5:31 sing our first song. Paris, Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature. Oh, thou of God and man the son, thee will I cherish. I will honor thee. Thou my soul's glory. Thou my soul's glory, joy and crown. 5:48 [Music] Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature, oh thou of God 6:07 and man the son. Thee will I cherish. Thee will Ior. 6:22 Thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown. There are the meadows. There is still the woodland 6:41 ro in the blueing gar of strength. Jesus is fairer. Jesus is pureer. 6:59 Who makes the awful heart to see? There is the sunshine. There is still the moonlight 7:18 and all the twinkling star hold. Jesus shines brighter. Jesus shines pureer 7:35 than all the angels have more. Only voices sing. Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations, 7:54 Son of God and Son of Man. Glory and honor, praise, adoration, 8:13 now and forever more be thine. Please be seated. [Music] Heavenly sunlight. Heavenly sunlight. 8:32 [Music] Flooding my soul with glory divine. Hallelujah. [Music] I am rejoiceing singing his praisees. 8:56 Jesus is mine. Walking in sunlight. All of my jour through the deep way. 9:12 Jesus has said I'll never forsake thee. Promise divine that never can fail. Heavenly sunlight. Heavenly sunlight 9:30 flooding my soul with glory divine. Hallelujah. I am rejoiceing singing his praisees. Jesus is mine. 9:49 Shadows around me. Shadows above me. Never conceal my savior and guide. He is the light in him is no darkness. 10:06 Ever I'm walking close to his son. Heavenly sunlight. Heavenly sunlight. Guarding my soul with glory divine. 10:24 Hallelujah. I am rejoiceing, singing his praises. Jesus is mine. In the brighter, ever rejoicing, 10:42 pressing my way to mansions above, singing his praises. Gladly I'm walking, walking in sunlight. Sunlight of love. 10:59 Heavenly sunlight. Heavenly sunlight. Flooding my soul with glory divine. Hallelu. I am rejoiceing 11:17 singing his praises. Jesus is mine. [Music] 11:39 Blessed be your holy name, Lord Jesus. I will never cease to give you praise. You are Messiah, deliverer, 11:55 the holy one of Israel. Blessed be your holy name, Lord Jesus. There's no other name by which you're saved. You are Messiah, 12:15 deliverer. [Music] Blessed be your name. Your name is high above all others. Your name it sets the captives free. 12:34 Your name it delivers all the nations. Your name is life and bread to me. Blessed be your holy name, Lord Jesus. 12:50 I will never cease to give you praise. You are Messiah, deliverer. [Music] Blessed be your name. Your name is high above all others. 13:12 Your name it sets the captives free. Your name it delivers all the nations. [Music] Your name is life bread to me. Blessed be your holy name Lord Jesus. 13:34 I will never cease to give you praise. You are Messiah, deliverer. Blessed be your name. 13:51 Blessed be your name. Blessed be your name. [Music] 14:10 We want to see Jesus lifted high, the banner that flies across the sky, that all men might see the truth and know that he is the way to heaven. We want to see, we want to see, we want 14:27 to see Jesus lifted high. We want to see, we want to see, we want to see Jesus lifted high step by step. Step by step, we're moving forward. Little by little, we're gaining ground. Every 14:45 prayer, a powerful weapon, strongholds come, tumbling down and down and down. We want to see Jesus lifted high. Banner that flies across the sky. That all we might see the truth and know he's the 15:05 way to heaven. We want to see. We want to see. You want to see Jesus lifted high. We want to see. We want to see. We want to see Jesus lifted high. 15:22 [Music] My worth is not in what I want, not in the strength of flesh, flesh and bone, but in the costly wounds of love at the cross. I rejoice in my redeemer, 15:40 greatest treasure. I will trust in him no other. My soul is satisfied in him alone. Let's join and sing, brothers and sisters. [Music] 16:03 My worth is not in what I hold, nor in the strength of flesh and bone, but in the costly wounds of love at the Oh, my worth is not in skill or name, 16:29 in win or lose, power or shame, but in the blood of Christ the Lord and God. I rejoice in my redeemer, 16:49 greatest treasure, resting of my soul. I will trust in him no other. My soul is satisfied in him alone. As summers we fade and die 17:17 in youth and beauty hurry by the life eternal cause to us at the cross. I will not boast in wealth or mind 17:36 or human wisdom sweet, but I will boast in knowing Christ at the cross. I rejoice in my redeemer, 17:56 greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in him no more. My soul is satisfied in the Lord. Do wonders here that I confess. 18:20 My worth and my unworthiness. My value fixed my ransom paid [Music] at the cross. I rejoice in my redeemer. 18:41 greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in him no other. My soul is satisfied in him alone. in the Lord. 19:01 [Music] [Music] 19:24 We are a moment. You are forever. Lord of the ages, God before time. We are a laborer. 19:41 You are eternal. The everlasting raining on high. Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Worthy 20:00 is the lamb who was highest praisees. Honor and glory be unto your name. [Music] 20:18 me unto your name. We are the broken. You are the healer. Jesus redeemer, mighty to save. 20:37 You are the love song. We'll sing forever. Bowing before you. Blessing your name. Holy, holy, 20:55 Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the lamb who was highest praisees. Honor and glory 21:11 be unto your name. [Music] Be unto your name. Let's raise our voice and sing. Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. worthy 21:31 is the lamb who was saved. Highest praise is honor and glory be unto your name. [Music] 21:49 Be unto your name. Be your name. be unto your name. Shall we all stand and sing? We bow down and confess. 22:08 You are Lord in this place. You are all I need. It's your face I seek. In the presence of your light, we bow down. We bow down and confess. 22:37 You alone [Music] in this place [Music] we bow down 22:54 [Music] and confess you are Lord. Oh, [Music] in this place you are all 23:20 I need. [Music] is your face. I see in the presence 23:44 of your love. [Music] We bow down. [Music] We bow down. 24:01 voices sing. We bow down [Music] and confess [Music] you are Lord 24:19 [Music] in this place. As we remain standing, let's 24:59 bow our heads in prayer. As we just sang, we 25:22 bow down and confess that the Lord is in this place. He is all we need and it's his face we seek. 25:40 In the presence of his light we bow down. Thus says the Lord who made you 26:02 and formed you in the womb, he will help you. Do not fear my servant and you whom I have chosen. 26:20 I will pour out on the thirsty land and streams on the ground, dry ground. I will pour out of my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants. 26:39 They will spring up among the grass like populars by streams of water. This one will say, "I am the Lord's." And that one will call on the name of Jacob. 