Living with my conscience

[0:00] Thank you. Morning everyone. It's great to be here. You know when I put the picture upon the screen, anything in capitals is for you guys to say out loud. I hope you can see that clearly. So you can, nope. Check that one out. Must be. Do that. Okay. So we're continuing our life skills to live by through Proverbs. And today it's living with my conscience.

[0:39] I'll come back to that in a moment. And it's Proverbs chapter 17. I'm actually going to read the whole of the Proverbs chapter 17. But like I say, when anything crops up in that scripture, that is in capitals, that's for you to say, say it loud. Because then that way, we're all going to take it in more easier than if I just read it out myself. Are you ready? Good. Are you ready upstairs?

[1:05] Great. So here we go. Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting and conflict.

[1:16] A wise servant will rule over the master's disgraceful son and will share the inheritance of the master's children. Fire tests the purity of silver and gold.

[1:32] Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip. Liars pay close attention to slander. Those who mock the poor insult the maker. Just point, notice that point.

[1:43] Shall we do that again? I messed that up completely. So those who mock the poor insult their maker.

[1:55] Those who rejoice at the misfortune of others will be made. Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the age. And I love this bit. Parents are the pride of their children. That's what we hope anyway. Eloquent words are not fitting for a fool.

[2:17] A bribe is like a lucky charm. Whoever gives one will prosper. Love prospers when a fault is forgiven. Isn't that so true?

[2:30] A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool. Evil people are eager for rebellion, but they will be severely punished.

[2:42] It's safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs. If you repay good with evil, evil will never leave your house.

[2:58] Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate. So the stock of the order is stupid. Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent, both are detestable to the Lord.

[3:10] It's senseless to pay and to educate the fool, since he has no heart for learning. And a brother is born to help in time of need.

[3:22] It's poor judgment to guarantee another person's debt or put up security for a friend. Anyone who trusts in high walls invites disaster.

[3:37] The crooked heart will not prosper. A blind tongue to the old children. It's painful to be the parent of a fool. There is no joy for the father of a rebel.

[3:50] A fearful heart to the next. But a broken spirit saps a person's energy. How true that is. The wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice.

[4:02] Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom. The crooked heart will not be scared of the earth. Foolish children bring grief to their father and bitterness to the one who gave them birth.

[4:15] It is wrong. Or to flog leaders for being honest. A truly wise person uses few words.

[4:27] A person with understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent. With their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.

[4:38] I love that. With their mouths shut, they seem intelligent. Yeah. Next slide, please. So, I've entitled this section, Living with my Guilty Conscience.

[4:50] And I want you to know that's not Sandy I'm referring to. No, that was a nice thing to say. Wasn't it? I don't know.

[5:01] I don't know. Don't ask me. Okay. So, before becoming a Christian, I seem to recall I really had a guilt-free conscience.

[5:12] I hope you understand what I mean by that. And when I was a police officer, I regularly arrested people who I had a chance to speak to. And it was evident they didn't seem to have any guilty conscience whatsoever.

[5:26] Sadly. That's the effect of their upbringing. That's the effect of media. That could be the effect of society on them. One guy I arrested after I chased him in his car.

[5:39] He crashed into a barn on purpose to smash the car up. Then ran into a forestry. And I was determined to catch him. So, I shouted to him, if you don't give yourself up, I'm going to set the dog on you.

[5:54] And at the time, I had a police, a special constable, policewoman with me. She was out for the first night. And I whispered to her, make like an Alsatian. So, she very kindly did that to such a good effect.

[6:08] Eventually, this guy walked out of the woods. Said, okay, I'll give myself up. I'm not going to be bitten by a dog. I put the handcuffs on him. And then he suddenly realized, where's the dog? But when I asked him, sat in the car, why did you smash the car up?

[6:23] His answer was, well, the guy who bought it shouldn't have owned it then. Because to him, it was fair game to steal it, to have a race with the police and then smash it up.

