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All right, guys, convictions, conscience, and condemnation. That's what we're going to be talking about today. Everybody has convictions, okay? But that doesn't mean that they're always right. And so with that, we're going to say that convictions that are not right, they can lead to unnecessary afflictions. And that's what we're going to be talking about. And I'm going to show you in the Bible the relationship between our convictions, our conscience, and then we're also going to throw in some condemnation in there, okay? I think a lot of times our flesh wants to beat us down or the enemy wants to beat us down, and the enemy wants to prevent us from doing the work of God, okay? And in this sermon towards the end, I'm going to show you how to distinguish those types of voices. It's very clear in the Bible. I think this is going to be a tremendous blessing to you guys. But as always, if this blesses you, if you do us a favor and share it with somebody, because we want to help people, and you know, like I always say, we need your help in order to do that. God bless you guys. Send us your prayer requests and also your praises. We are still praying for you guys. So with that being said, enjoy the sermon. All right. Amen. You're in John chapter number eight. So what we're going to talk about tonight, I'm going to title the sermon very basic. It's called Conviction, Conscious, and Condemnation. So we're going to take a look at those three things. You're going to see that conviction and conscience are very closely related. And then when we get to the end of the sermon, you're going to see the difference between what a conviction is versus what condemnation is. I think it's very important for us to understand these things. Now, just to start off, let's look down real quickly at verse number nine, John chapter eight. So the Bible says, And when they heard it, being convicted by their own conscience. So you see that? It's the only time in the Bible that you see that word there, convicted. And it's being convicted by their own conscience. Went out one by one beginning at the eldest even unto the last and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. So what is conviction? What does that mean? Well, it really depends on the sense in which you're using the word. And obviously everybody's heard of a convict or somebody who's been found guilty of a crime and sent to jail or prison. Conviction is very closely related to that. It is a belief that you have that is so strong that produces an action. Okay, that's what it is. There is a difference between convictions and preference, which I think we're going to talk about next week. We're going to talk about conviction based off of this verse here. So really the negative side of it, okay, conviction as in when we feel like we've done something wrong, we're going to take a look at that process this evening. I think this is important because a lot of times as Christians, we don't realize this, but sometimes we're hearing different voices and we don't know how to necessarily distinguish between the two. A lot of times when we are convicted about something, it can seem like, well, hmm, is this true? Is this false? Like for example, okay, I'm glad this actually happened to me. I was talking with somebody very recently and they said, you know, I just got convicted recently to stop eating meat. And I was working with somebody else. He's like, oh, so you're a vegan now? And the guy, I didn't say anything. And the guy's like, no, we're not vegan. We still eat chicken. And he said, but the reason for all the diseases that are out there and all this madness is because of this Muslim meat that's going on. So you go to the store and he's like, I don't care if you buy organic red meat or whatever it is. These Muslims are praying over this stuff and they're doing rituals and that's going into the meat and that's going into your body. And that's why we got all this craziness, okay? He's convicted, okay? That belief that he has drove him away from eating delicious red meat. And this is what he knows. He has knowledge of this and it produced an action and he believes he's right and he believes that we're wrong for continuing eating meat. We're going to break that down and see the process behind that. And I think you know where I'm going with this, okay? Just because somebody is convicted of something doesn't mean it's right, okay? So, however, in this verse here, verse number nine, we obviously know that they were right for walking away. Now, why is that? Let's back up for a second here and go to the beginning, okay? What were they convicted of? So what was their action? What was it that they did, that they realized was a mistake, realized was sin, and had to leave? You look at verse six, look what it says. This they said, okay, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down with his finger, wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. So the whole point of the people here finding this woman taken in adultery, the whole point of the Pharisees and scribes even going through this process to bring her to Jesus, it wasn't because they cared about the law. It wasn't because they were like, we got to get her right, okay? They could care less about her. In fact, the implication here is that they've known this has been going on for a while and figured this would be a good time to bring it up. So the whole point was just to trap him, okay? Now look at what happens next in the very next verse, verse seven. The Bible says this. So when they continued asking him, okay? So he stooped down, he's writing on the ground and they're like, come on, what you gonna do? Okay, so when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. So what do we have here? What's the big picture here? Well, you have the word of God. This is Jesus Christ saying this to these people. Now, what's the result here? Okay, do they proceed further? Do they keep on going? What happens? Well, now let's look at verse nine with the context here. And it says, and they which heard it. So they heard the word of God in this situation, this group of people here, okay? They finally have something happen to them. And what is that? And they which heard it being convicted, being found guilty, okay? Realizing that what Christ said was true, okay? They were honest with themselves here being convicted by what? By their own conscience. What does conscience means? You break that word down, conscience. It