Would you turn back to 2 Corinthians
chapter 1? I've entitled this message the
testimony of our conscience. The testimony of our conscience. We all have a conscience. We're born with a conscience. We were created in the image
of God. And that's what separates us
from animals. When a lion kills a monkey to
eat it, he feels no remorse. He feels no wrongdoing. He's just getting himself something
to eat. There's not morality or immorality. It's amoral. But a human being has a conscience. We have an intellect, reason,
conscience, and will created in the image of God And our conscience
accuses us when we do wrong. It's a moral compass, as it were,
and everybody knows the difference between right and wrong. Now,
it's true, the conscience through repeated sin can become dulled
and hardened. And you've known people where
it seems like they don't have a conscience. They don't seem to be bothered
by anything. That's true. That can take place. But we're all born with a conscience,
a moral compass. Now, after the fall, it was not
perfect. It's affected by sin. Nobody
has a perfect conscience, but still, we all have one. Turn
to Romans chapter 2 for a moment. You know, there is a right and
there is a wrong. There is good and there is evil.
There is sin and there is righteousness. This is all seen by the conscience. We know that. I've heard preachers
say we need to teach people how to live. People already know
how to live. People are born with that knowledge. I've even
heard preachers accused of somebody has fallen into some kind of
sin and they say, well, we need more teaching on how to live.
No, that's not the problem. You know how to live. You know
it's wrong to steal. You know it's wrong to kill.
You know it's wrong to be lazy. You know it's wrong to lie. You
know sexual sin is wrong. We all know that. We're born
with that knowledge. Look in Romans chapter 2, beginning
in verse 14, for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, they
don't have a copy of the Bible, they don't have a copy of the
Ten Commandments. When the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by
nature the things contained in the law. These having not the
law or the written law are a law to themselves which show the
work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also
bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else
excusing one another. Now this is how a man's conscience
works. He either accuses him And feels condemned, or he tries
to come up with some kind of excuse. That's the way our conscience
works. Now, a conscience cannot be satisfied
with anything but the truth. A conscience can't be satisfied
with anything but righteousness. Anything short of that, the conscience
really doesn't accept. Here's an example. The scripture
speaks in, I think it's 1 Peter, no, it's 2 Peter. I didn't write
it down. 2 Peter chapter 2. Let's try that. I want you to
see this. 2 Peter chapter 2. Let's try 1 Peter chapter 3 instead. Verse 21. The like figure where
into even baptism does that also now save us. Not the putting
away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God. by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. The answer, did you hear that?
The answer of a good conscience. Now, what is a good conscience?
A good conscience is a conscience that doesn't have anything to
feel guilty about. Nothing, that's the only kind
of good conscience there is. There's accusing conscience,
there's a guilty conscience, there's a hardened conscience,
there's a seared conscience, there's all those different kinds
of consciences, but a good conscience is having nothing to feel guilty
about, to know that I stand before God without sin. Now, how can
I get hold of that? The answer of a good conscience
comes from the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That's
the only thing that satisfies my conscience. The resurrection
of Christ from the dead tells me that sin was punished. God's never going to let sin
go by. He's never going to sweep it under the carpet. All sin
must be punished. My sin was punished. My sin was paid for. My sin was put away. And now, in the Lord Jesus Christ,
I have no sin. Now, that's the only thing that
satisfies my conscience. that I actually have no sin. If I have any sin, if God looks
at me in any other way but perfect in Christ, my conscience doesn't
find any comfort, any rest or satisfaction. But if in Christ,
in Him is no sin, in Him I have no sin. That's the only thing
that satisfies my conscience. Now, in this passage of Scripture,
Paul is defending himself He was accused of the opposite. As a matter of fact, look over
in 2 Corinthians chapter 13. Now, Paul was under examination
by the Corinthians. They were sizing him up. And
he says in verse 5 of 2 Corinthians chapter 13, examine yourselves,
whether you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know you
not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except
you be reprobates me. He says, you're examining me.
