Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / The Conscience: God’s Gift to Humanity | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Transcript

The Conscience: God’s Gift to Humanity | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Please me, Mark. Chapter 6, let's read a couple
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  verses together. Mark chapter 6 and verse 14.
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  Here's what the Bible says to us today.
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  King Herod heard of it. For Jesus name had become known.
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  Some said, John the Baptist has been raised from the dead.
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  That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.
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  But others said he is Elijah. And others said he is a prophet
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  like one of the prophets of old. But when Herod heard of it, he
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  said, John whom I beheaded has been raised.
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  Lord, we pray again. And we ask that you help us.
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  We thank you that you have not left us to our own.
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  You have given us your word, a lamp, to our feet.
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  You've given us Direction, and to Holiness and from Holiness,
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  and to Hope and joy, and peace. We ask Lord, that there would be
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  a great help from the Holy Spirit at this time in the
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  delivery and the reception that the name of your son, Jesus
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  would be exalted and bless. May we be overwhelmed by the
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  wisdom. Of Who You Are.
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  And may we be eager to obey what you say.
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  Amen. The Lord instructed and
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  empowered his disciples. For a Ministry that Ministry was
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  a preaching Outreach within the boundaries of Israel, to give
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  them the gospel, to demonstrate the power of the name of Jesus
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  Christ. And immediately, after being
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  informed about this send-off, we are given the report of the
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  success of their Endeavour, the news of their Deliverance, the
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  news of the healing and the preaching that was breaking out
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  all across Galilee has reached far, and wide and has even
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  reached the Ears of many high-profile men and one of
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  those men, as you just heard, was King Herod King Herod heard
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  about what was happening in the name of Jesus.
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  And that is the person of the Holy Spirit precisely highlights
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  for us in order to understand the great impact that Jesus was
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  having. But before looking more into who
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  Herod was on, why Herod is important here?
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  Let us consider what is happening overall.
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  What is happening here at this point of Jesus ministry we hear
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  and we read that Jesus name had become known had become known.
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  This is significant for many reasons, but beyond the obvious,
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  it tells us the way that the disciples did Ministry.
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  It shows us what and how they went about concerning their
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  service, to the Lord. Think about it this way, it was
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  not the name of the disciples that have become known.
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  It was the name of Jesus. Jesus, all that they did and all
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  that, they preached pointed to the person of Christ.
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  There was no ambiguity, there is no confusion about what their
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  message was about, or who was the source of all the power that
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  was put on display. It was Christ's people left the
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  meeting. Speaking of Christ people were
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  impressed by Christ. And this shows that they were
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  effective in giving glory to God, as they went about this
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  shows that they did not for any moment, bring attention to
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  themselves unnecessarily, but they successfully presented
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  Jesus as the object of men's need.
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  And when people experienced, what Jesus could offer Christ
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  got the glory. And if they didn't they, at
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  least heard that Christ was their only hope.
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  And I look at that and I think Lord, if it is true of that may
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  be true of us that when we go about when we serve you, when
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  you send us into a local church or a mission that we make the
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  name of Christ known of Christ known.
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  But with this encouraging explosive expansion of the
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  Gospel at this, Time in Jesus ministry, there are interesting
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  comments being made there are interesting comments. being made
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  what you have here is people who had trouble identifying, who
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  Jesus was The name was obvious, the name was clear, but they
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  could not find it within themselves to confess who he
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  claimed to be. This man was unignorable, this
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  men was unusual and so people had to make a conclusion about
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  unless they be insane for ignoring what is happening
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  around them. And the Holy Spirit, brings to
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  our attention, three different explanations.
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  That the masses had concerning the identity of Jesus.
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  The first one here is in verse 14.
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  Some said, John the Baptist he has been raised from the dead
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  that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.
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  John the Baptist now, this shows that John, the Baptist had
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  recently died, obviously but it also shows that because of
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  John's influence in the nation, People assume that this new stir
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  that was happening was caused by him, and because they made that
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  Association, they had to believe that he must have been raised
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  from the dead. And because he was now in touch
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  with a parallel world, this is perhaps why he's able to do
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  these signs and wonders. So you have people who said this
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  was John raised from the dead. There's no other better
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  explanation than that. From there.
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  We see a second explanation that people had, it's in verse 15,
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  but others said he is Elijah, he is Elijah.
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  Now, why would the people out of all the prophets say that he was
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  Elijah. Well, these people knew their
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  Old Testament, they knew their Bible very well and they knew
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  that the prophet Malachi 4:5 tells us the following behold.
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  God is speaking in Malachi 4:5, behold, I will send you Elijah.
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  I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and
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  awesome day of the Lord. Comes the Jewish people were
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  anticipating Elijah to return. They knew that the last of the
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  heard of him was that he was taken up in a chariot of fire
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  and so they through Malachi were waiting for Elijah before the
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  Messiah actually. And that seems clear, but it
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  gets a little bit more complex as you flip from Malachi into
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  the New Testament. Why is it get complicated?
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  Well, because you realize that the identity of this, Elijah Is
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  given to John the Baptist. It's what we see in Luke chapter
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  1, when the angel Gabriel appears before, John's father.
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  And he tells them that this boys boys going to grow up to go
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  before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah.
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  And he's going to turn the hearts of the father's to the
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  children and vice versa. That's Malachi's prophecy, it's
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  being echoed but it's being given over to John the Baptist.
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  You think, what's the problem with that?
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  Well, again, you have to realize that Malachi added that when
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  Elijah would come following. His arrival would be the great
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  and awesome day of the Lord. You see all that must be the
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  arrival of Jesus. Yes.
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  And know that phrase the great and awesome day of the Lord is
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  not Christ. Coming to save its Christ coming
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  to judge. And so that day was the
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  anticipation of Israel's enemies being destroyed and God's
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  Eternal Kingdom being established.
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  So here's the Dilemma, if John the Baptist is the Fulfillment
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  of Malachi's prophecy. Then how is it that?
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  It's not followed by the great and awesome day of the Lord.
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  John didn't prepare people for God's Wrath.
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  John prepared God's people for the messiah's mercy.
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  And so do we have a false fulfillment here?
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  It seems like we have some sympathy for these people
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  because since nothing happened after John, and John was
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  actually put to death and John can't be the Elijah, then maybe
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  this Rabbi from Nazareth. Maybe this is the Elijah and
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  he's preparing us for the great and awesome day of the Lord.
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  Maybe that's what this is all about.
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  Thankfully Jesus solves the Dilemma you're there in Mark,
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  chapter 6, but scroll over to Mark chapter 9 and the Very
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  Disciples of Jesus had this question.
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  Especially after they encountered, Elijah on the Mount
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  of transfiguration. But you see here and Mark
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  chapter 9 verse 11 and they asked them, why do the scribes
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  say that first? Elijah must come and he said to
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  them, Elijah does come first to restore all things.
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  And how is it written of the son of, man, that he should suffer,
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  many things, and be treated with contempt.
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  But I tell you, that Elijah has come and they did to him
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  whatever they pleased as it is written of him.
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  Notice that Jesus did not disagree with the scribes about
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  Elijah coming first, but he does give a more complete truth.
