Warring for God or Shattered to Pieces (Part 4) by Dr. Rod Mattoon

About this sermon

1 Timothy 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; 19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: 20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. John MacArthur has written a book called, The Vanishing Conscience. In that book, he tells a story about an airplane crash in Spain that took place in 1984. An airplane plowed into the side of a mountain, and all on board died. When they investigated that plane wreck, they found the black box that records what happened in the cockpit. The words of the pilot and the instructions that he received were on it. There was an eerie thing, however, that they found on it. The sensitized voice of the cockpit computer in an alarming voice said, “Pull up! Pull up! Pull up!” The box recorded the voice of the pilot who responded by saying, “Shut up, gringo” and flipped the switch off. Evidently, he thought that the machine was malfunctioning. So he overrode the warning system and plowed into the side of a mountain. Beloved, God has given you a warning system by giving you a conscience that may shout out to you, “Pull up! Pull up! Pull up!" before you crash and burn from doing something dangerous or damaging to your life. The last thing you want to do is push it away or turn it off. We are to have a strong grip on faith. We are also to cling firmly to a good conscience. If you have ever purchased a loaf of bread, you know that if you leave it out in the open and ignore sealing up the bag, that bread is going to get stale and it’s going to get hard. It may take a little time, but that is what happens. Is anyone here a member of the Hard Bread Club? Many of us are. This same principle holds to the conscience that God has given to you. God gave you a good conscience to monitor your conduct. Your conscience reacts to the way you live. When you are doing what is right, then you enjoy peace, an attitude of contentment, and calmness within your heart. You are blameless. Being blameless expresses what the Christian is to the world. It means that his or her life is of such purity, that no one can find any fault in it. This person is without fault before others and has a clear conscience with men and with God. No one can point a finger at this person and say, "You wronged me and have not made it right." The purpose of your conscience is to excuse you or accuse you. If you are doing something wicked, bad, or evil, it will accuse you (Romans 2:14-15). It is your alarm bell. The magazine editor H.L. Mencken defined conscience as "the inner voice which warns us that somebody may be looking." When you are doing evil, then your conscience produces guilt, remorse, shame, fear, insecurity, and doubt. It is the alarm within your soul that goes off when you are out of bounds, out of control, out of whack, and outrageous. What pain is to your body, your conscience is to your soul as guilt, remorse, and shame are created by ungodly deeds. When the alarm is sounded within, then stop immediately what you are doing. Change directions and correct what has been done if you have already messed up. In this message, we address the function of a good conscience and the importance of heeding its warnings. We also examine the consequences of pushing the Lord away and shipwrecking your faith. Such behavior leads to shattering your life. This 32-minute message was preached on Wednesday night, January 4, 2022, at Lincoln Land Baptist Church