Part 13 (1/2)

SERMON IX.

THE PURIFICATION OF CONSCIENCE.

”_How much more shall the blood of Christ_, _who_, _through the eternal Spirit_, _offered himself without spot to G.o.d_, _purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living G.o.d_?”-Heb. ix. 14.

THE Hebrew Christians, to whom the apostle wrote, were well acquainted with the laws of ceremonial purification by the blood of beasts and birds, for by blood almost every thing was purified in the service of the temple. But it is only the blood of Christ that can purge the human conscience. In speaking of this purification, as presented in our text, let us notice-_the object_, _the means_, and _the end_.

I. The object of this purification is the conscience; which all the sacrificial blood shed, from the gate of Eden, down to the extinction of the fire on the Jewish altar, was not sufficient to purge.

_What is the conscience_? An inferior judge, the representative of Jehovah, holding his court in the human soul; according to whose decision we feel either confidence and joy in G.o.d, or condemnation and tormenting fear. His judicial power is graduated by the degree of moral and evangelical light which has been shed upon his palace. His knowledge of the will and the character of G.o.d is the law by which he justifies or condemns. His intelligence is the measure of his authority; and the perfection of knowledge would be the infallibility of conscience.

This faithful recorder and deputy judge is with us through all the journey of life, and will accompany us with his register over the river Jordan, whether to Abraham's bosom or the society of the rich men in h.e.l.l. While conscience keeps a record on earth, Jehovah keeps a record in heaven; and when both books shall be opened in the final judgment, there shall be found a perfect correspondence. When temptations are presented, the understanding opposes them, but the carnal mind indulges them, and there is a contest between the judgment and the will, and we hesitate which to obey, till the warning bell of conscience rings through the soul, and gives distinct notice of his awful recognition; and when we turn away recklessly from his faithful admonitions, we hear low mutterings of wrath stealing along the avenues, and the quick sound of writing-pens in the recording office, causing every denizen of the mental palace to tremble.

There is _a good conscience_, _and an evil conscience_. The work of both, however, is the same; consisting in keeping a true record of the actions of men, and pa.s.sing sentence upon them according to their deserts. Conscience is called good or evil only with reference to the character of its record and its sentence. If the record is one of virtues, and the sentence one of approval, the conscience is good; if the record is one of vices, and the sentence one of condemnation, the conscience is evil.

Some have a _guilty conscience_; that is, a conscience that holds up to their view a black catalogue of crimes, and rings in their ears the sentence of condemnation. If you have such a conscience, you are invited to Jesus, that you may find peace to your souls. He is ever in his office, receiving all who come, and blotting out with his own blood the handwriting which is against them.

But some have a _despairing conscience_. They think that their crimes are too great to be forgiven. The registry of guilt, and the decree of death, hide from their eyes the mercy of G.o.d, and the merit of Christ.

Their sins rise like mountains between them and heaven. But let them look away to Calvary. If their sins are a thousand times more numerous than their tears, the blood of Jesus is ten thousand times more powerful than their sins. ”He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto G.o.d by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

And others have a _dark and hardened conscience_. They are so deceived, that they ”cry peace and safety, when destruction is at the door.” They are ”past feeling, having the conscience seared as with a hot iron.”

They have sold themselves to work evil; to eat sin like bread, and drink iniquity like water. They have bribed or gagged the recorder and accuser within them. They will betray the just cause of the righteous, and slay the messengers of salvation, and think that they are doing G.o.d service.

John the Baptist is beheaded, that Herod may keep his oath of honor. A dead fish cannot swim against the stream; but if the king's conscience had been alive and faithful, he would have said:-”Girl, I promised to give thee thy request, even to the half of my kingdom; but thou hast requested too much; for the head of Messiah's herald is more valuable than my whole kingdom, and all the kingdoms of the world!” But he had not the fear of G.o.d before his eyes, and the proud fool sent and beheaded the prophet in his cell.

A _good conscience_ is a faithful conscience, a lively conscience, a peaceful conscience, a conscience void of offence toward G.o.d and man, resting in the shadow of the cross, and a.s.sured of an interest in its infinite merit. It is the victory of faith unfeigned, working by love, and purifying the heart. It is always found in the neighborhood and society of its brethren; ”a broken heart, and a contrite spirit;” an intense hatred of sin, and an ardent love of holiness; a spirit of fervent prayer and supplication, and a life of scrupulous integrity and charity; and above all, an humble confidence in the mercy of G.o.d, through the mediation of Christ. These const.i.tute the brotherhood of Christianity; and wherever they abound, a good conscience is never lacking. They are its very element and life; its food, its suns.h.i.+ne, and its vital air.