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  And a more complete picture of this truth to say that the
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  Messiah was only coming to bring judgment that great and awesome
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  day of the Lord, was the mistake that the disciples and the
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  scribes made, that was a favorite of the Jews.
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  The Jews, lean towards the promises and the predictions
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  that when Messiah would come. There would be a total Revolt, a
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  Total Restoration, a total transformation in the entire
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  globe and that this Kingdom would Rule and Reign.
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  And everybody would be subdued to the son of David.
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  That's what their hearts lean towards.
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  But notice what Jesus does here in verse 12, he brings to their
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  attention, the aspect of the Messiah that they often
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  overlooked. So it's in essence, is what's
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  happening, hey more. What about the predictions in
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  the Prophecies of a larger coming?
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  Before the Messiah comes and Jesus.
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  Yeah, that's true. But what about the prophecies
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  about the Messiah suffering? That's what he is saying.
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  In verse 12, read it again. What does he say?
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  He says here and how it is written of the son of man that
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  he should suffer, many things, and be treated with contempt.
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  You're overlooking that. And they often did even after
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  his resurrection. Those two on the road to Emmaus
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  couldn't can understand how this person that they hoped in would
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  die in Sufferin. Jesus comes to rebuke them and
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  gives them an exegetical bible study on how the Messiah would
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  Suffer. Well, it's happening right here.
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  And so, what he is saying, is you're not putting the pieces of
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  Prophecy together carefully. Yes.
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  Elijah is to come. Yes, there's a great and awesome
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  day of the Lord, but there is also this part where I come. to
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  pay for the sins of the world to suffer to die, to give my life
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  as a ransom And so, what he is saying, is Elijah is still to
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  come and there's debate whether the actual Elijah will return or
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  one like John, the Baptist will be empowered in the spirit of
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  Elijah, but it will definitely come before the second Advent of
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  Christ, when he will bring about judgment upon those who are
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  enemies of the Gospel, what about John the Baptist and well.
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  He was a preview. John the Baptist was a partial
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  fulfillment to this prophecy in Malachi.
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  And so he says, yes, he has come.
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  And yes, he will come. And when he does come, then the
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  great and awesome day of the Lord will arrive.
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  That is the second explanation that is what people thought
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  about Jesus. But then there's a third one.
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  And the third one was more General and verse 15 of Mark 6,
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  we read. He is a prophet like one of the
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  prophets of old. So some people said, well, he's
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  like in the same roster as Moses and Elijah and maybe Isaiah
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  Jeremiah Jones. A mess.
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  He's just another gifted god-sent of Our Generation.
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  Just giving us the message in the word of the Lord of today.
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  This is what people had a dilemma with, this is what
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  people had a problem with and we can make a whole sermon about
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  that. How people Miss identify who
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  Jesus is? But the Holy Spirit does
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  something really interesting instead of just taking us from
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  those three explanations to the next part, we come back to King
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  Herod. We return to Herod And what we
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  see here is that Herod is absolutely convinced.
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  No matter what the popular opinions were he settled it in
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  his mind and heart that this Jesus was in fact, a
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  resurrected. John, the Baptist it has to be
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  John, the Baptist, this is got to be the guy and then for the
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  rest of the next dozen versus are.
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  So you and I get the explanation of why Herod believe that Jesus
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  was John. And I'm not going to read it but
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  I'll summarize it to you. The explanation is that Herod
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  was the one responsible for arresting.
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  John, the Baptist and having him executed.
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  Now here's the follow-up question, how does John being
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  arrested and killed by Herod? Explain the conclusion that this
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  Jesus was John the Baptist does that questioning make sense?
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  How do those things correlate? Herod.
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  Is afraid. He is living in absolute dread
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  and fear has a way of misinterpreting and Miss
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  translating events and news, does it not?
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  And so he is filtering. This, these reports of Jesus
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  Through a fear of his concluding that this is John coming back to
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  life. Another question, a lot of
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  questions this afternoon, right? Why is he afraid?
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  How do you conclude that he is afraid.
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  How do you conclude that? He's making this interpretation
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  through fear? What we have before us is a man.
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  Who is haunted by his conscience?
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  Who's haunted by his conscience. We see that Herod.
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  Here is living in guilt and this guilt is causing a paranoia This
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  fear of something lingering over him.
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  And because of this unresolved unrepented past Evil.
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  Herod in his Palace Herod on his throne.
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  Hera with all the resources that can be available at the snap of
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  a finger was being eaten Up Inside by something that he had
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  done in the past. The conscience is an amazing
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  thing. The conscience is profoundly
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  powerful. And instead of finishing the
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  rest of this story, I want to pause here because that's where
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  my meditation pause and reading this for these verses and I want
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  to speak to you today about your conscience.
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  The human conscience. So if you leave church this
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  afternoon, somebody asks you, what did you learn today?
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  Here is something you can borrow.
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  We received an introductory biblical analysis of the human
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  conscience. It's such a vast subject that my
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  great trouble and preparation for it was not to try to keep
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  you here for three hours. And so this is not an exhaustive
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  analysis. This is with all of my heart I
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  believe just the surface of understanding, the Bible's
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  information and data about this thing that we often don't speak
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  about enough and that is the conscience.
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  We're seeing herod's conscience at work.
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  Your conscience is constantly at work there, some who's conscious
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  aren't working at all. But let's let's pull back here
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  and start from the beginning. What is the human conscience?
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  I'm not going to give you my definition because the Bible has
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  one. And I believe the best place to
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  start is found in Romans Chapter 2 and so meet me there in Romans
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  2 verse 14. And let's understand what the
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  Bible has to say about this thing called conscience.
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  Romans 2:14. Paul says, for when Gentiles,
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  who do not have the law by Nature, do what the law
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  requires. They are a law to themselves,
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  even though they do not have law, they show that the work of
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  the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience.
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  Also Bears witness and their conflicting thoughts, accuse, or
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  even, excuse them. According to Paul, the
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  conscience is the faculty of your soul that serves the
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  distinct role of either condemning you or commending
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  you. Totally dependent upon your
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  words, your thoughts or your actions that is the conscience.
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  And that is why he speaks about these conflicting thoughts that
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  accuse. Or even, excuse them, that is
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  what your conscience does to you and either accuses, you or it
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  excuses, you based on your behavior or your decisions that
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  you make in day-to-day life. In essence, the conscience is a
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  divinely designed device. That is a part of the human
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  Constitution which essentially holds us accountable to the
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  moral law of God, that has been instilled in every single person
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  that is created in His image. That's why he says here that
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  build the Gentiles, which is a description of the unbelieving
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  don't have the law that the Jews had access to.
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  There is a law at work, it's a law that God had written on the
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  heart. And what the conscience does is
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  hold you accountable to that law.
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  That is innate. that is woven into the very fabric of your
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  being The conscience is the watchful eye, it is a mentor to
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  you, but it also sits on the Judgment seat. and it either
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  Praises you or it shames you, it encourages you or scourges you
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  And it is there to provide some sort of Direction, though.
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  It is not infallible, though. It is not perfect.
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  Its function is to bring about some kind of moral guidance to
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  man. The conscience feels like a
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  voice. You probably are familiar with
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  that inner dialogue, within yourself, but the conscience is
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  not the voice of God. That is a mistake.
