864 00:43:25,790 --> 00:43:27,670 Good humor, bad temper. 865 00:43:30,930 --> 00:43:32,350 I had my share of both. 866 00:43:33,250 --> 00:43:35,070 I had such a bad temper when I 867 00:43:35,070 --> 00:43:35,490 was a boy. 868 00:43:36,950 --> 00:43:38,890 I remember trying to commit suicide at the 869 00:43:38,890 --> 00:43:39,450 age of eleven. 870 00:43:41,390 --> 00:43:42,510 You say, wasn't that young? 871 00:43:43,370 --> 00:43:44,670 Well, mother had thrashed me. 872 00:43:44,730 --> 00:43:46,090 My father died when I was ten. 873 00:43:46,270 --> 00:43:47,650 Mother had to be father and mother. 874 00:43:48,370 --> 00:43:50,790 She thrashed me when I thought they wouldn't 875 00:43:50,790 --> 00:43:51,990 appreciate me around here. 876 00:43:53,450 --> 00:43:54,790 I'd throw myself in the river. 877 00:43:55,810 --> 00:43:57,210 It was all over some trivial affair. 878 00:43:57,210 --> 00:43:59,730 Mother thrashed me for taking two pennies out 879 00:43:59,730 --> 00:44:04,310 of her purse and buying a box of 880 00:44:04,310 --> 00:44:08,130 matches and trying to set fire to two 881 00:44:08,130 --> 00:44:08,750 other boys. 882 00:44:11,930 --> 00:44:14,430 So I went down to the river to 883 00:44:14,430 --> 00:44:19,290 commit suicide, but the water was too cold. 884 00:44:21,410 --> 00:44:23,030 Oh, I've told people in the Middle West, 885 00:44:24,010 --> 00:44:27,310 some people commit suicide by jumping off the 886 00:44:27,310 --> 00:44:28,210 Golden Gate Bridge. 887 00:44:29,110 --> 00:44:33,450 I've never heard of anyone committing suicide at 888 00:44:33,450 --> 00:44:41,940 Duluth, Minnesota, because the water there in midsummer 889 00:44:41,940 --> 00:44:43,640 is 35 degrees Fahrenheit. 890 00:44:45,500 --> 00:44:47,420 Well, I didn't commit suicide after all. 891 00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:48,060 That's obvious. 892 00:44:49,260 --> 00:44:51,380 But I had a bad temper, but I 893 00:44:51,380 --> 00:44:51,980 excused it. 894 00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:54,640 I went to work in an office, and 895 00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:56,760 sometimes the girls there said, ha ha, look 896 00:44:56,760 --> 00:44:57,780 at the Christian nine. 897 00:44:57,980 --> 00:44:59,260 Temper, temper, temper, temper. 898 00:44:59,540 --> 00:45:01,560 I'd say, it's not bad temper, it's righteous 899 00:45:01,560 --> 00:45:02,300 indignation. 900 00:45:03,940 --> 00:45:06,040 But the Holy Spirit once said to me, 901 00:45:06,220 --> 00:45:07,520 it spoils your testimony. 902 00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:09,340 It's bad temper. 903 00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:10,520 It's out of control. 904 00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:13,660 I had to repent of it, and confess 905 00:45:13,660 --> 00:45:13,940 it. 906 00:45:15,020 --> 00:45:16,200 Seek deliverance from it. 907 00:45:18,820 --> 00:45:22,080 You see, the Lord Jesus himself said of 908 00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:25,560 the Holy Spirit, and when he is come, 909 00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:29,720 he will, sometimes they say, convict the world, 910 00:45:29,720 --> 00:45:34,740 but sometimes convince the world of sin, of 911 00:45:34,740 --> 00:45:37,040 righteousness, and of judgment. 912 00:45:38,260 --> 00:45:39,560 That's his job. 913 00:45:41,340 --> 00:45:44,340 If a man has been practicing evil for 914 00:45:44,340 --> 00:45:48,840 years, how can you work on his conscience? 915 00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:50,600 He'll argue with you. 916 00:45:54,210 --> 00:45:58,290 For instance, if I were on television, and 917 00:45:58,290 --> 00:46:03,870 someone asked me about this AIDS epidemic, and 918 00:46:03,870 --> 00:46:06,670 boy, I don't always agree with Jerry Falwell, 919 00:46:08,270 --> 00:46:10,070 I hardly agree with him when he says, 920 00:46:10,150 --> 00:46:11,650 if you don't want it, don't do it. 921 00:46:14,510 --> 00:46:16,270 But what would my interviewer say to me? 922 00:46:16,350 --> 00:46:20,660 Well, that's your set of values. 