How Much More

Hebrews 9:1–14 – Jesus Is Better
Second Sunday of Lent – March 1st, 2026 (am)     

Intro:

Hebrews is a very theological book.  There are Old Testament Jewish ceremonies and complicated metaphors.  Even when they are explained, we can walk away asking, “How exactly should it impact me this week?”

Good theology is very practical (2:1, 3:7-8, 11:1-2, 10:19-23)

  • Let me remind you.  Good theology is always very practical.  But the practical part is not always obvious. My goal with this text is not only that you understand it, but also that you know how it can make a difference in your life.

  • Because it is not enough just to know good theology.  The writer of Hebrews pauses at various points with warnings designed to help us know in a way that changes us.

Through these warnings, we find it is possible…

1.         To know and not pay attention

2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

Have you ever not paid attention?

2.        To know and not respond

3:7-8 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,

3:12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
              Have you ever not responded?

3.        To know but not believe and receive

10:35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation
                  Have you ever struggled to believe and receive?

4.        To know and not experience

10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Have you ever come across truth in God’s Word that you believe, but are not experiencing?

(By the way, our lack of experiencing it does not make it less true)

So, get ready.  As we dig into Hebrews 9 we want to pay attention, respond, believe and receive, and experience.

I’d also like you to know where this text is heading.  So, let’s actually begin with the last verse in this section, verse 14,  because it shows us the author’s goal

14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

  • “How much more” – the new covenant is much more adequate than the old.

  • The blood of Christ – this is what is going to be active
    What will it do?

  • Purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God

What does this mean?

  • Sometimes the Bible emphasizes the ability of the work of Christ to fully appease the wrath of God

  • Sometimes Scripture shows the sufficiency of the blood of Christ to purchase my salvation and give me eternal life in heaven.

  • Sometimes the Bible emphasizes the power of the cross to conquer the evil one.

  • But here, the focus is on the purification of my conscience.  What does that mean?

Your conscience is in you, in your spirit

The Greek word occurs 30 times in the New Testament

Short definition - The inner experience of your standing with God

  • It can be seared – I Tim 4:2

  • It can be defiled – Titus 1:15

  • It can be weak – I Cor 8:12

  • It can be wounded – I Cor 8:12

  • It can testify and bear witness – Romans 2:15, Romans 9:1

  • It can be good – I Tim 1:5 (good conscience and sincere faith)

  • It can be clear and clean – Acts 24:16

16So, I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man. 17Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings. – Paul before Felix

So it would be best if when your conscious testified and bore witness, it was good, clear and clean.

What happens if it is not?

  • Your conscious could be seared – it doesn’t respond

  • It could be defiled and dirty

  • It would be weak – overactive

  • It could be wounded

I wonder if you are aware of the state of your conscience today.  What is the inner experience of your standing with God?

                  Marek – a pastor we support in the Balkans

                                                      Gifted

                                                    Hard working

                                                      Great communicator

 

                                                      Widespread corruption

                                                      Lots of deception

Some people who worked closely with him began to question his handling of finances.

Became very defensive

You are questioning my integrity

I haven’t paid a bribe

I haven’t stolen

 

Show us the books

There were so many problems

Funds were misdirected

He was using gifts for other things than they were intended

It was a huge mess

His conscience was clear.  But it shouldn’t have been.

He is a follower of Jesus.  He sincerely wants to do what is right.  How could the blood of Christ purify his conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 

Dad – my hero.  Lived to be 94, and was such an example to me of a faithful and fruitful man of God

When he was in his early 80s, I asked him what he experienced when he looked back on his life.

                  Joy, thankfulness, satisfaction?

                  His answer?  “Regret”

“I have a lot of time to think.  And I keep replaying my mistakes, the things I did wrong, the things I didn’t do.  I get beat up by the past and what I can’t change today.”

                  Is his conscience wounded, is it weak or defiled?

How could the blood of Christ purify his conscience from dead works to serve the living God?       

Katharizō – purify, cleanse – 31 times

What does the earthly tent teach us about the heavenly one? (9:1-10)

1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 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. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, 4 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. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Tent prepared – outside

                  Fence – this is a holy place

                  Courtyard – sacrifices

                                    Bronze Altar with horns

                                    Bronze Basin

                                   

First section – inside

                  Lampstand

Light, you can see, grey turns to color, things start to grow, warmth emerges.  Light is the source of life.

                  Table

                                    The place of connection and fellowship

                  Bread of the presence

                                    Food that sustains, gives you strength and energy

                                    Daily bread

                  Holy place

                                    Set apart, pure, clean

Most Holy place

                  Altar of incense – actually outside

                                    Gold – very precious

                                    Incense – prayers, creates a cloud of protection and fragrance

                  Ark of the covenant – also gold

                                    God’s covenant with man, his promise

                  Mana

God’s supernatural provision, every day in the wilderness, except the day they were to rest.  His provision even factors in our rest.