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  That some assume it is not the voice of God, but it is a gift
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  from God. God has deposited this thing
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  called the conscience, as a gift, you know, pain in your
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  body. Whether you like to admit it or
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  not is a gift. The fact that you have nerve
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  endings and you can feel certain things is God's wiring in you to
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  signal to you, that you are putting your body in physical
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  Danger. If you step on something sharp
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  and you ignore that sharp object, that is penetrated your
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  skin and your flesh, you risk of being infected and then more
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  problems, follow suit. So what pain does is alarm you
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  and says, don't go any further, don't ignore this, don't
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  neglect, this, treat this. And what pain is to the body is
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  what the conscious is to the soul.
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  It is there to awaken you, it is there to bring things to your
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  attention. Les you Heap up more damage to
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  your spirit, to your moral Health, to your holiness, To
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  your sanctification. So that ever-present sensation
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  is something that God has given to each of us and there's an
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  interesting verse and Proverbs 20:27.
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  It says that the spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, the
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  spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord and it goes on to say,
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  searching all the innermost Parts.
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  There's something about your spirit that God has breathed
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  into you. That is constantly investigating
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  you. And that is an instrument that
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  God has deposited in US. And it makes sense that these
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  contemplations these contemplations of either misery
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  or relief where they surface from after you do something.
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  The conscience. It's a lamp.
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  It's shining, it's an instrument, it's a tool
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  invisible, but authored by God hidden but ever so powerful.
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  And what we should not misunderstand about the
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  conscious is that it is a gift limited to the children of God.
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  No, you heard it in Romans that it is a universal wiring.
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  Even the Heathen Gentiles have a conscience and it has been made
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  available to everyone who has been created in the very image
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  of God and that is why I let me encourage you believer you have
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  every right to appeal to the conscience.
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  As one of the strongest proof of the existence of God, the
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  conscience. It not only speaks to us, it
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  speaks about the existence and the character of our creator.
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  The fact that we all have this innate feeling that tells us,
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  what is right or wrong is is an inner Witness.
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  An inner witness. That is a reminder that we are
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  more than animals. You know, we're teaching kids
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  that they come from animals and then we get upset when they act
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  like animals, No, you're more than a beast, you're more than a
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  creature that walks on its four legs know you are someone who
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  has been created to reflect the character of God and your
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  conscience Bears. Witness not just to the
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  uniqueness of who you are but to the reality of God that he is,
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  Holy That he has a distinction in mind between good and evil
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  that he upholds Justice and that he will hold all of us.
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  Accountable one day that is what the conscience does.
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  One of the Puritans beautifully said that the conscience is the
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  sole reflecting upon itself. That is true, everything that I
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  just said to, you is the basic biology of the function of the
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  conscience. But there's so much more to say
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  about how it operates and in this very limited time this
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  afternoon. Again my challenge was I don't
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  know what I'm going to say. That wasn't my challenge.
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  My challenge was, I don't know how I'm gonna say all of it.
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  I want you to understand that the function of the conscious
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  and three things. First, I want you to understand
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  the role of conscience in society.
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  Second, I want you to see the use of conscience in Salvation.
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  And lastly, I want you to see the assistance of conscience in
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  sanctification 3, s's if you want to remember it, easily,
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  Society salvation. Sanctification Society,
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  salvation, sanctification. There's more to say about it,
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  but this is what we're prayerfully going to explore.
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  Let's come to this understanding of the conscious in society.
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  You heard me say that it is available to all men, enjoy and
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  know what this is. The unbeliever has been granted
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  a conscience just as much as the person who believes, why is
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  that? Because of this understand
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  conscience. Is an expression of common Grace
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  given by. Good God. it is an expression of
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  common Grace given by good God in our sin fractured sin,
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  polluted sin soaked World God in his love, Has ordained and
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  instituted certain restraints in our world.
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  In order to limit the corrupting influences of evil, and if you
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  thought evil, is just something that comes from the sky, you're
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  wrong. Jesus comes from their heart.
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  This is where the sewage of all sin comes from.
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  But God, in knowing the potential Devastation that can
• 26:33
  occur. When sin is Unleashed without
• 26:36
  restraint has raised up certain things to mitigate and to
• 26:42
  deflect and to curb the potential destruction that can
• 26:46
  come, if man is let loose. Most of those things are
• 26:53
  external. Most of those restraints that
• 26:55
  you and I are familiar with our outside of us, including our
• 26:58
  judicial system. Mmm.
• 27:01
  So when you hear defund, the police that's scary, that's not
• 27:05
  biblical. That's actually satanic because
• 27:08
  those are one of the constraints in our world, the sword.
• 27:15
  To limit evil from having full rain.
• 27:18
  So these restraints have been given by God, you know, why to
• 27:21
  make life livable and more than just livable enjoyable?
• 27:25
  What God would just give that kind of grace, even to the
• 27:28
  Heathen. Yes, that's what Jesus said.
• 27:31
  That the sun rises on both the good and the evil that rain
• 27:34
  comes to both the just and the unjust that he through seasons
• 27:38
  and family and laughter and all these different things that
• 27:41
  originated with him, that, that kindness of God would Lead
• 27:45
  people to repentance and in his kindness, he is raised up
• 27:48
  certain restraints. Most of them are external, one
• 27:52
  of them is internal, can you guess what it is?
• 27:55
  Conscience. It's the one in you.
• 28:00
  It's the one that you're born with.
• 28:03
  It's individualistic. At the same time, it is
• 28:06
  universal. And the conscience is meant to
• 28:11
  hold back. Sinners From going further into
• 28:15
  their depravity and causing more harm to themselves.
• 28:18
  And to others, there is an aspect of guilt which comes from
• 28:21
  your conscience, by the way, that is tormenting Is it not how
• 28:27
  many counseling sessions are booked because of one main
• 28:32
  reason among many reasons but one of the main reasons you can
• 28:36
  you can liberate many counselors.
• 28:38
  If you just deal with people's remorse and regret.
• 28:42
  Most of what people are sitting down and pouring their hearts
• 28:45
  about is something that they are feeling.
• 28:48
  That is keeping them up at night, something that they have
• 28:50
  done or something that's been done to them or a false guilt.
• 28:53
  True. Guilt.
• 28:54
  People are tormented by this, there's an afflicting power
• 28:57
  behind a broken conscience. And God did that by Design.
• 29:06
  Guilt to an extent is a good thing.
• 29:09
  If it's legitimate guilt. It's meant to preserve some kind
• 29:13
  of functionality in our world. Some kind of flow of normalcy if
• 29:20
  people don't have guilt anymore. If people don't feel shame for
• 29:23
  what they do, then you will just wreak havoc and that is
• 29:26
  precisely why we're seeing what we're seeing in our day.
• 29:28
  Today there is an all-out attack and assault on the restraints
• 29:33
  that God has placed in our world.
• 29:36
  Old and not just the external ones, not just the government.
• 29:39
  Not just family, not just the church, no, even the conscience.
• 29:46
  And it is massed in different ways.
• 29:48
  There is an effort for people to be released from legitimate.
• 29:52
  Guilt through the idea that you need to have self-esteem.
• 29:58
  And don't be embarrassed about those things.
