One of the thrills of pastoring is seeing people grow in their faith. Realizing too how that day was when I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and was set free. And then seeing other people come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and being set free. And then as you mature in your faith, And sometimes you get entangled, as the Bible says, in the yoke of bondage in some area of your life. And then seeing and experiencing that for yourself, being set free in that area, and also having a part in helping others find that freedom. I have given literally hundreds of a book away entitled Reclaiming Surrendered Ground. I believe that book has a lot of powerful truths in it. Of course, with any book written by man, there may be some points of disagreement. There may be some points that you would tweak here and there. But all in all, I find that if people work through the chapters of that book, they can experience freedom. One of the chapters deals with the subject of conscience. And as I do counseling, as I think of my own life and my own walk with the Lord, I think it's important to have a good conscience. And people can hide from other people. They can hide their true selves from those close to them. And of course we've all read maybe newspaper accounts or flipped on the TV set and seen in the news where maybe some group or some individual has gone for many, many years, even decades, committing crimes against others and not really being found out until much later. They seemingly get by with things. Someone has said, and this is not the complete quote, but you can fool all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time. And there is a judge that is always with you that either commends your actions or condemns them. It either puts you or pats you on the back or kicks you in the seat of your britches. This judge either gives you a soft pillow to lay on or stones you with stones that seem, if possible, would deprive you of life itself. Because some have chosen to set conscience aside, it has become a voice that cannot be quietened, a noise that is deafening, and a pain for which no pill can deaden. And I trust you have some paper and a pen with you to take notes, because I want to talk about the subject of a good conscience and how to have it. This is one of those messages, I think, that are going to apply to every single one of us. I want us to see, first of all, that conscience is defined for us, and we'll look at Romans chapter 2. We're going to be looking at a lot of Bible tonight. I wish I could be like Elijah in the midst of the battle and look up and see the sun stand still. I don't think it's going to happen though. Webster's 1828 says that the conscience is internal or self-knowledge or judgment of right and wrong. Someone has said it's the moral governor. Someone has also said it is a definition that is the moral sense within each individual. The fact of the matter is the Bible says that every single one of us has a conscience. In Romans chapter 2, beginning in verse 14, it says, For when the Gentiles, which have 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. their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." I mention these points under this passage of Scripture that everyone has a conscience. You do. I do. No matter what part of the world you go into, no matter how educated or uneducated, Maybe they don't all abide by the same standard or laws that we do. Maybe there's a different set of laws that govern their society. However, they still have a conscience. And the conscience is a testimony to the individual as to what is right and what is wrong. It's a testimony. Number three under this passage of Scripture, it accuses or excuses not only our behavior, but our very thoughts. One thing that I'm concerned about is for many of us in our good Bible-believing, fundamental Baptist churches, I mean talking about those that adhere to the King James Bible, and we have what we would say high standards of living and so on, if we're not careful we get very pharisaical in our living. Because as long as the outside of the cup is looking clean, we think we're alright. And we forget that there's something that's always with us that God has placed within all mankind, whether lost or saved, and that is our conscience. And it not only accuses or excuses the things we do, but also our very thoughts as they come in. That's why the Bible says in 2 Corinthians to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. And I think for many, we're missing the victory that God wants us to experience in our life because we don't really deal with a sensitive conscience. And here we find that a conscience, I believe, as it says in Romans 2.16, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel, in essence, the conscience prepares us for the judgment seat of Christ. And we'll say more about that as we go. I'm sort of building as we go on the scriptures here. By responding to our conscience, no matter how minute the conviction, it prepares us for more light and truth regarding the Savior. In other words, you've heard me say, when you act on the light you have, God gives you more light. By responding to our conscience along with the leading of the Holy Spirit speaking to save people, we have a check system in place to lead us and keep us holy. Because God's concerned not only about our holiness in our walk, but holiness in the inner man. And bear in mind, if we had ever learned to be holy inwardly, then the outward man will take care of himself. But we have the tendency to say, look, I need to look right. I need to look good. I need to talk good. I need to appear good to people so that