A CLEAR CONSCIENCE – Charles Spurgeon
A Clear Conscience
“Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Your commandments.” – Psalm 119:6.
Any attempt to keep the law of God with the view of being saved by it is sure to end in failure. This approach is so contrary to the express warnings of the divine Lawgiver and so opposed to the gospel, that anyone who seeks justification by their own merits should be ashamed of their presumption. When God tells us that salvation is not by the works of the law, are you not ashamed to try to obtain it by your obedience to its precepts? When He declares that by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, are you not ashamed to go in search of justification where He tells you it can never be found? When He repeatedly declares that salvation is by faith and is a matter of grace to be received, do you not blush for yourself, realizing that you contradict God by asserting your own righteousness, where you have vainly tried to maintain a respectable appearance—hiding the tangible failures of your life beneath a thin veil of piety toward God and charity toward men?
Eternal life cannot be earned by any works of the flesh, because, although they may appear estimable in the eyes of men, they are vile in the sight of God. If a man seeks to keep the commandments of God to attain eternal life, he will inevitably be ashamed and confounded. He should immediately abandon the foolish, impossible task of defending his own cause and justifying his soul. However, when a man is converted—when he believes in Christ Jesus for the salvation of his soul, when he is justified by faith and his sin is blotted out, when he obtains mercy and finds grace in the eyes of the Lord, entering into the rest of faith—he will be inclined to obey God’s precepts. From that point onward, it becomes his highest ambition to be obedient, and the great delight of his soul is to follow God’s commandments out of gratitude for the great benefits he has received.
Let it never be imagined that because Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, all moral constraints have been removed from Christian men. We are not under the law, but under grace; however, we are not lawless or libertine, for we have become servants of God and followers of Christ. No, we are under another law—a law of a different kind, working upon us in a different way. For example, if a man says, “I am free from the police, the magistrate, the judge, and the executioner,” does it follow that he is free from the rules of his father’s house? Surely not. A child may be clear of the police court, but there is still a rod at home. There is a father’s smile and a father’s frown. While Christians are delivered from the condemnation of sin through Christ, they still come under another form of discipline—one that is not legal but familial. Though this discipline may sometimes be painful, it is always tempered with compassion. The Lord’s rebukes, though sharp, are not vindictive, and He is known to smile with approval, speak with commendation, and bestow generous compensations upon those who seek His face, listen to His voice, and obey His commands.
Now, I want to bring out this principle further as I speak on our text. Those who are children of God should strive for universal obedience to divine commands. They should respect all the Lord’s commandments. In doing so, they will experience full reward, as expressed in the scripture: “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Your commandments.”
I. The Universality of Believing Obedience
The importance of respecting all of God’s commandments is highly commended here. We are called not to pick and choose among God’s commandments, but to respect and strive to obey them all. We must not focus only on what pleases us, neglecting the rest. The careful, earnest respect for all the statutes of God and the anxious endeavor to keep them is what demands attention. In this, there is great blessedness.
The psalm itself provides a clearer explanation, far surpassing any reflections we could offer, for the Word of God is always superior to the words of men. David says, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.” Does this blessedness come simply from being in the way, regardless of how one walks? No. The truly blessed are those who walk carefully, watching their steps, and endeavoring in every way to adorn the doctrine of God their Savior and to grieve not the Spirit of God.
Blessedness does not come from partial obedience but from perfect obedience, as far as it can be attained. It is not occasional but habitual; not in some things, but in all things, as we are taught by the living God. The only way to avoid defilement is to have respect for all the commandments of the Lord. Whether we acknowledge it or not, every omission of duty and every commission of fault stains our conscience and impairs our character. Would you wish to be defiled, believer? I know you would not. If you wish to be blessed, you must be undefiled, and to be undefiled, your obedience must be universal—walking in all the commandments of the Lord.
To enjoy the beatitude of blessing, a holy walk must become habitual. This sacred practice differs greatly from sluggish piety. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.” A man may sit by the road without soiling his skin or fouling his clothes, but that is not enough. There must be progress—practical action in the Christian life. Slothfulness is not the path to blessedness. We cannot serve the Lord in active work unless we labor in all things to follow His will and walk according to His way. God must be sought diligently by sincere souls. Blessed are they that keep His testimonies and seek Him with the whole heart.”