• 30:00
  You should have, in fact, praised those things about
• 30:02
  yourself and walk with your head up when God actually designed
• 30:06
  for you to be ashamed of those things and embarrassed about
• 30:11
  those things. So now we're promoting people
• 30:14
  coming out of the closet, right? I one time that sin was was, was
• 30:19
  a shameful thing and people hit. And people did it in the dark
• 30:22
  and it was secretive. Now, it's public.
• 30:24
  It's paraded now we're telling people be, you be who you are,
• 30:28
  be who you feel? You are what is happening there,
• 30:31
  it's an attack on the conscience.
• 30:35
  Because the conscience as much as it is authored by God is Not
• 30:39
  static. What do I mean by that?
• 30:42
  Just because it's divinely. Designed does not mean that it
• 30:45
  is impervious to being conditioned.
• 30:49
  It can be altered, it can be tarnished, it can actually be
• 30:54
  smashed all together. And so this very thing that is
• 31:00
  meant to bring order to our world.
• 31:03
  Is actually being assaulted as I speak and will only continue to
• 31:08
  be assaulted and less God comes and intervenes with his Mercy.
• 31:11
  How is it possible for the conscience to be altered in this
• 31:15
  way to ways to very simple ways? The first way is to ignore it,
• 31:20
  the second way is to misinform it.
• 31:23
  The first way is to ignore it, the second way is to misinform
• 31:26
  it. Let me show you both of those
• 31:27
  things. In the Bible come to First
• 31:29
  Timothy chapter 1 with me. First Timothy 1, let's go to
• 31:37
  verse 18. First, Timothy 118 reads this
• 31:53
  charge. I entrust you Timothy, my child
• 31:57
  in accordance with the prophecies previously made about
• 32:00
  you that buy them. You may wage the good Warfare.
• 32:03
  Now, look at this. In verse 19, holding faith, and
• 32:06
  what a good conscience, a healthy conscience by rejecting.
• 32:13
  This, not just a good faith right now, just holding to the
• 32:17
  faith, but by rejecting even a good conscience.
• 32:20
  Some have made shipwreck of their faith.
• 32:26
  There is something about rejecting, a good conscience
• 32:29
  that leads to accidents. Do you know what the word?
• 32:34
  Reject means the word. Reject actually means to thrust
• 32:38
  away. It means to push away means to
• 32:42
  repel. It's possible for you and I to
• 32:48
  ignore that voice of reason. It's possible to suppress it as
• 32:53
  loud as it is. It cannot overpower you.
• 32:57
  It cannot dictate things for you.
• 32:59
  Can't control you. It can only guide you.
• 33:04
  And like a snooze button on your alarm.
• 33:06
  You can shut it off and you can keep shutting it off and like
• 33:10
  the sweet little voice that tells you to turn around when
• 33:14
  you took a wrong turn from your iPhone.
• 33:17
  You can ignore it and keep heading in a different
• 33:19
  direction. Paul says, there are some who
• 33:22
  have pushed away, what they knew their conscience was telling him
• 33:27
  not to do. And they rejected it over and
• 33:31
  over again until they crashed. Until they collided with some
• 33:40
  kind of moral failure or doctrinal error that would lead
• 33:44
  to Greater problems. So that conscience of yours and
• 33:48
  mine, it can be rejected and here's the scary part.
• 33:52
  Your GPS might continue to warn you even though you ignore from
• 33:56
  time to time, turn left turn right U-turn, U-turn U-turn and
• 33:59
  just ignore you, you blast the music louder.
• 34:02
  But what happens with the conscience is that the more we
• 34:06
  persevere in our resistance against it, the more quiet it
• 34:10
  gets The more quiet it can get it.
• 34:15
  What once bothered you, what was, what once was Unthinkable?
• 34:19
  What was once something that you told yourself?
• 34:21
  I would never do. That is something that you are
• 34:25
  able to engage in without any prick of heart.
• 34:30
  Without any cut, without any nudge, your just mindlessly.
• 34:35
  Now, enjoying something that at one point would make you throw
• 34:39
  up. Or to make you break out in
• 34:42
  sweats or make you blush. And that's what we see in first,
• 34:49
  Timothy, not one but in chapter 4, look at it.
• 34:51
  Just flip a couple chapters over and see what Paul says the same
• 34:54
  people. And verse 1 of chapter 4.
• 35:00
  Now the spirit expressly says that in later times some will
• 35:03
  depart from the Faith by devoting themselves to
• 35:06
  deceitful, spirits and teachings of demons through the inserts,
• 35:11
  arity of liars, whose consciences are seared.
• 35:15
  Whose consciences? Now the conscious is not just
• 35:18
  being rejected, not just being pushed away, not just being
• 35:21
  repelled. There is now no more response,
• 35:25
  it has become unresponsive and just like scar tissue that comes
• 35:30
  from a burn that loses its feeling what can happen to your
• 35:34
  conscience. Is that now, it doesn't sense
• 35:38
  anything. That moral compass has been
• 35:42
  broken. It doesn't tell you anything
• 35:46
  anymore, Paul saying this in the context of false teachers who
• 35:49
  are able to hypocritically deceive people and lie to them
• 35:53
  and they can do so without their conscience being disturbed, they
• 35:58
  can lead the masses of strict. Have you ever you look at some
• 36:01
  of these false teachers and you wonder how can they bleed people
• 36:04
  from their money? How can they just look at out
• 36:06
  into the camera? Blatantly lie.
• 36:08
  How can after being exposed over and over by news?
• 36:11
  Media is in different ministers, how can they just Keep moving
• 36:14
  forward. I'll tell you how their
• 36:17
  consciences are seared. They don't feel anything.
• 36:22
  They don't sense anything. There's no, there's no
• 36:25
  agitation, there's no restlessness.
• 36:28
  There's they can go to sleep soundly even though they are
• 36:32
  devouring people, And Paul says it's possible to arrive at such
• 36:38
  a place. All you got to do is to keep
• 36:40
  ignoring it, all you have to do is keep rejecting it all you
• 36:43
  have to do is keep silencing it. All you have to do His turn away
• 36:48
  from it until it becomes totally obsolete.
• 36:52
  And have no value to you, just like a shriveled-up body part
• 36:56
  that has no more sensation. Now, that might not be appealing
• 37:00
  to some people. You have some people who want to
• 37:02
  maintain some kind of understanding of right and
• 37:05
  wrong. And so if Satan can get you to
• 37:08
  ignore your conscience, If he, if he can't convince you to just
• 37:14
  Silence it all together then he will find a way to miss
• 37:16
  informant. To misinform your conscience,
• 37:21
  the conscience response to a moral code, the law written on
• 37:26
  our hearts, that's what our conscience appeals to and if
• 37:30
  you're in crisis, we're going to find out there is a now, a
• 37:32
  heightened awareness of God's law that your conscience
• 37:35
  response to. But generally, there's a basic
• 37:38
  code that the conscious says, hey, you know, that you broke
• 37:42
  that right? Hey, you know, you're guilty,
• 37:44
  right? Hey, you know, you shouldn't be
• 37:45
  doing this, right? And so here's what the enemy
• 37:49
  does knowing the, the wiring of the conscience, he will bring
• 37:55
  and construct before people. A different value system for
• 38:00
  your conscience to respond to And Titus 1 tells us you don't
• 38:04
  have to turn there but itís one tells us how that happens.