they'll think well of me. And that's all got its basis in pride. And not living openly and transparently before God. And so if we can learn to be sensitive to the Word of God as well as the conscience, that has been molded and shaped by the Word of God and actually prodded along by the Holy Spirit of God, we will live victoriously. We will live clean. We will live pure. We will be free. And I'm afraid that many times we think because of the indwelling presence of sin, how none of us will be perfect until we get to heaven, that somehow when we talk about holiness and being like Jesus, we think it's a pipe dream. We actually feel like, oh, it's an ideal but not easily attained. But Paul said, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. And he's not just talking about getting on a ship and going from point A to point B, or getting on the back of a donkey and going from point A to point B. He's talking about even our inner man. We can live free. Else he wouldn't put in his Word, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. Freedom is the absence of bondage. And so he wants to have us free. And free indeed. But that's really not the experience of most people. Most people are satisfied, sad to say, with a level, a certain level of freedom, but at the same time satisfied with the facade of modern day Christianity. And I'm afraid that modern day Christianity is a Christianity that makes God sick. And I'm not preaching at us as a collective whole, but I know one thing, that if we'll heed the Word of God and the message tonight, we can be free and free indeed. So we see that conscience is that moral governor that God has placed within each and every one of us. We see in the Scriptures as we study conscience that there are different kinds of consciences. So what are they? I've got six listed here and I may hit a couple of these in detail but yet just run through some others to give them to you and you can look these up later and I encourage you to do that. Let me just say, I know sometimes We get into a system of having our devotions. If we're not careful, we'll have this kind of rote system. You know, I've got to read this and this and this, and I've got to read three chapters or two pages or whatever, and I'm not against that kind of program. Except sometimes the Holy Spirit of God may want you to park on one verse or one phrase of a verse and take that with you. Or chase down a subject in His Word. You need to be sensitive to what God is trying to do in your life. We're talking about a relationship. We're not talking about a system. And we're so systematized today. Formula 1, 2, 3. Jesus Christ is not a formula. He's a person. Try telling your baby, okay, we're going to set you up. I'm not just talking about food formula. But we're going to set you up on a schedule. Up at 7. Don't dirty your diaper until 9. You know that's not going to fly. You know there's going to be some mess ups. You know it. But that's relationship. You know, when you go on holidays or you're taking a trip, there's adjustments that you have to make from time to time. You know, when you fly, sometimes the planes aren't always running on time. It can mess your system up. What you have with the Lord Jesus Christ is a relationship. Amen? And so, I want us to look at some of these. Number one, there's what we call the weak conscience. The weak conscience. Let's take our Bibles and go to 1 Corinthians chapter 8. 1 Corinthians chapter 8. What I'm saying is you may want to take a week and just study a lesson like this. I tell folks when they're working through maybe some issues or problems in their life, don't feel like if you're given a book to read that you have to work through that book all in one day. And we're not talking about just reading the book. We're talking about working through it. And I'm afraid we've got a lot of Christians that read their Bible, but they don't let the Bible read them, as someone has said, and deal with what God is trying to do in their life. And so in 1 Corinthians 8, he says this, Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing, yet as he ought to know. In other words, You and I got a long way to grow. But if any man loved God, the same is known of him. As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many and lords 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 by Him. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge. For some, with conscience of the idol, that means the awareness of the idol, and a sensitivity of idol worship, because they were saved out of that system, he says, under this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol. And their conscience, being weak, is defiled. So not everyone has a strong conscience. Some people have a weak conscience, the Bible says. But meek commendeth us not to God, for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse. But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours, this freedom of yours, become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hath knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died? But when ye sow sin against the brethren, talking about saved people who have been saved out of a false religious system, So if we count ourselves as mature believers, we ought to be very, very careful on how other people are observing our behavior. In honor of preferring one another. We ought to live life not according to what we have deemed as a spiritual way of living for us, but taking the other person in consideration. If we do anything that we may even feel like is alright to do, but it will cause a brother or sister to stumble, then we say, look, I'm willing to set that aside for that weak Christian. He said, But when ye sow sin against the brethren, and loom their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. It's amazing. We will not eat meat or we'll go on diets to lose weight. But when have we been that careful? Because of our weak brothers and sisters in Christ. And I'm not just talking about eating food. I hope you don't miss that. Take your Bibles and go to chapter 10, verse 27. