The Cleansing of Conscience (Part 1 of 2)

When we disobey God's law. We feel guilt and shame only when our conscience has been cleansed that we are freed from remorse today on Truth for Life were looking at a passage that explains how Jesus our great high priest provides the ultimate solution Alastair biggest teaching from Hebrews 9 about the cleansing of conscience.

Father I pray that the spirit of God will be our teacher. Maybe only hear your voice. We only want to be the students of your word.

We want to be obedient and changed by your truth so grand that we might be freed from every distraction that our minds might be fastened on the wonder of who you are and what you've done for us and what you are saying to us, for Jesus sake, we ask how men in the central section of Hebrews, the writer is establishing with purposeful repetition the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ in the superiority of the new covenant and is been setting this forward by means of a series of contrasts that are highlighting the old as opposed to the new and here in chapter 9. He makes his point very strongly by showing how it relates to a matter with which each of eyes will be able to identify and that is the issue of a guilty conscience and guilty conscience, no matter how young or old, we might prove to be the fact is that all of us understand what it is to feel a sense of guilt, people may try and are jazz away from this, suggesting that it is somehow unhealthy. They may suggest that conscience is an aberration that it is an externally understood thing that it is no basis really in the creative purposes of God. If there is a God, but the fact remains that each of us understands. The Bible says that our conscience is a faculty which enables us to apprehend the moral demands of God that we are built with an innate sense of right and wrong that we are not simply physical beings and social beings and sexual beings, but we are also moral being and we are able to violate against our own sense of conscience, which is established within us by the very act of creation and it is by means of the same conscience that we are then enabled to feel guilty when we understand ourselves to of violated God's moral demands in the sense of feeling guilty, is a complex experience. Children wrestle with it because it includes a sense of judgment. They wonder why it is that having stolen from that the jar of cookies they feel the way they feel they have no real explanation as to why it is that they run and hide in a closet underneath the stairs. Why the sound of their parents voice strikes terror in their tiny lives rather than joy and anticipation in the way that they might've anticipated before this event, the accompanying sense of unworthiness of self-deprecation and of estrangement. All is part and parcel of a guilty conscience. Men and women who feel estranged from God estranged from other people and estranged from themselves their own personal sense of angst and more often than not be traced to the fact of a guilty conscience, and to the fact that despite the passage of time, and despite all of their endeavors. Somehow or another they are unable to relieve this deepening sense of burden. Now my purpose this morning is not to address this issue of conscience. It is fascinating.

We can leave it for another time, but rather it is simply to acknowledge its place in this contrast between the old and the new covenants because here in chapter 9 the writer makes it clear the way in which the old covenant and the new covenant was able to deal with the matter of conscience is vastly different.

For example, in the in the ninth verse year of chapter 9 he says this is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered. Notice the phrase where not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.

They couldn't do it then you will forward to verse 14 and he says how much more than will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, or from deathly act to serve the living God. Not only I have to labor too hard to make it clear to us this morning that this is not a matter of arm's-length theology.

I would suggest that anybody who can stand up and speak clearly about how a guilty conscience may be cleansed, will get a listening in the ranks of all were prepared ever to admit that the conscience was guilty. Did one of the great fallacies of modern psychology and psychiatric help is to always constantly externalize the guilt so the first response to somebody's as I feel this way. The answer is all you shouldn't feel that way because it's not your problem and seek to alleviate the guilt by externalizing and by projecting it either, back, forward, sideways, or somewhere else that doesn't work, especially when we are the ones that stole the cookies because we're the ones that feel the sense of guilt in the 1970s when the late David Watson was working very successfully and effectively with university students and in evangelism in the United Kingdom. He described how, on one occasion, speaking at an English university. He had talked to the end of one of his sessions to a young girl who had the reputation of "the toughest girl in our university.

She had quite openly slept around she taken every drug that was available on the campus. Outwardly, she didn't care about a single thing and she flat out had zero interest in the notion of Jesus Christ in Christianity and he tells how, after speaking one evening at this English university as he was greeting people at the conclusion of it all, this girl came up to him smoking a cigarette. She walked up to her and she said Rev. Watson, I just came up to let you know that I just received Jesus Christ as my personal savior to the drag on the cigarette turnaround and what writer Watson says and I looked at her goal.

