Perfection in Faith
A Sermon
(No. 232)
Delivered on Sabbath Evening, January 2nd, 1859, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.
"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified."–Hebrews 10:14.
THINK OF THIS MORNING'S TEXT–"The Lord WILL perfect that which
concerneth me." Is it not very grateful to observe, that what is just
in one part of Scripture presented to us as a matter of faith, is in
another place states as a matter of fact? Think of this evening's
text–"He HATH perfected us for ever." This morning we went downwards,
from faith to prayer. After having said in confidence, "The Lord will
perfect that which concerneth me," we meekly besought him–"Forsake not
the works of thine own hands,"–sinking as it were to a lower note in
the scale of music. Then we beheld Perfection in the dim obscurity of
the future, like the sun veiled behind a cloud. Our faith rested on it
as a thing at present unseen, our hearts yearned after it as an
inheritance yet in reserve for us. Now to-night, this perfection is
brought nigh to us, I thing accomplished, as an ever-present fact,
whose eternal reality shines upon us with unclouded lustre. It is thus
I read this verse–"By one offering our Lord Jesus Christ HATH
perfected for ever them that are sanctified."
I have been turning this text over, and over, and over in my mind, and
praying about it, and looking into it, and seeking illumination from
the Holy Spirit; but I was a long time before I could be clear about
its exact meaning. It is very easy to select a meaning, and then to
say, that is what the text means, and very easy also to look at
something which lies upon the surface; but I am not quite so sure that
after several hours of meditation any brother would be able to
ascertain what is the Spirit's mind in this particular verse, "By one
offering Christ hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." When
I was trying to find out what this meant, I thought I would read the
chapters before it, and if I should happen to find out any word that
should seem to be the key to this verse, I would then under the
Spirit's guidance, seek to open this lock and mystery with the
pick-lock which was there furnished to me. Well, I read the chapters,
and I did find out a word which seemed to me to explain the whole of
this verse. You must have patience with me, while I try to show you
what I think it means; and then I think it will stand out in a very
clear and glorious light.
First, the condition of the child of God–what he is. He is a
sanctified person "Them that are sanctified." Secondly, what Christ has
done for him: "He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."
I. First, then, THE CHILDREN OF GOD ARE HERE INTENDED, UNDER THE TERM
"SANCTIFIED;" they are described as sanctified persons. What does this
mean? We usually say there are two meanings to the term "sanctified."
One is, "set apart." God has set apart his people from before the
foundation of the world, to be his chosen and peculiar inheritance. We
are sanctified by God the Father. There is a second signification,
which implies not the decree of the Father, but the work of the Holy
Spirit. We are sanctified in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit when he
subdues our corruptions, imparts to us graces, and leads us onward in
the divine walk and life of faith. But the word here, I think, includes
both of these senses; and I must try if I can to find a figure which
will embrace them both. And what is the apostle speaking about? In the
ninth chapter he is speaking about the tabernacle, and the candlestick,
and the table, and the shewbread, and the sanctuary, and the golden
censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid with gold, and the pot of
manna; he is talking about priests, and about priestly things, and holy
things; and he is declaring that all these things of which he speaks
were sanctified things, but that though they were sanctified things,
they wanted to be made perfect by the sprinkling of blood. Now, I
believe, the sanctification of our text is to be understood in this
sense. There were certain golden vessels that were used in the
sanctuary which were never used for anything else but for the service
of God. They were set apart, they were made holy, and they were kept
strictly to be the vessels of the sanctuary of the Lord God. They were
sanctified things. Again, in the sanctuary there were persons who did
nothing else but wait upon the Lord. These were consecrated to their
offices; for God chose the tribe of Levi, and out of the tribe of Levi
he chose the house of Aaron. These persons were chosen, and then they
were prepared. They underwent certain ceremonies, and divers washings,
and so they were made ceremonially holy; and these priests were
therefore sanctified persons, because they were set apart, dedicated
and reserved to the special service of the Lord God. Now, brethren,
that is just what you and I are, and what we ought to be. We are
sanctified persons: that is to say, we are chosen by God to be the
peculiar vessels which he will use in pouring out his mercy, and to be
the special priests whom he shall employ in his divine worship in this
world. No man had any right to take wine for his own drinking, and
drink it out of the golden cups of the sanctuary. If he did so, he did
it to his own destruction–witness Belshazzar. He took the cups, and
