This charge I commit unto thee, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to thee, that by them thou mayest war the good warfare;
holding faith and a good conscience; which some having thrust from them made shipwreck concerning the faith.
My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth.
Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him:
because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God;
and whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Our Father, we bow and worship You. We know that You love us to the uttermost. We praise You for saving us, and we thank You because You want to save us to the very end. By Your power, You will conform us to the image of Your Son.
For this, we gather before You. We want to open our hearts to You. We pray that You will teach us with the word of life, that Your word will become life in us and transform us into the image of Your holy Son.
We give You all the honour and glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Brothers and sisters, we thank the Lord that we have another opportunity to gather before Him.
Yesterday, I explained to the sisters that I do not intend to give you doctrines today. I am sure that you have already heard many messages. I simply want to use this opportunity to share from my heart—the burden that is in my heart.
My prayer to God is that His word will be planted deeply in our hearts and bear the fruit of life to glorify Him.
The Bible says that bodily exercise profiteth a little. This does not mean that, because it profits only a little, we should not exercise our bodies. The statement is a comparison with another kind of exercise.
If bodily exercise were the only exercise, then it would be the most important one. Therefore, people in the world pay much attention to exercising their bodies.
I remember that, when I was young in China, I never saw people running in the morning. But here in Canada or in the United States, early in the morning, you see people running. To people in this world, a healthy body is most important. If you want a good life, you need a good body.
But we Christians, who have been saved by the Lord, know that there is another exercise that is more important. When bodily exercise is compared with godliness, bodily exercise profits only a little.
Why? Because even if you exercise your body, the benefit is limited in time. Even if you live to be one hundred years old, that is already rare. One day, this body will pass away.
But praise God, we have an exercise called the exercise of godliness. This exercise is not about what is outward. It is about being like God—having the character of God expressed in us.
God has already given us His life. Therefore, we cannot simply manifest the life of old Adam. That is contrary to the testimony of a Christian.
Now that we have been saved by grace, we have the life of Christ in us. It is the will of God that we live according to the life that is within us. To learn this life, live it out, and grow, we need exercise.
The exercise of godliness is profitable for all things because it has promise of the life which now is and of that which is to come.
This promise of life is for the present and for the future. The life referred to here is not merely physical life; it is also the spiritual life that is within us.
This promise is not only manifested in this present life. It will also be manifested in the life to come. In other words, this life is eternal. From the time you believe in the Lord until eternity, this promise belongs to everyone who exercises godliness.
Therefore, the exercise of godliness is tremendously important.
This body can be seen, but the spirit is not material and cannot be seen with physical eyes. Yet, although we cannot see it with physical eyes, the Lord God has given us a new spirit, and His Holy Spirit dwells in us.
The Holy Spirit does not merely dwell in our physical body, nor does He dwell in our soul. He dwells in our spirit.
The Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit and influences our soul and body. We should not say that something does not exist simply because we cannot see it with physical eyes.
All that we can see is temporal; that which we cannot see is eternal. The importance of our spirit is far greater than that of our physical body. Therefore, we need to pay attention to the exercise of the spirit.
What does it mean to exercise the spirit? We exercise it according to its functions. God has given us a spirit so that we may have spiritual fellowship with Him.
There are three important functions of the spirit:
From God’s perspective, the greatest function of our spirit is communion, because we can have communion with God. But according to our experience, the clearest evidence of the spirit’s function is the conscience.
This morning, let us consider a little of how to exercise this function.
Conscience is a very delicate thing. When God created us, He not only formed our body from the dust of the earth, but He also breathed His own breath into our nostrils. Because He is Spirit, He gave us a spirit.
Thus, when God created us, we became a soul with a spirit. The soul is the centre of man. Sometimes the Bible uses the word soul to represent man. For example, seventy souls went down into Egypt.
The Bible does not use the word men in that instance but souls, because the soul is the centre by which we are conscious of our existence. Yet the most important part is not the soul; it is the spirit.
The soul enables us to know ourselves, but the spirit enables us to know God. In God’s arrangement, man lives according to the spirit and has communion with God.
When Adam was in the Garden of Eden, God came down and had fellowship with him. But when man sinned, the spirit of man entered, we may say, into a coma. The spirit remained, but fellowship with God was terminated.
The Bible tells us that when Adam heard the footsteps of God, he hid himself. Why? Because he had sinned, and the conscience in his spirit accused him.
When man sins, there is a problem with his conscience. Initially, man had freedom to fellowship with God. But once he sinned, his conscience accused and condemned him. He was afraid to see the face of God, and there was separation between him and God.
Spiritually speaking, this is death.
