Keeping a Good Conscience

[00:00:00] Let's get our bible, if you would, and turn to the book of acts, chapter 23. [00:00:09] Acts, chapter 23. We'll actually begin reading above that in chapter 22, acts, chapter 23. [00:00:31] Just to bring you up to speed on where we're at in this narrative of Paul, he is in chapter 22. He just had the opportunity of, to him, a lifetime, basically his entire life as a believer has kind of, at least as far as his desire is concerned, toward his people. Israel has kind of culminated at this one point when he's been able to stand on the steps leading into the fortress of Antonia, which is adjacent to the Temple Mount, the Temple area, and had an opportunity to say just really just a couple hundred words to his people, Israel, to witness to them, to share the gospel, to really to explain why he had believed in Christ, using, of course, his. When he saw the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. And they listened to him up until verse number 21, when he said the word, the very last word he spoke was the word gentiles, and that they plugged their ears at that point. [00:01:45] And so the roman soldier, the chief captain, commanded that he be brought into the castle, and that, of course, cut off his speech. And so he's brought in and they tie him up in verse number 25 with thongs. That is to essentially a whipping post, where they're going to examine him by scourging, which is basically to beat the truth out of him. [00:02:08] And this is not your woodshed beating here. This is a beating that will actually send you to your final resting place. [00:02:17] And then Paul, of course, appeals to the fact that he's a Roman. And according to roman law, he is not permitted as a roman citizen. And we'll talk about this a little bit later. But as a roman citizen, he's not permitted by law to be bound or to be whipped or punished until he has been given an opportunity to have a trial. [00:02:41] And so they. They leave him there. They free him, but they hold him in the fortress of Antonia. And then in verse number 30, the chief captain does not understand why there's such a ruckus about Paul, because, of course, the chief captain would not have been a Jew. He would have been a gentile and probably sent in from another place, likely Rome. And so he's just kind of a transplant to do his job. So all of these, all the strife that's going on with Paul and how the Jews hate his guts, and there's a riot essentially over Paul. And what's interesting to note before we get into our text here is later at the end of acts. Paul's going to be in Rome. And he's eventually, by historical accounts. Is going to be executed by beheading. Because he's a roman citizen. [00:03:33] But the reason that Paul is beheaded. Likely had something to do with this. [00:03:41] In other words, this issue with Paul being a Christian. And the christian group within the jewish people. Because it created a huge problem. And later on, I'll talk about that. [00:03:55] But anyhow, we're in verse number 30. [00:03:58] On the morrow. [00:04:00] Because he would have known the certainty. Wherefore he was accused of the Jews. He loosed him from his bands. And commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear. [00:04:12] And brought Paul down and set him before them. [00:04:16] And Paul, earnestly beholding the council. Said, men and brethren. I have lived in all good conscience before God. Until this day. [00:04:29] And the high priest Ananias. Commanded them that stood by to smite him on the mouth. Let's pray together. [00:04:38] Lord, thank you for the chance to meet together as your people at your church. [00:04:42] I just pray as we study this subject. And we look at these. These scriptures. That you would please use them for your honor. For your glory. Help us increase in knowledge and understanding. But also to apply these things to our life. [00:04:54] Lord, I don't know what each one of your people needs. But, Lord, I'm not depending upon my knowledge and wisdom. But upon your. [00:05:02] Your grace. And your help and power. To give to each one of your people what they might need. So, Lord, please meet with us. And be the teacher we pray in Jesus name. Amen. [00:05:14] What I want to talk about this morning. Is I want to look at what Paul said in verse number one. Because it's an interesting thing. If you think through what he's saying here. Paul and Paul. Verse 2023. Verse number one. And Paul, earnestly beholding the council. Said, men and brethren. I have lived in all good conscience before God. Until this day. Now think about what has happened in Paul's life until this day. Think about where Paul has been. Paul was raised in the home. His father was a Pharisee. We'll see that in chapter 23. His father was a Pharisee. He was raised in a Pharisee's home. Now a Pharisee. For all the negative connotation about the Pharisees. And there is a plenty of negative. Which we'll probably look at tonight. But with all the negativity about what a Pharisee is. The one thing the Pharisees had right. Is they were doctrinally sound. In other words, if you looked at their doctrinal. Statement. It was just like ours. No, it was right. It was right. That was a joke. That was a joke. Tough crowd this morning. Tough crowd. [00:06:25] But the Pharisees doctrinal statement was just so. They believed the