What’s the Condition of Your Conviction?

The title of today's sermon is—and yes, I'm giving the title first this time—and it's a question, and it's also the topic that we will be addressing today. The title of today's sermon is, What's the Condition of Your Conviction? What's the Condition of Your Conviction? I thought that'd make it easier to remember.

We'll begin with defining the meaning of conviction. And yes, I'm going to turn to Merriam-Webster.com—or I did, I should say, I don't have my laptop in front of me. Merriam-Webster.com defines conviction as a strong persuasion or a strong belief. It's also defined as—conviction is also defined as—the state of being convinced. The state of being convinced. Synonyms, other words for conviction include certainty, assurance, and confidence. Certainty, assurance, and confidence. When it comes to words, negative meanings, opposite meanings are also very helpful to help us grasp the meaning of a particular word. In this case, conviction is the opposite of doubt.

It's the opposite of uncertainty. Conviction is the opposite of disbelief. So, when we talk about conviction, I hope that will clarify it for all of us today, and if it's been somewhat unclear through the years, I hope that goes a long way. Conviction is the opposite of doubt, uncertainty, and disbelief.

When it comes to God's Scripture, conviction means to be thoroughly convinced and confident that what God says or has promised is true. It is true, and if it's yet to come, it will happen.

Bivically speaking, a man or woman of conviction is someone who lives with total confidence in the truth of God's Word, and that what God says he will do. He will do it. You can't say that about many things in the world, but we can of God.

And so, this conviction we're talking about, especially this what we might call biblical conviction, that is the conviction we must have in our walk with God unto the kingdom, unto salvation.

Abraham, among the many people of Scripture—and there are many that express and demonstrated conviction to God—Abraham perhaps best exemplifies a man of conviction, a man who helped fast to God's Word and promise. And I did listen in on Mr. Moody's sermon last week, and he spoke at length about Abraham, but I gave this message last Sabbath, so it's interesting how these things dovetail at times. But I'm actually going to read a little bit different part. I don't believe Mr. Moody mentioned this part, but instead of going to Genesis 15, I'd like for us to turn to Romans 4 16. Romans chapter 4, where the apostle Paul does give us some insights as to why Abraham is called the father of the faithful, why he so wonderfully exemplifies a man of conviction.

And so Romans 4 16, to begin, I just want to touch upon that verse in verse 16. Romans 4 verse 16.

And it talks about, he speaks about, he says, Romans 4 verse 16, therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, speaking about Abraham's descendants, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Father of us all, as Paul will go on to continue to speak on or develop, through faith Abraham set the example of believing God, doing what God says, and proving that he is faithful and believing God through his actions, his actions such as following through, he's ready to kill his son Isaac, and believing that God would, from his old body and the old body of his wife, as we're about to read here, that God would give them a child of promise, and from that child many nations, and any special seed that would be a blessing to all peoples. All of these things Abraham believed before it had happened, and it's pretty amazing, his conviction. So let's read now a little further down, verses 18 through 22, and this is Paul explaining what I tried to summarize a little bit here. Verses 18 through 22, as Abraham Paul says, who, verse 18, as Abraham Paul says, who contrary to hope, against normal hope, and hope believed, of course he believed because he believed in God, who contrary to hope and hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, and what was spoken, as God said, so shall your descendants be. There would be many nations. Verse 19, and notice here's another phrase, in not being weakened faith, he was the opposite, he did not consider his own body already dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb. So he didn't see that as an obstacle to what God had promised. He didn't let his physical sight obscure the promises or make him doubt the things God said. Verse 20, and he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief. Remember, unbelief's the opposite of conviction. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced, you could say convicted, that what he had promised he, God, was also able to perform. And therefore it was accounted to him, or God accounted to Abraham, it was accounted to him for righteousness. His faith, his key, was key to his righteousness, and so faith is key to righteousness still. Abraham believed God. He was confident that God could and would keep his promise, and God did. He kept his promise to Abraham many, many times, and he's still in the process of keeping that. It's not history. God is still in the process of keeping his promise to Abraham. Because of Abraham's conviction, his strong belief in God, Abraham trusted and obeyed God, and God judged him to be righteous, and this is the same faith-filled conviction and commitment to God that Abraham had and that other faithful men and women had. We see that in the Bible, and it's the same faith you and I are building, and God is helping us to build it now, and we must choose to have right in line with what we heard in today's sermonette. Now, I'd like for us to consider a few other examples, looking to Scripture, a few other examples of men and women of conviction, biblical conviction of God, believing God. So let's turn back to Exodus chapter 1 to begin with. Exodus chapter 1.

