Convictions Pt. 3

[0:00] All right, well, good morning, everybody.

[0:17] It's great to be in church this morning. We're going to continue our study on convictions, and we've covered two Sundays so far, introduced the material a little bit, and then got into the first category.

[0:32] And if you've been here with us, you know where we're at. If you haven't, then this is going to take a little catching up for you. But we're going to cover four categories of your convictions, of what you believe, why you believe it.

[0:46] And I said this, and I want to say it a million times, it feels like not everything you believe comes from the Bible, even though you're a Christian, even if you grew up in church. Is this me scratching on the air? It's my fur necklace.

[1:06] It stopped, whatever it is. We'll see. So we've gotten, we're going to have four categories, and they're going to be natural convictions, scriptural convictions, spiritual convictions, and then psychological convictions is the fourth category.

[1:21] And so far, we've seen the natural convictions that they are not necessarily coming out of the Bible. They're not necessarily have anything to do with anything about being raised a certain way or a certain culture.

[1:33] It's just you're innately given some things of God, I'd say. Maybe it's morality is a way to put it. But there's some things that are right, and you understand that without the Bible, you understand that it's a man and a woman.

[1:45] We saw that in the Bible, that that's the natural use of the woman or the man. The same thing was mentioned in Romans chapter 2, about when they do by nature the things contained in the law.

[1:58] They don't have the law, but they do by nature the things that are in the law. That is, it's naturally already in them, conviction-wise. It's wrong to kill. It's wrong to steal. Things like that. So we got into the second category last week, which was scriptural convictions.

[2:12] And let's go to 1 Corinthians 5 this morning. We'll do a few more of these from the Bible and just solidify this as a category and move on. 1 Corinthians 5.

[2:23] These are easy to grasp. The first two categories are truly easy to grasp. We're going to spend most of our time on the last two categories. And so scriptural convictions now are things that are coming right out of the Bible, black and white, things that God says, they're commands.

[2:42] And when you decide, I'm going to obey that command, I believe that command, I believe I should obey that and live that way, that's a conviction that you live by and you got it from the Bible.

[2:54] So we're calling it a scriptural conviction. Here's one in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. And notice this passage has to do with a man in this church that has sinned and Paul's getting on them for not dealing with him and he has not repented of his sin and so he gives them some instruction about basically send them, get them out.

[3:16] And he says in verse 7, purge out therefore the old leaven. And now he goes on in verse 9, I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators, yet not all together with the fornicators of this world, meaning all the lost people in the world or with the covetous or extortioners or with idolaters for then you must needs go out of the world.

[3:35] So that's the lost crowd. Of course you can't help but have some communication and contact with the lost world or you'd have to leave this world to eliminate it completely. So he's not talking about that.

[3:47] He says not to company. Now verse 11. But now I have written unto you not to keep company if a man that's called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one know not to eat.

[4:06] So the conviction you pull out of your Bible is that you're not to have fellowship. The word is company Paul uses with we'll just terminize them as backslidden Christians.

[4:16] Christians they're called a brother but they're living like the world. They're living like a fornicator, a drunkard, an extortioner, idolater. They're living like that person rather than living like a brother in Christ.

[4:29] And it's not saying if somebody sins you can't have company with them because then must needs go out of the world. But if somebody's called a brother identifies themselves as a believer in Jesus Christ as they're saved but they're living in sin and they know it and you know it then there's a scriptural command to separate yourself from them.

[4:49] It's the old term from the old days from some was to shun them. And that sounds so ugly anymore. People are afraid to say that word. But it's you're not to with such and one know not to eat.

[5:01] You don't hang out with them pretend everything's fine. And we love you. There's a scriptural command there of drawing a line and saying I'm with Jesus Christ and I'm going to live in righteousness.

[5:13] And if you're going to live in that light and in that way and the Bible says have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them. And you can't just accept and hold hands with somebody who's living in sin.

[5:25] That's a Bible command. That's coming out from among them being separate and staying separate. And in Galatians chapter 1 if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such and one.

[5:36] That's your goal. Any communication and contact ought to be to restore them to Christ to a right relationship with God not to enable them and to act like oh everything's fine.

[5:48] Now if you live that way if you believe that and walk that way then you got that from a Bible. And that's a scriptural command that becomes a scriptural conviction for you.

[6:00] Let's take a few more. Go to James chapter let's try 3. James chapter 3. And so this chapter talks about the tongue.

