May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in his holy word. Let's turn to the epistle of
Paul to the Hebrews, the ninth chapter, and we'll read the last
two verses. Verses 27 and 28 in the ninth
chapter of the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews. And we read, And 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, and unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. It's good for us to realize that
God has given us his word, the Bible, to read, which really
explains to us in so many ways from the beginning in Genesis
to the end of Revelation how that mankind fell and sinned,
and that mankind need to be forgiven of their sins, and mankind need
to recognise the great and glorious blessing of receiving salvation
through the Lord Jesus Christ. That really is the theme throughout
the Word of God. And it's good for us when we
read the Bible to have such thoughts in our minds so that we are able
to discern the great truth of God and the great aim of the
Word of God to direct us to the need we have of a Saviour. And more than that, to direct
us indeed to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to understand
that the Lord Jesus Christ was that One who did save His church,
who did deliver His church, who did come and do that which His
Father gave Him to do. It was a great and glorious favour
and a wonderful blessing brought upon the Church of God. And again,
it's wonderful if you and I can understand and appreciate in
some small way the wonder of this plan of salvation. To realise
that there was the Trinity which formed one God, One person, three
in one. And again, you and I cannot naturally
understand it. And we should not think that
by cleverness we can understand the greatness of God. But it's
good if God gives us grace, as we've been singing, and faith
to believe in God the Father. and God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit and realize how they are united together. And what a blessing it is to
be directed to know the love of God the Father, to know the
love of God the Son, to know the love of God the Holy Spirit. It's not just a theoretical consideration. It's a great blessing when the
Holy Spirit shows to us the truth of such statements that we can
rejoice in it, and then we rejoice in the wonderful plan of salvation. And of course the whole plan
of salvation really had this objective, to bring honour and
glory to God. We should never forget that,
to bring honour and glory to God. It was a plan, a wonderful
plan, and when we think that it was not something which was
thought up in time, It was that which was planned in eternity
past. And we see there another mystery
which is beyond our understanding to realize that there was no
beginning. Eternity had no beginning. And what a blessing therefore
to realize that way back in eternity The plan was developed to create
a world, to create mankind. to show the weakness of natural
man, so that they fell into sin. And then the glorious way of
salvation, the wonderful plan of salvation. And it is the great
truth, as the Himalayan says, sinners can say, and none but
they. How precious is the Saviour. And that means, of course, sinners
who realise they are sinners. They have sinned against a holy
God. Not something which is just theoretical,
but something which is very real. That you and I, individually,
we stand condemned under the holy law of God. And that law
which condemns us to eternal death in hell unless we are delivered
unless we are freed from that condemnation and the only way
that can occur is having the recognition and realization that
the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world as the Apostle Paul
said to save sinners of whom I am chief. And we won't argue
that that's a wrong statement, but we will perhaps have to think
that we're the chief sinner. Yes, when the Holy Ghost convinces
of sin, you and I won't stand as a little sinner. We will stand
as a great sinner. And because we are a great sinner,
we need a great salvation. And because we need a great salvation,
we need a great Savior. And that's why we have a great
and glorious Savior in the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, to recognize
and to realize the glorious truth that the Lord Jesus Christ, the
second person in the Trinity, the true God, very God, condescended,
to do the will of his father and come into this sinful world
and to become a sacrifice to give his life in order that you
and I might be freed from the condemnation of the law. Well, it's a great blessing to
know what it is to be favoured with such a blessing and such
a favour. The Apostle Paul, when he wrote
to the Galatians He tells us of the great truth that this
contains, and he speaks of it, and he tells us, So then they
which are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as
many as are the works of the law are under the law. For it
is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. Well,
we have the book of the law, we have the commandments of God,
and you and I cannot keep them. We never have been able to. And
therefore, this is true. We are therefore cursed. Cursed
is everyone that continues not in all things which are written
in the book of the law. And then, as we go on in this
third chapter in Galatians, we read what the Apostle says. Christ,
this is the glory of the Gospel, Christ, hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. And again, we need
faith to believe such a glorious truth as that, that we were,
because of our sin, under the curse. and the great Saviour
of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into this world and redeemed
us, paid the price to deliver us from the curse. What a wonderful
truth that is and it's wonderful to think that God in his mercy
and love has recorded such details in his word to speak to us. Often
we fail to realise the great truths that the word of God contains
and the blessing that it contains and we should realise that of
course This doesn't apply to all mankind. It applies to those
whom the Lord Jesus has come into this world to die for. Indeed, the Lord Jesus, when
he prayed to his Father in the 17th chapter of John, it's a
most wonderful prayer and it's worth reading many times because
it speaks to us very, very clearly. And He tells us this, this is
life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. And then He tells us, as
Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. It's not to everyone.
