Do You Have a Clean Conscience?

If you'd open up your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 9, I'm going to be preaching on Hebrews

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9.

A golden urn holding the manna and Aaron's staff that budded in the tablets of the covenant.

Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.

Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section

performing their ritual duties, 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, 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, which

is symbolic for the present age.

According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience

of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations of the body

imposed until the time of reformation.

Verse 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,

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.

For if the bloods of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of heifer sanctify for the purication of the flesh,

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.

Amen.

You know, when the check engine light appears on your car's dashboard, it means you've got to do something.

It usually means there's either a malfunction with your car, or you just need to get it regularly serviced.

And if you're like me, the temptation is to just to flat out ignore it, and here's why.

I don't want the inconvenience of having to schedule bringing the car into a mechanic,

and I definitely don't want to be confronted with what I've got to pay.

Maybe you can relate.

Anybody in the room with a check engine light on?

I see that hand.

Anybody else in the room with a check engine light on?

Your conscience is the check engine light of your soul.

Your conscience is your moral self-awareness.

When you do something wrong, your conscience lights up to tell you that your heart needs servicing.

You've got to address this sin, this wrong that you've done.

Guilt is knowing that you have sinned and that you're responsible for it.

A guilty verdict in a court of law is a declaration that someone has committed a crime and that they are responsible for it,

and there's a consequence that they must pay.

Real sin results in real guilt with real consequences.

Do you know what we're talking about this morning?

We're talking about a guilty conscience.

When the check engine light of your soul turns on after you've done something wrong.

What do you do?

When your conscience convicts you of real guilt for real sin.

Is there any real help?

Is it possible for a guilty conscience to be purified?

Or in the words of the writer of Hebrews, perfected?

Can a guilty conscience be made clean?

Well, that's what Hebrews 9, 1 through 14 answers.

Here's the answer.

Only the blood of Christ can cleanse your guilty conscience.

Only the blood of Christ can cleanse your guilty conscience.

And so, this passage, we can divide it into two sections.

What cannot clean your conscience?

Verses 1 through 10.

And then 11 through 14.

What can clean your conscience?

When the check engine light of your soul turns on, don't turn to what can't clean your conscience.

Draw near to what can clean your conscience.

Only the blood of Christ can cleanse your guilty conscience.

So, what can't clean your conscience?

Let's look at verses 1 through 10.

Now, remember that the original audience of the book of Hebrews, this letter came into a church.

And they were Christians with a Jewish Hebrew background.

They had been suffering for Christ.

We're going to see that more as we get into the latter chapters of the book of Hebrews.

And they were being tempted to go back to the old covenant of Judaism.

With its earthly tabernacle.

And its Levitical priesthood.

And its animal sacrifices.

The problem was that by going back to these old covenant arrangements,

they would have to forsake Christ.

And the new covenant he had established in his blood.

Only the blood of Christ can cleanse a guilty conscience.

Not the blood of bulls and goats.

So, in verses 1 through 10, the writer of Hebrews shows us how the old covenant arrangements of the earthly tabernacle

and the Levitical priesthood and animal sacrifices fall short of cleansing a guilty conscience.

It's shown to be faulty.

Incomplete.

So, in verses 1 through 5, we see a description of the earthly tabernacle.

Maybe you haven't heard of the earthly tabernacle before.

It was a portable tent that God had the Jewish people design.

And he would come and dwell in that tent.

And he would kind of like go with his people in the wilderness and into the promised land.

If you want to take a deeper look at the tabernacle, look at Exodus chapter 25, verses chapter 25 through chapter 31.

Exodus 25 · chapter mention

In this passage, we learn that it's an earthly place of holiness.

It's a real dwelling place of God.

In 2 through 5, we learn that there's two sections of this tent.

The first is this outer section, the holy place with a lampstand and a table and the bread of presents.

And the second section is called the holy of holies.

It's the inner section.

You would have to go through the holy place to get into the holy of holies.

And in the holy of holies was the Ark of the Covenant.

