Paul's Clear Conscience - Acts 20:25-27

We have been continuing our study in the book

of Acts, and this week we come to verses 25 through

27. Paul says this, And now, behold, I know that

all of you, among whom I went about preaching

the kingdom, will no longer see my face. Therefore

I testify to you this day that I am innocent

of the blood of all men, for I did not shrink

from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

We see a break taking place, or a shift taking

place in this text in many ways. Paul has been

alluding to the fact that he is leaving. He's

going to depart. He's going to Jerusalem. And

he's going to suffer. And now he straightforwardly

says, you're not going to see me anymore. You

will no longer see my face. And then interestingly

enough, immediately following this, he makes

known the state and condition. of his own conscience

with regards to his ministry. He declares that

his conscience is clean with regards to the discharge

of his preaching and teaching and his apostolic

ministry among the church at Ephesus and among

the elders of Ephesus. And he gives the reason

for this. In verse 27. Or the basis for this

clean conscience. The fact that he did not shrink

from declaring to them the whole purpose of God.

He didn't recoil at speaking difficult truths

to the people of God. But he did proclaim the

full counsel of God to the people. Today we're

going to consider, in examining this text, the

solemn occasion for Paul's testimony concerning

his conscience. We see this in verse 25. We're

going to consider the clear state of Paul's conscience.

We see this in verse 26. And then we'll also

consider the basis for his clear conscience in

verse 27. beginning with the first in verse 25.

Paul, in this text, puts forward the fact that

he will no longer be among the people of God

and the elders in Ephesus. He will no longer

be seen. He will no longer be able to be interacted

with. He will no longer be preaching and teaching

to them. He will no longer be ministering to

them. He's putting forward the fact that this

is it with regards to his relationship with the

Ephesian elders and the Ephesian church. Notice

that there's a sense of finality with Paul and

his words to the Ephesian elders. And now, behold.

I know that all of you among whom I went about

preaching the kingdom will no longer see my face.

Now we think about the relationship between Paul

and the church at Ephesus and those elders. We

know that he ministered there for two years.

He worked alongside the brothers and sisters

in Ephesus. He had a good relationship with him.

He was successful there. The Lord built the church.

He established a church there. We saw miraculous

things take place in Ephesus. Imagine the bond

between the Apostle Paul and his co -labors in

Ephesus. Remember, he's talking to the elders

of Ephesus. One thing you learn about... pastoral

ministry is that the more you're in the trenches

together, the more you labor together, the more

you work together, the more you suffer together,

the more you hurt together, the more of a bond

and a fellowship and a community takes place

among brothers and sisters in Christian service.

So we imagine Paul. And the trials he endured

in Ephesus and these elders of the church of

Ephesus, the bond that was present there. And

here he is clearly saying, you will no longer

see me. It's as though he's giving his final

will and testament with regards to the church

of God in that place. It carries a certain...

Weight and gravity to it. But also, see how he

characterizes his time among them. He says this

in verse 25, among whom I went about preaching

the kingdom. So Paul characterizes the whole

of his ministry, the whole of his time in Ephesus

as preaching the kingdom. The reality that the

Lord Jesus is the Messiah, that he's come and

he has inaugurated the kingdom of God, and that

one day it will be fully and finally consummated

at his return invisibly. It will be known to

the entire world. He went about preaching and

teaching the people of Ephesus alongside These

elders and preaching and teaching and raising

up and training and equipping the elders themselves.

So in many ways, we have to ask the question,

why is Paul making known the state of his conscience

here? On this solemn occasion, why is this the

thing that he wants to make sure that he emphasizes

to them? Well, I think there's a few reasons

that he makes known the state of his conscience,

the fact that he is innocent of the blood of

all men. He wants to make known the fact that

he can leave the people of God in that place

with a clear conscience, knowing that he has

performed his duty and he has done what he needs

to do in that place, and he can leave. free of

guilt, knowing that he has been faithful to his

commission in Ephesus and among those people.

But also we see, I think, a transition that Paul

is wanting to emphasize. He wants to make sure

the Ephesian elders know, listen, I'm not going

to be in charge anymore. You, as the elders of

the church, will now have sole responsibility

for administering the word of God and administering

the ministry of the word to the people in Ephesus.

He's saying, I will no longer have anything to

do with this. It's going to be on you. But he

also wants to clarify the fact That he has no

known culpability on his conscience. No known

guilt or shame. Because he has proclaimed the

gospel rightfully. And that when men reject the

gospel. Or men apostatize. Or men rise up to

be false teachers. As we see he speaks of later.