• 38:07
  He speaks about there in verse 15 and verse 16 of the defiling
• 38:11
  of the mind and conscience, those two go together.
• 38:16
  Meaning if your mind is constantly defiled polluted,
• 38:21
  falsely informed, and eventually your conscience will be as well.
• 38:25
  And this is the scary thing about your conscience, being
• 38:28
  misinformed, it gives you a sense of right and wrong.
• 38:31
  But now here's what's happened, your call?
• 38:33
  And good evil and you're calling evil.
• 38:35
  Good. Isaiah told us about woe to
• 38:37
  those who call good, evil and evil.
• 38:38
  Good. And that's all you have people
• 38:41
  out in the world who are passionate about what they are
• 38:44
  advocating even though according to God's objective law, what
• 38:47
  they're advocating is, blatantly wrong, but they feel like it's
• 38:51
  right, why, why are they willing to protest?
• 38:55
  Why are they willing to debate? Why are they willing to come
• 38:58
  against others who have a different moral code, because
• 39:01
  they feel like they're right, And they feel like the right,
• 39:05
  even though they're wrong, because they have fed their
• 39:08
  conscience wrongly. They've absorbed that which is,
• 39:12
  in fact, deceptive. Here's the thing about the
• 39:15
  conscience. As I said earlier, it's not
• 39:18
  infallible. It's a guide but it's not your
• 39:20
  ultimate guide. It can help you but it is not.
• 39:27
  Shielded from being distorted, it's infallible.
• 39:30
  And, and it is something that can be actually tampered with.
• 39:34
  And here's what you can do with your conscience, just like any
• 39:36
  muscle of your body, you can strengthen it.
• 39:39
  You can weaken it. You can even confuse it.
• 39:45
  And that's what Paul is speaking about here.
• 39:47
  If we don't take our conscience and harmonize it with the word
• 39:50
  of God, And clarify it and bring illumination to it.
• 39:55
  Through the truth of God's word. It becomes less reliable.
• 40:01
  And not only does it become less reliable becomes more vulnerable
• 40:05
  to being influenced by, either your flesh, or by our culture.
• 40:10
  Some people wonder, how do I know if I can rely on my
• 40:13
  conscience and one of the best answers you can give to that is.
• 40:15
  Well how dependent is it on the truth of God's word?
• 40:22
  And so the conscience works and operates in society and that's
• 40:27
  why ladies and gentlemen, what we are witnessing before us, the
• 40:32
  breakdown of Common Sense is a satanic assault.
• 40:36
  On one of God's restraints towards man, so he doesn't just
• 40:39
  want to attack the gospel. The gospel is foundational.
• 40:42
  It is what saves he wants to just Krupp everything that God
• 40:45
  has made everything that is good, everything that helps
• 40:48
  everything that points to him. He just wants to completely
• 40:52
  erase. Sit, this is the great hatred
• 40:55
  that the evil one has for our God and for you has been created
• 40:58
  in the image every fingerprint of God.
• 41:00
  In this world. He wants to erase and one of
• 41:04
  those things is your conscience. The conscious in society, but
• 41:10
  the conscious also works in Salvation.
• 41:13
  God designed this device, not only to constrain Sinners, but
• 41:16
  to save Sinners to save Sinners, right.
• 41:21
  And he generally does this by Awakening that system that
• 41:26
  device in you through a revelation of the Holiness of
• 41:30
  God. An understanding of the nature
• 41:34
  of God is meant to disturb the self-righteous and the one who
• 41:37
  is boldly and unashamedly evil to help them realize all the
• 41:42
  same thing. We all fall short of the glory
• 41:43
  of God, we all fall short of the glory of God.
• 41:47
  But in order for that disturbance to even occur, there
• 41:50
  must be a faithful representation of God's person
• 41:53
  and his principles you have to do that.
• 41:56
  Look at the book of Acts and see how these Apostles and disciples
• 42:00
  preached a lot of their Evangelistic messages were
• 42:04
  heavily Reliant upon the revelation of God being judge.
• 42:09
  Judge. Judge judgment is coming.
• 42:13
  God is Holy at one point, he has overlooked the sins of all men,
• 42:17
  but now he calls all men to repent.
• 42:19
  You see that kind of message being delivered, not to church
• 42:22
  people, but to worldly people. The Lost silence is the mouths
• 42:28
  of those. Who would try to think that they
• 42:30
  are righteous, right? And so you have all these
• 42:32
  indications pointing to this reality that if people would
• 42:35
  even begin to see their need of the Gospel, they needed first.
• 42:40
  Be confronted by their guilt. I argue that.
• 42:48
  The beginnings of somebody even being open to the gospel begins
• 42:51
  with the confrontation with the conscience.
• 42:56
  Here's where you are now before. The eyes of God.
• 43:02
  And that is supposed to invoke and provoke a sense of guilt.
• 43:07
  A sense of concern like Herod a sense of even holy panic.
• 43:14
  I'm in trouble here. Where do I flee?
• 43:18
  Where do I go? Is this really true?
• 43:20
  And if it is true that I need, I need saving.
• 43:22
  Do you see how that goes? And here's the problem.
• 43:28
  I wonder if in our day, the reason why we're not seeing as
• 43:31
  many people saved, like we would want to seize because we have
• 43:34
  eliminated this idea of confronting the conscience.
• 43:39
  People are comfortable, like people come in and out to
• 43:42
  services and and they hear preachers traveling to different
• 43:45
  places. How much of those interactions
• 43:48
  of Truth is pointing at somebody's kajin saying you're
• 43:52
  in trouble? There's a holy God, you're a
• 43:56
  sinner. I'm a sinner too.
• 43:58
  I'm forgiven, but I'm trying to tell you and help you to be
• 44:00
  forgiven as well. How much of that is occurring
• 44:03
  and people come in and out in at why?
• 44:06
  Because impart? Their conscience is not being
• 44:09
  Touched. And so, you know, if you've come
• 44:13
  here regularly, you realize that the preaching here is strong and
• 44:17
  there's a reason for that is the reason for that because we have
• 44:21
  pent up anger. We're letting it out here.
• 44:24
  Okay. That's not the reason.
• 44:26
  The reason is because we see this idea of a lawgiver and a
• 44:30
  law. And we are sinners, we are
• 44:31
  broken. We're in trouble.
• 44:36
  So we need a savior, right? And that's where it begins.
• 44:40
  What happened with the first Christian sermon after Peter
• 44:42
  preached, what a gracious, God, the one who denied you three
• 44:45
  times as the one who gets to preach the first Christian.
• 44:47
  Sermon, he preaches. And what happens to the audience
• 44:50
  are the thousands that were listening to these men and
• 44:54
  women-- glorifying God in different tongues Peter
• 44:57
  preaches. And when he preaches, it says
• 44:59
  that when they heard this, they were cut to the Heart, The
• 45:02
  Cutting of the heart, must have been before the cleansing of the
• 45:06
  Art. and when this cut occurs, when you begin to bleed in your
• 45:10
  soul a little bit, Birth in that is an appeal.
• 45:17
  An appeal and the appeal here is what I want you to see in First
• 45:21
  Peter 3:21 come with me, come come, come.
• 45:24
  Come with me to 1st, Peter 3:21. 1st, Peter 3:21.
