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 until 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 except a perfect tool to work with. “Then surely he could never use me or use you.” No, but do you not 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 on 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; no 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 carried 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 for his use, he has first of all perfected for ever through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
10. And now we will have one more thought, and then I shall have given you the full meaning of the text. In the seventh chapter 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 which we draw near to God.” {Hebrews 7:19} Then with this 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 continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.” {Hebrews 10:1} There is the word perfect; and we have it in the text; “for then,” he says, 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 note, 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 up to the temple sighing, 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 peace in 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 faith — faith in the great sin offering that is to come — and his conscience is at peace. A day or two later, 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 must bring a trespass offering.” He does that, and his conscience is quieter for a time; but the more his conscience is awakened, 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,” he says, “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 at peace; but I do not feel perfect. I will even go up to the temple,” he says, “that I may live there.” He sees a lamb slaughtered in the morning, and tears of joy are in his eyes. “Oh!” he says, “I have seen that lamb; and when I saw the blood of that lamb flowing, I felt so happy.” Noon comes. “Ah!” he says, “my sins arise again; I have a troubled 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 knew well 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; indeed, every morning and every evening.
11. But now, beloved, behold the glory of Christ Jesus as revealed to us in our text. “Those sacrifices could not make those who approach perfect.” They could not feel in their own conscience that they were perfectly justified, and they needed fresh offerings; but here today I see the slaughtered Lamb on Calvary, and it was only yesterday I rejoiced in him, and I can rejoice in him again today. Years ago I sought him and I found him. I do not need another Lamb. I do not need another sacrifice. I can still see that blood flowing, and I can feel continually that I have no more consciousness 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 has perfected me for ever — made me completely perfect through his sacrifice.
12. And now, Christian, try and lay hold upon this meaning of the text. Christ has made your conscience at peace for ever; and if it disturbs you, remember it has no reason to do so, if you are a believer in Christ; for has not he given you what will put away all consciousness 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, to your rest;
The merits of your great High Priest
Speak peace and liberty.
Trust in his efficacious blood,
Nor fear your banishment from God,
Since Jesus died for thee.
13. 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 basis of perfection; for God cannot walk and talk with imperfect creatures. But we are perfect; not in character, note, 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 for any other sacrifice. All others we disclaim. He has perfected us for ever. We may see our conscience at ease, because we are truly, really, and everlastingly accepted in him. “He has perfected for ever those who are sanctified.”
14. Now, what have I to do, but to turn to you and ask this one question, and I am finished. Are you a sanctified