Everyone who came from Adam has a spirit. Man is the highest of all creation in this respect. A mountain has a physical form, but it has neither spirit nor soul. Animals have a physical body and a soul, but no spirit. Only man has a spirit within him.
Unfortunately, because of sin, the proper function of our spirit toward God has been terminated. Even though we still have a conscience, it is not dependable.
A man may commit murder and still say, “I do this according to my conscience.” Even uncivilised people may eat human flesh and think that they are acting according to conscience. Why is this so?
Because the standard of conscience—God Himself—has disappeared. Culture and custom then become the standard of conscience.
Normally speaking, we still have a conscience, but it is not dependable. Sometimes, when a person is close to death, his conscience becomes very active and begins to speak clearly to him.
I remember, when I was in high school, I had a classmate whose father was a minister. When this classmate became seriously ill and was about to die, we shared the gospel clearly with him again. We thank God that he went to the Lord peacefully.
The people of the world may claim to act according to conscience, but that conscience is not dependable.
But when we believe in the Lord, the Bible says that the conscience of our heart has been purified. The conscience that once accused and condemned us has been cleansed through the blood of the Lord Jesus, which has washed away all the sins and iniquities of our conscience.
A cleansed conscience now has God as its standard. We can call God our heavenly Father, have communion with Him, and live the Christian life.
Therefore, believers cannot neglect the conscience. Before we believed in the Lord, we relied on conscience and thought that if we acted according to it, there would be no problem. We did not realise that our conscience was unreliable.
But today our conscience has been cleansed, and God Himself has become our standard. Therefore, the standard of our conscience is different from that of the world’s conscience.
After we believe in the Lord, we must renew our understanding of the function of conscience. The fact that conscience was unreliable before salvation does not mean that we should now disregard it. After we believe in the Lord, conscience still has its proper function.
By the function of the spirit, we may have righteousness and live according to God.
Consider the experience of Paul. Paul was originally called Saul. He was a typical Jewish man.
From his youth, he went to Jerusalem and was trained under Gamaliel. From his youth, he observed the rules and laws of Jewish tradition. According to the righteousness of the law, he was blameless.
But at that time, he was still in darkness. He had been trained in Jewish tradition and thought that Jesus Christ was a rebel against that tradition. Therefore, he decided to persecute all those who followed Jesus.
One day, having received authority from the high priest to go to Damascus and capture Christians, Saul encountered a light from heaven brighter than the noonday sun.
He was struck down by that light and heard a voice from heaven: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.”
This was not a voice of anger. It was a voice full of mercy and love. The Lord was telling him, “Why do you persecute Me? What you are doing will only hurt you.”
Young people may not understand the expression “kick against the goads.” In earlier days, before tractors were used, farmers ploughed with horses or cattle under a yoke.
If the animal was wild and wanted to go its own way, the farmer could not plough the land properly. The farmer would use an instrument called a goad, pointed at the front. When the animal kicked against it, the goad would hurt its foot.
After being hurt a few times, the animal learned its lesson. The Lord was telling Saul, “This is what you are doing.”
Every person who comes into this world is under God’s will. We are His servants, created to do His work. But we often think that we are the masters and want to act according to our own way.
God uses our environment to touch our conscience. Even though a person’s conscience may not be sharp, it is still there. God touches it so that we will repent. But often we do not listen; we kick against the goads. The more we are hurt, however, the more we may learn obedience.
This was Saul’s experience. When Stephen was stoned to death, Saul was keeping the garments of those who stoned him.
Stephen’s face was like the face of an angel. He saw the heavens opened and the Lord Jesus standing at the right hand of God, welcoming him. When he died, he prayed, “Forgive them.”
Do you think Saul’s conscience was not touched? He was a serious and zealous man. When he saw all this, his conscience must have been touched.
Yet the Bible says that he persecuted Christians even more severely. Why? He was trying to quiet his conscience.
But praise God, God knew his heart. Saul acted ignorantly, and the grace of God came upon him.
How can we be saved? The Bible tells us of a sower who went out to sow seed. The seed is sown into the soil of people’s hearts. In the Old Testament, the word conscience does not appear as it does in the New Testament, but the reality is present.
You remember how David cut off a piece of Saul’s garment. His heart condemned him. That was the work of conscience.
In the New Testament, 1 John 3 still uses the word heart. If your heart does not condemn you, then you have confidence before God, and your prayer is accepted by Him.
There is something within our heart that is important, and this is called conscience. After we believe in the Lord, we should do everything according to conscience.
Does this mean that we simply act according to our own mind? No. God is our standard. The Holy Spirit speaks to our conscience.
When the Holy Spirit speaks to our conscience, we know what is right and what is wrong. Without Him, we do not know what God condemns or what God calls righteous.