[6:21] A good bit about your mouth. And this isn't the only chapter right. This is it's all over the book. Paul has plenty to say about your speech. The Proverbs nearly every chapter has some reference to the mouth or to words or to the tongue.

[6:33] To your lips. In James chapter 3 notice notice verse number 10. We'll just catch this one statement here out of the entire chapter.

[6:45] Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. So there's a problem. That's guilt. They're guilty of something. My brethren these things ought not so to be. Then he gives an example about a fountain.

[6:57] Whether it has sweet water and bitter. No. What about a tree? Does it have different kinds of fruit? No. It's the fountain again in verse 12. And so the statement has to do with your mouth and what comes out of your mouth.

[7:11] And now as a man that attempts to walk with God and please God and wants to from my heart wants to serve Christ and be right with God every day of my life.

[7:22] When I say something out of my mouth it comes out that is not in the blessing category. It might be in the cursing category.

[7:34] Whether it's a curse word or whether it's just that negative category. Or whether maybe in the illustration of the fountain whether I'm sending forth not sweet words but bitter words.

[7:45] I'm convicted in my heart about that. I'm convicted. I feel that. I know it as a spiritual man. I know it when I say things that are wrong. When things come out of my mouth that oh I shouldn't have said that.

[7:59] And sometimes oftentimes before I say it I think it that I shouldn't say it. And I just let it go. But you know why I got that conviction? Because I know in my Bible it says so many times that my speech is to be always with grace.

[8:14] Seasoned with salt that it may minister grace unto the hearers. I'm supposed to watch my mouth. I'm supposed to know what comes out. I'm supposed to control my tongue. It is full of deadly poison verse 8 says.

[8:27] And I'm not to let that out. And why do I believe that? Because my Bible tells me that. So if you have that same conviction about the words you speak you got it from a Bible most likely.

[8:38] Now we're going to move into another category soon. And I'm going to show you that sometimes you don't get that from the Bible. But in this case I do because I know what the Bible says about my tongue and about my words.

[8:50] All right. Now look across at chapter number 4. And we'll close this category with one that's a good one to kind of make a point. James chapter 4 and all the way to the end of the chapter.

[9:02] Look at verse 17. This one's a tough one. Boy there's some verses in the Bible. If you had your way. If you could discuss it with God.

[9:14] Maybe you'd give a little more leeway here. Verse 17. Who is it sin to?

[9:25] Him. Individual. The person. Singular. Not to the world. Not to the church. To him. That knoweth to do good and doeth it not. Now there's a lot of scripture in this Bible about doing good works.

[9:39] And walking in righteousness. And there's things that we need to be doing. That are not just what I don't do. But what I do. The way we think.

[9:51] This is where I want to make this point clear. Our natural conviction. The way I think is. Sin. Well that's something bad. And I didn't do it. I didn't do sin.

[10:02] I didn't commit a sin. So. How is it that I'm guilty? Well the Bible. The scriptural conviction. Turns my eyes and says. No. When God shows you things you know are right.

[10:15] And you refuse to do them. That is sin. To you as well. And I kind of think. No. I didn't do something wrong. Don't we think that way? Like. I never did it. So I'm innocent.

[10:26] And here's a. That's not a good example. Well. Maybe we'll come up with an example or not. If one hits me. That's better than that one. The scripture convicts me.

[10:38] That if I know it's right. Failing to do it. Is a sin. Let's just use the Bible as an example. Like I believe it. That I'm to read my Bible every day. I believe I'm supposed to be in that book every day. And when I know to do good.

[10:50] And don't do it. That's a sin to me. To me. I'm not going to point at the guy down the road here. Or somebody selling fruit on the corner. And say. Did you read your Bible today? Well if you didn't.

[11:01] You've sinned. When I. I need to worry about me on this one. Because I know that it's a good thing for me to do. I know it's what God wants me to do in my life. And if I ignore that.

[11:12] It's sin. So again. Now. Showing you the difference. I hope you see it. The natural conviction says. Doing sins are wrong. Doing bad things. That's.

[11:22] Yeah. I get it. But if I just don't do it. How am I guilty? Here's one. The scripture points us a different direction. The scripture shows us. And it's a scriptural conviction.

[11:32] And therefore. That failing to do the good that you know to do. To you. It's sin. So I think. We should all be. Everybody's okay on this understanding. That there are convictions.