[6:35] And he seemed to not care at all. But my prayer was that God would bring him to a place of conviction of his sin. Because if we want to live a life of guilt-free conscience, it's unrealistic.

[6:48] And it's not what God would have for us by any means whatsoever. Someone once said, a clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. But I can't remember who said it.

[7:00] But anyway, it makes the point. And a definition of conscience is a sense of right and wrong. You can see what I mean by the way people are brought up.

[7:10] When we listen to what the media says about things. And the way in which society encourages people to do this.

[7:22] So a definition of conscience, a sense of right and wrong. See, every decision we make, every word we speak, how we speak those words.

[7:34] The way we react to others speaking or dealing with us will have repercussions in our lives. And those around us. When we have something on our conscience, I think it has a physical, emotional and spiritual effect.

[7:52] Sometimes we are overwhelmed by a conscience of something we've done or failed to do in particular. And when we are carrying that burden, as it were.

[8:06] I don't know about you, but certainly me. And I'm sure it is really with you. You have problems sleeping because it's on your mind constantly. It may be you've even come to church today and you're carrying a conscious burden.

[8:20] That you wish you'd done something. But you aren't able to sleep. Because it's constantly at you. Relationships become strained.

[8:31] Especially with those that you may have failed to do something with or help or care for. And when I'm in that place, I lack concentration because it's always going on through my head.

[8:46] We often have anxiety over it or fear, especially if it's something we're scared about being found out about. We want to withdraw. We want to withdraw.

[8:57] Sometimes we may notice that somebody doesn't come to church very often. And often there's a good reason why not. But some may come because they don't want to be in the place of church.

[9:08] Thinking that everybody around them is judging them. Which isn't the case. We can feel embarrassed, can't we? About something that we've done that is so on our minds.

[9:21] And God wants to forgive us and we're so foolish that we don't go to God with it. And I think, how stupid can I possibly be? But also, when I've met people who have had a conscience.

[9:33] Not like the first guys I mentioned who didn't seem to have a conscience. But some people have come to meet me in certain circumstances. And I've been amazed at the conviction they've had of what is on their conscience.

[9:49] Some of you will know I used to be a rural police officer at one time. So I had an office attached. And lots of people from the community all around would come for varying reasons.

[10:02] Pig licenses were an interesting moment. Oh, the joy of policing. But one day there was a guy coming and he was renewing his shotgun certificate. I knew him.

[10:13] But I'd never really spoken to him about the Lord. But I knew him. He knew I was a Christian. And he came in and as always, and this is why our house is called Kettles On.

[10:23] When anybody ever came to the police office, I used to say, The kettle's on, do you want a cup of tea? And he said, yeah, that'd be great. And he sat in the chair and I walked out, leaving him perfectly happy and no problem.

[10:35] And the length of time it took me to make a cup of tea and then walk back into the office, I suddenly realized tears were rolling down his face. And he was practically choking with tears.

[10:49] And I had a wonderful moment as a Christian who was a policeman to sit next to him and say, what's wrong? Because I knew what was wrong, but I wanted him to say it.

[11:00] And he said, I cannot handle the guilt I feel for my sin. He was overburdened with guilt of sin. And I thought, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful place to be.

[11:15] That even on duty, I would pray for him. I'd get kicked out of the police if I was a policeman now. This was 30 years ago, of course. But I prayed for him to find at the cross of Christ the forgiveness of sin.

[11:28] So that he didn't have to leave this office with a burden that he'd been carrying before he came. And all he did was come for a shotgun certificate to be renewed.

[11:41] You know, we never know what God is sending people to us or we're going to people, meeting them. When Eve serves in the bakery shop, she has no idea who's coming up to the counter, what burdens they're carrying.

[11:57] Or any of you in your college, at school or wherever you go on a daily basis. People you see that you see so often, especially those who seem so confident and without a care in the world.

[12:10] I've often found are the ones who are carrying the heaviest burdens. Because they feel somehow, by their jokey ways or, you know, gregarious attitudes, that they're hiding what they feel inside.

