The following is a sermon transcript from our Sunday Service at The Rock Church in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Each week, we gather to worship, learn from God’s Word, and grow together. This transcript is provided as a free resource to encourage and equip you in your walk with Christ. While you’re welcome to read and share this content for personal use, we kindly ask that it not be redistributed or published elsewhere without prior written consent from The Rock Church.
Introduction
Forgive me if I’ve tried to add anything to the one foundation. If I’ve attempted to complete what is perfect in Christ, may my cry be always, only Jesus, only Jesus. That’s from the prayer called the Life Look, the Valley of Vision, Puritans. May that be our cry as well. Only Jesus.
Isn’t it so easy to say He is sufficient? He provides everything we need. He satisfies us with the joy of His presence. And yet when our conscience troubles us, we often look to our performance for peace. And we find ourselves asking, have I done enough for God lately?
Listen, our conscience is a gift from God. Paul told the church in Rome that our conscience bears witness and that our thoughts either accuse us or excuse us. It exposes wrongdoing that we might prefer to ignore. Our conscience needs the guidance of God’s Word because God has the final say about our standing before Him. But becoming a believer doesn’t mean our conscience stops accusing us. We still sin. The question is, what do we do with these accusations? There is a place for examining ourselves, confessing our sins, turning away from them. But when we look to our own goodness as the reason why God should accept us, we will never find lasting peace. We’re trying to complete what’s already perfect in Christ. So when our conscience accuses us, do we turn to Christ, or promise that, oh, I’ll do better next time?
And that brings us to the question before us in Hebrews chapter 9. What can bring guilty sinners near to a holy God and cleanse their conscience? Even the sanctuary and the sacrifices God Himself appointed — they could not provide unrestricted access or perfect the worshiper’s conscience. They pointed forward to the only one who could. Only Jesus can bring us near to God and wash us clean.
And we’re going to see that unfold before us in the following three ways: the earthly sanctuary — it points to our desperate need for Christ. And secondly, Christ alone opens the way for us to draw near to God. And last, Christ alone washes clean our guilt-stained conscience. This is good news.
1. The Earthly Sanctuary Points to Our Desperate Need for Christ
Hebrews 9:1–5
Let’s begin with the earthly sanctuary. We’ll read together verses 1 to 5, Hebrews chapter 9.
“Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the presence. It is called the holy place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the most holy place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.”
God has graciously provided a place to dwell among His people. The first covenant was becoming obsolete — we saw that in the last chapter, verse 13 — but its sanctuary was appointed by God and served a purpose. And that ought to cause us to wonder at the kindness of our God. A God so holy would make provision for so wicked a people to worship Him. And He is the one that took the initiative to dwell with His people.
Yet for all its beauty, this earthly sanctuary was but temporary. As we learned in chapter 8, it was a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things. It pointed beyond itself to Christ, who now appears in God’s presence for us.
So if you would, would you walk with me through these two rooms in the tabernacle?
We begin in the first room, called the holy place. Go ahead, throw that slide up. Again, this is an illustration. It’s not a perfect representation, but it helps us to picture it. The arrangement — God has carefully ordered everything. His people couldn’t invent their own way of approaching Him. Here you see the golden lampstand, which illuminated the holy place. Beside it, the bread of the presence — the twelve loaves corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. It’s God’s covenant people represented before Him, reminding them that God is present with His people always. Near the curtain stood the golden altar of incense. Hebrews associates it with the inner sanctuary and its worship. The rising incense reminds us of the biblical picture of prayer ascending to God.
But notice that curtain. There’s another room behind there. Behind the curtain lay — go ahead — the most holy place. The inner sanctuary represented the heavenly presence of God. At its center stood the Ark of the Covenant, covered with gold on all sides. The author names three things inside the ark: the golden urn holding the manna, Aaron’s staff that budded, the tablets of the covenant. Remember them this way: the manna reminds us of God’s provision — He fed His people in the wilderness. Aaron’s staff reminds us of God’s appointment — He confirmed Aaron as His chosen priest. The tablets remind us of God’s commands — He’s revealed to us how His covenant people were to live. God provided for His people. He appointed their priesthood. He gave them His commands.
