I've come to deal with man's conscience.
This is a very wonderful part of the
Bible analysis of man.
I'm dealing tonight with man's conscience.
Now, just to show you the slight difference
there is between the different faculties that I've
mentioned, the different abilities that God has given
to man, let me put it before you
like this.
That man's memory is the thought-retaining ability
that God has given him.
It's the thought-retaining ability.
Man's imagination is the thought-producing ability.
Something that he can sketch out, something that
he can picture, something that he can plan.
It's the thought-producing ability.
Man's understanding is the thought-analyzing ability, where
he can look at a thing and question
it and measure it and see it and
understand it and know it.
That's man's thought-analyzing ability.
Then man's will is the thought-energizing ability.
When memory has taken in everything and imagination
has thought it all out and understanding has
come to the conclusions, then will steps in
to make the decisions.
And that's the thought-energizing ability of man.
When we come to conscience, that's the thought
-convicting ability of man.
This wonderful ability that God has given us,
it tells us when we're right and when
we're wrong.
It's the great ability that God has given
to man to differentiate between good and evil.
But the trouble with this great faculty is
this.
When man fell, this faculty, too, became subject
to delusion by Satan.
And this faculty can be a defiant conscience,
or a feared conscience, or an evil conscience.
And on the other hand, when God has
this faculty in his hands, by the power
of the Holy Ghost, it can become a
good conscience and a pure conscience.
You see, it's the thought-convicting ability that
God gave to man.
But when man fell, he became totally depraved.
There's nothing that I'm more sure of than
the total depravity of man.
Why a natural man tonight, his memory wants
to forget the particular kind of man he
is.
This book says, it's like a man looking
in a glass and going away and forgetting
that he's the poor lost sinner on the
road to hell that he is.
And man's imagination, as we saw from the
book, became depraved.
And in the days of Noah, and the
last days shall be of the days of
Noah, man's imaginations and the thoughts of his
heart were evil, and that continued.
His understanding, when he fell, became darkened.
His will became his own will.
We have turned everyone to our own way,
and conscience can become defiled and feared and
evil.
It's good to look at conscience like this.
Conscience is like the compass that the captain
of the ship may have on the ship.
It will ring true and point the way,
sure enough, but it can do no more.
The pilot on board will set the course
as he wishes.
The compass is there, but the pilot is
in command.
And so tonight we are turning to think
about man's conscience from the word of God.
I want to bring it before you in
a way that you'll get the hold of
it.
I want to look at conscience working in
the natural man.
Then I want to look at conscience working
in the saved man.
Then I want to look at conscience working
in the carnal man.
Then I want to look at conscience in
the spiritual man.
And so we're turning to look at conscience,
first of all, in the natural man, and
I'm calling this the activeness of conscience in
the natural man, and I'm reading from Romans
chapter 1.
Now, these are Bible readings, and remember, we're
making the Bible do the work all the
time.
You find the place and try to get
the sense from the verses.
I'm at Romans chapter 1, and I'm reading
verse 20.
For the invisible things of God from
the creation of the world are clearly seen.
That's a wonderful statement, isn't it?
That the invisible things are clearly seen.
You see, no man has seen God at
any time.
Yet it did say that Moses by faith
saw him who is invisible.
And here we have a tremendous statement that
the invisible things of God are clearly seen,
the things you can't see.
And then it goes on to expound that
more clearly, being understood by the things which
are made.
You see, I still believe that a man's
a fool who goes out and looks across
the starry heavens this evening and takes in
as much as he can understand of the
magnitude and the wonder and the might and
majesty of the work that God has done
in the heavens.
And if man only takes a stand on
a sunny afternoon and looks round the broad
echoes of earth and throws his eyes across
the miles of earth that he can see
and then remember that there are millions of
miles he can't see.
If that man can't come to an understanding
that there is a God he must be
a fool.
And remember you don't only need to look
at the starry heavens and the broad echoes
of earth but if you look at your
own wonderful form we are made, you know,
we were fearfully and wonderfully made.
And if you begin to look at the
things which are made you come to the
solid conclusion that there's a great God.
God never left himself without a witness.
When man hadn't got the Bible they'd got
the world and their own friends.
And they only need to look and they'll
understand there must be and there is the
almighty maker of heaven and earth in whom
we move and live and have our being.
So that God has given us the light
of nature as a witness of his eternal
power and Godhead so that mankind is without
excuse.
Then if we run away from chapter one
we come down into chapter two.
In verse twelve we read these words For
as many as have sinned without law shall
also perish without law.
Well that's a tremendous statement when you think
about the heathen.