• 45:40
  Peter says baptism, which corresponds to this?
• 45:43
  Now saves, you is baptism. Save you, Peter says, baptism.
• 45:47
  Saves you really, which corresponds to this baptism?
• 45:51
  Now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body.
• 45:54
  Okay. Thank you for the clarification.
• 45:57
  Peter baptism which corresponds to this.
• 46:00
  Now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an
• 46:04
  appeal to God, for a good conscience, Through the
• 46:10
  resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is no Redemptive value in
• 46:15
  the body of water. That you step into there is
• 46:18
  nothing of that physical material that brings about any
• 46:21
  kind of Salvation or sanctification.
• 46:25
  What Peter Singer was when you collect his thoughts.
• 46:28
  Is that as, you know, baptism, is this external tangible pledge
• 46:32
  that you make of something that has occurred internally.
• 46:35
  And what baptism really is according to this verse is an
• 46:38
  appeal It's an appeal to God. An appeal that was first birth
• 46:45
  inside but now you're making it public first before him.
• 46:48
  And before man, I want to be washed.
• 46:53
  I want to be cleansed I want the old Daniel to go in that body
• 46:58
  water and die and I want the new Daniel in Christ to come up in
• 47:03
  Resurrection Life that is what is speaking about here.
• 47:06
  There is an appeal in baptism and that appeal was first born
• 47:10
  when you were cut in your heart. No wonder Peter after he
• 47:13
  preaches to them says repent and be baptized.
• 47:16
  You really want to be cleanse. You really want to be saved,
• 47:18
  prove it. Show that your faith is genuine
• 47:24
  and true. And that's why I get a little
• 47:26
  nervous from people who hesitate to get baptized.
• 47:29
  It's very telling sign of the condition of their conscience.
• 47:34
  it reveals some things, and one of those things is that it puts
• 47:38
  into question, whether they truly understand the demand of
• 47:40
  the Gospel, And what Jesus is Worthy of.
• 47:46
  But hopefully when you see people get into that tank, what
• 47:48
  you're witnessing is, people appealing for a good conscience.
• 47:52
  Oh, cleanse me, wash me. Make me new not that that act
• 47:55
  does it, but it's just an expression of something that is
• 47:58
  birthed in the heart. It's birth in the heart in
• 48:02
  Hebrews says in so many different ways, how that
• 48:05
  sacrifice of Jesus sprinkles, are conscious clean.
• 48:08
  There's a cleansing that takes place and there is this relief
• 48:13
  that is born. And unlike Herod you are no
• 48:17
  longer troubled by what you've done in the past, you're no
• 48:21
  longer thinking and it's no longer in the lingering it
• 48:23
  behind you. What?
• 48:24
  And ready to LEAP on you and any suspicious thing happens.
• 48:29
  No, when you put your faith in Christ, you're conscious no
• 48:33
  longer reminds you of that, which Christ has pardoned, it's
• 48:37
  put to rest, it's buried. And yes, Satan would try to try
• 48:41
  to unbury it and bring it back to you again but upward you
• 48:46
  look. They're right and see him there.
• 48:49
  You look and see him there. The one who's paid for your sins
• 48:52
  to one has redeemed you from your sins.
• 48:53
  And one is rescue you from your sins and you remind yourself and
• 48:56
  you strengthen your faith. In the love of God, I'm free.
• 48:58
  I'm free. And your conscience is now being
• 49:01
  wired over and over again, condition, you are free.
• 49:04
  You are free. You are free and that gets
• 49:07
  louder and Satan voices. It's muted more, and more, and
• 49:10
  more. The Cutting of the heart must
• 49:15
  occur before the cleansing of the heart.
• 49:17
  And one of the immediate Gifts of Salvation is that there is
• 49:20
  this resounding relief to your conscience. the conscious and
• 49:27
  Society, the conscience and salvation the assistance of
• 49:32
  conscience and sanctification, after being a child of God, what
• 49:35
  happens to your conscience What occurs when your evil conscience
• 49:40
  is now made new and you're born again.
• 49:44
  So you think differently? See, things differently is there
• 49:47
  is there a cease of activity in your conscience?
• 49:50
  Do you never know a restlessness?
• 49:52
  Are you forever at ease? Because of what Christ has done?
• 49:55
  Yes, or no? You should never for a moment,
• 49:59
  doubt your position, and God because of Christ.
• 50:02
  If your conscience, says anything to you, contrary to the
• 50:06
  promises of God, in Jesus, your conscience needs some work to be
• 50:09
  done on and that's okay. God is patient with us maturing
• 50:12
  in the love of God. As first John, thousands people
• 50:14
  who still feel condemnation. What that shows again is that
• 50:19
  their conscience is not up to par with the truth and they need
• 50:22
  to be trained. They need to be trained.
• 50:26
  And so there should never ever be a moment where the
• 50:29
  interruption of your piece occurs because of what Christ
• 50:33
  has done at the same time because of the spirit of God
• 50:37
  living inside of us, there's something that happens to her
• 50:40
  conscience. That was not even known before
• 50:43
  you came to Christ as real as it was before you came to Christ.
• 50:46
  And it is this you are now alerted and aware of a higher
• 50:50
  law. It's no longer just the basic
• 50:53
  law of God, that has been instilled in every heart now.
• 50:56
  You see the law of Christ. Now, I understand the depth of
• 51:00
  the great call of discipleship, and your conscious now is made
• 51:03
  aware of something, glorious, something, beautiful, and
• 51:07
  sometimes even terrifying apart from God's help.
• 51:11
  What is this? That's what happens.
• 51:14
  Right? And now the law of God is
• 51:16
  written on your heart. What I thought it was written
• 51:18
  before. Yeah, it was written before but
• 51:20
  it's written in a new way. Now now you have the desire to
• 51:22
  obey it. Now you have the power to obey
• 51:25
  it. Now you have a deeper
• 51:26
  understanding of it. And you live differently and you
• 51:31
  pursue that life there's an understanding now with the
• 51:35
  conscience that brings about a new sense of responsibility and
• 51:38
  that responsibility is for you to maintain as Paul said, so
• 51:41
  many times a good conscience and here are a few reasons, why let
• 51:46
  me tell you why you're conscious as a Christian is absolutely
• 51:49
  important for you. To train and to obey.
• 51:56
  Again time is not my friend now, so I'll give you just a couple
• 52:00
  to think about. If you're there in First Peter,
• 52:02
  you're in a good place because you arrive there sooner than the
• 52:05
  others. I want you to see something in
• 52:06
  First Peter 3 verse 15, notice this with me.
• 52:12
  This is her Christians. Now, this is not just for
• 52:15
  society, as a whole, it's not just a common Grace expression.
• 52:18
  This is not even for for thus, for those who need to come to
• 52:20
  Christ and either conscious to be smitten, this is for the
• 52:24
  believer. And what we are told here by
• 52:27
  Peter, something, instrumental about the use of a good
• 52:30
  conscience. First, Peter 515, you know this,
• 52:34
  we read but in your hearts honor Christ, the lord, as holy always
• 52:39
  being prepared to make a defense to anyone, Who asks you for a
• 52:43
  reason? For the hope that is in you yet
• 52:45
  do it with gentleness and respect having a good
• 52:49
  conscience. So that when you are slandered,
• 52:55
  those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to
• 52:58
  shame. Having a good conscience, is
• 53:03
  absolutely necessary for your testimony.
