You may be seated. Thank you, worship team. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Aaron Dodds. There you have it. I'm the student ministry pastor here at Lifeline Community.
I'm up at the bat in the pulpit while Pastor Brian is on a second sabbatical. He got back and realized, gotta go. Just kidding. He already had a trip planned to Jordan, so he's in Jordan right now.
So I'll be praying for him. Got a couple other people from Lifeline that are there. Hopefully they're having a stellar time. But If you have a Bible, Get it turnt. To Hebrews 9, please.
If you don't have one, there should be one in the seat in front of you or in the back. And if you don't own a Bible, please keep it. No one should be without God's word.
So please do take it home with you. But before we get into our text, I want to introduce you to someone by the name of Albert Speer. Perhaps you've heard of them before. Maybe some history, aficionados. Uh but in nineteen thirty three As a then relatively new and inexperienced architect, Speer was asked to submit designs for the Nuremberg rally.
which were those mega Nazi spectacles um where they would have major pomp and circumstance, lots of decadence um were was had. And then when Hitler rose into power in nineteen thirty three, the Nure Nuremberg rallies were even more grand and more propagandized, uh big time. But to Speer's surprise Hitler really, really liked his design submissions for the rally. In fact, Hitler liked them so much that he and Speer went on to have regular private luncheons and meetings um with each other. And Speer was eventually commissioned by Hitler to redesign the entire city of Berlin.
Had a mega plan to redesign Berlin as a new capital of the Nazi Party. It never happened, because it went south for them. Yeah. Hitler's relationship with Spear Uh, it kind of became a kindred spirit type friendship between the two. At least that's what Hitler said.
That's kind of a weird feeling if Hitler says we're kindred spirits, like please don't say that. But back then, maybe that's what you wanted to hear, right? Uh but in 1942 Hitler gave Speer a high-ranking position within the Third Reich as the Minister of Armament and Munitions. And later, as the war ramped up, he was promoted to the Minister of Armaments and War Production. Under Speer's command, the German military was revolutionized with extraordinary efficiency, which was done through the means of slave labor.
primarily from those within concentration camps.
So, despite the horrific working conditions and thousands and thousands dying in Spears factories. He was praised. for implementing an armaments miracle. Germany's tank production doubled. in the span of two years.
They were humming and churning and getting things out for the war. Overall, Speer was credited with keeping the Nazi war factories going during World War II by whatever means pleased the Führer.
So, fast forward to the end of the war. Speer and several other Nazi generals and officials, they were tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg trials between 1945 and 1946. Out of the 24 war criminals tried, Speer was the only one. Only one who admitted his guilt. And expressed remorse for his part in the atrocities schemed and committed by the Nazi leaders.
In fact, after spending twenty years in Spantau prison for those war crimes he was tried for, he famously, for thirty five excuse me, thirty five more years, which was the remainder of his life, He went on to seek personal restitution. And expiation from the families of those that he was a part of murdering. in the process of his time and power. And in nineteen seventy seven, And good morning, America Interview. Speer admitted that while he fervently sought atonement and the clearing of his conscience, He didn't think it would ever be possible to be totally cleared, free, and atoned for.
despite his best efforts to do so. And I want to play you a clip of that interview. Where you should be able to hear Speer through his thick German accent, but it's there, you can hear it. explain how he thinks he will never be consciously free or happy. Due to the burden of his sins from the past, he doesn't use the word sin or shame in that way, but that's what's gripping his heart still.
So let me show you that interview clip. I can't be happy because I still feel Um As a burden, what? Happened in Hitler's time, and even when I said in the beginning of our interview, that I feel now a free man because I have Lived through 20 years of imprisonment. I have served my whole sentence. Uh in my my My inner feeling is not is not so uh okay with this uh with this um Um statement.
Done. I in my opinion, I never can really Reinstate myself as a free man, said everything that happened in Hitler's time, my whole responsibility. is so large said um I always will be uh uh have to sacrifice a great part of my life to get along with it. You will always feel the burden. Yes.
I always feel the burden as if we never cease.
So, the reason I wanted to introduce Albert Speer to you and show you that clip. It's because I think that his experience of living with sh Shame and guilt from his actions. Even though, extraordinarily, like he said, he spent 20 years in prison, and he's technically free. And that way he admitted to still inwardly feeling as though he'll never really be free of that. I think that is a shared experience of many, many Christians.
