The Letter to the Hebrews
How to Gain a Clear Conscience
Hebrews 9:1-14
Let’s turn to Hebrews 9. If you have a Bible, raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Hebrews 9 is on page 1005 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Deep down inside, we’ve all got a conscience. Our conscience reminds us that we have disobeyed God – that we are guilty before God.
We can try to stifle it by turning up the music or drinking too much alcohol or watching sitcoms – but in the still of the night, it’s still there. It’s still there, reminding us of our guilt before God, telling us we deserve to be punished by God.
So we try therapy. Therapists who aren’t Christians tell us that guilt is a destructive feeling we need to overcome. And they give us various steps to take the guilt away. But it doesn’t help. Because the guilt we are talking about is not a destructive feeling that we can change. It’s our true state before our Creator. We have disobeyed God – we are guilty before Him.
But no one likes to feel that guilt – so we try spiritual ways to get rid of it -- saying Hail Mary’s or giving money to the Red Cross or feeding the homeless at Thanksgiving or doing random acts of kindness.
But none of this helps. We still feel guilty before God, because we are guilty before God. But I’ve got good news this morning. In great love and mercy God has made a way for you to be completely forgiven so you are no longer guilty before God and no longer feel the weight of your guilt before God and feel only love and forgiveness and acceptance before God.
George Whitefield was a pastor in England in the 1700’s. Like all of us he had sinned against God. And He was burdened by the weight of his guilt before God. But then God did something amazing. Listen to how he describes it --
But oh! With what joy – joy unspeakable – even joy that was full of, and big with glory, was my soul filled, when the weight of sin went off, and an abiding sense of the pardoning love of God, and a full assurance of faith broke in upon my disconsolate soul. (George Whitefield’s Journals, p.58 n.1)
Wow. Imagine feeling the weight of your sin lifting off of you – and the pardoning love of God coming upon you.
In Hebrews chapter 9 we read how that can happen -- it’s because of what Jesus Christ did on the Cross. To help us understand this he starts by explaining how the sacrificial system worked in the Old Covenant. So –
How did the sacrificial system work in the Old Covenant? He tells us in vv.1-7 –
1 Now even the first covenant [that’s the Old Covenant of the Old Testament] had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.
2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place.
He’s talking about the tent of meeting, which is pictured here. Here is the Holy Place with the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. Then keep going in v.3 --
3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place,
4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
So here’s the tent of meeting with the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place – and the Most Holy Place was the place where God came with His glorious presence. So keep reading in v.6 --
6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties,
7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.
What are “unintentional sins”? Some think it means sins committed by accident, but I think it’s more probable that it means sins which have been committed intentionally, but which have then been confessed before God.
So the priests would regularly go into the Holy Place and perform their ritual duties. But only one priest, the high priest, could enter the Most Holy Place. And he could only do this once a year on the Day of Atonement. He would enter with the blood from an animal sacrifice and offer that sacrifice for his sins and the sins of the people of Israel.
So that’s how the sacrificial system worked in the Old Testament. But what did the Old Covenant sacrifices accomplish? Start with v.8 --
8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing
9 (which is symbolic for the present age).
The tent of meeting kept all but the high priest from the Most Holy Place. So as long as it was still standing, it shows that we have a problem – our sin keeps us from God’s presence.
And when the author says that “this is symbolic for the present age” he’s talking about the time when he writes this letter. At that time, which was around 65 AD, the temple was still standing. But the temple and its sacrifices did not give anyone access into God’s presence. So what did these sacrifices do?
Keep reading in v.9 --
9b According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,
Don’t miss this. The Old Covenant sacrifices could not perfect anyone’s conscience. They could not lift the guilt off of you and bring God’s love upon you.
So let’s say you were an Old Testament believer who had sinned and felt guilty before God. You would go to the priest and offer the animal sacrifice, but it would not perfect your conscience. The animal sacrifice would not lift the guilt from you.
So what did these sacrifices do? Verse 10 --
10 but [these sacrifices] deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation [until the time of Christ].
These sacrifices and gifts and washings were only going to last until the time of reformation – when Christ came. And they were only regulations for the body – they had no effect on you spiritually. They could not remove the weight of sin and bring God’s pardoning love.