26:59 And another will write on his hand belonging to the Lord and will name Israel's name with honor. Our father in heaven, we 27:26 come before your throne worshiping you, praising you and thanking you for all that you have done in the past and the plans that you have for us for 27:45 the future plans of welfare and not calamity to give us a future and a hope. We thank you father that you are not a disappointment. You are the one who said I will do all 28:05 things new and if any man is in Christ is a new creation. Your word says, "All things pass away, and behold, all things have become new." Lord, we want to be renewed day by day for your glory, for your 28:25 honor. Lord, we thank you that you are a good God. You are a merciful father. Lord, we lift up your name. We praise you, adore you, and thank you. Dear brothers and sisters, take this opportunity to express thanks and praise 28:45 and gratitude to the Lord who has blessed he's lavished his blessings upon us in the past and he's taking care of us presently and he will lead us in the future. 29:02 Lord Jesus, we worship your majesty along with all the hosts of heaven. We bow down before your throne in our spirits worshiping you, thanking you, blessing your holy name. Lord, you are worthy, 29:19 worthy to be praised and adored, be glorified even in our midst this morning. Lord Jesus, we pray that you will take your rightful place, that you will be exalted and glorified in our midst. We pray that you will give word from heaven. Anoint 29:38 your servants. Fill them with the Holy Spirit and help us to receive your word with hunger and thirst and receptivity that we may be built up, strengthened and edified and challenged to live for you. Lord Jesus, thank you for this 29:58 time. Be glorified. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Please take your seats. We will look at our memory verses. Last 30:16 week we had a promise from John 12:24. John 12:24. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. 30:35 John 12:24. And today we have a command from Romans 15:7. accept one another 30:51 just as Christ also accepted us. Let's say that once more. Romans 15:7, accept one another. Just as Christ also accepted us, yeah, 31:13 we are glad to have Sur with us. He will bring us God's word this morning. Good morning brothers and sisters. 31:42 So I want to talk about the importance and the proper use of our conscience to progress in knowing God and not to deceive ourselves. We spoke about knowing God last few Sundays and not rejecting his 32:01 discipline. So the word conscience means with knowledge. Corn means width. Science is knowledge. How do we know God? How do we see God? No. Jesus said that the pure in heart shall see God. 32:21 And the Bible gives us a picture of the conscience as being like the eye. If we can turn to Matthew chapter 6 verses 20 to 24. So the question over here is what is 32:52 your treasure? What is your heart seeking or looking for? And it says that the conscience is like the eye. So it says, "Store up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy, where thieves do not 33:11 break in nor steal. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Then it says, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. If your eye is bad, then your whole body 33:27 will be full of dark darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. So when we say heart over here, uh where your treasure is there, your 33:45 heart will be also. See, it's quite clear. We're not talking about the physical organ that pumps blood. We're talking figuratively about what is the source of our motivations and desires. What is it that drives us? What is us that is you know the the 34:05 fountain of our life, our purpose? And the question is is it the fear of God, the love of God or is it the love of money, the love of honor or some animal desire? And are we diverted and distracted from 34:24 God's love? And it says the eye is the lamp of the body. It's not talking about the physical eye. The physical eye is the lamp of the body. We see things physically. No, it's talking about the conscience. It says if the conscience is clear and 34:43 in in the margin we can see uh healthy or sincere. And if I am sincerely seeking to love God with all my heart uh and and living in the light of what I know, then my whole body will be full of 35:03 light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. There's another translation that says, "If your eye is single, oh, there's no other object uh of my heart's desires." But it's the fear of God and the love of 35:20 God. Then we'll have a sensitive conscience. We know that the eye is the most sensitive part of the body. Uh that's the one part of the body that we cleanse many many many times a day. And the Lord wants us to keep a sensitive conscience. 35:36 And the spirit of God will speak in our conscience when we turn away. And it says, "If the eye is bad or dark, how great is that darkness?" And then the next verse says, "No one can serve two masters. You will either hate the one, 35:51 love the other. You'll be devoted to one and love the other or despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." So a single eye, a clear conscience and recognizing that he alone is my my heart's desire. He alone 36:09 u drives everything in my life is how we can keep a cure a pure conscience and says the pure in heart will see God and it's through the conscience and uh we will be judged in that final day we 36:27 can look at Romans chapter 2 and verse 15 it says we will be judged in that final day by whether Our consciences accuse us or excuse us. They show the work of the law written in 36:50 their hearts. This talking about all men, Gentiles who instinctively do the works of the law. They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts. their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing 37:04 or defending them. And this is how we will be judged in the final day. And therefore uh Paul says in view of that because there will be a judgment both of the unrighteous and of the of the righteous. He says this in Acts chapter 24 and verse 15. 