It's an emotional and spiritual reality for Christians who should. and could live in the fullness. of the joy and the peace and the satisfaction in the power of the gospel. And in our relationship with God, that we should so desperately desire. Honestly, I think It's the experience of all Christians, every single Christian.
At one time or another, To various degrees of severity or duration. Maybe in a moment. Or a season. and that we have an extremely hard time believing. What God Himself says, He has done with our sins, and living in that freedom.
We technically know what the Bible says. and how God loves us. and that Christ died on the cross to atone for our sins once and for all. Like we read in our scripture reading earlier in Romans. And that by faith in him, We're forgiven of our sins.
We're adopted as His beloved children. Yet Yet. We often don't really feel that. Or fully. Believe that.
And our hearts and our minds. Perhaps more often than you realize even, or maybe even want to admit out loud. I think that what often consumes us in our thoughts and in our hearts. is what we have done by sinning. And I think what should consume is a grateful meditation on what God has done with our sinning.
as revealed in his authoritative word. And all too often, forgiven, loved, and redeemed Christians live with a defiled conscience. You know what a conscience is?
Sometimes it feels like our biggest enemy that we wish would just shut up, be done, go away. It's that spiritual dimension. Of the image of God that's permanently imprinted on our souls, by which we have the capacity, the ability to feel guilt and conviction when we do something wrong. as well as joy and comfort when we do something right. It's that function of our souls by which our moral actions, good or evil, are subjectively registered.
Everyone has a conscience. Everyone. Christians or not. Everyone has a conscience. You're an image bearer of God, you have a conscience.
And again, I thank all Christians. Both new believers and saints who've been walking with the Lord for decades. We'll be confronted Often or regularly, with the disquieting concern in our conscience that perhaps. I've failed one too many times. And I've just pushed God to the limits of His grace.
Yeah. Those times when you're lying in your bed at night and you sense deep within those harsh words. You spoke to your spouse. Or your kids. Maybe the lie you told that day.
or the money you spent that you really, really shouldn't have. Or in the morning. When lustful thoughts seem to flood your mind out of nowhere. And you wonder how on earth Could you profess to be a Christian when your heart is so overwhelmed by such wicked thoughts? Or the realization You had That that day you had the chance to share the gospel with someone and you did it, you backed out.
How could God love a coward like me? Or when you take inventory of your life and you only seem to see failure after failure after failure after failure, it turns into anger. Turns into blaming God for the way things have gone. If God truly cared for me, Why has everything gone down the toilet? Or when you sense deep within yourself the need for you.
to bridge the gap between you and God. And then you begin to think of all the things you can say or things you can promise. to make up for, so that God will love you and accept you again. Then suddenly You hear the thought cross your mind. Nope.
It's too late. God gave up on you a long time ago. You're a disgrace. You did it again.
So go on, keep hating yourself. You disqualified yourself from any future blessings from God. God's given up on you, so go ahead. It's okay. Give up on him too.
Maybe I'm the one who feels that way sometimes. I don't know. But that goes through my head. I think if you're a Christian I think it's safe to say we've all had those times and those feelings. That completely swallow up whatever joy and confidence you once had or should have in the gospel.
Maybe this very morning you're Convinced. that the quality and the extent and the frequency and the selfishness and repetitive occurrences of your sin are far greater than the quality and the capacity of Christ's person and work to overcome. I think the reality is Is that our sin tends to scream and shout so loudly in our self-punishment. That it often drowns out what might feel, what should maybe could feel like a faint promise from Scripture that God still loves me, maybe He'll forgive me still. It makes this question.
If there is any hope that one day we might feel the affection that God really does have for us. It's because we feel so dirty. or unworthy. I think when that happens, If we truly go on Not feeling and continued disbelieving. the love that God has for his children.
And in time, I think we're far more likely to stop pursuing him. To stop obeying him, to stop serving him, to stop trusting him. and stop living on mission for him. That's it. Just think of how that works in your relationships with people now.
How frequently or how earnestly do you pursue people? You don't think like you. Or people who are consistently fed up and annoyed by you. Do you tense up a little bit when they're around? Or do you try and hide or avoid them if you see them?
Like, I'm gonna go down this aisle of the grocery store. I wanna see them, I'll go over here. How often Do you speak positively about them to others too? Right? in hopes that maybe they'll grow in a loving relationship with him.
I think it's not too far off. And how our dulled and doubtful sense of God's love for us. plays out in life too. I think our text this morning in Hebrews 9. points to a solution to that problem.