I said to myself. Time will tell and the conclusion of the following evenings meetings. He was again greeting people and in the course of reading people he encountered a young girl whom he did not immediately recognize it was the girl from the previous evening.

She actually looked radically different and she explained to him since last evening.

I have spent most of my time crying because in spite of all my toughness and all my hardness for all my life I felt as guilty as hell in summer here this morning and behind the nice suits and the smiles and the cars and the stuff to people know God in you is exactly how you feel and for this girl. What brought it all out.

Was this amazing story of Jesus she couldn't fathom that a God who was absolutely pristine in his holiness could lever.

She couldn't imagine that a Christ who had lived a perfect life and died at death upon the cross and died to forgive the person in the whole notion of Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 12. I will forgive their wickedness and I will remember their sins no more was an absolutely mind blowing concept to your that God not only forgives sin, but he forgets sin and he cleanses the guilty conscience. So the word of God comes to troubled consciences comes to the troubled consciences of men and women not to demoralize but instead to arouse them to their great need so that they might turn to him. So those of you who are on the receiving end of people giving you advice which says you shouldn't feel guilty and you're running around to make sure you don't feel guilty, you are running into oblivion. Guilt is given to us in the same way that a fear of fire is given to us as a break and as a protector and as a guy, so that we might be led to the only answer to a guilty conscience. Now when we come to chapter 10 were going to discover the same thing in verse two of chapter 10, speaking all the sacrifices that were repeated endlessly year after year.

He said if they could have made people perfect Woodley of stock being offered for the worshipers would've been cleanse once for all.

Would no longer felt guilty for their sins, but the fact is that he didn't feel guilty for their sins, and he continued to in verse 22 of chapter 10, the contrast is there.

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience. Now this is the context and loved ones.

How is this obsolete old covenant made clear to us and how is the wonder and glory of the new covenant made appealing to us while he says there is this reason in this region. Now he says let's think about this issue of conscience now in the first 10 verses. He emphasizes all over again. The inadequacy of the old covenant, or if you wanted to turn it on and said you did say that he prepares us for the adequacy of the new covenant, but the inadequacy of the old covenant is stressed by paying attention to two things.

Number one, a description from the past you read these first five verses and you see yourself. What is this all about tabernacle and the lampstand and consecrated bread and curtains and altars and incense and gold coverings in jars of man, and so on and butting stabs and you say all goodness me. What is this about now. I wonder how long it'll take is again to verse six. Well, not particularly long and the reason being is because he tells us that we shouldn't take that long because in the final sentence of verse five, we cannot discuss these things in detail now Summers breathed a sigh of relief. The first readers would be very familiar with. It would've been a difficulty to them, they would've been in the mood to fill in the gaps. For most, and many of us that is not the case. Some intrigued to me this week that despite their the writer's perspective here. In other words, he wants to advance his main argument. And so, although he could start to discuss this. He decides not to so that he may continue your pickup comment after comment after comment.

And the people of spent nine and 10 pages doing what the writer to the Hebrews determined really did need to be done or you can relax because I'm not about to do that to you. There are applications of these things. But now, according to the writer is not the time to make them. He doesn't say establish the superiority of Jesus by denigrating what had been a God ordained ritual in the earthly sanctuary. Infighting gives glory to Christ by giving these Old Testament old covenant things. You place and he says these were of significance God establish them and therefore Christ in the new covenant are even more significant, insofar as these are not denigrated there in their place. And yet, these issues supersede them.

The old covenant was divinely prescribed and the new covenant is its fulfillment, not its contradiction. What you have in the Old Testament again. As we've said all along as you have promised and then in the New Testament fulfillment you have shadow and copy venue of reality. That's what the writers say were not going to discuss these things in detail now. Calvin warns against trying to fill in the blanks. He says since nothing is enough for inquisitive men and women. The apostle cuts out any opportunity for subtleties in case too much discussion of these things might break the threat of his argument philosophy rising beyond reasonable bounds, as some do, is not only futile, it is also dangerous. We must show discretion and moderation in case we desire to know more than it is. Please God to reveal and on the average week, we have at least a dozen telephone calls from people which are sincere because they want to know about bits of the Bible. They don't understand. I want to say them as graciously as I can know more about a base you don't understand you will and worry about the bit you do understand is the bit should do understand you need to start doing and if you give yourself to doing the bit you do understand them will come back later.