[11:43] That you live by. That you got from the Bible. If you're a Christian. You want to please God. You know what God said. And. You develop convictions from the Bible. Now we're going to move on.

[11:55] To a much. More. A little more of a study here. On the third category. What we're going to call script. Or spiritual. Spiritual convictions.

[12:06] So pay attention closely here. And as you. As I try to articulate this. Let this develop in your mind. And start to understand this. Is a part of your life. That is not part of the other two.

[12:19] Spiritual convictions. When the Lord. The Lord. When he intervenes. In your life. Or in an area of your life. To impose his will.

[12:32] To impose. What he desires for you. Something for you to follow. I'll give it to you in two ways. Either he. Intercepts. Something that you're doing.

[12:43] He. He insists. That you stop doing something. God inside of you. Convicts you about something. That you're. You're doing. And he says. You should stop. It's wrong. So this is one way.

[12:55] The Lord. By his spirit. Within you. If you're his child. Inside. He starts illuminating you. Showing you. This is wrong. Stop doing this. Or on the other hand. He may start moving you.

[13:06] Or prodding you. To do something. That is right. That you're not doing. He may start moving in your heart. To do something you weren't. So there's things that are wrong. In your life. Things that could be.

[13:17] In your life. That are right. And the Lord. On the inside. Kind of. Tries to push you away from that. And toward that. These are going to be. Spiritual convictions. That you develop. It's God.

[13:29] From the inside. As always. Attempting to change you. Ultimately. To use you. And to do whatever he wants to do. With you. And he'll do this.

[13:41] Sometimes. He'll do this without the Bible. He'll do this from the inside. His spirit. Speaking. To your heart. And to your mind. And it's important for you to. Learn the voice of the Lord.

[13:53] And to discern his leading. In your mind. And in your heart. Because. People say this. I've heard this all the time. That. The Bible. That you speak to God through prayer.

[14:03] And God speaks to you through the Bible. And there is a truth to that. But it's not exclusive. Because the Lord God. If you walk with him. You know. He moves your heart. He speaks to your mind.

[14:14] And it's not always. For in many things. We affect like straight out of the Bible. So. Let's understand this as another category. And as I try to give you some ideas.

[14:25] And there's going to be like five. Distinct. Points about this. Not passages. But points. Let's. Let's give me. Let me give you an illustration here. Imagine a person. That drives around town.

[14:36] Just blaring their music. And. And they've got a lot of money. In their car. And in their system. And they're just letting it go. And to them. It's. It's music to the ears.

[14:47] And it's. Rhythm to the body. And it feels good. And they like it. And their friends like it. And of course. Some of the people in the town. Don't like it. But. They just do what they do.

[14:58] And they're just living their life. Now just imagine that guy. Just rolling around town. Bumping his music. And then he gets saved. Let's just imagine. This guy gets saved.

[15:09] And he continues living that life. But. With God inside of him. You can understand. That something doesn't quite feel right. About this music anymore.

[15:20] And he can't quote a bible verse. Because he doesn't know any. But there's something inside of him. Just. Just not liking it. Not. Just. Just kind of pulling him away from it.

[15:30] What is that? We know what it is. But this. This young believer gets a sense that. God sees me. God knows. God's bigger than me. He knows what I'm doing.

[15:41] He. These. This language of these lyrics. And. And this. It's just not. Right. And it doesn't feel clean. Although it's still. To his flesh. Feels good. Although still to his friends.

[15:53] If they like it. It feels good. But. That new believer can't shake. The fact that. God's not pleased with this. Or there's something different going on.

[16:04] Or that God's more important. What is that? That's the spirit of God. On the inside of a believer. Starting to work. Starting to move. And. And show him something.

[16:15] And convict him. When a new convert. Makes changes in their life. Even before they have a bible verse on it. One of the. One of the big ways to know this is language.

[16:25] It's just. I've heard so many people. Get saved later in life. And say. The first thing. That God dealt with me about. Was my language. I. You know.

[16:35] At work. At whatever. At home. To the wife. To the kids. Is the words that came out of their mouth. We've already talked about it from the bible. But sometimes. To a new convert. They don't have a bible verse. They don't even know the scriptures.

[16:47] And they couldn't turn you to any one of them. But they know these words are wrong. You might call it a natural conviction. But it didn't bother them. Before they got saved. So when they get saved.

[16:57] All of a sudden. They say it. And it stings. They say it. And they realize. Their mind right away says. You've got to stop saying that. You've got to stop saying it. All through their day. You should stop saying that. Until they realize.