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go, whatsoever is set before you eat, ask ye no question for conscience' sake. In other words, if you ask and they tell you, and then your conscience is defiled or it's heightened at that point, made aware, then you have to act on that. But don't ask too many questions. He says, But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that showed it, and for conscience sake. For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other. For why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Now, folks, the content, we always say do that before God and give to give him glory. And that's true. But notice you give God glory by taking your brother or sister who's weaker in the faith into consideration and not using your liberty to do something that might be all right for you to do, but might cause that brother or sister to stumble or to struggle in their walk with God. Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God, even as I please all men and all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." Paul said, I don't live my life for myself. I do what I do and don't do what I don't do for one reason, that I might win people to Jesus Christ. And so we see that there's a weak conscience. The Bible talks about a good conscience. And that's what we want, a good conscience. 1 Timothy 1 Verse 5, it says, Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and that charity is a much deeper word, we know, than love. As all the modern translations try to put in there, which is wrong. Your King James Bible has it right. It has every word right. Okay? Charity is love in action. And so it says, the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. That means a faith without hypocrisy. Not for show. It is what it is. Drop down to verse 19. He says, holding faith and a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning faith, have made chip-wreck. What's he saying here? He's saying, look, and I believe he's making reference here in this first chapter to the matter of salvation and the gospel that he has presented. And so he says some folks have what? They need to hold faith and a good conscience both together. They allow the Word of God to mold their conscience. Because the conscience, being a moral governor, is established by what law it goes by. So that's why as you begin to grow in your faith, your conscience is more sensitive to what we would say is the law, or what is right and what is wrong. The Word of God helps set the boundaries for your life. So it works in concert, your conscience does, with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of God. It's a powerful combination that we have as believers. We have the Word of God, the Holy Spirit of God, and a conscience molded by the Holy Spirit and the Word that helps keep us straight and get us straight. So you have a good conscience. You have a pure conscience. 1 Timothy 3, verse 9. It says, holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience. So there's a pure conscience. In Hebrews 10, verse 22, as we were preaching through Hebrews, I just touched on this. I didn't spend any time on the matter of the conscience. But we find here the Bible gives credence to an evil conscience. Hebrews 10.22 says these words, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, speaking about the matter of salvation. Amen. And so when you get saved, that evil conscience is dealt with. Then in Titus 1.15, which is just before the book of Hebrews and Philemon, 1.15, The Bible here says, unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled. So there is that defiled conscience, and to be defiled means to be dirty, to be spotted. It's almost like you think of a white background and a spot of mud on there. It's defiled. It's dirty. It's like when you think you're putting on a clean shirt and then you see that something wasn't really cleaned in the laundry. It's defiled. It's dirty. There's a defiled, there's a dirty conscience. And then in 1 Timothy 4, there the Bible makes reference to a seared conscience. A seared conscience. 1 Timothy 4. In verse 1 it says, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Well, you and I, if we're not careful, if we don't pay attention to the Word of God and Holy Spirit of God dealing with our conscience, we can sear that conscience. I have a friend of mine that went into the hospital some time ago and he was having nosebleeds. And he just couldn't seem to stop them. And so he had to go into the hospital and they had to cauterize his nose to stop the bleeding. The Bible says that if we're not careful, we will cauterize or we will sear that conscience to where it has no feeling. And this is why what happens is the Holy Spirit deals with us, and the Word of God pricks us and brings conviction our way. If we don't yield to that, we will become hardened, calloused. And there comes a point in time where it's seared, and that's why we can look at someone who claims to name the name of Christ, and they can be doing unbelievable wickedness, and it seems like it doesn't bother them. They've seared their conscience. To where they read the Word of God and the Word of God pricks at them, but there's no feeling. The Holy Spirit of God is saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And