[12:26] It's so important. So, Proverbs 17. There's 28 verses here. I'm not going to take each one and speak about it at length, just to put your mind at rest. But what I'm going to do is look at the whole of Proverbs 17.

[12:42] But in those verses, there are numerous things that combine the cause of a burdened conscience. We're not going to do this, but it'd be so interesting, wouldn't it, today, if we were in an environment where I could say to you, stand up and tell me what's on your mind.

[12:59] The conscience that you're carrying. It could be, as we work through this, that there are some of them that you are feeling today. And the whole point of this sermon is that you will therefore be unburdened and changed before you leave the church.

[13:15] So, to begin with, make a mental note of the many of these that you feel you've had burdened on your heart. But the first one, this isn't perverse, by the way.

[13:26] It's a good word, that, Nick, perverse. Perverse, if you know what I mean by it. It's just as I've found them. So, conflict and greed, because that was referring, actually, in that verse about a home.

[13:42] A conflict and greed within a family environment will not make a home. And it occurred to me, soldiers who fight in conflict areas dream of going home to a place of peace, quiet, belonging, and welcome.

[13:59] Because that's what a home should be to all of us. And, in fact, when our children leave, that's what we should ensure. They know they can have when they come home, irrespective, maybe, of the reason they left.

[14:10] But the sad thing is, in our society today, many houses are war zones, but the occupants think they're living in a home. But their homes and houses are so full of conflict, it's nothing like God would have them be.

[14:28] Casting Crowns, that great band which I refer to endlessly, I know, they have a new song called The House of Their Dreams. And there's just one line in it, that the people living there, they're all alone together in their house of dreams.

[14:44] They had great expectations when they had the house built. It was all to magnificent standard, but in it, they're alone, because things have divided them.

[14:57] Greed and conflict have been the center. But listen to that song when you get home, it's wonderful, because it goes to the place where they come before God and change that home. So, greed and conflict, but also disgrace and humiliation.

[15:16] If we have any of these things in our hearts and souls, it has serious consequences on our mental health and our family stability, even in our community.

[15:29] My father was a headmaster of a high school, and he was known by so many people where we lived. And I've never forgotten, he used to say to me, do not disappoint me.

[15:43] And I also knew that if I ever, because he said so, if I ever did anything that caused the police to put me in court, that he would sell the house the next day and we'd move away, because he could not have lived with the disgrace of his son.

[15:57] I'm grateful that I didn't do that. On one occasion, I actually ran faster than the police, so I actually managed to get away. And ironically, as God would have it, I ultimately worked with that policeman who didn't catch me at that time.

[16:13] But I didn't have the humility to tell him it was me. I'm not trying to big that up, it's just a fact. And also, from disgrace and humiliation, much as we try, a sinful heart cannot be hidden from God.

[16:32] Isn't it true that so often we think that we can sort of compartmentalize our guilt and our sin, and even God possibly may not know about it?

[16:43] Well, that's an absolute joke. Numbers 32, 23 says, Be sure your sin will find you out, and I'm glad about that, because then it will be dealt with.

[16:55] We will come before the throne of grace. We will come before the faithful God, and that we can have it forgiven. There is no need to carry that burden in the way we have done until that point.

[17:09] And then gossip and lies. So easy, isn't it, to justify gossiping and lying. Gossip's a people who really are good for policemen to get to know, because they know everything and everybody's business.

[17:28] But gossiping is a horrible thing. And lying about people. It will destroy others, not just upset them. It will destroy them. And of course, this is so rampant nowadays in social media, because it's so easy for people to do it.

[17:44] And desperately, young people have been committing suicide, because of the horror of people gossiping and telling lies about them. And there was no way that they could have any justice in it.

[17:56] Then ridicule and mockery. I love the way in which the verse in Proverbs 17 says, that ridicule and mockery is insulting to God, because He created the very lives that people are mocking.