And now notice the mercy seat. This is that golden covering over the ark, overshadowed by these cherubim, figures of these heavenly creatures with God’s glorious presence — just like God said that He would meet with Moses above the covering, before the cherubim. And here it is. This is the day of atonement. It’s the big day of the year. Sacrificial blood would be sprinkled on top of that Ark of the Covenant, onto that mercy seat.
But why blood? Why? Because sin had to be dealt with, and God’s holy justice has to be satisfied. The God who gives His commands also appoints a provision. He commands us to do a thing — we cannot do it. And so He provides a way that we might be made right before God. His mercy is the fountainhead of that very provision. That blood pointed forward to Christ’s sacrifice being all-sufficient. Remember, this had to happen every year. It’s ongoing. Do you see this? Both the holiness and the kindness of God. He did not treat sin lightly. Yet He didn’t leave His people without a promise of mercy.
The entire arrangement — holy place, most holy place — pointed beyond itself to the Savior that they needed. We trust the Christ who has come, and He’s accomplished that work.
Dear Christian, we need more than religious surroundings and sacred objects. We need the Savior to whom this arrangement pointed. We can’t make a God of our own liking and approach Him on our own terms and lower Him in His holy power, majesty. We will never approach apart from the work of Christ. Our peace with God rests entirely with Christ. Access to God — it’s not something that we deserve. It’s a gift that Christ secured.
The writer tells us he’s not going to discuss every detail of this furnishing of the temple. And I’m not going to either. So if you wanted more, too bad. We should follow his lead.
2. Christ Alone Opens the Way for Us to Draw Near to God
Hebrews 9:6–9a
Let’s keep the central question before us. We’ve seen how the sanctuary was arranged. We saw the holy place. We saw the most holy place. We see the mercy seat, the ark of the covenant, the lampstand, the manna, the bread. And that brings us to who was allowed to enter. That’s our second point. We’re going to read verses 6 to 9a. Don’t worry, I’ll show you where 9a is. It’s right in the middle of 9.
“Verse 6: These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing, which is symbolic for the present age.”
So the question that we’re asking: who could enter into this earthly sanctuary? Ordinary Israelites — they could go out into the courtyard. But only the priests could enter the holy place. They regularly went into that first room, to the holy place. They would tend the lamps. They would burn the incense. They would replace the bread. But their ordinary duties never carried over into that most holy place, which, of course, is protected by that curtain. The animal sacrifices were offered outside, at the courtyard altar.
So who could enter? Who could go into this most holy place? Only the priest, the high priest. And only on one appointed day of the year — this day, the day of atonement. Even then, this one high priest, who was consecrated, set apart, ritual cleansing, all the manner of which — he could not go in without blood.
Consider what that involved. The bull was sacrificed for the high priest and his household. He brought its blood inside. He sprinkled it on the mercy seat and before it. The goat was sacrificed for the people. He brought its blood inside and sprinkled it in the same places. The high priest knew that before he could represent sinful people, he had to atone for his own sins. The man approaching God on their behalf was himself a weary sinner. And we know that Jesus, our great high priest, needed no sacrifice for Himself. Sinless.
Notice that verse 7 mentions the unintentional sins of the people. These are the sins committed in ignorance or in error. Ignorance doesn’t remove our need for forgiveness. We might pass along a damaging story without recognizing we’re spreading gossip. Or we might show favoritism toward one or others who are seemingly more influential while overlooking those that may not be as much. Listen, we don’t know the full extent of our sin, its effects on others, on ourselves. We are ignorant people. But even the sins that we fail to recognize require atonement.
Notice this — look at verse 8. What was the Holy Spirit teaching through this arrangement? The restrictions themselves communicated a very important lesson. The people remained outside. The priest ministered in the first room. Only the high priest, beyond the curtain, on the appointed day, with blood. The arrangement could not provide the full, unrestricted access to God that weary sinners needed. It pointed beyond itself to something better.
Old Testament believers — they knew God by faith. They were anticipating what the work of Christ, their Messiah, would accomplish. The coming of Christ changed everything. Through His life, death, resurrection, and entrance into heaven, He accomplished what the Old Testament arrangement could never do, or anticipated, I should say. God appointed a purpose for all of these ceremonies, and Christ fulfilled them.
