128 Sermon Illustrations on Conscience

The raven that came in the darkness into the chamber of Poe and

perched upon a bust of Pallas just above his chamber door whose, only

word was "Nevermore," seems to be a metaphor, a symbol of remorse. Poe

beseeches the raven to take his beak from out his heart and his form

from off his door, but all the raven answers is "Nevermore."

And the lamplight o'er him streaming, throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul, from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor,

Shall be lifted nevermore!

Yes, the shadow that conscience casts upon the soul because of evil

done, because of sin, is a shadow which man is not able to lift. Only

God in Christ can lift that shadow.

Father Andre, preaching one day at Paris against the vices of

immorality and infidelity, threatened to name a lady present as being

one of the guilty. He, however, corrected himself, saying in Christian

charity he would only throw his skullcap in the direction where the

lady sat. As soon as he took his cap in his hand, every woman present

ducked her head for fear it would come to her. --Dictionary Of

Illustrations

OBSERVATION Guilt is often looked upon as bad. People are concerned that obsession with guilt will wreck one's self-esteem. But there are times when a guilty conscience may serve a useful purpose. That is, if we listen to it. A STORY ABOUT AN ODORAN Last year, Leadership Journal discussed a tragic story that has impacted the lives of millions of people. The story, as originally told by Sara Mosle in the May 15, 1995, edition of The New Yorker magazine, goes as follows: On March 18, 1937, a spark ignited a cloud of natural gas that had accumulated in the basement of a school in London, Texas. The blast killed 293 people, most of whom were children. The explosion happened because the local school board wanted to cut heating costs. A nearby oil company had an oil pipeline close to the school. So the board decided to siphon natural gas, the by-product of petroleum extraction, from the company's pipeline to fuel the school's furnace free of charge. London never recovered from the blast that turned the phrase "boom town" into a bitter joke. The one positive effect of this disastrous event was a government regulation requiring companies to add an odorant to natural gas. The distinctive aroma is now so familiar that we forget natural gas is actually odorless. HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO OUR LIVES? Because of the 1937 tragedy, natural gas that we use in homes and businesses now has a distinctive odor. That odor is added to protect us from deadly fumes. Without this odorant, we would never know about danger to our lives until it is too late. So the distinctive odor is very valuable to us. A guilty conscience can also be valuable. It can be an "odorant" that warns us of danger. Unfortunately, we frequently ignore our conscience. Billy Graham put it best: "Most of us follow our conscience as we follow a wheelbarrow. We push it in front of us in the direction we want to go." Graham's point is that we can ignore the prompting of our conscience in our desire to accomplish some goal or obtain momentary pleasure. Or, we can see it as a valuable warning sign -- a sign of danger to our well-being. There will be consequences, either positive or negative, as a result of the choice we make. If you were to smell the odor of natural gas in your home or office, to protect your health you would figure out what is wrong and get help, if necessary, to eliminate the danger. Treat your conscience the same way -- pay attention to its warnings, and obtain any help that is necessary to address what troubles you. Daniel Webster, a famous man in American history, said that "A conscience void of offense before God and man is an inheritance for eternity." So recognize the value of your conscience. When it troubles you, that is a sign of danger, both for now, and eternally. Eliminate the danger, before it explodes on you "I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live." \reference{Job 27:6}{Job 27:6}

For several years a county commissioner in North Carolina offered

his self-kicking machine to anyone who felt he should not have done

something and wanted to kick himself for doing it. The commissioner's

machine was erected on Highway 70, called North Carolina's Broadway.

Thousands have used the machine. Some even formed the "Self-Kicking

Club" with members scattered in every state and even some foreign

countries. In three years of use a new belt was needed and three pair

of shoes. To work it you just stood in front of it and worked a

gadget that made the shoes revolve and kick you.

Mrs. John Welch, daughter of John Knox, partook of her father’s spirit. Her husband was imprisoned for his faith, and was severly stricken with tuberculosis, when she made her way before King James to plead for his release.

“I will send him home with you,” said the king, “if you will persuade him to submit to the bishops.”

Holding out her apron, she said, “Please, your majesty, I’d rather carry his head home there, than tempt him to sin against his conscience.”

