to Hebrews chapter 9. I'm going to begin reading in verse
24. Christ is not entered into the
holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true. They were shadows of the true holy place. but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should
offer himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy
place every year with the blood of others. For then must he have
often have suffered since the foundation of the world. But
now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it's appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. I want to speak on the three
appearances of Christ. Now, the first was that He appeared
in this earth. We see here in verse 26, in the
second part, it says, but now once in the end of the world
hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And now where is He? Well, back
in verse 24, It says, Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands, with the figures of the true, but
into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. And then there's a third appearance.
He shall appear again a second time, verse 28. The second part
says, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second
time without sin unto salvation. Each word here that's translated
appear is translated from a different word. Now they each carry a similar
meaning which means to manifest or to show or to see, but the
words are different because of what each appearance is manifesting
and to whom. Now let's look at all three of
these and here's the first appearance. We see in verse 26, The second
part says, now once in the end of the world hath he appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Here he appeared
to manifest, and the word here means what was formerly hidden,
what was shadowed, what was not clearly brought out yet. He manifest
the only one who could put away sin. He manifests the only way
sin could be put away. And He manifests how it was put
away. Now, who appeared? Who is this
that appeared? Well, it's God who appeared.
It's God who appeared. It's God against whom we sinned.
It's God against whom we transgressed. It's God who is the judge. It's
God who says He will by no means clear guilty sinners. God appeared. Now look at Matthew 1, and let's
back that up. Matthew chapter 1, verse 23.
It says here, Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Immanuel, which be interpreted as God with us. This One who
came in human flesh is God. Isaiah 9.6 said, Unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given. He was a child born, but He is
the Son of God given. The government should be upon
His shoulder and His name should be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God. That's who He is, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Now, how did He appear? How did
He come forth? Well, He came forth in a sinless
human body. A sinless human body. 1 Timothy
3.16 Paul said, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness,
God was manifest in the flesh. It doesn't say he was a god,
he is God. God was manifest in the flesh. That word manifest there is the
same word as is translated appear in Hebrews 9.26. You see God
who is spirit is invisible. We can't see the triune God because
He's spirit. But He came forth in a visible
form. He came forth as a sinless, spotless
man. And Paul told us, in Christ dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That means in this one
who came forth, Jesus of Nazareth. He is God, the fullness of God,
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in a human
body. He is the God-man. John 1.1 says,
In the beginning was the Word. That's the living Word that Brother
Scott just spoke about. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. The Word
was God. And this Word was made flesh. The Word who is God was made
flesh, and He dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. He's the Son of God, and He's the Son of Man. The
God-Man Mediator, made of the seed of David according to the
flesh, declared to be the Son of God. See, in order for God
to get all the glory and salvation, which He must get all the glory
and the salvation of those He saves. This one who came had
to be the Son of God in human flesh. If he's going to lay down
his life for his brethren, which is why he came, he has to be
a man, a sinless man. There are only two men that came
into this world without sin. That was the first man, Adam,
who represented all that would be born of him. He died. We sinned
in him. We were born of Him, so we're
sinners. We come forth guilty sinners with a corrupt nature.
The only other man who was sinless that came into this world is
the Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam. And He came forth to represent
all who shall be born of Him, that is, God's chosen people. He came forth because if He will
lay down His life, He must do it as a man. He must have a body
to lay down. And if that work is going to
be effectual and eternal, it has to be by the eternal Son
of God. So He is God and man in one person. Now why did He appear? What was
the purpose for which He came? It says here, to put away sin. Now this is a problem that every
one of us has, is sin. The Hebrew writer says there
in Hebrews 9.27, it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
this the judgment. Why do we die? Why do we physically
die? Because of sin. And why is there
a judgment? Because of sin. God is going
to declare those who are righteous and those who are guilty. We
are going to face God and we are going to stand before God.
