0:02 [Music]
0:04 you are listening to the teaching and
0:07 preaching of Dr Warren weby this message
0:09 was recorded while he served as pastor
0:11 of Calvary Baptist Church in Covington
0:14 Kentucky or the Moody Church in Chicago
0:17 Illinois for additional resources please
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0:26 two p r o p h tu.com and now Dr Warren [Music]
0:27 [Music]
0:30 weby First Peter chapter
0:42 22 deal with the subject of the
0:52 8-22 some of you have read Ogden Nash's
0:55 poetry not very edifying but sometimes
0:56 rather interesting he has a cute little
0:58 poem that says when called by a panther
1:05 but his little poem on conscience is
1:07 interesting there is only one way to
1:10 achieve happiness on this terrestrial
1:13 ball and that is to have either a clear
1:15 conscience or none at
1:18 all a lot of theology in those
1:22 words HL M who used to uh wake up the
1:24 United States with his scathing
1:27 editorials in the American
1:30 Mercury defined conscience as that inner
1:32 voice that is warning you that somebody
1:34 may be
1:37 watching not a bad
1:38 definition and yet each of us has to
1:40 live with
1:43 conscience conscience is that inward
1:46 monitor that inward
1:50 judge that accuses us when we do wrong
1:53 and uh commends us when we do
1:56 right in fact conscience is so important
1:58 it's mentioned 31 times in the New Testament
2:00 Testament
2:02 you don't find the word in the Old
2:06 Testament but you find the idea there
2:09 when uh Adam and Eve ran and hid that was
2:11 was
2:14 conscience when it says David's heart
2:20 conscience and here we have a whole
2:22 section in the New Testament dealing
2:23 with this matter of conscience you'll
2:26 notice in verse 16 having a good
2:29 conscience verse 21 but the answer of a
2:31 good good conscience you see there's
2:34 more than one kind of conscience in the
2:36 Bible if somebody were to invent a
2:40 conscience machine like an EKG
2:43 machine and if we were to put the straps
2:45 on our arms and plug it in and push the
2:48 buttons and it somehow told us what kind
2:50 of a conscience we
2:52 had you'd have oh several different
2:54 kinds of reports there is such a thing
2:56 as a good conscience that's one that
2:59 functions a good conscience is one that
3:02 when we do do wrong accuses us when we
3:05 do right commends us when a person has a
3:07 good conscience he's not afraid for the
3:10 phone to ring he's not afraid for the
3:12 male to arrive he's not afraid to look
3:14 somebody right straight in the face and
3:16 talk to them they came to Spurgeon one
3:18 day and said Mr Spurgeon we want to
3:20 write your life he said you may write my
3:22 life in the clouds I have nothing to
3:25 hide that's a good conscience the
3:27 Apostle Paul was slapped in the face for
3:30 saying I strive always to have a
3:32 conscience void of offense before God
3:35 and men and a good conscience is one
3:37 that enables me to come right to God
3:39 without fear or to come to Men Without
3:43 Fear a good conscience is one that
3:46 enables me not to be
3:48 afraid but the Bible talks about a defiled
3:50 defiled
3:54 conscience Titus 1:1 15 that's a
3:56 conscience that's starting to get
4:00 dirty and things that used to bother us
4:02 don't bother us anymore because
4:04 conscience has been defiled you must
4:11 educated it's possible for us to commit
4:13 certain sins and live in certain ways
4:15 and do it so
4:18 often that we get used to
4:22 it if there are sins in our lives
4:24 tonight that a year ago would have kept
4:27 us awake our conscience has gotten defiled
4:30 defiled
4:32 you see conscience is something like
4:35 these windows up there these windows do
4:37 not manufacture light they let the light
4:41 come in conscience is that window that
4:43 lets the light of God's truth come into
4:46 the heart but if the window gets
4:50 dirty the light can't get in there's a
4:54 defiled conscience Hebrews 10:22 talks
4:56 about an evil conscience you know what
4:59 that is an evil conscience is one that a
5:03 accuses us if we do good and commends us
5:04 if we do
5:06 evil there are people walking the
5:10 streets of Chicago who would be bothered
5:11 if they did something
5:14 good because their conscience is
5:17 evil an evil conscience is one that's
5:19 turned completely upside
5:23 down instead of being commended the
5:26 person is condemned when he does evil
5:29 instead of being approved the person is
5:32 accused used when he does good that's an
5:35 evil conscience and an evil conscience
5:38 starts with a defiled conscience a
5:40 little more dirt gets on the window
5:43 until no light comes in at all and