A convenient escape for many a guilty person is to brush aside guilt as a cultural appendage. This view belies the belief that what is right and wrong is decided merely by cultural trends. Guilt, then, is an emotion felt only by those who succumb to a particular culture. However, such a dismissal of morality fails to take into account that even when we differ culturally in our behavior, the reasons that justify our behavior are often the same. In other words, all cultures have ethical similarities.

The very establishment of law and order in any community is because of the realization that without law and order plunder and savagery prevail. Or one could put it this way: Guilt is a good for any orderly society - not because guilt is an arbitrary product of society, but because guilt is a real and powerful thing that keeps us in check. The problem with dismissing guilt as cultural is that morality then becomes untenable.

When I was in war-torn Cambodia many years ago some friends took me to see a play which was a strange cross between fact and fantasy.

It was a story of a peasant man who married a young village woman. The prince, however, became captured by the village woman’s beauty and took her away to live with him. The peasant protest to the king but he was met with outrage. The king told the man he was lying and that the woman joined the prince by her own volition. Nevertheless, proceedings ensued under the direction of a priest and the peasant man was found to be telling the truth. Everyone in the audience roared with approval that the truth had come to light. Yet moments later the king ordered his soldiers to kill everyone who believed the peasant’s story.

Anyone in Cambodia knew the symbolic tragedy of the play. The voice of truth was silenced, and cruel men ruled the land. After the play ended I reflected how behind the drama lay some common values that bind humanity: The purity of marital love. The value of the truth. The cry to protect the innocent. The yearning of a people to see justice. These were not conferred culturally. These truths were evident to people even in a Marxist-dominated land.

To do away with guilt as purely a cultural distinctive does not reflect the reality of our shared experience. Moreover, it causes a "short circuit" with morality such that the covenant of marriage or acts of injustice can be dismissed at whim.

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Copyright © 2002 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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Religious Liberty sprung fully panoplied from the earliest Baptist writings. Their doctrine of the church assumed that the Spirit, and he alone, used the power of biblical truth, normally through preaching, to produce the new birth. The composition of the church consists only of those born again under such influences; believers only, therefore, should be baptized.

The Spirit's sword, not the magistrate's sword, makes Christians. A church constituted by those whose consciences have been either forced or bribed by carnal power is not a New Testament church.

The General Baptists gave lengthy, cogent and gospel-centered arguments for full liberty of conscience, though theirs was violated for this stance. John Smyth, in voluntary exile, wrote, "The prince must leave the Christian religion free to every man's conscience." Thomas Helwys said, "Let them be heretiks, Turcks, Jewes or whatsoever it apperteynes not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure." Leonard Busher wrote in "A Plea for Liberty of Conscience" that "no king nor bishop ... is able to command faith; ... it is the gift of God, who worketh in us both the will and the deed of his own good pleasure."

An anonymous General Baptist wrote "Persecution for Religion Judg'd and Condemn'd." John Murton wrote in A Most Humble Supplication to the king, "Far be it from you to sit in the consciences of men, to be lawgiver and judge therein." John Spilsbury, the first pastor among the Particular Baptists, wrote, "No conscience ought to be forced in the matters of Religion, because no man can bear out another in his account to God."

Christopher Blackwood in "The Storming of Antichrist" asks, "Whether it be lawfull for any person whatsoever to compell the conscience?" He gives the answer, "It is not," followed by 29 reasons for such an answer. Roger Williams labeled the violation of conscience by the civil power "The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience." John Clarke in his description of persecution in Massachusetts and his arguments against it calls conscience "a sparkling beam from the Father of lights and spirits that cannot be lorded over, commanded, or forced, either by men, devils, or angels."

All of these were written before John Locke perceived of religious liberty and as much as 160 years before Thomas Jefferson was able to distill it into law in Virginia. Rhode Island under the influence of Williams and Clarke stated in its charter, the one gained in 1663, "A most flourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained with a full liberty in religious concernments." Those words, perhaps commonplace today, expressed a revolutionary understanding of society and reflected a worldview trained by the gospel and the ideal of a regenerate church membership.

The 2000 Baptist Faith and Message continues this historical witness when it states as its first sentence, "God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it."