That. guilt falls on those individuals not on

him who proclaimed the gospel or on the elders

who would faithfully Lord willing discharge their

responsibilities as well. He wants the elders

of the church at Ephesus to know that when men

reject the gospel and you have rightfully proclaimed

the gospel it falls on the individual and the

one responding. He wants them to move forward

without Him, understanding and grasping that

reality, that they might not become disheartened.

We read this a little bit later in verse 29,

or we'll start in verse 27, 28. He says this,

Be on guard for yourselves. and for all the flock,

among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,

to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased

with his own blood. I know that after my departure,

savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing

the flock. And from among your own selves, men

will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw

away the disciples after them. Paul wants to

make clear to the elders, and he wants the elders

to understand in their own hearts and their own

minds, that when men apostatize from the faith,

that is on those who apostatize from the faith.

That is not on them or the church. He wants to

communicate this clearly and fully. to the people

of God. Now, Richard Baxter said this with regards

to his preaching. He said, I preached as never

to preach again, and as a dying man to dying

men. We think about that quote. What is this

old Puritan saying, brothers and sisters? This

old Puritan is saying that every time he preaches

the word of God, he does so with a certain urgency.

Because we're not promised tomorrow. So though

there's no transition taking place like Paul

and the Ephesian elders, though nobody's leaving

or departing, there is ample application for

us. in this text, brothers and sisters, because

you and I ought to always come to the Word of

God with a certain urgency. Do you know why?

Because you and I are not promised tomorrow.

I'm not promised next week. There is no guarantee

that I wake up on Saturday or Sunday next week

to preach the Word of God. The Lord may see fit

to take me home any day. And the same is true

of each of you. So, how does that inform our

mutual approach to the Word of God as preacher

and hearer? If we don't know, That we will hear

the Word again. That we are dealing with eternal

realities and never dying souls. How ought we

to preach it? And how ought we to hear the Word

of God? Should there be a degree of anticipation

and eagerness and expectation of looking forward

to hearing from God's voice and to hearing what

God has For me this week. Should there be an

urgency. With regards to the truth. Knowing.

That we are dealing with never dying eternal

souls. And that any one of us. Can die any day.

And go and be with the Lord. There always ought

to be. A sense of gravity. And urgency. As we

approach. The word of God. Paul knew this. He

understood this, brothers and sisters. And it's

something for us to meditate and consider as

well as those who are creatures of habit. It

is such a blessing that God is ordained that

we worship Him every single week. Because we

need to worship God every single week. And His

worth and His value to be worshiped has never

diminished and it never will diminish. But brothers

and sisters, as people, when we do things over

and over and over, there's a tendency to just

settle into a routine and not think about what

we are doing and the significance of what we

are doing. We have to always consider. The significance

of worshiping the living God week in and week

out. The great priority and privilege of this

reality, but also the sobriety and the reverence

and the joy and the hope that God has allowed

us and commanded us to partake in as a result

of worshiping Him week in and week out. Now,

the second thing we have to consider is the clear

state of Paul's conscience. We see this in verse

26. Therefore, I testify to you this day that

I am innocent of the blood of all men. Now, what

does it mean when Paul says that he is innocent

of the blood of all men? He is saying that he

has a clean conscience with regards to the ministry

that Christ has entrusted to him. It means that

his conscience is not accusing. His conscience

is not antagonistic towards him and the way that

he has conducted himself among the people of

God and the way that he has carried himself and

the way that he has preached. The word of God

among the people of Ephesus. His conscience is

clean. Paul's understanding of a clean conscience

with regards to his apostolic ministry is informed

by the Old Testament, I believe. If we turn to

the book of Ezekiel, chapter 33, we read of the

Ezekiel 33 · chapter mention

watchman's duty. And here's what Ezekiel says.

Or here's what the word of the Lord says. And

the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of

man, speak to the sons of your people and say

to them, If I bring a sword upon a lamb and the

people of the land take one man from among them

and make him their watchman and he sees the sword

coming upon the lamb, and he blows on the trumpet

and warns the people. Then he who hears the sound

of the trumpet and does not take warning, and

a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will

be on his own head. In verse 5, He heard the

sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning.

His blood will be on himself, but he had to take

warning. But had he taken warning, he would have

been delivered. He would have delivered his life.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and

does not blow the trumpet, and the people are

not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person

from them, he is taken away in his iniquity,

but his blood I will require from the watchman's

hand. So what's the imagery that Ezekiel is conveying?