[18:15] Just because somebody looks different in some way, or just because of their gifts, or their lack of gifts, their strength, or their weakness, is not a reason to insult anybody.

[18:28] And that's not for somebody who wants to walk with God at all. And then it says in Proverbs 17, a leader who lies cannot be trusted.

[18:42] And much as we may now be thinking of politicians worldwide, it's so important for us to bear that in mind as well. Because if we're a leader in our home as a father or as a mother, we must not lie in that environment, because our kids need to see that we can live a life of truth and be trusted.

[19:02] And then same for all of us who are leaders in the church, and on it goes. In any circumstance, there is no excuse for us to lie. And there's no such thing as a white lie.

[19:16] Bribery and unforgiveness. It's incredible, isn't it, really, that in a verse of Scripture, it's talking about bribery and unforgiveness.

[19:29] It's incredible. We kind of assume that there would be nobody in those days that Solomon wrote this, that they would have to be accused or dealt with regarding bribery, but it's just a way of the world.

[19:43] And it occurred to me like a volcano, which eventually erupts and spews out its caustic lava. Bribery and unforgiveness will become public knowledge.

[19:54] And you know, when you've done this and you cannot put it back in, it's horrendous. I've met people who actually were involved in bribing others to gain benefit. Not always with great money, but in the end, what they wanted wasn't worth getting in the first place.

[20:11] And rebellion. Rebellion is a stand against what we know we should do and always ends in regret. Adam and Eve rebelled against God's standard, his instruction, and the consequences were unimaginable.

[20:26] And foolishness. The ultimate stupidity, the Bible says, Psalm 14.1 says, A fool says in his heart, there is no God.

[20:40] We know that to be untrue. It's so, so important that we know that when we carry a burden of sin, when we carry a conscience that's overwhelming us, that there is a God we can come to.

[20:54] And sometimes people think that the degree of sin that they've committed, as if there was such a thing as 10% bad, 20% bad, 100% bad, was so bad that God wouldn't be able to receive and forgive.

[21:11] Well, if we think that, that's so wrong. God is faithful. God is merciful. God is judge.

[21:22] He is holy, but he is also a God of love. And as we come in repentance to him, he will forgive. Even the worst foolish act that we could possibly do.

[21:35] And you know, sometimes foolishness is not just a case of a desperate sin, but it may be something we've overlooked. I felt foolish once in my life when God gave me an opportunity to get alongside somebody and I didn't take the opportunity presented to me because I was tired.

[21:57] And I regret that. It was a foolish thing to do. Okay, it's not as foolish as some of the things I've done, but that in particular, hung on my heart for a long time.

[22:08] It was a man who'd had two legs amputated. It was only about 40, 50 years old. I'd just become a Christian. I'd had a serious operation on my feet. I was on crutches.

[22:18] I was in a great deal of pain. And my mum, who wasn't a Christian, said, having seen me come to Christ, there is a man who lives in the next estate in our village who I didn't know that she'd heard of who was dying without hope.

[22:34] And maybe I had something I could say to him. I mean, that was something else from my mum to say that. Because when I became a Christian, she wanted to kick me out because she thought I'd joined a cult because I'd become so different to the son she used to have, which she didn't like either.

[22:53] It was just incredible. But my mum said, maybe you've got something you could say to this man. And I thought, yes, but I'm in so much pain. I'll do it tomorrow. And you can guess what happened.

[23:06] Eight o'clock in the morning, I got up and I got sorted and I was ready and I said to mum, can you give me a lift round because I couldn't walk, obviously. And she said, no point now. The guy died overnight.

[23:18] And I was so sad. I carried a conscience of that for so long. It really hurt me. But we learn by the mistakes we make, don't we? And I knew God forgave me when I asked him.

[23:33] Resident evil. Evil in our homes. The Bible said in that verse, if you repay good with evil, evil will never leave your house. Now, I don't mean by that your house is going to be possessed in any way whatsoever.