means with knowledge, okay? It means they have knowledge that they have transgressed the law. So being convicted by their own conscience went out one by one beginning at the eldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst, okay? So go to Romans chapter number two. And in order to understand conviction, we have to understand the role that our conscience plays in conviction, okay? So that's what we're going to do now. So this term has got a long, long introduction. And then three quick points at the end and a poem and then we are done, okay? So role of conscience in conviction. So again, the reason why I wanted to start here though, is because it's very clear on what a conviction does, okay? A conviction produces action, okay? And that's different from a preference. For example, a lot of people have a preference, okay? Well, I prefer to go to Albertsons every Wednesday, for example. I prefer to go there. I prefer to shop primarily at Albertsons and Walmart, okay? That's not necessarily a conviction. It might even be a routine, okay? However, let's say somebody comes up and shows them, well, hey, there's always better deals over here. You got better bonuses if you go to Fred Meyer or, you know, whatever other stores out there, okay? Now, if they're like, okay, cool. Yeah, that's a good idea. And they just switch on a whim. They were never really convicted with where they were shopping before. It was just a preference, okay? And so as Christians, what you're gonna find over the next couple of weeks is that we're literally defined based off of our convictions, okay? And we need to make sure that our convictions are right and that they are based in true knowledge and truth. So conviction, what does it do? It produces action. This is the reason why when we go out soul-lending, a lot of times we get people saying, they swear, oh, I'm gonna come to church. I'm gonna come to church. They prefer to come to church. They want to. I mean, speaking, I believe they're honest when they're saying this with us, but they have not been convicted, okay? That's the difference. They haven't been convicted. Otherwise, there would be an action involved in that. This has nothing to do with salvation, okay? So I don't want anybody saying, oh, Pastor Jones is talking about I gotta have conviction in turn if it says no. We're talking about something completely different tonight, okay? Let's look now, Romans chapter two, at the role that our conscience plays in conviction here. So look at what Paul says in verse 14 of Romans chapter number two. He says, And of course, we use this verse when people say, well, okay, what happens when people in Africa and people on these lost islands have never heard the gospel? You believe to tell me they're going to hell? Yes, 100%. They have the law. So again, I don't want to go down that road this evening. Okay, if you have questions about that, I'll answer them later. The point here is very clear, okay? That people that may not have a written law, people, cultures, nations that maybe have outlawed the Bible, for example, okay? And have never heard of it. There's still a law written on their hearts and that came from God. And it's very evident based off of their actions, okay? So when they instinctively or by nature do things that are contained in law, that is proof that God exists. That is proof that God has written that on their hearts and the conscience has a role in this. Look at verse 15. He says this, People often try to say, hey, you know, only believers have God's law written in their heart. Okay, I heard a dispensation. Well, only in this dispensation now do people have God's law written in their heart. Well, then why is Paul saying this? That even the Gentiles have this, okay? He's speaking from experience here. And obviously his experience goes pre-cross as well. But verse 15, Now look at this. Okay, everybody has a conscience. Their conscience also bearing witness, okay? And their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. So what he's saying here is that when you see a people group and they're like, you know what? We're gonna go ahead and do this course of action. We're actually gonna, instead of kill each other, we're gonna actually help each other out. We're actually going to protect children. We're gonna protect families, okay? And they don't have the word of God. They don't believe the word of God. They don't have a Bible, okay? That is a law. That is evidence that God exists. And what is this saying here? That they're obeying their conscience. Their conscience is recording this conversation inside of themselves with the word of God, okay? That's why he says their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. Another way you could look at this is our conscience is like that black box recorder. Anybody ever heard that plans have like this black box recorder and records all the conversations going on in the cockpit? In case of an explosion, a plane crash, you know, people can come by later on and get the last words of what the pilots were saying. And try to figure out, you know, what went wrong. That's kind of one of the rules that our conscience plays. It records. So when a person is thinking like, okay, you know, this is definitely wrong, okay? God's law saying, hey, what you're about to do, this is incorrect, this is wrong, this is not okay. Well, inside of themselves, okay, when they try to reason, well, I know it's not right to kill people all the time, but just this one time, I think it'd be okay, you know? And they're trying to suppress that conscience. They're trying to suppress that law inside of them, okay? God's saying that, hey, I see that and those thoughts will one day be manifest in front of everybody and it will no longer be a secret. Because here's the thing, here's what people do. You know, we talk to people all the time. Well, I don't believe in God. I don't believe in any of that stuff and therefore he can't judge me. He can't send me to hell. He can't do nothing to me because I don't believe it, okay? Well, there's gonna come a day where all of those thoughts that you say you never have, that you say you don't believe are going to be put on display and the whole world is gonna know. Look at verse 16. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. So conscience, what does it do? It records our thoughts and self-conversations about the law that is written in our heart and it is a definite definitive proof that God exists. Okay, now go to Romans chapter number nine and I'll show you a picture of this. Romans chapter nine, we're gonna look at verse number one. So conscience records your thoughts. Remember, conscience is with knowledge. I'm not saying that conscience is knowledge, that it is supreme, that it's above the word of God or that it tells you what is right all the time, okay? You'll see that here in a second. Our conscience records our thoughts and those conversations that we have with the word of God that's written on our heart because we have free will. We have the ability to either reject the word of God that's written on our hearts or to accept it, okay? Look at this here, verse one, Romans chapter number nine. Paul says, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. Now here it is, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, okay, in the Holy Ghost. Now what's the role of the Holy Ghost in the world? Well, it's to reprove the world of sin and judgment and things of this nature and we've talked about that a lot. Go to Romans chapter 13. Okay, so what does conscience do for us? Well, one of the things that it does is it bears us witness, okay? And so because of that, because it can make us feel a certain way, we have to protect it. Now in Romans chapter 13, you guys know this, we've gone over this not too long ago, it's talking about the need for us to be subject to the powers that be, okay? So in other words, we don't wanna be like BLM. We don't wanna be anarchist. We don't wanna be like, you know, let's just get rid of the whole government, although our current government, that wouldn't be a bad idea if we could just exchange these people out, but you get the point here, okay? I'm not gonna go re-preach all of that right now. The point is, okay, is that God has established powers in the world to rid the world and to punish evil. That's the point of government. It's to punish evil and to protect the innocent. Now, do they always do that? Of course not, okay? But what Paul is saying here in Romans chapter 13 is that it is very needful for us to submit ourselves to this government for a reason. Let's look at that reason in verse number five. He says, wherefore, so for that reason that he listed in the first four verses, which we're not gonna read, he says, ye must needs be subject, okay, subject to the government, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. So why read this? Why bring this up? Well, not only is our conscience like a recorder, and it records our thoughts with the word of God written on our heart, but it also needs to be maintained. So what Paul's saying in Romans 13 is, hey, pay custom to who custom is due, pay tribute to who tribute is due. Don't worry about that type of stuff. Obviously, God's got our back. He's able to take care of us. We don't wanna spend all of our time just foaming at the mouth about the government because it's not profitable and it can cause bitterness. And if we take the other route, like some groups and some people do, and say, you know what? I'm not gonna pay any taxes. I'm not gonna follow any laws. I'm just gonna go ahead and rebel against this system. You know what? Your conscience should smite you, and that is going to cause you problems. So he says again in verse five, wherefore ye must, this is not optional. This is a command. Ye must needs be subject, okay? Not just because I said so, not just because this is what we do. No, but there's a reason for it. Look what he says. Not only for wrath, okay? Not only for wrath from the government, but also for conscience sake. So what happens when we violate our conscience is what? Okay, it is a feeling of conviction, and it is unrest. It is unnecessary traps. Basically this is what it is, okay? So go to First Corinthians chapter number eight, and we'll look at this even deeper. So another thing we could say is that when we sin, we're made aware of it by the Holy Ghost through our conscience, okay? So, and obviously what you're gonna find is the more that you study the Word of God, the more that you understand the Word of God, not just memorizing. That's great, we need that, but we need understanding as well, just as much. We need understanding of the Word of God, okay? The more that we understand, the more liberty we receive because we get more truth and our conscience becomes stronger and stronger and stronger, okay? So First Corinthians chapter eight, we're gonna start in verse seven, and then we're gonna back up to verse number one. So let's look at something here. Look at this here in verse seven. So Paul says, Howbeit there is not in every man, I want you to pay attention to this phrase with these two words, okay? That knowledge. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge. For some, now look at this, with conscience. What does conscience mean? With knowledge, okay? For some with conscience of the idol unto this hour, eat it as a thing offered unto an idol. He's talking about meats, all foods offered unto idols and their conscience, now look at this, being weak is defiled. We're gonna come back and break that down, okay? But what Paul says here is, hey, not every man has this knowledge. So we wanna make sure that we have this knowledge because if we don't have this knowledge, what happens? Our conscience is weak and is at risk for being defiled, okay? Not defiled in a reprobate sense, but defiled like I was talking about before, like the example that Paul gives in Romans 13 about government. If we just say, I'm not gonna obey Romans chapter 13, I'm just gonna throw that out and I'm gonna go yoke up with this group here that's gonna go against the government, well, you know, your conscience is going to smite you and you're going to have a bad time in life. It is not fun, okay? So what's the deal with this knowledge? Because if we don't have it, our conscience is going to be made weak and that is a big problem. So back up here to verse number one so that we can get this all in big picture here. So Paul says this, I'm sorry, 1 Corinthians 8, verse number one, he says, now as touching things offered unto idols. Now, I just picked this because it's so applicable to what we're talking about, but there's a lot of other things that you could place in here. And the principles that I'm gonna give you apply to a lot of different scenarios, okay? So he says this, now as touching things offered unto idols, we know, so here's the beginning of this knowledge that he's talking about here. We know that we all have knowledge. Then he says knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies. And so what he's gonna basically say here in a second, or I'm sorry, what I'm gonna say here in a second is that we have an opportunity in the Christian life, okay? We have knowledge, we need to increase knowledge and get wisdom and all that. We talk about that all the time. But right here, Paul's saying, hey, look, you guys with this knowledge that I'm about to give you, which we already have, okay? We can use this knowledge for liberty to offend or we can use this knowledge and get, I'm sorry, we can use this knowledge and apply it to edify other people, okay? So he's basically saying we have a choice here. That's why he says knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies. So we don't wanna use our knowledge for liberty to offend. We want to use it for the ability to edify other people. So look at verse two. It says, and if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. And that should keep you pretty well grounded, okay? When we understand this, we've got the completed revelation of the word of God. We've got eternity past, eternity future. We've got it all, okay? But we don't know like we will know one day, okay? So that should keep us grounded from being too puffed up just by itself. But let's keep reading here, verse four. But if any man love God, the same is known of him. This is a fact. If a person loves God, that will be known of you, okay? And again, we're not talking about salvation here, but somebody is going to know this. Why? Because love requires action. Conviction brings action, okay? Verse number four now says this, okay? He says, as concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know, okay? So we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one. And so what you're going to see here is we're going to answer this question, and that is, is our conscience always right? Is our conscience always right? So he says this, we know that an idol's nothing and that there's one God, okay? So basically he's saying, hey, look, if I go to Culver's and eat a cheeseburger and somebody just did a pagan sacrifice out in the back and dedicated that to making good burgers for the day, hey, guess what? That's not going to hurt me. It's not going to do anything because idols are dumb. They don't speak, they don't talk. Witchcraft, none of that junk has any power over me. However, not all people have that knowledge, okay? And there's a reason we need to be sensitive to that. Verse five, for though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many and Lord's many, verse six, but to us there is but one God, the father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him, okay? Very basic, simple doctrine right there. Now let's look at verse number seven, because remember, we know what, okay? We're trying to figure out this knowledge and why it's important for us to have it. So if we don't have this knowledge, we're going to have a weak conscience. So he's saying we know idols are nothing and can do nothing to us. How does he know this? Just because he's the apostle Paul? No, because if you study the word of God, I mean, it's very clear throughout the entire Old Testament that these idols have no power, okay? Remember Dagon? How well did Dagon fare up against God? Not too well, okay? Go back and read that on your own time. So we know that they're nothing. We have this knowledge, but wait a second, okay? There's another group of people that he's already mentioned in verse seven and we're going to look at it again that don't have this knowledge, okay? But yet they do have knowledge, right? They do have a form of knowledge because they think if I eat this or if you eat this, you're literally taking part in a pagan festival and you're going to get defiled. There's going to be something bad that happens to you physically. That's what he's saying, okay? So we know based off of this, you've got two groups with knowledge. You got one with the knowledge that Paul's speaking of. Idols are dumb, they don't know anything. And then you have this other group of people over here that are like, well, hey, we've got these idols, you know, in this meat mixture here, we can't have this meat because bad things are going to happen and this is not good, okay? So does that answer the question? Is your conscience always right? The answer is no. This group over here that believes that they eat it, they're the worst, okay? Their conscience is described as being weak and we don't want to be a group of people that have a weak conscience. So let's look at verse seven again with that in mind. So he says this, Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge, that knowledge that he just said. Idols are dumb, they don't know anything, they can't do anything to us. It is what it is, there's only one God, okay? For some, now look at this, with conscience of the idol. So this group of people that he's mentioning, they've got conscience, they've got knowledge, okay? And they know, hey, this meat right here, man, it was sacrificed to an idol. There is some Muslim guy out there doing some crazy stuff before they butchered this cow and you're gonna get sick and you're gonna believe weird things because of it, okay? But they've got conscience, they've got conscience. Look at the rest of the verse. Unto this hour, eat it as a thing offered unto an idol. So when they eat it, they're like, ah, this is offered unto an idol and it plagues them, it hurts them. That's what it does. It has them in bondage is what it does. And look at this, and their conscience being weak is defiled. So in other words, what you're gonna find here is if we with this knowledge though, choose to take the route of, well, I've got the liberty to offend because I know they're dumb, okay? We just say, oh, you know, brother so-and-so doesn't see it that way. He's all spooked out about this meat. Well, I'm gonna go ahead and do it anyways, okay? What happens to that guy? Now he looks at you and he's just like, oh man, his conscience is defiled. He feels terrible, he feels horrible. You're actually wounding him internally. And by doing so, you're sinning against Christ, which is what you're gonna see here very, very shortly. So what could we say here? What does having a weak conscience mean? How does a person get a weak conscience? Through falsehood, through believing things that are not true. And what I've seen in my own life is by people believing basically commandments of men being taught as doctrine. That is the main one. That is the biggest one that I see is when people just extract things because they don't have anything better to preach and say, oh, well, this is what it is, okay? If you go to this store here, well, then you're gonna be partaking in pagan worship because their CEO's a whatever, okay? That is ridiculous. That is not the way to handle business. So a weak conscience equals what? It equals wrong convictions and wrong convictions equal wrong actions, okay? Wrong convictions lead to unnecessary afflictions. Look at verse number eight. 