Hebrew 9:1-15
Heb 9:1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
Heb 9:2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
Heb 9:3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
Heb 9:4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
Heb 9:5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Heb 9:6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
Heb 9:7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
Heb 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Heb 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
Redemption Through the Blood of Christ
Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
The book of Hebrews is probably the most neglected book in the new testament. It is the only one of the epistles that begins with the Divine name of God in the first sentence of the book. In the first chapter in verse one is says:
Heb 1:1, 2 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”
These two verses are an introduction to the thirteen chapters that follow. They explain to us, that God has give a revelation of salvation and service in two stages.
The first stage was preparatory; it shows the old covenant, was only for a short time, and now it’s completed.
The second stage is final in Jesus Christ and through the revelation of Jesus Christ, it shows the New covenant.
The believers who have accepted Christ, are warned all through this book not to return to the economy of the first covenant. Don’t go back to the ceremonial law. That law was a school master, to give us a better relationship with God. To bring us to Christ. It was a time of teaching. God in His patience spent four thousand years drawing for us illustrations and pictures of the future, so that now in the new testament days “in the christian dispensation” we can look back to the old testament and draw from that, this new relationship with Christ, that indeed makes everything better.
As a matter of fact, BETTER is a key word to this little book of Hebrews. “Better” is used thirteen times in the thirteen chapters.
“We have a BETTER sacrifice!”
“An opportunity for a BETTER relationship.”
And one of the doctrines which this book reveals to us, is found here in this ninth chapter, with a comparison of the old testament way, and the new testament way in verse nine and verse fourteen, of chapter nine.
Heb. 9:9— “…. the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;”
And then listen to verse fourteen:
Heb. 9:14— “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
To be Continued …. Conscience
Clean or Corrupt
Part 2
Rom 2:14, 15— For when the Gentiles, (In other words this is speaking of the pagan or the lost man) which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;”
Here the Apostle Paul said to the church at Rome; Even those who are lost without Christ have a Conscience! and that Conscience sits in judgment on their thoughts and actions. Accusing or Excusing!
2 Cor. 1:12— “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.”
Here again Paul is saying to the church at Corinth, “We have the TESTIMONY OF OUR OWN CONSCIENCE!”
4SP 401.1— Wherever the “divine precepts” are set aside, sin ceases to appear sinful, or righteousness desirable. Those who refuse to submit to the government of God are wholly unfitted to govern themselves. Through their pernicious teachings, the spirit of insubordination is implanted in the hearts of children and youth, who are naturally impatient of control; and a lawless, licentious state of society results. While scoffing at the credulity of those who obey the requirements of God, the multitudes eagerly accept the delusions of Satan. They give the rein to lust, and practice the sins which called down judgments upon the heathen.
What about the testimony of YOUR Conscience this morning? Is your Conscience at rest or at peace, telling you that the decisions that you are making are right, the direction that you are going is proper? The service that you are rendering is adequate!
Or is your conscience saying to you—
- You have failed in the service of God.
- You have failed in recognizing the wonderful gift of salvation.
- You have failed in your prayer life,
- You have failed in your scripture studies; and
- You have failed in your witnessing!
What is going on in the Court of Your Soul this morning? As your Conscience accuses or excuses you? As your Conscience give a testimony of your daily walk and relationship with Jesus Christ and your daily service to God?
Well here is one of the major problems: Our Conscience can become corrupted by our own WILL! SELF WILL !
1 Tim. 4:1,2— “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times (that’s today, my friends) some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”
It was a medical practice in those days, to stop bleeding where someone had been wounded or cut, by heating an iron ’til it was red hot, and touching the end of that iron to that open wound until it was seared. There was a problem with that however; When that hot iron touched that opened wound all the nerve endings were immediately killed and as that wound healed there was scar tissue and in scar tissue there is no feeling!
Because these people were living in hypocrisy and constantly saying that they were one thing— when they were really something else, and because they were constantly lying and not dealing in the truth, their consciences had been seared with a hot iron of hypocrisy, until there was NO FEELING LEFT! Until the court of the soul was closed down! There was no more accusing… ONLY EXCUSING! — casting blame on everyone and everything else.
This is what we see going on in the ‘professed Christian’ world today. One Excuse after another. For not living properly! For not serving God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind! Conscience is corrupted by the Will!
Titus 1:15— “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”
Yes, Defiled! CONTAMINATED!
Is your Conscience contaminated? Is your Conscience Corrupt this morning? Has it been seared with a hot iron, By virtue of the fact that you have wounded it by sin, and in order to seal that wound you have touched it to the hot iron, by adding lies and hypocrisy? Until all the feeling, all the sensitivity is gone and it is just one giant scar that does nothing for you but excuse your deadness?
How long has it been since you acknowledged your sins instead of excusing them, or worse yet, blaming someone else?
A Conscience touched by the Holy Spirit can bring conviction!
John 8:9— “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”
A Story of a woman brought to the Lord Jesus Christ caught in the very act of adultery and these men had the law on their side. They wanted to tempt and test Jesus Christ. And they said; “Here is a woman we caught in the very act of Adultery. By the Law we can stone her to death. What say Ye?”
And the Lord said, “Let him that is among you without sin, cast the first stone.” And then the Court of the soul went into session!
As Jesus stooped and wrote in the sand, one by one from the eldest down to the youngest that court rendered a judgment in the heart of each of those men until they were finally all gone and Jesus alone remained with this sinner. As these men, many of them probably for the first time in years— listened to their conscience recount the evil deeds done in the flesh. Until they were overwhelmed with the conviction of sin, and recognized they could not cast the first stone!
They were guilty of sin.
