“The Joy of a Clean Conscience”
(Hebrews 9:1-14)
Series: Captivated by Christ (Hebrews)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
- Take your Bibles and join me in Hebrews chapter 9.
We are preaching our way, verse-by-verse, through this wonderful letter to Jewish Christians, people who had come out of the old covenant worship system. Last time we were in Hebrews we discussed a number of different covenants, or ways in which God relates to His people.
Remember that the old covenant is not the Old Testament, the first part of our Bibles with 39 books in it. But the Old Testament contains the old covenant. The old covenant is specifically the Mosaic covenant, the covenant God made with His people through Moses on Mount Sinai. And the old covenant includes all the instructions for how God’s people were to worship God—all the stuff we’ve been reading about, things about levitical priests and the priesthood, animal sacrifices, the tabernacle, and so on.
So in chapter 9 this morning the writer continues to compare and contrast the old covenant with the new covenant. So when we read in verse 1 of chapter 9 about the “first covenant,” he’s writing about the old covenant; “first” in relation to the new covenant. He is contrasting the old Mosaic covenant with the new covenant that comes through Jesus Christ, The first is now being replaced by the new covenant, the “second” one.
We’ll be reading about the old covenant worship system here—the tabernacle and its furnishings. Details about gold and veils and lamp stands, and so on. The writer is calling attention to the glory of it all—but remember where he is going. He’ll be going on to say that as glorious as that first covenant is, it is nowhere near the glory of the covenant that replaces it, the second covenant, the new covenant. Let’s look at just the first few verses of our text to get started.
- Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
1 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.
2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lamp stand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary (lit. holies);
3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All,
4 which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
And taking our cue from the writer, we won’t now speak in detail either, but will stop and pray.
• Pray.
When I studied the passage this week two classic works of literature were spinning around in my head: Edgar Allan Poe’s, The Tell-Tale Heart and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s, Crime and Punishment. In both of these works the writers artfully treat the matter of the guilt-ridden conscience.
Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart is especially poignant in this regard with the main character—a guy who murdered an older man and hid the body under the very floor where he is later questioned by the police—certain that he can hear his victim’s heart continuing to beat, even though he knows he is dead. All the while he is being questioned, his conscience is at work and the man continues to hear the victim’s heart beating again and again, ringing in his ears, until at last he confesses to the murder.
The conscience, deep within every person, is that part of us that knows the true us. We may dress up ourselves nicely, even clean ourselves up nicely on the outside but it is the conscience on the inside that reveals who we really are—sin that is plaguing us, pointing up our guilt and shame. How can the conscience be treated? How can the conscience be cleansed?
Well, it may not seem like it at first reading, but this is precisely what the writer has in mind here in chapter 9—the cleansing of the inner man, the cleansing of the guilt-ridden conscience. And what he does is in our passage is to say that—while the old covenant worship system with all of its glittering gold and the accompanying trappings of so much religious ritual is a glorious sight to behold—it is insufficient to cleanse the conscience.
All of the ceremonial washings cannot wash away the deep-seated sin and guilt that plagues our conscience. It’s hard not to think of another classic here, Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, the murderer who continues to rub her hands together in a vain effort to remove an imaginary spot of blood she is certain all can see on her hands.
The writer of Hebrews is dealing with all of that here in chapter 9. Remember that his overarching theme is to demonstrate how Jesus is better than the old covenant system. The words “better” “more” and “greater” occur 25 times in this letter. Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant than the old. His sacrifice accomplishes what all the old covenant sacrifices could never accomplish—the cleansing of the conscience.
So you could outline the text with two main points.
- A Better Sacrifice is Coming (1-10)
- A Better Sacrifice is Here (11-14)
As I read these opening verses I thought it might be helpful to have a visual to bring clarity to what the writer is talking about here. So rather than going back through verses 1-5 let’s look at an illustration of them, okay? All in favor of pictures? Okay, here we go. Slides:
1, Tabernacle; this is what the Israelites took with them wherever they traveled. The tabernacle in the wilderness became the temple in Jerusalem, set up same way; two main rooms; this is what the writer is talking about in verses 1-5; first part contains the lamp stand, showbread, altar of incense which would drift into the second room separated by the curtain there; second part behind the second veil was the holy of holies in which is found the ark of the covenant, a chest containing the 10 commandments, the golden pot with manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. The writer says “of these things we cannot now speak in detail” so we won’t either. It’s not his main point to go into detail here. You can do that later if you wish—going back to the latter chapters of Exodus and you can read all about this stuff. Right now, the writer has more pressing matters to teach.
And one of the things he’s been teaching is the limitation of this system. It was a religious system that was restricted to a select few. Next slide:
2, Another cutaway of the tabernacle; see how it is set up there
3, Here is the outer courtyard of the tabernacle; If we could go back there to that time, none of us could see all of this glory of the holy place and the most holy place—these two rooms. Not a single one of us. We’re not levitical priests. And even if we were levitical priests, we still couldn’t all see the glory. Because very few levitical priests were able to go into the holy of holies, the inner sanctum of the second room. Only one, the high priest, and then only once a year. Everyone else excluded.
