Come back to Acts chapter 23.
Acts chapter 23. Paul was getting a little taste of what his Lord
went through. Paul felt something of their
hatred of him over the gospel, but Christ felt their hatred
perfectly. He felt it to the full. And Paul's getting a little taste
here, and I say a little taste because that's all we get in
our sufferings. In our sufferings for the gospel, for Christ's
sake, is really just a little taste of what he went through.
He suffered the wrath of God. That's something we will not
taste of. I'm sure glad of that. I titled this message, With All
Good Conscience Before God. What would a man give for a good
conscience? A quiet conscience. What's that
worth? Well, I know what it costs. It
costs the blood of Christ. Paul, he says here, Paul says
in this verse 1, that he lived before God with all good conscience. Paul was very conscious of his
conduct before God, and if we are very conscious of that, then
we are very conscious of our conduct before men. Paul was even very conscious,
very conscious of his thoughts. Paul is the one who wrote that
we are to bring all our thoughts, what passes through our mind,
into subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ. I read a sermon one time,
Spurgeon wrote, Thoughts About Thoughts, a good sermon. bringing all our thoughts into
subjection to Christ. Paul was very conscious about
his actions. He did not live carelessly. He did not flaunt his liberty. He was very careful not to offend
a weaker brother or sister. He was very careful about that,
very conscious Very conscious. You know, if somebody's conscious,
you're saying they're awake. You say, is he conscious? Is
he awake? That's what Paul says, I'm awake to this. In one place
he says, awake to righteousness. Very conscious about it. I did
some study on this. I want to give you some things
that I learned. But Paul here had a clear conscience. He knew that his actions were not intended to hurt anyone. His preaching, when he preached,
when he preached to those Jews, there was no evil intention in
it, like you preached this morning about these deceivers and their
fair speeches. Paul did not use, he said, wisdom
of words. I never used wisdom of words
to try to lure men into accepting the gospel or follow me. No, Paul didn't do that. He was very conscious of his
words. When he spoke, when he preached, he was very conscious
of it, very awake to it. Paul never had an attitude of
us against them, ever. He knew in his heart, and he's
saying this, God knows my heart. Paul was standing here before
the council, the Sanhedrin court, and he's saying, God knows my
heart. I have a good conscience before God. I've met no one evil. I would to God you could have
what I have. I would to God you knew the one
I know. He knew he meant him no harm.
You know your heart. I know my heart. You know when
you're deceiving somebody. You know when you have an ulterior
motive. And most people do. Just like these Jews that are
going to lie in wait. They say, you go up there and
tell them we just want to hear Paul and examine him a little more
and hear a little more about this, but we're going to kill
him. We're going to jump him when he comes along. Deceptive. The heart is deceitful above
all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? The last thing
you can really know is the full depth of deceitfulness, even
of your own heart. I thought this when Jason was
reading this. Look over in verse 27. They sent
this letter, this chief captain sent this letter to Claudius
Lysias and He says in verse 27, this man was taken of the Jews,
and he should have been killed of them. And then came out with
an army and rescued him after I understood he was a Roman.
Boy, he didn't do that. He was getting ready to beat
him. This man was getting ready to beat a confession out of him.
Paul said, I'm a Roman. But when he sent him to Claudius
Lysias, he says, when I found out he was a Roman, I took an
army and went there and saved him. What a lie! What a deception!
It's on all fronts, isn't it? I thought you lied to me! But that's the human heart. That's
the human heart. But Paul said, I'm not deceptive. I have a good conscience. I have
a good conscience in this. You know, we may not always make
the right decisions, And believe me, I know I don't always make
the right decisions, but we can make them with a good conscience,
with the right motive, with the right... I mean, it may turn
out to look like a disaster, but you know in your heart you
made it with the right motive, as best to your knowledge. We
can make them with the right decision or right conscience.