Sometimes we're asked questions about the heathen and
where they'll stand on the day of judgment.
Well there'll be no leniency there.
This book before you now says As many
as have sinned If the heathen sins without
law he shall perish.
The word before you is perish.
The God of high heaven must deal with
sin.
Whether he's a heathen doesn't know anything whatsoever.
If he sins God will judge him for
sin.
And he'll perish without law.
Then it goes on And as many as
have sinned in the law shall be judged
by the law.
You see the Jews were a select people
an illect people and to them alone was
given the law.
But they thought they would everything because they
had the law.
And you know friends that put them in
their own estimation on a pinnacle.
We've got the law.
The commandments of God were given to us.
But the point is this that they never
checked the law.
And as many as have sinned in the
law will be judged by the law.
But this sin is the important thing.
If you sin without law or sin with
law God will judge your sin.
Unless you find a substitute that meets the
requirements of God and has counted your sin
and the only substitute is Christ crucified.
But watch it, it goes further here.
Verse thirteen For not the heroes of the
law are just before God but the doers
of the law shall be justified.
There's a tremendous statement isn't it?
The doers of the law shall be justified.
But there's another verse in your booklet says
By the deeds of the law shall no
flesh be justified.
How do you reconcile the two?
One verse says But the doers of the
law shall be justified.
The other verse says But by the deeds
of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Friend, we've never met anyone who could keep
the law.
The law didn't come to bring you life.
The law came to condemn you that you
might seek a failure.
The law was our schoolmaster to bring us
to Christ.
When you put yourself against the Ten Commandments
and read the last one Thou shalt not
covet.
Every person in this building is guilty.
Stand guilty before God.
There's no use of you trying to pretend
that you'll do it.
If you could, you would get life, but
you can't.
By the deeds of the law shall no
flesh be justified.
Then it would go on further than that.
It goes into the next verse, verse 14
For when the Gentiles Let's get a hold
of this.
These are the unsaved pagans and heathens and
all outside of Christ and outside of the
Jewish mission, the Gentiles.
There's somebody in this meeting and you're not
a Jew and you're not saved you're a
Gentile.
If you're saved, you're neither Jew nor Gentile,
you're in the church.
There are three great bodies down here working
this evening the Church of Christ the Jew
the Gentiles.
But the Gentiles, he said which have not
the law not the law do by nature
the things contained in the law.
These having not the law are a law
unto themselves which show the work of the
law written in their hearts.
Now I want you to get that because
that's a very important bit.
Which show the work of the law.
Now it doesn't say which show the word
of the law written in their hearts.
You remember God said in the New Covenant
I will put my law into their hearts
and their sins and their iniquities I will
remember no more.
That's the new birth.
That's God making a new creation in the
very man who comes to Christ.
But this is altogether different.
This is the work of the law.
You know the work of the law is
to bring the wrath of God to your
consciousness.
To just bring you face to face with
the condemnation that hangs over your head.
And here's what they said now.
Which show the work of the law written
in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness
and their thoughts from meanwhile accusing or else
excusing one another.
Here's the great work of conscience in the
natural mind.
The work of conscience is this.
You see God gives us two witnesses even
when we haven't got the Bible.
Even when we have new missionaries.
If you're deep dark down in the jungle
God gives you an outside witness that there
is a God.
It's the mighty heavens and the earth and
the things that are made.
That's the outside witness telling you there is
a God.
Ah, but he put a witness inside.
There's a conscience that tells you all about
evil too.
So that the natural man by the witness
that's outside and the witness that's inside he
knows both good and evil.
That's exactly what the devil promised to Eve.
Said as soon as you eat this fruit
you'll know good and evil.
But if ever he told a lie it
was then because half the truth is always
the blackest kind of lie.
Here's the trouble.
Man knows good that has no power to
do it.
Man understands evil that has no power to
resist it.
So he knows there is a God.
But he doesn't want to go that way
because he's totally depraved.
He knows what evil is and what evil
means because conscience either accuses or excuses.
And he knows all about both good and
evil but has no power to do the
good and no power to resist the evil.
So he needs to be born again.
That's the great truth of this book remember
all the time.
Everything leads up to that.
That he must be born again.
And friends the point with this great subject
that we're up to and I said that's
what conscience was meant to do.
But you know this conscience like every other
ability in the natural man can be taken
away from the very function and the ability
and the work that it ought to do.
And it begins to do something else.
Now watch me now.
Come to Titus chapter one.
The letter to Titus chapter one.
I'm reading at verse fifteen Paul saying to
Titus Unto the pure all things are pure.