Bible. [00:06:31] They believed the Bible. [00:06:33] So he was raised in the home of a Pharisee, but a Pharisee that was a roman citizen, okay? So he had the privileges that came along with citizenship as well. [00:06:42] And Paul was a very religious and zealous man for his religion. So he was not someone that carried his religion on his coat sleeve. He lived it. He lived by the law. He said he believed. Now, one thing that's interesting about Paul is Paul. Even though Paul was a Pharisee, he was not a hypocritical Pharisee. [00:07:08] Now think about that. Paul was not a hypocritical Pharisee, which is what the Pharisees were known for. Right? Known for hypocrisy. Paul was a Pharisee who truly believed and then lived what he said. He believed to the point that he was willing to take this sect of the Jews who had believed in Christ and was willing to persecute them unto the death, because he believed that they were believing a false prophet and that they were in error. They were apostates. And so really, Paul, all that he was doing when he was still Saul, he was applying. [00:07:49] Now, follow me. Let me just clarify something here. [00:07:55] There's basically two types of persecution. [00:07:58] There's persecution that comes what you might call informal persecution. And that's what a lot of people in the world experience. That is, someone believes in Christ and starts to witness or live righteously. They try to live right? And as a result, those around them, in their society and their family, put pressure on them. [00:08:18] Sometimes kick them out of the family. Sometimes they slander them or whatever. You have that kind of persecution, and then you have official persecution. [00:08:27] That is, when the government or the authority in power persecutes the Christians as an act of law or as an act of the government. Those are two different kinds of persecution. Both of them are real persecution. But what Paul did is Paul was not like the Jews. Now, hear me out. Paul was not like the Jews. [00:08:50] We'll see an example of this in John eight in just a minute. But he was not the guy who was plotting, which is we're going to see in 23. Plotting to murder christians. Oh, no, no. Because that would have been a violation of the law of Moses. [00:09:04] Paul was a faithful Pharisee. In other words, he followed the law and the law of Moses said that there were penalties for going after false gods and all of that, but there was an official way to enact that penalty and apply that penalty. It wasn't just you get together with a bunch of guys with a bunch of hit men, and you attack Paul and kill Paul, which is what they're going to try to do in chapter 23. No, that's not what Paul did. His MO was different. [00:09:31] You know what Paul did? Paul went to the authority. He went to the council. Remember this? We read this in acts. He went to the council, got official permission to arrest the Christians in various places, bring them back to Jerusalem for a trial to be judged. And then that's what happened with Stephen. And he held the clothes of those that actually executed the person. [00:09:57] He did it lawfully. [00:09:59] Now, we know it was wrong, but he did it following the law of Moses, because that was what Paul was. Now, here's the question. Knowing all of these things about Paul's life until acts nine, when Paul is on the road to Damascus and God absolutely transforms and overturns his life, right? [00:10:22] All of the things that Paul did before he knew the Lord Jesus, were all of those things wicked in God's sight? Yes. The persecution of the Christians, his entire, entire belief regarding Jesus was wrong. He was wrong. Can everybody give me a nod here? We're a sleepy this. We're a sleepy morning. Mother's day. Everybody slept in, right? No. [00:10:48] Moms worked the hardest on Mother's day. Right? [00:10:53] Paul was wrong, but he didn't realize it until acts chapter nine. [00:10:58] Okay, now follow me. [00:11:03] In acts nine, Paul's whole life is turned upside down, and he realizes everything that he has been building is vain. [00:11:12] Most importantly, he's been wrong about Jesus, and he's also been wrong about righteousness. He thought that he was right with God because he kept God's law, even though he didn't keep God's law. But he thought that that's what Philippians chapter three is all about. [00:11:34] And then, so the Lord turns the light on in Paul's life, and all of a sudden, he realizes this. All of his life is wrong. And so he trusts in Jesus, and he begins to live for God. Live for Jesus. [00:11:48] Then you look at verse one of chapter 23. [00:11:52] He says, I have lived in all good conscience before God unto this day. My question is this. How can he say that? [00:12:02] How can Paul say, given what happened to him in acts nine and everything he did before that, putting christians to death and imprisoning them, how can he say at this point, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. That's quite a statement he's saying from my earliest memory until this moment, my conscience has been clear. How can Paul say that, given the things he's done that he has acknowledged were wrong and grievously wrong, how can he say I had a good conscience the whole time? Because that's what he's saying. [00:12:41] And upon that, I want to look at this subject of the conscience. [00:12:48] And