[17:08] They start. Wrestling with it. And God starts giving them victory over it. And their tongue changes. It happens. One of the first things that happens. To new believers. Is the words that they speak.

[17:18] Change. Look at James chapter 4 here. Here's another idea here. Especially considering a new convert. Before he even learns what the Bible teaches. Look at verse number 4.

[17:31] It says. Ye adulterers and adulteresses. Know ye not that the friendship of the world. Is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world. Is the enemy of God.

[17:42] Now that's what the Bible says about. Friends and friendship with the world. And we already read one about. Keeping company with fornicators. But when a new convert. Doesn't know these verses.

[17:54] But inside. Something starts to say. These friends are no good. The way they talk. I'm trying to stop. The things they're doing. I feel is wrong. And the Lord God.

[18:05] Starts opening their eyes. Little by little. By little. To truth. To righteousness. To holiness. To walking with God. And he can't even quote a verse about it. That's the spirit of God.

[18:17] Working with them. And in them. Now. This kind of brings me right to the first point. I want to make about spiritual convictions. And get this. This is so important.

[18:28] Spiritual convictions are personal. Individual. God dealing with me. Turn to Acts chapter 16. Let me give you some examples of this.

[18:38] From the scripture to back it up. And when you get this part down. It's going to help you. To know. To know. Where to draw the line. With these convictions.

[18:58] You know. When a new believer. Who's been in the world all their life. Been lost all their life. And if they trust Christ. When they start coming around church. It feels right to them.

[19:10] Being here. Being. It just feels better. It feels good. And when they leave. And go back to their home. Or back to their work. And to their life. And friends and family. They start to see the difference.

[19:21] Just night and day. It grows and grows. And they get excited about church. Because this feeling here. Is so clean. And these people here. They think. They're all saints. They look around and think.

[19:32] Everybody here is a wonderful Christian. And knows the Bible. And lives by it. And everything's great in their life. They don't understand. No there's problems. No there's struggles. No there's sins. And they don't.

[19:43] But they've come into here. And they feel this. Uplifting spirit. And the singing. And the preaching. And the word of God going forth. And people agreeing with it. And saying amen to it. It's like.

[19:53] Man this is great. It changes them. On the inside. And it feels right. They begin to get that feeling. Because the spirit of God. Is bearing witness.

[20:04] To all of these things. On the inside of them. They don't even know. What's happening. Alright. So spiritual convictions. Are personal. Watch this in Acts chapter 16. Here's the apostle Paul. And he wants to do something.

[20:15] For God. In verse number six. Now when they had gone. Throughout Phrygia. And the regions of Galatia. And were forbidden. Of the Holy Ghost. To preach the word in Asia. After they were come to Mycenae.

[20:26] And assayed to go to Bithynia. But the spirit suffered them not. And they passing by Mycenae. Came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul. In the night. There stood a man of Macedonia. And prayed him saying. Come over into Macedonia.

[20:37] And help us. So what's going on here. Paul is trying to go a direction. Trying and trying. And the Lord keeps shutting the door. And telling him no. And then he gets the vision.

[20:48] I want you to go here. So Paul. God made it clear to Paul. What he was not to do. A certain thing. For Paul. Not to do this. And understand.

[20:59] This was God dealing with Paul. About his ministry. And his calling. Would it be right for Paul. To stand up. To any other disciple.

[21:09] Or preacher. And say. Hey. Nobody's to go there. And preach the gospel. Because God told me not to go. What if God dealt with somebody else's heart.

[21:20] About going there. Does Paul have the right. To go meet with them. And tell them. Don't you dare go there. No he doesn't. Because God dealt with him personally. About the calling of God. In his life.

[21:30] To go. Eventually to Macedonia. But you know. And I'm not going to take the time. But in Acts chapter 19. Paul's preaching in Asia. Because God let him go there.

[21:40] And he sent him that direction. There's a difference. That takes place here. But Paul had to obey the light. That he was given. And here's something. To grasp from this thought right here.

[21:51] Is that it would be wrong. For Paul to tell others. Not to do something. That God told him not to do. Specifically in this kind of category. What many have a tendency to do.

[22:03] Preachers. Teachers. Ladies and ladies meetings. Even teenagers. That want to give up. And give testimony. In front of the teenagers. Or something. What they have a tendency to do.