You examine yourself. Put your own self to the test.
Quit looking at me for a moment and look at yourself. You know,
that's always wise counsel, isn't it? Don't look at somebody else.
Look at yourself. Examine yourselves, whether you
be in the faith. And Paul is defending himself
at this time. Look back in our text in chapter 1. He says, For
our rejoicing is this, the testament of our conscience. Our conscience
is telling us that this is the way we've lived in this world.
and simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but
by the grace of God we've had our conversation in the world
and more abundantly to you, for we write none other things unto
you than what you read or acknowledge. We don't have a hidden agenda.
We're writing to you exactly what we mean and what you acknowledge,
and I trust you shall acknowledge even to the end. Now, Paul says
this regarding himself. He says, My conscience tells
me that this is what has made up my conversation or my conduct
in this world. And your conduct means your behavior.
It's your life in this world, your conversation, your behavior. That's all the word means. Now,
this is what makes up my behavior, Paul says. Simplicity. Godly sincerity. I'm not living according to fleshly
wisdom, but by the grace of God. Now, would to God that that describes
me, and would to God that describes you. Now, I'm asking myself,
and what I hope you'll ask yourself is this, are these four principles
behind our conduct and our behavior in this world? Simplicity. Godly sincerity. Not using fleshly
wisdom, but by the grace of God, we've had our conversation in
this world, and I pray that the Lord will enable us to examine
ourselves in this sense. Now, I guarantee you while I'm
saying this is scaring people. Do I have this? This simplicity? Do I have this godly sincerity? Do I live according to the flesh
or according to the grace of God? And we ought to be asking
ourselves that question. And I do believe that every believer,
after hearing what this means, every believer will say, yes,
that is the testimony of my conscience. I do live in simplicity and in
godless sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God. I've had my conduct and I've
had my conversation in this world. Now the first thing he mentions,
this is what we rejoice in. God has done this in us. This
is what we rejoice in. This is the testimony of our
conscience. My conscience isn't saying to me, it's not so. My
conscience verifies that this is so. That in simplicity, in
simplicity, we've had our conversation in this world. Look over in 2
Corinthians chapter 11. Hear what he means by this. Paul says in verse 2 to the Church
of Corinth, For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy,
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you
as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. The word means simple as opposed
to complex or compound. Single as opposed to double. The simplicity, the singleness,
the onlyness, the singularity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
have I lived my life in simplicity? Well, what does it mean? Is this
talking about just toning down and not having so many material
things? and living with plain cars and plain homes and plain
clothes and keep them simple. Well, that's a good thing to
do. I tell you what, the more simple our lives are, the easier
they'd be. I have no doubt about that. But
that's really not what he's talking about. Now, the singleness, the
oneness, the simplicity of Christ. Now, listen to me real carefully. I have a simple hope. It's very
simple. It's not two things, it's one
thing. Christ Jesus, my Lord. Here's my hope that he paid for
my sins, that he died for me, period. That's my hope. I have no other hope, a very
simple hope. That's, like I said a couple
of weeks ago, that's why I hate universal redemption that says
Jesus Christ shed his blood for everybody. If that's the case,
And some of those people he shed his blood for wind up in hell.
You've taken away the only hope I have, because my hope is that
Christ died for me. I have a very simple hope. That's the only hope I have.
I have a very simple object of faith. Christ. Nothing else. Not Christ and
my experience. Not Christ and the way I'm living.
Not Christ and something that happened in the past. Not Christ
and my understanding of so many different things. No, my very
simple object of faith is Christ only. I have a very simple righteousness.