                  Aaron’s staff -

                                    Numbers 17 Others argued that they should be priests as well. (Num 16)

                                    God – I will settle this once and for all

12 leaders

They all laid their staffs and one budded

                                    God had chosen him

                                    The High priest did not get there by popular vote, but by the choice of God         

                  The Tablets – the 10 commandments – God’s law

His covenant included expectations for us, instructions with consequences, both good and bad

                  cherubim of glory

                  Mercy seat

                                    You sit down when the work is finished.  A place of rest

“Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.” (you all know this)

6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 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. 8 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 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

Only a priest could go into the first section (you and I couldn’t go there)

The second, only the high priest – day of Atonement, Yom Kippur

                  Leviticus 16

Sacrifice a bull and a goat

The problem – they cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper

                  Gifts and sacrifices

                  Various washings

                  Regulations for the body

                  Over and over

Let’s go back to our stories

              Marek – wash his conscience with the things he was doing well

Justify his poor financial management by the fact that he was overworked for God

My dad – tried to correct his mistakes in the past by punishing himself in the present. 

To wash himself with regret,

and sacrifice his present peace to atone for his past failure

 

I wonder if you ever try to purify your conscience in the earthly tent, and under the old covenant

              By Justifying, explaining and defending

              By hiding and pretending and managing your impressions

By apologizing and beating yourself and promising that you will never sin or fail again

By sacrifices, and gifts

By regulations for the body

But what happens in the earthly tent cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper

 

What did Christ do in the more perfect tent? (9:11-13)

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 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 the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

 

The earthy tent is just a copy of the heavenly one

Jesus came as the High priest

Entered once for all

By his own blood

The priest and the sacrifice

 

Retrace the steps through the tabernacle

Light of the world

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 18:12

Bread of life

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.  John 6:35

Fellowship

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  Rev 3:20

Always interceding - Incense

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Romans 8:34

He is the representation of God’s glory - Cherubim

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power – Heb 1:3

He is the chosen one – the messiah – Aaron’s staff

                  The Christ

The daily provision for our needs – Mana

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”  John 6:51

The fulfillment of the law

By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us., Romans 8:3-4

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  Matt 5:17

The one who tore the veil

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

  

Marek – I’ve been trying to impress Jesus with my service.  I’ve been making ministry my idol and using my position and my titles to impress others and make them view me as clean.  Now I feel like I am on my way to the bottom.  I keep thinking of all the people I hurt.  I wonder if I will still be part of God’s plan.  But as I pray, God just keeps leading me back to Christ.  I wonder if I have ever truly relied on him instead of my own efforts.

                  Gifts and sacrifices are not enough

                  Washing ourselves is not sufficient

 

Dad – Asked him if we could pray.  Asked the Holy Spirit to reveal where this started.  He grew up on a farm and one time made a mistake that cost the life of his Dad’s favorite horse.  You are a bumbler and you will always hurt the people you love.

                  Was weeping so hard he could hardly talk

                  I didn’t know what to say

                  Dad that is exactly why Jesus came.  If you are trying to purify your conscience without him, you are trying to be your own saviour

 

                  He was quiet

                  Then he spun around and knelt beside the coach and confessed to Jesus

I transfer my failure on to you.  I ask you to cover it with your blood and with your blood to cleanse my conscience.

From that point on, till the end of his life, I never heart him express that punishing regret again.

How can applying these truths purify your conscience? (9:14)

And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.  Lev 16:21

For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins.  Lev 16:30

Remember it is possible

1.        To know and not pay attention

2.        To know and not respond

3.        To know but not believe and receive

4.        To know and not experience

What is the state of your conscience today?

What if you asked Jesus to purify your conscience this week?

It can make a huge difference

 

Hudson Taylor

There was nothing I so much desired as holiness, nothing I so much needed; but far from in any measure attaining it, the more I strove after it, the more it eluded my grasp, until hope itself almost died out, and I began to think that—perhaps to make heaven the sweeter—God would not give it down here. I knew I was powerless. I told the Lord so, and asked Him to give me help and strength. Sometimes I almost believed that He would keep and uphold me; but on looking back in the evening—alas! there was but sin and failure to confess and mourn before God.

Then one day, As I read, I saw it all! "If we believe not, he abideth faithful." 2 Tim 2:13 I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh, how joy flowed!) that He had said, "I will never leave thee."

"Ah, there is rest!" I thought. "I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I'll strive no more. For

has not He promised to abide with me—never to leave me, never to fail me?"

He had been a toiling, burdened one before, with latterly not much rest of soul. It was resting in Jesus now, and letting Him do the work—which makes all the difference. Whenever he spoke in meetings after that, a new power seemed to flow from him, and in the practical things of life a new peace possessed him.

And how great the difference!—instead of bondage, liberty; instead of failure, quiet victories within; instead of fear and weakness, a restful sense of sufficiency in Another.

 

14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

 

Are you trying to purify your conscience in the earthly tent and under the old covenant?

                  By gifts and sacrifice

                  Various washings

                  Regulations for the body

                  Over and over

But what happens in the earthly tent cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper

                  You can run to Jesus

                  Put your confidence solely in his shed blood

                  Believe and receive

                  Ask him to purify your conscience from dead works to serve a living God

 

 

NEXT SUNDAY: Hebrews 9:15–26