The Holy Spirit receives from God and teaches us. He touches our heart so that we understand what is right and may live before God. Therefore, the function of conscience has a direct relationship with righteousness.
At the end of 1 John 2, it says that God is righteous, and everyone who practises righteousness is born of Him. How can we practise righteousness? How do we know what is right and wrong? Where is the standard?
The conscience of a Christian receives the instruction of God. Therefore, we may say that the conscience of a Christian is the voice of God received within us.
Sometimes conscience condemns us; at other times, it excuses us. That is its function. Therefore, conscience is very important.
Paul tells Timothy that we should hold faith and a good conscience. Some, having rejected these, have made shipwreck concerning the faith.
A ship travels back and forth on the ocean. The world is like this ocean, and we are like ships sailing in it. We walk according to two things: faith in the Lord and a clean conscience.
If a Christian loses a clean conscience, he is like a shipwreck. You can see how important a clean conscience is.
We need to keep a clean and blameless conscience. For this reason, we need to exercise it.
From the day you believed in the Lord until today, think back: have you exercised your conscience? Has the Holy Spirit spoken to your conscience? I believe He has. The question is: how have you responded?
Are you cooperating with the Holy Spirit, or are you rebelling against Him? If you rebel and do not cooperate with Him, your spiritual life will be affected. But if you cooperate, your spiritual life will grow.
The Bible gives us much teaching concerning this matter. Before God and before men, we should keep a clean and blameless conscience.
When Paul was tried before the Jewish council in Jerusalem, he testified:
Brethren, I have lived before God in all good conscience until this day.
This should also be our testimony. Otherwise, we are no different from the people of the world.
The Holy Spirit teaches us day and night. The Lord is in heaven interceding for us, and the Holy Spirit within us continually makes known to us the will of the Lord.
He leads us into a clean and blameless conscience so that we can stand before God and before men, and God may be glorified.
Each person’s experience is different. God works in us according to our different situations. But there are certain examples in the Bible through which we can examine the work of the Holy Spirit.
Before giving those examples, I want to clarify something. How does the Holy Spirit speak in our conscience? Some may say, “God has never spoken to me. I have never heard a voice saying, ‘Why persecutest thou Me?’”
The Holy Spirit is in our spirit, and He speaks to our conscience through the spirit. When He speaks, it is like a small, still voice.
Remember the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. Elijah had courageously sought to bring the whole nation back to God. But after Jezebel threatened him, he fled to Mount Sinai.
There was a great wind, but God was not in the wind. Then there was a great earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Then there was fire, but God was not in the fire.
After these things came a still, small voice: “What doest thou here, Elijah?”
When the Holy Spirit speaks in our conscience, it is a small voice. Many people cannot hear it because there is too much noise on the outside. They hear this and that but cannot hear what is within.
We need to be quiet before God; then we can hear this small voice.
When the Holy Spirit speaks, it is very clear. It is not confused speech. He does not merely accuse us; He encourages and reminds us. His speaking is definite.
It is not like a fierce wind that blows you down, nor like a great earthquake that terrifies you. The Holy Spirit is gentle within us.
Satan’s accusation is different. When Satan accuses, it can feel as though a mountain is falling upon you. Everything becomes unclear and confused, and you feel miserable without knowing what to do.
The more you confess under Satan’s accusation, the worse you may feel, because his purpose is to confuse you. But this is not the work of the Spirit.
The brethren overcome Satan because of the blood of the Lamb. When Satan accuses us, we should declare the blood of the Lamb, and he will depart from us.
We need to discern the Holy Spirit. We need a sharp conscience, not a weak conscience.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit reminds us of matters from the past. We may wonder, “Are not all things in the past already forgiven? Why does He bring them to mind again?”
There are movements in Christianity that tell believers to recall every wrong thing they have ever done, bring out all the old garbage, and confess every detail. This is not right. The blood of the Lord has already washed away the past.
But sometimes the Holy Spirit reminds us of a matter because something needs to be made right. Perhaps, before you became a Christian, you owed someone money and never paid it back. The Holy Spirit may say, “This is not righteous. You must repay it.”
Or perhaps you offended someone before becoming a Christian and never said you were sorry. What is your testimony if you claim to be a Christian while that person regards you as a hypocrite?
The Bible teaches both confession and restitution. In the Old Testament there was the sin offering and the trespass offering. The trespass offering concerned offence against God, but also wrongdoing toward others.
When we offend God, the blood of the Lamb cleanses us. When we offend people, we should make restitution. This is righteousness.
The Lord Jesus taught that if you are offering your gift and remember that your brother has something against you, you should first be reconciled to your brother. Then you may return and offer your gift. This is a matter of righteousness and testimony.
