86. Our Conscience Bearing Witness
Hymns: RHC 247 Cleanse Me, 306 Pass Me Not, 309 Thank You, Lord
Job 33:14-18
14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; 16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, 17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. 18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
Our Conscience Bearing Witness
OUTLINE
(1) God’s Speaks (v14-15)
(2) Man’s Yields (v16-17)
(3) Man Is Saved (v18)
INTRODUCTION
It is interesting, Apostle Paul observed, God made man with a conscience that is able to judge his own actions by the law which God placed in his heart. He knows good from evil, right from wrong, having a moral conscience within him. If he does wrong, his conscience gives him no peace. And if he is right, he knows there is no rebuke against him. It is a faculty of self-reflection and self-judgement that God places in man that enables him to evaluate himself honestly.
Romans 2:14-16 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
How is that possible? Because God made man in His very image – Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Before I became a Christian, I found myself lacking, deficient, but could not tell what was lacking! Observe how the Apostle Paul is preparing to present the gospel to the unsaved by revealing what God has marvellously done to create man with a God-given conscience. He presents to us the intimate and endearing place we have in the sight of our Creator God.
The psalmist by God’s special revelation in Genesis 1:26 declares the puzzling, unworthy and yet special place he felt he has in this vast universe, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:3-9).
It is with an awakened conscience made good by God through Jesus Christ that Apostle Paul stood before Ananias the high priest in Jerusalem to declare in good conscience that Jesus Christ is the living and true God. He was slapped in the mouth. He retorted in Acts 23:3 …God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? His conscience will not allow him to deny his Christ. He received Jesus’ personal commendation, Acts 23:11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
What a wonderful testimony for our emulation to fear God rather not fear man. This is the power of an awakened conscience.
Jesus speaks to Nicodemus that he must be born again! With the new birth, we have the Holy Spirit bearing conscience of God’s Word in our hearts to guide us.
John 3:3-8 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and ofthe Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Matthew Henry observed well, “Job had complained that God kept him wholly in the dark concerning the meaning of his dealings with him, and therefore concluded he dealt with him as his enemy. “No,” says Elihu, “He speaks to you, but you do not perceive Him; so that the fault is yours, not His; and He is designing your real good even in those dispensations which you put this harsh construction upon.”
(1) God Speaks (v14-15)
14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
Matthew Henry said well on this first thought, “What a friend God is to our welfare: He speaketh to us once, yea, twice (v14). It is a token of His favour that, notwithstanding the distance and quarrel between us and Him, yet He is pleased to speak to us. It is an evidence of His gracious design that He is pleased to speak to us of our own concerns, to show us what is our duty and what our interest, what he requires of us and what we may expect from him, to tell us of our faults and warn us of our danger, to show us the way and to lead us in it. This he does once, yea, twice, that is, again and again; when one warning is neglected He gives another, not willing that any should perish. Precept must be upon precept, and line upon line;it is so, that sinners may be left inexcusable.
What enemies we are to our own welfare: Man perceives it not,that is, he does not heed it or regard it, does not discern or understand it, is not aware that it is the voice of God, nor does he receive the things revealed, for they are foolishness to him; he stops his ear, stands in his own light, rejects the counsel of God against himself, and so is never the wiser, no not for the dictates of wisdom itself.
God speaks to us by conscience, by providences, and by ministers, of all which Elihu here discourses at large, to show Job that God was both telling him His mind and doing him a kindness, even now that He seemed to keep him in the dark and so treat him as a stranger, and to keep him in distress and so treat him as an enemy. There was not then, that we know of, any divine revelation in writing, and therefore that is not here mentioned among the ways by which God speaks to men, though now it is the principal way.”
Solomon delineates what God does for us, speaking to our hearts to turn to Him -Proverbs 1:23-33 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore, shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
When the door of the ark was shut and the rain started to fall, it was too late. All the opportunities have been given but they were spurned. When the rain started to fall, they moved to higher ground but soon the highest ground was covered with water. There was no escape. All outside the ark perished.
Remember the rich man who fared sumptuous and dressed in purple died and found himself tormented by the fires of hell, it was too late. On the other hand, Lazarus, who did not have many things in this life, had the most important, he believed in Jesus Christ. When he died, he was transported to heaven.
They did not have any regard for wisdom’s warnings. No regard for their well-being. There was no fear of the LORD in their hearts. They bear the brunt of their own folly. Notice the most important word in verse 29, the word “choose”.
They choose not to walk with God. They choose to fulfil the lust that is in their own hearts. Truly, the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. The fear of God in the heart will cause us to want to take heed to God’s Word and cause us to choose the step of obedience, just as Noah did. He has not seen a flood. There was no rain upon the earth before that time. He had to take God at His Word. What is saving faith? We need not just knowledge of the truth, and not just to agree with the truth but to form a conviction in the heart to trust in the truth, this is seen in a change in our conversation and conduct. What we used to do in the old man, we no longer will do. We have put to death the old man and put on the new man in Christ.