The article strongly implies that creeds enforced by a civil power would be unwarranted and outside the bounds of legitimate government: "The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind."

The preface of the 2000 BF&M includes a wording on this issue more carefully constructed than that of the 1963 BF&M: "Baptists cherish and defend religious liberty, and deny the right of any secular or religious authority to impose a confession of faith upon a church or body of churches."

Just as strongly, however, the confession encourages and approves the development of doctrinal statements derived from the Word of God and entered into voluntarily by churches for the sake of gospel witness. "The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends" and includes among these "the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power."

Though Baptists arose in the fires of persecution, endured them for the better part of a century in Old England, witnessed in spite of them in New England and suffered greatly under an established church in colonial Virginia, they have never desired special treatment from civil powers, only neutral protection of universal rights.

"The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work," the confession says. This echoes Madison's famous Memorial and Remonstrance, which echoed the concerns of Virginia Baptists in saying that when the civil authority uses religion as "an engine of civil policy," he thereby indulges "an unhallowed perversion of the means of salvation."

Long and sad experience has taught Baptists and even the inside of a jail cell could not dissuade them from the truth of these two assertions of the BF&M: "The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion." John Leland's "The Rights of Conscience" gives the corollary to that concern in proposing the query, "Did not religion receive a deadly wound by being fostered in the arms of civil power and regulated by law?"

Along with such insistent refusal to obey the state in religious matters is the glad acquiescence to the necessity of governmental authority in the lawful regulation of civil society. "Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God."

No citizen is more loyal to the government or more zealous for the rights of others than a historically informed, gospel believing Baptist.

A well-ordered government should function "so that every church [and every religion enjoys] protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends." This commitment to freedom arises not from doubts concerning the clarity of divine revelation or a relativistic view of truth, but from the happy conviction that the gospel, and it only, is the power of God unto salvation.

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Full text of Article 17: Religious Liberty

God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.

Genesis 1:27; 2:7; Matthew 6:6-7,24; 16:26; 22:21; John 8:36; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 6:1-2; 13:1-7; Galatians 5:1,13; Philippians 3:20; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; James 4:12; 1 Peter 2:12-17; 3:11-17; 4:12-19.

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Nettles is a professor of historical theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

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“for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves [their] thoughts accusing or else excusing [them]) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.” (Romans 2:14-16 NKJV)

The Province of Conscience

• for — while the Jews hear and do not

• Gentiles — some of whom obey a law they cannot hear

• nature — reason and conscience

• things…law — things enjoined in revelation (MacKnight)

• these…law — without the external revelation

• are…themselves — and will be judged by that law of nature

• work…law — distinction between vice and virtue

• meanwhile [between themselves] — Gk., between each other

• in…day — (reference back to verse 12) the day of wrath

• secrets — even the secrets; and how much more other tbings!

The two revelations — H. W. Beecher [Unclear just what point is being made — RGH]

Let us look at the general drift of the Scripture teaching by the side of the revelations which have been made, or are making, by science.

I. As to the condition of mankind. We are getting higher and higher. Our true nature is far forward, not behind.

II. The direction in which perfection lies.

III. The fact taught by the Scripture that man will one day slough off the animal entirely; [versus] … that he will evolve a higher nature.

The salvation of heathens — A clergyman once travelling in a stage coach, was asked by one of the passengers if he thought that pious heathens would go to heaven. “Sir,” answered the clergyman, “I am not appointed judge of the world, and consequently cannot tell; but if ever you get to heaven, you shall either find them there, or a good reason why they are not.” A reply well fitted to answer an impertinent question, dictated by idle curiosity.

The power of conscience — A follower of Pythagoras had bought a pair of shoes from a cobbler, for which he promised to pay him on a future day. On that day he took the money; but finding the cobbler had died in the interim, returned, secretly rejoicing that he could retain the money, and get a pair of shoes for nothing. His conscience, however, says Seneca, would allow him no rest, till, taking up the money, he went back to the cobbler’s shop, and casting in the money, said, “Go thy way, for though he is dead to all the world besides, vet he is alive to me.”