And it doesn't matter, I wrote this down last night, it does
not matter who won or who lost. What matters is were you able
to walk away with a clear conscience about the whole thing. Now all
men and women have a conscience. God gave us one when we came
into this world. God has given this to everyone
born into this world. It is the light that lightens
every man that comes into the world. Christ gives them, you
can call it a heart, or life, or conscience. It's knowledge. One writer said it means common
knowledge. And there is a common knowledge
given to all men. The heavens declare the glory
of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. There is a common
knowledge that God is, that God exists. And that's given to all
men and women when they are born into this world. We know that
the law of God is written on the heart. It's written on the
heart. Men, women, even children, they
know when they're doing something wrong. They know. Because their conscience tells
them so. I can watch little Maddy at a
year and a half old, start to get into a drawer, look at her,
and sometimes you don't have to look at her, she'll just start
to pull that drawer out and look at a year and a half old. That
conscience is already at work. Already. It's amazing. And this matter of the conscience
is an internal matter that no one sees but you and God. I can't
see your conscience, you can't see mine, but God does. God does. We'll see this in a little bit.
Well, here, let me read this. Look over in 1 John. Look over
here in 1 John. In 1 John chapter 3, look in verse 20. For if our heart, if our conscience,
and I believe you can substitute the word conscience there for
heart. If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart
and knoweth all things. If my heart condemns me, God
knows it. Then he says here in verse 21,
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence,
then have we a good conscience and confidence toward God. The only way that God can be
served and worshipped this morning, as we say here, is with a pure
conscience, a good conscience. Look what Paul says over 2 Timothy.
2 Timothy chapter 1. Paul used this word conscience
more than I realized when I started studying this. In 2 Timothy chapter 1, look
in verse 3. I thank God whom I served from
my forefathers with what? A pure conscience. I serve him,
I worship him with a pure conscience. God knows my heart. God knows
I love him. Peter said that, didn't he? Lord,
you know I love you. Paul said, I serve him with a
pure conscience that without ceasing I have remembrance of
thee in my prayers night and day. A pure conscience, now,
is a conscience cleansed from all sin by the blood of Christ. And it's in this pure conscience
that we hold and believe the gospel. This pure conscience,
this pure heart. Let's go over to 1 Timothy. Let's
come back over to 1 Timothy. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, Paul says in verse 9, he says, holding the mystery
of the faith, which is the gospel, in a pure conscience. A good conscience Has Christ
as its object of worship? We worship Him out of a pure
conscience, sincerely. Sincerely worshiping Him. A man
with a truly good conscience holds the Word in high esteem.
He even holds it above his necessary food. He does. He holds it above
his necessary A man who has a good conscience desires the will of
God to be done. Thy will be done, not mine. That
comes out of a good conscience, if it's really so. And he worships God in Christ,
in spirit, in truth, in a pure conscience. Lord, You know I
love You. You know I believe You. I have
my own beliefs, but You know I believe You. Now an evil conscience
is one that perverts the word of God and worships a creature
more than the Creator. Let me read to you out of Romans
chapter 1. This will shed more light on
that. It says in verse 18 of Romans
1, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. God has made it known to them.
He's made them conscious of it. All men are conscious. God has
made all men conscious of His existence. And knowing that,
we ought to seek Him. For God has showed it to them.
For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power of Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
because that when they knew God, they had some knowledge of God,
they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools, and here's what they did. They changed the
glory of the uncorruptible God into an image. made like to a
corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping
things. Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness through
the lust of their own hearts, their own conscience, to dishonor
their own bodies between themselves, who change the truth of God into
a lie, and worship and serve the creature more than the Creator,
who is blessed forever." A man's conscience makes him
aware of his actions. How many times have we said to
our children, you know better than that. You know better than that. All
men know better than that. All men know better. Because
it's written on the heart. See, the problem is sin. A sinful
nature, a sinful heart. And through sin, Men and women, their conscience, you read it
this morning, is seared, as said, as with a hot iron, is calloused. You know, you take some scar
and you cut yourself, you get this scar, you get this callous.
And I tell you what, if you keep rubbing it and messing with it,
you just make it harder. You just make it even more tough.
