The incidents of sin occur in man. But as soon as man sins, there is the record of it before God. God is the sovereign Ruler of the world. He is in control of everything. If in the course of our lives we have transgressed the law, there is a record of our sin before God. This is why the Old Testament frequently speaks of sinning against Jehovah. The reason an act of sin is evil and terrifying is that once a sin is committed, there is the record of sin before God. Since God says that he who sins must die, He has to execute His judgment on sins. There is no way for us to escape, for the record of sin is there already.

Second, there is the knowledge of the sin in our conscience. Though there is a record of the sin before God, until you know about it, you may still be able to smile and rejoice in your seat, and you may be able to act as if nothing has happened. But once you have the knowledge of a sin, the sin that is before God has come into your conscience. Originally, this sin was only before God; now it is identified in your conscience. What is the conscience? It is a "window." God's light shines into you through the window of your conscience. Whenever God's light shines into you, you feel uncomfortable and you know that you have done something wrong.

There may be someone here tonight who has parked his car in the wrong direction. Perhaps he was not aware of his mistake and may have been quite unconcerned. But since I have mentioned it, he will now feel uneasy within. My words have moved the record of his sin from the police department into him. Hence, the conscience is turned by knowledge. Without knowledge, you are ignorant of your sins; and since your conscience does not bother you, you will feel peaceful. But as soon as you have the knowledge and begin to realize God's view and the view of the law concerning you, your conscience will not let you go.

Is it true that everyone has a conscience? Surely everyone has a conscience. But some consciences are closed up and light cannot get in. Some consciences are like a kitchen window that has a thick layer of grime on it. Through it you may be able to see the shadow of a man moving, but you cannot see the man clearly. If a person's conscience cannot take in God's light, he will be unconcerned and happy. But the moment he hears the gospel and sees his own sins, his place before God, and the record of his sins before God, his conscience has a problem. It will be bothered. It will not be at peace, but will condemn him. He will ask what he should do to be able to stand before the righteous God, and how he can become justified before such a righteous God.

The amazing thing about the conscience is that it may at worst go to sleep, but it will never die. Never think that the conscience has died. It will never die, but it will go to sleep. However, when the consciences of many wake up, they find that it is too late, that they do not have the opportunity anymore to believe or to be saved. Do not think that our conscience will let us go. One day it will catch up with us. One day it will speak. I have seen many who thought this way, who did much evil and thought that they would get by. But when their conscience finally woke up, they were caught by it.