the golden candlesticks, and so forth, and used them in his
debaucheries, and lo! he was swept away, and the handwriting on the
wall foretold his doom. Even so, beloved brethren, Christian men are
not to be used for anything but for God. They are a set-apart people;
they are vessels of mercy, they are not for the devil's use, not for
their own use, not for the world's use, but for their Master's use. He
has made them on purpose to be used entirely, solely and wholly for
him. Now, that is what is meant in this text by "sanctified." We are
sanctified persons, set apart for God's use, consecrated, just as the
vessels, the cups, the candlesticks, and the tables, and the altars of
the sanctuary, were sanctified unto God and set apart for his service;
and I said, we that are priests are sanctified persons, not because of
any holiness in our character, seeing there were some of them that were
not holy in their character. My text does not touch character–it
touches position in the sight of God. We are not perfect in character,
any one of us–we are only perfect in position. There were two men who
officiated as priests before God, namely the sons of Eli, who committed
sin and iniquity before God; and yet they were set apart for God's
service, mark you; and when they offered the sacrifices as priests,
because they had been washed with water and sprinkled with blood, they
were officially accepted as being sanctified persons. Now, brethren,
the children of God are sanctified persons, to offer spiritual
sacrifices unto God through Jesus Christ, and we have no right to do
anything else but serve God. "What!" say you, "have not I to attend to
my business?" Yes, and serve God in your business. "Am I not to look
after my family?" Assuredly you are, and serve God in your family, but
still you are to be a set-apart person; you are not to wear the white
robe nor the breastplate, but still you are to think of yourself as
being as much a priest as if the breastplate were on your breast, and
the white robe about your loins; for ye are priests unto God and his
Father. He hath made you a peculiar generation, a royal priesthood, and
hath set you apart for himself.
Now, I think that this first head of my sermon gives you an inkling of
what the rest must mean. I have already hinted at what I think is the
sense of the text. I have explained, I suppose, clearly enough in what
sense God's people are a sanctified people, as understood in this
verse. They are chosen and set apart and reserved to be God's
instruments and God's servants, and thus they are sanctified.
II. Now comes the second thing: IN WHAT SENSE ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND THAT
CHRIST HAS PERFECTED THESE THAT ARE SANCTIFIED? Why, just this: When
the golden vessels were brought into the temple or into the sanctuary,
they were sanctified the very first moment that they were dedicated to
God. No one dared to employ them for anything but holy uses. But they
were not perfect. What did they need, then to make then perfect? Why,
to have blood sprinkled on them; and, as soon as the blood was
sprinkled on them, those golden vessels were perfect vessels,
officially perfect. God accepted them as being holy and perfect things,
and they stood in his sight as instruments of an acceptable worship.
Just so was it with the Levites and the priests. As soon as ever they
were set apart to their office; as soon as ever they were born, in
fact, they were consecrated, they belonged to God; they were his
peculiar priesthood. But they were not perfect until they had passed
through divers washings, and had the blood sprinkled upon them. Then
God looked upon them in their official priestly character, as being
perfect persons. They were not perfect in character, I repeat, they
were only perfect officially; perfect in the sight of God; and they
stood before him to offer sacrifice as acceptably, as if they had been
pure as Adam himself. Now, then, how does this refer to us, and what is
the meaning of this text, that "by one offering he hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified?" Turn back a moment or two. You will
find in the 9th chapter of the Hebrews, at the 6th verse, "Now when
these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first
tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went
the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he
offered for himself, and for the errors of the people." Mark here. The
first meaning of my text is this. The child of God is a priest, and as
a priest he is sanctified to enter within the vail. He is now permitted
to go into the place which was once within the vail, but which is not
so now, because the vail is rent in twain; but the high priest could
not go within the vail, because he was not perfect; he had to be
sprinkled with the blood, and that made him officially perfect. It
would not make him perfect merely to put on the breast-plate, or to
wear the ephod; he was not perfect till the blood had been sprinkled
upon him, and then he went within the vail. But when next year came
round he was not fit to go within the vail till blood was sprinkled on
him again; and the next year, though he was always a sanctified man, he
was not always, officially, a perfect man. He had to be sprinkled with
blood again. And so, year after year, the high priest who went within
the vail, needed afresh to be made perfect, in order that he might
obtain access to God.