once we get done, I think you'll understand why Paul is saying that. Now. What is the conscience? [00:12:53] The conscience is the faculty, or sense present in all people that enables them to know and to judge right and wrong based upon their moral and ethical principles. [00:13:12] All right. It's the ability, the faculty or the sense of all people. No matter if you're an unbeliever or a believer, you know God. You don't know God. [00:13:21] You're an animist in some village in the darkest part of Africa or Asia, or you're a baptist church member. [00:13:33] Everyone has a conscience. And I'm going to compare the conscience to this coffee cup. [00:13:40] Respect the beard. [00:13:42] Respect the beard. [00:13:45] So our conscience is like this cup, okay? Just hold that in your mind. [00:13:51] Everyone has a conscience. Everyone has this. It is something that we have as a part of our nature. [00:13:59] We're born with it, and everybody has one. So everybody's got a coffee cup. [00:14:05] The question is, what is inside the coffee cup? See, the word conscience means con c o n. With science. [00:14:16] Science is just another word for knowledge. With knowledge. So the difference is this. We all have a coffee cup. Every one of us. No matter if we're. If we know God or don't know God, we're lost or we're saved. Every one of us has a conscience. So. So everyone has a cup. But the difference is what is inside the cup? The knowledge that's inside the cup. [00:14:39] Because if I had Folger's coffee, I hope it don't offend you. If you like Folgers, I don't know how you like it, but I digress. If I put Folger's coffee in here, it's going to taste different than if I put some good medium roast, Brazil sourced coffee from Bridge city in here. It's good stuff. Good stuff. It's going to taste differently. Or if I put orange juice, or if I put milk or Pepsi or coke, or whatever you prefer. If I put it in here, it's going to be different. [00:15:20] So every one of us has a cup, but what's inside that cup, which represents our knowledge, conscience with knowledge is going to determine how this conscience works. [00:15:33] How this conscience works. So there's two things you need to know about the conscience, okay? And then we'll look at some verses to show this. All right? Number one, the knowledge that goes into the cup, that's what's different. Sister Karen, your knowledge from the time of your earliest memory until this moment is different than my knowledge. Now what does that knowledge include? That knowledge includes the society in which you were brought up and what the combined knowledge and understanding of laws and morals and ethics in the society in which you were brought up. Not all societies have that same ethic. Right? The way you were raised also largely determines your knowledge. For instance, if you were raised in a family where you were taught that drinking alcohol at all is wrong, listen, now, the question is not what the Bible says for what I'm saying right now. The question is not that for the purposes of the conscience. The question is my parents taught me from my earliest memory that drinking alcohol is wrong. So that's what goes into my coffee cup. And so I'm going to have an ethic in my conscience that says drinking alcohol is wrong because my knowledge has been put there. Now as an example, I'll give you an example of that among the cambodian people because they're buddhist. Buddhism teaches that drinking alcohol in any form, in any amount, is wrong. Right. It's wrong. So you don't have to be a Christian in Cambodia to believe in your conscience that drinking alcohol is wrong. So that's what's been poured into their conscience as knowledge. Is everybody kind of following me? So that's the first level, how you're raised, what religious faith or background you were part of, the society in which you lived, personal experiences, your friends around you. The conscience can change over time depending on what's in this cup. [00:17:40] So listen, if someone is raised, if someone is raised in a family where there's very little morality, that's not going to be in their cup. And so their conscience is not going to be activated on that point. In other words, people do things like that. They don't think a thing about it. Whereas if you did that, having been raised, maybe in a christian family where that was poured into your conscience cup, you're going to have a conscience if you engage in that kind of activity. [00:18:08] Okay? Now that's the first thing, the knowledge of the conscience. That's the first thing. The second thing is this, do our actions agree with or go against our knowledge, our conscience? Okay. Let me give you an example. So going back to the alcohol example. So you were raised in a family where they said that drinking alcohol is wrong. One drop is wrong. All right, again, we're not looking at the bible for the purpose of this point. [00:18:41] If you have been raised in that, and that's part of your conscience and you drink alcohol, your conscience is going to be then defiled, because you have gone against your own moral and ethical principles, your own, not someone else's, yours, that were in your conscience put there by all of these factors. [00:19:04] Here's the irony, and I know this as a fact from my own family. [00:19:12] I know someone who has a conscience about drinking alcohol, but