Hearts Sprinkled from an Evil Conscience

“Our Hearts Sprinkled from an Evil Conscience”

“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.”  Heb. 10:22

The highest and holiest ideas in the Bible are treated in the 10^th chapter of Hebrews.  But many professors of Christ know nothing of them – they can only quote the verses about “not forsaking the assembly…”   And they know the phrase “our bodies washed with pure water” as another proof text on baptism.  But they only dabble on the surface of things – the merest external traditions like church attendance and baptism – and to them the rest of the chapter – and all of the book – are just foggy references to the Old Testament sacrifices.  “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” carries no real meaning to them, and they believe we really shouldn’t talk about sprinkling anyway.  The Methodists might overhear us and get some encouragement out of it.

Perhaps I am reaching too far. But I want to draw an important lesson. Please take a few minutes today to follow the inspired writer’s train of thought about the cross of Christ and the conscience.

Our problem is the fact of sin.  The Bible is clear about it.  We need the forgiveness of God and He is the only one who provides it.  On our own, we cannot escape sin.  No matter what we do, we will fail and fall short of the glory of God.  When we come to Christ, and are added to his church, we are not thereby immune to sin.  In fact, we now feel it perhaps even more, if we are honest with ourselves.  Before we became Christians, we were blatantly sinful transgressors with little concern about it.  Now we are struggling and failing and “knowing to do good and doing it not”… and we feel ashamed about it – that is, we have an evil conscience!  [The word translated “evil” may also carry the meaning of painful or grievous or shameful.]  The closer we draw to God, the more aware we are of how we fall short of his glory…  We are all failing in some respects, and we bear the guilt of that.  We need our guilty consciences cleansed!  

Now this is, I think, exactly what the Hebrew writer is dealing with here.  Remember that they were tempted to give up on the struggle in Christ and pull back (10:39).  They were tempted to be drawn back to the OT sacrificial system.  He tells them those sacrifices offered year by year “can never make perfect them that draw nigh” (10:1-4).  Note this, that if the worshippers had been truly cleansed, they would have no more “conscience of sins”.  But the sacrifices just made remembrance of sins year after year.  They had this same problem we just mentioned – guilty conscience about sin.  They needed a clear conscience!  But it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats could do that!

So what is the solution to the guilty conscience?  The sprinkling of the blood of Christ!  See how this is developed in chapter 10.  When Jesus came into the world, he understood what God really wanted: not sacrifices and offerings, but “Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God” (10:5-9).  The sacrifice of Jesus- giving himself to do the fathers will, sanctifying himself to that; offering himself once for all, and by that death, also setting us apart by the will of God (10:10).  He summed up all things for us – “perfected forever them that are sanctified” (10:14).  The author of a new covenant, he makes it possible that the laws of God are written on our hearts and minds, and our sins and iniquities are remembered no more.  Note carefully what this means.  When we by faith in Christ surrender ourselves to do the will of God - like he did in his life and death – then our weaknesses, fumblings and failings are “remembered no more”.  He will use them to his glory.  We have boldness to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus (10:19), and we draw near with fullness of faith and clear conscience (“hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience”) by that blood.

Let the beauty of that sink in. The glory of it!  A pure heart and a clean conscience on the part of weak and wavering men and women!  A salvation by grace through faith - at once upholding the holiness and righteousness of God, but also pouring out his love and mercy and goodness!  A salvation that humbles us, but at the same time lifts us up!  All by the blood of Christ, which cleanses the conscience (9:14)!

So what should we do? Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, and consider one another to provoke unto love and good works, and don’t forsake our assembling together, but exhort one another… (10:23-25).

Let’s be clear about one question.  Such a gospel might lead a man to say, “Sin doesn’t matter. God’s grace covers me.  I can do what I want.  Since I am freely forgiven, why not indulge myself.  Shouldn’t I sin, that grace may abound?”  Now it is very interesting that the Hebrew writer anticipates this very point.  10:26-29. “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins…”  One who does so tramples the Son of God under his feet, counts “the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing”  and does “despite to the Spirit of grace”.                                                          Larry Walker, October 2013

The Lighthouse Brigade

On a distant continent, there is a long and lonely stretch of seacoast where treacherous rocks and dangerous currents lie not far offshore, and sudden storms would arise to make it all the more perilous.  Often ships passing through the area came too close to the rocks and found themselves driven against them with such force that the vessels were destroyed and sunk.  Over the years many sailors and passengers went to their deaths.