Well I think that that's a phrase that
has been taken and very devilishly used by
some sects especially in America within the past
years.
There are certain sects in America and they
believe this that some of the filthy and
abominable and vile and lustful and licentious sins
of this world when those very things are
done with men with a certain kind of
mentality they're alright.
So that's subtle.
They hold their sects as their foundation stone.
Unto the pure all things are pure.
But it doesn't mean any such rubbish as
that.
Actually the best translation of the text would
have been this.
The pure delights and pure things.
That puts a different face on the subject
altogether.
Why the devil could bluff you that you
could do sexual and licentious sins with a
particular kind of mind and it's alright.
It can never be alright when God says
you're not a doer.
But let's read on.
Verse 15.
Unto the pure all things are pure.
But unto them that are defiled and unbelieving
is nothing pure.
But even their mind and their conscience is
defiled.
Now this wonderful sexuality called conscience has now
come defiled.
Now watch just how far.
Next verse says They profess that they know
God but in works they deny him being
abominable and disobedient and unto every good work
reprobate.
Now watch the words in the two verses.
First one I want you to notice is
defiled and then unbelieving then denying God abominable,
disobedient reprobate and yet these are the people
who profess that they know God.
Do you see where we've got to now?
I've come along from the natural man and
his conscience to the pharisaical man with his
conscience.
We saw the activeness of conscience in the
natural man now see the falseness of conscience
in the pharisaical man.
Because the Pharisee of old said that you
know I know God.
He professed that he knew God.
All the time he was a non-believer.
All the time he was disobedient.
All the time his conscience was defiled.
That's a tremendous state of affairs you know.
You know friend the sooner we get down
to this sort of thing and get it
really brought out in our own lives is
this that it's not your lips that counts,
it's your life.
Oh many you know profess that they know
God.
There are thousands in our churches they profess
they know God they don't know God at
all.
And yet they deny Him.
Then I could go into a lot of
details which show you how abominable they are
in the sight of God.
All of them are evil.
Yet they can go on when it starts
to take off.
Because their conscience is defiled.
It's an awful thing.
You can swing down to church with the
Bible below your arm you hypocrite you.
You don't know the Savior at all.
You've denied Him all your life.
Unto every good work you are a hypocrite.
You're an unbeliever.
Yet you profess.
Why this profession would need a real going
for you know.
There are tremendous lot of professions.
Be careful now that you just don't run
on along to the end of the road
and then the door is shut in your
face.
And you knock and you say Lord, Lord
open unto us.
We've eaten and drank in my name.
Listen this one.
In thy name we have cast our devils.
You say that's a tremendous thing to do.
So they think.
Jesus said to that very crowd I never
knew you.
Of course it will take us all you
know to examine ourselves.
Whether we be in the faith.
It's so easy to profess.
And then in works deny God.
And you can go on with this thing
for years because your conscience is defiled.
That's a defiled conscience.
It ought to be telling that hypocrisy is
all wrong.
Probably the first day that he played at
this hypocrisy it told him.
And the second day it told him again.
But when it goes on for years the
voice is silent.
It's defiled.
So be careful.
Your conscience can be defiled.
It's not working.
Come with me to John 8.
John's Gospel chapter 8.
This is the story that I've dealt with
more than once from this platform.
Nevertheless there's something that I want to get
the hold of tonight again.
Lovely touch when you take the last verse
of John 7 and the first verse of
John 8 because in the Greek they should
never have been separated.
Whoever crosses the chapter there well, I'm afraid
it's a blunder that even the smallest boy
ought to see.
Verse 53 of chapter 7 And every man
went on to his own house.
Jesus went on to the Mount of Olives.
Our Lord Jesus.
Why they bid him farewell, you know.
They went into their own house.
He climbed the way up the house to
pray all night to God.
It's a pity that was ever divided, isn't
it?
Verse 2 And early in the morning he
came again into the temple.
And all the people came unto him, and
he sat down and taught them.
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him
a woman taken in adultery.
And when they had set her in the
midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman
was taken in adultery in the very act.
Now, Moses in the law commanded us that
such should be done.
But what they saw, this they said tempting
him that they might have to accuse him.
You see, this is a very subtle thing.
This is the sort of thing that Pharisees
would do.
You see, they got this woman taken in
the very act of adultery.
And they very rudely and mercilessly drew her
into the presence of the Lord and threw
her on the sound of her feet and
said, we took this woman in adultery in
the very act.
Moses in the law commanded us that she
should be stoned.
But what they have done.
Now, it was a very subtle one, wasn't
it?