Because it reminds us that the most fundamental and the most pressing need of our hearts is no different. Than what it was for those Israelites who lived during the Old Testament, times when the tabernacle and the Mosaic laws were still in force and in full operation. And the most fundamental problem of the heart is still the same today. as I was then, It's a dirty conscience. a defiled spirit, a stained soul.
A heart that feels wicked and wayward, and for all its efforts, that can't seem to make its way back to God. Hebrews 9 shows us that the only thing Only thing that will cleanse and purify our conscience So that we can not only enjoy God, and know that he enjoys us. But that we can live for him in freedom. by the cleansing blood of Christ. The blood of Christ reminds us that the main problem isn't that we feel guilty.
but that we are guilty. And because of his work, We can receive by faith and regularly delight. In the work God and Christ has already completed for sinners like you and me. It is finished. It's done.
And that's my single application point this morning. My sermon today is a little different in how I structured it, and that I don't have multiple sub-points or observations for you to jot down. That's why the notes page in front of you is intentionally blank. Besides the title and what's on the back, there's a bunch of stuff on the back, and I'll get to that in a moment. But I just want you to take away and meditate on.
The purifying soul and conscious cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. That was shed on the cross. And to help me emphasize that point. I need to discuss a super important distinction. that I hope clarifies things as we move along.
And that is noting that there is a difference between our eternal union with God. in our experiential communion with God. It's important that we clarify that. Because it's possible, I think, for some hearing in this room or later listening. And get confused about what I'm saying, and they'll draw the wrong conclusions.
And might say that I'm saying that our sins should have zero effect, zero effect on the terms of our relationship with God. Is that what Aaron's saying?
Some might assume that I'm suggesting we can continue to live with complete joy and peace and intimacy with the Lord no matter what we do or fail to do. Which is completely not what I'm trying to say. And nor is that biblical.
So first of all Our eternal union has to do with our salvation. and our status in the sight of God. We are united by faith to Christ. And nothing can change or undermine that reality. That is true for every single born-again Christian.
Every single tr Christ trusting child of God. If you truly have been born in the Spirit, and have repented of your sins, And look to Christ alone for your salvation, then your union with Jesus. is unbreakable, is un inseparable. You belong to him and that will never change. This is what the author of Hebrews meant when he said, actually, in Hebrews 10:14, that Christians have been perfected for all time through the work of Christ.
Nothing that happens in this life can affect your eternal union. On the back of your notes page, like I mentioned a second ago, is a list of promises. regarding our eternal union with Christ. That came from Sam Storm's book, which is called A Dozen Things God Did With Your Sin, and Three Things He'll Never Do. And that's my primary reference for talking about eternal union and experiential communion.
So Actually, when he was here for the retreat, I had him sign some of my books that I have of his, and I had that one. I gave him to sign it. He says, You know what? This is my favorite book I've ever written. Pastorally, application-wise, it's just It does the work really, really well.
It ministers in a way that those other books just don't.
So I recommend it if you don't have it. But that list, I hope it's something that you hold on to. Pull it out. Bring it to mind again when you find yourself disbelieving, forgetting. Or even hiding.
from the truths of your loving and eternal union with God. Also, underneath eternal union includes non-experiential realities. In that You don't always feel justification when it happens. You might feel an emotion like joy or gratitude because you've been declared righteous in the sight of a holy God. But that declaration of righteousness, that justification through the sin-bearing death of Jesus.
It's not something you experience in your body or your hormones. or even in your emotions or your affections. That's not where it happens. It's also to say that while our feelings are important, They shouldn't be the central Especially in relation to our eternal union with God. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
What we have in the Gospel of Friends is truth. It's true. And that comes before it becomes an emotional stimuli. Does that make sense? Thus, the Gospel says that our obedience Does not add to us being justified, and our obedience doesn't detract from it.
Our fickle and primarily selfish feelings don't add to it if you feel great. Or if you don't, it doesn't take it away. And praise God for that. And let me say too. If that doesn't sound like you in this room.
That you don't think you or you know you don't have an eternal union with God? I hope and pray that by the Holy Spirit You hear the gospel this morning. And that you see your desperate need for him. That your best efforts to just do you Be a good person. To know all the ins and outs of world philosophy and world religion, you're a smart person.