“Conscience” is not merely that which I know, but that which I know with same other; that other being God, who makes His law and His presence felt and acknowledged in the heart.” — Archbishop Trench

“Sin is never complete till it be excused.” — H. Smith

“Conscience, a double or joint knowledge; one of a Divine law or rule, and the other er of a man’s own action,” — Goeth

“The voice which pronounces, for each man, the distinction hetwee right and wrong.” — Whewell

“I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that [there is] nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him [it is] unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of [your] food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.” (Romans 14:14-15 NKJV)

Nothing Unclean Of Itself

• know — for reason teaches it

• persuaded…Jesus — Gal 1:12 — who has revealed it

• nothing…itself — Acts 10:28, 1 Cor 10:25, 8:7 — necessarily, essentially. Some pronounced so by the law

• esteemeth {considers} — believeth

• to…unclean — as if actually forbidden

• grieved — 1 Cor 8:10-11 — injured, brought to grief through sin

• walkest…charitably {in love} — 1 Cor 13:2, 4, 5, 7 — in harmony with the law of love

• destroy…meat {food} — by encouraging him to do what he cannot without sin

• for…died — John 10:27-28, 1 John 2:1-2, Jam 1:15 — if Christ died for him, you should be willing to do something for him

For whom Christ died — T. Robinson

I. Those for whom He died:

1. All the children of God scattered abroad;

2. For the sheep given Him by the Father;

3. For the Church whom He loved as His bride;

4. In a general sense, for all.

II. Why He died. He gave –

1. His flesh for the life of the world;

2. Himself as a ransom for all.

III. How He died:

1. Generally, for all;

2. Peculiarly, for the elect.

IV. What His death effected. Salvation was made –

1. Certain to some;

2. Possible to all.

A reason for charity — For my own part, if my pocket was full of stones, I have no right to throw one at the greatest backslider upon earth. I have either done as bad or worse than he, or I certainly should if the Lord had left me a little to myself; for I am made of just the same materials: if there be any difference, it is wholly of grace. — John Newton

Charitable judgment — Those of us who have read classic history may remember an incident in the history of the Macedonian emperor. A painter was commanded to sketch the monarch. In one of his great battles, he had been struck with a sword upon the forehead, and a very large scar had been left on the right temple. The painter, who was a master-hand in his art, sketched him leaning on his elbow, with his finger covering the scar on his forehead; and so the likeness of the king was taken, but without the scar. Let us put the finger of charity upon the scar of the Christian as we look at him, whatever it may be, — the finger of a tender and forbearing charity, and see, in spite of it and under it, the image of Christ notwithstanding. — Dr Cumming

“Though the thing be good, yet, if we prefer it before better things, and neglect or omit them for it, the action becometh evil.” — Sanderson

“Nothing is more evident than that a man who tells the truth, believing it to be a lie, is guilty of falsehood.” — Dr T. Reid

In a novel titled THE QUIET AMERICAN, Graham Greene tells a story set in Saigon in 1952. Narrating the story is the hardened British journalist, Thomas Fowler, who reports from Vietnam during the French occupation. His bitter cynicism for each of the parties involved is essentially a suspicion of the motives of people in general, fueled by the images of a war-torn nation, feed by his own darkened purposes, jaded atheism, and drug-induced stupors. At one point, Fowler comments of his surroundings, “I envied those who could believe in a God, and I distrusted them. I felt they were keeping their courage up with a fable of the changeless and the permanent. Death was far more certain than God.”(1)

When Fowler first comes in contact with a young American named Pyle, he immediately finds himself wanting to take the naïve idealist under his wing. But eventually attitudes shift with the plot, and the vague “quiet American” becomes the target for murder, while Fowler is confronted with a choice to conspire. The tension is unavoidable. How can a man void of belief in God and moral law make an irrevocable moral verdict? And what if that verdict involves self-seeking motives? His final decision leaves a crushing imprint, and the novel ends with Fowler's haunting lament: “[H]ow I wished there existed someone to whom I could say I was sorry.”(2)

I have spoken of the strange phenomenon of finding oneself grateful without anyone in particular to thank. I should think that finding yourself sorry and having no one to whom you can express regret would be all the more troubling.