Exodus chapter 1, and I'm not going to read all these verses of any of these accounts. You might want to jot down, and you can go back and study later today or part of your study this week. You read the whole account and dig even a little deeper into what I'm going to touch upon today. That would be a fantastic thing to do. Exodus 1 tells us how a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph commanded the Hebrew midwives. Their names were Shipra and the name of the other, Puah. You see that? Exodus 1 verse 15. He commanded those Hebrew midwives to kill the infant boys. Verse 16, and he said, When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth schools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him. But if it is a daughter, then she shall live.

But you know what we find out right away? The midwives feared God. They fear God means to respect God, to revere God, to do what God says, to place him above anything else, ultimately, is what we should be doing. They feared God. Verse 17 says it, But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. So the king of Egypt called from the midwives, and he said to them, Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?

And they gotta love their story. And the midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are lively, and give birth before the midwives come to them.

Well, satisfied Pharaoh, I guess. Verse 20 tells us, Then therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. And these two midwives have their name in Scripture that people have been reading about for some thousands of years now. Isn't that something?

Now, my question is for us, would we have had the conviction to risk our lives for those babies? You know, put ourselves back in their shoes. Would we have been able to do that? Would we have helped and saved those families from that loss?

Let's look to Daniel chapter 3 now, one of our favorite accounts, historical accounts in Scripture. Daniel chapter 3 gives us another account of, in this case, three men of conviction. Daniel 3 tells us how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar's gold image, even after he had given them a clear option, a clear choice. It's interesting. Their choice also is life or death. And we're going to begin this account. We're going to start in verse 15. I want to begin Daniel 3 verse 15 with the second sentence about midway in that Scripture in your Bible. Daniel 3 verse 15, second sentence. In the previous sentence, Nebuchadnezzar is telling them, when you hear the music play, you need to fall down and worship the idol. And if you do, you're okay. Now quoting, But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? says Nebuchadnezzar.

And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace. And He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. You know, they seem rather respectful to the king, but they're telling him, very frankly, Sir, we worship God. We cannot worship your idol. We fear God more than we fear you.

And so these three men trusted God totally with their lives. And of course, if we remember the account, Nebuchadnezzar immediately ordered some soldiers to wrap them up in ropes and toss them in the fiery furnace. But the fiery furnace had been stoked up to such a great heat that the soldiers themselves died throwing these three friends down into the furnace. Let's pick up the account in verse 23. In these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we know their names well, they fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. And then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? And they answered and said to the king, True, O king, Walk, he answered, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire. And they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Isn't that amazing?

God miraculously delivered these three men, these three probably young men, they'd known each other for a long time, worshiped God together, and now they serve together in exile in Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. God miraculously delivered them. They stood up for their conviction. Would we have had the conviction to face this fierce king in this fiery furnace? Would we have been able to do that?

Now let's turn to Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 5, again, we're reading accounts of men and women in Scripture who were convicted of God's Word, convicted of God and His truth.

Acts chapter 5, and what we find here, and again you can read the entire account as part of your study, what we find here is that Peter and the apostles have been in prison. They're in a point in this account. They're in prison. They've been in prison for teaching in the name of Jesus Christ. They're in prison right now. But then let's look at verse 19. This is where we'll start picking up part of the story. They're in prison, but at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, notice these instructions, verse 20, the angel said, go stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.

What life is he talking about? The life of God, the way of Christ, the gospel of salvation.

And so they did. They did it. And what happened? They're arrested again, and this time they were brought before the Sanhedrin. And now let's turn to verse 28. Verse 28, we're still in Acts chapter 5, verse 28. The high priest now is addressing them. The high priest asks them, saying, did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? See, they've told them before. They keep not listening to us. Did we not tell you, do not teach in his name? And look, you have filled, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood on us. There's great irony in that, but you read the Bible, you'll find out why. Verse 29. But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men.