923 00:46:22,260 --> 00:46:24,920 Doesn't somebody else have a right to have 924 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:26,060 an alternative lifestyle? 925 00:46:26,620 --> 00:46:28,300 But they won't go into the details of 926 00:46:28,300 --> 00:46:28,480 it. 927 00:46:28,980 --> 00:46:30,340 Because if you went into the details of 928 00:46:30,340 --> 00:46:32,380 it, you'd see how wrong it was. 929 00:46:33,820 --> 00:46:36,140 But you see, they go to work to 930 00:46:36,140 --> 00:46:36,940 defend themselves. 931 00:46:37,260 --> 00:46:43,190 If a person is practicing, lying in business, 932 00:46:43,310 --> 00:46:50,010 for instance, or stealing, or whatever, he makes 933 00:46:50,010 --> 00:46:51,890 excuses for himself to live with himself. 934 00:46:53,430 --> 00:46:55,650 And it takes the conviction of the Holy 935 00:46:55,650 --> 00:46:59,110 Spirit to break through that. 936 00:47:00,610 --> 00:47:04,170 This happens on a large scale in times 937 00:47:04,170 --> 00:47:04,750 of revival. 938 00:47:05,530 --> 00:47:08,010 One of the marks is that the Holy 939 00:47:08,010 --> 00:47:11,010 Spirit convinces believers of things wrong in their 940 00:47:11,010 --> 00:47:11,470 lives. 941 00:47:13,010 --> 00:47:16,210 And then he begins to convict complete outsiders 942 00:47:16,210 --> 00:47:18,450 of the wickedness in theirs. 943 00:47:20,130 --> 00:47:21,270 That's his work. 944 00:47:27,120 --> 00:47:30,480 I started with a good conscience, and concluded 945 00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:31,920 with a corrupt one. 946 00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:35,560 But I can give you a verse of 947 00:47:35,560 --> 00:47:36,740 scripture that's encouraging. 948 00:47:37,380 --> 00:47:39,820 What can you do if your conscience convicts 949 00:47:39,820 --> 00:47:39,960 you? 950 00:47:42,490 --> 00:47:46,030 Now, on a Tuesday night, as was said 951 00:47:46,030 --> 00:47:49,450 already, we take it you're all believers here. 952 00:47:52,590 --> 00:47:54,590 You say, well, we're just average Christians. 953 00:47:56,030 --> 00:47:57,870 We're not engaged in murder. 954 00:47:58,990 --> 00:47:59,910 We're not hitmen. 955 00:48:00,890 --> 00:48:02,630 We're not bank robbers. 956 00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:08,330 We're not making our living by misrepresentation. 957 00:48:08,630 --> 00:48:10,330 We're not living in adultery. 958 00:48:11,690 --> 00:48:13,190 But we do fall short. 959 00:48:14,730 --> 00:48:18,110 Sometimes our conscience accuses us. 960 00:48:19,190 --> 00:48:23,410 What can you do about an accusing conscience? 961 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:30,420 It says in Hebrews 9.9, When gifts 962 00:48:30,420 --> 00:48:39,120 and sacrifices repeatedly offered cannot cleanse the conscience 963 00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:39,840 of the worshiper. 964 00:48:41,200 --> 00:48:42,080 What does that mean? 965 00:48:43,400 --> 00:48:46,140 You can join the Boy Scouts and do 966 00:48:46,140 --> 00:48:48,480 a good burn every day, but it won't 967 00:48:48,480 --> 00:48:49,620 clean your conscience. 968 00:48:53,590 --> 00:48:55,690 You can join the Red Cross and help 969 00:48:55,690 --> 00:48:58,190 build a hospital in Bangladesh, but it won't 970 00:48:58,190 --> 00:48:59,230 clean your conscience. 971 00:48:59,230 --> 00:49:03,270 You can join a church and be a 972 00:49:03,270 --> 00:49:06,050 heavy tither, but it won't clean your conscience. 973 00:49:10,270 --> 00:49:10,890 Then what will? 974 00:49:13,130 --> 00:49:15,990 Same chapter, How much more shall the blood 975 00:49:15,990 --> 00:49:22,450 of Christ purify your conscience from dead works? 976 00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:28,660 All that you've been doing has been, I 977 00:49:28,660 --> 00:49:31,020 heard the phrase used here, playing church. 978 00:49:33,060 --> 00:49:34,640 Unless it's going to work out in your 979 00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:34,960 life. 980 00:49:38,230 --> 00:49:46,370 Therefore, I'd like to conclude, if we may, 981 00:49:46,850 --> 00:49:48,750 by singing, we're not ready just for a 982 00:49:48,750 --> 00:49:52,510 moment, the first verse of that hymn, Search 983 00:49:52,510 --> 00:49:54,210 me, O God, and know my heart. 