And tonight I want to deal with a number of tithes that describe the conscience of a child of God. First Timothy one verse eighteen. This charge I commit unto thee son Timothy according to the prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest war a good warfare holding faith and a good conscience which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwrecked, of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. I mean, the Lord bless the reading of his words. Let us pray together. Father, again we just bow in thy presence and acknowledging that we are weak as water spilled upon the ground which cannot be gathered up again. And we want to speak in such a way that thy people are blessed and thy name is exalted. And we just cast ourselves upon thee and ask for special help and ability in your word tonight that we may grasp these truths concerning who we are and what we are. in order that thy name is honored and glorified by us continually in our lives. We thank you for answered prayer, and we ask you to continue to work in us, that which is well-pleasing in thy sight for Jesus' sake. Amen. According to the chart that we have been following, and you'll notice that on the chart, We began with a natural conscience, which is the result of the pure conscience and the good conscience here, where Adam and Eve before they fell into sin. And when they disobeyed God, they got what he's called a natural conscience in Romans chapter two. It's an amazing thing that in Romans two, we're dealing with the principles of judgment, the principles that God is going to put into operations. when he judges men. There are at least five of them enumerated in Romans chapter two. Now, everyone has a natural conscience. And according to their condition, it either accuses them or excuses them. And a conscience can become defiled and also evil. And the conscience that's one time accused with excuse And this is so true. But as we go up the chart on this ascending line, God begins with a sinner by giving him a convicting conscience. A convicting conscience is a conscience that knows that we have sinned and that we need to repent before God. But it's possible to have a convicting conscience without being converted. Not everyone who knows that they're lost comes to Christ. There are those who know they're lost and who remain in that condition. But this morning we saw that it's possible to have a purged conscience by a knowledge of the gospel, by a knowledge that Christ has dealt fully and completely with our sins. It is possible to have a purged conscience. Let me say there's some outlines of this in the vestibule if you want one when you go out. be sure to pick one up. Now, following the purged conscience, we come to the pacified conscience. And after a person has a purged conscience, he certainly has a pacified one. For the Word of God declares that being justified by faith, we have peace with God. And therefore, after this, It is possible to experience the other adjectives that are here used. It is possible to have a good conscience, an answering conscience, a pure conscience, a witnessing conscience, and of course a conscience void of offense. Now, it is possible to have this by simply growing in grace and by the sanctifying work of God which lays hold of the lives of believers. This growth in grace is called by that biblical term sanctification, the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God in the life of a child of God. Now we read tonight from First Timothy chapter one. First Timothy chapter one deals with the house of God. The house of God is another term in the New Testament for the church. First Timothy three-fifteen, Paul says, These things have are written unto you, hoping to come unto thee shortly, but if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth. So the church becomes a pillar and ground of truth, and the church is another expression for the house of God. And Timothy, in First Timothy chapter one and verse three, he's told by Paul to remain at Ephesus. And to remain at Ephesus in order that he might charge those who were there that they teach no other doctrine. Now, when we come to the end of the chapter that we read together in our Bible reading tonight, we notice that there's a warfare in which... The child of God is engaged. And in verse eighteen he says, This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. And how is this warfare accomplished? With a good conscience. You'll notice that. Faith and a good conscience. To answer this, When we talk about faith and a good conscience, after having the conscience purged by the work of Calvary and pacified because we have peace with God, we're not disturbed by the gospel. The gospel is a peaceful message to the soul, for we know on whom we believe and we have peace with God. Well... How could a Christian be otherwise than have a good conscience? How could it be otherwise? Well, it's not to realize the depths of depravity that lies within. For you'll notice on this other side, you'll notice a swerving conscience, a wounded conscience, and all the way down here, a weak conscience. And the weak conscience is described in First Corinthians chapter eight. and again in chapter ten and in Romans chapter fourteen and in Romans chapter fifteen and the very things that brought the weak conscience to the child of God are the things that Timothy is told to guard against at Ephesus in the house of God in the church there he talks about the law In verse five, in