It’d be like having a clearance card you wear around your neck like a lanyard. And you go to the very outside of the temple, the court of the Gentiles and you swipe your card or hold it up to the scanner and gives you clearance into the court of Gentiles. But if you hoped your card would get you into the tabernacle—let alone the inner sanctum, it’d be “Access Denied!” Let’s keep that picture up there and look at the text, picking up where we left off:
6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services.
Only the Levitical priests were allowed into the first section where they “performed the services” such as changing out the bread of the presence and the lamp oil, trimming and lighting the lamps. They also burned incense and offered daily offerings.
7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance;
Only the high priest was allowed access into the most holy place, the holy of holies, and then just once a year. After the incense cloud had cleared such that he could see the mercy seat on the cover of the ark of the covenant he would then sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice upon the cover. Blood from a bull or a goat would be sprinkled upon the mercy seat to atone for the sins of the high priest and the sins of the people. Let’s get a close up of the ark of the covenant. Pic 4:
4, Ark of the covenant. This beautiful chest with cherubim on the top of its as located in the most holy place, or the holy of holies. The cherubim are the angelic creatures who were guardians of the majesty and presence of God. God appeared to His people on the top of the ark between the cherubim. The cover of the ark is called the mercy seat and it is where the high priest would put blood from the sacrifice for himself and for the people.
And, according to the last part of verse 7, “for the people’s sins committed in ignorance.” This phrase illustrates the depth of our sinful depravity. We often speak of sins of commission and omission. Things we know are wrong and we do them anyway. And not doing the things we should, like sharing the gospel with someone this afternoon. We have omitted doing what God has said do. This may seem bad enough—but our sin is so deep and so pervasive that we even sin in ignorance. We do things we don’t even realize are wrong or that our actions have hurt someone else. Sins committed in ignorance. Pic 5:
5, Who are these guys?! Indiana Jones and his joyful friend Sallah, from the movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” But again, the ark was to be treated with utmost care and caution because it is the very place where God met with His people on the top of the ark. Check out this pic that illustrates the presence of God, pic 6:
6, Outdoor scene. In the middle of the camp symbolizing God’s presence with His people. And then, you see how God manifests His presence in the holy of holies, the second part of the tabernacle.
Now before we go on, I want you to see what the writer says next about all the glory and majesty of the old covenant, verse 8:
8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.
This phrase is wonderful at the beginning of verse 8: “the Holy Spirit indicating this…” That’s one of those golden phrases full of theology. The writer is saying something here about the inspiration of Scripture. All the stuff he has been writing about regarding the temple and service in the temple and all of the teachings of the old covenant in the Old Testament—he’s saying that the Holy Spirit is presently indicating what all of that means. Put another way: The Old Testament writings about the Mosaic Covenant are true and the Holy Spirit is even now showing us what it all means. Isn’t that great?!
And what the writer stresses here in verse 8 is this phrase, “that the way into the Holiest of All (or the holy of holies) was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.”
What is he saying? So long as the old covenant tabernacle—and later temple—is standing, there is no way anyone was getting into the very presence of God. Remember that all of the details of the Jewish levitical religious system were but copies and shadows of the true reality in heaven. So if we live only with the copies and shadows, well then no one has access to God’s very presence—even the high priest could only enter into the holy of holies just once a year, and that was simply the place where God made His presence known, but it was not a permanent thing! This was all richly symbolic, verse 9:
9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience
—
The gifts and sacrifices were temporarily effective in enabling the priest to come before God and act as a mediator, but that was it. They did not have power to cleanse anyone’s conscience. They offered only outward, ceremonial purity.
We have noted before that the offering of animal sacrifices was like paying the minimum monthly payment on a huge credit card debt. The debt gets rolled over each time, but the debt is still there and still requires ultimate payment. Old Testament believers were, in a manner of speaking, living on credit. They were saved by grace through faith just as we are today, but they knew nothing of the satisfaction Jesus Christ would earn through the new covenant such that their hearts could be changed and their conscience cleansed. So they lived with an ongoing weight of guilt and conflicted conscience until the next ceremonial cleansing. Verse 10:
10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings (lit. baptisms), and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
I like that word “reformation!” He’s not talking about the Protestant Reformation there. He’s talking about the time or the age of the new covenant. He’s simply saying that all of these things in the tabernacle were things that prepared the people for the ultimate washing and cleansing to come through Jesus Christ. Without Christ, the old covenant is insufficient and incomplete. But now, the earthly sanctuary is replaced with the heavenly sanctuary, verse 11:
11 But Christ (I love this two word transition! But Christ!) came as High Priest of the good things [NU, that have come] to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
Not of this creation—not a human copy, an earthly copy—but the real deal. Christ comes as the greater High Priest, from a greater and more perfect tabernacle, the tabernacle of heaven itself! Verse 12:
12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
As the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ enters behind the veil, behind the curtain, and offers a sacrifice not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained an eternal redemption.