And what a mercy for us today if we are among that number whom
the father has given to his son, given the gift of eternal life. And what a mercy, therefore,
to believe that the great savior of sinners, Jesus, died for us. And we're told in this wonderful
chapter about the glory of Christ and what he does. He says, I
have given unto them the words which thou hast given me, and
they have received them. Again, that's wonderful, isn't
it? To think that the words to believe God gives us. For I have
given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have
Receive them That's a personal statement, isn't it? comes down
to each one of us to understand that we have received the words
of God the words of God is our addressed to us and They have received them and
have known surely that I came out from thee and and they have
believed that Thou didst send me." Well, what a blessing if
God gives us a heart to believe the great truth of the Gospel,
to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to
save sinners of whom we are chief, and to realise that the cost
of our salvation was indeed His death, upon that cross at Calvary. It was no small cost. It was
nothing trivial. It was the life of the Saviour. There could not possibly be a
greater gift to receive, a greater cost that was done, to think
that Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person in
the Trinity, was willing to die for us, unworthy sinners, in
order to pay the price to deliver us from the curse. What a great
and wonderful truth that is. And then to go on and hear what
the Lord says, I pray for them. How amazingly humbling, surely,
to think that Jesus God himself prays for us, unworthy wretches
of the earth, not worthy of any
notice, and yet to think this great truth. We read, I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, doesn't
pray for everyone. but for them which thou hast
given me, for they are mine, thine, and all mine are thine,
and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. We need sometimes to ponder such
great, tremendous truths. As the Word tells us, I am glorified
in them. That's very humbling, isn't it,
to think that that is true. We, as sinners of the earth,
unworthy, sometimes sinners that have sinned against lighter knowledge,
willingly disobeyed God, Willingly sinned against him and yet we
still see this great and wonderful Savior who is willing to pray
for us and He says and now I am no more in the world, but these
are in the world you and I are in the world today and I come
to thee Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou
hast given me, that they may be one as we are one. Yes, you see, to be kept, as
the Apostle Paul tells us, kept by the power of God. And we have
this wonderful statement, don't we then, to encourage us Keep
through thine own name those and now it's given me that they
may be one as we are united to Christ. It's a tremendous truth,
isn't it? Unworthy sinners. united to Christ
and to pray for these blessings. I've given them thy word, his
word, the truth of God, implanted it in our hearts. It's good if
we can look back into our lives and have the evidence that we
have gloriously received his word. I have given them thy word,
given it to us, given to us his truth, spoken to us his word. If he has, and I hope he has,
can we rely upon it? We can. Do we rejoice in it? We can. Can we bless God for
it? And we can. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the evil. We are in the world. We are living
in the world. And Isaiah tells us so clearly,
ye are my witnesses. That's what we're in the world
for. not to travel on through time
just pleasing ourselves. We are, as a witness for Almighty
God, to testify of his grace, to testify of his love to testify
of his mercy. Well, what a blessing it is then
to have such a wonderful and glorious Savior. Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, to think that he was offered
up as a sacrifice. We read the Old Testament. I'm
sure you read the Old Testament, at least in parts. I'm sure you
realise that there were many sacrifices which were offered
up. And in fact, when Israel, after
the tabernacle was erected, there was the continual burnt offering
of a lamb morning and evening, a morning and evening sacrifice.