• 53:08
  For the boldness of your witness, notice, before he says
• 53:12
  that you be ready to make a defense to anyone asks you for a
• 53:15
  reason. For the hope that is in you and
• 53:17
  he follows that with you, but you need a good conscience.
• 53:20
  You need a good conscience. And then he goes on to talk
• 53:24
  about how there are people who are ready to slander, you a
• 53:26
  revile, your good behavior, right?
• 53:29
  The world is looking for ammunition to dismiss.
• 53:33
  The hope that is in us. They're constantly looking for
• 53:36
  contradictions or hypocrisy to give them a reason to ignore
• 53:41
  what you have to say. And what Peter is a pleading for
• 53:45
  is listen to the best of your ability.
• 53:47
  And by God's help ensure that your conscience is clear for the
• 53:50
  sake of your Witness. A clear conscience makes a bold
• 53:55
  witness. Fearless courageous.
• 54:01
  Not wondering, who knows what? Not scared.
• 54:05
  If somebody will bring something up, no, no.
• 54:08
  A person who has a clear conscience, can give a clear
• 54:10
  gospel and not just the clear gospel and the sense that you
• 54:14
  can preach it of it, you're a hypocrite but a gospel that has
• 54:16
  Authority with it. Has a strength to it.
• 54:22
  That has a persuasion to it. That is winsome.
• 54:27
  The only way that can happen is if You have nothing to be
• 54:30
  embarrassed about privately or you're not something and a
• 54:34
  different sphere of of your life.
• 54:37
  For the sake of your testimony pursue a good conscience and
• 54:41
  stay there because you don't know when somebody will ask you
• 54:44
  about the hope that is in you. And when that time does come,
• 54:47
  you will be ready to deliver as a clear vessel.
• 54:51
  Not giving muddy water. And in fact, those who would try
• 54:56
  to put you to shame, when, in realizing that you are men who
• 54:58
  walks in, good conscience, a woman who walks and integrity
• 55:01
  they would be put to shame. They would be silenced.
• 55:06
  So for your testimony, for your testimony.
• 55:10
  But there's another one that I think is so valuable and I love
• 55:13
  it and I praise God, that it's in the Bible, not just for the
• 55:17
  sake, your testimony for the sake of your peace. for the sake
• 55:21
  of your piece, serve God, long enough, And the more public your
• 55:26
  ministry is the more you'll be exposed to these kind of
• 55:28
  attacks, any servant of God, who serves God, long enough and is
• 55:32
  doing something effective for the kingdom of God, will be
• 55:34
  subject to slander will be subject to false accusations
• 55:38
  will be subject to smear campaigns.
• 55:40
  It happened to Jesus. It happened to the disciples at
• 55:42
  happened to the prophets. It happened to a man named Paul
• 55:46
  in fact that that was what Paul had deal with throughout his
• 55:48
  whole Ministry, this man was had to answer letters of people who
• 55:52
  were saying that he was a Ministry for this reason for
• 55:54
  that. And you have to defend
• 55:55
  themselves and make a case this man on top of that was standing
• 55:58
  in trials, and before tribunals and he had to deal with these
• 56:02
  different accusations of what he was saying, all these things he
• 56:05
  was constantly in the headlines of getting in trouble or being
• 56:09
  questionable. That can be very overwhelming
• 56:14
  for anybody that can be destructive and so many cases.
• 56:20
  But you see Paul though a thorn in his flesh, was able to pull
• 56:25
  through and not just pull through but be fruitful in the
• 56:27
  midst of all of that. And you wonder how, what was
• 56:30
  Paul secret? What was his comfort?
• 56:32
  What made his pillow soft at night?
• 56:37
  And some might say, because the gospel.
• 56:40
  Amen. I know the gospel is the answer
• 56:41
  for many things, right? Because the gospel.
• 56:43
  Yes, the gospel, amen. Amen.
• 56:45
  Amen. Because he had a certain
• 56:49
  personality at leadership style that made him strong.
• 56:51
  So he had alligator skin, no, actually read the scripture and
• 56:54
  you see that he was, he was wounded in many ways including
• 56:57
  emotionally mentally. Do you know what?
• 57:00
  Paul's secret was to endure? The satanic assault on his
• 57:04
  character on his reputation on his ministry.
• 57:08
  A good conscience. A good conscience.
• 57:14
  Notice how many times Paul says throughout the scriptures?
• 57:18
  That he has a good conscience. Let me read you a couple verses
• 57:21
  in Acts 20 31. He says here and looking
• 57:26
  intently at the council here. He is standing before the
• 57:28
  Sanhedrin on a on a trial based on false reports.
• 57:32
  Paul said, Brothers I've lived my life before God in all good
• 57:42
  conscience up to this day. I've lived my life before God
• 57:49
  and all good conscience up to this day, acts 24 verse 16.
• 57:55
  So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God
• 58:01
  and man. And I could take the next five
• 58:05
  minutes to show you different verses where he says in his
• 58:07
  Epistles. I thank God with a clear
• 58:08
  conscience with a clear conscience with a clear
• 58:11
  conscience. Do you know why Paul can whether
• 58:14
  those storms because of that, Because he took pains to ensure
• 58:20
  that his conduct his life secret public with finances with the
• 58:25
  opposite sex with how he did business.
• 58:28
  He was a tent maker with all these different things.
• 58:30
  He ensured, that his conscience was always an alignment with the
• 58:33
  truth and there was nothing that he was aware of.
• 58:38
  That would hold him or make him guilty.
• 58:41
  And I can't tell you how instrumental that is when people
• 58:45
  try to Gaslight you or in people, try to convince others
• 58:50
  about you about things that are untrue.
• 58:53
  The greatest thing that can get keep you strong.
• 58:57
  According to the word of God is a clear conscience, I've known
• 59:01
  personal tax over the years, I've known them, many of you
• 59:04
  have known them as well, and I can tell you this, that the best
• 59:08
  thing, the best thing is to be able to reflect and say I've
• 59:12
  done all that. I could I've done all that I
• 59:14
  could to do, or to handle the situation the way God's word
• 59:18
  tells me too. That will put you to sleep.
• 59:25
  That will that will bounce those arrows off of you.
• 59:29
  When you had before God and before, man, you did not ignore
• 59:33
  your conscience, do you did not violate your conscience but
• 59:36
  you've upheld it. And honored it.
• 59:42
  And you're free. You're free.
• 59:46
  I'm fully aware that there are nuances with the conscience,
• 59:50
  right? You go to Romans 14, you go to
• 59:53
  First Corinthians 8 and you see how Believers feel differently
• 59:57
  about different things. And there are all these rules
• 59:59
  about how our separate Consciousness, should should be
• 1:00:03
  harmonized together and work together, but you want to stay
• 1:00:06
  for another hour me as other you.
• 1:00:07
  We can do it. I just want to give you a basic
• 1:00:11
  understanding and knowledge Society of the conscience.