984 00:49:54,370 --> 00:49:56,090 He's the only one who can search us. 985 00:49:57,670 --> 00:49:59,410 But I'm going to make a proposition to 986 00:49:59,410 --> 00:49:59,870 you first. 987 00:50:01,810 --> 00:50:03,670 I'm not going to ask anyone to stand 988 00:50:03,670 --> 00:50:05,090 up or to come forward or raise a 989 00:50:05,090 --> 00:50:06,190 hand, but I'm going to just put it 990 00:50:06,190 --> 00:50:08,990 to you, as speaker, to hearers. 991 00:50:10,560 --> 00:50:14,120 You tell me that you're interested in seeing 992 00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:22,880 revival in this congregation, throughout the denomination, worldwide. 993 00:50:24,340 --> 00:50:27,360 If God should show you something in your 994 00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:32,330 life that's not right, are you willing to 995 00:50:32,330 --> 00:50:32,850 put it right? 996 00:50:38,190 --> 00:50:40,150 Now, if you're a spiritual person, you'll say, 997 00:50:40,830 --> 00:50:42,130 of course I'm willing. 998 00:50:44,100 --> 00:50:48,060 If you're not quite concerned, you'll say, well, 999 00:50:48,140 --> 00:50:49,020 let me think about it. 1000 00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:54,600 But if you've got something to hide, you'll 1001 00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:56,040 probably say, I don't want to get involved. 1002 00:50:58,970 --> 00:51:02,390 But if you carry the burden of spiritual 1003 00:51:02,390 --> 00:51:06,190 life in this church, if you share in 1004 00:51:06,190 --> 00:51:09,970 concern for the spiritual well-being of everyone 1005 00:51:09,970 --> 00:51:12,570 here, this is a family. 1006 00:51:14,270 --> 00:51:15,690 Are you willing to say, if the Lord 1007 00:51:15,690 --> 00:51:17,390 should show me something wrong in my life, 1008 00:51:17,390 --> 00:51:18,270 I'm willing to put it right? 1009 00:51:21,820 --> 00:51:24,320 If you're going to say, no, I'm not 1010 00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:28,160 willing to say that, well then, we're wasting 1011 00:51:28,160 --> 00:51:28,740 our time. 1012 00:51:32,210 --> 00:51:33,950 But if you say, yes, if God should 1013 00:51:33,950 --> 00:51:35,610 show me something wrong in my life, I 1014 00:51:35,610 --> 00:51:36,530 will put it right. 1015 00:51:37,990 --> 00:51:39,310 That's what I want to talk to you 1016 00:51:39,310 --> 00:51:39,970 about this week. 1017 00:51:40,410 --> 00:51:42,530 I'm so glad that this church is called 1018 00:51:42,530 --> 00:51:45,290 a discipleship institute. 1019 00:51:46,390 --> 00:51:48,290 There's a continuity of teaching here. 1020 00:51:49,330 --> 00:51:54,330 It's not like the usual quote-unquote revival 1021 00:51:54,330 --> 00:51:56,890 meeting, where they have pack-a-pew night 1022 00:51:56,890 --> 00:51:59,270 and youth night and senior citizens night and 1023 00:51:59,270 --> 00:51:59,750 so forth. 1024 00:52:01,270 --> 00:52:02,910 That's all right for evangelism. 1025 00:52:03,310 --> 00:52:04,930 Get different crowds to be evangelized. 1026 00:52:05,270 --> 00:52:08,370 But our business is the spiritual life of 1027 00:52:08,370 --> 00:52:10,070 the people who belong here. 1028 00:52:11,430 --> 00:52:12,730 And I'm sort of putting you on the 1029 00:52:12,730 --> 00:52:13,050 spot. 1030 00:52:13,810 --> 00:52:16,210 Are you willing to say, yes, if the 1031 00:52:16,210 --> 00:52:18,910 Lord clearly shows me something in my life 1032 00:52:18,910 --> 00:52:21,510 that needs to be put right, I'll put 1033 00:52:21,510 --> 00:52:21,950 it right. 1034 00:52:22,830 --> 00:52:24,210 By His grace. 1035 00:52:27,110 --> 00:52:29,650 All right then, Ron, would you lead us? 1036 00:52:31,270 --> 00:52:35,330 You'll find the hymn, only one verse, 266 1037 00:52:35,330 --> 00:52:37,590 in the Baptist hymnal, but we'll sing it 1038 00:52:37,590 --> 00:52:39,470 to the Maori melody that people know so 1039 00:52:39,470 --> 00:52:39,730 well. 1040 00:52:39,970 --> 00:52:40,870 Just one verse. 1041 00:52:41,250 --> 00:52:42,510 You can sing it twice if you like, 1042 00:52:42,570 --> 00:52:43,470 but just one verse.