Let us turn again to God's word
and to that portion that we were considering this morning at the
end of the 9th chapter in the epistle to the Hebrews Hebrews
chapter 9 reading in verse 26 through to the end of the chapter
Paul writes that now once in the end of the world as he appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and as he disappointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of men. And unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. Hebrews chapter 9 and verses 26, 27 and 28. And here of course we have mention of the
coming of Christ, those two comings. In verse 26 we are told how once
in the end of the world He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself and we considered something of that first appearing
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the uniqueness of that event. Now, once we know and we said
this morning that there were those appearances in the Old
Testament, there were those who saw Christ, those to whom He
was pleased to manifest Himself, and amongst them He appeared
to Abraham. We consider those words in chapter
18, how the Lord appeared unto Abraham in the plains of Mamre,
and those three strangers, suddenly arrive and he entertains them
and then subsequently we read that they set their face to go
to Sodom but Abraham continues before the Lord and then in chapter
19 we have the two angels who come to Sodom and are met by
Lot and yet there were three and that third one is none other
of course than than the Lord who appeared to Abraham and there
at the end of chapter 18 we see Abraham pleading with the Lord
concerning that of the Lord's purpose to do in the destruction
of those wicked cities of the plague, the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah. It was the Lord who appeared
to him. These strangers, they were some who entertained angels
unawares were taught. were not only angels, the angel
of the Lord, it was none other than the Lord Jesus. There were
those appearances then, those theophanies as they are called,
when before the days of his incarnation Christ appeared to men and not
only to Abraham, we also mention the experience of Joshua there
in the end of chapter 5 in the book of Joshua and again when
we come to the book of Judges we read of of men like Gideon
and Manoah, to whom the angel of the Lord also appeared. He appeared then in the Old Testament,
but now here we have an appearance that is so different. Now once,
in the end of the world, he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. how Christ has come as that One
who is the fulfilment of course of all that was foreshadowed
and prefigured there in the Old Testament. We read this ninth
chapter this morning and observed how that in the opening verses
the Apostle speaks of the first covenant, the covenant made with
Moses and the ordinances of divine service and that worldly, that
earthly sanctuary the tabernacle where in they worshipped God
and that was a figure verse 9 a figure for the time then present in
which were offered both gifts and sacrifices it was a figure
of him that was to come verse 11 that Christ being come and
high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building
and the tabernacle was The type then of the human nature of Christ. He would come and he would tabernacle
amongst men in a human body. God manifest in the flesh. And we sang that lovely hymn
just now with Charles West. I do like that opening verse
of 1076. Jesus in whom the Godheads rise
being forth with mildest majesty, I see Thee full of truth and
grace, and come for all I want to Thee. O do we see Him, the Godhead, in mildest rays,
O the majesty of God, and yet O the meekness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the tenderness of that ministry that he exercised
as a man here upon the earth. And ultimately, of course, he
comes to make that great sacrifice. That one sacrifice for sin, that
was the purpose of his coming. That was the reason why the Father
sent him, was it not? There once in the end of the
world he appeared to put away sin. He comes to make an end
of sin. And how does He make an end of
sin? By suffering in the room and in the stead of His people. The uniqueness of that one great
sacrifice that He offered for sins forever. We go over to chapter
10 there, verse 10, by the which we are sanctified through the
offering of the body. of Jesus Christ once for all. And then verse 12, this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God. One sacrifice for sins forever. He has made that offering once
and for all. All is finished, all is complete. He has accomplished all that
is necessary in order to the salvation of his people. And so having finished the work
that the Father gave him to do, the Father raises him from the
dead and then receives him into heaven. He is raised and then
he ascends. And where has he entered? Well
we are told here, are we not, in this 9th chapter at verse
12, He has entered into the Holy
Place. By His own blood He entered in
once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. That Holy Place which is Heaven,
the very presence of God is where the Ascended Saviour now is in
all His glorified humanity. And it is from that very place
that he shall yet appear again, he is to come again not just
his first coming then that first glorious appearance but his coming