It's the Lord brings an invading army against

Israel. And Israel takes one man, the prophet

of God, and puts him up on a wall. And the prophet

of God is up watching the borders of Israel.

Looking for invaders. Looking for threats. Looking

for dangers. And he sees the invading army coming.

And the watchman, the prophet, blows the trumpet

because he sees the threat. And he warns the

people. And the people hear the trumpet. And

men ignore it. And they're taken and blood is

shed. Whose head is that blood guilt on? The

individual taken. Because they did not heed the

warning. But. If the people take the prophet,

put him on the wall, he sees the danger, yet

he fails to warn the people. Someone is taken,

then whose head is that blood guilt on? The watchman.

The prophet of God. This is what Paul is drawing

from. He's saying that he has been like a prophet.

He's been like the watchman who's seen the danger,

seen the warning. He's been given the truth.

He's been given the message. He's blown the trumpet.

He's proclaimed the truth. And he's free of all

men's blood. Now Paul is also building off of

the teaching of the Lord Jesus himself. In Matthew

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10. Verse 14, we read this. Starting

in verse 12. As you enter the house, give it

your greeting. If the house is worthy, give it

your blessing of peace. But if it's not worthy,

take back your blessing of peace. Whoever does

not receive you, nor heed your words, as you

go out of that house or that city, Shake off

the dust of your feet. Truly, I say to you, it

will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom

and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for

that city. The Lord Jesus taught the same thing

that's taught in Ezekiel 33. That when the gospel

message is proclaimed and men reject it, their

blood guilt is upon their own head. And what

is the symbolic action that they are to do? Shake

off the dust of their feet. Now, Paul has historically

implemented this same thing in his own ministry.

We saw the very thing that we are speaking of

take place in Acts chapter 18, two chapters prior

Acts 18 · chapter mention

to Acts 20. We read this in Acts chapter 18,

Acts 18:1–6

verses 1 through 6. After these things, he left

Athens and went to Corinth, and he found a Jew

named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently

come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because

Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave

Rome. He came to them, and because he was of

the same trade, he stayed with them, and they

were working, for by trade they were tent makers.

And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath

and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. But when

Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul

began devoting himself completely to the word,

solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was

the Christ. And then listen to this in verse

6. But when they resisted and blasphemed, He

didn't just take his sandals. Listen to what

Paul does. He shook out his garments and said

to them, Your blood be on your own heads. I am

clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.

The same exact practice that Paul has always

held to. This is what he is conveying to the

Ephesian elders. This is what he wants them to

understand. That his conscience is clean of shame

and guilt with regards to how he has administered

and discharged his ministry among them. Why was

this so important to Paul? Was this a significant

aspect of his life and his ministry? A clean

conscience? Why is it necessary? Why is it important?

Well, we find throughout the book of Acts that

this is actually something that was very, very

important to the Apostle Paul. Keeping a clean

conscience with God and men. We read in Acts

Acts 24:16

chapter 24, verse 16. The Apostle says this.

In view of this, I also do my best to maintain

always a blameless conscience both before God

and before men. And then we read in chapter 23,

verse 1, Paul, looking intently at the council,

said, Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly

good conscience before God up to this day. Notice

in that text he includes his prior life to conversion

and his life as an apostle. So Paul was scrupulous.

He was strict with regards to his conscience.

He knew that it was vitally important that he

maintain his conscience before God and men as

a minister of the gospel. and as a believer in

Jesus Christ, because he knew that Jesus Christ

alone is Lord of the conscience. He always worked

towards this. He always strived for this. And

just as it was important to the Apostle Paul,

brothers and sisters, maintaining and valuing

and keeping a clean conscience, Ought to be important

to every single believer in Jesus Christ. Every

single one. Not just ministers of the gospel.

Not just apostles in the first century. But everybody

who knows the Lord through Christ. Ought to value

keeping a clean conscience. Do you know why?

Because God has given us our conscience. Because

Jesus Christ died, his sacrifice is applied to

the people of God to cleanse the conscience from

dead works, to serve the living God. One of the

great blessings. of the sacrifice of Christ being

applied to a person is to have their conscience

cleansed of guilt and shame. No longer to live

in misery and contradiction and antagonism of

that internal voice condemning you by the law

of God. Christ frees a Christian from that. when

he grants them faith and repentance and gives

them a new ruling nature in regeneration. It

ought to be important for every single believer

because God has given it to us and the conscience

has a distinct purpose in the life of God's people.

