A Good Conscience — Zac Poonen

As I get older, I see one scripture being fulfilled. Second Corinthians 4, 16. Sixteen. The outer man is decaying. But that is automatic. See, I don't have to do anything to make this outer man decay.

It becomes weaker and weaker and older and older and older. And the doctors say, even the memory cells slowly die out. So, our memory is like a hard disk with some amount of information that you can put in it.

So, that capacity becomes less and less and less. So, I pray, Lord, please remove all the unnecessary information from my mind. You know, so many people come and tell me something, then I say, Lord, in two years I must forget it completely.

I have no memory of it. Because I want to keep the space reserved for scripture. Otherwise, because all that information we get about the world and news and all that, it should come and go. That's all.

There is a thing in computer called short term memory. It's there for a little while and then swiped out. So, we don't want to keep information which is unnecessary in our mind. So, then it says here, the inner man will be renewed day by day.

As we grow older, we must become more and more gracious and kind and wise in our speech. More patient and no demands on people. See, I have seen some old people. They have so many demands on others. People must respect me.

So many things they want people to do for them. They make life miserable for others. Some of you may have seen your parents or grandparents and all like that. And I see some people like that and I say, Lord, please don't let me ever become like one of them.

In order to avoid that, when you are young, you must judge yourself. To cleanse yourself from all selfishness and seeking your own. Then you will grow up to be a gracious brother or sister whom others will long to come and talk to, to receive some counsel or wisdom.

Christlike Humility and Freedom from the Demand for Honor

See, one of the things I see in Jesus life is, he never had any demands on anybody. He didn't expect even respect from people. See, if there was one man who walked on this earth who deserved to be respected more than any human being, It was Jesus.

But he never wanted it. If people called him the devil, he would say, okay, you are forgiven. We read in one place in this passage in Matthew 16 .22, that when Jesus talked about going to the cross, Matthew 16 .22, Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

Think of that word in Malayalam, it's so strong, shasikiya. Can you imagine going to an older brother and rebuking him? Think of some older brother whom you respect, will you go and rebuke him? Jesus was so, lived like such an ordinary man, he even allowed people to rebuke him.

It just made me admire Jesus so much. Lord, I want to be like that. People insult me, rebuke me, it's alright. I pray that all of you will grow like that. Lord, grow up expecting people to respect you and honour you.

The son of God walked on this earth without expecting any respect or honour from anyone. The son of God walked on this earth without expecting any respect or honour from anyone. Why is it people like Gandhi say this?

Mahatma Gandhi said this once, that I like Jesus, but I don't like Christians. I like Jesus, but I don't like Christians. That means, they don't, and he said, tell these Christians to behave like Jesus Christ.

That's what I say, tell Christians to live like Jesus Christ. That is a great tragedy in our country is, the Christians are bringing dishonour to the name of Christ. That was my burden when we started CFC.

I said, Lord, your name is so dishonoured in India because of the way so many churches and Christians and preachers are behaving. Christians are not living godly, humble lives. All the Hindus are thinking these preachers are preaching only to make money.

So, I said, Lord, we must raise up a different testimony where people cannot say that about us. If you are part of a church like this one here, which is seeking to be a testimony for Christ, You have to see that you are doing your part.

And that is to make sure that you are not dishonouring Christ by anything that you do in private or in public. See, the Bible says, Satan is the accuser of the brethren. Do you know that verse in Revelation 12, 10?

Shutting the Accuser’s Mouth Through a Blameless Life

I have thought about that many times. It says in verse 10, he accuses them before God day and night. So, what I ask myself is, what I ask is, does Satan accuse me about something to God? About me? To God?

Is this devil saying, God, look at this fellow, he is preaching, but see how he lives? See how he handles money. See how he speaks in private. See what he is reading. He should not be able to accuse me to God about anything.

Do you have such a desire? Then you will be a great blessing in this church. Not whether people can accuse you. They can see 10 of your life. They don't know everything about your life. They don't know 90 of your life.

You look around all the people in this church, you know 10 of their life. 90 of their life you don't know even though you meet every week here. But the devil knows that other 90%. And that's what he is accusing God to God.

See this person. See this person in CFC Bahrain. They look so holy sitting in the church. Now God, do you see how he is behaving in his place of work? Or see how he is behaving at home? Or see how she is behaving there?