[22:14] Is when God deals with their heart. About their sins. Or their life. Or the direction of their life. They don't have the understanding. That it's personal. With me and God.

[22:24] And they get the idea. That it's for everybody. And now. I need to put this on the congregation. And it's a responsibility of mine. To discern when God's moving me. Versus giving me liberty.

[22:37] To preach something. Or put something out there. That is spiritually. On my heart. Not on the Lord. Or not on the church. We need to understand.

[22:47] That spiritual convictions. Are personal convictions. It's the Lord dealing with me. Trying to change me. Trying to use me. Trying to move me. Trying to open my eyes.

[22:57] To something he has for me. Or doesn't want me to be doing. It's personal. Let's get an example. That's a little different here. Go to 2nd Corinthians 9. 2nd Corinthians 9.

[23:16] And if you can grab. Acts chapter 11. Do that too. We spent some time. In these passages. On a Wednesday night. A few weeks back.

[23:27] About. A. A spiritual sacrifice. We went through four of them. And one of them. Had to do with. The word communicating. Which was giving. Called a spiritual sacrifice.

[23:39] And this. Makes a great. Case. To show. That God can convict. A man. Personally. About what he ought to do. All right. So this is a passage.

[23:50] That Paul writes. To this church. Telling them. That you're going to take up. An offering. For these other people. And. I'm going to come by. And collect it. Or you're going to send. Somebody with it. And let's pick it up.

[24:01] In verse. Oh. I'll just start. In verse six. But this I say. He which soweth sparingly. Meaning gives. To this work. He which soweth sparingly.

[24:12] Shall reap also sparingly. And he which soweth bountifully. Shall reap also bountifully. Every man. According as he purposeth. In his heart. See that individual thing. So let him give.

[24:24] Not grudgingly. Or of necessity. For God. Loveth. A cheerful giver. And God's able to make all grace. Abound toward you. That ye always having all sufficiency.

[24:34] And all things. May abound to every good work. Now come back to Acts chapter 11. And see. That this is an individual thing. Acts 11 verse 29.

[24:46] Same circumstances here. They're taking up. An offering. Acts 11 29. Then the disciples. Every man. According to his ability.

[24:57] He. Determined to send relief. Unto the brethren. Which dwelt in Judea. So. I believe. And we could cover some scripture on this.

[25:07] To teach it. I believe that tithing. Giving a tenth. Of your income. Is God's plan. For the local church. I believe you're to be a member. Of a local church. And to be supporting that local church.

[25:20] As giving to God. Not to other ministries. Around the world. First. To the local church. That I believe. Is a spiritual truth. Or sorry. A scriptural truth.

[25:30] And I have a scriptural conviction. About giving. But on top of that. Or on the side. Is a. Could be a. I'm getting these words mixed up.

[25:41] A spiritual conviction. Where God deals with your heart. About giving to something else. Something above and beyond. Or another work. Or as an example. A missionary comes.

[25:52] And we take up an offering. For the missionary. This is not where you give your 10% to the missionary. If. You have. As these disciples. Every man according to his ability.

[26:04] If you have the ability. You're enabled. And even encouraged. To give to that work. Remembering. That he that soweth sparingly. Shall reap sparingly. He that soweth bountifully.

[26:14] Shall reap bountifully. And God wants to see a cheerful giver. Not grudgingly. Not of necessity. You don't have to give. To that special offering. For others. You have the opportunity to.

[26:25] And if God has blessed you. And if God puts it in your. I've been in church. And I've felt. As a. I remember being a single man. Just having an apartment. Having a job. And coming to church. And there'd be a missionary up.

[26:36] And he had a need. And they'd put it out there. And saying. We're going to take him. An offering at the end of the service. For brother. Or we'll put the plates at the door. For the brother. If you're able to help him. With this specific need. And I remember sitting in the pew.

[26:48] And it's like. The Lord just. I knew in my wallet. There was 60 bucks. And I knew that I was going to get paid. In two days. And I thought to myself. Do I need this money? Can I get by.

[26:59] For the next two days? I remember just thinking that. I remember thinking. Well I could probably. I just felt the Lord. In my heart. It wasn't me just trying. I want to give. Everybody. It was just a Lord.

[27:10] Dealing with me. Right there. You know. Tons of people around me. But just me. In the pew. Thinking. And in prayer. With God. Like. Should I give? Do you want me to give? I think.

[27:21] I think you have prospered me. With some extra cash. And I'll give him some of it. And I'll say. Anybody got change for a five? So I would give.