And we have a problem and that's sin. Now Christ came into this
world to put away sin. And why did the Son of God have
to come down and take flesh to put away sin? Because no sinner
can put away sin. We can't put away sin. Not by
our works can we put away our sin. Not by our suffering can
we put away sin. Our repentance and our faith
won't put away our sin. We cannot by ourselves put away
our sin. We are guilty sinners. And God
said, The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. That is
under God's justice. It shall surely die. Life is
in the blood. Life is in the blood. So blood must be shed. He said
back up there in verse 22, Almost all things are by the law purged
with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission. When
we talk about Christ laying down His life and shedding His blood,
we're going to observe the Lord's table, we're going to drink a
cup of wine which symbolizes Christ's blood. That's His life,
laying down His life, shedding His blood. Not one of the old
covenant sacrifices ever put away sin. Not one. It says in
Hebrews 10.4, it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sin. Why did God have them shed the
blood of bulls and goats all through that old covenant? They
all pointed to Christ. They all pointed to this One
who came. And that's what He's declaring
to us throughout the book of Hebrews. The tabernacle pictured Christ
the tabernacle. The mercy seat in the holiest
of holies pictured Christ our mercy seat. The lamb that was
slain pictured Christ the lamb of God. The high priest pictured
Christ the high priest. But none of those blood of bulls
and goats could ever take away sin. It was not possible they
could take away sin. Christ Jesus, the God-man, appeared. He was manifest to put away sin. That's what he came to do, to
put away sin. Sin has got to be put away consistent
with God's character, that is His holiness and His righteousness,
His justice, in order for God to save a sinner. We sin, we're
guilty, God's law must be upheld, it must be honored, justice must
be poured out. Because God will not clear guilty
sinners. That means every single person who sinned shall die under
the just judgment of God. Because he will not clear the
guilty. That loss got to be poured out. And for God to receive all
the glory, he must be the justifier. Not only is he going to be just
in his low honor, he will get the glory for being the one that
does the justifying. Well, how did he do it? How did
Christ put away sin? Look at Hebrews 9 verse 26 again. It says, Now once in the end
of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. By the sacrifice of Himself. Not the blood of bulls and goats.
By His own sacrifice. By His own blood. By Him laying
down His life. That is the doctrine of substitution. Substitution. It says here, once. He did this once. Those blood
of bulls and goats were shed year after year after year. And
every year they were reminded again, sin had to be dealt with. It was a picture, it was a type. But it says here, Christ died
once. He sacrificed himself once. Back in verse 27, it says, as
it is appointed unto men, once to die. But after this, the judgment. So Christ was once offered. to bear the sins of many. It doesn't say here He bore the
sins of all. It says He bore the sins of many.
One death, one judgment. That's all it took. One death,
one judgment to satisfy justice. If a man is sentenced to die
in a court of law in the earth and once he is executed, the
law says nothing else to him. There's one death, there's one
judgment. That's what Christ came to do.
He came one time to bear the sin and bear the guilt of the
many spoken of here. To bear their sin, to bear their
guilt. The many is a multitude no man
can number. A multitude, no man can number.
He came to bear their sin, bear their guilt, and then bear that
one death, that one judgment, being made a curse before God
for them. That's what He came to do. So
He was judged one time by God. God poured out justice on Him
in place of His people. That's the cross, and that's
what was taking place on the cross in those three hours of
darkness. satisfying his own justice, pouring out justice
on his son. That's why he cried out, My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Because God is holy. And
he was bearing the sin, bearing the guilt of his people, and
he had to be made a curse. He had to bear that eternal separation
in place of his people in order for God's justice to be satisfied.
That's what he was doing. That's what he was doing. It
was once, one time, not to be repeated, because he accomplished
it. Look back there at verse 25. It says, Not yet that he should
offer himself often, as the high priest entered the holy place
every year with the blood of others. For then must he have
suffered since the foundation of the world. But now, once. Once, in the end of the world,
hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,
as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sin of many. Why not
again? Why not any more offering? Why
not any more sacrifice for sin? Because He made satisfaction
to God. Representing the many He laid
down His life for, the many whose sin He bore, the many whose justice
He satisfied, He satisfied God and there is no more offering
for sin. One offering, He satisfied God by offering Himself. That
is what He did. He put the sin of the many away. Look at Hebrews 10 and look at verse 11. Every priest stands daily ministering,
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take
away sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness
to us, for after that he had said before, this is the covenant
I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will
put my laws in their hearts and their minds will I write them.
and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Now
where remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin. He made satisfaction. The Lamb
of God satisfied God's justice for His people. That was the
purpose for which He came. And He accomplished it. It wasn't
trying to make something possible. It was an accomplishment. He
described it, when they were in that Mount of Transfiguration,
He described it as the death He should accomplish. It was
accomplished. He satisfied divine justice.
In the Old Covenant, you remember, they brought those two goats,
and one, they cast lots, and one, they put the sin on it,
and it died. And that blood was carried into
the holy place, but the other one, they put the sins of the
people on the head of that goat, in type, in picture, and he was
led by a fit man into the wilderness, It's called the scapegoat. We
don't ever use that term speaking of natural things. Oh, he's being
a scapegoat. That's an application to Christ. He's the scapegoat. He took the
sins of his people away. Completely away. Completely away. He cast our sins in the depths
of the sea. He cast our sins behind his back,
God said. Never to be remembered by God
before His holy law. He blotted them out. He put sin
away. We can't forget our sins because
we see them. God often brings them to our
remembrance when we need chastening and being turned from our sin.