And sin. A continuance in sin and sin
and sin just makes the conscience more calloused, more calloused. It's just like quieting the conscience
to the point God turns them over to being reprobate and they can't
even make a good judgment between good and evil. I think it's evident the conscience
of this nation has been calloused. We accept, this nation has gotten
to the place it accepts every perversion come and going. Seared us with a hot iron. They lose their sense of judgment
of good and evil and as I, look in verse, I got it here in verse
32 in Romans. They take pleasure in that which
is shameful. Who knowing the judgment of God,
because God's revealed it, that they which commit such things
are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure
in them that do it." Coctions have been calloused, like a hot
iron has been taken to it. What do they call that? Caterized? I remember Vicki's nose used
to bleed a lot, and they went up there and caterized that vessel
to stop it from bleeding. Caterized that coction. I think
that's how you pronounce it. If not, you know what I'm talking
about. But now, what gives a man a good conscience? How does a
man go from having an evil conscience to worshipping the creature more
than the Creator? Well, first of all, there must
be a new heart given. There must be a work of God in
the heart. That old heart will never be
any good whatsoever. The only thing you can do with
it is bury it. And God's going to bury it. From
dust thou art and dust thou shalt return. Everything that came
from the dust is going back to the dust. But that which is born
of the Spirit now, that's going back to God. That's going to
God. The heart also must be sprinkled
by the blood of Christ. There must come into the conscience,
into the heart of a man, the sprinkling of the blood of Christ.
And there must come, listen, a saving, a real saving knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said this in Philippians
3, in verse 8. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but lost. For what? The excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus. A real conscious, saving knowledge
of Jesus Christ in the heart. This good conscience can only
come from Christ Himself indwelling us. Let me read you over in Hebrews
chapter 10. I know I'm reading some lengthy
portions of Scripture, but it explains it better than I can.
Hebrews chapter 10, let me read some verses here. Will the law,
having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image
of the things, can never, with those sacrifices which they offer
year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect?
For then would they not have ceased to be offered? If they
had worked, they would not be offered any more. Because that
the worshippers once purged should have what? No more conscience
of sins. No more reminders, no more remembrance,
no more bringing up again sins. They'd have no more conscience
of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance, a consciousness
again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo, I come, and the volume of the book is written
of me, to do thy will, O God. Above, when he saith, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin thou wouldst
not, neither hath pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, and he may establish the second. By the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. It can't do it. Not possible.
But this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, After he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness
to us. For after that he had said before,
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts. I'll write it into their conscience. And in their minds will I write
them. And their sins and iniquities I'll not bring up no more." Not bring it up no more. We just
read earlier, remember, there was a consciousness made of it
every year of sins. He said, I won't bring this up
no more. Now where remission of these is, there's no more
offering for sin. having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus Christ, by
a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through
the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having a high priest
over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an
evil conscience." I had to read a lot just to get to that. Having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water. How do I have a good conscience?
How do I have a pure conscience? Through the blood and righteousness
of Jesus Christ. That's how you have a good conscience.
I mean a real good conscience. A real one. Now what's the fruit? What's the fruit of a good conscience? Peace with God. But not only
peace with God, I'm not talking about peace with God on paper.
I'm talking about a real inward tranquility that belongs to a
believer. No matter how rough the storm
is, no matter how tough the trial is, there's a real tranquility
because you have a real peace with God. And then you have a fruit of
this, free from the guilt of sin. If the Lord has made you to know
by the work of the Holy Spirit in conviction of sin, if He's
made you to know what guilt of sin is, then you can appreciate
what the freedom from that guilt is. And the only thing that can
do that is when you see the blood, when you see Christ, when you
are enabled to lay hold of the Lamb of God, that you can have
a real free conscience, free from the guilt. And then there's a real joy in
the Lord. Don't just act joyful. You know,
this is not a play. This is not a play. It's not
an act we're putting on. There is a real joy in the Lord.
Rejoice in the Lord always. David said over in Psalm 34,
I will bless the Lord at all times. Are you sure, David? Are you sure it's not an overstatement
there? David, very conscious of what
he was writing, he said, I will bless the Lord at all times. He's my joy. That's what Paul
told those Philippians. Rejoice in the Lord always. And then there's a real boldness
before God in prayer. This good conscience that comes
through the blood of Christ gives real boldness before God in prayer. I just read that to you over
in 1 John 3.21. And then it delivers from the fear of death. Oh, to die. to die with a good
conscience toward God. Paul said, I have a good conscience
toward God. You can't see it, but he can.
Fully confident that he'll do just as he said he would. I want this, don't you? I want
to live before God and men with a good conscience. Well, look
to the Lamb of God. That's where you get it. You
get it from Him. Alright, let me just say a few more things
about this chapter here of Paul and then I'll close. That pretty
much covered most of what I had to say. But the high priest here
now, after Paul said he had a good conscience before God, that high
priest commanded the man standing there to smite him on the mouth.