Because if the Lord Jesus said, well, stone
her, they'd say, there's your gentle Jesus for
you.
There's your sympathetic Christ now.
There's the treasure of Atuk now.
And if he said, don't stone her, they'd
say, look, he's saying the opposite to Moses.
It was very subtle.
And Pharisees are always subtle.
But watch what happens.
Verse 6, this they said, tempting him that
they might have to accuse him.
Jesus took down and with his finger wrote
on the ground, as though he heard them
not.
Now, the word finger wasn't put in there
for fun.
You see, he took down and with his
finger wrote upon the ground.
Whenever you go back to the old covenant
and see them written in stone, it's said
that they were written by the finger of
God.
And Jesus said to the Pharisees one day
that he cast out demons by the finger
of God.
Finger of God is usually taken for the
mighty power of the Spirit of God.
There have been great arguments about what he
wrote on the ground.
How do you know?
Nobody knows.
Nobody can be sure.
That's one thing that's certain.
And yet there's just a little bit of
light comes in in a moment or two
that would make you think, anyway.
Now watch it.
So when they continued asking him, he lifted
up himself and said unto them, He that
is without sin among you, let him first
cast the stone at her.
Again he took down and wrote on the
ground.
And they which heard it being convicted by
their own conscience.
Oh, this is this defiled conscience being awakened.
This is a Pharisee's conscience.
Mind you, they were Pharisees here that brought
the woman.
And they're professing that they love God and
love his word and love the commands of
Moses.
But all the time, you know, there's a
conscience that's defiled.
Friends, I've pointed out that the woman was
taken in the very act.
Well, if she was taken in the very
act, the man was taken.
Where is the man in this case?
He's not here.
And the law that they referred to, the
law of Moses, commanded that both the man
and the woman was told.
Why did they hide the man?
Just because I believe he was a Pharisee.
Friends, this is a very subtle thing.
They didn't want to bring this man into
the presence of the Lord for he's one
of themselves.
And if I don't know for sure, the
Lord knew for sure.
So he's just stood down and with the
finger wrote on the ground.
I believe that when the book says they
were convicted by their own conscience that he
must have written the Ten Commandments on the
ground.
He began to write the commandments.
But halfway down, because halfway down are the
commandments that belong Godwards.
Love the Lord thy God.
Then he got up and looked at them.
Then got down and wrote the other half.
And they're the commandments that teach us to
love our neighbor.
And you know, friends, when a conscience is
defiled so much that you can hide sin
and try to bring out something that's evil
in the Savior.
You see, now, they're twisting the good that
way and the evil the other way.
When conscience becomes so defiled that you can
do things in the presence of God without
blushing, the only hope for you is if
the Lord puts his finger on you and
puts the law up against you and Jesus
Christ looks into your faith and speaks to
you.
You need the Spirit of God, the law
of God, the Christ of God to awaken
conscience.
Apart from that, you'll die in your darkness.
Oh, friends, this is tremendous.
That conscience can get upwards bound and get
defiled.
And the only hope for defiled conscience ever
becoming awakened is the finger of God and
the law of God and the Christ of
God.
And if the Spirit of God doesn't lay
hold on you and set you, and the
Word of God doesn't come up against you,
and the Christ of God doesn't speak into
the innermost depths of your being, you'll die
with your defiled conscience.
But they're awakened now, aren't they?
They start to go out from the eldest
right to the last.
Being convicted by their own conscience, it's God
that has touched the conscience.
And unless God touches it, it'll not awaken.
Now, let's go further.
We're going to Hebrews chapter 9 now.
The letter to the Hebrews, chapter 9, verse
11.
Hebrews 9, verse 11.
But Christ, being come an high priest of
good things to come, by a greater and
more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that
is to say, not of this building, neither
by the blood of goats and cows, but
by his own blood, he entered in one
sense of the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us.
You know, that's one of the greatest verses
on the blood of Christ in your book.
Watch it.
But by his own blood.
Mind you, it was his own blood.
The blood that's in your veins tonight is
not your own.
The blood that's in your veins is your
father's.
Maternity nurses ought to know that the blood
that's in the child's veins is the father's
blood.
The mother's blood never mingles for one moment
with the child's blood, or is it the
mother's blood that's ever in its veins?
It's only the father's.
You know, there's a great professor here in
Northern Ireland, an obstetric surgeon of the highest
order with all the qualifications that could be
got.
I think perhaps he's rated as the greatest
one.
I mustn't give any names, but I was
riding with him in the car one day,
and I said to him, tell me this,
sir.
Is it perfectly true to say that only
the father's blood is in the child's veins?
