Keeping Your Conscience Clear Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. To maintain a clear conscience, we need to be vigilant lest any works of darkness find their way into our lives. That's what Paul told the Ephesian believers as he taught them to walk as children of light. Today, more thoughts on our consciences. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, take us again into Ephesians chapter 5 as you conclude your series on the power of a clear conscience.

Well Dave, you're absolutely right. This is the last in the series titled The Power of a Clear Conscience. And we go to Ephesians chapter 5 because the Apostle Paul is urging believers to walk in the light. All of us have had the experience of having our consciences cleared through confession, but then darkness settles on our souls.

So the Apostle Paul is saying indeed we need to be vigilant. Now I believe that this series of messages is of tremendous help to people. It'll help those who have been hung up because of their past.

It will help the healing of relationships. In past messages, I emphasized the need to reconcile not only with God, but also with others. And we are making this series of messages available. Here's what you can do. You can go to RTWOffer.com.

That's RTWOffer.com. Ask for the series of messages titled The Power of a Clear Conscience. Or if you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337.

Let me give you that phone number again, 1-888-218-9337. Now it's not only important for us to open our Bibles, but we must also open our hearts as we listen to God's Word and be reminded of the need to keep our consciences clear. I just read a book recently about this and a lot of other topics, and I pointed out that in a purely secular culture where sexuality becomes in effect the controlling reality, an important thing, and where sexual freedom, way out of control, becomes the dominant value of a culture, it is very important that not one form of marriage be above another. Therefore, all of them must be dragged down. Anything noble needs to meet the lowest common denominator because no one's sexuality and their preference should in any way be perceived as better than another. So everyone is together, and those who refuse to celebrate, they now need to be condemned. Longer discussion, no doubt, at some other time, but notice this. Do not be deceived by empty words, Paul says, because of these things, and you can be sure of this, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

What a day and age in which we live, when our television and our media and our iPads and speeches that are given are filled with empty words. So there are really two ways in which we can be like God. One is we walk in love, the other we walk in light. Now, what the Apostle Paul does is he talks about their conversion, and I want you to look at the text. He says in verse 7, therefore do not associate with them, that is, people like that, for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. It's interesting that in the book of Isaiah, the Bible says the people, they walked in darkness. By the time you get to the time of Christ in Matthew chapter 4, it's quoted as saying the people, they sit in darkness. And here in this passage, you find that the people are darkness.

They are darkness, darkness personified. And so what he says is that the Lord has given you light. Now you are light.

They are darkness. You are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. And we have this elsewhere, of course, in the words of Jesus and other parts of the scripture. And notice, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them, for it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. And when anything is exposed to the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, awake, O sleeper. Rise from the dead, and Christ's light will shine on you. What he's saying is that the works of darkness are unfruitful.

Why? Because no fruit grows in the dark. The other day, some friends sent us a pot of, it's going to be, it's like a tree that's going to become a flower. And one of the things it says is, you have to put me in the sunlight.

It's going to grow inside, but it has to be next to a window. Now the unfruitful works of darkness, there is really no fruit in darkness, no fruit that God accepts or takes delight in. But rather, when we walk in the light, now our works can be pleasing to God, and in this pleasing to God, there is fruit in which he takes delight. So the Apostle Paul is talking about the transformation. If you're here and you've never received Christ as Savior, the Bible says that God has translated us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son, into the kingdom of light.

That's what happens at conversion. And if you're just walking in darkness, you may never have been converted by God. It's a great miracle when you receive Christ as Savior.

And then he quotes and he says, arise, O sleeper, arise from the dead and Christ will shine upon you. Every time I read that verse, I'm reminded of the time that Rebecca and I were at Ravinia. You know, in Ravinia, you can go there and you can hear this beautiful music.

They have orchestras. And you can buy a ticket and go into the band shell there and you can enjoy it. Or you can take a blanket on a beautiful summer day and eat a sandwich and then just lie out outside looking at the stars, listening to the beautiful music. And that's what we were doing one time. And a man next to me put down his blanket and instantly fell asleep and he began to snore.

I mean, he began to snore in such a way that we wanted to actually get up and go somewhere else. But we're kind of embarrassed there are all these other people around and we figured, well, thankfully, at some point, this is going to be over. And it was.

And, you know, I think it was Mendelssohn or Strauss, some of those great composers. And when it was over, everyone stood to give a standing ovation. And we all stood and began to clap.

He awoke, he stood up, and he began to clap along with everybody else, giving the impression that he'd been with us the whole time. And that's the way it is going to be in the day of judgment, I'm convinced. When Jesus asks us to stand before him, there are going to be people who've been asleep their whole lives, but they're going to want to say, oh, yeah, yeah, I was a part of it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was one of them. The text says, arise, oh sleeper, arise from the dead. You may say, well, how does this relate to keeping your conscience pure?