In the nearby Rockland community, the residents were a good and hardy people who determined that they would band together to rescue these victims.  “The Lighthouse Brigade”, as they called themselves, committed themselves to the work, determined how everyone could best contribute, gathered such equipment and boats as they needed, pooled their resources, and cooperated as a band of brothers and sisters to get it done as best they could.  They  tended to the lighthouse, and they constructed a simple and practical facility as a base for their work, one that suited their original mission.  Over the years, they unselfishly risked comfort and sleep and even their own lives to rescue the drowning and dying.  They saved so many lives, they became very famous.  Everyone thought it was such a good and humble and unselfish and worthy work, and many wanted to be a part of it.  They wanted to carry the idea to other locations and make it work there too.  Before long there were Lighthouse Brigades in four other locations in the region. 

But as the Lighthouse Brigades grew more popular, things began to change.  Their standing and reputation in the community would be increased if they had a nicer facility – one that suited the modern culture a bit better.   They could grow more and afford more programs if they added some conveniences and comforts.  And they could have training classes and programs there on brigade growth!  Of course, they needed more “outreach” so maybe child care, a play room, and a coffee shop.  Don’t forget the gym!

Once they had a nice facility, the Brigade members really did enjoy coming there, talking, sharing, hugging, eating together, having a good time.  And the training classes were really going well.  They grew and prospered.  They hired a “full-time” director who could lead the Brigade to greater and more effective programs.  A professional expert, well-educated. He could lecture, go to seminars, do public speaking at Rotary, and find out the latest growth strategies.  Soon they started the Lighthouse Brigade Area-Wide Conference.  All the Brigades got together once a year and lectured to each other and planned new programs, and enjoyed “fellowship”.  Other activities were planned, facilitated by the conference.  Area-wide softball tournaments so all the Brigades could spend time together.  They bought buses for road trips (and Opryland) to promote the unity and uniformity of all the brigades.  It was grand.  Eventually, with leadership from all of the professional expert directors, they established the “Lighthouse Brigade Fellowship Association”.  They organized it, built a headquarters building, and hired a staff for the Association management.  The association collected dues from all the brigades; they could work more efficiently that way.

Back at the original Brigade location, problems began to surface.  Between the regular classes, the meals, the conferences, the games, the special programs, and all the other activities, the schedule was really full. They hardly had any time to go out and rescue people.  Maybe the Brigade should just stop rescue work themselves, and have someone else do it.  It would be simpler to contract with professional rescue crews with all the right training and equipment, etc.  They could just pay a little money and it would get done.  Same thing, right?  Yes, that is just what they did.

But when the crews brought in survivors, it was really a challenge. They were cold and dirty and wet, injured and sick, and it really made a mess of the nice Brigade building, and some of the members resented it.  It just led to so many problems.  And one time they had someone who actually died before they could get help – right there in the Brigade fellowship hall!  Blood all over.  How could one enjoy the Brigade fried fish fellowship, with the memory of that?  Many members just decided it was not worth it.  These rescue efforts were really getting in the way of the fellowship and destroying their beautiful building.  They favored stopping this rescue work altogether.  Besides, they were deep in debt – building payments, experts’ and staff salaries, association membership fees, bus payments and maintenance, liability insurance, etc.  They had to cut back somewhere…

Bro. Justice, an elderly man, a member of the original Lighthouse Brigade, rose up to speak.  He was weak and feeble, but he gently reminded them that their primary mission when they started was to save the lives of shipwrecked people.  He spoke through tears to challenge them.  He suggested they should disband the association, because it had nothing to do with their original purpose.  He argued for dismissing the expert director and terminating the contract of the professional crews, insisting that this was the members’ work, not someone else’s.   He proposed that they sell the big fine grand building and the buses, and try to get out of debt.  He said they should stop worrying about what other Brigades thought, gather their own equipment, put on their own work clothes and be ready for service.

Most were ashamed.  They agreed with Bro. Justice.  But the Brigade leaders were adamant.  They had so much invested!  They couldn’t lose all that.  Rather they called Bro. Justice a legalist, a crank, backward, not keeping up with the times, and with the latest Brigade management practices.  He had no real education in brigade management, had not even been to one Association Brigade Growth Seminar. What would the world think if they abandoned all this? They branded Bro. Justice as a trouble maker who didn’t really belong in the Brigade.  They would be better off without him.  So he, with a small group of members, reluctantly began again with their life-saving efforts in a nearby location in Rockland, across the tracks.  They worked quietly, struggled financially, and began again to save the lives of shipwrecked people. 