37:22 Acts chapter 24:15. He says because there will be a righteous uh judgment of both the unrighteous and the righteous. And he wants to be I want to be in that uh second judgment. He says therefore what do I do? I in view of this verse 16 I always do 37:47 my best to maintain a blameless conscience both before God and before men. Yeah. So Paul Paul didn't say, you know, I was saved once and you know, that's it. I'm going to heaven and I will certainly be 38:05 in the judgment of the righteous. No, he says, no, I have to keep a clear conscience, a pure and blameless conscience. I always strive to maintain this. And we know the testimony of Job also. Job 27:6 he says, "My heart does not reproach me 38:22 all my days. Uh, I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go. My heart does not reproach any of my days." So, brothers and sisters, we see that the godliest men, you know, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament gave supreme 38:41 importance to their conscience. uh and and this is the basis this is the basis of our judgment and uh in Romans we see there's a warning there in Romans chapter 1 and 38:58 verse 18 onwards it talks about our hearts being darkened if we silence our conscience and speculate It says, "The wroth of God is revealed 39:17 from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." You suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And the wroth of God is revealed. uh because that which is known about God 39:34 is evident within them. For God made it evident to them since the creation of the world. his invisible attributes, his eternal power, his divine nature having been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they 39:49 are without excuse. So brothers, it says quite clearly that all these things what is evident, what can be known about God, we cannot begin to understand the 40:08 science. We make lots of big claims. Scientists make lots of big claims but they have not begin to understand the mysteries of how God does things. Uh no lot a lot of speculation. Some things we know we make progress. That's not a bad 40:24 thing. But we can't begin to understand the mysteries of who God is, his power, how he works. But what can be understood about him? that he is has a divine nature that he has eternal power and these things are evident to us. How 40:41 are they evident to us? It's not some major logic. It's just we stand in awesome wonder. Consider all the things thy hands have made. Psalm 19 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God." Without humility, we become so foolish, 40:59 brothers and sisters, to just humbly stand before the Lord and behold all that he has made and consider his eternal power, his divine nature. Says these things are evident through the things that he has made. Psalm 19 says, "The heavens are telling 41:16 the glory of God, their expanses, declaring the work of his hands. Day to day pours forth speech. Night to night reveals reveals knowledge. And I I found it very interesting here. It says, "There is no speech. There are 41:31 no nor are their words. Their voice is not heard." And the next verse, verse 4, Psalm 19:4 says, "Their line or their voice has gone out through all of the earth." So it seems like there's a contradiction. He's saying, "Hey, the 41:46 heavens are declaring the glory of God, but they're not speaking with an audible voice." Right? We don't hear the stars saying anything. But verse four says, "Their voice has gone out throughout all the earth." So, how are we hearing these things? How 42:03 do we hear or see the glory of God? Over here, the conscience is pictured like the ear. We have a conscience that makes us aware of of God. And yeah, we recognize it says daytoday pause forth speech. 42:22 You know, it says pose forth speech. Next verse says there is no speech. There are no words. It's through the conscience. It's through the conscience. Night to night reveals knowledge. I was thinking I we live in the city now 42:36 and it's rare that we go out and look at the stars. But if we do that, if we go, you know, look at the hills, the things that God has made, if we think about ourselves and that we are wondrously made by God, and we bow down in our hearts 42:54 and this voice has gone to all the earth, that which can be known about God, his eternal power, his divine nature, his invisible attributes have been clearly seen through our conscience. And going back to Romans 1, it says, 43:09 "Though they knew God, they did not honor him or give thanks." Yeah, everybody knows this. They may say all sorts of things, you know, and they may be taught all sorts of things. It may not be their fault. You know, from a 43:22 young age, people may have filled their mind with so-called clever but actually foolish thoughts. And but everybody knows that there is a God, a mighty God. But they did not honor him or give thanks. And if thankfulness 43:40 and it goes away and unrest comes into our heart, then that is the starting point for a slippery slope downwards. And it says that their hearts were darkened. They became futile in their speculations. They started thinking too 43:56 much, useless thoughts and uh professing to be wise. They said they were very clever but they became fools. In verse 25 it says that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the 44:12 creator who's blessed forever. So they stopped worshiping God and started giving importance and getting attracted by things that were made man-made things or or or other things that are created instead of giving the rightful place to 44:29 the to the creator. and says, "Professing to be wise, they became fools." You know, there's I I thought of this verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and:e 18. It says, "Let no man deceive himself." How can we deceive ourselves? 44:47 Because if any man thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so that he may become wise. If any man thinks he is wise in this age, he is in danger of being deceived. Let him become a fool. How do we become a fool? It's not 45:05 difficult. Just humble yourself and recognize that before God, you're a fool. You don't know anything. Before an almighty, all- wise God, we humble ourselves. And that is the the door to wisdom. 45:22 And it says that sin flatters the wicked. We can look at this in Psalm 36. Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart. Psalm 36:1. There is no fear of God before his eyes, for it flatters him in in his own eyes 45:42 concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it. Yeah. sin will speak to you saying, "Hey, it's not so serious. You don't you don't have to hate it. You can enjoy it. You know, God will overlook it. And if 45:58 you have high thoughts and this is the direction that you're going to go, you you'll get away. You won't be caught." Satan lied to Eve saying, you know, you surely will not die. Now the Living Bible says that sin lurks 46:16 deep in the hearts of the wicked forever urging them on to evil deeds. They have no fear of God to hold them back. Instead, in their conceit, they think they can hide their evil deeds and not get caught. And verse four says, they lie awake at 46:32 night to hatch their evil plots instead of planning how to keep away from wrong. others God has given us intelligence so that we can plan how to keep away from wrong and uh it's the fear of God that holds 46:52 us back that prevents us from listening to the voice of sin. In Proverbs we know this verse says trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. Do not lean on your understanding. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 47:10 Yeah, in in in Psalm 36 after it talks about the wicked, it goes on to say, "Your loving kindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God. Your 47:23 judgments are like a great deep." These are the things that we must occupy our hearts and minds with brothers and sisters and to bow down and worship. And it says, "How precious is your loving kindness, O Lord. The children of 47:38 men take refuge in the shadow of your wings." And verse 9 says, "For with you is the fountain of life. In your light, we see light." The only way we can see light is in the light of God. When God shines his light on our life. 47:57 And so we have that must have that longing for the revelation of God and humble ourselves and say Lord it's only in your light that I see light. It's in your only in your light that I know the truth the most eternal important truths. 48:13 I I can't get it any other way and wait for revelation from the Holy Spirit and not jump in and fill it fill up, you know, with explanations from our own proud thoughts. We see the example of 48:31 Jesus. It says Jesus did not judge by what his eyes saw or his ears heard. We can look at this in Isaiah 11. It's it's a glorious Jesus of a glorious 48:52 description of Jesus and how the spirit of God rested upon him. Isaiah 11 and verse three. He will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by what his ears 49:10 hear. And it says in the verses before that, the spirit of the Lord will rest upon him. This is what we want. This is the longing should be the longing of our hearts. As we keep a sensitive conscience, the spirit of God will rest 49:25 upon us. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, the spirit of the fear of the Lord. And and the verse before that says, "A branch from his roots will bear fruit." This is the secret of fruitfulness in 49:39 our life. And part of that allowing the spirit of God to rest upon us is to not to judge by what our eyes see and what our ears hear. And uh yeah, see just like the eyes and the ears are distinct from each other, the 49:57 conscience is a distinct faculty from our reason. And we have to nurture it in order to discern the voice of God. You know that we we often, you know, shut our eyes if we want to concentrate on what we're hearing. We're listening to 50:13 something intently, we shut our eyes. Or if we're watching something intently, we can't shut our ears or we usually don't, but we stop hearing. You know, if somebody's talking to us and we're watching something intently, we won't we 50:24 won't hear what they're saying. And in the same way brothers and sisters I worry I look at myself and I listen to brothers and sisters and I and I I feel that we have developed overdeveloped the muscles of our reasoning and our 50:40 intellect and we get puffed up and we can be blind and deaf to the voice of the Lord. Again in Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 19, it talks about Jesus. We can turn there. Isaiah 42. 51:09 Who is so blind but my servant? Or so deaf as my messenger who I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with me? Or so blind as the servant of the Lord? No, I I I typed this phrase, who is so blind but my servant. And chat GPT, you 51:28 know, pulled up a result from CFC that so I was I was happy to see that the truth is going out there. It talks about it talks about Jesus. It says that Jesus was blind and deaf to the temptations 51:47 and distractions and the logic of this world because he had no desire for anything except to please his father. And you know the verse before that says hear you deaf look you blind that you may see. So there is a blindness to the 52:06 things of this earth that we need so that we may be hearing and seeing the things of God. Yeah. I I think of that song we sing. Let me die to myself. So dead that no desire may rise to to be seen to appear as good or great 52:25 or wise in any but my savior's eyes. Let me die to myself. And and Jesus said, he said, "I praise you, Father, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and revealed them to babes to the foolish ones." The foolish ones 52:44 with a clear conscience. And we know at the same time that it doesn't say that Jesus ignored what his eyes saw and his ears heard, you know, but that is not how he judged or decided things. Just like our conscience is a 52:57 gift of God, common sense is also a gift of God. But our reason must be like the wife that submits and supports the Holy Spirit. It says about God's wisdom that it's pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, willing to yield. That word reasonable 53:15 means willing to yield. We will not be self-confident and assertive on the basis of our reason. But you know a reason and the Holy Spirit can work together. And it it talks about you know those in 53:35 1 Timothy 1:19 it talks about those who made a shipwreck of their faith by not keeping a clear conscience. And uh it's see I I I see it like this. It's a picture that you know just as a man cannot see through his ears. No matter 53:52 how good his hearing is, his hearing might be very well developed. And if he stops using his eyes, his hearing will be even more developed. But you ask him, you know, is this red? He'll have no idea. And if he's a clever person, he may 54:07 speculate. He may say, okay, I heard, I don't know, I can't see, but I heard that a fire engine is red. It makes a certain sound. So my alarm clock makes the same sound. So maybe that is also read. No this is the way intellectual 54:23 people speak about the Bible. It sounds very fascinating because we are also intellectual. We like to listen to these kind of things. But it's absolute nonsense to find a humble man, a spiritual man who knows the Lord, who walks with the 54:36 Lord and listen to him simple things and let it pierce your heart and let your conscience be pricricked. Yeah. We have to use our reason in submission to the Holy Spirit. And I wanted to, you 54:53 know, look at what temptation is. Uh in James chapter 1 and verse 14, James explains what temptation is. It says we are enticed and carried away by our own lust. So when when you think of the word lust, you know, we we just 55:12 automatically think of like sexual desire. But the word itself just means a strong desire. It could be in any area. It could be, you know, a desire to take revenge or a desire to preserve my honor or a desire to make money. Just a strong desire in any area. 55:31 And it says we are carried away by our own lust. And lust is conceived. It gives birth to sin. When sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. So it's good to recognize that it is a strong desire that is at the beginning 55:45 of every temptation. It is because my heart is attracted by something or my heart fears something that is my impulse and then I make a choice and then after that my mind starts finding 56:03 you know a reason for it. And if we are spiritual and submitted to God, then our heart will fear God and worship him. And uh yeah, the door to the Holy Spirit 56:20 is our will responding in delight or in the fear of God to his voice through the voice of our conscience and that will allow our mind to be transformed. That's the order. So I wanted for us to look at uh you 56:38 know we can look at Satan's tactics and temptations if you can pull that slide up. I Yeah. So the the starting point is that you 56:55 know we have