That doesn't fix. The problem. that you sense deep down in your soul. Only Christ can fix what's broken. And what's broken?
is your heart Because of your sin. And the eternal union that we all need. and can have because of Christ alone. It's only possible for those who have repented enough, run to the cross of Christ, and place all of their hope, all of their hope, all. of their hope and faith and confidence in who Jesus Christ is.
and what he died and rose again from the grave to accomplish. which is the defeat of sin and death to save us from our just wrath of God? To give us Himself, that's the reward. You get Christ fully and freely, and He equips you for His eternal rule of His kingdom both now and forever, and the glorification of Him both now and forever. I hope.
You hear that. And Christian, if you've been a Christian for a while, hope. That excites you. and remind you who you are. Secondly.
Whereas my union with God never changes. My experiential communion with him does. Experiential. refers to what happens to us and in us now, in in real time as each day passes. We experience the blessings.
of the indwelling spirit. We feel the freedom of forgiveness. We can enjoy The joy of knowing that God loves us. That's the difference between eternal and experiential. Communion Refers to what I can feel, sense, enjoy, and experience today and every day.
Again, where our eternal union with God never changes, our communion with Him does. My union with God is unchanged. by my sin. 'Kay. But my communion most certainly suffers as a result of my sin.
Meaning, my capacity to enjoy and to feel the glory of being a child of God can be most definitely. undermined by re repeated or unrepentant sin. Or even in failing Into a habit. of not reading the word. Of not spending time regularly in prayer, yeah, you're going to have an odd experiential communion with God.
It's important to note that when we sin, And when we fail to repent and confess, Our experiential communion with God will be sorely shaken. Willful or unrepentant sin definitely clouds your mind. And hinders your heart from seeing God's beauty or feeling His affections for us. Consider David with me in Psalm thirty two. When he tried to ignore and when he tried to suppress the voice of the Holy Spirit after his sins with Uriah and Bathsheba.
As he tried to remain silent, he He describes the effects of his experiential communion in saying, When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
So what we see here is a law of life in God's world. If you choose to keep your sin secret, or bottled up in your soul. It will eventually leak out like acid eating you away. I promise. Unconfessed sin is like an oozing sore.
We cannot presume. That God will hear our prayers while simultaneously holding on. to some sinful or addictive habit. or choosing not to repent. and confess our sins.
So yes. There is damage done to our sensible enjoyment of all that God is for us and Jesus due to our sin. Again, it's important. to make a clear distinction of These two points. when we look at the work of Christ in Hebrews 9, because As our recent men's retreat speaker Sam Storms again said.
The condemnation. That comes with my sin. And guilt has forever been removed because Christ took it upon himself. When it comes to my eternal union with God, I have been fully and finally forgiven of all my sins, past, present, and future. I need never again ask for forgiveness for sins when it comes to my salvation.
Or my eternal union with God, or my deliverance from guilt and the divine wrath that it invokes. But when it comes to my sanctification, or in my daily experiential communion with God. I need to confess. and receive forgiveness. In order that I might fully enjoy and delight in being satisfied with all that God has done for me in Christ.
Hebrews. shows why we can't and should come to Christ for the cleansing of our conscience when we've sinned against Him. And we find ourselves doubting his love for us. We come back to Christ, come back to Christ. And then leading up to nine.
The book of Hebrews shows us how. How Jesus is better, who he is. What he has done. And what he's going, what he's doing right now. At the right hand of the Father in heaven.
How he is infinitely superior to and more splendid than everything. That came before him in the Old Testament. In fact, everything that precedes him in the Old Testament really just pointed forward. That is coming. The very symbols and shadows of the Levitical code, sacrifices of the Old Testament, those were designed to point forward to the coming of Jesus Christ.
We see in Hebrews chapter 1. But Jesus is better than the prophets of the Old Testament. We see he is superior to the angels who fulfill God's commands and do his will. We see in Hebrews chapter 2. That the salvation He secures for us is greater than anything that the Old Testament law.
of Moses could provide. And chapter 3. We are told how Jesus is better than Moses. In chapter 4, we are told that the rest provided by Jesus is greater than the rest that came through Joshua and the conquest and the promised land of Canaan. In chapters 5 through 7, Our author explains in considerable detail.
How Jesus as high priest is better than Aaron and all the other high priests in the history of Israel. And chapter 8. He explains how the new covenant inaugurated by Jesus. Is superior in every way to the old covenant that came through Moses. It's not that God Messed up.
By instituting the old covenant. It's not what happened there. It means that it could not accomplish what it looked forward to. It was provisional. Temporary.