And inside the Ark of the Covenant, you had an urn holding the manna, God's provision for his people in the wilderness.

You had the staff of Aaron that budded, showing that he was a priest from God.

And that you had the tablets of the Old Covenant, the Ten Commandments.

And so the Ark was this kind of remembrance of the Old Covenant.

And on it, the top of the Ark was the mercy seat.

And it was believed, we see it throughout the Old Testament, God would dwell.

He would come in his cloud of presence, the Shekinah glory, and come within the holy of holies to dwell with his people.

It's quite a description.

It was a real way in which God was dwelling with his people.

But what the tabernacle, the earthly tabernacle, with these two sections make very clear is this.

Even though God was with his people, he was separate from his people.

Restricted access.

So we move from the earthly temple.

Now let's talk about the Levitical priests.

In verses 6 and 7, we have this description of priestly duties.

In verse 6, we have kind of the everyday priests who come in and out of that first section, the holy place.

And what they were doing, and they're coming in and going out.

They were tending to the oil in the lampstand.

They were placing the bread of presence.

They were making sure there was incense on the altar.

But what you need to understand is, it was only Levitical priests who were entering the holy place.

No other person from Israel could enter.

Restricted access.

And then we look at verse 7.

And in verse 7, it even gets more restricted.

Because the high priest, only the high priest, could enter the holy of holies only once a year.

And he would enter on what's called the Day of Atonement.

Yom Kippur.

Restricted access.

And now we move to the animal sacrifice.

Of the old covenant.

The former arrangement.

In verses 7 through 10, we see that the high priest, he had to sacrifice a bull.

The shedding of blood to cover his own sin.

Before he'd go into the holy of holies on Yom Kippur.

At which time he would bring in the blood of an unblemished goat.

And sprinkle it upon the mercy seat to cover the sins of Israel for the year.

This was repeated year after year after year.

Could you imagine a time lapse photography?

You know those time lapse photographies of like, of seasons in Yosemite?

Could you just imagine a time lapse photography over 15 or 20 years of the same high priest

entering into the holy of holies with the blood?

And over 10 to 15, 20 years you have this man who's getting more and more aged and decrepit.

Kind of entering into the holy of holies.

Bringing blood and then leaving.

Bringing blood and then leaving.

Do you know what it means?

It's what we read later.

It's the blood of bulls in coats cannot take away sins.

Again and again and again.

And what God's people and us are being reminded of in this is that sin results,

real sin results in real guilt and requires real blood.

Something has to die.

We read in 10.4 that the blood of bulls and goats can, it's impossible to take away sins.

Excuse me, in 9 verses 9 and 10 we read this.

According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered

that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper.

It cannot.

It comes up short.

The blood of bulls and goats, it's impossible for those to take away sins.

It's impossible for animal blood to take away, make clean our consciences, our inner beings.

It's impossible for us.

Animal sacrifice.

All part of the old covenant arrangement.

The seriousness of sin, but couldn't cleanse the heart of sinners.

And so that's why we read 8.7.

For if the first covenant had been faultless,

there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

Or in verse 13 of chapter 8,

and speaking of a new covenant,

he makes the first one obsolete.

This arrangement has been made obsolete.

And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish, vanish away.

But did you notice verse 8 in chapter 9?

By this arrangement, the Holy Spirit indicates,

the Holy Spirit speaking a word,

that the way into the holy places is not yet opened,

as long as the first section is still standing,

which is symbolic for the present age.

That word in verse 9, symbolic,

we get the word parable from.

And so the Holy Spirit is pointing to the old covenant arrangement

and saying, hey, you in the present age,

this is a little parable for you.

Learn from it.

And what he's saying is,

as long as this system is up and operational,

it keeps closed,

the true way into

the heavenly tent,

God's heavenly dwelling place.

Don't go back.

Don't go back to the first covenant.

You can't cleanse your guilty conscience.

Only the blood of Christ can.

But I'm guessing the majority of us are like,

I don't care.