He said, certainly it is.
Certainly, he said, because by a wonder that
could only come from God, the mother's blood
never mingles with the child's.
I said, here's a poser for you.
Jesus Christ was born miraculously of the Virgin
Mary, and had no human father, where did
he get his blood?
He said, I never thought.
I said, I'll tell you.
It's divine!
This book actually says it's the blood of
God!
In Acts chapter 20.
The blood of God.
That's why Christ's blood was precious blood.
Mind you, friends, there was no fallen nature
in that blood.
If I communicate to my boy my nature,
it's a fallen nature, it's a pity of
him, he'll need to be saved.
Jesus Christ had no fallen nature in his
veins.
It was precious blood.
That's why that book says it's his own
blood.
Precious.
And then it says he entered heaven by
his own blood.
That's powerful blood, isn't it?
He could bring him out of the tomb
through the blood of the everlasting covenant he
was raised from the dead.
And by that blood he went into heaven.
It's powerful blood.
Now watch it.
Having obtained eternal redemption for us.
I say that's precious, isn't it?
That's purchasing blood.
I would like to ask you folks who
think you can be lost again.
What does it mean when it says Jesus
purchased by his blood eternal redemption for us?
Tell me what it means.
Because I'll tell you what it means.
It means eternal redemption.
Don't ever put a toy on the blood
of Christ.
Don't ever dare.
It's an insult to the work of Calvary.
Praise God when my savior died he purchased
eternal redemption for me.
I don't know about you.
Praise God I knew about me.
I'm eternally redeemed by precious blood.
By precious blood.
So it's powerful blood because it took him
into heaven.
It's precious blood because it's his own.
It's purchasing blood because it has obtained eternal
redemption for us.
But look at the next verse.
For if the blood of bulls and of
goats and the ashes of an heifer that's
the Old Testament sacrifices of course if those
things sprinkling the unclean folk sanctify us, that
is, set them apart to the purifying of
the flesh if the ashes and the blood
of bulls and goats could sprinkle the unclean
the days of the past and set them
apart and purify them listen to this how
much more shall the blood of Christ who
through the eternal spirit offered himself without thought
to God purge your conscience?
Now that's the bit I like, isn't it?
I tell you friends, you know this is
wonderful because when we started tonight you saw
the optiveness of conscience in the natural man
and then you saw the falseness of conscience
in the parasympathetical man and now you're seeing
the pureness of conscience in the saved man.
Once upon a time I had a load
of sin and guilt upon my conscience.
Once upon a time I was conscious that
I was getting near to God and unprepared.
Once upon a time I was conscious that
I was a defiled, ruined, guilty rebel but
one day I came to the cross and
accepted the Savior and the blood of the
cross purged my conscience the burden rolled away
gone how did it go?
by blood, by the essence by joining the
Baptist?
Never by coming to the cross and accepting
the Savior and praise God his blood cleansed
from all sin conscience purged are you following
me?
I know the well is deep but you're
getting something out of it aren't you?
do you see the natural conscience telling him
I'm right and wrong?
do you see it becoming defiled in the
parasy so that he can profess that he
knows God when all the time he knows
he's a rebel?
do you see the conscience being awakened by
the Spirit of God?
do you see the only remedy for cleansing
and purging the conscience of a poor life
sinner?