You cannot keep the testimonies and know the doctrine unless you have full will and vigorous energy. It seems almost like a law of nature that a man who is not sound in his life cannot be sound in his judgment. Wisdom will not stay long in the heart of a man who has surrendered his heart to folly. A pure theology and a loose morality will never coexist. We have seen men who considered themselves very orthodox indulge in many unseemly and degenerate habits. In fact, they have made light of their own sins, but that supposed orthodoxy soon devolves into pernicious fallacy. Be assured, you cannot keep the testimonies unless you are willing to keep the precepts.
Conclusion
As we seek to follow the will of God, we must have respect for all His commandments—both known and unknown. We cannot neglect any part of God’s Word, for every command is significant, and in ignorance, we may still fail. It is not our understanding but God’s law that should guide us. Let us strive to understand and obey His will in all things, whether they are outward or inward duties. God’s commandments, like an architect’s design for a building, are proportionate to one another. We must not give more attention to one while neglecting the others. May our lives reflect a perfect harmony of obedience to every command, bringing glory to God and comfort to our fellow Christians.
Then Shall I Not Be Ashamed
“Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Your commandments”—to the foundational commandments, striving to dig deep; to the high-soaring commandments, seeking to rise into the utmost fellowship with God. To those commandments that require stern labor, like the rugged walls upon which much toil must be spent, and upon those which are a delight and a beauty, like the golden light windows that require fine taste and delicate skill. One would wish to do it all, to realize it all, and to aim after a completeness of character that we may be like the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that we were enamored of this perfection and were seeking after it!
It becomes us, dear friends, who are believers in Christ, to set before us as our standard a perfect character, and we should aim to reach it, looking to have the mind and will of God as that model. That I may in all things do what God requires of me, and abstain from everything which He forbids me, should be the great objective of my life. Be it my firm resolve and my daily and hourly desire that, by the power of His Spirit, I may attain this conformity to the divine purpose. I should endeavor with constant, maintained persistency to get nearer and nearer to this obedience to every divine commandment.
Every failure should cost me sorrow. Every mistake should lead me to chasten myself with penitence. Every time I err, I should go to the blood again and ask to be washed, that no defilement may remain upon me.
II. The Excellence of Its Result
Having thus spoken of universal obedience, only a few minutes can be afforded for the reward: the excellence of its result: “Then shall I not be ashamed.” I suppose this means, first, that as sin is removed, shame is removed. Sin and shame entered this world together. Our first parents were naked and were not ashamed, but when in another sense they became naked, then they were ashamed. They had no sooner sinned against God than they realized they were naked, and they hid themselves from the presence of the Most High.
Unless sin reaches a high point, which it will not in the believer, shame is always sure to follow sin. Excessive sin or habitual transgression eventually kills shame and gives a harlot’s forehead, so that the hardened culprit no longer knows how to blush. It is an awful thing when a man is no longer conscious of shame, but a more awful thing still when he comes to glory in his shame, for then his damnation is not far off. But as sin is cast out of the believer, shame is cast out of him in proportion. Therefore, it comes to pass that courage rises with a consciousness of rectitude.
The man who has respect for God’s commands is no longer ashamed of men. He is not abashed by their scorn or disconcerted by their ridicule. Let them say, “Oh, you are too precise.” We would be very foolish to take that as a reproach. I remember a man once contemptuously calling me John Bunyan as I walked down the street. I took off my hat to him and felt rather flattered. I only wished I had been more like him. If anybody says to you, “Oh, you are a Methodist,” take the imputation kindly. It is a most respectable name. Some of the grandest men who ever lived were Methodists.
“Ah,” but they may say, “you are one of the Presbyterians.” Do not frown at the charge, but bow courteously, for some grand witnesses for Christ have belonged to that good fellowship. “Ah,” says the world, “you are one of those Puritans—you are one of those religious people.” Yes, but you are not ashamed of that. They might as well have said, “You are a man worth £50,000 a year.” Would you blush to admit it? I dare say you would like it to be true.