verse four, he says, don't give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying. It is possible in the Christian life to be around somebody that all they do is minister questions and bring up problems rather than be occupied with the things that build up one another in the faith. I was raised in this kind of an environment. I know what I'm talking about. Because we had our few taboos where I was growing up. And woe be to the person who broke one of them. And of course, those of us who didn't do the things that we weren't supposed to do, we looked down upon those who were guilty of the infractions of the rules. The same thing about it is this. It didn't edify. It did not build up in the faith. It brought us to the point where it could be said we had a weak conscience. Now, we thought we were strong believers because of the things we didn't do. You see, but really, we didn't know the true liberty into which we had been brought by the gospel. God doesn't save a person to make them miserable. God saves a person to make them like Christ. And the work of a good conscience is to be Christ-like in activity. So, it's a person with a weak conscience. They have a good conscience in some areas. But in other areas, that person becomes a real plague. to the other believers. For they always have to cater to that person because of their weak conscience. And there are some Christians you continuously have to cater to them. And you have to cater to them because the Word of God tells you to. Ye who are strong bear the infirmities of the weak. We read in Romans, verse one. And not the doubtful disputations. So if you don't want to get into an argument, you bear with them. But you see, at the same time, those people are not really growing in the things of the Lord. They are occupied with things of the flesh rather than things of the Spirit. Let me just give an illustration so you know what I mean. You see, I was brought up in an environment that if anyone smoked a cigar or a cigarette, they certainly couldn't be a Christian. Christians just don't smoke. You see, that was the environment in which I was brought up. And then there were the adults of Christians don't play cards. And Christians don't. Don't. And the emphasis was on the things that they don't do. And I'll never forget one day, as I was going down H Street on my bicycle as a Western Union boy delivering telegrams, there in the car was a Sunday school superintendent. And what do you think he was doing? He was smoking a cigar. That just about destroyed me. You see, it just about destroyed me as a young believer. Can a person be saved and smoke a cigar? Well, he certainly can. Why? Well, because we're not saved because we don't smoke. Salvation is not a works. Salvation is of grace. Can a person be saved and still play cards? Yes, because salvation is not of works. Salvation is not of grace. Now, I can think of other ways to spend your time better than sitting playing a game of cards. But that is not the issue. I knew a certain preacher's wife up north. Her main theme, whenever she met somebody, is you should never have your hair cut. and speaking to women. It is sin to have your hair cut. And her main subject was long hair. Well, she turned just about everybody off. She turned off just about everybody. And she talked to her because most of the people had their hair cut. You get what I'm talking about? Her conscience was so weak that this is what she dwelt upon. May I tell you a story about Spurgeon? He is Spurgeon, you know, was one of those followers who could tell a joke and then get cracked up about it. But anyway, he had lunch one day with one of the young preachers from the pastor's college. He had the pastor's college. And the last one to graduate from the pastor's college is a great preacher by the name of F.W. Borum. And anyone who reads any of the forty books that Borum wrote indeed will find a gold mine. Well, nevertheless, Spurgeon was having lunch with his young ministerial student, and after lunch the student pulled out a cigar and lit it. And Spurgeon looked at him and he said, can you light that cigar to the glory of God? And then the student put it down and he stumped it up and he said, I'm sorry, Mr. Spurgeon, that I've offended you and all this. The Word of God says, and whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all to the glory of God. And after he stumped it out, the student Spurgeon pulled one out and said, I can. I can. Now, you see, friends, that is a difference between a strong conscience and a weak conscience. And we'll be dealing with that in due time. And this is why Paul urged Timothy, for faith and a good conscience. Faith and a good conscience go together. Now, a good conscience is a good companion, just as a bad or an evil conscience is a bad companion. I don't want an evil conscience. I want a good conscience. Now, here in First Timothy one, there's a great contrast. And when he tells Timothy to war or good warfare, By faith and a good conscience, you see, it is in contrast to the activity of those two men of verse twenty. Hymenaeus and Alexander. They made shipwreck, you see. And Paul said, I delivered them to Satan. And to be delivered to Satan the only other time. that you have that expression that I know of in the New Testament. These First Corinthians five, where he deals with the immoral man. Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. In other words, these two men have to learn by bitter experience what blasphemy brings, what it means to blaspheme. They have to learn this. And Paul is seeking to teach Timothy how to war a good warfare. Don't do it like these two men. How do you do it? Well, he speaks of faith and a good conscience in verse nineteen. Back in verse fourteen, he speaks of faith and love, which manifested the grace of God. but in the warfare is faith and a good conscience. There are difficulties in maintaining a good conscience because there are many weak believers who quibble about the very things that Paul told Timothy was the reason he was to stay at Ephesus and preach there and get that church on track, get them established. Now, how can you do it? How is it done? To have a good conscience under these trying circumstances is to have an understanding of the fullness and finality of the work of Christ. All these things grow out of an understanding of the work of Christ. You see, in Ephesus, There are those who wanted to be teachers of the law, but they didn't know what the law said, and they didn't know the purpose of the law. And therefore they quibbled about these things. There were those who were ready to listen to old wise fables, rather than to the Word of God. And then Paul lays down the truth of the gospel, how God saved him. And then he turns to Timothy... And he says, Timothy, you are called to war or good warfare holding faith. And I like to think of it holding the faith. In other words, holding the word of God with a good conscience. Now the Apostle John said the same thing, basically. And I'd like you to turn to First John chapter three. And First John chapter three deals with a subject of loving one another. and we love one another because Christ loved us. We love because he first loved us. And when you get down to verse twenty and verse twenty-one, he says, if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. In other words, do you ever have a condemning conscience wherein your conscience strives with you, you've made a mistake, an accusing conscience, and an accusing conscience will condemn you. If our heart condemn us, there's one thing the child of God has. He has a God to resort to, who is greater than the heart. So in verse twenty one we read, for if our heart condemn us, or verse twenty, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. In other words, If we have a condemning conscience, the best thing we can do is confess our sin. And when we confess our sin to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But don't get a clear conscience if you've sinned and you have to make something right with a neighbor. In other words, if I borrowed some money from you and I didn't pay it back. And you came and told me about it and then I said, well, I'll confess that to the Lord and I'll get forgiveness. No, confessing the sin of not paying my debt will not bring forgiveness, but paying the debt and confessing the sin will. There is that matter of restitution that the New Testament does talk about. And so we have in the fiftieth Psalm, God says, Pay thy vows unto the Most High. Come and ask of me, and I will give. Pay your vows. In other words, pay your debts. If it's a debt, If you've said something that you shouldn't have said about another believer, and it needs to be straightened out, straighten it out, and then confess it to the Lord and have a good conscience. Now, we move on up the ladder, and we move to the answering conscience over in First Peter chapter three. And the answering conscience in First Peter chapter three is linked with a good conscience. First Peter three and verse twenty one, where he's speaking of baptism. And he says, the light figure we're unto, even baptism, does also not save us. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here we have a great statement on baptism. Now, this word answer is found twice in First Peter three. In verse fifteen, it says, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that he's in you with meekness and fear. In other words, here it's an answer. of the reason for the hope that is within us and this provides a good conscience for the next verse says having a good conscience whereas they speak evil of you as of evil doers they may be ashamed that falsely accuse you you see in that verse it is not our hope only but it is a reason for the hope and of course the second down in verse twenty one where he speaks of baptism and the answer of a good conscience toward God the second is the ability to give an answer to God not to man but to God it's the answer of a good conscience toward whom not toward man but toward God and if we would realize that baptism is basically toward God we might have a different attitude toward it It is the answer of a good conscience toward God. And when we take these two answers together, be ready always to give an answer to every man for the reason of the hope that lies in you. And baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection from the dead. We come to the conclusion that Christianity is not an unreasoned or unreasonable religion. Christianity is reasonable, and it is reasoned. It is thought through. Think about it. What he says in verse fifteen. Be ready always to give every man an answer. A hypocrite has a hope, but he has no reason for the hope. An atheist has a reason, but he has no hope. But the child of God has a reason for his hope. And he has a hope for his reason. The reason that I have hope is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And the hope that I possess