Or see how she is behaving there? Accusing before God day and night. And I say, Lord, I want to shut the devil's mouth. How many of you have a desire to shut the devil's mouth that he will not accuse you of anything?

What is use getting good opinion before people in the church? It's worth nothing. Whatever people may say. Supposing people say, you are a very godly man or a very godly woman. Don't get puffed up with that.

They see 10 of your life. Can you shut the mouth of the devil that he cannot accuse you before God? Because Satan is the great attacker of the church. He is the one I have to fight with. I want a testimony before Satan, not before believers.

Because he knows everything of my life. He doesn't know my thoughts because he cannot read my thoughts. That only God can see. God's testimony is much more important. But next is not human beings. Next is the devil.

Because the devil can see my private life apart from my thoughts. He can see so many things. He sees how I handle money. He sees how I keep my accounts. He sees it very clearly. If there is some unrighteousness there, he knows it.

You can keep it hidden from everybody in the church. But he is accusing you before God. I want to tell you, be careful about the devil's testimony of you more than people's testimony. It says in Ephesians 3 that God wants to show, verse 10, the manifold wisdom of God to be known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Through the church. Where is he showing this wisdom? Not to the non-Christians in the world. That is, it says in Acts 1 .8, we must be witnesses to the whole world. That is correct. But this is talking about a witness to the evil rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

That is, you know the devil and his demons are in the second heaven. There are three heavens. One is this space that we can see all the stars and huge area. That is the first heaven. And the third heaven, we read in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 2, Paul was caught up to the third heaven.

That is where God is. So, here is what we see, the first heaven, all the stars and the whole universe, which people call space. And then the third heaven where God dwells. In between is the second heaven where Satan and his demons are.

Between first and third. See, so when Satan was originally in the third heaven before God, when he was an angel, then he was cast down. From the third heaven to the second heaven. He is not in hell. No, he was cast down to the second heaven.

If he is in hell, he cannot come to the earth at all. But all the demons and Satan can move around on the earth. Even in the book of Job, you read that he was moved around. He came, attacked, tempted Jesus.

So, the headquarters is in the second heaven. And Ephesians speaks about that. In Ephesians 6 it says, we fight against these rulers and authorities in verse 12, in the heavenly places. So, our fight is with the satanic forces in the heavenly places.

And from there he can roam around on the earth and he can go back. And the demons also can go around here. So, it's to these authorities, it says in Ephesians 3, we are to be a witness. In Ephesians 3, God wants to show his wisdom to those rulers and authorities.

Job as an Example of God’s Testimony Before Satan

It started in the book of Job. Job is the first book of the Bible. He lived 500 years before Moses. And Moses wrote Genesis. And so, Job lived before that. So, the first book of the Bible God wrote was the book of Job.

What is the subject of that? A man about whom God could boast to Satan. That is the first book God wrote in the Bible. Not about creation and all that. That came 500 years later. A man about whom God can boast to Satan.

See, Job 1, most of you know this verse. For those who don't know, Job 1 verse 8. The Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless upright man, fearing God and turns away from evil.

Job is a very rich man. There are rich people who are spiritual and there are rich people who are worldly. Jesus was, Paul, Peter, all were very poor. Paul and Peter also. But other people like Job, Abraham and all were very rich.

But they were very godly. So, godliness does not depend on your income or salary. See, some people think, you got to be poor in order to be spiritual. And in today's gospel, in the worldly churches, in the Pentecostal churches, they say, if you are spiritual, you will be rich and wealthy.

It's all a lie. You can be poor or rich and you can be spiritual. Or you can be poor and rich and be worldly. Job was a very rich man. It says in Job 1 verse 3, he had so many cattle and camels and thousands of them.

He was a fantastically rich man. And he must have had numerous servants looking after all these cattle. It says, very many servants it says. He must have had 4 -500 servants to look after all these cattle.

But when the Lord spoke to Satan, he does not say one word about his income or wealth or any such thing. As far as God is concerned, it makes no difference whether Job is rich or poor. God is blind to all that.

That is unimportant. And when he looks at you, he is not bothered whether you are rich or poor. He doesn't even see that. In the world, people look at that. Rich, poor. The more worldly we are, we look at those things.

God is not like that. He looks at Job and says, what a God fearing man he is. Blameless and upright and turning away from evil. And he is boasting to Satan. Every one of us must have the same desire. Every one of us must have the same desire.