[23:47] But if you don't put right the mistakes you do, especially dealing with people who have been evil to you, wicked or whatever you want to call them, don't do the same back to them.

[24:01] That isn't the way of God. And it's incredible how a gentle word can just sort a problem out. Or an apology. Or, however you want to put it, just invite them in.

[24:15] You know, I've always found whether I was in the police or as an evangelist that when I've spoke to people, if they're upset, I love to just go up to them and put my hand out and say to them, Mike, my name's Mike.

[24:25] What's your name? And invariably, when they answered, that actual anger drops because I'm actually approaching them, not as somebody who's going to deal with them as a problem, but I'm concerned for their welfare as well as the welfare of those who they've been upsetting.

[24:44] Never fight fire with fire. Never try and put a fire out with a bucket full of petrol. You'll soon regret it. That's why when also a fire officer deals with a fire, I don't obviously know the phrases very well, but I think I get the idea, that when they're fighting a fire, they don't try and get the flames out at the top.

[25:06] They put the water on the base of the fire because that will then bring it down. And the same for us as well. But if you have done anything that you could imagine in your life that was like fighting evil with evil, just bring it to God and say, Lord, I'm sorry.

[25:25] And bear in mind that Romans 6.23 says, the wages of our sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life because God will forgive us. And quarreling, injustice, and condemnation, you know, many wars have started because of that.

[25:43] One group condemning another, one country or individual being unjust to a situation and quarreling.

[25:54] You know, that actually is a good description of many people's neighbourhood problems. People arguing with neighbours. And when you look at them online and you see them on TV documentaries and you see them caught on CCTV, you wonder how these people ever wanted to be as unjust as they can be.

[26:17] But then being unteachable and bitter. You know, bitterness is a dreadful thing. Occasionally, we may buy some chocolate. Well, not occasionally.

[26:30] We buy a lot of chocolate. And occasionally, shall I say, Sandy gives me some to try that's an odd one because I really can't understand why chocolate has to have odd things in it. and I'll go, oh my goodness, that's so bitter.

[26:43] And it doesn't taste nice. It's not pleasant. And I'm not going back there again. But yet, it's so easy for us sometimes to be bitter by the way somebody has dealt with us.

[26:55] And if we continually carry that bitter attitude, the circumstances will never change. A number of years ago, we faced a very difficult situation in the ministry environment.

[27:08] And I just knew that God was saying to us, as He would, because that's what He said in His Word, to love those who are standing against us. Not to take bitterness over what had occurred, but to actually express love, even after the event had been sorted out.

[27:24] And it's amazing how God can turn a situation around. But equally, a hardened heart that has no love will just simply get colder and colder every day. And we shouldn't even allow that to occur in church.

[27:38] You know, the Bible says, doesn't it, when we come into communion, if you have something against somebody else, just leave communion for now. Walk across. Take them by their hand and apologize and give them a hug.

[27:53] And those things can be sorted out. Don't bring anything to the presence of God in that way, but that you're holding in your heart. because anything that is hardened will just get colder by the day.

[28:06] Next slide, please. And we do all we can to suppress our guilty conscience, but we can't personally deal with it. But there is someone who can.

[28:19] And who is that? Oh, come on, church. Just a little bit louder. Jesus. Yes, thank you. By the way, Jesus is a big part of our church.

[28:31] Just bear that in mind. So, there is someone who can. Who is that? Jesus. Thank you. Don't think anybody upstairs said that, but we'll get to them later. You know, that's how silly we can be.

[28:46] We can end up carrying these burdens! and forgetting to bring them to Jesus in the way the whole gospel message intended and God put together the plan to do, to bring us salvation and forgiveness, etc.

[29:04] right from Genesis in the Bible through to Revelation and on for eternity. So, first of all, living with a conscience but also living with my Christian conscience, it makes such a difference.