But as far as before the law of God and the justice of God,
God remembers the sins of His people no more because Christ
satisfied justice completely. He said, I will remember their
sins no more. In Jeremiah 50 verse 20 it said,
In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, speaking of when
Christ laid down His life, He said, the iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for, and there shall be none. And the sins of
Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will pardon them
whom I reserve. Now that's the first appearance,
Christ appears. He manifest what was formerly
hidden in the shadows and the types of the old covenant law.
He came and manifest how sins put away. The God-man took flesh
and by one sacrifice, sacrificing himself, shedding his own blood,
he put away sin forever for the many for whom he died. One death,
one judgment, satisfaction. That's what he did. Well, where
does He appear now? Where is our Lord now? He says
in verse 24, Christ did not enter into the holy places made with
hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven
itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. On that day of
atonement, that earthly high priest alone, by himself, he
took the blood after that lamb had been slain the Lamb of Atonement,
He took that blood and He went to the holy place, and then He
came to the holiest of holies, which is, you know, we saw how
it was just a veil. And He lifted up that veil and
He went under that veil. And when He went in there, there
was the Ark of God, and in that Ark was the Law of God. The Law
of God that His people broke. There it was on tablets of stone,
one complete Law, and it's in that Ark. And over the top of
that Ark was a mercy seat. And above it, the cherubim faced
that mercy seat, all eyes on that mercy seat, and the Shekinah
glory was above the mercy seat, the presence of God. And the
high priest went in there, he by himself was the only one that
could go, he's representing the children of Israel. And he goes
in there with the blood of that slain lamb, and he sprinkled
that blood on that mercy seat seven times. And they waited
to see would he come out and declare to them, God has been
atoned. One more year. One more year. It had to be done again the next
year. Well, that all pictured the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
has not entered into an earthly, holy place. He came out of the
grave, and He ascended to the Father, and He entered into the
holiest of holies, into the presence of God. Not with the blood of
a bull and a goat, by His own blood He entered in. He's the
High Priest. He's the Lamb. And He's the Mercy
Seeker. He sprinkled the blood. He did.
The veil, you know, when He said it's finished, when He cried
out from the cross and He said, it is finished, brethren, that
veil was split from top to bottom. Meaning that whole shadowy figure
is fulfilled. It's done. It's finished. His
satisfaction has been made for His people. Now we have a high
priest in the heavens, in the presence of God, and He's there
interceding for us. Who's He interceding for? Well,
that old covenant high priest interceded for the children of
Israel. There was a lot of nations around them, but He interceded
for the children of Israel. Christ is interceding for the
same ones for whom He laid down His life, for the many that He
justified by His blood. He's entered in and He ever lives
to make intercession for us. He's in the presence of the Father
interceding for us. Now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Now what does this word appear
mean? It's a little different word. Still means to manifest,
but it's a little different word. Here this word means to declare.
Christ's appearance in the presence of God makes a continual declaration
to God and to His people that He is our righteousness. He is our righteousness. His
very presence intercedes. His entrance and His acceptance
in God's presence. Him entering in and being accepted
of God declares He accomplished the work. It declares He put
away sin, He justified His people, made His people the righteousness
of God in Him so that it is finished. And now there in God's presence,
in the presence of God for us, He ever lives to make intercession. Now sinner, He did this for the
many whose sins He put away. Is that you? He did it for many. Is that you? Why not you? He
did it for many. If you can come to Him, it's
proof that He's made intercession for you. Because you know how
His people, how His gospel is sent forth? That's really what
we looked at this morning that He said, In that day, I'm going
to make the deaf hear, I'm going to make the blind see, I'm going
to do it through the preaching of this Word that declares what
I've accomplished for my people. How is that Gospel sent to where
it needs to be sent? By Christ. How is the Spirit
sent to the lost sheep and quickens us and makes us hear? It's by
Christ. How come God won't pour out justice on them a second
time while we're in our sin or when we fall away? Why will He
not do that? Because Christ's presence with
Him declares they're righteous, they're mine, they're justified,
they're redeemed. He purchased the church of God.
The church of God has been purchased with His own blood and His presence
declares it. Look at Hebrews 7.25. Let's look at verse 23. Truly there were many priests,
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
But this man, because he continues forever, has an unchangeable
priesthood. He's always the priest. Wherefore
He's able also to save them to the uttermost that come to God
by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. If you can come to Him, it doesn't
matter who you are, where you are, what you've done, you're
a sinner. And if you can come to Him, it's
because He's interceded for you. That's the only way you can go.
He's interceded. He's done something for you.