But the word got around throughout the Association about Bro. Justice.  “Did you hear what happened up in Rockland? Big split! Bro. Justice split the Lighthouse Brigade!  A dangerous man!  Don’t invite him to speak!  Don’t go hear near them!  They are not the true brigade!  We are the original!  Quarantine him and any who associate with him…  They will never make it – they will dry up and die…

“But you are a CHOSEN RACE, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a HOLY NATION, a PEOPLE for GOD’S OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of HIM who has called you out ^[1] of darkness into His marvelous light”  I Pet. 2:9

The Temptation, the Road to the Cross, and the Deity of Christ

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” Mt. 4:1

The temptation of Jesus in the final preparation for his public ministry has for us important and beautiful lessons.  Jesus’ temptation here says something to us about who He was.  When we think of Jesus as both God and man, there is a confusion that arises in our minds.  How is that possible?  How could God possibly become a man, and how could a man possibly be divine?  The two do not ‘fit’ in our perspective.  Our experience of human personality is so limited and narrow, we have difficulty getting our minds around it.  We can only think of a “half-man, half-God” person, and we have trouble with that.

But the Bible says something quite interesting here about this - that Jesus was led by the Spirit (Mark says “the Spirit drove Him”) into the wilderness “to be tempted of the devil”.  It suggests for us the truth that Jesus is walking as a man, identifying with us in our spiritual struggle, facing our temptations, and that the Spirit is leading him to do that very thing.  Jesus was sinless, so in that respect he was not like a man.  We might be led to think that disqualifies him from truly sharing our human nature.   But clearly he WAS tempted as a man.  Sin is no part of our human nature – it is rather a corruption or perversion of it.   In contrast, temptation to sin IS a part of our God-given makeup, as made in his image.  (Remember the garden?).  So Jesus DID partake of our human nature, emptying himself (Phil. 2) to become like us, and so he was tempted “like as we are”.

The temptation of Jesus was not with barefaced “evil”, but with “good things”, with the seeking of inferior forms of good, seeking good by easier paths than the cross, of taking shortcuts to accomplish “good” things.  Rather than go hungry, he should use his powers toward meeting his own needs.  Rather than patiently walking in obedience to his Father’s will, he could put God to the test – “How will he react if I jump?” Rather than go to the cross in the battle for souls of the world, he could just bow down to Satan and have it all so easily.   He came to set up a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom “not of this world”.   But Satan tested him – right here at the outset of his work - toward a worldly approach, toward one that appealed to human nature and worldly values.  These same temptations are the ones that plague us: to choose the easy way, to walk by worldly principles, to take the shortcuts to worldly power and freedom. Jesus could not give in.  He was beginning to build his church by a life and death given to the will of the Father.

The temptation of Jesus was the opening up of his public ministry.  He could speak to men with authority about the issues of the soul and the conscience and the reign of God [kingdom of God], because he knew both sides.  He knew the redemption initiated by the Holy Father – indeed he was [is] the redemption – and he also knew the limitation, the weakness, the discouragement, the temptation, the sadness and sorrow of men/women.  And he resisted, endured, obeyed, triumphed, honored God!  Not just in the Judean wilderness for 40 days.  But during all of his self-emptied life, all of his opposition, all of his growth, all of his learning, all of his self-discipline, all of his focused surrender, even unto death – He endured, He overcame, He redeemed, He birthed a new creation, He honored the Holy Father, even to the death of the cross!

It was not so much the joining of two natures in Christ – half God and half man.  That is too difficult for most of us to reconcile.  But rather think of the holy love of God displayed in this way, with the Son emptying himself, humbling himself to become like his brethren, taking a place in human form at the right point in history.  Then through his walking in the world, facing temptation, teaching, trials, obedience, suffering, culminating in his death, so as to accomplish the divine scheme of redemption, and to realize again his own deity (“the glory that I had with thee before the world began”), to reunite himself with his own divinity, in a grand tribute of honor to the Holiness of the Father. 