And they had been. They'd listened to what the angels had told them the night before. 29. Of course, the result was, get to the point, they were beaten and then commanded again not to teach in the name of Jesus. Verse 41 and 42. As the chapter concludes, and so they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple and in every house, what did they do? They did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Again, they're listening to what God had told them to do.

Would we have had the conviction to stand before these judges to have taken the punishment?

What would our conviction been like? Would we be able to do that? 31. Now let's turn to 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12, 7-10.

2 Corinthians 12, 7-10. Now, this example is somewhat different.

It's about Paul. And Paul, certainly, I think you'd agree with me, was a man of conviction, convicted into the truth of God. And he was a committed servant of God and his church. And in these verses, Paul speaks of a prolonged ailment, an affliction he had. And it's cryptic, I don't know if he did it on purpose, but it's cryptically called a thorn in the flesh.

You've probably heard about that. Let's read 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7. Breaking into his thought, Paul speaks, "'Unless I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations,'" by all these things he was doing, and perhaps he knew that this could be heady stuff for a human being, "'unless I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me.'" He says, "'It's a messenger of Satan to buffet me.

Last, I should be exalted above measure.' Now concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me, that it might depart from me. And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.'" It's a very profound statement. And Paul continues, Paul says, "'Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.'" Now, many people want to know, they've wanted to know for centuries, what was Paul's thorn in the flesh?

I want to know, too. I couldn't quite find the answer. There is great discussion about this. Everyone has their ideas, but the good teacher answer is, I'm not saying that's right, I'm a good teacher, but a good teacher answer is, we don't know. We don't know exactly. And that's okay, God knows, and we can believe what Paul says, and that's good enough. It's possible it was a physical ailment of some sort. Many suspect it may have had something to do with his eyesight.

In others, they may equally be correct. It may have been a spiritual struggle of some sort, something that he was challenged with and wanted relief from. But the point is that Paul asked three times for this thorn in the flesh to be removed, but God refused. You see, Paul's weakness made him better and stronger spiritually. It caused him to draw closer to God.

And if you've gone through times, you might call troubled times, times of weakness in your life. I think you'll recall how you found great strength by turning to God. When we're weak, then we are strong. Strong in God and Christ. Paul's conviction, though, is such, and his commitment was such, that he humbly accepted God's will. He didn't keep asking about it. He accepted it. Neither did he say, well, God's not answering my prayer.

I'm going to go find another what? What could he possibly worship? There's nothing else to worship. The only thing worthy of worship is God. So he remained committed to God and convicted of the truth. He accepted it. The point is, Paul never stopped trusting God.

And so a question we have to ask ourselves, if afflicted with ailments and suffering that seem unending—and I know there are a number of us in our congregations that are in that condition right now—if afflicted with the ailments and suffering that seems unending, would we have such conviction as Paul did to remain committed and faithful to God? Would we have that sort of conviction ourselves? And last, let's go back to Acts chapter 7. I know this is a little sequence here, but I did that on purpose. Let's go back to Acts chapter 7, because I'd like for us to consider an example, another example.

You see, in some ways, Paul's account didn't get the intervention, the deliverance he had hoped for, like the three previous accounts suggest. Paul had to keep enduring with the suffering. And here in Acts 7, we see the example of Stephen. Stephen, we are told in Acts 6, verse 8, Stephen was a man full of faith and power, and he did great wonders and signs among the people.

He was a deacon. He was a deacon in God's church, in the early church, and he was a man of deep conviction and fearless in teaching in Jesus' name. We also know that Stephen was the first martyr among Christ followers. He was the first. He died for teaching and speaking God's truth. And if you look with me in Acts 7, and I'm just going to, again, highlight a few verses. You can read the whole account on your own. I hope you will. Some of the things he said after this long discussion of God's promises to Abraham being fulfilled, and they're fulfilled, and God is God, and he keeps his promises. You can trust God. You can live your life with the assurance that God will do as he says he will. But he also said some things as he was winding up the point under inspiration of God. It's in verse 51 where you see some of the things that really kind of set off the crowd. Here's what he says. He accused his listeners of, quote, I'm reading verse 51, of being, quote, stiff-necked and uncircumcised and heart and ears.