Like eating fish and you get a bowl and put it on the side of the plate will come back deal with that later on and there is an inquisitiveness minister says you know I night if I unless I answer this I won't be able to keep going.

The plane things are the main things it on with them and keep marching some of the other stuff will be in heaven before we get the answers. The writer understands so the inadequacy of the old covenant is established because he gives is this description of what is passed and then he provides in verses 6 to 10 with an illustration for the present. Now we get that right out of verse nine he says this is an illustration for the present time you not to be too brilliant to do this stuff as you can see to study the Bible, you just need a name in English language and ended in a prayerful heart. What is he saying he sang the old the old covenant is obsolete and is passing away.

That's the end of chapter 8 years on and shows how this is true by describing the things of the past, providing a very good illustration in the present.

He moves from the description of the century. She's been in the first five verses to examine the limitations of the ritual of what was going on in the sanctuary what was happening in their well you were going behind curtains; and the first curtain. One chap was going behind the second curtain. Most people can go behind any curtains. The outer court was frequented by the ministering priest, but only the high priest went behind the second curtain according to verse three and it was dangerous to do that sound thing that we fully understand. I'm sure we don't fully understand this very difficult for eyes in our very contemporary familiar individualistic culture to understand the notion of the awesomeness of the holiness of God really is any exaggeration to say that the key to effective Christian living is an awareness of God's majestic holiness that the key to significant worship is an awareness of his holiness. And so when the high priest went into this most holy place. The people were aware of it. He said prayers before he went in and he to blog with him in order to safeguard himself. Verse seven says that he never entered without blood and then blood was to atone first for his own sins because he himself was a sinner and then having dealt with himself. He was able to minister on behalf of others. But it was a fearful thing to go into that would symbolize the presence of the living God.

We understand that in the unfolding pattern of Scripture we have these two truths and tension, one that God is awesome and beyond is in his holiness and to the Holy Spirit enables us to cry, Abba, father. Therefore, we have the intimacy of our relationship with Jesus and by the we have the awesomeness of the holiness of the triune God. Suffice it to say that these first century believers would not have understood those of us who can't wait to worship, especially in the 9 o'clock hour and 45 it's difficult there are practicalities, but in the 6 o'clock people coming in at 10:05 passport 6:20 to see you are worthy causes story how more than my worthy of you getting here on time fell in love with a girl For 20 minutes late fall in love with a girl you're there half an hour early practicing for you going to say around the corner working on. So when she shows up, you're ready, the high priest entered into the most holy place and according to verse eight. His movements were illustrating the fact that ordinary men and women did not have direct access into the presence of God and that brings us to the first of three central truths that I want you to notice number one. The inadequacy of the old covenant is expressed in the fact that access to God was restricted. Ordinary priests were restricted from the most holy place by this curtain here in verse three, their ability to move around was in itself only with a with a limited clearance. They could only go so far and the people couldn't go as far as them and there was only one backstage pass. It was only given out once a year for one individual to use and that was the high priest, and to everybody else access to God was restricted and so people began to look at those individuals and with a measure of justification as the key to their access to God and in our generation, unless men and women's understanding of the nature of what it means to have access to God is transformed by the truth year of Hebrews 9 men and women continue to include a religious man in the exact same way when an individual thinks like that. It is clear that they have never understood the radical change that is been brought about in the establishing of the new covenant and they are living their lives in the us in the awareness of the fact that their access to God is totally restricted, and they are aware of the fact that something needs to happen if there is to be freedom of movement, not just for the priests but also for the worship of the writer is building to what he is going to proclaim in verse 24 for Christ is not entered a man-made century there was only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Verse 19 of chapter 10 the same truth.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain see how revolutionary this was for these individuals for whom access to God was restricted underwriter to them says I want you to understand that we have confidence to enter the holy place is revolutionary. You couldn't go in there was only one chaplain in their and it was a dangerous thing for him to go in there and before he went and he had to make sure that he had atone for his sins in the sacrificial system that he was then able to offer atoning sacrifice is for the others who were restricted another writer's as I want you to know that you can come straight and walk right and sit right down baby.

Let your mind roll on when I came from but it is good that some of you, you can walk and you can sit right and you can ease your mind. Why not by means of the restricted access of the old covenant, but because of my new living way that is been opened up by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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