praise God I love to say it's the
blood of Christ now come on, we've got
a good bit to go yet 1 Timothy
chapter 4 now here's a portion I think
that all the younger folks should study very
much 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 now
the Spirit speaks expressly that is, the Spirit
talks very definitely about this thing the Spirit
always speaks very definitely but this is really
emphasized that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith 1 Timothy 4 that
in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith that's one of the strains of
the last days now you younger folks coming
up there you should always try to differentiate
like this between the faith which is the
truth you believe and the faith which is
the trust you have in the truth you
believe you see the faith means the truth
the whole volume of truth that you believe
that's truth the other is trust now in
the last days some shall depart from the
truth truth the volume of truth, the doctrines
we stand for the fundamentals we call the
essentials and there are quite a number of
men in our day departing from the truth
the same that were in the last days
now watch what they do giving heed to
seducing spirits and doctrines of devils of course
if you turn from the truth you've got
to turn to the lies there's only the
North and South Pole and everything there's only
right and left all the time there's only
good and evil there's only light and darkness
there are always these extremes and if you
turn from the truth you must turn to
the lies and if you turn from God's
truth you must turn to the devil's lies
and so they turn to seducing spirits and
doctrines of devils now watch this, verse 2
speaking lies in hypocrisy now that word speaking
is actually preaching this is not talking in
the sleep here he's talking about he's talking
about preachers preachers preaching lies death death
of course when an old fellow gets up
and tells you that he can bring a
pig around and sprinkle it with water and
give it a new birth he's a liar
that's all there is about that, that's as
blunt as I can be he's a liar
and a liar going to hell that's what
he is and in these things there are
pictures speaking lies but you know who they're
following don't you the devil they're seduced by
the devil now watch it further having their
conscience seared with a hot iron I tell
you that's a tremendous statement isn't it your
conscience branded is the word seared is the
same word branded with a hot iron now
wait a minute and I'll bring out the
proof watch the next we did forbidding to
marry does that give you any light alright
I'll be gone and commanding to abstain from
meat does that give you any light now
watch this picture first of all he speaks
lies and then he's got great authority I
don't know where he got it from only
that the book says it's from the devil
and he can command people not to marry
and then he can also command them not
to eat certain meats it's getting desperately like
the church of Rome isn't it oh I
say some of you are way ahead of
me is that right alright alright alright then
am I right in concluding that behind the
doctrines of the church of Rome stands the
devil of course I'm right because there's no
other one controlling the damnable heresies that comes
from papish Rome but the devil now how
can these men do this sort of thing
just because their conscience is sealed with a
hot iron you know when the devil starts
to deal with your conscience when the lord
starts to deal with your conscience it's awakening
oh but when the devil starts to deal
with your conscience it gets sealed you see
you know I'm hoping to bring to the
church in the not too far distant future
a monk who got gloriously saved and there's
a great book on the market just now
written by him and it's called the monk
who lived again some of my best friends
know him very well and here's a story
of how he got saved he went into
a monastery to become a priest and he
says that very definitely in his early days
as he went into the monastery he wanted
to be a holy man of God and
I believe that that was true he actually
thought by going and burying himself in this
monastery and taking all the teachings from the
old abbot or bishop of the monastery that
he'd become a holy man of God and
he said along with some other young fellows
we were brought up to play in the
evenings and usually we played for three or
four hours that's more than some of the
old bishops do by the way and he
said the old bishop brought us then into
an innermost room in the monastery right before
a very huge statue of the Virgin Mary
and he said we were told that if
we could really get through in prayer that
on a certain day at a certain time
the face of Mary would light up to
show that we were accepted and he said
of course I went all in for this
then he said I prayed one morning to
three o'clock in the morning before this
statue and I was freezing of cold and
I went to my little chair and then
I said well if I tumble into bed
I'll never get through and I got down
on my knees again he said and I
prayed on and prayed on and then he
said I was really freezing and I remembered
that I left my cloak out at the
feet of Mary and about five in the
morning I tripped cold out to get the
cloak and he said I could see the
old bishop with a man up the ladder
and he was getting him to paint the
face of Mary with luminous paint that's Rome
for you that's popish pagan Rome for you
no wonder I had no time for it
he said I stood in the shadows and
watched this thing and then he said in
the morning he brought them all into the
inner room and said there, there, there it
is Panther and all the boys were excited
he said Panther's got proof then I took
the old bishop aside and said look I
saw you painting this he said have you
utter one word of this and he turned
on me like a devil that man, to
make a long story short, had a good
way to go escaped from the monastery and
got gloriously saved by the E.U.S
.A. mission of South America I think it
was savage that led him to the Lord
I'm not so sure of that but he
was there at the time how can a
bishop go on bluffing the young fellows and
pretending to be Godly how?
I'll tell you how because it's conscience, it's
serious that's how it is that's just how
it is one friend you turn from the
truth and you know it takes something to
bend some of you young fellows to the
truth you don't want the truth sometimes it
doesn't suit your particular mould of thoughts if
you don't accept the truth you must be
looking for the lie and remember if you
get mixed up with the doctrines of demons
it will be a pity on you oh
God save our conscience from ever letting the
devil put a grounding iron on us go
to that book whether it suits you or
whether it doesn't never be afraid of the
truth the truth will make you free truth
will bring you near to God now you
can see the hardness of a seduced man
the hardness of a conscience of a seduced
man are you following me?