a heart's desire. It could be for revenge. It could be for honor, money, something in this world. could be lust, uh, sexual lust. And this this is the line that came to me from brother Zach's song. If anything 57:11 upon this earth attracts me with a sense of worth, Lord, give me light that I might see. And when we look at Jesus's example, he said, "Worship and serve God." The spirit of the fear of God rested upon 57:31 him. And again this song that says were the whole realm of nature mine that were an offering far too small love so amazing so divine demands my life myself my all 57:49 to say Lord I can sing this on a Sunday morning and I mean it but I want it to really sink into my heart and govern my choices and for me to recognize that lack of thankfulness, that unrest, that strong desire. And what does that strong 58:07 desire lead me to do? It leads me to question the truth of God's word and the truth of God's love. And uh yeah, that is that is Satan's next step. I question the truth of God's word. And the next step after that is I start 58:23 reasoning and speculating. Did God really say? What did God really mean? How can I adjust? you know with this strong desire of mine along with God's word and uh the next step is to convince ourselves and convince others and 58:38 justify ourselves justify our reasoning and then I choose I choose for myself I grab I commit sin or I fight fight for my rights or I run away when when I should be standing uh strong in the strength of God 58:56 uh not taking a stand for Jesus and It's my will, my share, my reputation. That is that is the desire. Uh like the prodigal son said, give me my share. I will fight for my rights. I will stand for my reputation. Why should 59:14 I lose out? And then what happens then? Because our conscience is there. It doesn't go away unless you've killed it entirely. We hide. We cover up. We justify. There's a picture of Akan. We don't have to, you know, go there. It's 59:29 a picture story of Akan in Judges 7:21 where it says, "No, I I saw he saw this bar of gold and some shiny clothes. He saw, he coveted, he took, he hid." This is this is the pattern of Satan's deception in our life. And if we 59:49 continue this way, we we will become mockers because our conscience is seared. And we look at others and say, "Oh, they're so foolish. I'm clever. I escaped. I got away with it. And I said a prayer also. God will forgive me." 1:00:05 And uh make fun of others who fear God. And and then we look at Jesus's example in contrast to these things starts with a worship and a fear of God. And then he said, "One thing is necessary. Listen. Sit at my feet and listen. Mary has found the important 1:00:24 thing and I listen in quietness to my conscience. I listen for the voice of God and when God gives me a word, I live by that word. We shall live by words that proceed from the mouth of God. So I 1:00:42 trust, you know, we have reason on the other side. No, there is trust. See, we understand words to a certain extent. That's fine. That that's necessary. That's okay. But to to speculate beyond that, no, God's word is true. 1:00:58 See, I I I think about Abraham, you know, holding on to the promise of God. Why should God choose me? Is there an answer to that question? Why should God choose any of us? There's no answer to that question. We'll never understand 1:01:12 that. It's the love of God. It's unfathomable. When is God going to give me a son? How exactly is he going to do it? I don't need to know the answers to these questions, but God will give me a sound. And even though I'm growing older, I'm 1:01:27 growing important, he will do it. That's his promise. I hold on to it. And and and then he said, you know, we see Jesus's example. He repeated. He said, "It is written." And you know, Satan in his reasoning also said, "It is 1:01:41 written." Jesus said, "It is also written." He looked at the whole of God's word and uh no waited to understand what the will of God is and and then you know instead of choosing we surrender. Surrendering is also a choice. God is not going to take 1:01:59 that choice away from you. But we surrender to the will of God and we put the flesh to death. And surrendering to God's will means we obey him. we obey him. 1:02:16 Um and and what happens after that is and you can see a marked difference between those who love the Lord and fear the Lord is that we are willing to examine ourselves and test ourselves with God's word or if a godly brother 1:02:29 gives his opinion. We are joyful to receive that because hey I I might have got it wrong and I'm so happy if I get it right now at least I can correct myself. Praise God. On the other hand, like I said, you know, the person who 1:02:44 who's leaning on his intellect and listening to the the temptations of Satan will justify, cover up. And finally, we can respect others, you know, not not mock them. Yeah. So, I I want to speak briefly about, you know, what is called 1:03:03 an oversensitive conscience. Uh so a sensitive conscience is a is a good thing. The more sensitive our conscience is as we listen to God, the better it is. The more we can be like Jesus. But what what we call an oversensitive 1:03:21 conscience is actually a deception. And there's a root of unbelief over there. And we must recognize it because we know that Satan is described and seen both as a tempter who deceives us by tempting us but also someone who deceives us by 1:03:39 accusing us in order to discourage us. And it says in Revelation 12 10 and 11, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, by the blood of the lamb, the word of their testimony. and they did not love their life even when faced with 1:03:57 death. But this is how we overcome Satan. We point to the blood of the lamb, the finished work of Christ and the word of my testimony. Yes, I am living on the basis and out of love 1:04:16 for Jesus who died for me and I'm willing to give my life up. And that is the path that I have taken. That is how we stand against Satan. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse14 says, "The blood of Jesus cleanses our consciences from dead works to serve the living 1:04:33 God." We can turn there and think about that word. If the blood of goats and bulls 1:04:52 uh served for for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God? How much more will the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse your conscience from dead works 1:05:10 to serve the living God? So it's not talking about cleansing our conscience from sin. It says because our conscience is cleansed from all sin, we can be free from dead works. We can be free from works that come out of a 1:05:29 result of or or a desire to try and fix, you know, what we did. See, there are works of restitution and we do that because it just means that we are sorry. But we can't earn God's favor. We can't earn God's forgiveness. Any 1:05:49 attempt to try and do that is a dead work. And when Satan accuse us, no, like that song says, when Satan tempts us to despair, upward I look and see him there who made an end of all my sin. Yeah. So the the truth of God has, you 1:06:07 know, two two parts to it. There is on one hand I see my sin so much more clearly when the light of God shines in my life. My sin becomes more sinful to me. I say, "Oh wretched man that I am and I see 1:06:23 far more clearly standing stronger the mercy of God, the finished work of Jesus Christ and the grace of God that is able to overcome all of my sin. I see both of these things and my sin becomes more sinful, but the grace of God 1:06:39 becomes more clear to me and more powerful and more available to me and I can serve a living God not as a slave. Uh there's a freshness in his commands. I serve him because he loves me and because I love him in return. 