God should be able to say about you. Satan, have you considered my son over there, my daughter there? Satan, have you considered my son over there, my daughter there? Have you seen how he lives? Not about his bank account or anything.

That is not important. See how he lives. He turns away from evil. He reverences God. There is no fault I can find in him. Upright means you cannot make him bend. That means the devil tries to make him compromise and somewhere he will not compromise.

What a testimony. That is the first book of the Bible. And what we read in Ephesians 3 .10 is God wants the church to be a witness to Satan even now. That is God's desire. And that should be your longing.

Lord that you should be able to point me out to the devil. It won't happen in one day. It takes time for us. But like we read in 2 Corinthians 4 and 16. See, many of you as you grow older, you get so many medical problems.

You can't do anything about it. Our body is decaying. But every time you find a problem like that, ask yourself this question. Is my inner man being renewed? Then you are okay. That's what I ask myself.

I can do nothing about this outer man. It will just decay and decay and decay. I can try my best to keep it healthy with good habits and medicine and things like that. But the inner man, I have to do something.

It is not automatic renewal. Outer man decays automatically. I have to do nothing. But the inner man, how can I make sure that's renewed? It says here every day. See, Paul's testimony was, Paul is writing this.

What does he mean by saying my inner man is being renewed every single day? When I meditated on it, I found it is a tremendous challenge. Have you read this verse? My inner man is being renewed every single day.

That means Paul is saying, today I have become more Christ like than yesterday. And tomorrow I will be more Christ like than I am today. That's amazing. In school they get promotion once every year. But here Paul is talking about every day.

That's a tremendous challenge to me. There is no room for backsliding here. Progressively getting more and more and more like Christ. If every one of us say, Lord this is the way I want to go. You will be a tremendous blessing in this church.

Overcoming Satan Through Confession and the Blood of Christ

If you say, Lord I want to shut the mouth of the devil that he cannot accuse me of anything. I am not saying you will never make a mistake. But as soon as you make a mistake, you confess it to the Lord and ask the Lord to cleanse you in the blood.

That's what we read in Revelation 12. That when the devil accuses his believers day and night to God, it says in Revelation 12 .11, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. Not they overcame him by a holy life or a perfect life.

They overcame him by a life that's completely cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Every moment. As I said, not that we never make a mistake. Nobody can live without making a mistake. But what does it mean to overcome by the blood of the lamb?

That means, as soon as I am aware of where I have slipped up, I immediately confess it to the Lord. I don't wait till the evening or tomorrow or any such thing. And if I have hurt somebody, I go and apologize to the person immediately.

That is how you shut the mouth of the devil. It's like saying, if a thorn gets into your foot, pull it out immediately. So I'm not saying you'll never get a thorn in your foot. I'm saying pull it out immediately.

Or to use another illustration, supposing you are walking down the pavement on the road and you slip and fall. Get up immediately. Don't you do that? None of you lie down there for one minute. Not even five seconds.

Anywhere you think anytime you have fallen somewhere, you get up immediately. Exactly like that, you have to get up when we fall into sin. That is because we say, Lord, I'm sorry. Cleanse me in the blood.

And if I got angry with you, I come to you and say, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. That was wrong. That is the test of your humility. You know why God doesn't give grace to many people? The Bible says, He gives grace only to the humble.

1 Peter 5 verse 5 God gives His grace to the humble. All of us can think we are very humble. If you are humble, God will give you grace. Romans 6 verse 14 says, Sin will not rule over you when you are under grace.

You are under grace. Then sin cannot rule you. So we must long to be under grace all the time. You know, if you go out in the rain, you try to have an umbrella, you stand under the umbrella. Same way, I don't want sin to fall on me.

I have grace covering me all the time. Then the sin won't fall on me. But to get that grace, we have to humble ourselves. So it's very important that we do that. So if we want that grace, we must humble ourselves all the time.

Humility Proven by Immediate Apology

One test of that is this. All of us can think we are very humble. But here is a test. Whenever you have wronged somebody or hurt somebody or spoken angrily or rudely to somebody, how quickly do you go and apologize to that person?

You may confess it to God immediately. But you confess to that person in your office perhaps. Maybe somebody junior to you. If you did something wrong, it doesn't matter who it is. You have to ask forgiveness.