I'm not looking to go back to an earthly tabernacle.

I am not looking for a Levitical priest on Google.

I'm definitely not going to Meijer

to find an animal sacrifice.

But what you need to understand is that

though we're not tempted to go back to the old covenant,

we are tempted to look to arrangements

incapable of cleansing our consciences.

We try to mediate our own atonements.

When the check engine light of your soul turns on,

I'm guessing you turn to one of the following early on.

Here's the first one.

When you become aware of the guilt of your sin,

you try to outgood your guilt.

Your thinking is, I just need to do more good than wrong.

And if I do more good than wrong,

God will see that in the end,

and I'll be okay.

But the sad thing is, God doesn't settle accounts that way.

You can't outgood your guilt.

Your guilt for real sin stands against you.

It condemns you.

You can't cover it up with your own do-gooding.

That's not going to work.

Or maybe, instead of trying to outgood your guilt,

you make others pay for your guilt.

This is kind of a victim mentality or blame shifting.

It's a way to avoid taking responsibility for your real sin

and your real guilt and your real consequences that are due.

You're like, this person is the reason why I feel so guilty.

And maybe there's something to that,

but we must take responsibility for our own sin.

Another way that we try to,

another arrangement,

is to try to minimize our guilt.

And the way that we minimize our guilt is

by comparing ourselves to other people.

We're like, you know, I know I'm pretty bad,

but I'm not that bad.

Here's another way that we try to minimize our guilt.

We theologize it.

We say things like this.

God doesn't see that small stuff.

Or we say, God doesn't care about the details like that.

It's not a big deal to him.

He sees that's not significant.

Or the ultimate minimization of God is this.

The ultimate way to minimize your guilt

is by cutting God off.

You know, one of the easiest ways

to be relieved of your guilt

is to separate it from God.

You just say, God doesn't exist.

There is a way you can stop feeling guilty

about your wrongs.

It's just not true.

Other ways that people try to

kind of deal with their guilt,

they implode.

They are so aware.

They're so ashamed.

They're so guilt-ridden.

They can't sleep at night.

And we all know the stories of people

who have taken their own lives

because they're so guilty.

I happen to think

that the primary way

that people seek to deal with their own sin,

they find an arrangement,

is by numbing themselves to their guilt.

You find ways to distract yourself,

to numb yourself

by being busy,

by finding entertainment,

by drinking yourself numb to your guilt,

by smoking yourself numb to your guilt,

by sexing yourself numb to your guilt.

They're just different tactics

to numb yourself to your real guilt.

All these arrangements,

like the old covenant,

are incapable of cleansing,

of purifying,

of perfecting a guilty conscience.

Don't turn to that.

When your check engine light goes on,

don't turn to those things.

They can't cleanse you.

There's only one thing that can cleanse you,

to which we now turn.

What can cleanse your conscience?

Verses 11 through 14,

only Christ's blood

can cleanse your guilty conscience.

That's the point of verses 11 through 14.

And 11 through 14,

it's a contrast.

It's a contrast between

the new covenant arrangement in Christ

and the old covenant arrangement.

What we see in verses 11 through 14

is a better tabernacle,

a better priest,

and a better sacrifice.

Verse 11,

the second half in particular,

we see the better tent.

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,

he entered once for all

into the holy places.

If you turn back

in your Bible

to Hebrews chapter 8, verse 5,

Hebrews 8:5

we see that the earthly tabernacle

pointed to the heavenly tabernacle.

In verse 5 we read,

they served a copy

in shadow of the heavenly things.

For when Moses was about

to erect the tent,

Exodus 25 through 31,

when he was about

to erect the tent,

he was instructed by God saying,

see that you make everything

according to the pattern

that was shown you on the mountain.

In other words,

the earthly tabernacle

is patterned off

the heavenly tabernacle.

The heavenly dwelling place,

the heavenly sanctuary,

where God is.

It's not made with human hands.

It's not of this creation.