Why would anyone return to that temporary arrangement when the Savior has come? We talked about this before — the scaffolding around the building. While the building is under construction, the scaffolding plays an important role. But once that building is finished, is complete, you don’t go living on the scaffolding. You don’t have to earn your way into God’s presence by having a better week, or just if I try a little harder. Anyone here exhausted of trying harder and never getting there? Christ has opened the way. Draw near through Him.
Look with me to what Christ has accomplished. Hebrews 9, verse 12, tells us that He entered once for all by means of His own blood, securing eternal redemption. And verse 24 explains where He entered — heaven itself, to appear before God on our behalf. Because He represents us there, we can draw near. That’s why Hebrews 10, 19–22 tells us that we have confidence to enter the holy places by what? The blood of Jesus. We have a great high priest over the house of God. And therefore we’re invited to draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. Our confidence rests in our priest’s sacrifice. God has not become less holy. Christ has provided the sufficient sacrifice, and this privilege belongs to every believer. 1 Peter 2, 5, and 9 calls believers what? A holy and royal priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Every Christian may draw near through our one great high priest. We come to worship. We come to serve. We come to offer our praise, to do good, to share with others. The ordinary Christian life has true and full access to God through this amazing, extraordinary high priest.
Dear Christian, this is your privilege too. Sometimes you pray and you feel nothing. No warmth, no relief, no sense of nearness to God. You begin to wonder, is God even pleased with me at all? But the absence of those feelings does not mean that Christ has closed the way. You’re welcome into His presence. Rest on His blood, not on your feelings, warm or cold.
Or maybe you think your everyday concerns are just too small to bring before God. You pray only when the crisis comes, but carry the ordinary burdens alone — the exhaustion of parenting, the exam that you’re worried about, the demands of caring for someone you love. Your Father invites you to bring these things to Him. Christ has opened the way for you to draw near in the middle of what may seem to be a very ordinary life.
And what about when you’ve sinned? What’s your first instinct? To draw near to your Father, or to keep your distance until — oh, the shame that’s — may it just wear off a bit more, and then I’ll come. Your shame cannot make atonement. You’re not paying for your sin. Christ has already offered the sacrifice on which your acceptance rests. So you come to Christ in repentance and faith with confidence in Christ’s sacrifice, not in your good works to prove your worth.
Here’s the deal. Take your sin seriously. Confess it. Forsake it. Honor the Lord by trusting that His blood is sufficient. For all who trust in Him, the way is open, because our High Priest has entered for us.
And if you’re not trusting Christ, this invitation is for you. You can’t earn your way into God’s presence. Amen.
Stop trying all your religious works and efforts. They amount to nothing. Simply agree with God that your sin is a stench and offense to Him and has separated you from a holy God, and the wrath of God rests upon you and is building up until the day of judgment, when He exercises His glory and majesty and judgment and justice and holiness and brings about the new heavens and earth. Trust that Savior — not the Jesus of America or the Jesus of our culture, but the Jesus on the throne who intercedes for you in power and glory and holiness. Amen.
3. Christ Alone Washes Clean Our Guilt-Stained Conscience
Hebrews 9:9b–10
The restrictions show our need for access. Now the author identifies limitation. These sacrifices could not cleanse the worshiper’s conscience. They bore the guilt, that conscience accusing. And that brings us to our final point as we look at the next slide together — verses 9b, we missed the last one, oh well — 9b to 10. Christ washes clean our guilt-stained conscience. Man, who needs to hear that today? You don’t have to raise your hand.
“Verses 9b to 10: Gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.”
The question that is before us — if these gifts and sacrifices were God-appointed, why couldn’t they cleanse the conscience? Because God appointed them to point forward to the perfect sacrifice of Christ. The animal blood provided the ceremonial purification, but it could not remove the sinner’s guilt. The Lord didn’t appoint this detailed system of sacrifices to tease His people, to hold out forgiveness and then pull it away. He was teaching them the seriousness of their sin, the necessity of a payment we call atonement, and their need for the Savior that He would provide.