Conscience was a faithful recorder and judge under the law; and notwithstanding the revolution which has taken place, introducing a new const.i.tution, and a new administration, Conscience still retains his office; and when ”purged from dead works to serve the living G.o.d,” is appropriately called a _good conscience_.

II. The means of this purification is ”the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to G.o.d.”

Could we take in, at a single view, all the bearings of ”the blood of Christ,” as exhibited in the gospel, what an astonis.h.i.+ng light would it cast upon the condition of man; the character of G.o.d; the nature and requirements of his law; the dreadful consequences of sin; the wondrous expiation of the cross; the reconciliation of Heaven and earth; the blessed union of the believer with G.o.d in Christ, as a just G.o.d and a Savior; and the whole scheme of our justification, sanctification, and redemption, through free, sovereign, infinite, and unspeakable grace!

There is no knowledge like the knowledge of Christ, for the excellency of which the apostle counted all things but loss. Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, in whose light we see the tops of the mountains of immortality, towering above the dense clouds which overhang the valley of death. All the wisdom which philosophers have learned from nature and providence, compared with that which is afforded by the Christian Revelation, is like the ignis fatuus compared with the sun. The knowledge of Plato, and Socrates, and all the renowned sages of antiquity, was nothing to the knowledge of the feeblest believer in ”the blood of Christ.”

”The blood of Christ” is of infinite value. There is none like it flowing in human veins. It was the blood of a man, but of a man who knew no iniquity; the blood of a sinless humanity, in which dwelt all the fullness of the G.o.dhead bodily; the blood of the second Adam, who is the Lord from heaven, and a quickening spirit upon earth. It pressed through every pore of his body in the garden; and gushed from his head, his hands, his feet, and his side, upon the cross. I approach with fear and trembling, yet with humble confidence and joy. I take off my shoes, like Moses, as he draws near the burning bush; for I hear a voice coming forth from the altar, saying-”I and my Father are one; I am the true G.o.d, and eternal life.”

The expression, ”the blood of Christ,” includes the whole of his obedience to the moral law, by the imputation of which we are justified; and all the sufferings of his soul and his body as our Mediator, by which an atonement is made for our sins, and a fountain opened to wash them all away. This is the spring whence rise the rivers of forgiving and sanctifying grace.

In the representation which the text gives us of this redeeming blood, are several points worthy of our special consideration:-

1. It is _the blood of Christ_; the appointed Subst.i.tute and Saviour of men; ”the Lamb of G.o.d, that taketh away the sins of the world.”

2. It is the blood of Christ, _who offered himself_. His humanity was the only sacrifice which would answer the demands of justice, and atone for the transgressions of mankind. Therefore ”he made his soul an offering for sin.”

3. It is the blood of Christ, who offered himself _to G.o.d_. It was the eternal Father, whose broken law must be repaired, whose dishonored government must be vindicated, and whose flaming indignation must be turned away. The well beloved Son must meet the Father's frown, and bear the Father's curse for us. All the Divine attributes called for the offering; and without it, could not be reconciled to the sinner.

4. It is the blood of Christ, who offered himself to G.o.d, _without spot_. This was a perfect sacrifice. The victim was without blemish or defect; the altar was complete in all its appurtenances; and the high-priest possessed every conceivable qualification for his work.

Christ was at once victim, altar, and high-priest; ”holy, harmless, and undefiled;” ”G.o.d manifest in the flesh.” Being himself perfect G.o.d, and perfect man, and perfect Mediator between G.o.d and man, he perfects for ever all them that believe.

5. It is the blood of Christ, who offered himself to G.o.d, without spot, _through the eternal Spirit_. By the eternal Spirit here, we are to understand, not the third person of the G.o.dhead, but the second; Christ's own Divine nature, which was co-eternal with the Father before the world was; and which, in the fulness of time, seized on humanity, sinless and immaculate humanity, and offered it body and soul, as a sacrifice for human sins. The eternal Spirit was at once the priest that offered the victim, and the altar that sanctified the offering. Without this agency, there could have been no atonement. The offering of mere humanity, however spotless, aside from the merit derived from its connection with Divinity, could not have been a sacrifice of sweet-smelling savor unto G.o.d.