We're talking about

the actual, present,

permanent, dwelling place

of God.

8, 1, and 2.

Now the point in what

we are saying is this,

we have such a high priest,

one who is seated

at the right hand

of the throne

of the majesty in heaven,

a minister in the holy places,

in the true tent

that the Lord set up,

not man.

Better tent.

Look at 924.

For Christ has entered

not into holy places

made with hands,

which are copies

of the true things,

but into heaven itself,

now to appear

in the presence of God

on our behalf.

You see,

the new covenant,

what you learned

about last week,

has ushered in

a better tent,

better tabernacle.

And through the blood

of Christ,

we have unrestricted access

to the very presence

of God.

Better tent.

Better priest.

If you look back

at verse 11,

chapter 9,

but when Christ appeared

as a high priest

of the good things

that have come,

high priest

of the good things

that have come.

Remember,

Jesus Christ

is not a priest

in the order

of the Levitical priesthood.

He's a priest

in the order

of Melchizedek,

which means

he is a king priest,

which means

he is indestructible,

which means

he has a permanent priesthood.

Would you repeat

after me?

Christ is my

risen and reigning

priest and king

the anchor

of my soul

whose blood

cleanses

my conscience.

Unlike

the Levitical priests

who were sinners

and died,

Christ

is sinless

and lives

an indestructible

life.

In verse 11,

we read that

but when Christ

appeared

as a high priest.

Did anybody

notice I

didn't mention

verse 10?

If you look

back at verse 10,

but deal only,

speaking of the

old covenant

and its regulations,

they only deal

with food

and drink

and various

washings

outside,

kind of like

ceremonial

cleanness,

regulations

of the body,

external,

imposed until

the time

of reformation.

the time

of

reformation

in the

Greek language

in which the

New Testament

was written

in,

that word

reformation

means to

make straight.

It was used

in first century

medical terminology

in order to

set straight

a broken

arm,

to set

in place

a joint

out of place,

to make it

straight.

And so what

we're being told

here is that

the new covenant

makes straight

what the old

covenant

couldn't.

That time

of reformation

began

when Jesus

appeared.

He brought

the good

things of

the new

covenant

with him.

He came

to make

straight

what was

crooked.

He came

to inaugurate

a new

covenant

that made

the old

covenant

obsolete

and useless.

And notice

in verse 12

that it's

through his

blood

that he

entered

God's

dwelling

place.

And that

once for

all.

Unlike the

priests,

Levitical

priests who

came and

went in

and out

of the

early tent,

remember

that,

those kind

of like

15 to 20

year photos

of the

high

priest

coming in

and out,

Jesus

has

entered

the

heavenly

dwelling

place of

God

permanently.

If you look

back at

chapter 7

verses 24

and 25,

we read

this,

but he

holds his

priesthood

permanently

because he

continues

forever.

Consequently,

he's able

to save

to the

uttermost

those who

draw near

to God

through him

draw near

into the

heavenly

tent.

Since he

always lives

to make

intercession

for them,

he's a

better

priest

and he

has a

better

ministry.

Especially,

especially,

especially

when the

check engine

light of your

soul turns

on.

better

priest,

better

tent,

better

sacrifice.

What we

see in

verses 11

through 14

is that

this new

covenant

arrangement

is a

better

sacrifice

with better

blood.

Not the

blood of

goats,

bulls,

heifers,

but the

blood of

the unblemished

priest king,

the blood

of Christ.

In verses

13 and

14,

we have

what's

called a

lesser to

greater

argument.

It goes

like this.

The

lesser,

verse 13.

For if

the blood

of goats

and bulls

and the

sprinkling

of deviled

persons

with the

ashes of

a heifer

sanctify

for the

purification

of the

flesh,

in other

words,

hey,

the old

covenant

did some

purifying,

it was

of the

outer

person,

it was

good.

If the

blood of

bulls and

goats could

do that,

verse 14,

how much

more?