The Israelites had God’s promises along with these sacrifices. The ceremonies taught their need. God’s word directed their hope, His promises. People of God, I have a Savior who’s coming. And the Day of Atonement, as I said before, came back every year — that same process and ceremony and washing and entrance and fear and reverence. Hebrews 10, 1–4 explains that the repeated sacrifices reminded worshipers of their sin. Oh, my sin that is ever before me. Oh, this body of death. Who will deliver me? Animal blood couldn’t take those sins away.
But God promised something greater. We saw that in Jeremiah 31. He announces this new covenant. And what did that consist of? I’m going to renew you inside. I’m going to give you forgiveness. I’m going to pour out my spirit. I’m going to do a new thing. Isaiah 53 — they knew that one too. The suffering servant bearing his people’s sins, offering his life as a guilt offering. You see, the Israelites had their hope fixed on God’s promises. Believers, the saints of old, truly received forgiveness through Christ, although they did not know Him yet. They didn’t understand.
But look at verse 10. These outward regulations served a temporary purpose. The regulation for the body governed Israel’s worship, their ceremonial purity. These were the distinctions between clean and unclean foods, restrictions on drink, various washings. These priests washed thoroughly before ministering. Those who became ceremonially unclean were instructed to bathe, to wash. And notice how long these regulations were imposed: until the time of reformation. No, not 1517. We’re talking about the coming of Christ, the new order that Jesus would bring. God had appointed these ceremonies for a time, and their purpose reached its fulfillment in Christ.
Those outward washings — they pointed forward toward a cleansing that they could never do themselves. God had promised that deeper cleansing. You remember that in Ezekiel 36? He promised to cleanse His people, to give them a new heart, put His Spirit within them.
People of God, you have His Spirit put upon you. You have a new heart. You’ve been cleansed. You’ve been washed. We know what it’s like to clean up our behavior and then still carry the guilt of what we’ve done. We can leave behind a destructive habit, and that change may be good and necessary, but changing our ways doesn’t erase our guilt.
We could perform all kinds of religious duties — man, I’m going to serve for everything, hoping that if I serve enough and do enough, man, maybe that’ll quiet this conscience that keeps on attacking me. You can also try to win the approval of others. People might admire us, our patience and godliness and piety in public, but we remember how we spoke to our wife or our kids when we were at home. Changed habits, religious activity, other people’s approval cannot atone for our sins. Prayer, generosity, and service — these are good gifts from God. I’m not trying to downplay them. I’m saying, how are you using them? What’s their purpose in your life? Because we misuse them when we trust them to remove the guilt that Christ, His blood, can only wash away. You see it?
So what can actually deal with our guilt? How do we handle this? If you look ahead at Hebrews 9:14, Christ offered Himself without blemish to God through the eternal Spirit. His blood purifies our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Jesus offered His own sinless life. The effectiveness of His sacrifice rests on who He is and what He has accomplished. Our forgiveness rests on the spotless Lamb of God, giving Himself for weary sinners.
So how does His blood purify our conscience? Christ deals with the guilt that gives our conscience reason to accuse us. His sacrifice provides a righteous basis for forgiveness with God. We can find rest in that because we know that our sin has been dealt with. And all those dead works associated with death are sinful. All of our religious efforts cannot rescue us, and we use them to establish our own righteousness. Amen.
Even good behavior — it cannot become payment for our guilt. Listen, Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient.
Imagine a father whose children are grown. He’s come to Christ. He’s confessed his sin. He’s asked his children to forgive him for the anger that plagued his home. By God’s grace, he’s a different man. One evening he hears his grandson laughing in the next room, and suddenly he remembers his own little boy’s face after he shouted at him. Laughter around him carries on. But in his own heart, he goes quiet, thinking to himself, how could I have spoken to him that way? He can’t go back and give his children a different childhood. Wounds may remain in those relationships and require patient love. His sorrow is very real, but does remembering that sin mean that God still holds it against him? Absolutely not. He hopes in the Jesus who bore that very sin. He can grieve what he did without trying to pay for it through a lifetime of punishment and self-affliction. He can keep loving his children, listening to them, making things right where possible, and resting in the sacrifice that Christ has already offered.