5:45 that's what Jesus meant when he said
5:47 when the light that is in you becomes
5:49 Darkness watch
5:54 out the Bible also talks about a seared
5:56 conscience now you've all had some some
6:00 kind of a of a callous on your hand or
6:02 perhaps your foot or perhaps you've had
6:05 a burn a serious burn and as a result
6:08 that whole area was deadened and hard
6:14 cauterized I have on occasion had to
6:18 have cauterization to stop
6:20 bleeding that's what he's talking about
6:23 in uh 1 Timothy 4:2 their conscience is
6:25 seared as with a hot iron there are
6:28 those who have so lived in sin that
6:32 their conscience no longer bothers
6:34 them I think I've told you about the man
6:37 I visited old Railroader worked in the
6:40 rail road and I sat in his living room
6:41 and talked to him about the Lord and
6:43 about what it meant to die and go to
6:45 hell what it meant to be lost
6:50 forever and he said to me preacher if
6:53 this floor opened up and I dropped into
6:55 hell right now it wouldn't bother me one
6:58 bit that is a
7:00 seared conscience
7:02 someone says let conscience be your
7:04 guide let a good conscience be your
7:07 guide not a defiled conscience not an
7:10 evil conscience not a seared conscience
7:11 and Peter's talking about a good
7:12 conscience now Peter knew something
7:14 about a good
7:16 conscience we sometimes like to
7:18 criticize Peter because he occasionally
7:19 fell but did you notice that when Peter
7:22 fell he got straightened out again Peter
7:25 denied the Lord three times but he went
7:27 out and he wept bitterly that's a good conscience
7:33 Peter got into trouble with the
7:35 Gentiles and so he pulled away and just
7:37 fellowship with the
7:40 Jews and Paul came and rebuked him and
7:42 Peter got straightened out because Peter
7:45 had a good conscience a good conscience
7:48 does not prevent you from occasionally
7:50 doing something wrong because you can
7:53 sin against your conscience so can I but
7:55 a good conscience makes it possible for
7:57 us to be so
7:59 miserable we don't want to stay out of
8:03 God's will too long read Psalm 32 if you
8:05 want to find out about David's
8:08 conscience when he tried to cover up his
8:12 sin now this paragraph 1 Peter
8:14 38-22 simply spells out to us the
8:16 blessings that come to your life when
8:19 you have a good conscience when you can
8:20 get up in the morning and not be afraid
8:22 you look in the mirror and not be
8:25 ashamed you can look anybody straight in
8:26 the eye and not wonder what do they know
8:29 about me a good conscience now what are
8:32 the blessings of a good conscience well verses
8:33 verses
8:35 8-2 a
8:39 consistency in our walk a good
8:43 conscience enables the believer to be
8:47 consistent in his walk look at it here
8:49 here
8:53 finally be ye all of One mind a Unity of
8:56 mind having compassion literally that
8:58 means being
9:00 sympathetic one of another so you not
9:02 only have the same mind you have the
9:05 same heart Oneness of feeling love as
9:08 Brethren be pitiful that means be full
9:11 of pity be be thoughtful of others be
9:13 courteous be humble-minded
9:17 not rendering evil for evil or railing
9:20 for railing somebody hollers at you you
9:24 holler back but on the contrary blessing
9:26 knowing that ye are called to this that
9:29 you should inherit a blessing for he he
9:32 that will love life and see good days
9:34 here he's quoting from Psalm
9:37 34 let him refrain his tongue from evil
9:40 his lips that they speak no guile let
9:43 him isue evil Turn Away From Evil hate
9:46 evil and do good let him seek peace and
9:48 pursue it and that word pursue means you
9:50 you strive after it you don't wait for
9:53 it to come you strive after it for the
9:55 eyes of the Lord are over the righteous
9:57 and his ears are open under their
9:59 prayers but the face of the Lord is
10:02 against them that do evil and who is he
10:05 that will harm you if ye be
10:09 followers of that which is
10:12 good Peter is telling us we can live on
10:13 three different
10:17 levels now the lowest level is to return
10:20 evil for good he talks about that in
10:23 verse 13 who is he that will harm you if
10:25 you be followers of that which is good
10:27 most people won't but there are some
10:30 people who are so evil that they return
10:33 evil for good that's the level the devil
10:36 lives on the lowest level the satanic
10:40 level is returning evil for
10:43 good now the next level is a human level
10:45 where most people live they return good
10:46 for good and evil for evil you scratch
10:49 my back I'll scratch your back love me
10:50 love my
10:53 dog that's the level most of the people