[29:20] How I was before, how you were before you became a Christian to how you are today. But it's one thing to say it, it's a whole different thing to do it. When I became a Christian like you, I'm sure I was overwhelmed by how much God forgave me because when He forgave me, He forgave me and you of everything.

[29:44] And I've never forgotten that sense of feeling clean right to the depths of my soul. 2 Corinthians 5.17 answered my query.

[29:58] I didn't know the Bible when I became a Christian. But that verse says, I was a new creation in Christ and so were you. The old had gone and the new life had begun.

[30:18] Have you ever felt that the burden of sin was like carrying a sack? Just like Pilgrim's Progress. But I used to do a lot of long distance backpacking in the mountains and everywhere carrying 45 pounds on my back.

[30:32] I loved it. But every time I took my pack off at the end of the day I felt I was carrying it for two or three hours later because there was a sense of like almost like a ghosting of the weight on your shoulders and it took a long time to kind of sit up and I felt like that all my life.

[30:50] Like I said, there was very little of my pre-Christian days where I have felt without the guilt of sin hanging in my heart. but I found I could bring my sin to the throne of grace and ask God to forgive me and oh what a change that dings even to this day and every single time you and I have to do it you may do it 50 times today God will never say oh you've used up your options.

[31:21] I love the way Spurgeon puts that sense of feeling that he experienced himself. He said I am forgiven I am forgiven I am forgiven if he stopped there that would have been fine but Spurgeon didn't he had to go on a bit longer I need not walk through the earth fearful of every shadow I've been there and afraid of every man I meet I've been there for my sin is washed away my spirit is no more guilty it is pure it is holy it's no wonder this guy was such a great preacher the frown of God no longer rests upon me Spurgeon said but my father smiles I see his eyes they are love I hear his voice it's full of sweetness I am forgiven I'm forgiven I'm forgiven you know sometimes we we're unsure about what to say to a neighbour about what it means to be a Christian have you ever actually said to anybody you know

[32:24] God has forgiven me of all my past and see what reaction there is it's a wonderful thing a wonderful thing in fact if people were asked that question what in particular and they gave a lot of thought what in particular would you like if you could have anything I wonder how many people once they realised what the options were would say to be forgiven because the greatest experience of my life was the first time God ever forgave me and that's been better than anything since or anything before because God's forgiveness is continual in that sense it's never better the next time because it was a bigger sin do you get what I mean it's just constant incredible grace and so undeserved Hebrews 9 14 says just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God you're set free to worship aren't you when God forgives you and that conscience that you bear you've been bearing has been made clean for by the power of the eternal spirit

[33:36] Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins there is nowhere else to go for forgiveness because Christ is the only means of salvation to man and we need to tell the world of it you know we live in a place of victory but it doesn't feel like it because we're bowed down by the mistake we've made but the reality is that place of victory still needs to have you come back and apologize when you make a sin but it's a place of victory that God gives us now I'm going to just quickly say a couple of lines from a song and I wonder if you will know the rest of the line I'm sure you will because you know all songs but say this is Johnny Nash 1972 not Johnny Cash Johnny Nash right I oh she's doing it already so I can see clearly now I can see even Allen's doing it good man there you go bit of Motown gone are the dark clouds altogether it's going to be a bright bright sun shiny day

[34:47] I think I can make it now the pain is gone all of the bad feelings here is the rainbow now what about that in a song back in the charts that I've been praying for it's going to be bright bright sun shiny day the reason I've read that is because as I was thinking about this incredible gift of God that we can be forgiven and our conscience can be clean I said this I see clearly now the shame is gone I can see all obstacles that were in my way that I'm going to avoid now because I'm walking on the King's Highway the narrow path not the way I used to be gone are the dark clouds that have me blind spiritually it's going to be a bright bright day my life our lives have changed completely I think I can make it now because the pain of sin that burden has gone all of the bad feelings