the activeness in the natural man and then
the falseness of conscience in the prosthetical man
and then the pureness of conscience in the
saved man and the hardness of conscience in
the seduced man now here's a one that
we need to watch it's in 1st Timothy
1st Corinthians chapter 8 1st Corinthians chapter
8 we
need to read a bit here to get
the sense and I think it's only fair
to do that to this class 1st Corinthians
chapter 8 verse 1 nor are such things
offered unto idols you see if you read
the first verse of chapter 7 you'll find
that Paul says now concerning the things whereof
ye root unto me you see they root
to him about several things now this is
one of the things they root about about
things offered unto idols you see they had
a problem then that we haven't now they
were in Corinth and all round them were
idols, pagan idols and into these pagan temples
were brought huge portions of meat and this
meat was offered to idols then it was
afterwards sold sometimes Christians bought it and ate
it and in one sense they had every
right to but in another sense we need
to watch it but they were puzzled about
this whether they would eat this meat or
whether they wouldn't and so he says now
as such things offered unto idols we know
that we all have knowledge we all of
course mean we Christians all have knowledge about
idols is the thing in question of course
doesn't mean we have all knowledge of everything
but we Christians have got to try it
we have all knowledge about idols we know
that an idol is a stone or a
piece of wood that doesn't worry us we've
found a savior and we're liberated from that
we've got knowledge of that we all have
knowledge we all have knowledge here's a wonderful
phrase knowledge puffeth up but love edifies you
know that's the thing that all we believers
should get the hold of here tonight to
know that book is a great thing great
thing may I simply say I know the
book to know the book is a great
thing to love your brother is a greater
thing love edifies knowledge will only puff you
up you know remember the greatest thing is
to love your brother and there's a whole
lot of more foreign things than I know
and just because they've got a smattering of
knowledge they wouldn't look at oh no they
knew a door but they love very little
don't you become a Pharisee like them there's
a whole lot of boys that knew everything
but they wouldn't speak to you in the
street you know they wonder whether I'm saved
or not well let them wonder I'll be
in heaven through the blood of Christ oh
friend let's get the hold of it that
love is the important thing and if we
loved one another we would be less powerful
now watch how he works that out because
he's laid a good foundation to start on
the apostle was a great preacher but too,
and if any man thinks that he knew
of anything he knew of nothing yet as
he ought to know but if any man
loved God the same is known of his
you know I think that's lovely just how
it's put you think it should have been
put if any man loved God he knows
God but it doesn't have to look like
that if any man loved God God knows
him I think that's lovely now he begins
to expound what he's been asked now concerning
therefore the eating of those things which are
offered in sacrifice unto idols we know that
an idol is nothing in the world and
that there is none other God but one
now we do know that don't we we
know there's just one God because he's expressed
in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost but
we know there's one God for though there
be that are called God whether in heaven
or in earth that is things in the
heavens are sometimes worshipped as is the God's
many and Lord's many but to us there
is but one God the Father of whom
are all things and we in him and
one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all
things and we in him my can't you
see the equality of the Father and Son
here both on the same basis you know
he does exhort the Father of having all
things and we in him but he also
exhorts our Lord Jesus Christ by whom are
all things and we in him you know
there are two creations mentioned there by whom
are all things he made all things and
he upholds all things but he also created
us in the new birth we became a
new creation two creations he made all things
and praise God he gave us regenerating birth
now he goes on howbeit there is not
in every man that knowledge you see he
is coming away now to every man that
you know we Christians we know a whole
lot of things we know certain things about
idols and we know there is one God
but howbeit you know every man just doesn't
know all this watch for some with conscience
of the idol onto this earth eateth as
a thing offered unto an idol and their
conscience being weak is defiled you know that's
a bit that we want to get the
hold of before we go much further we'll
take it that there is just a young
man from Corinth and he's got gloriously saved
he's just saved the day or two and
he's brought out now from the pagan temple
but you know the moment that this piece
of meat that was set before the idol
in the temple is put on the place
you know he becomes conscious of something he's
got the conscience about it now if he
would swap a wee bit more and had
grown a wee bit more he wouldn't have
any trouble with that conscience but because he's
on land and on top his conscience is
weak and he's got a conscience about it
but you know sitting beside him at the
table there may be a fellow who knows
a whole lot he's a great scholar he's
got out into the clear he knows all
about idols he's not worried about them now
and he can eat the meat without any
trouble should he do it?
now that's the problem that's the problem his
conscience is not troubling him ah but listen
the teaching in this chapter is that we
ought to respect the other fellow's conscience and
that's something we very seldom do man we
just know what we can do we can
go where we like we can watch what
we like we'll do what we like but
you never respect the other fellow's conscience now
what do you see the apostle working about?