It's that simple. His righteousness. My righteousness
is not just like His. My righteousness is not based
upon His. My righteousness is His. That's very simple, isn't
it? David said in Psalm 71, 16, I've
made mention of thy righteousness, even thine only. Now, there's
a reason why I've made mention of thy righteousness and thine
only. That's the only righteousness there is. There's nothing to
be confused about. There's only one righteousness. That's the
righteousness and merits of Jesus Christ. I have a very simple
righteousness. Can you identify with that? Is
his righteousness your righteousness? Well, that's the only righteousness
you know about. Remember, we're to live this
life in simplicity. I have a very simple message. Turn with me to first Corinthians,
chapter two. A very simple message. First one. And I'd rather When
I came to you, I came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God, for I determined, I made
this my determination, I was going to make sure this is the
way it is by the grace of God, I determined not to know anything
among you, not to esteem anything as worth even thinking about,
as even making mention to, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's it. No other message is worth even
talking about. Jesus Christ, who he is, what
he did, he was crucified, and what he accomplished by that
crucifixion is a very simple message, the gospel. And by his
grace, I preach the gospel every time I preach. And any message
that doesn't have Christ crucified as its sum and its substance,
You might not even mention Christ crucified. You should. You should. But you might not even mention
Christ crucified. But yet that doctrine is behind
everything you say. It's all kind of like the bedrock. You
might not always see the bedrock, but it's always there. Always
there. That's the foundation of everything
we say. I have a very simple motive. His glory. That's it. Whether you eat or
drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. I have a very simple motive.
His glory. If I'm not deceived, I say what
I say for His glory. I'm on the Lord's side. I'm more
concerned about His glory than anything else. And if you're
on his side, you're more concerned about his glory than anything
else. That is the one motive. His glory. I've got a very simple
motive. I have a very simple ground of
assurance. I don't get any assurance by
looking within, looking at what God's doing in my life, looking
at something inside of me that makes me think I must be saved
because I'm doing this or I'm thinking that. I have a very
simple ground of assurance. Here's my ground of assurance.
It is finished. When he said it is finished,
my salvation is finished. Anything else? Nope, that's all
I need to get me assurance. What he did is enough. I need
no other arguments. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died and that he died for me. I have a very simple
way of being saved. Grace. Very simple. Salvation completely by grace. I have a very simple doctrine.
Turn to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. Beginning in verse 9, Paul said,
Lie not one to another, seeing you put off the old man with
his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him. I know
this, if I'm saved, it's because I'm a creation of God. where
there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all. You know, there's my doctrine.
Christ is all. In all. He's all in election.
He's all in justification. He's all in redemption. Whatever
you're talking about, he's all in it. We have a very simple
doctrine in Christ. He's all to God. He's all in
my assurance. He's all in my motivation. Jesus
Christ the Lord is all in all. Now, that's very simple, isn't
it? Here's another thing about simplicity. It's alone. It's alone. the onliness of Christ. I have a very simple rule of
faith scriptures. I don't believe something because
some man taught me that. I believe because of what the
Word of God says. That is our ground of faith.
It's not because somebody talked me into something. The Scriptures
alone are the only reason why we believe something. We don't
believe it because it makes sense, although sometimes it does. Sometimes
it doesn't. Sometimes it's paradoxical. Sometimes I can't bring it all
together. But if God's Word teaches it, I believe it. One of my favorite
statements that I've ever heard on the Word of God is what old
Donnie Bell said. He said, if the Bible said Jonah swallowed
the whale, I'd believe it. And I would. Are you that infantile? Yes, I am. Yes, I am in that
sense. I believe the Bible's the word
of God. If you don't have that, you don't have anything. It's
my opinion or your opinion. It's what so-and-so said or what
somebody else says. I have to have a written revelation
from God, and this is our only rule of faith and practice. What
the authoritative word of God. If he said it, that settles it.
I hate it when I've seen that bumper sticker. You've seen it.
God said it. I believe it. That settles it.