they say, hey, it doesn't bother me. You ever heard anybody say that? I tell a rebel, I said, be careful because you're going to be, if you don't turn the old ship around, there's going to come a point in time where you're going to be doing things you never, ever dreamed you would do. But they don't jump over there in a minute. It's a progression. It's a deadening of their God-set counsel. The Word of God setting that boundary. A seared conscience. Number three. Roman numeral number three in my notes. How does the conscience work? Now, this is important, so stay with me. It might seem a little bit academic, but at the same time, how does the conscience work? Because we all have one. We all deal with it. Every one of us. Number one, it witnesses for us or against us. It's a witness. If you picture a courtroom scene, whenever we are engaged in an activity, whenever we see something taking place, Whenever there's a judgment that must be made, a decision that has to be acted upon, then our conscience, molded, I trust, and shaped by the Word of God and a lot of other factors due to our humanity, so the conscience is not a foolproof thing. However, if you give it to God and you put it in its rightful place, it can be a powerful tool in the hands of God to keep you holy. Keep you free. And so when you have that decision to make, the conscience gets up on the witness stand and begins to either accuse or excuse. And so it witnesses for us or against us. Romans chapter 9 verse 1. I'm just going to read this. Keep going. It says, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. In other words, he's saying, look, my conscience is telling me, I'm not lying to you. I'm telling you the truth. And it solidifies it and says, that's right. Or when you say with your mouth, I'm telling you the truth, but you're lying, that conscience is saying, you're not telling the truth. And so everybody else may say, oh, I heard him say that he was telling the truth. But the inward man is saying, that conscious is saying, oh no, you're not. And what we fail to realize as believers is that we cannot run from our conscience. And that's why when I started the message, I talked about we can hide from other people. We can avoid other people. You know, when when someone is starting to walk away from God, they don't want to be with people who are right with God. You take a dormitory situation and I guarantee you that there are some People who will not talk a certain way to other people in the dorm, if they know that other people in the dorm are trying to live godly, they'll say, oh, we can't talk like that around them. We can't act like that. We can't go there around them. It's a source of conviction. Their conscience is working on them. So it witnesses for us or against us, Romans chapter 9. Number two, it passes judgment on us. It passes judgment on us. Not only does it get in the witness box, but it actually acts as a judge. It slams the old gavel down and says, Guilty! Guilty! So that's why you can have everybody else patting you on the back saying, Oh, you're so good. You're so right. But inside your conscience saying, You low down dirty rat. And you're trying to appear good on the outside, but inside you're going, oh, I'm so miserable. I'm sick. That's your conscience at work. John chapter 8, we have a great account here, a great illustration of this truth. John chapter 8. Verse 1 it says, Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning he came again unto 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. When they set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? Notice he put a qualifier in his so that everybody would know what these guys, these guys weren't trying to be holy. He says, this they said tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he had heard them not. 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 a stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground, and of course there's been a lot of conjectures to what Jesus wrote. But the fact of the matter is, we don't know what he wrote, but we know the results. In verse 9, And they which heard it being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. So here we have these guys, even though they look so good outwardly, and it seemed like they were being so righteous, and going according to the Word of God. Boy, they're going to clean up society. They're going to straighten this woman out. They're betraying something so right, so holy. So righteous. But notice what convicted them. It was their own conscience. So not only does the conscience witness, but it also passes judgment. This is why when you and I do wrong, a lot of times that conscience will come down on us and say, you are guilty. Doesn't it? Sure it does. My life, your life. So how, number four, Roman numeral number four, how do you have a clear conscience? We're getting to the exciting part. All of us know we're low down dirty dogs, okay? Alright? How do you have a clear conscience? If you go to Hebrews chapter 9, Hebrews chapter 9, We begin reading in verse 11. And here we find that we need to have our conscience purged. Purge means to clean out, to open up, to free up. Okay? Purge. Hebrews 9, verse 11 says, But Christ, being come a 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 of calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." In other words, when you embrace Jesus Christ, believing in the shed blood, that blood atonement, amen, The death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospel says He purges your life. He purges your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Amen. He cleans you up. That's salvation. That happens. That's salvation. Chapter 10 of Hebrews. For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not of the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshippers once purged should have no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he sayeth, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me, and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst not, neither hath pleasure therein which are offered by the law. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the witch will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. How do you have a clean conscience, a clear conscience? You have it purged. And this happens at salvation. And then you need to present your conscience to God. So this is, at salvation you have your conscience purged. Gives you a clear conscience. And then after you get saved, you need to continually present your conscience to God. He shapes it. He molds it. Write down 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. It says, Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." So in other words, you notice how that your conscience and the inward man must be God-directed, not man-centered. Not self-centered, but not even man-centered outwardly. In other words, you're not living your life and doing and not doing things to impress others. You're doing it as unto God. So you present your bodies and your conscience as what? A living sacrifice. The totality of your man. You die daily. You come before the Lord. And you yield yourself as an instrument to righteousness. Your mind, your will, your emotions, your body. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, this is important, it doesn't have the word conscience listed in here, but however in verse 12 it says, For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even through the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. So you see, your conscience needs to always be subservient or submissive to the Word of God. So anytime your conscience, that moral governor in you, goes against or seems to go against the Word of God, you yield to the Word of God. That's why we say the Word of God is our sole rule for faith and practice. You allow the Word of God to actually mold your conscience. Amen? So you go from your thoughts, through your conscience, to the Word of God. You see. Okay? So, 2 Timothy chapter 3. Let's go there. You know this verse. We're going to look at it. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Very well known. It says this in verse 15, "...from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures." See, this is why it's important to have your children in Sunday School, Master Club, and sitting under the preaching of the Word of God, and being faithful into the things of the Word of God, because it gives the Holy Spirit of God the Word to work with, as well as it begins to shape and sharpen the conscience of your child. Because they are more aware of what is right and what is wrong. Amen? Okay. And that from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise into salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. It tells you what is right, someone has said, what is wrong, how to get right, and how to stay right. And as you allow the Word of God to have that work in you, and your conscience is submitted to that, then it guides you in concert with the Word of God, and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of God is leading you along the way. And that is just a powerful combination in your life. That you can live holy and justly in a wicked and evil world. You can live with confidence. So how do you keep the conscience clear? How do you keep the conscience clean? Number one, this is the practical side of it, and it's going to take me longer to explain it than it really is to do it on a regular basis. But I want to give it to you so we're aware. Number one, live your life first and foremost before God. Acts 23, Paul is given a testimony. He gives his testimony in chapter 22, 23, and 26. In chapter 9 you have the accounts there of his salvation and how he's given his testimony out. But in chapter 23, verse 1, He says these words, and Paul earnestly beholding the council said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. Now how can a man under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God say that I count not myself to have apprehended? I've not arrived. He said, how can he write those words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God that he's a wretched man, that there's a war going on in his body, and yet write this too and give this testimony? And do it honestly. Look what he says. I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. And what I get from this passage of Scripture is he sought to live his life before God. That's our problem. We are so busy trying to look good to everyone else that we've forgotten about God. That's why it says, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. A lot of times we're typing our papers. We're studying our Sunday school lessons. We're preparing our sermons so that we can say, hey, wasn't that a good message? Oh, pastor, you did a good job. That's so nice of you to do it. Boy, that really touched my heart. And that's great if it touches your heart as long as it's God touching your heart. But I can't do it for you. I've got to do it for Him. And so whether you say, look, I'm throwing stones and tomatoes and eggs at the preacher, or whether you pat me on the back, I've got to go in my office and say, God, how do you feel about this? And let me just say, His praise is all you need, and you don't want the other. God help us. So you've got to live your life first and foremost