10:55 live on if you're good to me I'll be
10:56 good to you if you're mean to me I'll
10:58 just you just wait I'll find some way to
11:00 get back
11:01 now Christians aren't supposed to live
11:04 on the satanic level we never should
11:06 return evil for any
11:09 reason nor do we live on the human level
11:11 of just returning good for good or evil
11:12 for evil in The Sermon on the Mount
11:14 Jesus said even the Sinners can do
11:18 that we live on the highest level of
11:22 verse 9 where we return good for evil
11:24 and brothers and sisters that ain't easy to
11:26 to
11:36 me or
11:38 you we want to sideswipe and back
11:42 there's something in human nature that
11:44 is volatile there's there's enough
11:47 poison down there that when somebody
11:49 starts criticizing us we turn right
11:51 around criticize
11:53 them and so Peter says look if you've
11:55 got a good
11:58 conscience and somebody tears into you
12:00 you'll be calm
12:01 you're not going to worry about it why
12:04 the Lord's watching over you if you
12:06 really love life and I'm amazed at how
12:08 many people don't love life they just
12:10 endure it if you really love life and
12:12 you want to see good days have a good
12:14 conscience now what is a good day well
12:16 for the average person a good day means
12:19 no trouble no heartache no difficulty no
12:21 problems everything going beautifully
12:27 day what is a good day a good day is a
12:30 day in which we enjoy the blessings of
12:33 the Lord and we have a good
12:35 conscience now if someone says boy I had
12:37 a good day today I snuck out of this and
12:39 I cheated on that and I was able to lie
12:41 my way through that's not a good day
12:44 it's a bad day the devil ran that
12:47 day a good day is not necessarily one
12:50 that we are delivered from uh troubles
12:53 or difficulties or responsibilities or
12:54 problems he say if you love life and you
12:57 want to have a good day guard your
12:59 tongue just be careful what you say it
13:02 how you say it turn away from
13:05 Evil and seek after peace really work
13:08 for it pursue it don't just stand wait
13:10 for the dove to come flying down go
13:13 chase the dove with a net go after peace
13:15 be a peacemaker not a
13:17 troublemaker because God's eyes are
13:19 watching over you that's where a good
13:21 conscience comes in no matter what the
13:23 circumstances may be no matter what the
13:25 difficulties may be there can be a
13:28 consistency in our walk because we have
13:30 a good conscience you see a good
13:32 conscience reminds me verse 9 that I've
13:34 been called to get a
13:37 blessing a good conscience reminds me in
13:39 verses 10 and 11 that God's commanded me
13:42 not to do evil a good conscience reminds
13:45 me in verse 12 that God's going to Watch
13:46 Over Me the eyes of the Lord are over
13:48 the righteous his ears are open under
13:50 their prayers a good conscience is a
13:52 clean window through which the light
13:54 shines in and when the light shines in
13:57 it's so much easier to have a consistent
14:00 walk isn't it sure is and by the way it
14:01 starts with the
14:04 Brethren it starts with my getting along
14:06 with the Saints in this first section
14:07 he's talking about getting along with
14:09 the Saints in the second section he's
14:10 going to talk about our problems with
14:12 the unsaved in the third section our
14:14 problem with the devil if I can't get
14:17 along with the Saints if my conscience
14:19 doesn't allow me to have peace and joy
14:21 and harmony with the Saints I haven't
14:22 got a ghost of a chance of going out and
14:25 fight in the
14:28 world a good conscience gives us
14:31 consistency in our walk now dear friend
14:32 if any of us here tonight has been
14:34 having a problem with his
14:36 walk or with his
14:39 talk examine the conscience is there any
14:41 dirt on the conscience does the window
14:44 need cleaning
14:48 someplace in verses 13-1 17 he gives us
14:50 a Second Blessing of a good conscience
14:54 namely confidence in our
14:56 witness just before the service started
14:58 I walk was walking around like I am want
15:01 to do and one of our Sunday school girls
15:03 stopped me and said I have to ask you
15:07 something I said what's that she said uh
15:08 sometimes I'm afraid to witness I'm
15:10 afraid people are going to hurt me I
15:12 said you listen to my sermon tonight I'm
15:16 preaching about that and here it is but
15:20 and if you suffer for righteousness sake
15:22 happy are ye and be not afraid of their
15:25 Terror neither be troubled but sanctify
15:28 the Lord God in your hearts let me uh
15:29 rearrange that a little bit let me