In other words, they had no intention of hearing the truth of God. They had no intention of really opening their hearts and minds and being humble to listen to the message he was inspired to give. Also, he accused them, at the end of verse 52, he called them, he said, they were betrayers and murderers. If you look at the entire verse, they were betrayers and murderers of the just one. Well, who is the just one? Whom did he mean? Who is he talking about? The Messiah, Jesus Christ. And the enraged mob sought to kill him. Let's pick it up now. We'll read a little bit more, verse 54-58. And when they heard these things, I'm sure there are some other things, when they heard these things, this crowd, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed at him with their teeth. That's a very vivid picture of anger and hatred. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

He's telling the truth. That's what he saw. And then they cried out with a loud voice. They stopped their ears and they ran at him with one accord. And they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And of course, that is Paul. And that is Paul.

Holding faster a conviction in God and Christ and in the gospel of the kingdom of God, will not always be without suffering and death, as we've seen with the example in Paul and in here, the example of Stephen. In this example in particular, I find to be a very sobering reminder that God's faithful ones must be willing to die for their conviction.

And that was part of the county of the cost, I'm sure we all did, prior to baptism. We recognize that we are choosing the option of life in God's way of light.

And the darkness hates the light. But that's the path we chose. And so we recognize, yes, we too might need to lay down our lives because of our conviction. And so the question then is, in this account, would we express such conviction to God, even unto death?

Now I'm not going through these to crush our spirits, to make us squirm, although I squirm when I read these accounts. You see, I recognize in many ways I'm maybe not there either in having this sort of conviction we see displayed, demonstrated through Scripture. But the good news is, the good news is, God is helping us to be at that point. Now to be frank, none of us knows what we might have done in any of these situations because we weren't in that situation, right?

You've lived long enough, perhaps you have surprised yourself with things that you found courage to do and say when you're in a moment of crisis, maybe to hold your job when you were told you can't work here anymore because the holy days are becoming too much of a conflict. And we said, okay, well, I liked working here, but see ya. God provided us oftentimes another job that was much better than the previous one. That's the way God takes care of us. God knows what we need. He knows what is coming. He knows what the future holds. And He has promised, remember, we can count on Him, the assurance that He will help us. He has promised to help us grow in His grace and knowledge. He will help us to have the strength of faith, the conviction, and that commitment, and the character that we need to grow and be firm in the ways of God, that we can withstand whatever might come. And so these accounts and examples are meant for our edification. They are meant for our encouragement. As God helped His people in the past, because God does not change, there's no shadow of turning. As God helped His faithful ones in the past, we know He helps His faithful ones today. It's our choice to keep choosing to do what He says, to follow through. God in Christ, again, I say, knows what's coming. And they are helping us, even now, in ways we might understand. Even now, they're helping our children, our young ones. They have their own crises of decision-making, of what they must do. Are they going to go with the crowd? Are they going to do what Mom and Dad always taught them, what the Bible, what they hear being preached and taught. They have their crises. God's working with them at their age, starting very young, because that's when it starts. You have to learn young, but you're never too old to learn, and we're still learning that today ourselves. Let's look at Matthew 24. I said that God and Christ, obviously, they know what's coming, and they are helping us to develop the conviction, the commitment, the righteous character, and, yes, the courage we need to face times now and times to come. Matthew 24, just a reminder, a taste of what Jesus taught and warned us about. Matthew 24, verse 9 through 13. Jesus is speaking as disciples, and he begins to warn them about times to come when lawlessness will be, what, supreme at the end of the age. We're going to see this word, lawlessness, a couple times in scriptures. It's from the Greek word anomia, a-n-o-m-i-a, anomia. It means iniquity and wickedness as well. And so, Matthew 24, verse 9, Jesus said, Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Then many false prophets, false teachers, will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, iniquity, wickedness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

That's a dreary picture, but I love how this section ends. Verse 13, But he who endures to the end shall be saved. Lawlessness, I think we can see, is ongoing now. Now some have hope. Oh, things are getting better. We have it in the United States of America. We have a new administration in Washington, D.C., and things have settled down. There's been some armed conflicts that seem to have settled down a bit. Oh, things are going to get better. I don't believe I don't think so. Personally, I hope I'm wrong in one sense, but I do know what Jesus just said here.