before God. Now, translate that to every day. You and I have to live our life before God. God, are you pleased with this? Ask God, this is so simple. Ask Him this, in light of this point, live your life first and foremost before God. Ask God, if there's anything that you need to care for. You say, Pastor, that's not that easy. That's just too simple to ask God a question like that. Try it. I just have to believe right now that if you're in the sincerity of your heart asking this question, Lord, as I am seeking to walk with You and go further in my walk, maybe you're at that time in your devotions where it's dry. Maybe you came tonight just simply because you knew it was the right thing to do, so you came out of duty. And that's great. Maybe you came because Mom and Dad said, hey, you're living under the roof of my house, you're going to church. Maybe you came because you said, if I don't go, somebody's going to be calling me on the telephone saying, where were you? We've got all kinds of reasons why we come. Why did you come? But ask Him now. Lord, is there anything I need to take care of? Do you realize that answer, as you ask that question, that that comes to your mind could be the very thing that's keeping your walk with God so dry. That makes your living, your day, so in mere drudgery. It could mean that when you read your Bible, you don't get a thing. And you wonder how in the world can they give testimonies and be so happy when I'm hearing the same thing and I wish you'd just be quiet and let us go home. Asking. You know what, to begin with, you may need to take a little slip of paper or a three by five card. And write down, I need to ask God if there's anything in my life standing in the way or something I need to care for. And let me just say this, a lot of times in our walk with God, we're always thinking of big things. We're trying to look for some big rock standing in the way. Sometimes it's that stumbling block. It's that thing that when you're going to the washroom in the middle of the night, so it's been told me, you stub your foot or toe. It's that little thing. Many times it's the little things that are sapping us of our spiritual strength and vitality. And so take care of the little things. Live your life first and foremost before God. God, is this okay? When you get ready to do something, you say, is this okay? When you're barreling down the highway, is this okay? When I'm eating, is this okay? And you know, I know that you can take that to an extreme. But that's where the Holy Spirit of God, working in concert with the Word of God, and as you have yielded your conscience in yourself to Him, He'll guide you right. He's got a system in His economy of checks and balances. It's not one at the expense of the other. It's all working as a unified whole. as a body, fitly joined together. Amen? So live your life first and foremost before God. Number two, live your life taking care of offenses done to you and by you. Uh-oh. Live your life taking care of offenses done to you and by you. I guess we would call this taking care of the matter of forgiveness, unforgiveness, and bitterness issues. Take your Bibles and go to Luke 19, if you would. Luke 19. There's the account here of a man we sing about in Sunday school, but I think we've missed some things here because we get all enraptured with our childhood Sunday school or vacation Bible school days. Zacchaeus was a wee little man. And a wee little man was he. He climbed up in the sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. And as the Savior passed that way, he looked up in the tree, and he said, Zacchaeus, you come down, for I'm going to your house today. For I'm going to your house today. Okay? You can take your fingers out of your ears now. But at the same time, I'm afraid we just get raptured up into that kind of thing, and we miss what took place here. There was a man named Zacchaeus. I just wanted to make Pastor Friesen feel good for his announcements. which was the chief among the publicans. See, I live for others, amen? And he was rich, and he sought to see Jesus who he was, and could not for the press because he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. Now, how many of you have that tune going through your mind as you read that verse of Scripture? Sometimes that happens to me. I'll be reading a verse and I'm thinking, hmm. And Jesus came to the place, verse 5, I know you think, man, he is really loco. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, that he was God to be against with a man that is a sinner. that he has stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." You see, his conscience was bearing witness now. Amen? He says, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said to them, this day salvation has come to this house for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. So what he's, we're talking about restitution here. And so in other words, as you live your life and you had to say, God, is there anything that I've got to take care of? I believe that if there's anything you need to take care of, he's going to tell you. And you begin to clean that mess up and you'll experience freedom in your life. But that's where the devil comes along. And all of a sudden, as I'm talking like this, I guarantee you the devil already is hitting some of you because you're already under conviction about some things. And what happens is the devil is going to cause fear to come your way. Say, if you get things right, this is going to happen, that's going to happen, this is going to happen. But you know what? God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power of love and a sound mind. Perfect love casts