Just slap him. He couldn't stand the boldness
of God's man. That's why he couldn't stand.
And he flexed his little muscles. That's what he did, he flexed
his little muscles. And he said, smite him on the mouth. Where
the Word of God's coming out. Where the Word of God, the Word
of Truth is coming out, slap him. Slap him right there. Stop
it. That's what he wanted to do, stop the Word. But that didn't
stop Paul from speaking. Little did the high priest know,
he's dealing with a man that's not afraid to die. Well, that's
the toughest man to deal with. A man that's not afraid to die.
Paul said, I count not my life dear unto me. And Paul told that
high priest, he said, God's going to smite you, you whited wall.
And you know what? Five years later, that man was
murdered. That was really a prophecy. Five years later, that man was
murdered. Vengeance belongs to God. He'll
repay in due time. And it'll be a righteous judgment.
But he will repay. Just wait a minute. And Paul was told, they said,
do you revile the high priest? I believe Paul knew he was the
high priest. Paul said, I knew not that he was the high priest.
You mean he's the high priest? He's not the high priest. Jesus
Christ is. That priesthood was done away with. Paul knew this.
Paul knew what he was saying against this man. That man was
not a high priest. He was an imposter. The priesthood
had been done away with. Christ is the high priest over
the house of God. But Paul did show respect for
the office. That's what he was saying. He
wasn't showing respect for that God-hating man. He was showing
respect for this office, even though a sinful man or wicked
man was in it. But that office was over with.
Christ is the high priest. And then Paul used some wisdom
here. He saw this council was going nowhere. And so he turned
the Pharisees and Sadducees against each other. He got them off his
back. He got the monkey off his back. He got them on to each
other, what he did. See, the Pharisees believed in
a resurrection. They believed in angels and spirit, but the
Sadducees didn't believe any of that. I don't know what they
believed. I don't know why you have a religion
if you don't believe that. I mean, you might as well believe
just anything. Paul said he's a Pharisee. Now,
here's what he's saying. In the point, as far as this
point of resurrection, of the body. Paul said, I agree with
them. He said, in that sense, I'm a
Pharisee. And that split that crowd and they got on to each
other and were just tearing each other up. There was a division
which was not over how God can be just and justify the ungodly.
It was over resurrection of the dead, an event. Really, they
were dividing and fighting each other over an event. Not the
person who's the resurrection, Christ. Let's not divide up over
events. The gospel made it, but not events.
They take Paul because they said he would have been pulled in
pieces. They put him back in prison. And while he's in prison, while he's in prison, the Lord
stood by him. The Lord who stood for him stood
by him. He's always standing by us. We
can't see Him. Most of the time, we can't perceive
Him. But He always stands by His people, His children. Was that song of prison a palace
would prove if Jesus would dwell with me there? And he said, Paul, be of good
cheer. Be happy. I'm sure Paul was really down. I mean, he was really taking
a beating here. He's really gone through a lot here. And here
he is in prison by himself. Everyone hates him. He don't
have a friend in sight. Not one soul to talk to. And
the Lord appears to him. And he said, Paul, be of good
cheer. Rejoice, Paul. Rejoice. Child of God, be of
good cheer. The Lord is on thy side. If God be for us, who can be
against us? We're never alone. Never alone. Don't we sing a
song like that, Mike? Never alone. I think we do. Never alone. He said, No weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper. Paul was never alone. The Lord stood with him. That's
what he told Timothy when he wrote this in 2 Timothy. He said,
All forsook me, but the Lord stood with me. Always with me. You know, when we stand with
someone, we show union. You stand beside someone, you
stand there, you say, I'm with you. You're showing union. You're showing bond. You're showing
comradeship. That's what it's showing. The
Lord says, this is mine. Paul, I'm standing there. You're
not alone. And he was told, he told Paul,
he said, you'll preach the gospel at Rome just like you did at
Jerusalem. He hadn't forgot about that ministry in Jerusalem. He said, Paul, just like you
preached there in Jerusalem, you're going to go to Rome also.
Your ministry's not finished. Anyone of us who would have looked
at Paul at that time would have looked at Paul and said, your
ministry's over with. Your ministry's finished. Paul, you're going to go to Rome.