But didn’t Old Testament saints experience forgiveness? Didn’t they experience having the weight of guilt lift off of them and the pardoning love of God come upon them? They did. But the point is that they didn’t experience that by offering animal sacrifices.
To see this turn to Psalm 32:1-2 –
1 Blessed [happy!] is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
So that’s a description of having the weight of sin lift off and the pardoning love of God pour down.
So how did that happen? Keep reading in v.3 --
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
That’s a description of guilt. That’s the guilt every human being feels before God. So how did he move from feeling this guilt to the happiness of knowing he was forgiven? V.5 --
5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
So when did he feel the weight of sin lift off him and the pardoning love of God pour upon him? It was when he confessed his sins to God. It was not when he offered sacrifices, it was when he confessed his sins to God.
So Old Testament saints did experience outpourings of forgiveness from God where they felt their guilt lift and God’s love come. But this did not come through the sacrifices. So how could they be forgiven? And how can we be forgiven? That’s the next question --
So then how can people be forgiven for the guilt of sin? Through Jesus Christ. Keep reading in v.11 --
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
12 he entered once for all into the holy places …
Remember that the Old Testament high priest and tent was just a picture on earth of what Jesus would do for us in heaven.
So after Christ died and rose he ascended into heaven into the very presence of God. No Old Testament priest ever appeared in heaven before God the Father. Only Jesus Christ appears in heaven before God the Father.
Keep reading in v.12 --
12 he entered once for all into the holy places not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
The blood of the animal sacrifices was a picture of what Jesus would do when He shed His own blood on the Cross for our sins. So when He appeared before God the Father He offered his own blood as the payment for our sins.
And notice that phrase “once for all.” The Old Testament priests entered once a year, year after year after year, which shows that those animal sacrifices didn’t really pay for sin. But Christ entered with His own blood which really did pay for all our sins – so he only needed to do this once. And as a result he secured an eternal redemption.
He secured it – once He pays for sins they are paid for. And He secured an eternal redemption – you will be forgiven and saved forever. No unpaid for sin will ever crop up. He secured an eternal redemption.
Then keep reading in vv.13-14 --
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Notice that the blood of goats and bulls only sanctifies for the purification of the flesh. Not the conscience. Just the flesh. Just an outer, ceremonial cleansing.
But the blood of Christ does much more. Jesus’ death purifies our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Dead works refers to sin – actions that destroy spiritual life and are therefore dead. And He cleanses our consciences from the guilt of those dead works. He lifts all our guilt from us, and pours God’s pardoning love upon us. So we know we are forgiven, and can gladly and happily serve the living God.
So this brings us back to our original question --
So how can we experience this?
You can be freed from your guilt. You can feel the weight of your sin lift off, and the pardoning love of God pour down.
How? Through Jesus Christ. Through seeing what He has done to pay for all of your sins on the Cross, and by trusting Him. We experience this when we first become Christians – and we continue to experience this throughout our Christian lives.
And I’d like us to take time to do this right now.
First, humble yourself before God as someone who needs undeserved mercy. This is crucial. If you try to come to God on the basis of good you’ve done, God will not welcome you. Because there’s no good you have done that’s made up for your sin. You have to come to God as someone who has nothing to offer Him, nothing to deserve Him. You have to humble yourself before His mercy.
Do that right now.
Second, confess your sin to God as something that dishonors His infinite goodness. Don’t just feel bad because you messed up, or because someone found out. Feel bad because you have dishonored God – who is the infinitely valuable reality of the Universe.
Do that right now.
Third, ask God to forgive you through Jesus Christ. Every sin justly deserves punishment – either by the sinner’s being punished by God in Hell, or by Jesus being punished by God on the Cross. So ask God to forgive you through Jesus Christ.
Do that right now.
Fourth, look to Jesus Christ by faith until you feel your guilt lift and His forgiveness come. You can be forgiven without feeling it. But God wants you to press in until you feel the guilt lift off of you and His love pour onto you. So right now ask God to strengthen your faith.
And listen to these Scriptures –
ESV Matthew 26:28 … this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
ESV Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
ESV Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
ESV 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God,
Do that right now.