Lawlessness is going on. In many ways, it may have just kind of dipped down below the surface. We don't see it as much, perhaps. It's not in the media as much. But I believe it is ongoing, and I believe it's intensifying. And in due time, it will come back because human beings do not like to do what is righteous according to God. And again, Jesus said it will worsen, but we must endure to the end. Now, the word to endure, from the Greek, it means to persevere. To endure means to persevere under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one's faith in Christ. That's Thayer's Greek lexicon. To persevere under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one's faith in Christ. And so, to endure and persevere to the end requires the same thing we saw in these examples earlier. It requires conviction. It requires commitment. It requires that living faith in God. We, when we endure—and this is, again, some of the good news—when we endure, we will be among the first fruits of salvation and all the blessings that will come our way, the rewards that will come our way for being faithful. And we'll receive those in the kingdom. And of course, we receive many blessings now in this lifetime, too, don't we? The fact is, God is helping us. God is helping us. Now, in the time remaining, I would like to consider these accounts, these multiple accounts we've read, to see if we can draw out some basic concepts, some principles of encouragement, some things we need to think about when it comes to our conviction in God. What does that mean? And so, let me give you the first one.

One of the first attributes or features of conviction, something we need to understand, something we need to put deep in our heart. Number one is, God defines for us right from wrong.

When we live by conviction, we look to God, just as you heard in the sermon at today. We look to God. God defines for us right from wrong. Followers of God and Christ believe that God, not man, defines right from wrong. God defines righteousness from truth, those moral facts of true life by which God wants us, in all humanity, to live. And the fact is, one day everyone will live by those truths of God. God's love and way of life is broadly summarized in His Ten Commandments. I'm sure I hope we know that. You can look them up, Exodus 20 and also Deuteronomy 5. God's commandments broadly summarize God's law and way of life. They are the basis of the convictions, the conviction that should guide us in life. They define God's righteousness and love. The commandments define, help us understand righteous character, the way God is, His character, and the way of life that God has always wanted humanity to live by. They also, by their wording, their phrasing, also define what sin is, what it means when we break God's law. Disobeying God's law is sin. I'm sure you remember 1 John 3-4. 1 John 3-4 says, whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness. Anomia, again. Iniquity, witness. Sin is lawlessness. And the wages of sin is death. Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death. Now Jesus Christ also taught him more fuller, expanded understanding, a spiritual dimension, we might say, of the law. And so Christ helps us to understand that even to hate someone in your heart, you know, I'm not hating you, I'm smiling at you. It's only the daggers in my eyes. No, no, no. We know how this works. And definitely Christ did, and God does. And He warns us. So Jesus taught to hate someone is akin to murder. You read that Matthew 5, 21-22. Matthew 5, 21-22. And then He adds, even too lust for a woman is to commit adultery with her in one's heart. You don't have to put a finger on her. But the lust for her in your heart, that is adultery. Matthew 5, 27-28. These things were radical at the time. They hadn't been understood that way before. That's how desperately humanity needed the help of God to understand more and more what His righteousness, what His truth is. We tend to want to box up God's righteousness and truth in little packages and put a lid on it. It may be carried around.