out fear. The fear of man brings a snare. Amen? But many of us are bound because you say, well, you know, I've done things wrong to people and it's been, I don't even know where they are anymore. You know what you can do? Say, Lord, please forgive me for that offense that I did to that person. I did them wrong or whatever. You say, Lord, please forgive me. And I don't even know where they are. But Lord, if you'll set the wheels in motion and if my path ever crosses their path, then I'll make it right. But I don't even know where to begin looking. And so you just Leave it in His hands. And you walk in the knowledge that He's forgiven you and it's in His hands. And if He wants that dealt with and taken care of, He'll bring that person out of obscurity to cross your path. And you can touch base with Him again and get things right. And if it doesn't happen, just say, thank God for His grace. Amen? Folks, it's a free up. It will. Guarantee you. So live your life taking care of offenses done to you and by you. Ephesians chapter 4. We use this for bitterness and forgiveness. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. In other words, when you grieve, you pain the Holy Spirit. You hurt the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of God by allowing sin in your life, by having a defiled conscience. whereby you're sealed into the day of redemption, then talk about you losing your salvation. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." And bear in mind, they're not getting away with anything. That one, no matter how wicked and despicable that sin has been against you, they will not ever slide out of God's hand of judgment on them. Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. So you simply say, I choose to release them to God. And you give God that offense. You give God that individual and say, God, you take care of that. Please forgive me for harboring the anger and the bitterness and the hatred towards that one. That glee that I feel when someone is having a hard time, a rough time, or something bad happens to them. Lord, forgive me for that. I give back the ground to You that I gave to Satan through that kind of behavior. And I give that to You. I choose to forgive. I send it away. And I don't let it back. You say, well, what happens when I do that? And the next day, that same feeling begins to rise. You say, Pavel, leave me alone. You don't have to do it hourly, but if you want to, go ahead. I wouldn't recommend you do it in the middle of a safe way. But at the same time, you know, you just say, Lord, we took care of that. Devil, get out of here. God, I'm just shoving it back your way. The devil's trying to shove it to me, and I'm shoving it back to you. And you let him take care of it. And you say, well, what happens if it happens several times in the day? He just keeps lighting it back. I don't want it! I don't want it! Get the hint, Satan. You know, if the Lord Jesus, our example, can talk back to the devil and say, get out, why can't we? There's the power of the Word. Every temptation he faced, Luke 4, Matthew 4, he used the Word. Why are we memorizing Scripture? So that we can say, oh, we're a church that memorizes Scripture. No. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee, and sin against God. And so when the devil comes to us, we hit him with the Word. The only offensive weapon that we have in Ephesians chapter 6, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. So write down, if you would, Philippians 3, 10-14. Write down Luke 17, 1-10. You live your life by taking care of offenses done to you and by you. Have you ever asked the Lord? Sometimes we get so concerned about, that person did me wrong. We almost treat the Holy Spirit like we would a guard dog. And I say that reverently. We abuse Him. He's not that way at all. Amen? But when was the last time you said, Lord, have I offended someone? Thinking of anybody? Take care of that. It could be that that is the very thing that's got you in bondage to some degree right now. And you begin to take this away and this away, and you begin to have the Holy Spirit of God fill that gap again, control your life? Praise the Lord. Number three, how do you keep your conscience clear? Number three, live your life honestly. And what I mean by that is transparently. That's what I mean by honestly. Hebrews 13, in verse 18 it says, Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience in all things, willing to live honestly. In other words, as you have a clean conscience and clear conscience on the inside, then the result of that is going to be living openly, transparently on the outside. We have so many Christians living such a duplicitous life, a hypocritical life, an actor life. They're playing a role. Just as you might be in a play and you're going to play this one or that one and so on, and you try to dress like them and look like them and talk like them and so on, that's how many Christians are. We spend our life play-acting. And here Paul says, I want to live my life honestly with a good conscience before man. Openly, transparently. In other words, we like this saying, What you see is what you get. And God give us a church filled with people that what you see is what you get. Blemishes and all. We've all got them. Transparently. And that's why someone comes into the church sometimes and they look at us. If you're trying to live openly and transparently, they say, Is this guy for real? Is that woman for real? Is that church for real? Folks, may they, as they keep coming, say, you know what? They're for real. God help us to be real. And that's what Paul was saying. Hey, look, I'm living the reality of Christ in your midst. So live your life honestly. Number four, live your life enduring life's injustices rightly. Live your life enduring life's injustices rightly. 