1 Corinthians chapter eight, verse number eight says, but meat commendeth us not to God for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worst. Now I've heard some of these old IFB guys and just some regular Christian people out here saying, you know, you gotta make sure and check where people are getting their meat and their foods from these days because there is an evil power in the end. It's just like, dude, have you not read the basic doctrines of the Bible, okay? We're not better off by abstaining from that stuff, okay? However, we do have to be careful of other people's conscience. We would rather take the ability to edify any day that we might gain a brother as opposed to just offending them because we have this knowledge. So hopefully that's making sense here. Look at verse nine. Wrong convictions lead to unnecessary afflictions. Look at verse nine. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak, okay? So we don't wanna take this knowledge that we have that the weak brother doesn't have and use it to hurt him. Use it to hurt that person, okay? We want to edify that person. We want to say, you know what? Hey, if this really bothers you, then I'm not gonna do it in front of you. I'm not gonna eat this meat. I'm gonna be on your side here and I am going to try to help you. Now what we're gonna try to do is help you see the truth in that, okay? Because here's the flip side of that. We cannot allow people to control us. And there are people out there that will try to control you through their so-called convictions and we can't go down that road either, okay? And if we have more time, we'll get into that later on. So look at verse 10. For if any man see thee which has knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? So he's saying, hey, look, if people see you in there, like for example, you know, you got, it says any man. So say you're like, okay, I know that's nothing. I'm gonna go to this burger joint, whatever. And people walk by and are like, hey, he goes to, you know, this is Baptist church, you know, and he's eating in there. It's all good. They might think, oh, you're cool with pagan worship. I can go in there and be emboldened. That's what emboldened means. It means to be made courageous and to take action in that. And then what have you done at that point? Well, you've emboldened them to do things that are against their conscience. Look at here in verse 11, he says, and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. He ain't gonna lose his salvation. Okay, but he's gonna perish. He's gonna be discouraged and be out of church and be out of this and be out of that. Look at verse 12, but when you sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. So Paul says this in verse 13, wherefore if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth lest I make my brother to offend. Now, obviously, if you know Paul, he speaks a lot in hyperbole. He's not saying I will never eat food again for the rest of my life if that offends a brother. The point of this chapter is to take the knowledge, right, and use it for the ability to edify versus taking knowledge for the liberty to offend. That's the whole point. Why? Because we want to strengthen a person's conscience. How do you strengthen someone's conscience that is weak? It's very easy, okay, by giving them truth in a way that will convict them, in a way that gets to the conscience. And the only thing that can do that is the word of God. So these fables and these cute little stories, okay, they might help illustrate points at certain times, but that's not gonna convict somebody, okay? Conviction can only come through a mixture of the word of God and the Holy Spirit working on a person, plain and simple. So with that being said, go to Matthew chapter number 20. Matthew chapter number 20. So hopefully that kind of gives you some thought about the role of conscience in conviction, okay? Conviction is what? Conviction is a strongly held belief that takes action. It causes you to do something. We see that example in John chapter eight when Jesus spoke those words, what did those people do? They realized their conscience smote them, and they said, you know what? We're out of here. They didn't say anything, just one by one, just nothing to see here. Let's just go ahead and tiptoe on out. Let's just go ahead and leave him alone. This did not work out. And what happened? Well, that woman got a chance at healing because Jesus is like, I'm not gonna condemn you either, okay, and so she was blessed and she was helped in that situation. I need you to have that fresh in your mind because what we're gonna do now is we're gonna shift gears and we're gonna talk about the difference between conviction and condemnation, okay, conviction and condemnation. So Matthew chapter number 20. So remember, John chapter eight, that conviction, it was very specific, wasn't it? It was very specific. Verse six, very clear. They tried to trap him. That's what it says. They tried to trap Jesus. That was their whole goal, okay, and Jesus said, fine. Go ahead and whoever's, you know, sinless here, start chucking stones. Throw the first one. Let's go. And no one, no one even attempted, okay? They all got convicted and they took action and they left the scene. So we can see based off of that example that conviction is very specific. Now I wanna show you some examples in the Bible this evening that condemnation is the opposite of specific, okay? Matthew chapter 20, look at verse 17. The Bible says, and Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the 12 disciples apart in the way and said unto them, behold, we go up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes. Now look at this, and they shall condemn him to death. Okay, notice that word. They're going to condemn him to death. They're going to do something that brings permanent guilt and a lockdown conviction. No pun intended, I'm not trying to use that word in the sense we just