Here is one sense of the text. The apostle says that we who are the
priests of God have a right as priests to go to God's mercy-seat that
is within the vail; but it were to our death to go there unless we were
perfect. But we are perfect, for the blood of Christ has been sprinkled
on us, and, therefore, our standing before God is the standing of
perfection. Our standing, in our own conscience, is imperfection, just
as the character of the priest might be imperfect. But that has nothing
to do with it. Our standing in the sight of God is a standing of
perfection; and when he sees the blood, as of old the destroying angel
passed over Israel, so this day, when he sees the blood, God passes
over our sins, and accepts us at the throne of his mercy, as if we were
perfect. Therefore, brethren, let us come boldly; 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." The apostle brings in, in the twenty-second verse of this tenth
chapter, one inference which I have just drawn from my text. In having
access to God, perfection is absolutely necessary. God cannot talk with
an imperfect being. He could talk with Adam in the garden but he could
not talk with you or with me, even in paradise itself, as imperfect
creatures. How, then, am I to have fellowship with God, and access to
his throne? Why, simply thus:–"The blood of Christ hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified," and consequently we have access with
boldness to the throne of the heavenly grace, and may come boldly in
all our time of need. And what is better still, we are always perfect,
always fit to come to the throne, whatever our doubts, whatever our
sins. I say not this of the priest's character. We have nothing to do
with that at present. We come before God in our station, not in our
character, and therefore, we may come as perfect men at all times,
knowing that God seeth no sin in Jacob, and no iniquity in Israel; for
in this sense Christ hath perfected for ever, every consecrated vessel
of his mercy. Oh! is not this a delightful thought, that when I come
before the throne of God, I feel myself a sinner, but God does not look
upon me as one? When I approach him to offer my thanksgivings, I feel
that I am unworthy in myself; but I am not unworthy in that official
standing in which he has placed me. As a sanctified and perfected thing
in Christ, I have the blood upon me; God regards me in my sacrifice, in
my worship, ay, and in myself, too as being perfect.
Oh how joyful this is! And there is no need a second time to repeat
this perfecting. It is an everlasting perfection; it allows a constant
access to the throne of the heavenly grace. That is one meaning of the
text.
Again, a little further on, our apostle, in the 9th chapter of the
Hebrews, says, at the 21st verse, "He sprinkled with blood both the
tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry," They were all
sanctified vessels, you know, but they were not perfect vessels till
they were sprinkled with the blood. "And almost all things are by the
law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens
should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with
better sacrifices than these," and so forth. Now, beloved, the vessels
of the sanctuary, as I have said, were sanctified the moment they were
put there, but they were not perfect; God could not therefore accept
any sacrifice that was touched with the golden tongs or that lay upon
the brazen altar, so long as those golden tongs and the brazen altar
were imperfect. What was done to make them perfect? Why, they were
sprinkled with blood; but they had to be sprinkled with blood ever so
many times–once, twice, thrice, multitudes of times, because
continually they wanted making perfect. Now you and I are this day, if
we are consecrated persons, like the vessels of the sanctuary.
Sometimes we are like the censer–God fills us with joy, and then the
smoke of incense ascends from us; sometimes we are like the
slaughter-knife that the priests used; we are enabled to deny our
lusts, to deny ourselves, and put the knife to the neck of the victim,
and sometimes we are like the altar, and upon us God is pleased to lay
a sacrifice of labour, and there it smokes acceptably to heaven. We are
made like sanctified things of his house. But, beloved, we, though we
are sanctified, and he has chosen us to be the vessels of his spiritual
temple, are not perfect till the blood is on us. Yet blessed be his
name, that blood has once been put upon us, and we are perfected for
ever. Is it not delightful to think that when God uses us in his
service he could not use unhallowed instruments? The Lord God is so
pure that he could not use anything but a perfect tool to work with.