[27:33] Because. I gave as a cheerful. Giver. I wanted to give. To the work of God. My wife and I. In. When we were in Bible school. We. We barely had. Enough money to get by.

[27:43] We were getting by. The Lord took care of us. But there was a time. And I don't know. If it was like. We got our taxes. A few money. I don't know. If it was that. Or just. There was a time. Where. There was a few bucks. Sitting around.

[27:54] At the time. And a guy. Brother Chris Rue. And he was in Ukraine. At the time. This is going back. 20 years now. And they had a request. Out for. For putting.

[28:06] I think they were. Trying to. I guess it had to do with a school. Or something. They were trying to. Get a Bible institute going. They needed desks. Or they needed. Whatever it was. They had a need. And they put it out to churches.

[28:17] Saying. If you can help us with this. It would be a great blessing. And we sat there. In that church. And I felt the Lord just saying. You got some extra money. And I'm just sitting there. I don't think like this. Everywhere I go.

[28:27] I don't walk in every church service. Like. Who do I give my money to today? But just sitting there. I felt this. Moving of God. Saying. You could give. You could do something. To help him. And when that happens.

[28:38] In my mind. I think. I can be investing. In eternity right now. This. If I give. I'm going to get it back someday. God's going to bless this. Somehow. And it can be used.

[28:49] For his work here. And if you read the rest of the passage. Where we were. In second Corinthians. Oh. It gets good. And so I sat there. We. I looked at her. I was like. We wrote a check.

[29:01] And gave. I don't know. Several hundred bucks. Just whatever we had. That we felt like was in store. Left over. Which is the word that Paul used. In first Corinthians 16. We didn't look there. We had it laid.

[29:12] Layed him in store. We gave. Because. We felt. The need. We saw the need. We felt. We had the opportunity. We did it. Praise the Lord. To God be the glory. And that's why we did it.

[29:24] But you know what? The person beside me. And the person beside her. I don't know if they gave. And I don't care if they gave. Because God. I didn't say. Hey. God just told me.

[29:34] We need to give. Hey. Did you hear? God told me. We all need to give. How wrong would I be? No. God told me. That I need to give. So it was a spiritual.

[29:47] Conviction. It was the Lord dealing with my heart. Not the pew. And not necessarily the whole church. And this is a good example of this. Tithing is a scriptural conviction. But giving those free will offerings to other ministries.

[30:00] Or to be a help and a blessing to missions or to other needs. That's a spiritual conviction that God can lay on your heart. Last year I. Some of you gave to the kids going to camp.

[30:12] That wasn't out of the tithes and offering. Or you know the tithes to the church. That was just you saying. I believe in that. And I want to help out. And I give. Some of you did that. And we've been able to give to missions.

[30:22] And do things like that as well. By your free will offerings. So when a believer feels led of God to do something. Or not to do something. To stop doing something.

[30:34] It's a spiritual conviction. And it's personal. Maybe in church sometimes you have an opportunity to testify. Or to be a witness of something God did.

[30:45] And put. We'll open it up and say. Does anybody have something to say about the Lord? And right there. If you know what I'm talking about. You know right away. Oh yeah. And your mind is like. The light bulb goes on.

[30:56] The Lord did this. Or the Lord showed me this. And I should tell this. And you get up and say it. And some people. You sit there. And you think in your mind. Something.

[31:07] And you're afraid to open your mouth. You know what I mean? The Lord's dealing with you. He's stirring you. Saying go ahead. Tell him. Go ahead. Say it. Go ahead. Testify. And you're just like.

[31:18] Oh no. If I just. Oh just 20 more seconds. Then it'll be over. And I won't. And you get out of it. Same thing with an invitation. Or with responding to a message. To preaching.

[31:29] The Lord deals with your heart. And tells you. You should go. And forward. And pray. Or something. And you just kind of look around. Nobody else is moving. And you shut it down. But God was dealing with your heart.

[31:41] Not with the church. You. And you wouldn't respond. That's personal convictions. God dealing with your heart. And you can get convicted in your pew.

[31:51] You can get convicted in your car. You can get convicted about anywhere. Where the Lord. Where the Lord. Kind of puts his finger on something. You know. Isn't it weird. That when you get saved. You don't automatically just. Like get the whole thing.

[32:02] You know the Matrix movie. Back where he lays him in the chair. And he plugs his head in. And inserts the whole thing. Into him. Woo. And now he can do any martial arts. He can do any.