When anybody says, “Ah, there is one of the saints,” ask him to prove his words. Tell him you only hope you will try to prove them yourself. There is nothing to be ashamed of in keeping God’s commands.
Then again, before men, we shall not be ashamed of our profession. Well may some Christians be inclined to put their Christianity into the shade, when they remember how little credit they do to it, but when a man has respect for all God’s commands, he is not ashamed to say, “I am a Christian. Look me up and down and examine my conduct. I do not boast of it, but I know that I have sought honestly and sincerely to walk before God in righteousness.”
Or when a false accusation is brought against you, meet it in the same spirit. Perhaps somebody will libel you. I will defy you to avoid it. If you were to live the life of the most irreproachable man of God, you would not be safe from slander. Was not God Himself slandered, even in Paradise, by the serpent? But you need not be ashamed when you can appeal to God and feel that in all things you have endeavored to keep His commands.
Thrice is he armed who has his conscience clear. No armor of steel or mail can protect a man better than knowing that before God, he has walked in guileless, blameless uprightness, seeking to do what is well-pleasing in His sight.
“Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Your commandments.” This may likewise refer to the inward shame we sometimes feel when we examine ourselves and pass our own conduct in review. Don’t you ever, when reading a promise, look upon it as a very sweet promise made to God’s children, yet hesitate to appropriate it to yourself? You feel ashamed. In fact, there are many gracious promises you have never been able to accept as your own. You have been afraid to take them. They were too rich, too ripe, too luscious a fruit for you to dare taste. You thought they were intended for the favored children, not for poor strangers like you.
Now, recall my text, “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Your commandments.” There are some delightful privileges of the Christian that you have never yet ventured to seek, some high doctrines that you have scarcely been able to believe. Dear friend, have respect for all His commandments, for perhaps your fear, your doubt, your hesitancy, your need for assurance, may have arisen from your lack of a careful walk before God. When the Holy Spirit enables you to be holy, He will also enable you to grasp the rich things of the covenant with full assurance.
Now, may I not be speaking to some who have been ashamed of attempting their obvious duty? It is your duty to tell your experience to others, but have you not blushed at the very thought? I know why. It was because you thought of some inconsistency which, if others knew, would disparage your testimony and make you appear faulty in their eyes.
Ah, “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Your commandments.” You have not dared to address even the smallest congregation, though you can speak very well on secular topics. Why is that? Is it because your walk is not as close with God as it should be? “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Your commandments.”
Perhaps, my brother, you may be a minister, yet you may almost falter in stating some grand doctrinal truth. Why is that, brother? Is there something at the back that I cannot guess—that I would not mention if I could—which weakens your testimony? Yet you will not be ashamed when you have respect for all God’s commandments.
How can we stand to admonish the unrighteous if we are not living righteous lives ourselves? How can we say, like Nathan, “You are the man,” if we are conscious that the person rebuked could turn and point at our lives and say, “See what you do.”
No, brethren, the servants of God who are to have courage in doing duty for their Master must pray to be the undefiled in the way. They must walk in the law of the Lord, and though, at their highest, they will still lie low before God and be humble in His presence, they will not be ashamed when they feel they have walked before the Lord in integrity.
Conclusion
When we face trials, as Job did, it is the integrity of our heart and life that will sustain us. Job, despite his testiness, was able to say, “O God, You know I am not wicked,” and appeal to God as his vindicator. Though he was not perfect, he was pure in heart, sincere in disposition, and blameless in his outward conduct.
And what satisfaction will it bring when our course is reaching its close and we face the hour of departure, if no dark clouds hang over our retrospect of life. Let God’s grace enable us to live godly lives so that when our course is finished, our evidences will be clear.
May we, though we rely entirely on Christ for mercy, find it sweet to look back on a life spent in the service of God, exchanging our service here for the nobler service in His courts above.
And when our course is finished, let us leave an unclouded reputation behind. Did you ever notice the painful contrast between the record of the kings of Judah? For example, Amaziah and Hezekiah. Of Amaziah, it was said, “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father. Howbeit the high places were not taken away.” But Hezekiah’s record was without qualification: “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did.”
So, brethren, let it be our aim to be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ. “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Your commandments,” and when I stand before God, I will not be ashamed before Him.