went over, but they're gonna try to get him convicted to a sentence of death. And they're gonna do that by condemning him. Okay, look at verse 19. And shall deliver him in, or sorry, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify him. And the third day shall rise again. Go to John chapter number 19. Now let's look at an example of how they did this. How did the crowd condemn Jesus, okay? Was it specific? Did they say, hey, we got the law open right here. These verses, here's what he did. Did they make a crystal clear case? If you're familiar with the gospel story, you know that is not the case. They were what? They were very vague. Remember the enemy likes to operate, like I said on Sunday, through vagueness and simplicity and like a broken record, just keep putting those things out there. Got several vague statements that they like to throw out in front of your face. They like to keep it simple because that's what subdues the masses by and large, okay? It is the same thing when someone is trying to condemn you. So let's look at an example here. John 19, verse seven. Jesus already told us, Matthew 20, that the crowds, the scribes, the chief priests are gonna condemn him, okay? Verse seven. So in this trial, this kangaroo court trial here, verse seven, John 19, it says this. The Jews answered him, we have a law and by our law he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. Now is that specific? No, that is very general. That is very broad. Well, we have a law and by our law he ought to die because he made himself the son of man. What verse? Let's get the law out there. Whoever, who goes to court and the lawyer is just like, well, we got laws that say you just can't do this. I mean, that's kind of the direction our country's going, but that's not right. You know, that's not right. That's what cops do, right? Think about that. That's what police do here. What happens when the police get called on us most of the time? Are they specific? When we pull out the specific law that clearly states we're not soliciting, what do they say? Well, but they said you gotta go, so you guys gotta go. A lot of times that's the road they take, isn't it? Well, but you gotta go. He's trying to trick you because he doesn't know his own darn job. That's why he's being vague. He wants a result and doesn't want to dig deep into the truth, so he just throws these vague statements out there. Well, they said you have to go and they try to scare you. Oh, well, we could trespass you. We could just trespass you. You're wrong. You're breaking the law. They don't want you here, so you gotta go. And I'm a law officer, so you have to do what I say. That's pretty vague. What does the law say? I have the law here. You're a law enforcement officer. Why aren't you following the law? Why aren't you following the law? Oh, because you don't know the law, because you're a huckster is what you are. That's what these people are doing here. They're not giving out any specific details. They're just like, we got a law. He said he's the son of God. He's gotta go. What about all the miracles he did? What about all the people that he healed? That nobody else could do these things and everybody knows this, but yet you're gonna sit here and spew out this vagueness. Look at verse 12. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him. Look, even the Gentile heathen Pilate's like, this guy ain't done nothing wrong. He knows the truth. He knows that for envy, he was delivered. He knows what the Bible says. He knows that, okay? And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, like they do, saying, if thou let this man go, thou are not Caesar's friend. Spoken like a true Jew, right? That's how they operate. Vagueness. What does that even mean? You're not Caesar's friend, okay? Is that specific? Is there a law? Is there a scroll on the wall of the halls in Rome to say, in order to be Caesar's friend, you must do one, two, three, one through 10, you know? And you've broken these specifically. No, you're not Caesar's friend if you don't do what we say, saying if thou let this man go, thou are not Caesar's friend, whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar. So they're like, well, we got a law and he broke it. And you're not Caesar's friend if you don't believe us and he's going against Caesar. Yeah, that's it. All right, that ain't very specific, okay? But these are the things they just kept throwing out there. Why? Because the scribes and the chief priests and the Pharisees, they were going through the crowd like Jews do and stirring people up. And of course they got no facts, they ain't got no specifics, right? What do they have? They have condemnation. That's why Jesus said, they're going to condemn me to death. That's what they did. They didn't have any proof. They weren't able to come up with anything that is a specific conviction. No, they had condemnation, slurs, and just throw this and throw that. So I'm going to say this. You can leave your place there in John 19. We're going to come back to the Gospel of John though, but go to 1 John chapter number three, okay? So let me just give you some things to think about. Conviction is specific, condemnation is vague. So an example of that is that conviction says, hey, you're not reading the Bible. It's been X amount of, it's been like three weeks since you read the Bible. You're not reading the Bible. Conviction, okay? Condemnation says, you're a loser. You don't have it in you to read the Bible. Why even try? Okay, that's condemnation. That's what condemnation does, okay? Conviction says, hey, you shouldn't have flipped out on the kids like that. Condemnation says, you're a horrible mom. You're a horrible dad. That's what you are, okay? You see where I'm going with this? Condemnation is vague, whereas conviction is specific. Condemnation are always labels, okay? When I went to the Red Hot Preaching Conference, I preached a sermon and it had these three points. They're very simple, okay? The devil loves to label us in our flesh. And you're gonna see this, I'm gonna prove this to you. Our flesh also loves to label us. And what I said is that if the devil can label you, then he can lure you, meaning he can direct you. He can take you places that you ordinarily would not want to go. And if he can do those two things to you, then he can liquidate you, meaning he can get rid of you in some way, shape, or form. And I don't wanna re-preach that, but that's what I'm saying here, okay? Conviction is