No! God said it. That settles it,
whether you or I believe it or not. God's truth is not dependent
upon me and you believing it. We have a simple rule of faith,
the Word of God. Christ only, not Christ and,
Christ only is everything in our salvation. We believe in
grace only, faith only. Simplicity. Simplicity. Yes, we ought to live more simple
lives. You know it and I know it. Wouldn't it be neat if all
the cell phones and computers were gone, and cars, and it just seems like
it'd be, and I know if you grow up with that stuff you feel like
you need it, but I'd like a more simple life, wouldn't you? All
the, you know, just always pressure, always stress, but that's not
what simplicity is talking about, the simplicity that's in Christ
Jesus. Now this is how we've had our
conversation in this world, and every believer can say, I have
a simple faith. I've got a simple hope. Christ
only. Now, the next thing he says in
our text, in this world, we've lived in godly sincerity. I rejoice in this, the testament
of our conscience, and in simplicity and godly sincerity, we've had
our conversation in this world. I am sincere about this thing
of simplicity. The word sincerity means transparent. If something's transparent, there
isn't a hidden agenda. You're up front. We do not say
one thing and mean another. We do not speak out of both sides
of our mouth. There is not a hidden agenda. We're not speaking in ambiguous
language, trying to bring the truth in from the back door. Everything's out front. That's
what this godly sincerity means. Transparency. Everything is out
front. I'm not trying to trick somebody
into something. I'm not trying to talk you into
anything. I'm simply preaching the truth. The Bible is the word
of God. It's the inspired, infallible
Word of God. God is God. He's absolutely sovereign
in control of everything. He's the Lord. Men are dead in
sins and cannot do anything to save themselves. All God's got
to do is leave us alone. We'll go to hell. Men are dead,
totally absolutely unable to do any, just like a dead man
is unable to perform any of the functions of life, a spiritually
dead man is unable to perform any of the functions of spiritual
life, unable to believe, unable to repent, unable to love God,
unable to understand the gospel, completely dependent upon him
to do something for us. God elected a people before time
began. Christ died for the elect. God,
the Holy Spirit, gives them life, invincibly and irresistibly calls
them by His grace, and they all will persevere all the way to
the end by the grace of God, following the Lord Jesus Christ.
They're out now, disciples of Christ. Now, that is the way
it is. Now, look over in 2 Corinthians
2, verse 17. And that's not the way it is, because I said it
is. This is the authoritative word of God. And look what it
says in verse 17, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, for we're not as many
which corrupt the word of God. But as of sincerity, there's
the word. But as of God, in the sight of
God, speak we in Christ. Now, only an insincere man would
seek to corrupt the Word of God. And he says, we're not as many
which corrupt the Word of God, which seek to change the Word
of God, which seek to peddle the Word of God. And that's what
the word actually means, to peddle, to sell. We don't have anything
to sell. I don't try to sell anything. Now, I want you to
believe. Don't get me wrong. I desperately want you and me
to believe. I love you, and I want you to
come to the knowledge of the Gospel. It's not like I'm indifferent
about this, but I am indifferent as to what somebody thinks about
it if I'm telling the truth. I'm not trying to sell anything,
and that's what the word means. To corrupt means to peddle or
to huster the word of God, to try to make it more appealing
to the flesh. Now, here's an example of trying
to sell the word of God. I got on a website of a church,
wanted to find out something about it. And the first thing
it said about itself, it said, we have both contemporary and
traditional worship. Well, we got something for everybody.
If you like rock and roll music and the contemporary kind of
stuff, we got that. If you like the traditional stuff, we've
got that. That's packaging the gospel in a way to sell it, to
make it more attractive to the flesh. Now, I don't want to try
to make the gospel attractive to the flesh. Matter of fact,
the gospel is offensive. It's offensive to the natural
man, and this is presented in such a way where no one's offended. The gospel has not been preached.