God uses such matters to give us a clean conscience.
Let me tell you about a brother who came to believe in the Lord. His family had been a Christian family outwardly, but when his mother was saved, she became firm in the Lord and desired to have meetings in her home.
One day, as she gathered her children for family worship and went to the piano to pray, the Holy Spirit spoke to her: “You need to make restitution to your son.”
In the family there were two older sisters, and the son was often blamed. One day a precious vase was broken. The mother assumed that this son had broken it and beat him. From that day onward, the son hated his mother.
As the sister was about to pray, the Holy Spirit spoke again: “You must make this right before your son.”
In China, this was not something that would normally happen. Parents were always considered right. Even when they were wrong, they were still thought to be right. Parents did not confess or ask forgiveness from their children.
But the Holy Spirit would not let her go. Praise God, she stood up, walked to her son, embraced him, and said, “Son, forgive me.”
This deeply touched the brother. It was not merely a personal matter; it was for the testimony of the Lord and for the keeping of a clean conscience.
When I was young, after we received the Lord, we wrote many letters confessing our wrongs. Today we do not see this very often.
Evan Roberts was a greatly used servant of God. He would ask people, “When was the last time you confessed your wrongdoing?” He used this as a measure of a Christian’s spiritual condition.
Brothers and sisters, from the day we believe in the Lord, our conscience should be exercised. Let us not wait three or five years. If we wait that long, it becomes much more difficult.
When we are saved, we need to be clear and thorough. Then we can stand before men and before God.
When the Holy Spirit dwells in us, He touches many old habits. Let me give you an example from my own life.
Even though I was the child of a church minister, I liked to watch movies. When the newspaper came, the first thing I read was the movie listings.
In those days, I did not dare go to the movies on Sunday, but on Saturday I had many opportunities. Some people owned theatres, and I could enter free. At that time, twenty cents could buy admission to a movie, so I watched movies all the time.
After I was saved, I still went to watch movies. But while watching, I felt uncomfortable. I thought, “All right, I will not watch bad movies. I will watch religious movies.” Yet my heart still did not feel right.
I told the Lord, “I will try not to watch them.” I did not tell other people, because I was afraid of being criticised. After a few months, I had not watched any movies.
Then someone gave me tickets to a good religious movie in a very fine theatre. I thought, “What is wrong with going? It is a religious movie.” So I went.
I can testify, brothers and sisters, that for those two hours my eyes were watching, but my heart was fighting a battle. I wished the movie would end, yet I wanted to see it through to the end.
After I came out, I never went to see a movie again. The Lord touched me.
You may have habits different from mine, but the Holy Spirit knows how to exercise your conscience.
I know some sisters who, after believing in the Lord, were enlightened by the Holy Spirit concerning their clothing. I know others whom the Lord enlightened concerning their relationships with other people.
After we believe in the Lord, we have a new group of friends. This does not mean that we simply cast away all our old friends, but certain friendships cannot continue to grow in the same way, because the believer and the unbeliever cannot be unequally yoked.
Let me tell you something concerning Brother Lee. He became a Christian at the age of seventeen, loved the Lord deeply, and soon began giving messages.
He was very close to a young woman named Charity. Their families had known each other for generations, and they had grown up together. They were such close friends that people assumed they would marry when they grew older.
After Brother Lee believed in the Lord, he wanted to share the gospel with Charity, but she did not believe. She said, “We can talk about anything but Christianity.”
One day, as Brother Lee was going to a meeting to share, it seemed the Lord wanted him to speak from Psalm 73:25:
Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee.
The Holy Spirit enlightened him: “On earth, other than Me, you still have someone you love.”
He struggled with the Lord. He said, “Lord, if You allow me to continue to love her, I will go wherever You send me.” But God does not bargain with man.
After much inward conflict, he said, “O Lord, if it is Your will, I am willing to put it off.” He changed into his old clothes, took a pail of paste and some gospel tracts, and went out to place them on the walls.
He gave up his own desire in order to obey the Lord. Has the Holy Spirit ever worked in this way in our conscience? Has He ever led us to exercise our conscience so that we might have a clean conscience before men and before God?
I have many stories that I could share, but our time is running out. This is not merely doctrine; it is an exercise.
If we do not have this exercise, we will not have a spiritual living. But if we live under the Holy Spirit and learn to obey Him, the stature of our spiritual life will grow. This is true Christian living.
The Holy Spirit works within us through the cleansing of conscience. The end of the commandment is love.
Where does this love come from? It comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith unfeigned. If we do not have such a pure conscience, we cannot be filled with the love of God.
May God have mercy upon us.