1:06:59 And uh yeah this oversensitive conscience you know the root of it is unbelief and it's it's very possible as you know Jesus said that we can strain at gnats and swallow camels. I get obsessed with some small thing and 1:07:17 I think oh I have to do this in order to please God. some external thing very often something that people see uh maybe some dead ritual and and I get obsessed with that and I don't have a a conscience that is clear or I think about some sins that I've 1:07:35 committed in the past that I've repented of that I've forsaken and I feel oh am I really forgiven no I have to do something else brothers and sisters what happens when you when you get deceived and you focus on something like this and you you know 1:07:52 are doing works that are not works of faith anymore then you can swallow camels. Now Jesus said about the Pharisees he said you you tithe mint and dill and cumin that is you know you grow some vegetables in your vegetable garden 1:08:07 and you make sure oh I better tith that also not just my salary I have to t that also that's good Jesus didn't say you shouldn't do it but he said you're ignoring justice you're ignoring mercy you're ignoring faith you're blind you're swallowing camels 1:08:23 so yeah brothers and sisters It's it's really important for us to humble ourselves and be quiet and listen to the voice of God and trust in the mercy of God and trust in the grace of God that he will lead us through the quickening 1:08:41 of our conscience. He will make it more sensitive and he will guide our paths through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We'll have uh the song and after that we'll hear from others. [Music] 1:09:33 Let's sing this song. Open my eyes that I may see. [Music] Open my eyes that I may see. Glimpses of 1:09:57 truth thou has for me. Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall clasp and set me free. Silently now I wait for thee. Ready my 1:10:17 God, thy will to see. Open my eyes, illumine me. Spirit divine. Open my ears that I may hear. Voices of 1:10:36 truth, thou sendest there. And while the wave notes fall on my ear, everything falls will disappear. Silently now I wait for thee. Ready my 1:10:56 God, thy will to see. Open my ears, illumine me. Spirit divine, open my mind that I may read more of thy 1:11:16 love in word indeed. What shall I fear while yet thou dust? Only for life from thee I plead. Silently now I wait for thee. Ready my 1:11:35 God, thy will to see. Open my mind, illumine me. Spirit divine, [Music] open my mouth and let me bear gladly the 1:11:55 one truth everywhere. Open my heart and let me prepare. Love with thy children thus to share. Silently now I wait for thee. Ready my 1:12:14 God, thy will to see. Open my heart, illumine me. Spirit divine. [Music] Matthew chapter 18. 1:12:59 Matthew chapter 18 verse 15. Maybe I'd like to read from 14. It says, "It is not the will of your father who is in heaven that one of these 1:13:16 little ones perish. It's not God's will that anyone no matter what our state, what our condition to perish. It is not God's will. So I hope we have a very clear understanding of it that God don't 1:13:34 desire anyone to perish. And verse 15 onwards it says if your brother sins go and show him his fault in private. If he listen to you, you have warned your brother. 1:13:53 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you. So that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every fact may be confirmed. So here is a brother, he committed some sin 1:14:11 and he can't see it. That's why it says show him his fault in private. So if I really love that brother, if I have a burden for that brother, the first step is go and tell him in private. 1:14:29 But what he says uh what if if he says no my conscience is clear uh no I am uh right before God. Have you met people like that? I met people like that. I believe it is possible that we can sin and we can 1:14:46 cover up and we can have a almost like a dead conscience. That's why these verses are written. It says first go and tell him brother you have sinned. You need to set right with God. But if you don't listen what is the next step? 1:15:02 Next step take two or three with you. And verse 17 it says if he refuses to listen tell it to the church. So first he hardened his heart one step he allowed his conscience to die one more step 1:15:21 then he heard from different people different brothers different people he said they all went to him and told him brother you sinned but if you refuses to listen tell it to the church you know I I think of it I did something 1:15:39 wrong and I'm hearing an announcement from the church so and so brother Danish committed this evil I don't know how do you feel brothers it'll be really really breaking our heart but uh you know god is not concerned to 1:15:56 protect yes he want to protect he won't we have a past I have a past if I if the lord show my past here I will be so ashamed of my past but uh instead of you know more than to give us the comfort and protect us, protect our name, God is looking for our 1:16:15 eternal welfire. So that's why it's written in the Bible, if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the whole church. So even even if he refuses to listen to the church, let him be to you as a gentile and a tax collector. 