15:32 retranslate it for you but
15:35 sanctify Jesus Christ as Lord in your
15:38 heart that's what he's saying and be
15:41 ready always to give an answer to every
15:44 man that askthe a reason of the hope
15:46 that is in you but do it with meekness and
15:48 and
15:51 respect having a good
15:54 conscience that whereas they speak evil
15:57 of you as of evildoers they may be
15:59 ashamed that falsely accuse you your
16:02 good manner of Life In Christ for it is
16:04 better if the will of God be so that you
16:06 suffer for well doing than for evil
16:08 doing he's talking about our witnessing
16:10 now this first paragraph talked about
16:13 our walking with God's people now he's
16:15 talking about witnessing to the
16:19 unsaved he's assuming that you and I are
16:22 going to be asked why we live the way we
16:25 live did you notice
16:29 that sanctify Jesus Christ as Lord in
16:32 your heart and be ready always to give
16:35 an answer that word answer is our word
16:38 apology or defense a defense for the
16:40 hope that is within you the reason for
16:42 the hope that's within you here is some
16:45 Christian slave and he's doing his work
16:46 and he's doing it happily he's not
16:49 cursing he's not grudging he's not
16:51 looking for some way to sneak off and
16:54 the boss notices this and the master
16:55 comes over and says I want to talk to
16:57 you slave yes
16:59 sir there's something different about
17:03 you what is it well I'm glad you asked
17:05 I'm a
17:07 Christian and he has an opportunity to
17:10 tell of the hope that he has within him
17:12 you see we Christians live in the future
17:15 tense we don't live in the past tense
17:17 our sins have been taken care of we live
17:19 in the future tense the reason we enjoy
17:21 the present is because we are sure about
17:24 the future now a good conscience gives
17:29 you confidence in your witness because
17:33 the walk and the talk go
17:37 together I don't have any chance of
17:40 having any power in my
17:43 witness if behind in the back of my mind
17:45 I'm saying I hope he doesn't know the
17:47 truth about
17:49 me Peter's making a very practical
17:52 application here he's saying when your
17:54 conscience is good when you're right
17:57 with God and right with man anybody can
17:59 ask you a question about you you in your
18:01 Christian life and you can answer it
18:05 without fear why Jesus Christ is Lord in
18:09 your heart Peter quotes in verse 14 I'm
18:12 sorry in verse 15 but sanctify the Lord
18:14 God in your hearts he's quoting from
18:17 Isaiah 8 it'd be worth us to turn back
18:20 and see the original of
18:24 that Isaiah chapter 8 verse 13 listen to it
18:26 it
18:29 sanctify the Lord of hosts
18:34 himself and let him be your fear and let
18:37 him be your dread now if we fear men
18:38 we're going to
18:41 fail if we fear what people say we're
18:44 going to fail but if we fear the lord
18:45 we'll never have to be afraid of the
18:48 face of men look at the next verse Isaiah
18:49 Isaiah
18:54 8:14 and he shall be for a
18:56 sanctuary what is he saying don't be
19:00 afraid if you sanctify Jesus Christ as
19:03 Lord in your heart if you the only fear
19:06 you have is disobeying him you'll have a
19:09 good conscience and if you fear God you
19:12 need fear nobody else you need not fear
19:15 the face of men the arguments of
19:18 men by the way you can usually tell when
19:19 a Christian does not have a good
19:22 conscience he lacks those two things
19:24 that Peter talks about at the end of
19:27 verse 15 when he Witnesses there's not
19:30 meekness in reverence there is a
19:33 pugilistic attitude there's an argumentative
19:35 argumentative
19:38 Spirit Peter says that's not necessary
19:40 you have unsaved neighbors you have
19:43 unsaved employers your boss is an
19:45 unsaved person he asks you about your
19:48 Christian faith he's not asking for an
19:50 argument he's asking for an explanation
19:53 this is no place to start a fight this
19:57 is a good place to open a witness Peter
19:58 is reminding us that we are not
20:01 Prosecuting attorneys we're Witnesses
20:03 and we should witness with meekness now
20:05 meekness is not weakness meekness is
20:07 strength under
20:09 control we as Christians if we have a
20:12 good conscience can just quietly tell
20:15 people what the Lord means to us with
20:18 reverence and with meekness and God will
20:21 bless it a good conscience gives us
20:24 consistency in our walk and a good
20:27 conscience gives us confidence in our
20:29 witness but there's a third blessing that
20:30 that
20:36 comes in verses 18 through U
20:39 22 we have one of the most difficult
