Conscience Matters

​The heat was on the New Testament Church. Jesus’ followers were under fire for their faith.
 
So, the church collapsed. Wrong!!!
 
Our word for this week gives me spiritual goose bumps. I want to jump and shout: GO CHURCH!
 
 And when they had summoned them, they commanded then not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:18-20
 
When our first brothers and sisters in Christ were pressured to compromise their convictions and deny the name of Christ, they refused. Their conscience was clear. No threats tempered their passionate testimony. They didn’t dance with the devil. They didn’t retreat from sinful men. They stood up for their Lord and Savior…boldly, courageously, without apology.
 
In today’s vernacular they “stuck it” to the anti-Christian establishment. Christ’s disciples could sleep peacefully at night because during the day they did not stray from what they believed. Instead of caving in to the pressures, they dug in and pressed back in the name of Jesus. GO CHURCH! 

• The New Testament Christians had a clear conscience based on Christ-centered convictions. They were Christ-conscious concerning their creed and conduct. Not once did they give ground to Satan’s crowd.

 
So, how about you and me….professing Christians in 2024?
 
 Believers in Christ are surrounded by ungodly men and women who seek openly and unashamedly, through mockery, intimidation, marginalization and persecution to erase the name of Jesus Christ from our culture.
 
Paul describes many in our day. “But the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience s with a branding iron.” I Timothy 4:1-2.  
Did you catch the words hypocrisy, deceitful spirits, liars and seared conscience? What a precise word picture for the day in which you and I live.
 
The word conscience according to Webster means “the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.” A seared conscience is one that no longer senses, feels, or is sensitive to good and evil, right and wrong. Anything goes with people with a seared conscience…and they are dangerous.    

• Clear or seared conscience…which do you have in these critical times?

 
Decisions determine destiny. Choices produce consequences. Character counts. And conscience matters.
 
My heart is heavy concerning the upcoming election November 5th. Choices and decisions will be made. I wonder if selections will be made based upon convictions and conscience, or something else. Will confessing Christian people cast their votes according to their belief and trust in the person of Jesus Christ and the principles of truth He taught in the Bible?  
 
 You and I can become conflicted when our character is compromised. Our conscience becomes confused when we say we believe one way and behave another. Anyone can espouse convictions. It takes people with character to live their convictions. And uncompromised character produces a clear conscience that we can live with.
 
As for me, a clear conscience matters. I will answer to God for my decisions. I must also answer to myself and the people I love and care for. My conscience is clear: I am going to stand up boldly for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, no matter what the cost.
 
On November 5th Christians have an opportunity, and responsibility, to cast their vote based on character, convictions and conscience. I am going to the polling place with a clear conscience. I will leave the same way.   How about you?  
           
Fellow Christian: never stop witnessing boldly of what Jesus has done for you. Don’t compromise your biblical convictions for anyone or anything. Do what is right in the sight of the Lord. Keep your conscience clear.

• Conscience matters. GO CHURCH!

 
“But holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” I Timothy 3:9
 
“For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced the He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” II Timothy 1:12
 
A Word For Your Word: Take your Christian convictions with you to the ballot box and vote your conscience on November 5