Forgiveness and justice are qualities yet on the lips of those who proclaim that we do not live in a moral universe, but a universe void of order and purpose. As one humanist society declares, “Our forgiving self is the strongest, most loving part of who we are.” Another explains, “If we pray, we know we are talking to ourselves - and who doesn't do that, and gain benefit from it? If we ask forgiveness, and for the strength to follow the light of our conscience, we know we are expressing our desire to be better people.”

But how is there such a thing as “the light of conscience” if there is no moral universe, and we are but time and chance? How can we speak of the power of forgiveness if there is no higher law? How can we find ourselves in need of forgiveness if there exists no one to ask?

According to many psychologists today, guilt is the cornerstone of all neuroses. In fact, guilt is one of the oldest sentiments ever expressed in writing, and it is dealt with in the earliest verses of Scripture. In the opening pages of Genesis, we find Adam and Eve hiding in the bushes after they had eaten from the forbidden tree. God’s voice called out to them, “Where are you?” The question was not uttered to reveal which bush they crouched behind, but the condition we've been hiding from ever since.

With the blood of Uriah on his hands, King David cried in anguish before the LORD, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ... Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place... Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity” (Psalm 51:3,6,9). Our consciences cry out against us: We live in a moral universe, made in the image of a just Creator. Our need for mercy is met by ears that long to hear. David's intolerable guilt was stamped out by the overwhelming grace of God. Chapters later, David declares, “If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.” (Psalm 130:3-4)

There is someone to ask.

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1. Graham Greene, The Quiet American (New York: Penguin Books, 1973), 44.

2. Ibid., 189

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Copyright © 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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In one town, the bishop had all of the Christians in a certain church arrested and brought to his church. The mayor of the city was also called. With him came fifty soldiers to maintain order because of the mob that was gathering outside of the church.

When all were assembled the bishop stood and began to curse the Christians for disgracing their town by joining this particular church. “All of you come and bow down before me now.”

Intimidated by his anger and his voice of authority which they had followed for most of their lives, they all arose and went to the front and knelt before the bishop as he commanded. All, that is, except for one little lady who remained at her seat.

“If you will confess that you have been in error to follow this church’s teachings and come back into my church, then I will do my best to get you quickly through purgatory. I will do everything to help you, but you must now confess your error.”

At that the brave little woman in the back rushed to the front where her husband was at the end of one of the rows of kneeling people. She cried out, “Is this man God? Are we going to pray to a bishop? We have been taught the truth. Will we not be brave enough to follow what we know is right? In the name of the Lord, I command you, my brethren, everyone stand up!”

Embarrassed, the kneeling members all stood to their feet and returned to their seats, ashamed that they had been such cowards as to obey the bishop, rather than the voice of their conscience telling them what was right.

“Kill that woman!” the mob outside shouted. “Let us in and we will kill her!”

At this moment the officer in charge of the soldiers stepped forward, addressing his men. “Attention! Draw your swords and protect these Christians! Every one of you take a Christian by the hand, and I will take that little woman.”

Then turning to the mayor and the bishop, the officer said, “You Mayor, have a commission to protect the weak. And you, Bishop, were sent to preach the gospel.”

The officer then turned toward the mob, flinging his sword, “Clear the way! If any of you ever molest these Christians again, you will answer to me for it.”

Would you have had the courage of that brave little woman in such an hour of crisis?

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Dorothy Eaton Watts, FAITH TRIUMPHANT, INSPIRING STORIES OF GOD’S CHURCH, p. 295; submitted by Leora DeWitt

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #20885]

Every year around this time, the ritual begins anew. The weather cools off, leaves change color and Christians start arguing about Halloween.

And many people love this night. It gives folks an excuse to host parties, kick off the holiday spending season, and it provides economic stimulus for the dental industry. Others use it as an excuse to flirt with things much darker than plastic skeletons and creative jack-o’lanterns. But what is Halloween really about? Is there something spiritual behind all the ghoulishness?

“Halloween is a satanic holiday,” say some. “It’s a celebration of death,” insist others. Back when I was a kid, a series of comic-book style tracts went around claiming that Halloween was really a pagan holiday when medieval Druids used to carry out human sacrifice under a full moon.