The Old Testament sacrifices were symbolic. and could only deal with external cleansing. Not internal, where the heart of stone is. Additionally. The old covenant was faulty.
in that the people. Carrying it out. And we're trying to abide by it. They were faulty. The blame was on Israel.
The laws were fine. The people weren't. Right? Old covenant people broke their covenant. They were idolaters.
Me too. Like a cheating spouse, they ran off with other gods that we see in Hosea. But such is the heart of God. that he pursues even those who wander and flee. As we see in chapter 9 of Hebrews, Or we read that.
The sacrifice that Jesus offered of himself. to deal with sin. Once and for all, time is incomparably superior to the sacrifices of bulls, of goats, of lambs that were offered during the time of the Old Testament. Specifically, in 9 verses 1 through 10. They speak to the limitations and the shortcomings of old covenant worship.
And how it describes the old tabernacle, its furnishings, its external worship practices. Essentially Everything associated with the Old Testament tabernacle and its furnishings. Together with the detailed instructions that directed the offering of the blood of goats and bulls that we read about. were designed to serve as a visual sermon. declaring the holiness of God.
The need to repent. Ex uh the need for uh repeated external washings and cleansings of everyone and everything that entered the tabernacle was a constant reminder of God's holiness is of such a nature that only perfect and pure are acceptable. Sacrifices Had to be made over and over again because the problem of sin was never solved. And that The tabernacle and everything in it also served as daily reminders not only how holy God is. But how sinful man is.
Everything there shouted, stay away. Do not draw near. If you come near to God, you will die. You couldn't just stroll in. to God's presence in your sinful state.
Yeah. Yeah. This is why access to God's presence in the innermost holy place of the tabernacle there at the back of that picture. where God's presence was on the mercy seat, on the Ark of the Covenant. It was restricted to only one man.
who is the high priest, the first one being Aaron, the brother of Moses. And with that, even the high priest can only come in on one day a year. known as the Day of Atonement. And even then, could he only enter if He brought to the altar a sacrifice of blood. for both himself and the people.
Leviticus 16 is the chapter which gives the instructions of that yearly event, the Day of Atonement. When the high priests, the representative of all of Israel, Could enter the most holy place in order to make offerings of blood for both himself and all people. I'm not going to turn there. But in Leviticus 16. God said to Moses, About Aaron, the first high priest, Tell Aaron, your brother, not.
to come at any time. Enter the holy place inside the veil. before the mercy seat that is on the ark. Here's why, so that he will not die. Dang.
Aaron could only enter into the most holy place once he had gone through a series of rituals. And those rituals are described in Leviticus 16 verses 3-14. It's a lot. Even the high priest Aaron could not go in there without fear of death. If he messed up or missed a step.
and the requirements that God outlined for cleaning and purification. Imagine that you're him. And you're about to enter. You're about to pull back the curtain. of the inner chamber of the tabernacle.
About to enter the most holy place on earth. Would you be thinking? And wondering in your mind, how how did my week go? How obedient have I been. Right?
How holy am I? Is this sacrifice good enough? What if the bull had a spot we missed that we didn't see? It wasn't perfect. Is God still mad at me for that golden calf incident?
Is he waiting to get me alone in the most holy place so he can just strike me down and kill me? Does he hate me for that? Even the high priest was an earthly person, right? He was still limited.
So he entered with extreme care. And the by this that you see in Hebrews 9, verse 8. By this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy place is not yet opened. And that if it was so difficult for an earthly priest to enter an earthly temple, how much? More difficult would it be for an ordinary sinner to enter the true throne room of God?
Under the old covenant, it was impossible. Most importantly of all though, In that Hebrews chapter 9, 1 through 10, the build-up to is that The tabernacle and everything in it point to the future coming of the person in the work of Jesus Christ. And how he fulfilled the inner need of mankind. And that the Old Testament law, the tabernacle, and all that the prophets, that the priests and the king symbolically pointed to. It pointed to a time in the future.
Which the author of Hebrews says is now, in the present age, when God would open up the door fully. and enable people to enter into his presence. The restrictions would be over and the new age of access would come. Because of Christ. We can enter God's presence with confidence, as it says in Hebrews 4:16.
And we can do so not just annually. but weekly, but daily, at any moment. Any moment. No more wondering. If your good works or sacrifices enough.
Because it never was or is. No more need to doubt whether you or be welcomed. In Christ, We know with certainty as he reveals the Father. that we will always be accepted and loved perfectly. By him.