That is a test of our humility. And we must do it immediately. We are not called to speak rudely to anyone. See Colossians chapter 4, Colossians 4 and verse 6. Let your speech always be with grace that you may know how to give an answer to each person.

You know when you eat some food, you know whether there is salt or not. So when you speak, you know whether there is grace in it or not. As surely as you know whether there is salt, you can know whether you spoke with grace or not.

Whether the way you spoke. And if you know there was no grace in that, then we must judge ourselves. I want more grace next time I speak. And if I have hurt somebody, I say Lord, I want to go to him and ask forgiveness.

You please follow this simple rule. It's simple but it's very difficult to follow. Because your pride stands against it. Particularly for a husband to apologize to his wife. See, I am sorry for what I did or what I said.

It's very difficult. Particularly in India. Because in India especially man is supposed to be like the Maharaja. That's wrong. We are equals. All are equal. Man and woman are all equal. And if God sees that I am really willing to humble myself, For you it's a humbling thing to go and ask somebody's forgiveness.

Think what you are going to get. You are going to get grace. Supposing God said, every time you apologize to your wife, I will give you 100 ,000 rupees. Will you do it? 100 ,000 rupees. I have just apologized to my wife.

God said, I will give you grace. I see so many believers without grace in their life. Defeated by sin. They can't control their language, can't control their thoughts. Even many believers are watching pornography in secret on the computer.

But they sit in the church like very holy believers. Absolute hypocrites. In every church. I am sure it is in CFC too. We need to fear God. Ask God for grace. All you have to do is humble yourself. I will tell you something.

Grace, the Holy Spirit, and Victory Over Sin

You cannot overcome these strong sins in your life without grace. You can hear any number of messages. Only grace can deliver you from sins power. See, it says in James chapter 3, verse 7 and 8, that every type of beast and reptile man has tamed but nobody can tame the tongue.

Even 2000 years ago, James knew that every type of animal can be tamed by man. See, it is not something new that today in the circus, the tigers and lions are being tamed. No, 2000 years ago, James says, every single animal has been tamed.

But nobody can tame the tongue. Only God can do that. That's why you need grace. You need to humble yourself. My tongue is worse than lions, worse than these alligators, worse than tigers. I cannot control it.

Please give me your grace. Your Holy Spirit. God says, I will give you. I give it only to the humble. You humble yourself, I will give it to you. I say, Lord, I want that. Normally, we men, you know, we have such a problem with our thoughts.

Women also have all types of bad thoughts about other people. No. Critical, complaining, gossiping. Isn't it wonderful to have clean thoughts? God can do that. And that can only come through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Grace can conquer anything. Only one condition to get grace, humble yourself. Go to God and say, Lord, I want it. I have heard this so many times, Lord, but now I am taking it seriously. See, this is not a new message.

We have preached it for 40 years. God gives His grace to the humble. And if you are under grace, sin cannot rule over you. Sin is ruling over you because you are not under grace. And if you are not under grace, you are not humble.

People may think you are humble, but God doesn't think so. So, you say, Lord, I wanted to be different from now on. Otherwise, the devil will keep on talking about me to you. Everyday, the devil will say, God, there again he is.

You know what I told you about him yesterday? Now see, he is the same thing today also. And I know tomorrow also he will be like that. Don't you want to shut the devil's mouth? Lord, I have brought enough dishonor on the name of Jesus Christ by the way I have lived.

By the way I have spoken, Lord, I wanted to be different. I want to shut the mouth of the devil. As I said, he can't read our thoughts, so let's leave the thoughts aside for some being. That will go into the next stage.

But let's start with the things the devil can see. The way I speak, the way I behave towards others, the way I handle money, all the things about my life in private which other people can't see. Any secret sins, what all I am watching on the computer, you think the devil doesn't see you looking at the computer?

He sees everything. And he says, God, see, you just see. Accuses day and night. 24 hours. And we have to shut his mouth. And to slip up we say, Lord, the blood, cleanse me of the blood. And it says in Revelation 12, 11, we have to give our testimony to the devil.

When it speaks a word of our testimony, that is speaking to the devil. You know how Jesus told Satan, get behind me, Satan. No, Satan to Satan. Get away, get away, Satan. And when he was being tempted in the wilderness, we can also speak to Satan.

