A STUDY OF CONSCIENCE - By PASTOR DAVID J. LEET

INTRODUCTION

Firstly, hand out dictionary notes on the conscience.

We start today with the parable of the woman caught in Adultery:

John 8 V 3-12: 

Take note of verses 8 and 9.

3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

6 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 heard them not.

7 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.

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

The people were all convicted in their consciences, that they too were sinners agains God’s laws.

1 Timothy 1 V 18-19:

18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;

19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

We see how we are affected any our own conscience.

Now the reason I’ve chosen to look at our conscience is so that we can come closer to being HOLY..

Leviticus 11 V 45:

For I AM The Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt (your sinful lives) to be be your God; thus you shall be Holy, for I AM Holy.

Other References:

Leviticus 11 V 44:

44 For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Leviticus 19 V 2:

2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.

Leviticus 20 V 7:

7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 20 V 26:

26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

Leviticus 21 V 8:

8 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the Lord, which sanctify you, am holy.

Deuteronomy 23 V 14:

14 For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.

1 Peter 1 V 15-16:

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Therefore, we can see how that our conscience plays a pivotal role in determining our beliefs and our actions. 

We have the Apostle Paul’s instructions:

Romans 12 V 1-2:

1 I beseech you therefor Brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  So now we can understand that our thought life affects or speech, actions, and our faith life as well.

The created being mankind (both men and women), were given a free will to determine how to live and what decisions to make, otherwise we would just be robot like or perhaps like puppets.

Matthew 23 V 37:

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Jesus laments over Jerusalem not being willing to accept God’s Prophets and their teachings, but rather to stone them.

This is the unchanged soulful Earthly conscience and its effects. A good example of our conscience being in turmoil is that of Judas Ischariot’s betrayal of Jesus in Gethsemene. 

Matthew 27 V 3-5:

3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

After seeing what they (Pharisees) did to Jesus, his torn conscience Ade him retentive of treachery, and he tried to return the blood money for sin.

At this point, the obvious question is, how do we see ourselves in this scenario before knowing Christ, and are we still developing a good and holy conscience?

DISCUSSION TIME:

Romans 12 V 1-2:

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

This is a call to be living sacrifices to God.

V 1: I beseech (to urgently and fervently ask or implore, to entreat) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, which is your reasonable service.  V 2: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

2 Corinthians 5 V 10-11:

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

Hebrews 9 V 13-14:

13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

14 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?

The Apostle Paul is desperately calling all believers to change their thinking and our belief system, in order to confirm more closely to Jesus Christ’s way of thinking and consciously become more Holy in our lives, here on Earth as His example to us showed the way.

Isaiah 30 V 21:

21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

1 Timothy 1 V 5:

5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience and from sincere faith, we need to listen to our Father in Heaven’s words of instructions in:

Proverbs 4 V 20-27:

20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

DEFINITIONS - American Dictionary of English Language

CONSCIENCE, noun, (Latin, to know, to be privy to)

1. Internal or self-knowledge, or judgement of right and wrong; or the faculty, power or principle within us, which decides on the lawfulness or unlawfulness of our own actions and affections, and instantly approves or condemns them.  Conscience is called by some writers the moral sense, and considered as an original faculty of our nature.  Others question the propriety the propriety of considering conscience as a distinct faculty or principle.  The consider it rather as the general principle of moral approbation or disapprobation, applied to ones own conduct and affections; alleging that our notions of right and wrong are not to be deduced from a single principle or faculty, but from various powers of the understanding and will.

Being contacted by their own conscience they went out one by one.

John 8:9:

9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

The conscience manifests itself in the feeling of obligation we experience, which precedes, attends and follows our actions.

CONSCIENCE is first occupied in ascertaining our duty, before we proceed to action; then in judging of our actions when performed.

1. The estimate or determination of consciences justice; honesty.  What you require cannot, in conscience  be deferred.

2. Real sentiment. Private thought; truth; as, do you in conscience believe the story?

3. Consciousness; knowledge of our own actions or thought.  The sweetest cordial we receive at last, is conscience of our virtuous actions past.  This primary sense of the word is nearly, perhaps wholly obsolete.)

4. Knowledge of the actions of others,.

5. In ludicrous language, reason or reasonableness.

Eg. Half a dozen fools are, in all conscience as many as you should require.

To make conscience or a matter of conscience is to act according to the dictates of conscience or to scruple to act contrary to its dictates.

Court of conscience a court established for the recovery of small debts in London and other trading cities and districts. 

DISCUSSION TIME 

PRAYER TIME