Did you watch the finale of 24 last night?  I definitely wouldn’t say it was my favorite season, but after starting out in a mediocre way the show was saved by a phenomenal ending! As a Christian you could not help but notice an overriding theme throughout the show: the main characters being prompted by their moral consciences to do the right thing.

The climax of the entire season was when President Taylor was about to sign the peace treaty, a treaty she had worked so hard to create.  But as she uncapped the pen and considered signing, that little voice called the conscience began to whisper to her.  The whisper reminded her that it was completely wrong to sign a treaty built upon lies and murders.  And so, as the one who would have done anything for the peace treaty to succeed, she listened to her conscience and refused to sign, indicting not only those responsible for the crimes committed but also implicating herself for covering them up.  Whew!

After President Taylor refused to sign she almost followed the Bible’s step-by-step list of what to do after listening to the conscience.  It made me wonder if perhaps one of the writers of the show was a Christian because it was so precise. 

There is something powerful about a clean conscience.  In fact, Paul, in Acts 23:1, before starting a very important speech, let everyone know the following: “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”

So, with that said, I want to give you four facts about our consciences and then give you some advice should you choose to actually listen and want to live in the same way Paul did.

Fact #1 – Everyone has a Conscience (Romans 2:15)

I was sharing the Gospel at a gas station yesterday with a lady who claimed she was an atheist and an evolutionist.  When I asked her where our morals came from she stopped and said she had no idea, even saying, “that’s a really good question.” The fact of the matter is that everyone was born with a conscience, knowing right from wrong.  There has never been a culture discovered where the people honored traitors.  Stabbing someone in the back has been abhorred everywhere at every time (even Dante put betrayers in the lowest circle of hell). Romans 2 clearly states that God (the Lawgiver) has placed His moral laws (right and wrong) on our hearts.  No one is excused from this process.

Fact #2 – It is Possible to Deactivate a Conscience (I Timothy 4:2)

There can come a point when a person no longer listens to their conscience anymore and can lie without ever feeling the sting of it from within.  Paul talks of this in I Timothy when he says, “having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.”

Fact #3 – It is Possible to Awaken a Dead Conscience (Hebrews 9:14)

I believe that once someone has had their conscience deadened it is impossible for them to revive it again without the power of the Holy Spirit through the saving blood of Jesus Christ. Even the worst of murderers, rapists, liars, and thieves have gained new sensitivity to sin only after they had been saved.

Fact #4 – The Holy Spirit Works with Believer’s Consciences (Romans 9:1)

Once you are a believer you are given the gift of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13-15).  Indwelt by His power, you now are convicted – either to do good or resist evil – in ways that unbelievers never would.  For instance, Paul was so convicted in his conscience and with the Holy Spirit for the Jewish people to come to Christ that he was willing to even give up his own salvation – “for I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren” (Rom. 9:3). An unbeliever would never receive this sort of conviction just from his conscience.

Should You Choose to Listen…

President Taylor, when she was talking to Jack Bauer, at the end of the show, nailed down every one of the principles I am about to tell you except one.

First, she understood the importance of a clean conscience. For someone who had all the power in the world, financial stability, and respect from her peers, she knew it was worthless without a clear conscience. You need to realize just how important having a clean conscience is even if that means you are going to get in trouble. 

Second, she told Jack that she should have listened to her conscience before she made all of those bad decisions. The second principle is for you to listen to your conscience before you act.

Third, in the event that you didn’t listen to your conscience and went ahead anyway, you need to make it right.  This is the key step that President Taylor skipped.  In the show she went right to the people she had wronged, but for a believer we need to go to God first.  David, after he had committed murder and adultery, said, “against You (God) and You only have I sinned” (Ps. 51:4).

Last and finally, after going to the God we have wronged we need to go to the people we have wronged, apologize, and do whatever we can to make it right. Only the people involved have the right to know, but they do have a right to know.

So, if you want to experience a power that some billionaires, presidents, or celebrities will never understand, just come clean.  I don’t know what that means in your life, but if you are a believer the Holy Spirit will team up with your conscience and show you where you need to repent and get your act straight.  So do it now, cause time is ticking…3, 2, 1,…

I’m just being Frank with you…

Pastor Frank