[32:13] God doesn't do that. With a. With a believer. We're likened to children. To babes in Christ. That have to grow. And little. By little. Figure this out. Start to pick this up. Start to learn how to do that.

[32:24] And that's the Christian life. God doesn't just program us. With all of it right away. And he deals with us differently. And so spiritual convictions. Are personal.

[32:35] Recognize that. Let me. Let me show you one more example. And then we'll move on. Or we'll. We'll quit for today. Go back to 1st Samuel chapter 10. 1st Samuel chapter 10.

[32:51] 1st Samuel chapter 10. Please forgive me. If I'm saying scriptural. And spiritual. And mixing them up. I know what I want to say.

[33:02] But those two words. Are too close. I should have. Found a better. Way to. Word the category. Because it's messing me up. I think. So we're dealing with.

[33:12] Spiritual. Convictions. And I'm pointing out. First and foremost. That these are personal. Between you and God. First Samuel chapter 10.

[33:22] Saul. Is anointed. The king of Israel. And they can't find him. And it's such an odd thing. Verse 22. They inquired of the Lord further. If a man should.

[33:33] Yet come thither. And the Lord answered. Behold. He hath hid himself. Among the stuff. He just goes and hides. What an odd thing. But verse 23. They ran and fetched him thence.

[33:44] And when he stood among the people. He was higher than any of the people. From his shoulders and upward. And Samuel said. To all the people. Notice. He's saying this to. All the people. See ye him.

[33:55] Whom the Lord hath chosen. That there's none like him. Among all the people. And all the people. All the people. Shouted. And said. God save the king. All the people.

[34:06] Are in one accord. Behind. In support. Of their new king. Verse 25. Then. Samuel told the people. The manner of the kingdom. And wrote it in a book. And laid it before the Lord.

[34:18] And Samuel sent. All the people. Away. Every man. To his house. So what did the prophet of God say? Everybody. Disperse. Go home. We're done here.

[34:29] But watch what happens. Verse 26. And Saul also went home to Gibeah. And there went with him. A band of men. Whose hearts. God.

[34:40] Had touched. Some guys. Didn't go home. Like they were told. From the prophet. Some guys. Had different instructions. From the Lord. That said.

[34:52] You go with that man. You protect him. You stay with him. You encourage him. Whatever he needs. You're there for him. And it wasn't. Everybody. Was it? All the people.

[35:02] God saved the king. All the people. All the people. Were supporting the king. And then they sent them all home. And they went home. But a few of them. Had a different. Conviction. About where they're supposed to go that day.

[35:15] And they got it from the Lord. That was personal. And I don't know. If it was here. It would be just one here. One here. One back there. The Lord touched a few hearts.

[35:25] For a specific reason. And purpose. And it wasn't for them to get up and say. Hey. Where are you guys going? God told me. We're supposed to go with him.

[35:37] It was a personal thing. Do you see it? And so is the case. With these spiritual convictions. If it's a scriptural conviction. If it's a scriptural passage. And a command. That's for everybody.

[35:48] That's the book. That's the word of God. But God deals with everybody. And he touches hearts. He's alive. And he lives with inside of you. In the new man.

[35:58] And he has access to your mind. And he speaks to you. And he opens your eyes to things. That he doesn't open everybody's eyes to. And he doesn't move everybody the same way.

[36:09] He's a holy. Infinite. All powerful God. Everywhere present. That has complete ability to do these things. And he's in control of it all. He's not confused about who he said what to.

[36:20] This is not a hard thing for God. And so in this case. Let that be a great example. Where these men picked up a new conviction. That day. To follow their king.

[36:31] And they got it from the Lord. But don't try to apply this to everybody else. And don't try to tell everybody to follow you. Because you were told to follow them. That would be drawing the line.

[36:42] Or where we draw the line. So next week we're going to move into. There's five points to make about spiritual convictions. This first one's real important. They're individual. They're personal. And then we'll start to show you some more things about this.

[36:55] And how they can be developed. And as we do that. It'll really help to draw the line. And show you where certain beliefs you have in your heart are. And why you live your life a certain way.

[37:06] And try to keep you from trying to enforce that in other people's lives. Even in your own home. Or in the church. Or at other places. So we'll take a break there.

[37:16] And we'll come back in about ten minutes. For more information from the church. So I'll talk to you after reading those memories.