Which is what the very first word of Hebrews 9, 11 conveys but quote But when Christ appeared, things changed. That's what this Next section in Hebrews 9, 11 through 14 tells us. All the limitations and all the barriers are gone. This is the glory of the new covenant, again inaugurated by our greatest high priest, Christ Jesus. Let's read through it.
And as we do so, I'll unpack some of the various contexts that we've been wading through. to get here. But when Christ appeared as a high priest Of the good things that have come, he entered, Jesus entered through the greater and more perfect tent, which is the real throne room of heaven. That's what that's referring to. The real throne room of heaven, the one that Isaiah saw in his vision that terrified him.
That's where Christ entered. Not the earthly tent. made with hands of this creation. Jesus entered once for all into the capital the holy place. not by means of the blood of goats.
or of calves, but by means of His own blood. Thus he secured eternal Redemption.
So like the high priest entering the most holy place. made by hands, literal hands, our hands, human hands, and with the blood of animals. Jesus Entered God's heavenly throne room by means of his own blood. Verse 12. He made a sacrifice for our sins.
And in doing so, he secured an eternal redemption. Eternal, meaning Christ paid the release from our enslavement and our bondage to our sin. Not a temporary payment, just like that'll cover you for a month. Don't do anything after that. I can't guarantee what my blood will do for you.
No, it's it's not temporary, it's eternal. But an eternal one that satisfied and it turned aside the wrath of God we deserve for our sin. Because eternal redemption was accomplished we can be eternally declared righteous. Hence why in verse 12, Also tells us that Jesus' crossing into the holy place was once and for all done. This stands in contrast to the never-ending work of the priests who kept.
Heating their activities, all the cleansings, all the ordinances over and over and over. Jesus' sacrifice was successful. And it was permanent.
So it only needed to be offered one time. And this points to a unique and actually really, really important feature of Jesus' priesthood. with regard to the type of sacrifice that Jesus offered. Like any priest, Jesus would have expected to bring a sacrifice. Like it says in a chapter earlier in Hebrews 8.3.
Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts of sacrifices. Thus it is necessary for this priest referring to Jesus Also to have something to offer. Yet, Jesus is not a common priest. Which is why his sacrifice wasn't common either. In fact, Our author reminds us of this fact where he says, If he were on earth, he would not have been a priest at all.
What wouldn't have qualified? Our author is not denying That part of Jesus's re Redemptive activity took place on earth. He's not disqualifying that. Rather, the author here is speaking to the fact that Jesus did not operate. like a Levitical priest's for a few reasons.
And it's pretty interesting that he he never entered. The earthly temple. in Jerusalem as they did. in that way, in the in the inner chambers. And that's worth pausing on for a moment.
It's interesting if you think about it. Have you ever noticed? that Jesus never even tried to enter the Holies of Holies. to be in God's presence in the temple in Jerusalem. You didn't do that.
That's interesting. As a son of God, you would think he would have much right if anyone. To do so. Right. But that was not the nature of his priesthood at all.
He knew his priestly ministry was going to be in heaven. Not on earth. Because Jesus' priesthood is vastly different, we would expect his sacrifice to be different too. The priests made offerings according to the law. But not Jesus.
He offered what no other priest in the history of Israel has ever done. He offered himself. And there's no sacrifice that can put you in a better position. stead with God than Jesus. In fact, he's the only one.
He is the only one who could put you in good stead with God. Amen? Let's continue in 9.13, where we'll discuss more on the limitations of the sacrifices according to the law. It says, 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 flesh. We'll stop there for a sec.
Again. The kind of cleansing that the old covenant provided was limited. It's limited. It only offered the blood of goats and of bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled person with the ashes of a heifer. See Numbers 19, if you want.
For more details on the ordeal involving the heifer and her ashes, it's a lot there, it's intense. And even more throughout Jewish history and practices and rituals that was added to the Day of Atonement. It wasn't so much there in the Bible, but how they brought in the ashes of the heifer on the Day of Atonement. It was an ordeal process. High priest had to be kind of in his own Isolated for a week at least, just to be sure, right?
He was purified. If anyone touched the dead body, sprinkle the ashes of heifer on him, make sure they're okay. A lot going on there. But that All that stuff, all the blood, all the ashes. sanctifies for the purification of the flesh.
This purification Is that what we might call a ritual purity, ritual sake? The point being That if you wash correctly, if you did it all, 20 seconds, saying happy birthday, put on the right clothes. Ate the right things. and performed the right rituals You could be declared clean. You're clean now.
