God Tests Before He Promotes - Part 3 — Zac Poonen

God Speaks Through the Conscience

And I'll tell you something, the primary way in which God speaks to us, is through our conscience. So even though man may not have had a Bible like this for 5500 years of his existence, all those 5500 years he had a conscience, through which God spoke to him.

Conscience Before the Fall

When Adam stood before the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he could hear the voice of God in his conscience and so could he. I mean imagine, you and I, who have fallen so much into sin in our life, don't you hear your conscience tell you something, when you are tempted to do something wrong?

And if we, in our fallen condition, can hear a voice of conscience, can you imagine how loudly Eve heard it, in her heart, when she stood before the tree? It must have been like a trumpet. A person who has never sinned, who has come straight from God's presence, conscience must have been like a trumpet sound saying, Don't take from that.

And the devil with his sweet voice says, Oh well, it wasn't only one voice speaking there. When you read Genesis chapter 3, you think it's only one voice, but it's not only one voice. There was another voice speaking much louder in Eve's conscience, because God breathed into them and gave them a conscience which no animal had.

And they were being tested. So Genesis 3 was a test. And with that voice of God saying something in her conscience, you don't need a Bible. A conscience is enough to lead you. Ultimately, if you give your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit makes your conscience more and more sensitive.

Responding to Conscience in Obedience

Ultimately, that's the way by which God speaks to us. For example, when you are tempted to speak evil about someone behind his back, I mean, if you've been in this church for a few years, you'd certainly feel a pang of conscience there, unless you've killed it and killed it by gossiping so much in your life that that poor conscience's voice is so faint.

But even then, you feel bad after you have spoken evil. That's where God tests you. Now what is He testing you in? He's testing whether you'll respond to that voice and say, God, I'm sorry, I slipped up, I fell.

That's what God is waiting for. And if He hears that response from you, even though you failed, you'll pass the test. Because then He will cleanse you with His blood. And next time, your conscience will be more sensitive.

How Obedience Sharpens the Conscience

The voice of God will be a little clearer. You know, it's like when we get too much wax in our ears, we can't hear properly. Sometimes one ear gets filled up with wax and people have got to go to get it cleaned out, or people clean up their ear and it gets a little better, the hearing.

It's like that. When we respond, every time you respond to God, the voice of conscience becomes a little louder the next time. And every time you don't respond to God, the voice of conscience becomes a little dimmer.

The Danger of a Seared Conscience

And if you keep on not responding, a time can come when you can do something totally wrong, and conscience doesn't even tell you anything. You've killed it. That's a terrible state to come into. So, God wanted to teach them by giving them the manner that they had to learn to listen to God speaking to them every day.

Jesus’ Wilderness Test and Living by God’s Word

And I'm sure you all know the scriptures. In the New Testament, when Jesus was baptized, what are the first words recorded in the Bible that he spoke after his baptism, where his ministry began? You know what those first words were?

It was in the wilderness, to Satan. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth. Never forget this, my brothers and sisters. This verse that you read here, is the first or the first recorded words of Jesus when he began his ministry.

And you know that he never preached what he hadn't practiced. That is how he lived. And if you want to know one secret of Jesus' life, it was this that he listened to what God was saying. He didn't have a Bible.

Scripture Reading and Listening to Conscience

Do you know Jesus never had a Bible like this? Paul never had a Bible like this? But they could hear the voice of God just like you and I can hear it. And it's far more important what you do in response to that voice than whether you read your Bible every day.

I'm not saying Bible reading is not important. My conscience has become more sensitive because I read the Bible. If you don't read the Bible, you still have a conscience, but it won't be very sensitive.

It will be like a weighing machine that doesn't give you the correct reading. It may be a hundred kilos and it may just show you a hundred grams. And that's why some people can do something serious and say, Oh, that's not serious.

It's only a hundred grams. It's because the weighing machine is spoiled. It's a hundred kilos, brother, not a hundred grams. But if you respond to God's word, your conscience will begin to register properly the proper weight of that sin.

And you realize it's not such a light thing. So I'm not saying reading God's word is not important. But what I'm saying is reading that is no substitute for listening to conscience. I remember hearing the story of, I mean, the testimony of a great man of God, I forget his name, who was asked at the end of his life, Can you tell me one secret of your life?

Following the Spirit’s Promptings

And he said, I have learned to listen to the promptings of the Spirit in my conscience. That's all. When he told me to hold back from something, I held back. When he told me, prompted me to do something, I did it.

If you ask me for one secret of my life, that is it. I believe that. Because that's how God tests us. And if you disobey, you're not going to get leprosy, or the world is not going to collapse, and your house is not going to catch fire, or you're not going to lose your job.

Failing God’s Tests Without Immediate Consequences

Nothing will happen. You'll live a perfectly normal life, even when you fail the test. Go and ask all these people who study in these capitation fee medical colleges, where they spend 10 -15 years to get a 5-year degree.

They're quite happy. Their parents are spending such a lot of money. They've failed and failed and failed and failed umpteen times, but the world hasn't collapsed. They haven't got leprosy. They just failed.

And that's how it is with so many Christians. They just fail and they're quite happy. I'm amazed at some of these people who study in these medical colleges for 15 years to get a 4-year degree. How can they be happy?

I mean, I'd feel miserable if I were there and I had to spend one more year or six more months. But they seem to be quite happy. Then I can understand how some Christians are quite happy, even though they fail and fail and fail and fail.

It's just the same thing. No, it's okay. I can't understand that because I'd feel miserable if I did 1 of the things that some Christians do. Then I realize that they don't take that test seriously.

They probably don't even realize it's a test. God has tested His greatest servants. Let me show you the example of Abraham. We read in Genesis chapter 12. See, if you read carefully, it says here. Let me show you something.

Genesis chapter 12. What's written here. The first sentence should read like this. The Lord had said to Abraham, when he was in Ur of the Chaldees, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you.

It was a very clear word.