was not also taught a host of other things that are morally wrong according to God, that were never put in their conscience cup. And so they don't think anything about it, don't think a thing about it. And then there's other people that are reversed as true. They were brought up saying, if you get into debt at all, it's wrong, it's ethically wrong. And they were taught that as a kid. [00:19:38] But, man, they drink it up, no problem. [00:19:41] Why? [00:19:43] The question is not what the Bible says for this. The question is, what's in this cup? [00:19:47] You see, every one of us has a conscience. God put it in us. And that is one of the things that distinguishes us from animals. [00:19:55] We have a moral nature. And here's the thing, and I'm going somewhere with this. You and I must deal with this fact. [00:20:05] As a Christian, or even if we don't know the Lord, we have to deal with what's in this cup and react to it. [00:20:14] Because when we go against our God given conscience, we create a lot of problems for ourselves. Paul says, I have lived in all good conscience up to this day. [00:20:31] All right, look at first Corinthians, chapter eight, real quick. [00:20:37] First Corinthians, chapter eight. [00:20:40] I'll give you an example. And then after that, we'll be in John, chapter eight, one corinthians eight. Now here's something interesting in first corinthians eight. This is the question that we've touched on before about whether it's okay to eat food that has been given as a sacrifice to an idol. Now, I know this is very unfamiliar. Before I was a missionary, this was a very unfamiliar passage of scripture. It didn't make a lot of sense. But in places where there's idolatry, food is often given as a sacrifice. And then our church on Wednesday night has gone through this with the peace offering, where that was then consumed right by the group. [00:21:20] Right that's what's happening here. So the question is, is it wrong to eat that food that has been sacrificed to an idol? All right, look at chapter eight of one corinthians, verse four. As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered and sacrificed unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one. But though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be God's many and Lord's many, but to us, there is but one God, the father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Notice verse seven. Howbeit there is not in every man that what knowledge. [00:22:06] In other words, some people don't know that there's but one God and that the idol is just a piece of stone for some with. What's the next word? Conscience. [00:22:18] That's the knowledge of the idol unto this hour. Eat it as a thing offered unto an idol. And their conscience, being weak, is defiled. You see that? So this person, right or wrong, doesn't matter in their conscience. Cup. There's this idea that idols are something, that it's actually. Maybe it's not just a stone. Maybe there's something to it. And they think that that's part of their cup. [00:22:49] And so they become a Christian, and they're like, I shouldn't eat that, because they offered it in sacrifice to an idol, because their knowledge says the idol is not God, but there's something to it. [00:23:03] And so God says, don't eat it. [00:23:07] Why conscience? Now, Paul says, but in this case, what is the idol? It's nothing. It's nothing. It's just a piece of stone. There's nothing to it. So Paul could sit there and eat whatever had been offered to an idol, and it would not have defiled or offended his conscience at all, because he knows better. His knowledge is different. Okay, everybody with me. This is how the conscience works. Now, look at John eight. [00:23:39] John eight, verse. [00:23:42] I'm not going to read all of this for time's sake. But this is the story of the woman caught in adultery, where they bring her to Jesus. And they said, this woman was found in the act of adultery. Verse five. Now, Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? [00:23:59] This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. [00:24:07] So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And he stooped down and rode on the ground. And they which heard it, notice being convicted by their own conscience, notice that convicted by their own conscience went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. This is a very much abused passage. People say this teaches one thing, it doesn't teach it. Jesus is not approving of this woman's life. But whatever Jesus was writing on the ground was reminding them of something. [00:24:50] And when Jesus asked that question, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. He was saying, what's in your cup? [00:25:04] And their own conscience. These people are not believers in John eight. They're trying to tempt Jesus. They're trying to catch him in something. They're not people who believe in Christ. So these are unbelievers who have a conscience, and their conscience is convicting them. That is, they're about to do something that they know is against their own principles. [00:25:29] You see it? [00:25:31] Now look at acts, chapter 26. [00:25:35] Acts, chapter 26, verse number. [00:25:45] Look at verse number nine. [00:25:48] Paul's speaking. This will be later in our study. But in acts 26, verse number nine, Paul's speaking to King