20:42 passages in the New Testament doctoral
20:44 thesis have been written on these verses
20:48 whole books have been written on these
20:51 verses get the connection now the first
20:53 word in verse 18 is
20:57 four that takes us back to verse 17 it
20:59 is better if the will of God be so that
21:02 you suffer for well doing than for
21:04 evildoing here are these Christians and
21:06 they aren't disobeying God they have a
21:08 good conscience they're walking with the
21:10 Lord but they're going through
21:12 difficulty they're suffering for doing
21:14 good remember I said there are three
21:17 levels on which we can live and there
21:19 are people in your life who live on that
21:22 basement level that that that lower
21:25 level they return evil for good because
21:28 your good conversation your good beh
21:34 them and so here were these saints of
21:35 God that Peter's writing to and they
21:38 were suffering not for doing evil but
21:40 for doing good my friend you have
21:43 reached a new level of Christian Living
21:46 when you're suffering for doing good now
21:50 he says Christ also went through this
21:53 don't think it's something strange for
21:56 Christ also hath once suffered for Sins
21:59 Not His somebody else's the just for the
22:02 unjust now our suffering is not
22:05 vicarious I mean by that because I
22:08 suffer it can't help you I cannot suffer
22:11 for somebody else's sins my suffering
22:13 cannot atone for anybody's wickedness
22:17 but our Lord's did for Christ also hath
22:19 once suffered for sins the just for the
22:22 unjust that he might bring us to
22:26 God being put to death in the flesh but
22:28 Made Alive by the spirit now in the
22:31 original New Testament the Greek New
22:32 Testament there are no
22:36 capitals no capital G for God no capital
22:38 S for
22:41 Spirit uh our translators have TR have
22:42 have capitalized the word Spirit there
22:44 and there are some who believe it is the
22:46 holy spirit now there's no question that
22:48 the holy spirit of God did help in
22:51 raising Jesus from the
22:55 dead Made Alive by the Spirit by whom
22:57 also he went and preached unto the
22:59 spirits in prison
23:02 who at one time were disobedient when
23:04 Once the longsuffering of God waited in
23:07 the days of Noah while the ark Was
23:10 preparing in which few that is eight
23:13 Souls were saved by water the like
23:16 figure notice the word figure he's
23:20 talking in symbolism now the like figure
23:23 unto which even baptism does also now
23:26 save us but L somebody thinks water
23:29 washes away sin he puts a parenthesis in
23:31 here not the putting away of the filth
23:35 of the flesh but the answer and that
23:37 word answer is really the the the word
23:41 pledge but the pledge of a good
23:44 conscience toward God now let's leave
23:46 out the parenthesis and go back the like
23:49 figure unto which even baptism does now
23:52 also save us by the resurrection of
23:55 Jesus Christ who's gone into heaven and
23:58 is on the right hand of God angels and
24:01 author authorities and Powers being made
24:04 subject unto him now these angels and
24:06 authorities and powers that are
24:09 mentioned in verse 22 are the satanic
24:12 angels and authorities and powers and
24:14 the spirits that Jesus preached to in
24:17 verse 19 are not the spirits of Saved
24:20 people or lost people in Hell these are evil
24:22 evil
24:24 spirits you see when when Peter wants to
24:27 talk about people he talks about souls
24:30 verse 20 in which few that is eight
24:32 Souls were saved by water now what's he
24:35 talking about here what's this all about
24:37 Jesus Through the spirit went and talked
24:39 to some Spirits what in the world is he
24:41 talking about let me mention first of
24:43 all what he's not talking about he is
24:45 not saying that anybody has a second
24:47 chance after death he's not saying that
24:50 at all Peter knew better than that it's
24:52 appointed unto man once to die and after
24:54 that the Judgment my friend you get
24:56 saved in this life there is no second
24:59 chance after death
25:01 nor is he saying that any of us who are
25:03 alive today can help those who are dead
25:05 he's not talking about prayers for the
25:08 dead he's not talking about services for
25:10 the dead he's talking about an
25:14 experience that Jesus Christ
25:16 had between his death and his
25:20 resurrection now there are many good men
25:23 who believe that this is saying Jesus
25:25 through his Spirit the Holy Spirit
25:28 preached through Noah and this is
25:29 possible possible you can interpret it
25:32 that way I prefer to believe that the
25:34 word spirit in verse 18 should be a