1 Peter 2, verse 19. The Bible says these words, it says, For this is thankworthy of a man for conscience toward God. That goes right there with the first point here, live your life first and foremost before God. In other words, when you construct God, when you're nailing that nail in there, that's before God. You know, sometimes you hear about people building things. Years ago in Kansas City, they had a walkway and it collapsed and many people were hurt and a few were killed. And as they went in to inspect, they realized that they were shoddy workmanship. They have certain standards even for concrete that say, hey, it's got to meet these specifications. And some people will say, hey, look, let's just adjust things and that will increase our profit margin. They fudge a bit on the details. And then problems happen. Amen. 1 Peter. It says, for this is thankworthy of a man for conscience toward God. In other words, what am I saying? I'm saying, look, when you do something, it's before God. And if you and I could understand that, that whatever we engage in, how imperfect it may end up being, and the mistakes because of our humanity that happens along life's way, which are bound to happen, it's still before Him. And we can say, as some Bible characters of old, Lord, you know that in the integrity of my heart have I done this. Remember Abimelech? And the Lord said, I know, and that's why I didn't let this take place over here. And you and I, we're going to make mistakes, we're going to blow it at times, and yet we can come before the Lord and we can say, Lord, in the innocency of my heart, have I done this? I didn't mean for it to turn out this way. And He'll say, I know. And it's okay. Let me help you. Amen. In 1 Peter 3, verse 16, the Bible says, "...having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ." Live your life, enduring life's injustices rightly. Number five, lastly, close your day by taking inventory. Close your day. Tonight, do this. Tonight, just say, and you can even turn your Bible, if this is an issue with you where you say, man, I can't remember all that, then put your marker in Psalm 139, verses 23 and 24. Search me, O God, and know my heart. That word know is very, very interesting. It doesn't mean just take a cursory glance. It means to know intimately. In other words, when you pray this prayer, you're praying and talking to God and saying, God, the curtain's down. You have full view of my heart. No facade. No bright lights. Oh God, search me. Know my heart. In other words, take an intimate look at me. Every room, every facet of my life. Try me. The word try means test it. Test it. And know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting. Lead me in the way everlasting is lead me in the way of freedom. As He begins to point those areas out, and you begin, as you lay there, or wherever you are, and you say, Lord, as He begins to bring things to your mind, take care of those. And he will begin that cleansing process in your mind and heart to where you can fill your head with a clear and clean conscience. Have you ever tried sleeping when you knew you'd done something wrong, something wasn't right, and you just tossed and turned all night? Have you ever done that? I have. Man, you're just mulling it over and you can't get any rest. But when He brings those things to mind, and you take care of them, and you lay there and you say, with the psalmist, nothing between my soul and the Savior. So when you go throughout your day, in closing, let me just say, you might just say, not just at bedtime, but as you live your day. You've had your time with the Lord, reading His Word. You're meditating throughout the day on His Word. You've got maybe one verse, passage, a key thought that you're doing, you know, when you're working on the plant, maybe welding a trailer together or whatever. You can't be having your Bible right there. You've got to work. So as you're working, though, And you're thinking and the thoughts come. You see you're allowing your conscience that's been shaped by the Word of God and proved and molded by the Holy Spirit of God that indwells your life. And you have that awareness that God is with you. That He's right there as you're engaged in conversation. We're having a staff meeting. God's there. Just a little bit when you're out in the foyer, He's there. And as you begin to do your work and you're engaged in conversation, you go to the grocery store, He's right there. And inside, you're just communing with Him. That's the Spirit-filled walk. That's living the Spirit-filled life. Be not drunk with wine, wares and excess, but be filled with the Spirit. So you just walk with that awareness. And all of a sudden, something happens to where you've got a decision you need to make. What do I do? But you know that right away, your conscience has been shaped by the Word of God. You've allowed the law, the perfect law of liberty, to set up a boundary in your life. to where that principle is guiding you through the conscience that's with you. And you know the decision to make. The right one. You know the one to avoid. Amen? And you just do that as second nature as you live your life. Decision after decision. Step after step. Relationship after relationship. And that's why you can still, when things seem to be in utter turmoil around you, you can still be at peace. Because you don't have your conscience accusing you or excusing you. And the Holy Spirit of God is just there and you're resting in Him. That's it. a clear conscience. Do you have one? You can.