It was always there to signify that there was a need for that
sacrifice. And of course, eventually, that
was fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what a blessing
that is. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many. Well, is that true of you and
me? Because if that is so, And if
we are wonderfully privileged in that position, then I hope
and pray we all will be amongst those whom God has loved in everlasting
love. And therefore, we can come back
to the previous verse, and as it is appointed unto men, once
to die, but after this, the judgment. And we shall all stand before
that judgment seat of Christ, but there'll be a vast difference. between those who are saved and
those who are not saved. Those for whom Christ has died
and for those for whom Christ has not died. Because those for
whom Christ has died would have no sin. It would have been washed away. in the precious blood of the
Saviour. There will be no fear to the
Church of God because they are clean. Because they are before
that Judge of all the earth, the Saviour. That Saviour who
has given His life to redeem them. They will be there as a
wonderful testament of His love and mercy. Yes, what a blessing
it will be then to realise that we are redeemed. That Christ
has given his life willingly upon that cross at Calvary and
that all our sins are therefore taken away. So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. There was only that need that
Christ should die on that one occasion And you see, there was
the history that we read previously when the high priest went into
the holy place once a year, once a year to bring before God the
sins of himself and the people, and he couldn't enter in unless
the blood was shed. He went in with that shed blood. And that's why we read then about
this, but Christ being coming high priest of good things to
come by greater and more perfect tabernacle made with hands as
to say not of this building neither by the blood of goats and calves
but by his own blood own blood the precious blood of Christ
he entered in once into the holy place the high priest entered
in once every year But Christ entered once into glory. He didn't enter into the temple. He didn't enter into the holy
place there. There was no need to. And the
wonderful picture that we have in the Word of God is on the
occasion when the Saviour died upon that cross at Calvary, when
he cried those wonderful words, it is finished. He had completed
the work that his father gave him to do. What happened? The veil which separated the
most holy place from the holy place, the place that the high
priest And only the high priest had to pass through on that wonderful
day of atonement, that annual occasion, was rent from the top
to the bottom. Clearly, it was done by God himself. It wasn't from the bottom to
the top, it was from the top to the bottom. There was now
no more need of a Holy of Holies. Because Christ hadn't entered
into the natural holy of holies, that which typified heaven, but
into heaven itself. And you see, no more to go out. Eternally in glory. 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? He will appear. What a wonderful
thing it is to think that he appears to us, no sin. Taken away, washed away. What a wonderful blessing. And
he tells us here, unto them that look for him. Well, the... We read in the book of Titus
about this great truth. And in the second chapter, Paul,
as he wrote to Titus, he tells us this, verse 11, For the grace
of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching
us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. And then
he says, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. I wonder if that's
true of us. You know, we're carnal, we're
earthly, but what a mercy it is if God gives us that true
good hope through his grace in his world with our soul. And
we are found amongst those who are indeed looking, looking for
that blessed hope. and the glorious appearing of
the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, to the Church of
God, that would be a wonderful occasion, because when that occurs,
we shall be caught up, if we are on the earth, or raised and
dead, if we died and are buried, or whatever the situation is.