We read something of this before back in Chapter 6, last two verses of chapter 6, verses 19 and following:
Hebrews 6:19-20: This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”—an eternal order.
When Jesus died on the cross, He offered Himself as an eternal sacrifice for our sin. And you’ll remember that when that happened the Gospel writers tell us something happened to that second veil, the second curtain separating the holy place from the most holy place. What happened that curtain? It was torn from top to bottom indicating that God has made a way for full access into His very presence—through Christ Jesus. Our cards are now cleared to go all the way in! Pic 7:
7, Here’s a picture of the inside of the Jewish temple. The curtain is torn from top to bottom. There’s Josephus: “Ahh! Look out Josiah!” Here’s another pic of it:
8, the holiness of God now available to all who come through Christ. One more picture of this:
9, Isn’t that cool? God makes a way for us to enter into His presence through Jesus Christ. Last two verses of our text, verse 13 and 14:
13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies (sets apart) for the purifying (cleansing) of the flesh (just the outward flesh, not the inner man, the conscience),
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot (blemish) to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Note the powerful theological truth here, especially when compared with verse 12 where we read of Christ’s obtaining “eternal redemption.” Now verse 14: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit—that is, with reference to His very nature as eternal spirit—how much more shall His blood then effectuate an eternal cleansing, an eternal redemption. In other words: because Christ is eternal, His one sacrificial act has the power to accomplish an eternal redemption.
This truth informs our understanding of the doctrine of eternal security. A Christian’s redemption is eternal because Christ Himself is eternal. Since the redemption to be secured is eternal, then it requires an offering of one who is Himself, by nature, eternal spirit.
That also means that when we read in verse 14 that Jesus “offered Himself” that we know His death on our behalf is part of an eternal plan. His death was not a mistake, not an accident, but an eternal plan that inheres in His eternal nature. My brain’s getting ready to explode!
Then the last phrase of our text…Christ’s blood is that which can “cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
“Dead works” is evident in the ongoing need of animal sacrifice. The high priest does his work in the holy of holies and no sooner than he completes his work and passes back through the curtain does he find himself sinning and all the people sinning, too. Dead works.
Religious works cannot cleanse the conscience from the guilt and stain of sin. And this impedes our joy. We have no joy in worship because we have guilt-ridden consciences. We know our sin. We know our guilt. And it affects everything. We can’t sing to the Lord, we have no joy as long as we are plagued by guilt. We have hurt the one who loves us.
If you’ll pardon the 80s pop music reference, this is the conscience-stricken musical lyric in the guy who was unfaithful to his lover. He sings: “I’m never gonna dance again; guilty feet have got no rhythm.” (sorry but it’s on one of my playlists when I run!) But see, when you are guilty of doing wrong against someone, you can’t dance. A guilty conscience leads to guilt feet. Sin affects your whole body.
When the conscience is overburdened with guilt, worship is impossible. Can’t sing or dance before God.
It’s like washing your car. I like to keep a clean car. I like that line in the Jason Statham movie “Transporter” where the inspector says, “I always say, the way a man treats his car is how he treats himself.” Whether you agree with that statement, you know you can’t keep your car clean, right?
It gets dirty so quickly. You may run in through the car wash and dry it. And on the way home you drive through a puddle, or it begins to rain, or you drive through a construction site. It gets dirty again really quickly. So you’ve got to keep going back to the car wash. It never ends.
The writer of Hebrews is saying that if you are relying on the old covenant as a means of perfection, completion, of cleansing your conscience, it never ends. You’ve got to keep going back again and again and again to wash away the dirt of sin.
To carry the analogy a bit further, what you really need is a car wash that can so wash your car that it not only makes it look shiny and new on the outside—but shiny and new on the inside! That’s the new covenant. It changes the heart, you see. It provides and inner, spiritual cleansing, the cleansing of the conscience.
The Mosaic system could never cleanse the conscience, could never grant the peace and joy of a clean conscience.
What can wash away my sin? The blood of animal sacrifices? No. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! That’s right! The blood of Jesus.
Blood, which indicates the death of the victim, symbolically representing the giving of life on behalf of another.
The mercy seat, the covering of the ark of the covenant—the word for mercy seat is the Greek word “hilastarion” which means something that propitiates or atones. There was theological significance in that the mercy seat was the part of the ark that was sprinkled with the blood of sacrifice on the Day of Atonement.
In the Book of Romans the Apostle Paul applies the word to the death of Christ. He writes in Romans 3:25, “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood…”
This is why Jesus speaks as He does during that last supper in the Gospels. He takes the cup and says, “This cup is the new covenant (new!) in My blood which is shed for you,” shed for the forgiveness of sin.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
How is your conscience? What did you do last night? What did you see? What thoughts were going on in your head? Is your conscience clean? And what of that recurring sin that robs you of joy—you can’t even look at your spouse without feeling the pang of guilt inside. Listen:
“There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.”
Let’s pray.
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