verse 9 but take ye less by any
means this liberty of yours become a stumbling
block to them that are weak for if
any man see thee which hath knowledge that
hath meat in the idol temple shall not
the conscience of him which is weak be
emboldened to eat those things which are offered
to idols and through thy knowledge shall the
weak brother perish for whom Christ died but
when ye sin so against their brethren and
whom their weak conscience ye sin against Christ
wherefore, here's the conclusion if meat make my
brother to offend I will eat no flesh
while the world stands ah there's a great
principle you know if we Christians carried out
this principle how we would show our love
for one another because that's the important thing
you know Sam, if there's something that I
know I can do something that I have
knowledge about something that I know that I'm
free to do if I feel that it'll
work that fellow there, I'll not do it
not because I can't do it but because
I respect his conscience whatever you tell them
to do we just trample over the other
fellow say I know what I'm doing, I
know what I can't do and you bully
on your own way but you never respect
the other fellow's conscience remember there's not only
an activeness of conscience and the falseness and
the pureness and the hardness but there's a
weakness of conscience that you want to watch
and you can't do as you like not
if you love your brother oh that's the
principle thing how Paul jagged that in at
the beginning he says you know knowledge is
a great thing boys but love is greater
I'd love to go round some of the
assemblies and preach that because they would need
it because they've gone all out for truth
if they don't care for the truth we
would need to learn that all over again
now come with me to the last little
point that I want to make this evening
it's in Romans chapter 9 Romans
chapter 9 and verse 1 Paul
is speaking he says I say the truth
in Christ I lie not my conscience also
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that
I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in
my heart for I could wish that myself
were accursed from Christ for my brethren my
kinsmen according to the flesh now I'd love
to be honest in this meeting I wonder
how many of us in this meeting can
actually say this I wonder can you say
that your conscience bears you witness this evening
that you have continual heaviness and sorrow in
your heart still how many of us just
how many now be honest I'm not asking
you for your answer I'm only wanting you
to look up to God how many of
us how many of us ever got to
the place that you could say that I've
never got to I'm being honest now I'm
not asking you for your answer but I'm
the leader I could wish that I were
accursed from Christ for my brethren my kinsmen
in the flesh did you ever say that
did you ever say I'm prepared to go
down into the depths of the caverns of
the gym of the dumb did you say
the rest of it say the apostle had
vision the apostle had a conscience that was
being absolutely filled with sincerity and earnestness for
Paul I wish we all had I've shown
you the activeness of conscience in the natural
mind I've shown you the falseness of conscience
in the philosophical mind I've shown you the
pureness of conscience in the saved mind I've
shown you the hardness of conscience in a
seduced mind I've shown you the weakness of
conscience in the non-taught mind but I'm
showing you now the earnestness of conscience in
a godly mind a man that's really out
for God and for the glory of God
he has continual power and heaviness what do
we do about it how many of us
share that fear for the feet that jump
to hell that in your home tonight there's
maybe someone and they're on the brink of
a Christmas equinox maybe an old mother and
after all she's your mother she loves you
and she loves you but it should without
Christ's mercy near and fair now that she
had a wonderful life way down yonder in
Yuknard in a wee house tonight I've got
one brother out of sixteen of them he's
not changed fifteen of them on the way
to heaven but there's one more child in
the forger and I've seen it, many a
time I go in the car and drive
around the argument street in Yuknard for one
purpose only let the last one go in
and say Tom and you will say it's
God every night when I get down on
my knees and say Lord if you come
tonight Tom Tom will bless her have you
got this heaviness have you got any sorrow
do you be prepared to lose everything that
a soul might sustain oh God so many
of us are prepared for nothing we just
let them go to hell above everything I
pray that God will give me a conscience
that will make me conscious of man and
woman going down to hell what else mother
building the Baptist church to include me I
want to see man saved you pray that
God will do that for you too we
are on saved trail if Paul felt like
this please God Paul save yourself like this
for the Saviour is all about you the
Saviour came for you the Saviour died for
you Saviour walked for you Saviour went to
the cross but you might be saved oh
that you would turn and seek the Lord
while you are at the cross may God
bless the truth we have looked at let
us pray blessed
Lord we thank you for thy word we
thank you for thy truth Lord we have
learned long since ago that only the truth
can set us free forbid Lord that we
should ever get mixed up with the doctrines
of demons or be in any way seduced
by the devil forbid Lord that we should
ever be emptied through catharsis forbid Lord that
our conscience would ever be filled with all
God's give us a conscience that like the
great apostles of old where the souls of
men will weigh heavy on our souls day
in and day out we'll hear the trump,
trump, trump of Christless feet on the road
to hell Lord bless thy word help us
to love one another and help us every
moment of every day in our waken hours
and in our unconscious hours to ever praise
thee for the blood of Christ that purged
our conscience Lord bless thy people save our
unsaved souls glorify thy name for Christ's sake