[35:49] I had for other people and everything else has disappeared and here is the rainbow I've been praying for because of Christ my life is going to be a bright bright sun shiny day and so is yours I sent around a song on on the WhatsApp group the other day I hope you had a chance to listen to it if you didn't have a go it's just Natalie Grant singing a song called Clean and she says in the song there's nothing too dirty that you can't make worthy Lord you wash me in mercy I am clean what was dead now lives again my heart's beating beating inside my chest oh I'm coming alive with joy and destiny because you're restoring me peace by peace isn't that amazing that could have been spelled P-A-A P-E-A-C-E but it was actually peace by peace every aspect of me no need to be bowed over but there is

[36:50] I have to say an enemy who would choose Satan who would choose to condemn you even when God has cleaned your conscience because he loves to mess up our conscience make us feel guilty and if we listen it will allow him so don't listen he loves to condemn us and remind us of our past but you remind him that you're no longer the Bible says under condemnation if you put your trust in God Romans 8 1-2 in the Amplified Bible I love the way it says it here therefore there is now no condemnation no guilty verdict no punishment for those who are in Christ Jesus who believe in him as personal Lord and Savior for the Lord of spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus the law of new being has set you free from the law of sin and of death why did Spurgeon say I'm forgiven for a very good reason forgiven and no longer condemned practice the presence of Jesus in your life moment by moment even as you're sat here now take the word of God and believe in it and live by it

[38:00] Billy Graham said do not be content to skim through a chapter of the Bible merely to satisfy your conscience but hide the word of God in your heart because when the devil tempted Jesus Jesus' every word in response was scripture Romans 2-15 says they demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they're doing right you know we never have to ask God should I do this or should I do that because God by his Holy Spirit has already told us we shouldn't do that and we should do this but sometimes we think okay don't do that just get rid of it whatever it was and Philippians 1-6 says I am certain that God who began a good work within you put your name there will continue his work until it's finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns there's no reason for you to carry a burden and Isaac Watts to finish wrote this wonderful hymn

[39:10] I just want to bring out a couple of words from here he said it says cleanse me oh Lord and cheer my soul with your forgiving love oh make my broken spirit whole and bid my pains remove create anew my yearning heart and fill it with your light your spirit never will depart nor drive me from your sight give me the presence of your grace then my rejoicing tongue shall speak aloud your righteousness and make your praise my song I started with 28 verses that combined with words and sort of symptoms if you like of a burdened conscience but now very briefly consider the opposite that would cause our consciences to be clearer and our lives to be unburdened and our homes to be different and our church to be more incredible than it is already rather than the greed and the upset and the conflict and the nastiness have love and peace in your home go back to your home and ask God to come as a prayer as you stand together as a family and ask God to rid your home of the arguments and the upsets the quarrels the divisions whatever it is and it may be much nicer than that but still ask God to do it and bring his love and peace and Holy Spirit to bear in your home that anybody that walks through your door will know your home is different from anyone they've ever been in before

[40:36] God only you can save our family and on this rock we will build the house of our dreams that's another part of that song the casting crown song bring joy back into your lives make joy for those you love and those around you because then they'll do the same for you you know joy is just amazing to have joy burst with joy kindness to one another be tolerant of people who don't agree with everything you do especially when they don't necessarily believe in who we trust in but bring them by love to the place where they will see that rather than push them away be truthful with one another forgive one another be obedient to God's word and live as we should be gentle in all your ways and give wisdom and pray for wisdom for each other especially husbands and wives reject anything that is vaguely like evil in your home or in your lives avoid quarrels at all possible whatever the word is there

[41:43] I don't know and finally live a self controlled life does that give you an idea of what that's from it's from the bible Galatians 5 22 23 but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace forbearance tolerance kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self control if our lives and our homes and our church radiates that everything will be so different but to finish if you have come to church and you have a burden of conscience something that is overwhelming and you're not sure how to bring it to the throne of grace come and ask John and others at the front you don't need to carry the burden whatever the burden is because God says just come to me and then I will walk you with you and I will forgive you just like he said to the woman who committed adultery go sin no more she'll bow her eyes