25:37 small s that our Lord Jesus Christ in the
25:38 the
25:41 spirit went to that prison where those
25:45 Fallen satanic Angels were
25:50 confined who helped to pollute the world
25:52 in the days prior to the
25:56 flood when Satan was unleashing all of
25:59 his wickedness on this world and it got
26:01 so filthy dirty God had to wipe everything
26:02 everything
26:05 clean I think what Peter is saying is
26:06 this you don't have to agree with me but
26:09 the conclusion at least is there Peter
26:12 is saying this that between our Lord's
26:13 death and our Lord's
26:16 Resurrection he in the
26:19 spirit went to this prison house where
26:23 these satanic beings were held and he
26:26 declared to them his
26:29 victory he declared to the whole Realm
26:32 of the satanic his victory this is why
26:36 he ends this chapter saying angels and
26:39 authorities and Powers being made
26:43 subject unto him now why talk about this
26:45 because these people Peter was writing
26:47 to were fighting the
26:51 devil the hosts of hell would soon be
26:54 turned loose upon these people there
26:56 would be a fiery trial such as they had
27:02 that
27:08 Godless demon-possessed Nero was on the
27:10 throne and Christians were going to go
27:12 through the
27:15 furnace and so Peter is saying to them
27:18 you're going to suffer for doing good
27:20 but remember this Jesus suffered for
27:23 being for doing good but in his
27:26 suffering he won the victory he has been
27:29 raised from the dead he is seated in
27:34 heaven and all of the satanic hosts are
27:37 defeated therefore when you
27:42 face the enemy you face the enemy in
27:44 Victory now if I didn't believe that I'd
27:46 get out of the
27:49 ministry here in the city of Chicago
27:52 Satan is having a hay day there are
27:55 demonic forces at work that are wrecking
27:59 homes seeking to wreck churches ruined
28:03 lives people call us up and their minds
28:06 are so confused and their lives are so
28:09 torn apart it can only be the
28:12 devil if I did not believe that my Lord
28:15 on the cross stripped off principalities
28:18 and Powers then he went where they were
28:21 and he heralded that's what the word is
28:23 verse 19 it's not preach the
28:26 gospel nobody's preaching the gospel in
28:29 the other world there is is no good news
28:30 for the other
28:32 world the only good news you'll ever
28:36 hear is in this world or in heaven but
28:40 not in the realm of the satanic prison
28:43 and our lord Jesus went and declared to
28:46 Satan's host he announced the victory
28:49 that's the word he heralded the Victory
28:51 and then he arose from the dead then he
28:53 went back to heaven and all of the
28:56 angels and authorities and powers are
28:57 subject to him you know what that means
29:00 that means that you and I don't have to
29:03 fight for victory we fight from
29:05 victory that means when you are
29:09 confronted with the evil one and he may
29:11 be working through your
29:14 landl he might be working through the
29:16 person sitting next to you on the bus oh
29:19 how subtle he is when we confront that
29:22 evil one we can confront him with
29:25 confidence if you have a good conscience
29:28 now Satan loves a dirty conscience
29:30 because Satan's the
29:33 accuser and if our walk has not been
29:36 consistent then our witness is not going
29:38 to be confident and our Warfare is not
29:40 going to be courageous but if our
29:43 conscience is clear if we can look up to
29:46 God and say God in heaven my heart is
29:49 clean my life is given to you my
29:52 conscience is clean then the holy spirit
29:55 of God can give us Victory and courage
29:58 in our Warfare
30:00 now Peter brings Noah into this picture
30:02 for an interesting reason he wants to
30:05 talk about baptism some folks don't like
30:07 it when you talk about
30:10 baptism but the Bible talks about
30:12 baptism and you must remember that the
30:16 people that Peter wrote to paid a price
30:18 to get
30:20 baptized it doesn't cost a great deal to
30:22 be baptized today now for some people it
30:26 does I have baptized some Jewish people
30:28 some of our Hebrew Christian friend
30:30 friends who trusted the Lord it cost
30:31 them to get
30:34 baptized I have baptized people who came
30:37 from different religious faiths and
30:39 their family just wrote them right off
30:41 when they were baptized it cost them but
30:43 for the average person doesn't cost
30:45 anything to be baptized today they say
30:47 oh how wonderful you got baptized is
30:50 that great but back in this day it cost
30:52 something to get baptized and so Peter
30:54 is putting together two subjects their
30:56 baptism and their