How much

more will

the blood

of Christ,

who through

the eternal

spirit,

that is the

Holy Spirit

working in

Jesus as

he lived

on this

planet to

live a

perfect

life,

he never,

there was

no,

not once,

a check

engine light

in his

soul,

but the

blood of

Christ who

threw the

eternal

spirit off

himself,

purify our

conscience from

dead works to

serve the

living God,

you see,

the blood of

Christ can

do what the

blood of

animals can't,

purify our

conscience from

dead works,

cleanse us

through and

through,

it's a

comparison

between the

blood of

animals and

the blood

of Christ's,

the blood

of animals,

hey,

can perfect

your body,

make you

clean on the

outside,

but it's

only the

blood of

Christ that

can clean

you in

the inside,

what makes

Christ's blood

better than

the blood of

animals?

why can't

the blood of

bulls and

goats take

away sin,

but the

blood of

Christ can?

Christ is

totally God

and totally

man,

totally,

completely,

utterly man,

sinless life,

perfect

conscience,

perfect

conscience,

and he's

totally God,

eternal,

indestructible,

and when

this totally

God,

totally man,

Jesus Christ

died on the

cross,

his blood

was the

perfect

unblemished

sacrifice,

his death

paid for

your sin

once and

for all

and in

full.

If your

sin provoked

God's eternal

wrath,

Christ's

blood

satisfies

that

eternal

wrath,

because he's

both totally

God and

totally man.

What this

means is that

his blood

secured in

eternal

redemption.

You see that

in verse

12?

Thus

securing in

eternal

redemption.

That word

redemption is

oftentimes a

kind of a

religious word,

but what it

means is just

another way of

talking about

salvation in

terms of a

transaction.

Redemption,

that language

was used in

the first

century to

describe buying

someone out

of slavery,

or buying

someone out

of prison,

or buying

someone out

of debt,

that you

would pay a

redemption price

called a

ransom,

and that would

free that

person from

prison or

slavery or

debt.

And so

this eternal

redemption that

has been

secured has

been secured

by the

blood of

Christ for

all who

believe.

All of

God's wrath

for all of

your sin was

poured out for

all and in

full on

Christ, which

means all of

your sin, the

penalty of it,

has been

forgiven.

forgiven.

Totally,

utterly,

completely,

really

forgiven.

Let me mix

my metaphors.

Let's say

you have a

fever.

Your fever

means you

have an

infection.

You can

manage your

fever, or

you can use

antibiotics, or

essential oils,

any fans?

to address

the infection.

And when you

address the

infection, the

fever goes

away.

God, through

Christ's blood,

paid the

penalty of

your sin so

that your guilt

fever goes

away.

Christ's blood

is so better

than the blood

of animals.

it does

only what

God can

do.

Remove the

penalty of

sin, and

therefore remove

the guilt of

your sin, and

therefore cleanse

your guilty

conscience.

The real

guilt for your

real sin has

been really

forgiven in

Christ.

It turns

off the

check engine

light.

It relieves

you of the

burden.

Once for

all, and

in full, Christ

shed his

blood for the

penalty of

your sin.

You know

what this

means?

Don't go

back to

to that

which can't

cleanse your

guilty conscience.

Draw near to

who can.

This is good

news.

This is gospel

news for a

guilty conscience.

It's a better

tent, a better

priest, and a

better sacrifice

with better

blood that

establishes a

better redemption

for eternity.

So you know

what we must do?

Here's what we

must do.

three ways to

apply this.

When you are

reminded of

past sins,

anybody in the

room reminded

of past sins?

I've got some

horrific past

sins.

And sometimes

the devil uses

a flaming arrow

to launch at

me.

When you are

reminded of

past sins,

do you know

what you need

to do?

You need

to preach.

You need

to preach

the gospel

to yourself.

You need

to say

things like

this,

Christian,

that sin,

not in

part,

but the

whole,

was paid

for by the

blood of

Christ.

I've been

cleansed.

No more

guilt.

Am I

grieved that

I did that?

Yes.