"Then surely he could never use me or use you." Nay, but don't you see,
the blood is on us, and we are the sanctified instruments of his grace;
and moreover, we are the perfect instruments of his grace through the
blood of Jesus. Oh! I delight to think that although in preaching the
gospel I am in my own estimation and in yours rightly enough,
imperfect; yet when God makes use of me in conversion, he does not make
use of an imperfect man; no, he looks upon me in Christ as being
perfect in Him, and then he says, "I can use this tool; I could not put
my hand to an unholy thing, but I will look upon him as being perfected
for ever in Christ, and therefore I can use him. Oh! Christian, do try
to digest this precious thought: it has indeed been precious to my soul
since I first laid hold upon it. You cannot tell what God may do with
you, because if he uses you at all he does not use you as a sinner–he
uses you as a sanctified person; nay more, as a perfect person. I will
repeat it; I do not see how a holy God could use an unholy instrument;
but he puts the blood on us, and then he makes us perfect–perfects us
for ever, and then he uses us. And so I see the work of God tarried on
by men whom we think are imperfect; but I never see God doing any of
his deeds except with a perfect instrument; and if you ask me how he
has done it, I tell you that all his consecrated ones, all whom he has
sanctified to his use, he has first of all perfected for ever through
the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
And now we will have use more thought, and then I shall have given you
the full meaning of the text. In the seventh chapter, the nineteenth
verse, there is a word that is a key to the meaning of my text, and
that helped me all through it; and I will give you the key now. "For
the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did,
by the which we draw nigh unto God." Then with this, compare the tenth
chapter and first verse, "The law having a shadow of good things to
come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those
sacrifices which they offered year by year, continually make the comers
thereunto perfect." There is the word "perfect;" and we have got it in
the text; "for then," says he, if they had been perfect, "would they
not have ceased to be offered." Why offer any more, if you are a
perfect man? "If the sacrifice made is perfect, the worshippers, once
purged, should have had no more conscience of sin." Now mark. The
Jewish sacrifice was never intended to make the Jews' moral character
any better, and it did not; it had no effect upon what we call his
sanctification; all the sacrifice dealt with was his justification, and
the perfection would be sought after; the perfection is not of
sanctification, which the Arminian talks about, but the perfection of
official standing, as he stood justified before God. Now that is the
meaning of the word "perfect" here. It does not mean that the sacrifice
did not make the man perfectly holy, and perfectly moral, and so forth;
the sacrifice had no tendency to do that; it was quite another matter.
It means that it did not perfectly make him justified in his own
conscience and in the sight of God, because he had to come and offer
again. Now, here comes a man who is troubled in his conscience. He
comes sighing up the temple, and he must speak to the priest. He says
to the priest, "I have committed such-and-such a sin." "Ah! says the
priest, "You will never have any ease to your conscience unless you
bring a sin offering. He brings a sin offering, and it is offered, and
the man sees it burn and goes away. He has got faith–faith in the
great sin offering that is to come–and his conscience is easy. A day
or two after, the same feelings arise; and what does he do? he goes to
the priest again. "Ah!" says the priest, "you must bring another
offering; you most bring a trespass offering." He does that, and his
conscience grows easier for a time; but the more his conscience gets
quickened, the more he sees the unsatisfactory character of the
offering he brings. At last, he says, "I am so uneasy; oh! that I could
have a sacrifice every hour! For do you know," says he, "while I can
put my hand on the head of the victim, I feel so happy: when I come to
see it slaughtered, and the blood flowing, I feel so easy; but I do not
feel perfect. I will even go up to the temple," he says, "that there I
may live." He sees a lamb slaughtered in the morning, and tears of joy
are in his eye. "Oh!" says he "I have seen that lamb; and when I saw
the blood of that lamb flowing, I felt so rejoiced," Noon comes. "Ah!"
says he, "my sins arise again; I have got a conscience, and where can I
get relief for it?" And off he went to the temple; and there was
another lamb in the evening, because God well knew that the sacrifices
were themselves imperfect, only a shadow of the great substance, and
that his people would need to have the service renewed, not only every
year, but every day; nay, every morning and every evening.