The gospel is offensive to the natural man. And he says we're
not trying to peddle or corrupt the word of God. Look in 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. He says in verse 1, seeing therefore,
seeing we have this ministry as we've received mercy, we think
not, we don't lose heart, but we've renounced the hidden things
of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness. nor handling the
Word of God deceitfully, trying to take scriptures out of context
to try to prove something, not handling the Word of God deceitfully,
not using the Word of God for our own ends, but by manifestation
of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God. Now, the only thing that's a commendation of
me in preaching is if I simply tell the truth. That's the only
commendation. And if I'm looking for something
else, I'm barking up the wrong tree. I hate insincerity. You can't
trust what an insincere man has to say. Our conscience bears
witness that we have this godly sincerity. Transparent. Transparent. Now, I realize that
somebody could probably look at me and say, I don't trust
him. But I don't know what to say about that, other than I'm
sincerely seeking to tell the truth of God. That's what that
godly sincerity is all about. That's what we want. We want
the truth. And look what he says next in
our text, in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 12. For our rejoicing is
this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity And godly
sincerity, here's the third thing mentioned, not with fleshly wisdom. Not with fleshly wisdom. Our conversation in this world
has not been according to fleshly wisdom. Now, what is fleshly
wisdom? What's he talking about? It's
the wisdom the natural man uses to get what he wants. It's the wisdom the natural man
uses to get what he wants done. It's the wisdom of the flesh
as opposed to the wisdom of God. It's energized by self-interest
and expediency, this thing of the wisdom of the flesh. Now,
turn with me to First Corinthians, chapter one, and let's see how
this word is used. Verse 17. For Christ sent me
not to baptize, But to preach the gospel, not a gospel, the
gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should
be made of none effect. Now, what is it to preach the
cross with the wisdom of words? It's the attempt To make the
cross, the message of the cross, the message of the gospel, more
palatable to the flesh. It's trying to make things easier
to receive, easier to believe, easier to understand. That is
the wisdom of the flesh. That's where all these different,
for instance, interpretations of the scripture come. You've
got all these different translations, this one, that one, that one.
And all of them are trying to do what only the Holy Spirit
can do. They're trying to make the gospel understandable. And
you don't make the gospel understandable. You declare it and you trust
the Holy Spirit to make the gospel understandable. Only God, the
Holy Spirit, can make us understand. So what we do is declare the
gospel. and trust God the Holy Spirit
to bless it. Now, what the wisdom of words
does is it neuters the gospel. Did you notice how he said, not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made
of none effect? In other words, if I use the
wisdom of words, no life will come, no effect will come, no
regeneration, no new birth. God will not use anything like
that. Why should he? Why should he? Not with wisdom
of words. No life comes from that. Look
what he says. Look there in 1 Corinthians chapter
2. We've already looked at a couple
of these verses. And I, brethren, when I came to you, I came not
with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you
the testimony of God. I didn't try to use flowery oratory
to wow you. For I determined not to know
anything among you. Say, Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And you know, when I preach,
this better be my attitude every time I preach, conscious of my
own weakness, fear lest I misrepresent God. Trembling. That's the only,
not a culture attitude, not an arrogant attitude, but in weakness
in fear and much trembling." Now, I have confidence that what
I preach is the gospel. I do have confidence in whom
I preach. But I want to preach at all times
in weakness, conscious of my own weakness and need of Christ
and fear and much trembling. Now, let's go on reading. Verse
4, and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom, or persuadable words, as my marginal reading
says, of man's wisdom. I'm not trying to talk anybody
into anything, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, preaching
the gospel, looking to God the Holy Spirit and His power to
make it real, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom
of men. but in the power of God, not
with fleshly wisdom. Now, here's the testimony of my conscience.
I'm not using fleshly wisdom to preach the gospel. I'm simply
declaring the truth trusting God to take care of the results.
Now, in saying that, I want you to believe. I desperately want
you to believe. I beseech you to believe. I'm
not indifferent about this, but I'm not going to use fleshly
wisdom in order to try to make it easier for you to believe.