That's not the way it is. Let's look at Psalm 19. Psalm 19, verse 7-8. One of the beautiful Psalms that praises God, specifically praises God's law. It gives us perspective. This needs to be our perspective. This needs to be how we see God's commandments, God's law, frankly, His instruction, all Scripture. Psalm 19, verse 7-8. But here He's specifically speaking of the law. Psalm 19, verse 7-8 tells us that God's law is perfect. And so we read, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. That word for soul is nafesh. Nafesh means that living being. It can convert a person. It can turn the whole perspective, a whole direction, and how we live life. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. So very quickly, Psalmist David tells us that God's law is perfect. It's sure. It's right and pure. Is there any doubt that man did not make God's law? Man couldn't do this. God created the law. It's God's law, not man-made. Let's also look at Isaiah 8, verse 16. Isaiah 8, verse 16. If we're convicted of God's truth and committed to his way of righteousness, then it's very important that we be comparing our ways and values in the ways and values of society to what? To God's Word. You already knew the answer. It was given in the sermonette. We thank God for that. If we're convicted of God's truth, we're going to be comparing. Isaiah 8, verse 16. Here's what we read. It's interesting. It says, God, through the prophet says, bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples. To seal it, may that be part of us. Let it become in our hearts and minds. And of course, we understand through God's Holy Spirit, he is writing God's law in our hearts and minds. If we let him. Verse 20. Jumping to verse 20. Again, God, through Isaiah, says, to the law and to the testimony. If they, whoever they is, if they do not speak according to this word, the law and the testimony, Scripture, it is because there is no light in them. No light. Christ is the light of man and starkness. We want to be guided. I'm sure you agree with me. Don't you want a light to guide you? I do. So we need to hold fast in faith and believe and obey God's Scriptures. Hold your place in Isaiah. We're going to come right back here in a little bit, but let's turn now to 2 Timothy 2.19. 2 Timothy 2.19. Being convicted and committed to God means that we want to be building our lives on the solid foundation of God's Word.

We should be wanting to build our lives. If we're convicted and committed to God, we want to build it on God's Word. That's a solid foundation. We certainly should not want to be building it. We're no longer building it on the shifting sands of society's values or even of our own ideas and notions. 2 Timothy 2.19. 2 Timothy 2.19. Here Paul tells Timothy, Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal, though Lord knows those who are His, and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Naming the name of Christ just doesn't say, oh yeah, you can say Jesus all you want. It's talking about who names the name of Jesus, who respects the authority, who bows and bends to the authority, who is convicted of the authority of God in Christ. And so if any of our ideas are ways to align with God's truth, then we need to we need to chuck them, as we say in vernacular. We need to get rid of them, toss them out. They're no good. They're rotten. It's bad fruit. Get rid of it. We need to chuck our foolishness, repent in humility, and follow God, because we want to stand with God on the solid foundation.

But if you've known anything about your own life, I know about my life, sometimes wrong ideas and beliefs, like bad habits, can be very tough to root out. Have you noticed that? You have to keep working at it. You have to keep digging at it. In addition, human pride can make it difficult for us to let go of our pet ideas, to let go of our ways that, frankly, when we look with humility, in prayer, and fasting to God's word and instruction, we may find many things we hold in our hearts as true, may not be so true. They actually can be contrary. We must be very careful to study God's word, may compare and contrast, study. And that's why we must remember God's warning. If you hold your place, let's go back to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55. That's why we have to remember and be convicted about this truth. Just don't think, yeah, yeah, it's a nice memory verse. Boy, buddy, it's much more than a memory verse. It's a way of life. Isaiah 55, verse 7 through 9. This is how we're supposed to do, again, how we're supposed to handle our unrighteous thoughts and ways. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, and he, the Lord, will have mercy on him. God is merciful, and we repent. And return to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. Do we believe that? Are we convicted about that?

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. So we need to be very careful. Our cherished opinions, our refined feelings, are nothing compared to God's righteousness and truth. How much wires are we are through faith in Christ to believe God's word, his truth? John 1770, God's word is truth. And then, simply, prayerfully and humbly, if God's help, do what he says.

So, and again, again, Scripture tells us that God's word is steadfast and eternal. Isaiah 40, verse 8, tells us, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. One of our hymns we heard today, one of the lyrics we heard talks about men are like grass or like flower that fade. Yeah, we're gonna go away. I'm already fading.

But God's word's eternal. Of that, I don't doubt. I don't worry about that. Jesus Christ himself declared, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. It's Matthew 24, 35. Jesus also said, John 6, 63, the words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life, true life. And that's what we want. It's only God's holy Scripture, only God's holy Scripture provides us God's instruction in righteousness and truth unto true life. Peter once told Jesus, Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Remember Jesus' answer?