But now, beloved, behold the glory of Christ Jesus as revealed to us in
our text. "Those sacrifices could not make the comers thereunto
perfect." They could not feel in their own conscience that they were
perfectly justified, and they wanted fresh offerings; but here to-day I
see the slaughtered Lamb on Calvary, and it was but yesterday I
rejoiced in him, and I can rejoice in him again to-day. Years ago I
sought him and I found him. I do not want another Lamb; I do not want
another sacrifice. I can still see that blood flowing, and I can feel
continually that I have no more conscience of sin. The sins are gone; I
have no more remembrance of them; I am purged from them: and as I see
the perpetual flowing blood of Calvary, and the ever rising merits of
his glorious passion, I am compelled to rejoice in this fact, that he
hath perfected for ever me–made me completely perfect through his
sacrifice.
And now, Christian, try and lay hold opon this meaning of the text.
Christ has made your conscience at ease for ever; and if it disturbs
you, recollect it has no cause to do so, if you are a believer in
Christ; for hath not he given you that which will put away all
conscience of sin? Oh! rejoice! It has purged you so entirely that you
may sit down and rest. You may sing with the poet–
"Turn, then, my soul, unto thy rest;
The merits of thy great High Priest
Speak peace and liberty.
Trust in his efficacious blood,
Nor fear thy banishment from God,
Since Jesus died for thee."
Look at the text. Once again I am going to say the same things, lest I
should not be quite understood. Dear brethren, we could not have access
to God, unless on the footing of perfection; for God cannot walk and
talk with imperfect creatures. But we are perfect; not in character,
mark, for we are still sinners; but we are perfected through the blood
of Jesus Christ, so that God can allow us to have access to him as
perfected creatures. We may come boldly, because being sprinkled with
the blood, God does not look on us as unholy and unclean, otherwise he
could not allow us to come to his mercy seat; but he looks upon us as
being perfected for ever through the one sacrifice of Christ. That is
one thing. The other was this. We are the vessels of God's temple; he
has chosen us to be like the golden pots of his sanctuary; but God
could not accept a worship which was offered to him in unholy vessels.
Those vessels, therefore, were made perfect by being sprinkled with
blood. God could not accept the praise which comes from your unholy
heart; he could not accept the song which springs from your
uncircumcised lips, nor the faith which arises from your doubting soul,
unless he had taken the great precaution to sprinkle you with the blood
of Christ; and now, whatever he uses you for, he uses you as a perfect
instrument, regarding you as being perfect in Christ Jesus. That,
again, is the meaning of the text, and the same meaning, only a
different phase of it. And, the last meaning is, that the sacrifices of
the Jews did not give believing Jews peace of conscience for any length
of time; they had to come again, and again, and again, because they
felt that those sacrifices did not present to them a perfect
justification before God. But behold, beloved, you and I are complete
in Jesus. We have no need of any other sacrifice. All others we
disclaim. He hath perfected us for ever. We may set our conscience at
ease, because we are truly, really, and everlastingly accepted in him.
"He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."
Now, what have I to do, but to turn to you and ask this one question,
and I have done. Are you a sanctified person? I have known a man say
sometimes to a believer, "Well, you look so sanctified: ah! you are one
of those sanctified fellows." Well, if they said so to me, I should
say, "I wish you would prove it." What can be a more holy thing than to
be a sanctified man? and what a more happy thing! Let me ask you, then,
are you sanctified? Says one, "I feel so sinful." That I do not ask
you: I ask you whether you are set apart to God's service. Can you say,
"Dear Lord, I give myself away,
'Tis all that I can do?"
Take me just as I am, and make use of me; I desire to be wholly thine?
Do you feel that for you to live is Christ; that there is not any
object you are living for but Christ–that Christ is the great aim of
your ambition, the great object of all your labours; that you are like
Samson, a Nazarite, consecrated to God? Oh! then, remember that you are
perfected in Christ. But, my hearer, if thou art not sanctified to God
in this sense, if thou livest to thyself, to pleasure, and to the
world, thou art not perfected in Christ, and what is to become of thee?
God will give thee no access to him; God will not use thee in his
service; thou hast no rest in thy conscience, and in the day when God
shall come to separate the precious from the vile, he will say, "Those
are my precious ones, who have the blood on them; but these have
rejected Christ, they have lived to themselves, they were dead while
they lived, and they are damned now they are dead." Take heed of that!
May God give you grace to be sanctified to God, and then shall you be
for ever perfected through Christ.