specific. Condemnation is vague. So a conviction might be like, hey, you know, that wasn't a good purchase. You know, you're not doing good with the money right now. Condemnation says, you're always gonna be broke. You're always gonna be low. You're always gonna be poor. You don't have it in you. You're not one of those people. A condemnation is always some kind of a label, some kind of a nasty attachment, label, tag, whatever you wanna call it that is put on you, okay? Now, we're gonna start reading here in 1 John chapter three. We're gonna look at verse number 18. We're gonna read verses 18 through 22. So remember, conviction is specific toward a specific situation. Like in John chapter eight, okay, they were trying to trap him. They were trying to trap Christ. He spoke the word of God. It resonated with the conscience that they had and they took action, okay? Which was definitely a good thing. But condemnation is broad. Condemnation is very vague. That's what you see in Matthew 20, John 19, okay? Jesus said, hey, they're gonna condemn me to death. He didn't say they're gonna, hey, they got a clear cut case. I'm gonna be found guilty on all these crystal clear charges. I didn't, no, he didn't say that. They're gonna condemn me. Why? Because they can't convict me. Because conviction is specific. Condemnation is broad. It's vague. Now let me show you something here. Where does this condemnation come from then? First John three, look at verse number 18. So John says, my little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth. And shall assure our hearts before him. Okay, so he's on the subject of our hearts. Look at verse 20. For if our heart, now look at that word, condemn. If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Okay, so I want you to see this here that our hearts, okay, your heart, which is desperately wicked. It's, you know, it deceives in many, many, many different ways. We know this, okay. For if our heart condemn us, look at that. God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. Again, okay, confidence is the opposite of weakness. Hey, we'd rather be confident. We'd rather have confidence through knowing and understanding truth so that our conscience doesn't become weak and we put ourselves in a situation where we might get defiled, okay, where we bring in unnecessary affliction, in other words. So verse 21, again, beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. But what's the point here? Well, if our heart does condemn us on any kind of a certain situation, well, God's greater than our hearts and we know all things. Obviously, the God knows all things, look at verse 22. And what soever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. I wish I had more time to delve into that, but I want you to go to Revelation chapter number 10. So the first area that condemnation comes from is the old man. It is the flesh, okay. Condemnation comes from the flesh, but what I'm gonna show you next is that condemnation also comes from the devil, Revelation chapter 12, verse 10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. Now look at this, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Accusing, accusations, that is what the devil, that is what his minions do. And guess what? They do that to us. They might do that through your flesh in a way that we just can't see, but it does happen. Or he will use other people in your life to do this to you, okay. And the way that you distinguish these voices, okay, is by understanding what conviction is. Conviction is specific. Condemnation is vague. Condemnation is always a label. You are this because I said so. And it comes either from your old man, because your old man hates that new man, or it comes from the devil or even possibly a combination of the two, okay. So point number one about conviction, conviction is specific toward a specific situation, like sin or something of that nature, but condemnation is broad. It's a label, vague. And number two, condemnation comes from the flesh or a devil, but conviction comes from the Holy Ghost. Go to John chapter number three. So two passages left and we'll be done for tonight. John chapter three and Matthew chapter 27. So John chapter number three, you say, well, I believe that God's condemning me. I feel that's just what it is, you know, and I'm through. You gotta remember your John chapter three, you're looking at verse 17. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. The question is, do you believe the Bible? Do you believe the word of God? The Bible is very clear here. God did not come to condemn the world. So where does condemnation come from? Well, from the lost, let's look at them for a second, okay. So when a person in the Bible says, well, that person's condemned to hell, okay. And those passages, they condemned themselves because in their hearts, when they were confronted with the truth, they said, you know what, I just don't wanna believe that. So they condemned themselves. God didn't do it. God provided a clear pathway to get saved. Super easy, super simple. There's plenty of evidence in the Bible that when a person responds well to their conscience, God makes sure and get them the gospel. I don't have time to go in there tonight, but you can check me on that. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. So what did he send? Who did he send? He sent the Holy Ghost. Okay, and the Holy Ghost is, what is his job? It's to convict people. It's not to condemn, but to demonstrate and to reprove the world of sin and judgment and things like this. Look at verse 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. Why? Because God just said, you're going to hell and there ain't nothing you can do about it. No, look at what it says. Because he, again, him, unsaved, all he has is old man. He hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. Okay, so what's the source again of condemnation? It is the old man. It is the flesh or it is the devil. Verse 19, and this is the condemnation that light is come into the world. Not has come into the world, but is present and is come into the world. And men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. And that solves it because man loves evil and loves darkness and rejects light by and large. Okay, they condemn themselves. Verse 20, for everyone that doeth evil, hateth light, neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. We know that the Holy Ghost operates through the church in this world to get this information out