And He's laid down His life for His people. He's entered into
glory and intercedes for His people. And He's going to make
certain His people hear of this good news and are quickened and
given faith and brought to Him. He appears in God's presence
for every one of you who now believe on His name. He was raised
again for our justification. To declare to us, justify. And
He's entered in now and we know and believe and are sure of this
because He appears in God's presence for us. In 1 Peter 1.18 He said,
For as much as you know, you are not redeemed with corruptible
things. as silver and gold from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest. He appeared in these last times
for you who by Him do believe in God." That's who He appeared
for, for you who by Him do believe in God. That raised Him up from
the dead and gave Him that glory. That your faith and your hope
might be in God. That's why He did it. That our
faith and our hope might be in God. It's by Him we believe and
behold that blood and we see Him there interceded for us.
And His presence there before God is why we have mercy from God. He's
the advocate with the Father by His presence with God. That's
why God's faithful and just to forgive us our sins when we come
to Him confessing our sins to Him. Because He's the advocate.
He's the mediator. He's the intercessor. He's the
great high priest who represents His people to God. John said,
my little children, these things write unto you that you sin not. And if or when any man sin, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He's the propitiation for
our sin. He's that place where God will
meet with His people in mercy, Christ the Lord. And not for
ours only, but for the sins of the whole world, His people wherever
they are. It's Christ's appearance before
the Father, this intercession before the Father that made Paul
make that grand statement he made in Romans 8. Look over there
with me, Romans 8.33. He said, Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect is God that justifieth. Who is
He that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea rather,
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. There He is. He said Christ died, yea rather,
He's risen again, He's even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us. He's declaring to us, brethren,
that no man in this earth is a priest. That's what he was
teaching the Hebrews. No man in this earth is a priest.
No man can intercede for us before God. We pray for one another,
but who's our advocate with the Father? Jesus Christ the righteous. He's the place where God will
meet with his people in mercy. He's the reason God's faithful
and just to forgive us. Now, let's look at this last
appearance. There's yet to be another appearance.
We're going to partake of this table, and Paul said, this bread
represents his broken body. This blood represents his shed
blood. Shed for the many, broken for
the many. It's the New Testament in his blood. And he said, when
you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you do show forth his
death to when? Till he come. Till he come. He's coming again. Look here.
Hebrews 9.28, the second part says, and unto them that look
for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Now that first word manifest
means he came to make openly known something that was shadowed
and hidden and had not been openly manifest. He appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. It's done. That second
word, appear, means declaration. He appeared to declare to God,
before God continually and before his people, by his presence with
God, that he's our advocate, he's our righteousness, it's
finished. Now this word here is the word from which we get
the word optometrist. It means to see. To see. Every eye shall see him when
he comes again. Every eye shall see him. Every
tongue is going to confess and every knee is going to bow, confessing
He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. But unto them that
look for Him, to them that look for Him. We are not looking for
an event, are we? We are looking for Him. We are
looking for Him. We are looking for a person.
Are you looking for Him? He promised us He would come
again. He said, I will come again. He
said, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself. That was His promise. To them
that look for Him shall He appear the second time. We shall see
Him as He is and we shall be like Him. But this time He's
appearing differently than the way He came the first time. It
says He shall appear without sin unto salvation. He put away sin. He's coming
again without sin. He appeared the first time in
the flesh. He's coming a second time in great glory. The glorified
God-man. He's coming in a body, but He's
the glorified God-man. He's coming in great glory with
all His angels and a triumphant host. That's how they were looking
for Him to come the first time. That's how He's coming the second
time. He appeared the first time in
order to bear our sin away. He's coming the second time with
no sin. It's gone. It's put away. He
appeared the first time to accomplish redemption. He'll appear the
second time. There's another redemption coming.
He's going to redeem us out of this earth and redeem us into
what's called the glorious liberty of the sons of God. He's bringing
us, that's the completion of it. And that's what He, He redeemed
us from the curse of the law the first time. He's redeeming
us out of this whole cursed place the next time. There will be
a new heaven and a new earth and we will dwell with Him forever
and He with us. Are you looking for Him? Are
you looking for Him? He appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself and He did it. He did it. Now He appears in the presence
of God for us and He is our Advocate with the Father. Paul said, He's
the fullness of the Godhead in a body and you are complete in
Him. Everyone that believes on Him
and rests in Him, you complete in Him. I read something or heard
it preached I think one time. Somebody said that all the commandments
of the law in Christ are promises of God. Because they're all yea
and amen in Christ. Every one of them. We ought to
try to live according to what He tells us and walk according
to what He speaks to us, and we're going to fail miserably.
But there are promises in Christ. You are holy in Him. You are
righteous in Him. You are complete in Him. And
that's all our hope. That's all our salvation. And
He's appearing a second time. He's coming again without sin
and carrying all His people to salvation. And you know what
John said, you know how he ended the book? He said, even so, come
Lord Jesus.