1:16:33 So this is the words of Jesus. So it's in the red letter in my Bible. Will Jesus speak things like this that tell to the whole church that this brother has committed this evil? I am not afraid of exposed on earth no 1:16:52 matter what happens. But I am afraid of getting exposed at the judgment seat of Christ where Bible says there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed one day. the hidden motives of our heart will be exposed one one day all that we do why 1:17:11 we do this or truly who I am you will all know at the seat of judgment so here is some we've been hearing about conscience brothers and sisters so you can either train your conscience like we heard about charge GPT it is train it learns 1:17:30 from the data that's how it become better and better day by But if you refuse to listen, refuse to accept what brothers who are more mature, they're saying, it is like you're killing your conscience step by step. 1:17:48 So there was a man who did this. Can turn to John 12:6. So there is a man who killed his own conscience. John 12:4 1:18:12 But Judas's scareth one of his disciples who was intending to betray Christ said why this perfume not sold for 300 dinar and given to the poor people. So he acted as if he had a burden for poor 1:18:30 people but his motive was to betray Christ. Says in verse six, not because he was concerned about the poor but because he was a thief as and he as he had the money box he 1:18:46 used to piler what was put into it. So Judas having the money box, he used to piler from the money box. Maybe uh he had some need, maybe he messed up something in the past. He wanted to 1:19:03 cover up or he was in some need but he didn't have the courage to tell the Lord Jesus, Lord, I messed up. But instead of that he started okay there is a lot of money in the money box so I'll take 10 rupee or 100 rupee from 1:19:21 it and he used to do that not once it says he used to pilfer so that is step one he killed his conscience and he continued you know first time you take do something your conscience will warn you very strongly 1:19:39 and second time that voice is little mild again you do it Third time it becomes practice. I look back to my days which I have not known Christ. I I had come to a place where telling a lie is not a problem. Lasting no matter what the sin is the 1:19:58 only the only fear I should not be caught. The voice of conscience is almost dead. So Judas was going in that direction and turned to John chapter 13 step step two during supper devil having already put 1:20:20 into the heart of Jesus Judas's kariat to betray him so now devil started putting thoughts into the heart of Judas's karat a man who do not obey his conscience. Listen to his conscience 1:20:39 is a place where devil can put his thoughts. If Bible says forgive one another, if you don't forgive others, if we carry bitterness, it's just like putting a board. Devil welcome. So anyone who carry bitterness in your 1:20:57 heart and unforgiven heart, we can't read it but devil can read it. It's it's like you know we write address in front of the gate number 24 your name you write. So it's like you putting the number and hey devil please come here. 1:21:14 So that is what is happening here. It's devil entered devil put ideas into this man's heart. Another dangerous step here in Luke chapter 23 can turn there. What can happen to us if you don't listen to conscience? Luke 22:3 1:21:41 and Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscar. So at last Satan entered Satan got into his own house. Judas was his own house. Our bodies are supposed 1:21:59 to be the temples of the Holy Spirit, brothers and sisters. Yes, we can be saved one day. I don't believe you know Judas was a crook when Jesus called him. But he refused to listen to his conscience and he become a temple of Satan instead of becoming a 1:22:16 temple for the Holy Spirit. And you know what happened? He there's a place called Hakal Dama in Jerusalem where he fell down and died. So brothers and sisters, it's not God's will that this should happen to any one of us. 1:22:35 I want to end with one promise in Isaiah. If you turn to Isaiah chapter 42. So examine your heart. How is your conscience? Are you seeing 1:22:53 the blame and the shortcomings of people around you, but you can't see your own failures, your own follyies, you're in very dangerous place. Brothers and sisters, this is a promise. If you have a a little sense of conscience, at least a 1:23:10 small voice in your heart, accept accept accept the truth. Love the truth about you. Don't blame others. Take the blame. Learn from the thief. At least a little voice in your heart. Here is a promise. A brewist reed he will not break. That 1:23:29 little conscience, that little voice, don't kill it. A brewist rued, he will not break. A dimly burning wick, he will not extinguish. He will faithfully bring forth justice. 1:23:47 If you respond to God in faith, if you believe that it is God's will that you should not perish, it is God's will that none of us should have the fate of Judas's karat. Love the truth about yourself. May God help us to be honest 1:24:04 with him. Brother Shanker. Yeah. I'm really thankful to the Lord 1:24:22 for the clear word. It is so clear. And uh as I was listening uh the Lord is speaking to my own heart to respond. Uh I was also thinking about um another 1:24:41 example from the Old Testament. Um you know the story of Bam. It's in uh numbers 24. you know this man uh he is a sorcerer he 1:25:08 is not a you know anyway connected to the Israelites but u he is known for his curses and blessings so even the king of Moab he knows that hey there is a person if I have a problem. He can curse my enemies. 1:25:25 He will I can take his help so that uh my you know nation will be protected. So that's the uh uh picture of this man and uh uh you know the you know the story 1:25:42 where uh the king sends uh people uh now he got a problem because Israelites are opposite to his kingdom and then they will be crossing. Uh so uh this king Balac sends people to Balam and uh he asked for a help but uh you know this 1:26:02 verse um 12. Balam said to Balak, "Did I not uh sorry um yeah, he he came to curse the uh the king sends people to curse Israelites, 1:26:21 but uh uh God intervenes in this situation and then Yeah, sorry. 1:27:04 Yeah, sorry. Uh yeah sorry the chapter 22 uh verse 12 God intervened in this life God said to Balam do not go with them you shall not curse the people for they are blessed you know God is God's word is so clear to him 1:27:24 uh but still you know his heart is somewhere you know it says in uh second Peter um you can keep your finger in the numbers But uh you can turn with me to uh second Peter where chapter 2 verse 15 and 16. Forsaken the 1:27:47 right way. They have gone astray having followed the way of Balam the son of Boer who loved the wages of unrighteousness. But he received a rebuke for his own transgression for a mute donkey speaking with the voice of man restrained the 1:28:06 madness of the prophet. you know uh his heart as we heard his heart is somewhere else his heart is going before uh he's following his heart's desires and then that's why he was even though God's word is so clear to him he shut his 1:28:25 conscience and uh and another verse uh in numbers 22:18 through balac were given me his house full of silver and gold I could not do anything either small or great contrary to the command of the lord of god. So he 1:28:43 even though he is kind of you know making a proclamation that hey uh I'm not here to get all this wealth and all that but deep down there is a desire. So that's what we can see and then the lord again uh spoke to him um but again he 1:29:01 ignored he went on with a donkey and then this time go in verse 28 the lord opened the mouth of the donkey and uh so the here the donkey said in verse 30 am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day have I 1:29:21 ever accused to so to you and he said no you know suddenly if an animal speaks my instinct will be hey how come this animal is talking how he learned the language right