The book of Leviticus is packed. With those rituals. Like I mentioned earlier, though, all this was just on the outside. Jesus Christ, however, has done something on the inside. He cleanses us internally.
He sanctifies our hearts. Not just the flesh. Therefore, our author says in verse 14, How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? This is an argument from the lesser to the greater. If a person Thought the old covenant sacrifices were beneficial.
Again, which only cleansed the outside. How much more ought they realize that Christ's sacrifice is superior? and purifies the inside, the part that really, really needs it. This text shows us that there are a couple of reasons why. Jesus' sacrifice was able to finalize are cleansing.
First, Jesus offered himself through the eternal spirit. The exact meaning of that phrase is debated in commentaries. It's not explicitly clear. But The word eternal that we see appears throughout Hebrews and often refers to Jesus' eternal nature as the divine Son of God. He is an effective high priest precisely because he continues forever.
Right now he's continuing his role in that for you, cashing out. the justification that he alone paid for. As it says in Hebrews 7:24, you can look there. He continues forever in that. The only way to have an eternal sacrifice That is eternally sufficient.
as if we have an eternal Savior. Which we do. The Bible is very clear on that. The second thing that makes his sacrifice Unique is that he offered himself without blemish. It's not talking about extern external things.
Isaiah says he the future suffering servant wasn't super handsome. It wasn't. It was actually kind of more like the Not, not, yeah. Like, oh, that's Jesus?
Okay, didn't think that one, didn't see that one coming, okay.
So it's not talking about externally. He got bumps and bruises too. But without blemish. And Pastor Stephen, he's actually going to Speak more about that a little bit more next week.
So I won't go in depth on that. But initially This Old Testament language, that's what we see. sacrificed animals had to be spotless. It had to be super, super healthy and strong, sometimes even not ridden on by a human. And we see here that Christ was without blemish.
In a more important sense, not again, not just externally. But inwardly. He was completely sinless. which again It's unlike the earthly high priests. Who were sinful?
who needed their sacrifices to apply to themselves as well. Christ's sinless sacrifice was applied only to us. Not for his sake. But for our sake. Thus Christ alone, he is able to purify our conscience from dead works.
to serve The living God. The dead works. that the author has in mind here. It is everything. that ye you've ever done.
thinking that it would redeem your soul. It's all the things that you've ever said. And that our words would maybe turn away God's wrath. I said, I'm sorry. Everything you've ever given.
Everything you've ever sacrificed. Everything you've ever promised or turned away from. Look, I'm not doing that anymore. thinking that it would put Your conscience. Thinking that it would make your heart or your mind at rest.
They're dead. Because they have no power to reconcile us to God. Zero power. They're all dead because they come from hearts that are devoid of spiritual life. They're dead because they leave us from feeling hopeless.
anything that could ever set us free from the condemning power of sin and guilt. Can't dig your way out of it. And it is only from a pure conscience, only it is only from a pure conscience that one made right and clean by the blood of Christ. that we can then serve God. And love him and worship him in the way that he initially intended when he made us.
And again, Stephen's going to talk a bit more about that next week, too. Living as ambassadors, what does that mean? Once we're declared, what does that mean for us? On mission. Do you want another term, a place for dead works?
How about legalism? Legalism, or maybe the negative sense of religion. You might call it is the attempt to motivate people to do good works. on the basis of their feelings of guilt. The gospel calls people to good works on the basis of of forgiveness.
of guilt through Jesus Christ. Maybe you've heard Pastor Brian talk about the domino. Right. in regards to works and the result of works. If this is true salvation, true faith in Christ, once that happens, it will necessarily fall and create good works.
If you try, and like, here's salvation, here's good works, I'm going to kind of just skip here in the middle and knock it over. No, no, no. You haven't been declared righteous. It's not happening. And that's not how that works.
You might think so. But that is not it. Again, it's only from a pure conscience, made right and clean by the blood of Christ. that we can serve God and love him and worship him. the way that he initially intended for us to be and do.
That's the legalism when we get that flipped. Legalism says, okay. You're obviously feeling guilty. and dirty and defiled.
So here's what you need to do. You need to go to work for God. You need to give more. You need to pray more, serve more, do more. Like I said earlier.
The gospel says the problem isn't that you feel guilty. The problem is that you are guilty.
So here's what we need to do because of that. Receive by faith. The work God in Christ has already done. We're to ask the Holy Spirit to show us more and more in our hearts. that were only justified before him because of Christ.