In this view of things, the Eternal Son - the lamb slain before the foundation of the world - renounced his own divinity, withdrew from certain divine privileges and knowledge, consented to take the form of a man, walked in humility beginning as a peasant and a servant, facing temptation (the most real of our temptations – to take our own way rather than God’s), hardship, poverty, rejection, persecution and even the death on the cross.  On this path he retraced as a man the steps to his divinity, living in homage to the Holiness from which he came, reuniting himself with his Father who rejoiced to raise him up again, having seen the travail of his soul and been satisfied (Is. 53).

But what is all that to you and me?  How does his life and death – his humility and his majesty, the action of his humanity turned again to meet the action of his own deity – meet the need of my conscience, my guilt and failure?  I can only watch with gaping mouth and foggy eyes.  I cannot hope to accomplish the same.  I cannot draw near to it.  He faced my temptations and he overcame; I faced them and gave in to them so many times.

But from the haze of that very bright cloud rises the message of the gospel, ringing through the pages of the Book.  Ringing through ages of time.  By faith! By faith in Christ as the Son of God I can be joined with him!  By faith I can die with him and I can dwell in Him!  By faith I can surrender to him, and let my will be conformed to His will!  By faith I can know the love of the Father and the Son… and they will come and make their abode with me!                                    Larry Walker, June 2013

Walking Alone

In the Bible, men and women of God often had to walk alone.  Though it is certainly true that God will not leave or forsake his people (Joshua 1:5), and his children can in all confidence say with Paul, “…but the Lord stood by me,” this does not mean that their loneliness in this world is not real and painful.  Think of Noah, Job, Moses, Ruth, David, Abigail, Jeremiah, Jesus’ mother, Paul, and so many others.  And think of the Savior himself, who took the form of a man, identified with us completely, walked and talked among men, and yet he had to face so much of his work in loneliness.  Even in the face of teeming crowds of people he was really very much alone - because his mission set him apart, his consciousness of sin and righteousness weighed heavily on him, and NO MAN COULD REALLY SENSE THAT AS WELL AS HE COULD!

If you follow our Lord, it will at times be so with you.  Hopefully you will have some brothers and sisters with whom you can enjoy fellowship in the congregation, and that is so important and can be so precious.  But IF you really battle in the depths of our own spiritual struggles in Christ, trying sincerely to grow to what he wants you to be, you will at times be all alone.  It will be just you and your conscience before God, and you will have to sort through things in a way that others do not understand and may not support.  You will have to think in solitude in your heart, and will have to find your consolation in Him alone and in His word.  But when it is just you and Him, then you will GROW in spirit, strengthened in your trial.

“The truly spiritual man is indeed something of an oddity.  He lives not for himself but to promote the interests of Another.  He seeks to persuade people to give all to His Lord and asks no portion or share for himself.  He delights not to be honored but to see his Savior glorified in the eyes of men.  His joy is to see His Lord promoted and himself neglected.  He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk.   For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, and the gulf between him and society widens.  He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassias out of the ivory palaces (Ps. 45:8), and finding few or none, he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.” [A.W. Tozer, The Radical Cross]

The lonely saint is not a proud, “holier-than-thou” snob, as portrayed often in the popular media.  He is humble, compassionate, and attuned to the needs of those around him, especially their spiritual plight.  He is sensitive to others and wants to share his heart with like-minded souls, but the climate around him may not be very receptive, so often he must be silent and commune with God.   He is IN the world, but not really OF the world. 

But so many Christians today simply feel at home as part of the world.  They have lost their sense of being strangers and pilgrims.  They are not really lonely.  They fit well in the community, respectable good neighbors.  They have a comfortable church-life – brothers and sisters who reinforce their spiritual contentment. They will let you know they are doing very well, thank you.  Just so the preacher is not too fanatical and the elders are not too nosy about their personal lives.  They are not lonely, but neither are they the saints of God!

So if you find in some ways you are walking alone in trying to serve Him, take heart.  It is a mark of maturing in Christ.  Don’t grow weary and quit. Stand up like a man or woman of God and keep walking.  If all others are faithless, HE is faithful.  By His providence He will guard your way.

Larry Walker  Dec 2011

The Authority of the Cross and Fellowship (Part 2)

We spoke last time about the authority of the cross as the ground of our standing in right relationship to God.  This fellowship with God does NOT depend on moral perfection, doctrinal conformity on every point, or on choosing to affiliate with the right church.