but this man simply 1:29:39 replied as if it's a de everyday uh thing and there is no surprise you know how blind he became even though the lord is intervening and giving uh warning after warning So and in verse 31 then the lord opened 1:29:57 eyes of the balam. So so far his conscious eyes everything is shut but again the lord opened but still he went in the same direction you know when we completely shut our conscience we can go to any extreme like you know the judas 1:30:15 who went and betrayed Jesus. So even this balum uh even though there are so many prophecies that he tells in the further chapters even in fact he prophesied about uh Jesus uh birth 1:30:33 but you know there is in numbers 31 he gave a false counsel to the king of bailac finally he couldn't get through whatever he want but he used his wisdom them wrongly and then to somehow uh turn 1:30:53 their god against them. That's what he gave a counsel in verse 16 because behold the these caused the sons of Israel through the council of balam to trespass against the lord in the matter of poet. So the place were plague was 1:31:08 among the congregation of the lord. So you know the story right where yeah this council somehow the women enticed Israelites and then Israelites fell into sin and then god sent uh this whole story. So when I completely turn off 1:31:24 this conscious, I can go to any extreme and uh uh you know like uh Balum uh beaten the donkey, I can beat my own people with uh you know unbelief and all these things. So I can go to any 1:31:44 extreme. uh many times I've also you know in the past I've shut my conscience but I've kind of come to the place where I'm almost losing my faith but I'm really thankful to the lord for uh he revived my conscience and helped me to 1:32:01 come back you know uh if you read all the story of balum the result was he had an opportunity to know the lord you know in the old testament there are few people where god intervened and like nebuchadnezzar so like uh very few 1:32:16 people god has given them the opportunity even though the focus the god's focus was mainly on Israelites but he gave few here and there some opportunity to the other people like even this man balam could have known the lord and come to the relationship and 1:32:34 become the god's uh man but he lost the opportunity so uh brothers and sisters even today we have the opportunity to know the lord to really uh worship him to really become of his uh people. It 1:32:53 says in one Timothy God's word encourages us to you know one Timothy 15 but the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. God tied these three things together. You know there is 1:33:10 a good conscience that we have to uh maintain. So and u um another thing about uh you know in acts 1 verse 19 uh it's this is the incident about the Stephen's death so Stephen was 1:33:28 explaining uh before the council so they listened all the story but the moment he mentioned saying that you stiff necked so their conscience was pricricked and they went to the extreme of you know killing him here it says Uh 1:33:51 um yeah, chapter 7 verse 51. You men who are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart. Ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit. See, my ear is resisting the Holy Spirit. Then I'll be sick and my heart will be 1:34:09 uncircumcised. May the Lord really help us not to push away the Holy Spirit, the voice of the Holy Spirit and uh especially in the workplace where the little conscious say what are you talking to the oppo how are you talking 1:34:26 to opposite sex uh in the road the way you are looking. I remember once I ignored smaller smaller these beeps or alerts throughout the day and then at the night I had a bad uh you know dream and then when I come back and lord asked 1:34:44 what is this what's wrong with me then god reminded me see I have given you the uh traffic lights here here here but you ignored and went ahead so here is the fall um but what is the result of keeping this good good conscious and fear of 1:35:02 God. In Psalm 25:14, it says God uh you know want to reveal to his uh you know friends and revealed he wants to reveal the secrets. He wants to reserve that saint. He want to be friend to us. May the Lord really help us and uh to really 1:35:21 know him. May the Lord help us. Amen. Yeah. Uh let's uh bow in our bow our heads and then pray for what we've been hearing. You know sometimes the devil uh gives us the thoughts that hey you fell here you 1:35:39 fell here but in um uh Micah 7:8 he says we can tell the devil even though I fall I will rise up. The Lord is my light. Lord Jesus, we want to commit ourselves, Lord. Father in heaven, thank you for 1:35:57 speaking to us. Help us, Lord, not to ignore and push away your Holy Spirit and shut our ears to the alerts that you are sending us to our path. Lord Jesus, please help us. Lord, 1:36:15 we are helpless in many ways. And uh Lord Jesus, please give us grace Lord Father in heaven to know you, to really know you and to have the fear of God in our hearts in the name of Jesus. Amen. Now we'll hear the announcements. 1:36:41 [Music] Presenting the book of this month, Know Your Enemy by Brother Zack Punan. [Music] 1:36:59 Young people are the target of Satan's attacks in these days. Satan is going all out to ensure that today's young people are polluted by impurity, bitterness, [Music] 1:37:17 jealousy, selfish ambition and materialism. And if not by any of these, then at least by pride, [Music] 1:37:37 self-righteousness, and hypocrisy. There is a crucial need for Christians, especially young people, to understand Satan, their spiritual adversary. 1:37:56 We need to know Satan's origin as the perfect angel Lucifer who fell due to pride and rebellion against God. And we need to know Satan's deceptive tactics such as questioning God's word, 1:38:17 appealing to fleshly desires, and showing the allure of worldly things. As seen in his temptation of Eve, God permits Satan's existence because it 1:38:35 serves purposes like testing believers and prompting people to turn to God in adversity. Satan currently operates on earth and in the second heaven, not in hell. and he's actively seeking 1:38:53 to deceive and destroy. We can overcome Satan by knowing and applying God's word, resisting him in the name of Jesus, and maintaining a pure life. We should not be ignorant of Satan's schemes and should rely on God's 1:39:13 protection. [Music] Satan was defeated on Calvary decisively by our Lord Jesus and was stripped of his power. 1:39:32 [Music] Our calling now is to register that victory over the forces of darkness everywhere we go. May this book help you to attain victory 1:39:51 through Christ over your enemy. [Music] You can read this book free online at cfcindia.com/books/now your enemy. 1:40:07 [Music] Dear family, we'll now have the 1:40:44 announcements. The library will be open for 30 minutes after the main meeting. Please note that only committed members are eligible to borrow books. Books must be entered. Books must be written within one week of borrowing.