You're going to preach before a king. I'm not done with you
yet, Paul. I tell you, until the Lord's
done with us, we're immortal. We are immortal until the Lord's
done with us. Then He lets us be immortal for a while and take
us home. But Paul goes through all of
this because it's part of the journey home. Everything you're
going through is part of the journey home. That's what it
is. You're going to go to Rome, Paul.
The Lord encourages him in his work. Our steps are ordered by
the Lord, aren't they? We believe that. It takes a while,
though. We believe it, but I'm telling
you, it takes a while before it really takes hold. It's kind
of like glue. It takes a while to set up. Our
steps are ordered by the Lord. Paul had a direct visit from
the Lord Himself. What's that worth? What's that
worth? Oh, to have the Lord stand by
you, what's that worth? I tell you this, it'd be worth
going to prison for. It'd be worth going to prison if the
Lord stood by me. It'd be worth it. Well, there's a conspiracy, and
I'll wind this down. There is a conspiracy going on
against Paul. These 40 Jews, they're making
a conspiracy. They're going to not eat or drink
until they kill Paul. I wonder if they held to that. I bet they didn't. I bet after
they saw that Paul was delivered to Caesarea, I bet they figured
out a way to get out of that vow. Be careful what you vow.
You might have to keep it. Scripture teaches us to be careful
of what we vow. If they abandon themselves again,
they're going to kill Paul. Paul's sitting in prison. He
was sitting there and didn't know this. Here's the providence
of God. And all things are of God. All
things are providential. Paul's nephew heard of this conspiracy. He went and told Paul. Paul said,
you go tell the chief captain. You go tell the chief captain.
And he did. That chief captain said, well,
don't you tell him why you told me this. Because he wants to
take all the credit. That's what this is. He wants
to take all the credit for delivering Paul safely. He said, when I
saw that he was a roving, I stepped in and rescued him. I want you to notice. Let me get back to Acts here.
I'll wind this down. Let me find my place. In verse 30, and when it was
told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway
to thee and gave commandment. Well, wait a minute, that's not
it. In verse 22, in verse 22, so
the chief captain then let the young man depart and charged
him, see thou tell no man that thou hast showed me these things,
showed these things to me. And he called unto him two centurions,
saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and
horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred at the
third hour of the night. And provide them beasts that
they may set Paul on, and let Paul ride into town, and bring
him safe unto Felix the governor." Now, I'm telling you this. There
were four hundred and seventy soldiers that delivered Paul
to Caesarea. Was any king ever more safe than
Paul? He went into town with 470 bodyguards,
riding into town, like a king. Here's God's profession. Like
a king, he rides into town. 470 soldiers at their expense. Chief Captain is going to make
sure that that Roman Now it sure wasn't an accident he was born
in Cilicia, was it? In a free city, a Roman, for
this purpose. They couldn't touch him. And
this chief captain, son, his life was on the line. Because
if anything happened to that Roman, that free Roman, his life
would be at stake. So he just got his, he got all
his, he got an army. He took an army and put Paul
right in the middle of them on a donkey and said, I thought my soul. God's provision
of grace. I'm going to close with reading
Psalm 56. Psalm 56. Be merciful unto me, O God, for
man would swallow me up. He fighting daily oppresses me.
My enemies would daily swallow me up, for they'd be many that
fight against me o'er thy most high. What time I am afraid,
I've remembered this verse often, I will trust in thee. In God
I will praise his word, in God I will put my trust, I will not
fear what flesh can do to me. Every day they rest my words,
all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves
together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps when they
wait for my soul. Now this is speaking of Christ,
but you can see how Paul is waiting to kill Paul too. This applies
to all of God's children through Christ. Shall they escape by
iniquity? In thine anger cast down the
people, O God. Thou tellest my wonderings. Put
thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book? Did
you not purpose them? Did you not purpose every tear
that comes from my eyes? He saw the good in it and purposed
it to be so. When I cry unto thee, then shall
my enemies turn back. This I know, for God is for me.
In God will I praise his word. In the Lord will I praise his
word. In God have I put my trust. I
will not be afraid what man can do unto me. Thy vows are upon
me, O God. I will render praises unto thee.
For thou hast delivered my soul from death. Wilt thou not keep
my feet from falling? Christ delivered our soul from
the pit, didn't he? Will he not keep us from falling
away? Will he not keep us? Wilt thou not deliver my feet
from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the
living?