30:58 suffering do you remember remember says
31:00 Peter when you were baptized now when
31:03 they were baptized they were immersed
31:05 even those who teach baptism by
31:07 sprinkling admit that in the New
31:14 immersion Peter said do you recall when
31:14 you were
31:17 baptized you went down under the water
31:20 death burial Resurrection that's what
31:23 Jesus did you were identified with Jesus
31:26 Christ in death burial and Resurrection
31:33 Noah you say what in the world does Noah
31:36 have to do with baptism death burial and
31:39 Resurrection the rain came down and the whole
31:41 whole
31:43 globe was
31:48 immersed God buried
31:53 sin but that same water that buried sin
31:59 ark now Noah wasn't saved by the water
32:01 Noah was saved by the ark the ark is a
32:03 picture of Jesus Christ that's another
32:05 sermon I won't preach it tonight too hot
32:07 for two
32:09 sermons but the ark is a picture of
32:11 Jesus Christ the only way of Salvation
32:13 in the whole world was the ark there's
32:16 only one way of Salvation tonight Jesus
32:18 Christ that Ark only had one door to it
32:21 Jesus Christ is the only
32:24 way God called them into the ark God
32:28 didn't say go God said come
32:31 they came into the ark and God shut them
32:33 in and God says come to you tonight why
32:35 don't you to step into the Ark of Safety
32:37 trust Jesus Christ and when you trust
32:39 him God shut you
32:42 in and no matter what the circumstances
32:45 were the noise the Thunder the lightning
32:47 the rain the Judgment they were safe in the
32:49 the
32:51 ark no matter what may happen you're
32:53 safe in Jesus Christ if you've trusted
32:57 him as your savior now God baptized the world
32:59 world
33:02 and there was death burial
33:05 Resurrection Noah in the ark with his
33:08 family were raised up and left on The
33:10 Mountaintop by the way it's rather
33:12 interesting to note that they they
33:17 landed on the Mountaintop on the 17th
33:24 month now the Jewish calendar begins with
33:25 with
33:28 October October November December mber
33:31 January February March April you know
33:34 what happened on the 14th day of
33:37 April Jesus was crucified in the cross
33:38 you know what happened on the 17th day
33:40 of April he was raised from the dead
33:45 Noah landed Noah was resurrected on the
33:49 very date that Jesus was raised from the
33:51 dead so Peter sees a connection here
33:55 Noah was raised Noah was a witness
33:57 against the wickedness of his day for
33:59 120 years and they laughed at him they
34:02 said he was crazy can you imagine
34:04 preaching for 120 years and having only seven
34:06 seven
34:09 converts he'd never be written up in our
34:11 in Christianity
34:13 Today they'd never invite Noah to run
34:16 around hold seminars on how to win
34:19 souls 120 years and seven people his own
34:21 family got
34:25 saved when it was all
34:29 over was Noah a failure no did Noah
34:31 suffer for righteousness sake yes how
34:34 did he end up on top did Jesus suffer
34:36 for righteousness sake yes how do he end
34:38 up on top are you suffering for
34:40 righteousness sake yes then you ought to
34:43 end up on top do you remember when you
34:46 were baptized yes why were you baptized
34:49 God commanded it it's the answer of a
34:51 good conscience toward God nobody gets
34:53 baptized to be saved Peter makes that very
34:55 very
34:57 clear why are we baptized it's God
35:00 commandment we want to have the reply
35:02 the pledge of a good conscience toward
35:06 God now what do we pledge in
35:08 baptism when I was pastoring my first
35:10 church I had a lady who used to come and
35:12 hear me preach and about once every six
35:14 months she'd say I want to be baptized
35:16 so we'd make arrangements for it and
35:17 she'd never get
35:20 baptized 6 months later I want to be
35:22 baptized her son was in my Sunday school
35:23 class at that time I thought boy
35:25 something wrong here I go to the home
35:28 and visit are you saved oh yes I'm saved
35:30 yes but when the time came for her to
35:31 take that step she'd never do it and I
35:34 found out later on why she never was
35:38 saved she had no desire to live a Godly
35:40 life now baptism is
35:43 important baptism is the answer of a
35:46 good conscience toward God I am saying I
35:49 am identified with Jesus Christ in death
35:51 burial and Resurrection I'm going to
35:57 life so Peter reminds them of of their
36:00 baptism and says just live up to your baptismal
36:01 baptismal
36:05 promise you told God Here I Am Lord I
36:07 want your life to be lived out through
36:09 me so the whole paragraph whatever
36:11 problems anybody may bring up the whole