I'm going to help you with that in just a moment. There is a connection. You see, it is these kinds of sins that we've been talking about. It is walking in darkness that pollutes the conscience. Because when you think of a clear conscience, what you need to think of is purity. You need to think of having been forgiven and cleansed by God and living in fellowship within that cleansing. That's the way you keep your conscience clear.

And here clearly are sins, and there are many others, of course, that defile the conscience. Now, there's a third way maybe the Apostle Paul would want us to say that we can be like God. And he says then in verse 15, look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making best use of the time.

I like the King James Version at this point because the Greek word is redeem. So it's really redeeming the time. And when it comes to redeeming the time, you are buying it out of the marketplace.

That's why I like this imagery so much. Every day we are given 1,440 minutes. And those minutes, once they are spent, you can never have them back. You can spend them in different ways, but once they're gone, they are gone forever, and a new day starts. And what Paul is saying is that we have to redeem the time.

We have to buy the time out of all of the other commitments, all of the other cluttered lives that some of us lead, all of the pressures when we come to the office and we already have our list of things to do before we get here. We have to redeem the time because the days are evil, and we have to be like God, walk in wisdom. Now, God doesn't have to worry about redeeming the time, but we do. We redeem the time. Now, what I'd like to do is to bring this down to help us in terms of clearing our conscience.

What do we need to do? First of all, begin each day in the light. Begin each day in the light.

Some of you have heard this. It's been a habit of mine for many years. Before I wake up, and this morning I did wake up far too early, but before I actually get out of bed, before I get out of bed, I pray. I give my day to God. I say to God, God, today glorify yourself in my life at my expense.

But up front, is there any sin that I need to confess? Is there any darkness between you and me that needs to be taken care of before I roll out of bed and begin my day? For me, it begins there. And of course, I don't stay in bed all day.

I thought I'd just throw that in. What we need to do is to prove the power of mind over mattress. And as a result, we need to get out of bed, but you begin there. Begin there in the light. And if you wake up and there's darkness, that's in fact the second thing that I'd like to emphasize, and that is recognize the darkness. Recognize the darkness. You're watching television, and you know right well that there is darkness there that is going to defile your conscience.

And so what you do is you recognize it. If you're a believer, up front, God is going to help us to retrain our consciences so that we pick up on the darkness almost immediately rather than immersing ourselves in the darkness, but we recognize that it's on its way. And by God's grace, we turn from it. One of the things I don't like about the fact that I wrote down six points of obedience here is because, once again, let's not look upon this as some new technique that we have now given you by which you can take care of addictions or the darkness. Ultimately, all of that is done because of Jesus.

Remember this. God does not ask us to do anything that Jesus has not already done for us. Therefore, walking in the light really involves all the time looking to Jesus to be in us what we aren't.

It's always a matter of faith. But nonetheless, the steps that I'm giving you today prepare our hearts for that kind of obedience and faith. So first of all, begin the day in the light.

Make that as a habit. Second, learn to recognize the darkness. Somebody said, and I don't know who, that they want a conscience that is so sensitive that if a leaf were to fall on it, it would leave an imprint. Well, I don't think I'm there yet, but the longer we walk with God, the more sensitive our conscience becomes and the more we are alert to the fact that the Holy Spirit of God is grieved when we allow darkness into our lives.

Next, this is very important. Confess your sins thoroughly. Confess them thoroughly, and I'm talking to Christians now. Confess them thoroughly and immediately and immediately. Remember what I told you when the sermon opened about the fox and goose trail? See, there are many people who just allow sins to stack up one after another after another, and then they might come to church on a Sunday possibly to confess their sins, possibly not, because in their minds they're saying, well, you know, I've blown it so badly. There's no use coming back home to my Father. I'm just going to continue to live the way I'm living. And their defiled conscience continues to be defiled. Very important. Confess your sin immediately when you recognize darkness.

And don't have to wait until evening or the next morning. I mean, sometimes I've confessed my sin even while I'm driving. Now, you may wonder what sin that is. I don't know, but I thought I'd just throw that in to give you an illustration of the fact that, in a sense, we should live so open before God that we're continually confessing any darkness that comes to mind so that we're walking in fellowship. And even when you are being tempted, it is important to stay in the light to quote verses of scripture to affirm your commitment to God even while the temptation is going on.

You're looking at something that you should not be looking at. And during that period of time, you're affirming the fact, I thank you that your word says that I'm to reign in righteousness. I thank you that I am joined to Jesus Christ. I thank you that he is my mediator. I thank him that he is my Redeemer. And you're saying all those things. And pretty soon you say to yourself, what in the world is a child of God watching this trash for?

Because what's happening is you are learning to walk in the light. Short accounts with God. Sometimes it is said, keep short accounts with God.