They look at their company on the broad way and say, they are all doing this and still nothing happen to them, they are still prospering. That is the trap.
(2) Man Yields (v16-17)
16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, 17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
Elihu tells us how God teaches and admonishes the children of men by their own consciences.
The proper season and opportunity for these admonitions (v15): In a dream, in slumberings upon the bed,when men are retired from the world and the business and conversation of it. It is a good time for them to retire into their own hearts, and commune with them, when they are upon their beds, solitary and still (Psalm 4:4). [Matthew Henry]
Psalm 4:4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
It is the time God takes for dealing personally with men. When He sent angels, extraordinary messengers, on His errands, He commonly chose that time for the delivery of their messages, when by deep sleep falling on men the bodily senses were all locked up and the mind more free to receive the immediate communications of divine light. Thus, he made his mind known to the prophets by visions and dreams (Numbers12:6); thus, He warned Abimelech (Genesis20:3), Laban (Genesis31:24), Joseph (Matthw1:20); thus he made known to Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar things that should come to pass hereafter.
Numbers 12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, Ithe LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, andwill speak unto him in a dream.
Genesis 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art buta dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she isa man’s wife.
Genesis 31:24 And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
When he stirred up conscience, that ordinary deputy of his, in the soul, to do its office, he took that opportunity, either when deep sleep fell on men (for, though dreams mostly come from fancy, some may come from conscience) or in slumberings, when men are between sleeping and waking, reflecting at night upon the business of the foregoing day or projecting in the morning the business of the ensuing day; then is a proper time for their hearts to reproach them for what they have done ill and to admonish them what they should do (Isaiah30:21). [Matthew Henry]
Isaiah 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This isthe way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
The power and force with which those admonitions come (v16). When God designs men’s good by the convictions and dictates of their own consciences. He gives them admission, and makes them to be heeded: Then he opens the ears of men,which were before shut against the voice of this charmer (Psalm58:5). [Matthew Henry]
Psalm 58:5 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
He opens the heart, as he opened Lydia’s, and so opens the ears. He takes away that which stopped the ear, so that the conviction finds or forces its way; nay, he works in the soul a submission to the regimen of conscience and a compliance with its rules, for that follows upon God’s opening the ear, Isaiah50:5. God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious.[Matthew Henry]
Isaiah 50:5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
He gives them a lodgment in the heart and makes them to abide: He sealeth their instruction,that is, the instruction that is designed for them and is suited to them; this he makes their souls to receive the deep and lasting impression of, as the wax of the seal. When the heart is delivered into divine instructions, as into a mould, then the work is done. [Matthew Henry]
The end and design of these admonitions that are sent. To keep men from sin, and particularly the sin of pride (v17). That he may withdraw man from his purpose,that is, from his evil purposes, may change the temper of his mind and the course of his life, his disposition and inclination, or prevent some particular sin he is in danger of falling into, that he may withdraw man from his work, may make him leave off man’s work, which is working for the world and the flesh, and may set him to work the work of God. Many a man has been stopped in the full career of a sinful pursuit by the seasonable checks of his own conscience, saying, Do not this abominable thing which the Lord hates.[Matthew Henry]
Particularly, God does, by this means, hide pride from man,that is, hide those things from him which are the matter of his pride, and take his mind off from dwelling upon them, by setting before him what reason he has to be humble. That he may take away pride from man(so some read it), that he may pluck up that root of bitterness which is the cause of so much sin. All those whom God has mercy in store for he will humble and hide pride from. Pride makes people eager and resolute in the prosecution of their purposes; they will have their way, therefore God withdraws them from their purposes, by mortifying their pride. [Matthew Henry]
(3) Man Is Saved (v18)
18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
The blessing of the obedient is not only safety but also a peaceful heart.
Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
Noah and his family of 8 survived the global deluge. Jesus is coming again. This time He will come as a Judge. All who do not know Him will not be found with Him. This is a grave warning for us living a generation where our Lord can return any time. All the signs of the 2ndComing have been fulfilled in our time. As the Lord tarries, may the Lord help us to reorder our lives and those of our family so that when our Lord comes, we shall be with Him.
To keep men from ruin (v18). While sinners are pursuing their evil purposes, and indulging their pride, their souls are hastening apace to the pit, to the sword, to destruction, both in this world and that to come; but when God, by the admonitions of conscience, withdraws them from sin, he therebykeeps backtheir souls from the pit,from the bottomless pit, and saves them from perishing by the swordof divine vengeance, so iniquity shall not be their ruin. That which turns men from sin saves them from hell, saves a soul from death,James5:20.
James 5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
See what a mercy it is to be under the restraints of an awakened conscience. Faithful are the wounds, and kind are the bonds, of that friend, for by them the soul is kept from perishing eternally. [Matthew Henry]
CONCLUSION
By the grace of God, we are helped. May the Lord strengthen His people to hearken to His Word for His honour and glory. Amen.