Agrippa. Herod Agrippa. The second verse nine says this. Notice what he says in acts nine, acts 26 nine. [00:26:06] I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. See what Paul's saying? Before Paul became a Christian, he said, I thought that I should do many things against the name of Jesus. [00:26:26] You know what he's doing? He was acting according to his conscience. [00:26:31] So even though Paul was persecuting christians, his conscience was saying, great job, because his beliefs, his knowledge, was, Jesus is an imposter. [00:26:44] The law says they should be punished. That was what was in his cup. And so he says, I thought I should do many things against the name of Jesus. So you know what he did? He did it, and he did it with a clear conscience. Isn't that amazing? So what does that tell us? That tells us that people can sin and rebel against God and do wicked things without any pinch or pang of a defiled conscience. [00:27:20] With a clear mind, they can do that. It's possible. [00:27:24] It all depends on what was put in their cup. Now, that doesn't mean God gives them a pastor, because the conscience and our knowledge, that's not the standard by which God judges. [00:27:36] God judges by his word. And that's what we're going to get to in just a minute. [00:27:43] Paul goes on to say in chapter 26 how he met the Lord Jesus. And all of a sudden, when Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, all of a sudden, Paul's knowledge changed. All of a sudden, Jesus was no longer an imposter. He was the lord of all. And Paul had realized that all of the things he had thought about Jesus were wrong. All of a sudden, a whole bunch of new stuff poured into his cup. [00:28:07] And the question at that moment, what's in the past is in the past. [00:28:12] But at that moment, what is he going to do with that new conscience based upon new knowledge? You know what he did? [00:28:19] He said, I'm going to follow Jesus because the new conscience with the new knowledge of who Jesus truly was, he said, I'm gonna follow Jesus. So when we get to acts, chapter number 23, what do we see? He says, I have lived in all good conscience unto this day. So from the moment he learned about Jesus, he started living for Jesus again. There's two things here, the knowledge and whether our actions agree with or are contrary to our conscience. Those two things. [00:28:56] Now, I'll make one point, and then we'll get to the conclusion of what I want to say. [00:29:04] Modern psychology, secular, purely secular psychology that bans God and spiritual things. [00:29:14] You know what it tries to do? It tries to twist and alter the conscience, really, not the conscience, because the conscience is there either way. It tries to dump out all the rules and all the teachings and all the good things you've learned growing up, right? Your parents have taught you, tries to dump them out so you won't feel guilty, so that conscience will stick you when you do something you know you should not do, that you've been taught better than to do. That's what modern psychology teaches. That is freudian psychology. [00:29:51] And that's one reason it's so dangerous. It seeks to deactivate something that God put there for us. [00:29:59] God put that sense of morality in us. It's what makes us different than animals. [00:30:05] It's one of the things that makes us a distinction. We have a moral nature, and there's nothing. Listen, no amount of scientific whatever, no amount of studies of the human brain, no amount of chemical studies or anything that science promotes changes. The fact that you and I are moral beings, and we have to deal and reckon with that fact. [00:30:30] Even you as a Christian have to deal with it. [00:30:35] Now, as I turn the page on this, I want to share something with you that what is a Christian to do with his conscience? Many Christians live by their conscience. [00:30:56] Just that. In other words, whatever they were raised and taught, having been raised, whatever's in there. Now, many of you have. You used to have a certain thing in your cup, and now it's all different because you got saved and your life's totally changed, and the Lord's worked in your heart, and so the liquid in here has been replaced, and so your conscience is all different. It's good. It's a good thing. But many of you, often, like I was, was raised in a christian society. And we live the christian life as a child of God based upon the knowledge that was put there in society from our upbringing, things like that. But the Lord doesn't want us to live based upon that. He wants to live us to live based upon his word, not how we were raised. This is one reason people get stuck in traditions. [00:31:49] But you know one thing that usurps traditions? [00:31:53] The word of God. [00:31:55] Let me show you what I mean. Look at psalm number 19. [00:32:04] What I'm saying is, if you're a child of God, you can't live just simply doing whatever you were raised to do. You have to have a higher standard than that. [00:32:19] You have to be a Bible Christian, not someone who just tries to keep a clean conscience and don't have that tinge of guilt from a conscience. No, no. You got something better than that. [00:32:30] Psalm 19, verse eight. Notice the words here. We'll look at several verses here. The statutes of the Lord. That's the word of God are