there. Okay, but the point is that there is no condemnation to the believer. Look at verse 18 again. He that believeth on him is not condemned. So when you start hearing in your heart, these labels, you suck, you're this, you're that. Okay, and it's vague. Okay, I'm serious. You guys need to get this and need to understand this. Okay, you have to understand that you are under attack. You are under attack by yourself, a demon or something of that nature. Go to Matthew chapter 27 and we'll be done. And the way to really overcome this is really through this knowledge, which should strengthen your conscience right now. When you get, wait, conviction is specific because God did not come to condemn the world. I'm saved, I believe the gospel. So where is this coming from? What am I doing? Who am I surrounding myself with right now that could be triggering this? Okay, that's the question we need to be asking. Those are the types of things we need to be looking into. So here's an example of this, okay? This is just gonna kind of wrap up everything that we talked about. We're gonna look at Judas here, okay? Cause Judas was moved. Judas was, some people would say, well, he was convicted and he repented, okay? Well, let's look at that. Matthew 27, look at verse three. This needs no introduction. Everybody in here knows this. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned. So he knew, he knew he was condemned. Now who condemned him? Did Satan condemn him? I'm sure he did after he betrayed Christ, right? But he chose in himself of his own volition to not trust Christ and to put himself in this position. But when he saw that he was condemned, look at this, repented himself and brought again 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. Now some people say, well, that word condemned needs to be changed to conviction. Okay, it's still a wrong conviction. Hey, no, he was condemned and he saw that in himself. Verse four, saying, I have sinned and that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And he said, what is that to us? See thou to it, right? So he's trying to return the money. He's trying to make good on what he did. Of course, these guys, they're like, yeah, take the money, get out of here. Well, we can't, there's blood on that stuff, man. We don't want it back. Look at verse five. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. Why are you, say, why are you bringing us up? You'll see in a second here. Okay, verse six. And the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, it is not lawful for to put them into the treasury because it is the price of blood. Oh, good on you for following the law there, huh? Verse seven. And they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in. Verse eight, wherefore that field was called the field of blood unto this day. So I brought that up for point number three, which is this. Conviction leads to action and condemnation leads to retraction. That's what it does. That's what Judas did. People say, well, you took action. No, he retracted. What condemnation is, it's vague, it's a label, it's broad, it's an accusation is what it is, okay? And so when you hear these things inside of your heart, inside of your head, you have to realize that the action you may be thinking about taking is nothing more than a retraction. Meaning, what does it do? What does condemnation do? It causes you to move away from truth and to isolate and to shut down. And what does it say here in verse five? Look at it again. So he saw that he was condemned. So what does condemnation lead to? And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself, okay? Condemnation leads to death, to destruction. Now, obviously a believer is not going to go to hell. However, believers can come under attack of condemnation. And if that believer is not wise, does not understand the difference between condemnation and conviction, can make wrong choices. And that choice will lead to destruction. That's why I say conviction leads to action, but condemnation leads to retraction. It can lead to a retraction of life, a retraction of your walk with Christ and just going off into the world. Who knows what? It's nothing good, that's for sure. And all for this, all for a vague, broad, ignorant statement that somebody or something put inside of your mind, inside of your heart. So just a real quick review here. We're done right here. Okay, conviction is specific. I have to make sure you understand this. Conviction is specific, but condemnation is vague. It is broad, okay? There are several more examples that I don't have time to get into tonight. It is all throughout the Bible, okay? Number two, condemnation comes from the flesh or the devil, whereas conviction comes through the Holy Spirit, okay? That's his job, is to call out. That's why we're told not to quench the Spirit, okay? So when you get convicted, you have to understand this is going to be something specific or should be something specific that you're doing wrong that you need to make a change on, okay? In conviction, you say, why is it important to understand specific, okay? Because specificity is basically surrounded in truth, okay? The Bible is filled with specific truths. There's nothing really, there are some passages that we could say, these things are vague, but as a whole, the Word of God is very specific. Salvation is very clear. Sin is very clear, okay? Sanctification is very clear. And so when we understand that, we can make adjustments, okay? The whole point of condemnation is to derail somebody. It's to make you spend unnecessary time and affliction that you don't need. And last but not least, conviction leads to action, condemnation leads to retraction, which means to pull back. It will cause you to pull back, shut down, internalize wrong things, and it just destroys people. That's what it is. It just takes people out of the game, and it's game over, and it does nobody any good whatsoever. So we're gonna stop it right there for tonight. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, for this church and for all that you do for us. I just pray that you'd help us to understand these things, Lord, and be able to help people that are confused on these because it is a life-saving testimony that you have given us, Lord. And we know that you came to bring life, peace, not death and destruction. We thank you, Lord, for all that you do for us. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen. All right, one more song, and then we'll be dismissed.