Just as cars have warning signals, Just as cars

have warning signs that pop up that warn us when

something's come bad or wrong. They usually work,

not always. The conscience is a warning signal

that God has given to the believer to keep them

within the bounds of that which pleases God.

Now, here's... Something important to understand

about our conscience. It's not infallible. Meaning

the conscience is actually malleable and it can

be formed and shaped. It is not an infallible

guide like the Word of God is. So that brings

us back to why it's important that Christians

take care of their conscience. If our conscience

can be formed and shaped, if our conscience can

be molded to be more in line with the law of

God, or less in line with the law of God, and

the scripture even tells us that a person's conscience

can be seared. Like someone's taking a branding

iron, And stuck it on there and seared it off

to where it no longer functions. It no longer

has any sensory to it. It no longer has any response

to it. It's seared. It's burned. But that doesn't

always take place in one thing. That can take

place in gradations. In degrees. So why is it

important that you watch your conscience? That

you value your conscience as a believer in Jesus

Christ? Because if you're not careful, and you

consistently live against your conscience, or

consistently live against the Word of God, there

is the possibility that you, as a blood -blood

believer, can lose your true north. That's a

scary thought, isn't it, brothers and sisters?

That you can think that you are right, You're

headed in the right direction, but all the time

your conscience isn't working as it ought because

you've been suppressing it in favor of corruption

and carnality or pride and arrogance or whatever

it might be. Believers can get off track because

their conscience is not infallible. The conscience

must be formed continually and consistently according

to and by the word of the living God. There are

believers in this room, I am confident, that

are not living in accordance with their conscience.

They are doing things in their life that their

conscience says don't do. And there are believers

in this, who are not doing things that their

conscience says do. You are suppressing and you

are pushing the conscience back. You are fighting

against it as an antagonistic. Brothers and sisters,

that is a dangerous, dangerous place to play.

You're not dealing with a dollar bill that you

just toss over, you crumble and you lose it and

it's insignificant. You are dealing with a God

-given apparatus. in your being that he has given

for your good and your holy living to honor him.

You do not want to live in the place where you

are rejecting your conscience because sooner

or later, if you continue in that path, its voice

will get less and less and less. And you will

grow harder and harder and harder. You will become

more and more calloused. You will become less

and less sensitive to the work of the Spirit

of God within you, to the voice of God through

the Scriptures in your life. So if you are in

that place, whatever reason it might be, get

out! Stop what it is you're doing. Get out of

it. Change your life. way that your conscience

is informing you to do. The way the word of God

directs you to do. So, if that's you, what do

you do? Brothers and sisters, you cry out to

God. Lord, forgive me of my sin. I repent of

my sin. Lord, renew the sensitivity of my conscience.

Lord, remove the shame. Remove the sense of guilt

in my life. Help me to live for Your honor. Help

me to live for Your glory. And I know that Christ

and His righteousness alone is the basis of my

good standing in Your presence. Don't stay in

that place. It is dangerous. If you continue

going down that road, There is the very real

chance that you will never recover in this life

as you ought to. You will never serve the Lord

as you ought to serve the Lord with a seared

conscience. You will never sing praises to God

in the worship of God if you have suppressed

the sound of your conscience. As you ought to.

You will never be able to go to the throne of

grace as you ought to. You will never be able

to spend time with the Lord as you ought to.

You will never know the power of the Holy Spirit

and vitality of His influence in your life if

you are constantly rejecting and denying the

work of the Spirit of God in your life in and

through the conscience that God has given to

you. Get out of that place. Turn to God in repentance

and Christ in faith. Reorient your life and determine

that you will live unto God for His glory no

matter what and saturate yourself in the Word

of God. Reshape and reform your conscience according

to revealed, infallible, inerrant truth and doctrine

in the word of God. So it's very important that

we think and care and consider the state of our

own conscience before the living God. Now for

Paul, what was the basis of his clear conscience?

This is the last thing we have to consider. Why

was he able to say, my conscience is clear with

regards to his ministry? We read in verse 27,

For I did not shrink from declaring to you the

whole purpose of God. Paul explains that the

basis for his clear conscience is not perfection,

but faithfulness in the ministry that Christ

has given to him. That he proclaimed the truths

of Scripture regardless of what it was. That

he proclaimed the whole purpose, the whole counsel

of God. Now this term, we'll expand on it more

next week, Lord willing. But it means the whole

breadth of Revelation. Every part of Revelation.

All that God has made known. It's boule in Greek.