right. The rejoicing, the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure. Notice the next phrase, enlightening the eyes. [00:32:50] You see it? That's knowledge. [00:32:53] Look at psalm 119. [00:32:57] Psalm 119, verse. [00:33:00] You know this? Verse 105. Many of you can quote it. [00:33:07] Psalm 119, verse 105. Says, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. [00:33:17] Look at verse 130, same chapter. Psalm 119, verse 130. [00:33:25] The entrance of thy words giveth light. [00:33:29] It giveth understanding unto the simple. You see that light again? Knowledge turning the light on. [00:33:37] Where there was once darkness and ignorance, now there's flooded with light. Look at proverbs six. We're right there. Proverbs, chapter six, verse 23. [00:33:53] For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life. Why am I saying this? Law is light. Law is light. Here's what the Lord wants you to do, believer. Child of God. Look, here's what he wants us to do. We got saved. We trusted in Jesus. You know what? Our conscience probably had a lot to do with that, because that moral sense of right and wrong largely was good. Not all, but a lot of it was good. We're raised not to steal, not to curse, not to, you know, do all these, do all the big thing, you know, big stuff. And so the Lord uses that conscience to prick our hearts. [00:34:31] And then he adds a little bit of his word, right? He has a little bit of his word to help us understand why we're guilty. [00:34:39] And then once we saw where we stood with God and what sin was, and he added a whole bunch. He poured a bunch of knowledge in this. All of a sudden, our conscience is really sticking us. And then you have the spirit of God working in us to boot. And so we finally came to Jesus. We trusted in Christ, right? He gave us a new heart, but we still have a conscience. [00:34:57] Do you know what he wants us to fill this with? [00:35:02] Word. [00:35:04] He wants us to empty it all. And many of the things we were taught when we were young and from society. And those things are not bad. They're not all bad, but they must be consistent and in alignment with God's word, all of them. [00:35:21] You know what that does when that is true? Our conscience will function as the Lord intended it, to help us to know and understand God's will and to follow it. That's what it, this is what the Lord's intention was with the conscience, so that when you stepped out of God, out of the way of the Lord, that conscience would prick you and remind you. [00:35:54] And so that's what the Lord wants in our heart and our mind, his word. [00:35:59] But there is a word of caution, both to the child of God and to the unbeliever. [00:36:08] Look at one Timothy 113. [00:36:13] One Timothy 113, verse twelve. Actually, to someone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ, beware. [00:36:34] Beware. [00:36:36] Paul says this of himself before he knew Jesus. Look at what he says. And I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me for that. He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer. Is that a sin? [00:36:55] Can I get a nod? Yeah, that's a sin. Yeah. And a persecutor. Is that a sin? Yeah, and injurious. It's definitely a sin. [00:37:05] But I obtained mercy. Why? Because I did it ignorantly. In unbelief, this verse says that God showed mercy on Paul when he was still saul, because he did it ignorantly. That is, it wasn't in his cup. [00:37:29] He didn't understand. He was doing wrong. [00:37:32] Now what does that tell us? That says, listen, if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, you better watch out and pay attention to how you respond to him. Because there's a big difference in God's sight between someone who rejects the Lord Jesus or someone who is not born again and doesn't know God because maybe they've not heard or haven't heard fully. There's a big difference between that person and the person who has heard and has said no. [00:38:03] Paul says, God had mercy on me because I did it ignorantly. That's why his conscience was cleared. He didn't know he did it ignorantly, and so God had mercy on him. You see, the mercy of God. God wants to save people, but it's a horse of a different color. When you're talking about somebody who is intentionally setting themselves against God, knowing full well what the Lord says about him. [00:38:29] That's different. That is risky. [00:38:32] And you know what? [00:38:34] Around here, almost everybody fits into that category. [00:38:39] They've all heard about Jesus and everybody is still in love with their sin and they still want to serve. They still want to serve sin and throw themselves at it. And so they say no to the Lord. [00:38:52] That's dangerous. God is not obligated to give you and me mercy. [00:38:58] And if he doesn't, there is no hope for us for eternal life, because eternal life is given to us by God. It's not something we get. Well, I'll just say the prayer when I'm almost ready to die. It doesn't work like that. It does not work like that. Well, first of all, it's not a magic prayer. But beside that fact, listen to what Jesus said in Luke 23, verse 34. You know this verse? Then said, jesus, father, forgive them. What's the next sentence? Say, for they know not what they do. That's the reason Jesus gave that prayer. All those people crucifying him immediately