To whom shall we go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life. The words we have in Scripture. It's John 6, 68. We need the same attitude and approach to God and his word. And so God, the point is, God defines righteousness and truth. Do we have the conviction to submit in total surrender to God's long word? Are you willing to live and even die for the truth God has revealed to you, to us? Well, that's why, and if you say, well, maybe not yet, and again, we're all getting there. We may be stronger, we may be weaker than we know, but that's why we pray, brethren. That's why we pray and study God's word. And that's why we strive to be ever committed in faith to do what God says. And that's the first point. The second thing we can draw from these accounts, these multiple accounts, is that these men and women of conviction, convicted of God, they had to make a choice. They had to make a choice. Brethren, we have to make a choice.

In each of those five accounts, we find men and women who had to make that choice. God will often allow us, you see, to undergo tests and trials. Some may be a biblical proportion, as we read. Some may be the trial of something going on with a friend and the family, different things. But God allows these tests and trials so we can prove the degree of our faith through our obedience to Him. God gives us free will, therefore. God gives us the ability to make choices, to practice self-control, to practice self-control. Do you recall, do you remember, that self-control is one of the fruits of God's Spirit? Galatians 5, 23. I think a lot of us like, you know, joy and many of these, but don't forget self-control. We need to use it to be faithful to God. Let's turn to Deuteronomy. Guess where? Deuteronomy 30. Mr. Lucas, how about that? Let's turn to Deuteronomy 30, verse 15 through 16. These words, I'm in accord with Mr. Lucas from the sermonette. Deuteronomy 30, 15, 16, these words still apply, brethren. God wants us to control ourselves. He wants us to make right choices, especially He wants us to choose life. Deuteronomy 30, 15. God through Moses says, See, I have set before you today, this day, brethren, life and good, death and evil, and that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply. Historically, it now spiritually froths today. That meaning is there. Continuing verse 19 through 20, it's worth reading again today. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life. We have to make the choice. God will not force it. He cannot force it upon us. Therefore, choose life that both you and your descendants may live, that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days. His way of righteousness is truth, is His true life, eternal life. Absolutely. Paul gives very similar instruction in Romans 6, 11-13. Romans 6, verses 11-13. God is consistent. The message is consistent. Romans 6, verses 11-13.

Paul, writing to his brethren, he says, likewise you. He's talking to church members. Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lust. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. We made that commitment at baptism. That's what we do. We choose life. We come out of that tub or pond or hopefully something bigger in a bucket.

We are to leave that old way, the dead man, the dead ways behind us because we've made a choice. We've chosen the best option, the option of life. We hear a lot about victimhood today. We are not helpless victims. We're not helpless victims, helpless victims of sin. Christ has paid our death penalty for sin so that we might be forgiven, that we might repent, that we might have an eternal relationship with God and with fellow brethren, if we are willing to believe God in Christ, if we recognize our sin, confess it to God, and repent, and if we sincerely ask God our Father to forgive us, and He will, if we forgive others, and then we must be committed to be faithful to God and to go and sin no more. And when we sin, we repent and go and sin no more. And then, you know, it's a way of life. It's a way of life. That's our commitment. That's part of our conviction. We can and must make right choices in faith and obedience, God. We can practice self-control because God gives us the strength and help of His Holy Spirit. We absolutely need God's help. Now, again, doing the right thing is often difficult to do.

It's difficult, and that's why it takes great faith and trust in God. People with a deep and profound conviction in God in His way, they look to God, they believe God, they repent, they confess this, and all these things have just listened. We do that, and God helps us to bear fruit. And among that fruit is more and more self-control. Repenting is tough, but we get better at it if we're faithful and stay close to God.

And so we need to be choosing. We must be choosing to do what's right.

And so the question is, is our conviction strong enough to choose what's good? Is our conviction strong enough to resist temptation, to hold fast to God in that time of crisis?

And if not, we know the answer. You go to God and get that help you need.

When we continue in repentance, stay close to God in prayer and fasting, it's only then that we'll be able to make headway against sin. We'll have that confidence also we need to keep holding fast to God. Third point, again, from these multiple accounts, things we can draw out.

Now, this particular point could be easily overlooked.

When we consider those multiple accounts of a conviction, there's something we might have missed. The fact is that they were not alone.

Those individuals, they were not alone. And we are not alone.