The whole boule of God. Of God's counsel. Not

God's mind. But the revealed. purpose, redemptive

purposes of God. Now, in this, it's interesting

that Paul says he proclaims the whole counsel

of God, but at the heart of that, what is it?

The gospel. He says in verse 25, he says in verse

24, I apologize. But I do not consider my life

of any account as dear to myself, so that I may

finish my course and the ministry which I receive

from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the

gospel of the grace of God. So, Paul, in his

apostolic ministry, proclaims the entire counsel

of God to these people. Yet, He proclaims the

gospel specifically in relation to all the counsel

of God. That was the heartbeat of his message.

Was Christ and his redemptive work and its relation

to the whole counsel of God. So Paul ministers

and he administers the word of God. Faithfully.

He can say, I have performed my duty to God and

men. I am innocent of the blood of all men. Likely

meaning Jew and Gentile that has heard the gospel

as he proclaimed it. Now we think about this

entire section. We think about the solemn occasion.

We think about the clear state of the apostles'

conscience. And we think about the fact that

Paul is faithful to his calling that Christ has

given to him, that he wants to honor Christ and

to live unto the glory of God. It's really remarkable

when you think about it. This whole section is

in stark contrast. To the person Paul used to

be. If we think about Acts chapter 8. And Acts

Acts 8 · chapter mention Acts 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9. What do we find of Saul of Tarsus?

We find that he hated the church of the living

God. We find that he was actually breathing hatred

and murderous wrath essentially. Against them.

He certainly had the guilt of men on his account.

He approved wholeheartedly and stood around and

approved of the stoning and the murder of Stephen.

And he sought out to bring other Christians to

their death, to squash this movement called the

way. He did it with his whole being. his whole

mind, everything that he possessed in and of

himself, he hated Christ and he hated the church

of God. Yet, here we find, he is able to say,

I am innocent of the blood of all men. Brothers

and sisters, how is that possible? How is it

possible that a man who is responsible for the

death of innocent disciples Genuine believers

in Jesus Christ can say, I am innocent of the

blood of all men. And how is it that this man

who once hated the church now wholeheartedly

and willingly serves Jesus Christ with every

fiber of his being? How is that possible? What

is this stark contrast put on full display, brothers

and sisters? It puts on full display the forgiveness

of God, the free pardon of the gospel, and the

transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Do you know why Paul can say, I am innocent of

the blood of all men? Because his sins are forgiven

in Christ. There is no condemnation for Paul

any longer. And it shows, brothers and sisters,

that he has been pardoned completely and wholly

of every single transgression that he has ever

committed against the living God. But it also

shows the power of the gospel to drastically

change and transform an individual. This man

who hated the church and opposed the church and

persecuted the church is now serving Christ and

he loves the church and even says, I would lay

down my life for the gospel. What's happened

to this man? Christ has given him a new nature

and he has transformed him and he has made him

new. Brothers and sisters, if you are in this

room, And you have committed terrible sins. You

have done horrible things. You have thought horrible

things that dishonor God, that make Him angry.

They are an abomination before Him. You live

in open rebellion and hatred against the living

God. I'm here to tell you that your sins can

be forgiven. Your sins can be pardoned. In the

gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm here to tell you.

That though you may be a wretch now. If God chooses

to set his grace upon you. You will be made new.

And you will be transformed. And you will be

made a new creature in Christ. And you will long

to live. For his glory. You will long to be faithful

to him. And he will make you faithful to him.

We see the gospel. And the power of the gospel.

on display in Paul's ability to say, I am innocent

of the blood of all men. If you are here today,

and you don't know Christ, and you are living

a life of sin, if you will turn from your sin,

and you will trust in Jesus Christ, then you

will be made new, brothers and sisters, or sinner

who doesn't know Christ. So the exhortation is

to come to Christ and have your conscience cleansed

from dead works to serve the living God. There's

only one place that can take place. Men can work

and strive and go on throughout their life trying

to quiet Their conscience as unbelievers. Trying

to persuade themselves that they are good enough

for God and they are good enough to be accepted.

My so -called righteousness is good enough for

a holy God. That won't work. If you've sinned

one single time, you have broken the entirety

of the law. And you are condemned eternally.

to suffer under the wrath of a holy and a righteous

God. And you will. But if you wholeheartedly

put your faith in Jesus Christ, His life, death,

resurrection, and His person, then you will be

spared of wrath, and you will be given eternal

life, and you will know joy and hope and peace,

and you will love God, and you will seek to be

faithful to Him.