around him had no idea what they were doing. They thought they were doing right. [00:39:42] Perhaps they did it with a clear conscience. [00:39:45] Their conscience was wrong, but perhaps it was with a clear conscience. The Lord said, forgive them. [00:39:50] I'm just trying to say, listen, if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a dangerous thing. [00:39:58] It is a dangerous thing to run the risk of rejecting the Lord when he, when you know better, that's no better. The conscience. [00:40:13] But to the saved, there's a word of caution as well. [00:40:18] And is this. Look at one Timothy, real quick, chapter one. [00:40:29] We're already here, so it should be easy to find verse five. [00:40:34] Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. You see that? [00:40:46] Look at verse 18. [00:40:50] All in this one verse of one chapter. Verse 18. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war, good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck. [00:41:11] Look at chapter three, verse nine. Speaking of deacons. [00:41:20] Verse eight says, likewise must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. [00:41:34] Second Timothy, chapter one. This will be our last verse. Second Timothy, one, verse number three. [00:41:42] I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers, with pure conscience. You see that? [00:41:49] Before he knew Jesus, he didn't know. He was wrong. God showed it to him. And from that moment, he lived for God with pure conscience. That's what Paul's saying. [00:41:59] It is now up to us as a believer, as a child of God, to live with a pure conscience. Number one, you and I must fill our cup with the knowledge of the scripture. It is supreme to all, all things we've been taught. If they agree with the scripture, great. That is good. But ultimately, the scripture is the standard. We pour the Bible. Listen. You read your Bible, study the word, come to church, listen to preaching. You hear the teaching, you pour it in. Pour it in. Pour it in. Because God will transform your conscience, and that conscience will help you live for him with the aid of the Holy Spirit. Romans chapter nine tells us that. [00:42:43] Pour the word of God in. But that's only one part of the conscience question. Remember, I said there's two parts. Number one is the knowledge. What goes in the cup? But the second question is the more relevant question, which is this. [00:42:55] So now you've got a cup full of the knowledge of God, the scripture, right? You have God's word in your heart and life and in your mind, right? [00:43:07] That doesn't mean you're going to follow it. It doesn't mean I'm going to follow it. [00:43:11] Many christians live with a defiled conscience. [00:43:16] That is, they live in a way that violates their own principles. And those principles should be principles from God's word, right? They live in a way they knowingly, repetitively, intentionally live aloof and in rebellion to God's word. And as a result, their conscience is defiled. They live with guilt all the time. [00:43:47] It's a heavy burden to be born. But here's the thing. This conscience is flashing. It's like a red light. Beep, beep, beep. It's telling you something is wrong. That's why the Lord gave it to you. It's telling you something is not right in your life. You need to get that thing right. The Lord is trying to remind you. And then you have the spirit of God talking to you about it. This is all by design. [00:44:15] Many people, young people, came up in a family where they were taught God's word. Listen to me, please. They were taught God's word. It's not just tradition passed down. No, no, no. They were actually taught by mom and dad. The word of God. It was poured into their life. Their conscience is working. It's right. And then they get to a certain age and they decide, you know, I'm just. I'm gonna go a different direction. Here's the thing. And so they go. [00:44:46] But the Lord jabs them with the conscience, but they ignore it. [00:44:53] They ignore it because you can do that. [00:44:58] But then that guilt will start to build. And see, the thing is, when your conscience is defiled, it affects the way you judge everything. [00:45:07] When you're burdened with guilt over your own life, it affects all your relationships. It affects everything because that red light in your life is flashing. [00:45:20] This is. Listen, as a child of God, this is the difference between sinning ignorantly. Every one of us first got saved. We had a bunch of sins in our life. We did it ignorantly. We had no idea. Sister Pam's laughing because she knows it's true. And the Lord taught you little by little. [00:45:35] But those sins you did in ignorance, once you come out of ignorance, the Lord pours more knowledge in, and all of a sudden, you know, wow, I don't need to be doing that. But sometimes we still do it. [00:45:48] Sinning in ignorance, having sin in your life, and ignorance and having sin in your life with knowledge are two different things. [00:45:57] And that difference will determine how the Lord responds to you as a child, as his child, whether you need instruction and light or correction. [00:46:20] So I just want to ask you, are you living a life as a believer in all good conscience before God? [00:46:32] That's a good question for all of us to ask. [00:46:34] Let's pray.