Bible says, resist the devil, he will flee from you. But we can give that testimony only if our life is clean. That means cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Every sin confessed. See Paul says in Acts 24, it's a great verse.

Paul’s Clear Conscience Before God and People

Acts 24, 16. I do my best to always maintain a blameless conscience before God and before men. Always, always, always. How did he do that? Immediately, if he made a mistake, he'd confess it. You know how in the world, people say, I do my best to do something.

Like a serious student says, I'm going to do my best to get full marks in mathematics. Or a businessman says, I'm going to do my best to make some money with my skills. Or these people who go to the Olympics, practice for four years, I'm going to do my best to get a gold medal.

Paul says, I do my best to keep my conscience always clear. That should be the testimony of every one of us. That should be your contribution to the church. That's what I say. We don't want your money.

Make this your contribution to the church. That you will keep your conscience clear 24 hours a day. Say, Lord, this is my contribution to the church. Then you will be more useful than someone giving hundred thousand rupees to the church.

You know how powerful a man is if he's got a good conscience. This is not a difficult thing. As I told you, it is like removing the thorn as soon as it gets into your foot. You know, some people read this, I keep my conscience clear always.

You think that Paul never made a mistake. Then he would have said, I never make a mistake. That's not what he's saying. He's saying, I remove the thorn as soon as it gets into my foot. That's what he's saying.

See an example of that. In the previous chapter, chapter 23. Paul says, verse 1, I have lived all my life with a perfectly good conscience before God till this day. What does he mean by that? Is he saying I've never sinned?

No, that's not what he said. All my life I've never sinned. That's not what he's saying. He's saying, all my life I've lived with a perfect conscience. That means, as soon as I sin, I confess it and get rid of it.

I take the blame. I don't like Adam pointed my wife and say it's her fault. He took the blame himself. Like the thief on the cross, Lord, I'm guilty. And now you see the example of that. Verse 2, the high priest was so angry, he said, slap him on his mouth.

And Paul immediately he sinned. He said, God is going to smite you, you whitewashed wall. Is it right to speak to a person like that? To a judge? Even if he's a godless judge. Jesus never spoke like that.

And if he's speaking a way different from Jesus, it's a sin. So, Paul sinned. He just said, I've kept a good conscience till today. He falls into sin next moment. But he pulls out the thorn immediately.

He says, oh, I'm sorry, I did not know this is the high priest. He apologized. All that he said is not written there, but he has apologized. That is verse 5. So, by the time you come to verse 6, Paul has got a good conscience again.

So, how did he keep his good conscience? That's what I'm trying to show you. As soon as he was aware, he immediately apologized and said it right. So, he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, similar words, verse 4, I am conscious of nothing against myself.

See, he's saying, I've got a good, same thing, I've got a good conscience. We should always be able to say that. I am conscious of nothing that I have to confess now to God or to man. That's what he said in Acts 24, 16, which we read.

I do my best to keep my conscience good before God and before men. Like I asked before, is it easier to keep a good conscience before God or before men? It's like asking this question. Is it easier to confess to God or is it easier to confess to a human being?

You know the answer. It's much easier to confess to God. It's very difficult to confess to a human being who is junior to you. Paul said, I'm determined. I'm going to keep my conscience clear before God and men.

A Good Conscience Preserves Faith from Shipwreck

And then I believe that we will not make shipwreck of our lives. See, 1 Timothy 1 and verse 19. Keep faith and a good conscience. Some people have rejected the good conscience and they have suffered a shipwreck in regard to their lives, to their faith.

1 Timothy 1 .15. So, if you don't keep a good conscience, it's like a ship that goes and hits the rocks and breaks up. And that's why they lose their faith also. So, it's a very simple thing if we can follow it.

That we can always have a testimony that keeps Satan's mouth shut. Where shall we start doing it? In our home. Then in the local church. And in our office. Where we work, where we live. That I'm going to keep my conscience absolutely clear.

When I'm alone and nobody is watching me, I want to keep my conscience clear. When I'm sitting in front of a computer, nobody is watching me. I want to keep my conscience absolutely clear. The devil is watching me and I don't want him to say anything to God.

I want to shut his mouth. You know, Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not be able to overcome it. Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not be able to overcome it.

If all of us follow this simple principle, we will build a church here where the gates of hell will not be able to touch it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you will please help us to live according to the light of what we have heard.

In Jesus' name. Amen.