36:15 paragraph is saying this Jesus suffered
36:17 for righteousness Noah suffered for
36:20 righteousness both of them were raised
36:24 up you were baptized you were raised up
36:26 you will suffer for
36:28 righteousness the and all that will live
36:31 Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer
36:33 persecution but don't worry about it
36:35 he's gone into heaven that's where
36:37 you're going to go someday and he's at
36:39 the right hand of God so you can pray to
36:42 him and all of the angels and
36:44 authorities and Powers have been made
36:47 subject unto him this is not the good
36:49 Angels they never had to be made subject
36:51 unto him they always were it's the evil
36:56 angel Satan made subject unto
36:59 him that means that since you and I have
37:01 a good
37:03 conscience we can come to the one who's
37:06 at the right hand of
37:09 God and he gives us victory over the evil
37:20 conscience the
37:23 book The
37:26 Blood The Blessed
37:29 hope the book look wherewith all shall a
37:30 young man cleanse his way or an old man
37:33 for that matter by taking heed to Thy
37:35 word now are you clean through the word
37:38 that I've spoken unto you Hebrews 10
37:40 says let's come to the throne of grace
37:43 having our bodies washed with water and
37:45 our consciences
37:47 purified the
37:49 book I don't know about you but when I
37:53 read this book God convicts me and God
37:55 says Hey the window is dirty let's wash
37:58 the window a little bit the blood if we
38:01 confess our sins he's faithful and just
38:03 to forgive us our sins the Blessed hope
38:05 every man that haveth this hope in him purifies
38:06 purifies
38:09 himself and a good conscience means we
38:11 can have consistency in our
38:14 walk and when there's consistency in our
38:16 walk a good conscience means we can have
38:19 confidence in our witness Not
38:21 Afraid and when you have confidence in
38:22 your witness people are going to fight
38:24 you and you're going to suffer for
38:26 righteousness sake but a good conscience
38:29 will give us Christ courage in our
38:31 Warfare and so whether it be the flesh
38:33 or the world or the devil what
38:34 difference does it make a good
38:36 conscience puts us in touch with the
38:39 power of God and I tell you having a
38:43 good conscience keeps your backbone
38:45 Strong having a good conscience keeps
38:48 your feet on the straight and narrow
38:50 having a good
38:52 conscience gives you discernment and you
38:54 say no that's not a part of my life I
38:56 don't want that no that's not yes that's
38:58 the thing
39:00 it's a beautiful thing to live with a good
39:01 good
39:03 conscience but oh if you've got a bad
39:07 conscience an evil conscience a defiled
39:10 conscience a seared
39:12 conscience the devil's got a foothold
39:18 trouble now perhaps you've never been
39:21 saved at all tonight maybe you don't
39:22 even know the first thing about having
39:25 your conscience cleansed your heart
39:27 washed a new life down in inside you
39:29 ought to come and Trust
39:32 Christ perhaps I speak to some Christian
39:35 who has been playing with
39:38 sin and as a consequence conscience has
39:40 gotten a little bit dirty let me change
39:43 the picture if I may do you remember the
39:46 story Dr Ironside used to tell about the
39:48 Indian he had a lot of good stories
39:50 because he worked with the Indians and
39:53 he was talking about conscience the
39:54 Indians said I know what you're talking
39:58 about conscience is like an arrow head
39:59 down in my
40:02 heart and when the Indian does something
40:10 me and Dr Ironside said but what if you
40:12 keep sinning oh he said it takes the
40:19 much good
40:22 theology is there something in my life
40:25 that a year ago would have kept me awake
40:28 all night but but now I can put up with
40:35 conscience let God do what he wants to
40:38 do in your heart tonight my friend
40:42 having a good conscience gracious
40:45 father I pray for those here who need to be
40:46 be
40:49 saved you've brought them here and Jesus
40:51 died for them and the spirit speaks to
40:54 them and we exhort them I pray that
40:56 you'll help them to come and be saved
40:58 help that Christian who has given the
41:01 devil a foothold to get a good conscience
41:03 conscience
41:06 tonight for I pray it in Jesus name
41:17 amen all of Dr Warren web's material is
41:20 owned and managed by Script text the
41:22 material contained in this podcast is
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41:27 not to be duplicated or sold with
41:28 without prior written consent from
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