It was on the ground of offered and accepted sacrifice that the children of Israel were constituted the worshiping people of God. It is on the same ground, namely, offered and accepted sacrifice, that believers in Jesus are constituted the worshiping people of God now. (Read carefully Lev. xvi; Heb. ix, x.) They have taken Israel's place, but after a much higher order, whether we look at the sacrifice, the priest, or the place of worship. The contrast between them is great, and strongly marked in Scripture, especially in the epistle to the Hebrews. The Jewish sacrifices never reached the _conscience_ of the offerer, and the Jewish priest never could pronounce him "clean every whit." The gifts and sacrifices which were offered under the law, as the apostle tells us, "could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience." The conscience, observe, always being the _reflection_ of the sacrifice, it could not be perfect, seeing the sacrifice was not perfect; "for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Hence, Jewish worship was connected with inefficient sacrifices, a burdensome ritual, and an unpurged conscience, which gendered in the worshiper a spirit of bondage and fear.
But, now, mark the contrast to all this in the once-offered and accepted sacrifice of Christ. He "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." All is done. Having "by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." When the worshiper comes before God on the ground of this Sacrifice, he finds that he has nothing to do save, as a priest, to show forth the praises of Him "who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light." Even Christ has nothing more to do as regards our justification and acceptance, "for by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." The Jew, by his sacrifice, was merely _ceremonially_ clean, and that only for a moment, as it were; but the Christian, through the sacrifice of Christ, is _really_ so, and that forever. Oh, that sweet word, "FOREVER"! It is the common privilege of all believers to be perfected as worshipers before God, "through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." On this deeply important point the testimony of Scripture is most full and explicit. For the worshipers once purged should have _"no more conscience of sins"_.--"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."--"And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." (1 John i. 7; Heb. x.) By the work of Christ for _us_, our sins were all put away; and now, by faith in God's word, we know that they are all forgiven and forgotten. Hence, we can draw near to God, and stand in His holy presence, in the happy assurance that there is neither sin nor stain upon us. Our Great High-Priest has pronounced us "clean every whit." (John xiii.) Believing this, the sense of guilt is taken away,--we have "NO MORE CONSCIENCE OF SINS."