But what does this mean to us in making applications to our fellowship with men? We saw how Paul appealed to the cross as the basis for unity among the Corinthians.  How does it apply to church divisions and church fellowship today?  In order to address our doctrinal differences, we have developed and relied on a lawyerly approach to “establishing authority”.  It leads us to wrangle over generic vs. specific authority, and over command, example and “necessary inference”.   Now I do not wish to dispute that there can be value in these concepts.  I agree, as many have expressed, that they are simply the basic ways one can communicate, teach, or indicate approval.   And as such, they are great helps for brethren who love each other and want to study the Scriptures together.  But they are just tools that help us illustrate and communicate.  And unfortunately, too often they are used as tools for scoring points, “boxing in”, and winning debates between two men whose aim is to defeat each other.   And this type of approach grows from the assumption that a man’s fellowship with God depends on his degree of doctrinal correctness.  And the consequence is rampant division.

Where does the true authority lie?  [We don't need to “establish it”, we need to ALL submit to it!]  From where do we have a scriptural basis to call ourselves children of God?  From where do we have a “right to act” as the people of God?  On what basis can we challenge our brother and discuss doctrinal differences with him?  [I am not saying we shouldn’t do so, rather asking on what basis we should do it.]  Is it on the basis of our being correct and being able to PROVE we are right by command, example or inference?  Will that save us?  Will it save my brother with whom I disagree?   Or is it on the basis of the cross of Christ, the fact that we both walk as part of the new creation, and that we are both committed to that, and to showing that commitment to our brethren, even those with whom we disagree?  Should we not teach, exhort, reprove, and debate from that basis? from that authority, the authority of the cross?  “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I unto the world.” (Gal. 6:14)         

There are two powerful and complementary (though at first glance they seem in contradiction) scriptural concepts about fellowship to be directly drawn from the authority of Jesus’ cross.   The first is that unity among Christians is demanded by it.  In Rom 14 and in 1 Cor. 8-10, Paul’s pleas for unity among brethren are based squarely in the demands of the cross.  “Destroy not for meat’s sake, the brother for whom Christ died.”  And “the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ…”.  In dealing with these issues, personal conviction (Paul is NOT treating “matters of opinion” vs. “matters of faith”) is not to become a matter for judgment of another brother, looking down on him or on the congregation because they don't share your conviction.  And likewise personal liberties are not to be used carelessly, without regard to their impact on the souls of others.   So the cross calls for our unity, and provides a strong working basis for it.

But the second concept drawn from the cross is that there are behaviors on the part of members that betray our calling in Christ, and these DO require the severing of those congregational ties.   It is possible to turn one’s back on the new life in Christ, to throw it away and turn back to the world.  That is what Satan works for.  And it is possible to undermine the faith of tender young souls in Christ and to work against the unity of God’s people.   For such flagrant disregard for our own souls, and for the souls of our brothers and sisters, the authority of the cross demands separation, withdrawing of the fellowship of the faithful family. 

Explicit examples of instructions about these are found in Paul’s writings.  First, in 1 Cor. 5, there is the case of the man flagrantly living in incest with his father’s wife, while the congregation is smugly proud of it.  Paul calls on the Christians there – smack in the middle of all of his pleas for unity and tolerance – to “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”.   In 2 Thess 3, he urges them to confront the man who walks (continues to live) irresponsibly, expecting others to take care of him.  They are to withdraw from him if he will not repent.  Finally, to the Romans he writes that they should “mark those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine…” – those who “serve their own bellies” – and avoid them (Rom. 16:17).

Note this paradox.  On the one hand, the cross demands tolerance – no, not just tolerance, but welcome - among brethren who differ regarding their private liberties and convictions over doctrinal issues (these are often based on our traditions).  We are not to destroy one another over such things.  We are not to “defile the temple of God” (1 Cor 3) with factions over such issues, following this man or that one.   We are forbidden to let our perceived liberties be the congregational wedge of division and strife.  Nor are we to allow our deeply held private convictions to cause us to look down our noses or shun our brother who doesn't share them.  But on the other hand, the cross demands that when necessary we purge from our midst those who impenitently live in contradiction to the values of holiness and honesty and self-control and accountability, as well as those who destroy the precious unity of the saints and who undermine the faithfulness of Christ’s little ones, causing them to stumble.   These cannot be allowed among the Lord’s congregations.

Brothers and sisters, if all across our brotherhood in the last century we had preached the message of the cross that Paul did, if we understood it as he understood it, and if we had knelt down there as he did, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in.  There our religious authority lies and nowhere else! The Bible teaches us so.