1888 810.1— “Can we not understand that the most costly thing in the world is sin? It is at the expense of purity of conscience, at the cost of losing the favor of God and separating the soul from Him, and at last losing heaven. The sin of grieving the Holy Spirit of God and walking contrary to Him has cost many a one the loss of his soul.”
A Conscience that is trained properly in the scriptures and yielded to the Holy Spirit; THAT Conscience brings conviction and makes you aware of your failures and your sins.
So we see in the characteristics of our Conscience, It can control our walk, It can be corrupted by our will, it can bring conviction, BUT ONLY IF properly trained.
The second Major thing I want you to see, are the conditions of our Conscience. If we are to make a diagnosis here this morning of whether we hold a clear Conscience, a pure Conscience before God. Or whether we have a corrupted Conscience that has lost it’s ability to bring conviction; lost it’s ability to recognize wrong, and is only exercised in the area of making excuses for our sins. We’ve got to look at these conditions which our Conscience can be in, and recognize how it gets there.
First of all, we could have a good conscience this morning.
Act 23:1— “And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”
The Definition of the word ‘good’ here means virtuous, or righteous. You must “Choose” to have a good conscience! Then strive to do right!
2nd— But there are those that have a weak Conscience.
1Cor. 8:7— Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
The word WEAK – meaning strengthless or sick. Sick because it is beaten down. Defiled. A Conscience is defiled if you are constantly beating it down. Batter and beat Conscience until it becomes weakened to the point that it cannot make a proper decision, and the sinful way will become the easy wide road straight to Hell.
You cannot continually sin against your Conscience and not weaken it, not defile it. Not have it become inactive, weak, strengthless.
3rd—There is also an EVIL Conscience.
Hebrews 10:22— “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”
An Evil Conscience or Wicked Conscience —is a Conscience controlled by Satan. The KEY to this Conscience is the Devil! He has taken complete control of some people’s Conscience. Their Conscience is EVIL! Well that is the exact opposite of what Paul said he had. For he held a good Conscience. Whereas an evil Conscience is ALWAYS leading us to do wrong.
An Evil Conscience is the kind of Conscience which says to a man: “Well, whats wrong with this music? Sounds alright to me and I like it! And it FEELS GOOD!”
Ahhhh! Anything that feeds the flesh is of Satan! And so that Conscience always reasons with feelings, with wickedness, with failure in mind because it is a Conscience led by the Devil for the gratification of self.
Here in the book of Hebrews we are told that we should draw near to God, with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled with a good Conscience— with the blood of Christ. Not with an EVIL Conscience; and our bodies washed with pure water! That is a symbol of the Holy Spirit! But there are some people who’s Consciences have been so controlled by the Devil that it has become an EVIL Conscience, and instead of accusing it just excuses.
What about the court of your soul today? Can you see your Conscience continually reasoning evil? Thinking good of evil? Excusing those actions which are wrong because they feed the flesh? If so, then your Conscience is controlled by the Devil!
If you find any of the following applies to you…
- your continually at odds with the Bible,
- Continually at odds with the Spirit of God,
- Continually at odds with Spiritual or godly People!
- Continually at odds with any controls that would bring righteousness into your life
Then you hold a evil Conscience !!!!!
There is nothing worse than a perverted court, that takes bribes to give a wrong decision. To reason against Right and Righteousness. And yet today the world is filled with professed Christians that allow the Devil to control their Conscience. Excusing their attitudes and excusing their actions and excusing their frailty of the flesh and their refusal to serve God!
4th— There is a guilty Conscience,
Act 2:37— “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Among those present were the Sanhedrin, he is speaking to the religious leaders of Israel. They heard the testimony of the Apostles, Peter and John— and Peter said…
Act 2:38— “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.…”
Luk 16:13 No servant can serve two masters:
Should we obey you or God. No matter what you do, we are going to continue to teach, and preach in the Name of Jesus Christ! And these leaders were pricked in their Consciences— this word “heart” is the same as saying, “Conscience.” They were brought under conviction, in the Court of conscience.
And when they heard Peter and the other Apostles speak, their Conscience was pricked, and they said, we’re in a straight betwixt and between. What do we do?
This same thing will happen to some of you this morning. God’s Holy Spirit will prick your Conscience you may make a decision as these men made to go on ahead and overrule their Conscience and carry out their evil judgment, and beat the Apostles for preaching and teaching in the name of Christ. But you will come to the same failure that they came to! With all of their power and all of their authority and all of their rulership over that entire nation. They failed, and though you may say: “I am my own person! I make my own decisions! I do my own thing! I reject this guilty Conscience that is hounding me!” You will ultimately be brought to failure before a Holy God!
The Key word to a guilty Conscience is “Decision!” You must make a decision when that Conscience pricks you! When that Court of the Soul renders a wrong decision: “YOU ARE GUILTY!”
5th— we can have a pure Conscience.
2Tim. 1:3— “I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience,” (that means a cleansed, clear, purified, Conscience) that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;”
The ONLY way that we can have such a conscience is by the sprinkling of the shed blood of Jesus Christ on our wicked natures, bent toward evil We must put all of our heart, soul and strength on the stretch and plead for God to fill us with His Holy Spirit, and then work with the Spirit and agree with the Word of God, Obey the Laws and Counsels of God, until we become purified.
This Process is called Sanctification, it is our daily work. Humanly speaking we can never become pure! But God has promised to make us: MORE than conquerors!” Rom 8:37 We may be PURE!
Purified by that indwelling Spirit, Softened by listening to His counsel and quickly rejoicing in obedience to it! We are living a life separated from the World and separated from sin, and given to the service of our God.