• 1:00:15
  And here's my question to you to the to the people who are
• 1:00:18
  filling this room right now. What is your conscience telling
• 1:00:21
  you today? What is your conscience telling
• 1:00:25
  you today? What is your value system that
• 1:00:29
  your conscience is adhering to is that the word of God or is it
• 1:00:33
  culture? Is it the podcaster that you
• 1:00:35
  love? Is that the philosopher who
• 1:00:36
  doesn't know Christ? Where's your value system?
• 1:00:42
  What is right and wrong to you? Is it what this says, or what
• 1:00:45
  you say, or what your culture says, or where your tradition
• 1:00:48
  says, or what your the rapper says who Yeah, you might have a
• 1:00:53
  feeling of right and wrong but those feelings could be
• 1:00:56
  misleading and deceptive and can to lead you into danger.
• 1:01:00
  It will solidify you in damnation and all the while you
• 1:01:04
  thought that you were doing, right?
• 1:01:05
  I hope that scares you enough to fling.
• 1:01:07
  Open your Bible to say, oh man, oh man, what is, what is my
• 1:01:11
  understanding of, right and wrong.
• 1:01:16
  What about you unbeliever? What is your conscience?
• 1:01:19
  Telling you even now as you've heard me speak for the past
• 1:01:21
  hour, Do you know, Christ is your conscience clear?
• 1:01:25
  Before, God, can you confidently stand before him?
• 1:01:30
  Can you confidently stand before him?
• 1:01:34
  My fiancé and I are going through premarital counseling
• 1:01:38
  book. And one of the things I
• 1:01:39
  appreciate about the questions was that asked about the
• 1:01:41
  Assurance of Salvation had different checkboxes and one of
• 1:01:44
  the checkboxes, will they answer?
• 1:01:45
  The question was? How assured are you?
• 1:01:47
  How confident are you that you will be in heaven?
• 1:01:52
  This is most confidently kind of confident, not really sure.
• 1:01:55
  Absolutely not sure. And you know how good it felt to
• 1:01:57
  be able to without hesitation say absolutely confident.
• 1:02:01
  Are you? Well, I don't know.
• 1:02:06
  How do you sleep at night, man? Who I don't know.
• 1:02:09
  And you're worried about the stocks Oh, I don't know.
• 1:02:13
  And you're worried about what's happening to your car.
• 1:02:16
  God help you. I'm trying to tell you right
• 1:02:18
  now. You're in trouble.
• 1:02:19
  You're in deep trouble. You might not like me now.
• 1:02:22
  You might leave. You're saying that guy was
• 1:02:23
  crazy. That's fine.
• 1:02:25
  You're going to stand before God one day and you're going to
• 1:02:28
  remember these words. You know, what's scary about the
• 1:02:31
  conscience. As much as you think, you can
• 1:02:32
  silence it in this life and you're able to, there is a Time
• 1:02:36
  coming when your conscience will be as clear as it's ever been
• 1:02:39
  more clear than you can fathom. One of the things that will make
• 1:02:42
  health, Also torturous, it's not just the pain.
• 1:02:47
  Of physical elements. It's the fact that you will be
• 1:02:51
  fully aware. That you are justifiably
• 1:02:56
  condemned and on top of that you had opportunity to repent and
• 1:03:02
  you rejected it. I have a feeling that that
• 1:03:05
  impart will be the reason for a weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• 1:03:09
  Your conscious might be dull now, but there is coming a day
• 1:03:12
  where you will be resurrected, not until life.
• 1:03:14
  But unto death, the second death and you will be fully informed
• 1:03:19
  and aware. Why don't I do it when I had a
• 1:03:23
  chance Believer. Do you work with your conscience
• 1:03:31
  or do you just cruise through life without any kind of
• 1:03:36
  guidance? Do you train your conscience?
• 1:03:38
  Do you inform your conscious or do you just let anything come
• 1:03:41
  into your mind? Here's the thing.
• 1:03:43
  Whatever, you allowed to come into your mind, inevitably will
• 1:03:45
  influence your conscience. So what do you feed your mind?
• 1:03:49
  How familiar are you with the standard of God with the
• 1:03:52
  promises of God with the directions of God?
• 1:03:55
  Do you have that concern as Paul had?
• 1:03:57
  I take great pains to ensure that I have a clear conscience
• 1:04:00
  before God and man. And at the same time, believer.
• 1:04:06
  Is your guilt legitimate? Because you have believers who
• 1:04:12
  are tormented by their conscience and it makes no sense
• 1:04:15
  to why they are actually tormented.
• 1:04:18
  Do you know, your freedom in Christ You know, the Liberty
• 1:04:22
  that Jesus purchased for you, do you major on the minors?
• 1:04:25
  Do you make gray areas black and white.
• 1:04:30
  So even believer, as much as you are called to have a clear
• 1:04:33
  conscience, you also need an accurate conscience.
• 1:04:38
  And that's that's part of pastoral Ministry to not just
• 1:04:41
  people who ignore their conscious, but people, whether
• 1:04:42
  very sensitive conscience that just any intrusive thought can
• 1:04:48
  just bury them and they just don't want to do anything for
• 1:04:51
  God anymore. They want to give up their not
• 1:04:52
  worthy when it's like, Maybe there needs to be some rewiring
• 1:04:56
  there with your conscience. Let's pray.
• 1:05:14
  Lord this afternoon. We have heard.
• 1:05:18
  We've heard your insights. On how you have made us.
• 1:05:28
  We thank you for this gift. Called conscience.
• 1:05:34
  We thank you that it was used to bring us to your son.
• 1:05:38
  We thank you that. It must be continued.
• 1:05:41
  Lee respected to be like your son.
• 1:05:45
  To be loving to our Brethren. Have a testimony before the
• 1:05:48
  world to know, peace, and to enjoy peace.
• 1:05:51
  When Satan tries to attack us. We thank you that in your great
• 1:05:58
  love beyond the love of Salvation.
• 1:06:00
  You have raised up restraints in our world.
• 1:06:04
  To keep evil at Bay, forgive America and the rest of the
• 1:06:09
  world as they are listening to Satan, instead of your word, we
• 1:06:14
  pray that you preserve Our Generation from self-destruction
• 1:06:18
  that you would bring about a move of the spirit that would
• 1:06:20
  reawaken the conscience an objective morality.
• 1:06:24
  But we asked tonight, rather this afternoon, if there is
• 1:06:28
  anyone who has a guilty conscience and it is legitimate
• 1:06:31
  guilt that they would know they can have forgiveness in.
• 1:06:34
  Jesus Christ that they don't have to live with this nying
• 1:06:38
  fear like Herod. That they've done something
• 1:06:42
  wrong and something is out to get them.
• 1:06:44
  Eventually let them know that not only do you remove that
• 1:06:48
  guilt but you remove the punishment.
• 1:06:51
  Please Lord, we pray that today people would have a washed
• 1:06:54
  conscience. And what we worship you today
• 1:06:58
  with a clear conscience with a pure heart?
• 1:07:03
  Knowing. Oh God.
• 1:07:06
  That you are patient with us and that you are willing to forgive
• 1:07:09
  us over and over again. Maybe not abuse that freedom,
• 1:07:12
  but use it, use it to serve you with greater strength and
• 1:07:16
  Assurance of your love. For us.
• 1:07:18
  We give you honor and Glory now Lord, in Jesus name, we pray.
• 1:07:22
  Amen. Let's stand together and
• 1:07:23
  worship.