I was surprised to learn that even modern pagans who love Halloween admit that this story is mostly made-up. As one self-professed pagan blogger at Patheos writes, “Halloween ... feels like a pagan holiday, and it’s been categorized as one for several decades now ... I sympathize,” he says, “but claiming that Halloween is ‘100% pagan’ is not a tenable argument.”

The very name “Halloween” means “holy evening” — a throwback to when Catholic Christians prepared for the Feast of All Saints on November 1st.

The history of the spooky costumes is unclear. Some sources say they date back to when Christians would dress up like demons — not for fun, but to disguise themselves from the marauding forces of darkness hoping to crash their celebration of their church’s heroes. Other sources say the costumes were originally about mocking Satan and his minions.

Kirk Cameron, who just finished a film about the history of Christmas, takes that view and is urging us to make the most of Halloween’s origins. How? Well, if you’re a Christian, he says you should be throwing “the biggest Halloween party on your block.” Cameron argues it’s a great way to make fun of the Devil and proclaim Jesus’ victory over sin and death to your neighbors.

Steven Wedgeworth, a pastor writing at the Calvinist International, gives a third perspective. In one of the best overviews out there on Halloween’s history, he concludes that neither story gets it all right. There are definitely echoes of paganism in Halloween, and All Hallows Eve had a major influence, too. But the holiday of today — especially the costumes and trick-or-treating — is a recent invention. Like the commercialized secular Christmas, he writes, Halloween as we know it has more to do with department stores than druids.

Well here’s my take: What Paul wrote in Philippians 4 should guide all our celebrations, no matter the day. Christians should think on “whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable.” It’s hard to imagine that axe-murderer get-ups and sexually provocative costumes pass that test. And we should also consider his teaching on meat sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 10*. Idol worship is always wrong, but eating meat sacrificed to idols is a matter of conscience. If you can’t in good conscience participate in Halloween, there are plenty of other things to celebrate this time of year: Reformation Day, All Saints Day on November 1, the beauty of fall’s changing colors, and as always, the sovereignty of God over everything.

Now if your family is anything like mine, you’re more likely to find characters from Disney’s “Frozen” than a band of nightmare monsters in your living room. But if you and your kids do enjoy a little spooky stuff, don’t worry. As Paul Pastor writes over at Christianity Today, “monsters point us to God.” “No story worth listening to,” he says, “lacks a villain. And no villain worth fighting lacks monstrosity.”

And there’s no story with more monstrous villains or darker darkness than the story of Scripture. It’s an evil that’s not just “out there,” but it’s in our own hearts. And yet this evil in the world and in our hearts is a defeated evil because of Jesus Christ.

And so, wherever you land on Halloween, don’t fear. Any real evil out there is a defeated foe.

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* The original says "1 Corinthians 9" which is incorrect.

(This commentary first aired on Oct. 31, 2014.)

Copyright (c) 2014 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

A Florida cell phone store manager confronted by a robber with a gun convinced the man not to steal from her by preaching about Jesus, according to dramatic footage captured by the store’s security cameras.

Nayara Goncalves, 20, calmly told the armed robber, who was dressed in black with a hood and black baseball cap obscuring his face, “You can do whatever you want, but I’m just going to talk to you about Jesus, my God, before you leave.”

“I don’t know what you’re going through, but all of us are going through a hard time right now,” Goncalves told him during a robbery attempt at her store in Pompano Beach on July 23.

“Talk about making it harder,” the man replied sardonically. When Goncalves told him she was a Christian, the robber responded: “So am I, and I absolutely hate doing this. I’ve never done this before... but I’m going to be evicted if I don’t come up with $300. I’m so sorry to do this to you.” Their exchange went on for about five minutes, before the man decided to leave empty-handed, confessing that his weapon was only a BB gun. “God bless you,” he called out as he exited the store.

Authorities have since identified the man as 37-year-old Israel Camacho of Coral Springs, whose conscience, they say, did not keep him in check for very long. A few minutes after he left the cell phone store empty-handed, telling Goncalves he would go to church instead of turning to crime, Camacho allegedly walked into a Payless shoe store a few miles away and robbed it at gunpoint.