And what people do when they do that is they take the corners
and the edges off the gospel, they make it more palatable to
the flesh. And Paul says, we've not done this. And he says, finally,
in our text in second Corinthians back there, second Corinthians
chapter one. For I rejoicing as this. The
testimony of our conscience. And in simplicity and godly sincerity. Not with fleshly wisdom. But
by the grace of God, we have had our conversation, our conduct
in the world and more abundantly to you. It's by the grace of
God that we've had our conversation and our conduct in this world.
Now, what is meant by the grace of God? You know, everybody uses
the term. Turn back to chapter 15 for a
moment. I love this story. True story. Some have said this
was the first Sovereign Grace Bible conference, and I wouldn't
argue. I'd say perhaps it was. Acts
15, verse 1, and certain men which came down from Judea. Now,
these were men that came from the church in Judea. These are
men who were under James, the pastor at the church in Jerusalem. This was a gospel church that
these men came from. certain men came down from Judea
and taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after
the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Now it's true salvation
by grace. It's true salvation through faith,
but you also need to be circumcised. Verse two, when therefore Paul
and Barnes had no small dissension and disputation with them, there
was a fight that took place over this. They determined that Paul
and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem
unto the apostles and elders about this question. And being
brought on their way by the church, they passed through Pharnacia
and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused
great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem,
they were received of the church and the apostles and elders,
and they declared all the things that God had done with them.
But there arose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which
believed Not believers, but Pharisees which believe, that's almost
a disclaimer, Pharisees which believe, saying that it was needful
to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
And the apostles and elders came together for to consider this
matter, and when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up
and said unto them, Men and brethren, you know how that a good while
ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth
should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, which knoweth
the hearts, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even
as He did unto us, and put no difference between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God
to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither
our fathers nor we are able to bear? But we believe that through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, just like
them." How are the Gentiles saved? By grace. And notice Paul does
not say they're going to be saved the same way we are. Those Gentiles
are going to be saved the same way us Jews are. He says, no,
us Jews are going to be saved the same way that Gentiles are.
by the grace of God. Now, grace alone. Remember, by grace, by the grace
of God, we've had our conversation in this world. Grace alone chose
me in Christ before time began. Grace alone sent the Lord Jesus
Christ to save me. Grace alone, the grace of God
only, took my sin and put it upon His Son. That's not something
I could do. Grace alone took the merits of
Christ and placed it upon me. Grace alone caused Christ to
pay my sin debt. Grace alone kept me before I
received it. You know, the grace of God's
always been on me. When I split the womb, God's grace was upon
me. Not saving grace, not yet. But God's hand's always been
on all of his people. Grace alone gave me life and
enabled me to believe the gospel. Grace alone has preserved me
and kept me continuing in the faith. I really, I know that
the only reason I continue to believe right now is because
of the grace of God. I know that. By the grace of
God, I've had my conversation. in this world. Paul said, None of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, that I might
finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received
of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Now, my conscience bears witness
to me in simplicity. You know what
that means? In simplicity, one hope. And
godless sincerity. Transparent. We don't have another
agenda. Not with fleshly wisdom. The wisdom of the flesh. Trying
to get something accomplished. But by the grace of God. We've
had our conversation. Our conduct in this world. and more abundantly toward you. I think of what Paul said in
the first epistle to the Corinthians. He said, I am what I am. By the
grace of God. That's my motto. That's every
believer's motto. I am what I am. By the grace
of God. I'm not what I would be. And
that's by the grace of God. I am what I am, I'm justified,
that's by the grace of God. I'm accepted in the beloved,
that's by the grace of God. I'm an adopted child, that's
by the grace of God. I'm a believer, that's by the
grace of God. Everything I am, I am what I
am, by the grace of God. Now this is the testimony of
the conscience of every believer. When you see what this is, this
describes a believer, doesn't it? these four principles by
these things we've had our conversation in this world. May God make that
to be so in each one of us. Let's pray together.