has a reason. Now, why is this an answer to God? It's because of what baptism really is. When you go back under the old covenant, the covenant of the law, there is a sign of the covenant. The sign of the law covenant was circumcision and the Sabbath. The sign of the new covenant is baptism and the Lord suffered. Those two things. And what to what to the answer? It is the answer of a good conscience toward God. An answering conscience. And you see, once a conscience has been purged, it's pacified. We have peace with God. And it is good. It can be. It can be good. as it is instructed by the word of God. And it is an answering conscience. But now we go back to Second Timothy chapter one and verse three. Second Timothy one and verse three. Here we have a pure conscience. We have a pure conscience. He says, I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers. night and day, a pure conscience. Now, having a good conscience is good, but having a pure conscience is a sign that the believer is growing in grace. A pure conscience. You see, we can understand what we mean by a pure conscience when we contrast it with an impure conscience. An impure conscience is that kind that would excuse impurity. It will excuse it. Oh, there's nothing wrong with that. Everybody does it. But you see, a pure conscience says, no, it's wrong. What makes it wrong? God's word says it's wrong. That's what makes it wrong. God's word says it's right. You see, and the pure conscience suggests that the believer's mind, the mind of the child of God and the conscience work together. The believer's mind is dwelling on the things that Paul wrote to the Philippian church about in Philippians chapter four and verse eight, where he says, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are good, whatsoever things are just. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. That's what makes a pure conscience. In other words, a pure conscience is an instructed conscience. A pure conscience is a conscience that dwells on things that are good, pure, lovely and just and therefore when you examine these things you take the sermon on the mount and what our Lord says about the blessed man blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God in other words the pure conscience Now that takes us to Romans nine in verse one. I hope I'm not going too rapidly. Romans nine in verse one. Here we have an interesting expression. Here we have a witnessing conscience. Romans nine verse one. Where the apostle writes, I say the truth in Christ. I lie not. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit. 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, are according to the flesh. It's an amazing thing. There are two men in the Word of God that prayed to be lost. And here is one of them. the Apostle Paul. The other is Moses. In Exodus chapter thirty-two, both of them prayed to be cut off if Israel would be saved. In other words, Paul here is expressing his desire and his anxiety for his people, Israel, according to the flesh. And it is because of their spiritual condition. He says, I have continual sorrow and great heaviness in my heart. He had a heavy heart because his people, Israel, had rejected their Messiah. Now calling his conscience to witness is to prove that his concern is genuine. A witnessing conscience tells us that we're dealing with God with an open face. It is a recognition that God knows what's in our heart. And God understands our innermost being. And because he understands our innermost being, we can thus deal with him. The conscience is born to witness to prove that his concern is genuine. In other words, when Paul writes this to the Romans, it's not a hypocritical display. I don't know how Paul said what he did. I don't know how Moses did. Back in Exodus thirty-two. But all I can say is this. They were genuine. And when you take the intercession of Moses in Exodus thirty-two and thirty-three and thirty-four, and you take what the Apostle Paul has to say here, you know that these men had a witnessing conscience. Now, the witnessing conscience deals with something. It deals with the truthfulness of our words. Is a witnessing conscience important? Yes. Because Christians sometimes tell lies. That's why. Paul in Ephesians chapter four says, Ly not one to another. There are times when believers lie. Now they shouldn't, but they do. And by the way, half-truth would never deal with God. You know the definition of a half-truth. A half-truth is a skin of a reason stuffed with a lie. That's a half-truth. And why would you tell a half-truth anyway? Well, that's a person that you told the half-truth. You want them to believe the wrong half. And you want to get credit for the right half if there is such a thing. You see, Paul had nothing like that when he's conscious, poor witness. for his continual heaviness and his sorrow of heart concerning the nation of Israel according to the flesh. Sincerity, friends, produces a witnessing conscience. Paul writes to the Philippians and he says that he may be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ. That's how God expects us to live. always tell the truth now notice at the very top of the chart is a conscience void of offense it's all the way at the top now a conscience void of offense is found in Acts chapter twenty four and verse sixteen and Paul in Acts chapter twenty four is on trial He's standing before the Roman governor. He is a prisoner. Tertullius, the orator, was brought by the high priests and others from Jerusalem, where Paul had been taken captive. And he is now a prisoner of the Roman government. And Paul, in making his defense, in verse sixteen, he says to them, And herein do I exercise myself. to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, that must always be first. And toward man. If you're all right toward God, you'll be all right toward man. But you see, if you're not all right before God, then you become suspect before man. Well, Paul announced to Felix, what his desire was, and what his true exercise was. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in First Corinthians chapter four and verse four, he said this, I know nothing against myself. Now that's a great statement. I wish I were able to say that. I know nothing, he said. against myself. But yet he added, Yet am I not hereby justified? For he that judges me is the Lord. He recognized that he didn't know his own motives as well as he should. And when he stands before God, it's the judgment seat of Christ. God is going to judge us on the basis of the motive behind the act. God not only knows what we do, but He knows why we do it. What is the motive? And it is this motive, idea, that brings a conscience void of offense. Paul says, I daily exercise myself that my conscience is void of offense toward God. I know nothing against myself. But I recognize that I don't justify myself. I'll wait. And God knows far more about me than I know about myself. Isn't it nice to know that God knows so much about you and still loves you? A conscience void of offense. In other words, Paul was making no defense of himself because he was arrested by the Romans to keep him from being murdered by the Jews. but to have a conscience void of offense is necessary to train the conscience with the word of God and with the ways of God. The scripture says about Moses in the hundred-third psalms, he made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. I'd like to just say three things quickly in closing. Number one, to be saved, I have to have a purged conscience. And the reason I have a purged conscience is because I have trusted and am trusting only the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not what I do or what I don't do. It is what Christ has done and that alone. Oh, that's good news. That is good news. what Christ has done. May I say something that I said to John Phillips, the Bible teacher. We were sitting in my home together, and I told him the story of a man, a preacher with whom I was speaking. And this preacher got on me because I believed in eternal security. by eternal security I mean that a genuinely saved person will never be lost I'm not talking about a professor it's possible to profess and still be lost I'm talking about a genuine believer will never be lost he's a sheep of the Lord and of course this preacher didn't believe this and there are many who don't they're really secure and they don't know it but nevertheless I said to this man, I have a question for you, but be very careful. There's a hook in it. And I said, are you ready? He said, yes. I said, my question is, very simply, what must I do to be lost? I said, don't answer. I said, because if you name anything, then the not doing it is what keeps me saved. You get that thinking. John Phillips turned to me and said, where did you get that? I said, that's me only. So he said, that's the best answer I've ever had. What do you think it through? What must I do to be lost now that I'm saved? I didn't do anything to save myself. Christ did it all. He did it all. We're not saved by works and we're not kept by works. So you see, it is possible to have a purged conscience. And to have a purged conscience, you can move on and have a good conscience and answering conscience and a conscience void of offense. Now because I am saved, I have no more consciousness of sins. Why? I realized that Jesus paid it all. He accomplished the work in totality on the cross on Calvary's Hill. But the third thing I want to leave with you is a question. What kind of baggage are you carrying? I mentioned this morning that the conscience is like a compass. It can point the wrong way. because of the baggage that we as Christians carry around. And if we carry the wrong baggage, the conscience can be wrong. So I ask you tonight, what kind of baggage are you carrying? Are you carrying any baggage that in any way would keep you from having a conscience described by these adjectives that we've used tonight. Good. Answering. Void of offense. Witnesses. May God search our hearts. Let's pray. Father, we just thank you tonight for the privilege of just opening your word and delighting in us. Because thou hast saved us. You're the one who purges the conscience. And we pray, O God, that we may have a witnessing conscience. For we desire to always tell the truth. We desire to make things right. Help us not only to have a witnessing conscience. But a conscience void of offense. And a good conscience. That we may hold faith in a good conscience. And thereby war a good warfare. We commend this company to you, and we thank you for the privilege of being able to be together on a Sunday night and look into your word and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We dismiss thy people with thy blessing. O may they know thy blessing, that blessing of thine which makes rich. and adds no sorrow that is full of grace and leads to glory. For we pray in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.