Because of Christ, we no longer have to live with regret. Carrying the heavy load of shame. from our past sins into the present or future. No longer should we hide in fear. of the angry beating God's about to dole out on you.
No longer do you have to do the troublesome work of lying. of minimizing and trying to keep your sin a secret. As you attempt to maybe make sin more, feel at home when your heart is, that's not that bad.
So you can keep on justifying and living with yourself. Minimizing since you can minimize your your shame. In closing. I want to read a section from Dane Ortland's book. It's called Gentle and Lowly, and I know many of you have read it.
And if you haven't. Do so. It's a good book. The section I'm going to show you in the book is perhaps my favorite in the whole book. It's a portion where Ortlin, he's actually quoting John Bunyan.
The famous English minister and writer from the 1600s. He authored Pilgrim's Progress. Which the fact that he's quoting Bunyan in itself speaks to the fact that the issue of shame And defiled conscience in relation to maybe like us withdrawing from Christ. It's not a new problem. Ban Yun in the 1600s understood it.
And Adam and Eve, when they were hiding from God in the garden. They understood it too. Portland says. Fallen. Anxious sinners.
are limitless in their capacity to perceive reasons for Jesus to cast them out. We are factories of fresh resistances to Christ's love. Even when we run out of tangible reasons to be cast out, such as specific sins or failures. We tend to retain a vague sense that given enough time, Jesus will finally grow tired of us and hold us at arm's length. Bunyan understands this.
He knows we tend to deflect Christ's assurances. And here This is the exchange we often have with Jesus. Person says, no, wait, we say. cautiously approaching Jesus. You don't understand.
I've really messed up. in all kinds of ways. I know. He responds, being Jesus. You know most of it, sure, certainly more than what others see, but there's perversity.
down inside me that is hidden from everyone. I know it all.
Well, the thing is, it's it's Isn't just my past, it's my present too. I understand. But I don't know if I can break free of this any time soon. That's the only kind of person I'm here to help. The burden is heavy, and it's heavier all the time.
Then let me carry it. It's too much to bear. Not for me. You don't get it. My offenses aren't directed towards others.
They're against you. then I am the only one most suited to forgive them. But the more of the ugliness in me you discover, the sooner you'll get fed up with me. Whoever comes to me, I will never, ever, ever, ever cast out. And are the notes?
With mouth-stopping defiance, Bunyan concludes his list of objections we raised to coming to Jesus. This promise was provided to answer all objections and does answer them. Case closed. We cannot present a reason for Christ to finally close off his heart to his own sheep. No such reason exists.
Every human friend has a limit. If we offend enough If a relationship gets damaged enough... If we betray enough times, we are cast out. If the w the walls will go up. With Christ.
Our sins and weaknesses are the very resume items that qualify us to approach him. Nothing but coming to him is required. First at conversion. and then a thousand times thereafter until we were with him upon death. Again, are you taunted?
or paralyzed by a dirty conscience and guilt and shame you carry. Does that feeling of moral stain on your soul lead you in despair with hopelessness? To the voices in your head that tell you you're not good enough. that your sins are too deep for forgiveness. That you're a failure who deserve to be miserable.
That you're a bad parent. That you have the right not to forgive someone after what they did to you. That you'll never really truly be happy. Do those voices keep you from running into the arms of the only one? who knows you perfectly.
who welcomes you perfectly. Who cares for you perfectly? and has given himself to you perfectly. There's only one solution. Only one thing that can cleanse and make you whole.
That was the blood of Jesus Christ. She had once And for all. On the cross for sinners. Like you and me, he saved to the uttermost. The uttermost.
Well, it's bad. Nope. He saves to the uttermost for all. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you so much for your love.
Well, thank you for Doing the work That we could never do, nor even deserve, as sinners in constant rebellion prone to wander. Lord, thank you for being perfect and sinless in every single way. Lord, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins. To redeem us as your children, to love us perfectly, to show us that love. Would show us our need for you.
Lord, let your voice be louder in our hearts and our minds as we pursue your word and pray in repentance, in humility, in community. Or that we are loved, that we don't have to carry the shame. But you bore that. Lord, help us to live freely and fully by your Spirit in you and for your mission and for your kingdom. Not just that we can go to heaven and feel good, but Lord that we get more of you.
Let that motivate us. Would that lead us in repentance? And in worship and all that we do. I pray Jesus. Amen.