Maybe a particular face or conversation comes to your mind. And that memory may still hurt. But if you belong to Christ, listen to me — listen clearly — that memory is not a verdict of condemnation. His blood is sufficient for your sin, the very sin you cannot forget.
Now listen, that doesn’t mean that we’re indifferent to sin. No, that we’re haphazard with it. No. A cleansed conscience still recognizes wrongdoing. We continue to confess. We continue to turn from our sin. This is a lifestyle of repentance, resting on the Savior who’s answered our guilt.
Forgiveness does not erase the damage we have caused or every consequence of our sin. That father may still need to listen to painful things his children have to say. He can’t demand immediate trust, but he can acknowledge the harm without making excuses and patiently demonstrate his love. Those actions — they can’t purchase forgiveness, but they are the fruit of repentance in someone who’s done what? Received mercy. Broken trust or our Father’s loving discipline does not mean that Christ has left part of that payment for our sin unfinished.
Listen to the purpose of cleansing that He offers us: to serve the living God. We are free to worship and obey Him with gratitude. Not as payment for our sin. Not as a wicked taskmaster. But from joy, forgiveness, mercy, grace. We no longer treat our service as an attempt to pay unsettled debt. Come on. The Father can now love His children without trying to make His love pay back for His past. We can serve our neighbors, confess our failures honestly, and seek reconciliation where possible, without trying to earn the acceptance that Christ has already secured.
Dear Christian, His sacrifice is sufficient. You’re free to serve the living God. Christ alone washes away our guilt-stained conscience clean.
Conclusion
And that brings us back to the truth that we began with. Only Jesus can bring us near to God and wash us clean.
We took a walk through the earthly sanctuary. We stood before the curtain, considered the sacrifices. Every part of the arrangement reminded God’s people: He is holy. Sin requires atonement. And they needed the Savior that He had promised. And now the Savior has come. Jesus has offered Himself for sinners. He’s entered heaven on our behalf. His blood cleansing the conscience in a way no outward ceremony or personal effort could.
So let me ask you, where are you looking for peace today? Maybe you’ve been trying to be the kind of person who no longer needs mercy. But spiritual growth in the Christian life never, ever brings us beyond our need for Christ. It only grows. We depend on Him when we first believe. And man, we depend on Him day by day by day.
And if you’ve never trusted Christ, listen — you cannot wash yourself clean first. You cannot stop sinning first. You love your sin. You need the Lord, the Holy Spirit, to open your eyes to see your sin, to see the offense that it is before a holy God. Only the Spirit can illuminate it. Only His power to change your heart. So trust in that Savior, who gave Himself for weary sinners, like you and me.
And remember the prayer we began with: may my cry always be, only Jesus, only Jesus. I want that to be your confession when your conscience accuses you. May my cry be, only Jesus, only Jesus. May it be our confidence when we pray. May it be the reason that we rise tomorrow to serve the Lord with gratitude and joy. Because only Jesus can bring us near to God and wash us clean.
Because we have this great high priest, we can be honest before our God. We don’t need to hide our sin or make excuses. So let’s just briefly take a quiet moment to confess our sins privately. And then I’m going to lead us together in a prayer. Let’s take a moment now.
Closing Prayer
O gracious God, how can it be that You are full of mercy and at the same time full of holiness? Lord, You do not exist in parts and pieces and modes. You’re one. Holy. And yet You delight to give us mercy. May we not take that mercy for granted.
Oh God, we confess that we have sinned against You in our thoughts, in our words, in our deeds. We have failed miserably to love You with our whole hearts, to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Oh God, we have excused our sins that we should have confessed. We have cared more about appearing pious and righteous before others rather than walking honestly before You. We’ve hurt others through our anger, our pride, our selfishness.
Lord, we have looked to our own performance for peace. We’ve tried to quiet our conscience with good intentions, religious activity, and man’s approval. Oh God, forgive us for trying to add to the finished work of Your Son. Lord, we plead His sacrifice alone. And we thank You, Jesus, that You alone bore our sins and now appear before God for us.
So by Your Holy Spirit, turn us from these sins we love. Give us humility to acknowledge the harm we’ve done, courage to seek reconciliation, patience to love those we’ve hurt. Lord, teach us to rest in Your forgiveness and to serve with grateful hearts.
It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.
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