Employees identified him on another video recorded at the shoe store, and Camacho was arrested two days later, according to THE MIAMI HERALD. He was already behind bars when the cell phone store’s CCTV footage was released to the media this week.

Even though he told Goncalves he’d “never done this before,” detectives say Camacho is a “serial robber” who’s been in and out of Florida jails since 1998, and served 18 months in prison six years ago for forgery and grand theft, the Herald reported.

Afterward, Goncalves told the BBC that Camacho “didn’t look that bad. He didn’t look like a criminal. It made me a bit more confident about what I wanted to tell him. I just felt like hugging him and saying, ‘Please don’t do this.’”

Veda Coleman-Wright, spokeswoman for the Broward County sheriff’s office, told the BBC she’s never seen anything like it in her 14 years on the job. Goncalves “was able to remain calm and keep him calm,” she said.

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Baptist Press, August 2, 2010

"Clerk thwarts robbery with conversation about Jesus"

Compiled by Baptist Press staff writer Erin Roach.

A young woman working as a clerk at a cell phone store in Pompano Beach, Florida, was able to persuade a man not to proceed with an attempted robbery by talking to him about Jesus.

A surveillance camera captured the entire ordeal as Israel Camacho, 37, walked into a Metro PCS cell phone store around 10 a.m. July 23 and began talking to the clerk, the only person in the store, about the rainy weather. Then he asked about the price of a phone before pulling a gun and asking for money.

As she walked to the register, the clerk, 20-year-old Nayara Goncalves, said, “You can do whatever you want, but I’m just going to talk to you about Jesus, my God, before you leave.”

Camacho said he was embarrassed and hated having to take money but he had no choice.

“Jesus got something way better for you,” Goncalves said. “I don’t know what you are going through, but all of us are going through a hard time right now.”

The man said he was a Christian and the two realized that they had both attended Calvary Chapel in Pompano Beach and both knew of “Pastor Bob,” presumably Bob Coy. Camacho continued to apologize to Goncalves, and she offered to help him find a job.

When he said he already had a job, she asked why he was trying to rob a store, and he said that if he didn’t come up with $300 he was going to be evicted. She urged him to try to get a loan from a friend, and he said he had spent the past three days trying to do that.

Camacho asked to see the money in the register, and when Goncalves showed it to him, he said he would need to take all of it. When she told him the storeowner would hold her accountable for the money, though, he changed his mind.

“I don’t want to do that to you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he said.

As Camacho walked out of the small store, Gonzales told him, “Jesus helps you. He can change your life. Go back to church. Find a job. Get real friends in church. Talk to a pastor. They can pray for you. You don’t need to do this. Jesus is coming soon.”

Goncalves continued to plead with the man to turn to Jesus and not to hurt anyone. She also thanked him for not hurting her. Camacho confessed that his weapon was only a BB gun and that he wasn’t very good at robbery.

After he left, Goncalves started crying and called police. Less than two hours later, Camacho put a gun in a shoebox and robbed a Payless Shoe Store, according to The Miami Herald July 29. As he left the shoe store, Camacho said to his victims, “God bless you.”

Camacho was arrested two days later and was described as a serial robber. He has been in and out of jail in Florida since 1998, including an 18-month prison stay six years ago for forging documents and grand theft. In addition to robbery charges, Camacho was being held in Broward County Jail for failure to pay child support, The Herald said.

Kayla Concepcion, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said the cell phone store incident with Goncalves discussing Jesus was “completely unique.”

“Usually we would tell people that you just comply with whatever the demands of the robber are,” Concepcion said, according to ABC News. “This definitely turned out to work well for her.”

Our culture has declared war on guilt. The very concept is considered medieval, obsolete, unproductive. People who trouble themselves with feelings of personal guilt are usually referred to therapists, whose task it is to boost their self-image. No one, after all, is supposed to feel guilty. Society encourages sin, but it will not tolerate the guilt sin produces.

But the answer to dealing with guilt is not to ignore it -- that’s the most dangerous thing you can do. Instead, you need to understand that God graciously implanted a powerful ally within you to aid you in the battle against sin. He gave you your conscience.

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Article: "Keeping a Pure Conscience"