That's OK. Let me give you a better expression. Current accounts with God. Living in the light that God says we are.

Next, commit completely. Here I'm thinking of the book of James where it says these words, dearly beloved, submit yourselves to God. Submit yourselves to God. If you and I could have a talk personally, what is it really? What's the point of entry that you have in your life where the darkness comes?

What is the point of entry? As you and I grow in our love for God, we should be willing to submit that to God. Jesus said that if your eye offend you, pluck it out and cast it from you.

If your arm is offending you, cut it off. He's speaking figuratively, but what he is saying is do whatever you need to do to no longer walk in darkness and keep stumbling into the same sin. Do whatever you need to do. Pay whatever price you need to do that you might be able to say that you have submitted unto God. And then I say resist triumphantly.

In fact, that's what James says. He says, dearly beloved, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. And I believe that you resist him by continuing to quote scripture even in the midst of your temptation, even in the midst of your struggle, even when it seems as if the temptation is overwhelming. You keep your mind on God, on Christ, and you keep insisting, and you keep yielding, and you keep faith, and my last point, you keep worshiping. Let me suggest to you that it may be more important for us to worship Jesus than to be obsessed with how to overcome our sins, because in the process of worshiping Jesus, that's when sin begins to lose its power. Become a worshiper of Jesus. Read some of the passages of the book of Revelation.

Thou art worthy because thou hast redeemed for thy glory men from every tongue and kindred and nation. And learn to be a worshiper of Jesus. Direct your attention away from all of your struggles to him and live that way, and you will soon discover that it will change your mind, it will change the way in which you process reality, and it will help you to access the tremendous victory that Jesus gave and purchased for us as redeemed sinners.

And so that's where we are at. What we need to do is to keep our conscience clear. As a man thinks in his heart, so he is.

Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Don't allow your conscience to be darkened by the soot of sin. I began by saying that Satan has two lies. Number one, one sin doesn't matter. Number two, after you have committed that sin, you might as well just enjoy yourself and continue to sin.

You're defiled, so what you need to do is to accept that and keep on defiling yourself. May I encourage you to realize that God in Christ has won such a spectacular victory over sin, over Satan, that as God works in our hearts we do not need to ever say, I have to be this way. I have to keep defiling my conscience, because the grace of God is greater than your sin. The grace of God is greater than your sin. If you're here today and you've never received Christ as Savior, if you are still walking in darkness as described here, if you put faith in Jesus and receive what he did for you, he will enable you to be forgiven, to be reconciled, and you'll begin the journey of walking in the light. You know what God can do with your past?

When you're working on a computer and you make a mistake and you maybe even write a whole paragraph and you realize it's wrong, you hit the delete key, it deletes what you've written. God can actually delete the guilt of your past and set you on a different course. And the Bible says that from your conscience will precede the purity and the love and the sincere faith. Blessed are those whose consciences are clear. Father, we pray that you might help these thoughts to ring true in the lives of all those who have listened.

Some especially needed this message, others perhaps less so. But we thank you today that you stand ready to help us in the depths of our need, and may there be no one here who says that his sin is too great. We pray today that we might see the wonder of your grace greater than our sin. We thank you today that before the throne we have someone who represents us, Jesus, who is greater than Satan and greater than our sin. Now before I close this prayer, do you need to talk to God? What is it that you need to tell him?

You talk to him right now in this moment of silence. And Father, we pray that you'll help all of us to be obedient to what we have heard. Grant us the grace to turn from the darkness into the light, that great antiseptic, the light that cleanses and keeps us clean. Do that, Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, this is Pastor Lutzer. I certainly hope that you prayed that prayer along with me. It is so important for us to realize that it is one thing to have our consciences cleared, it's quite another, to keep walking in the light. This is your last opportunity to receive this series of messages.

For a gift of any amount, they can be yours, and then you can play them again and again, share them with your friends. Here's what you can do. Go to RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.com, or if you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. This series of messages on the power of a clear conscience can be transforming not only in your life, but in the lives of others.

Again, let me give you that contact information RTWOffer.com, or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now I want to make a very important announcement. Be sure to call your friends for running to win next time. We're going to begin a series of four interviews on my new book, We Will Not Be Silenced, Responding Courageously to Our Culture's Assault on Christianity. We're going to be talking about culture's view of racism, what is going on in our universities, why is it that so many young people who go to university come back home and they hate America. All of those themes are going to be covered in a very special discussion next time right here on Running to Win.

We hope that you'll call your friends, invite them to join you for these sessions. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Pastors under legal threat, the church in America is now under attack from all sides. Next time on Running to Win, don't miss the first in a series of discussions about Pastor Lutzer's new book, We Will Not Be Silenced. Thanks for listening. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.