None of those faithful individuals were alone. That may be more important than we realize. You see, the midwives, there are two of them. The three friends, three, Paul and the apostles, they weren't alone as they took their stand to hold fast to God. They are convicted together. Surely, having a friend, having a brother and sister of similar conviction, standing with you at such a time is a wonderful way to bolster one another's faith. That must have made a tremendous difference for them.

It recalls the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 4, verse 12. Ecclesiastes 4, verse 12. I won't ask you to turn there. Ecclesiastes 4, verse 12. And I think you know it. It reads, though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.

And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

There's strength. There's strength even in sharing, having similar convictions and sharing them. Proverbs 18, 24 also. Proverbs 18, 24. It reads, a man who has friends must himself be friendly. Yes. But the next line. But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Now, who could be a friend that sticks closer to you than your blood kin, than your blood relation?

It seems to be suggesting there's something more inherent. There's a spiritual affinity. There's a shared purpose. There's something that goes beyond your blood.

In a spiritual crisis, the steady presence of a friend especially strengthens and encourages us.

And of course, we know something too, don't we? God didn't call us to be by ourselves. He called us to be part of a body. He called us to be part of His church. He called us to be as one, with Him, with the Father, and with one another. We need one another. We need one another in our convictions as well. Now, what about Stephen and Paul?

Well, they were not alone either.

Stephen, remember, received a vision. Remember? He, quote, saw the glory of God in Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Acts 7.55.

I looked at that and I thought, well, why is Jesus standing? We normally hear about Jesus sitting, you know, on the right hand of the Father. He's standing. Could it be he wanted to make sure that, you know, is he standing there watching, closely giving the sense? I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't be talking like this because it's a position. But I just wondered to myself, and you can hear my thoughts as I wonder aloud to myself, was it part of a way of God encouraging Stephen to recognize, Stephen, you're not alone?

I'm here. I'm watching. I'm allowing this. This fulfills my purpose. This fulfills my purpose.

And Paul wasn't alone either. Three times he had prayed for the thorn to be removed, and Jesus had answered him, Jesus answered him, my grace is sufficient for you, my strength is made perfect in weakness. Again, 2 Corinthians 12.9.

Paul knew Christ was with him. He had the answer. His prayers were being answered.

And Paul was comforted and encouraged, knowing that through his ongoing suffering, God and Christ were doing what was best for him and his brethren. And these men knew they had God's Holy Spirit in them. They knew in their own way, they knew that they had not been left orphaned. They had not been left orphaned. Christ said he would not leave them orphaned. He does not leave us orphaned.

And so I think a point we can draw from these multiple accounts of conviction, that none of us is alone when we stand fast in conviction with God. God is with us ultimately, isn't he?

Is our own conviction strong enough to stand alongside our brethren when faith is needed, when our faith is being challenged?

Well, we can and we will again as we stay near to God, as we pray for one another. And again, I hear over and over again from our brethren. And they talk to me, they say, please tell everybody how much we appreciate the prayers. I needed those prayers. They're so important.

And I think we know that.

And so we can and will stay convicted and fast in the conviction with God as we stay near to God, and we pray for one another. We build those cords of loving relationship with our brethren, yes, and especially with our God.

And so the question today was, what is the condition of our conviction? What is the condition of our conviction?

Do our lives demonstrate our conviction and commitment to God?

You have to answer that. I have to answer that. That requires a long and prayerful conversation, probably multiple conversations we need to have with God.

Because, as I say, I need to be better at it, and maybe we all feel that same way.

And again, the good news is that God is going to help us do that.

We must believe God. We must believe that God is. We must keep His commandments. We must be so convicted of His righteousness and truth, and of His promise of salvation through Jesus Christ, that promise salvation in the kingdom of God, that we will faithfully follow God in His instruction, no matter the fiery trials we are going through. We'll have the challenges, no matter the suffering we face. Like Father Abraham, we must prove the resolve of our conviction and faith through enduring commitment to believe God and do what He says, no matter what. So, brethren, I hope what I've shared with you today you will find encouraging and also something to consider. And I encourage all of us, brethren, to stay close to God. Let's strengthen our conviction in God and Christ. And by all means, let's endure and persevere unto the kingdom.