Am I

guilty that I

did that?

No more.

So the

first way

we draw

near is by

preaching

the blood

to ourselves.

Nothing but

the blood

of Jesus.

Okay,

second,

let's

just say,

hypothetically

speaking,

you have a

brother or

sister in

Christ,

and they

believe that

Christ's

blood can

cleanse them

of the

little to

moderate sized

sins,

but not the

big stuff.

Not rape,

too big.

Not if you

sold your body

for money,

that's too big.

Not if you

committed adultery,

that's too big.

not if you

extorted

somebody,

not if you

were part in

an abortion,

too big.

Jenny and I

recently brought

our grandson

Hudson

through the

quick trip

car wash.

I was

thrilled.

Hudson

didn't care.

But our

Honda CRV

fit perfect.

Could you

imagine our

Honda CRV

pulling out

and at the

other end of

the quick

trip car wash

is an

18-wheeler

tractor trailer

with a

53-foot

trailer.

You're like,

that doesn't

fit.

There's some

people in this

room right now

who think that

you have a

semi-tractor

trailer sized

sin that

can't fit

through the

guilt wash

of the

blood.

It's too

big.

It's too

big.

I can handle

my little

sins but

can't handle

the big

stuff.

You're

underestimating

the blood.

There is

no sin

too

big

for the

guilt wash

of the

blood.

No sin

too big.

He is

able.

Perhaps

you and

your shame

are thinking

too little

of the

blood.

Your sin

is not

too big

for the

blood.

In fact,

the blood

of Christ

is bigger

and better

than the

biggest sin

you've ever

made.

there is

forgiveness,

there is

cleansing

through the

blood.

So you

tell your

friend,

no,

that sin

isn't bigger

than Christ's

blood.

Christ's blood is

bigger than that.

The guilt of that

has been paid

for.

I've got plenty

of 18 wheelers

that have been

forgiven and

cleansed.

The third

area is

this.

You're like,

okay,

okay,

past sins,

I get it,

but what happens

if I sin

today?

What happens

if I sin

tomorrow or

later in

the week?

What do

I do?

Well,

this once

for all

and in

full

blood

payment,

that's

always

waiting.

It's

promised.

It's been

done.

He's

paid it.

He's

in the

heaven.

He's

interceding

for you.

So when

you sin,

you make

a beeline

to your

priest king.

You don't

avoid him.

You confess

your sin

to him.

Like,

oh,

Lord Jesus,

I did it

again.

Paid

in full

once

for all.

If we

confess

our sins,

he's

faithful

and just

to forgive

us our

sins

and to

cleanse

us

from all

unrighteousness.

1 John

1.

9.

And then

when you

confess

your sins,

you confess

his peace

cleansed

by the

blood.

Constantly

available.

Your guilt

has been

permanently

removed

because

the payment

has been

made.

what can

cleanse

your guilty

conscience?

Nothing

but the

blood

of

Jesus.

We've

looked at

what can't

cleanse

your guilty

conscience

and we've

looked at

what can

cleanse

your guilty

conscience.

So when

the

check

engine

light of

your soul

turns on

and you

are feeling

guilt,

don't

turn to

what can't

clean

your conscience.

Draw near

to who

has

cleaned

your

conscience

only by

the blood

of Christ.

The book

of Hebrews

is one

long

exhortation

warning

us

to

don't

drift,

to don't

go back

and

encouraging

us

to draw

near,

to hold

fast,

to press

on,

and to

convince

you

the blood

of Christ

has

covered

you

forever.

Makes you

want to say

thank you.

Let's pray

and sing.

Lord Jesus,

our

indestructible

priest and

king

who right

now you

are in

the very

presence

of God.

Thank you.

Thank you

for doing

what none

of us

can do

for no

blood

can cover

your

blood.

We thank

you for

giving

yourself

for us,

for cleansing

our

consciences.

it is

such

good

news.

Will

you

receive

our

praise

now

Lord?

In

your

name

we

pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.