Yes, we shall be indeed resurrected, a new creature, and that is that
which is to come for the whole Church of God, it is a wonderful
consideration. And it's not something which
is not true, it's very true. It will come to pass, it will
arise, and what a mercy then if we are amongst those who are
looking, looking for that blessed hope Blessed hope and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. What a wonderful favor that is
to realize the Apostle in the Colossians. He uses similar words when he tells us
of the great truth which is to come in the first chapter of
Colossians. And he says, if we continue in
the faith, verse 23, grounded and settled and be not moved
away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which
was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof
I, Paul, am made a minister. But he tells us in an earlier
verse, verse five, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven,
whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,
which is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth
forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard
of it and knew the grace of God in truth. This is the wonderful
favour and the wonderful truth of God. And how good it is if
we are very thankful that we have such truths revealed to
us in the Word of God. Again, just pause and think. You and I have the Bible, don't
we? We're familiar with it, must be. Most of us, all of us probably,
have known it since we were a child. And yet, there are billions in
the world who never have the Bible, never know anything about
it. We have a great debt to Almighty
God when we realize He's given us His Word. to read my friends
do read it and be encouraged by it and be strengthened by
it perhaps we need to be corrected by it we may have got wrong ideas
we may have got wrong views and it's good therefore if the holy
spirit directs us to his word to show us that which is true
and that which is false again just reverting to that 17th chapter
of john The Lord says when praying to his Father, thy word is truth
and so it is. And we should recognise that
there's not much truth in the world today, but the Bible is
true and you and I can rely upon it. And therefore may we read
it and praise God and thank him for it. And so this truth is
so wonderful, so Christ has once offered, Only once, when he was
offered, he gave his life. And when you think of it, you
think of the sacrifices which it typified, really from the
very beginning, because we go back to Genesis, and we see in
that very early time when Adam and Eve are so sadly and sorely
sinned, the Lord appeared. And there they were, they'd covered
themselves with fig leaves they were naked and of course there
was no guilt before sin therefore they weren't concerned but when
they sinned and realized they were naked and they tried to
cover up their nakedness well the fig leaves were no real covering
as such but God gave them a covering of the skins of animals What
a wonderful picture that was because in order to cover them
in that way, animals would have been slain and blood spilled. And so we see right back in that
early chapter in Genesis, the picture of salvation without
shedding of blood, as we read together in this chapter this
morning, without shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. There is no remission, and therefore
blood had to be shed. But you and I, if we shed our
blood, it would be no good, because it's sinful blood. We're sinners. What a mercy then to think that
the Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood, sinless blood, and He
shed it willingly in order to redeem you and me from the curse
of sin. Wonderful, isn't it? And to think,
therefore, that because of that, by his grace, one day we shall
be found in glory to praise him for what he's done, to thank
him for what he's done. What a debt we owe, we as poor
sinners of the earth, redeemed with the precious blood of Christ,
which again the Apostle Peter so beautifully spells out. And it is a glorious theme. And
therefore the Apostle knew it, the Apostle outlines it in a
slightly different way, but yet how wonderful it is to know that
Christ once offered himself himself Throughout history animals have
been slain Usually slain very simply but Christ had to suffer
Christ had to bear the curse for us Let's not forget that
it was no simple death It was the most painful death that anyone
could suffer And of course, prior to that crucifixion, he'd endured
opposition. Opposition for those three years
since he was revealed as the saviour when he was baptised
in the Jordan by John the Baptist and almighty God, the Father
said this. is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased, hear Him." What a mercy it is today if you and
I have heard the voice of the Saviour,
the wonderful voice of the Saviour. It's summed up, I sometimes think,
in those glorious words in the Gospel of Matthew and the last
verses in the 11th chapter. And we read there, let me just
read them to you. It's a wonderful statement, a
wonderful truth. Come unto me, verse 28, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek
and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. So there's only rest in Christ. There's only rest in forgiveness. for I am meek and lowly in heart
and you shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy
and my burden is light. It's to be yoked to Christ, it's
to be joined to Christ, it's to walk with Christ. It's a wonderful
favour and a wonderful blessing to unworthy sinners and to realise
that the glorious Saviour was offered to bear our sins, every
sin. How we fail again and again to
realise that it was our sins that caused the Lord of life
and glory to come down into this sinful world and to die that
sin atoning death upon the cross at Calvary. But if it had not
occurred, we would never be saved. Praise God today for that great
salvation. Because he comes and says that
look for him, shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. It's a lovely word, isn't it?
salvation, to realize that we are saved, saved through the
blood of Christ, redeemed by that death that Christ died on
our behalf when he suffered, as the hymn writer tells us,
all incarnate God could bear with strength enough and none
to spare. Don't forget those two occasions
in Gethsemane in Calvary when he asked, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. And then on the cross at Calvary,
my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? He bore the curse
instead. So we have this wonderful statement. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered, only needed to be offered once. It satisfied the holy demands
of the holy law of God to bear the sins of many. You and I know
that our sins were borne away cleansed through the precious
blood of Christ and unto them that look for Him. May we be
amongst those looking for Him. He will appear. He shall appear. the second time without sin unto
salvation, and we shall be then united with the Saviour throughout
eternity. For his praise and indeed for
his glory. Amen.