again is spoken of here in verse 28 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 and so I I
want us tonight to consider something of what he said here with regards
to his return from heaven. He has entered once into the
holy place and he is to return from that same place, he is to
come again. We have the promising of his
return, his second coming. Now, let us observe the fact
that after the ascension there were those many times when the
Lord Jesus Christ did appear from heaven. As he appeared before
the incarnation in those theophanies in the Old Testament, so we see
Christ appearing to various individuals, revealing himself to certain
men and women throughout the New Testament. Remember the first
martyr, Stephen, and Stephen's experience when he comes to die
as he lays down his life for the testimony of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Doesn't Christ at the end appear
unto Stephen? We have the record there in the
7th chapter of the Acts, a great defence, a great apology that
Stephen makes for his faith as he bears testimony to the Lord
Jesus Christ and we are told there at the
end of that chapter verse 55 concerning Stephen he being full
of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory
of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and said
behold I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on
the right hand of God then they cried out with a loud voice and
stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord and cast
him out of the city and stoned him and the witnesses laid down
their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul and
they stoned Stephen calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit. He saw him. Christ appeared to
him after his ascension. He sees the heavens open. He
sees the glory of God. He sees the ascended Christ,
that one who is at God's right hand ever interceding for his
people. and Saul was there, Saul of Tarsus
witnessed these things and the strange thing is of course that
it was not long after that that we see how the Lord also appeared
to that man. There at the gate of Damascus
did not Saul of Tarsus also see something of the glories of the
Lord Jesus? We only have to move on a couple
of chapters there in the Acts, chapter 9 and we have the record
written by Luke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and this is
what Luke says concerning Saul as he journeyed he came near
Damascus and suddenly there shined round about him a light from
heaven and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto
him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me? Not so much was he a
persecutor of Stephen and other of those early Christian believers,
he is a persecutor of Christ. Why persecutest thou me? And
he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the priest. So he was goaded. in his very
conscience and he is under conviction of sin and the Lord appears to
him and we have it recorded there and of course it is not only
recorded in the ninth chapter he repeats it later when he is
bearing his testimony in Jerusalem in chapter 22 the event is recounted
there and not only in chapter 22 of Acts but also in chapter
26 before King Agrippa three times, three times is that record
to be found in the Acts concerning the experience that that arch-persecutor,
Saul of Tarsus, and the Lord appeared to him. He appeared to him without sin
unto salvation. He appeared as his Saviour. And
Paul, remember when he writes to the Galatians, speaks of his
experience. And he knew from whence that
revelation came. It was of God when it Please
God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me. All friends, there are these
appearances, these revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
was Stephen's experience, it was Paul's experience, it was
the experience of John. John there exiled on the Isle
of Patmos. We have recorded there in the
opening chapter of the Revelation what he witnessed. When he turns,
he hears the voice and he turns and what does he see? In the
midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man,
clothed with the garment down to the foot, girt about the paps
with the golden girdle, his head, and his hairs were white like
water's white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire,
and his feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in the furnace,
and his voice as the sound of many waters, and he had in his
right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged
sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength,
and when I saw him." He saw him as an appearance of Christ, the
glorified Saviour. When I saw him, John says, I
fell at his feet as dead. This is the Apostle who was so
familiar. The Apostle, as we said this
morning, was there at the Last Supper, leaning upon the Lord's
bosom. Oh, I knew him. he knew him as
he says in his epistle that which was from the beginning which
we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked
upon and our hands have handled of the word of life for the life
was manifested and we have seen it but now he sees Christ glorified
and he fell at his feet he fell at his feet he says as dead but what does the Lord say? he
laid his right hand upon me saying unto me fear not I am the first
and the last I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am
alive forevermore amen and have the keys of hell and of death
he appeared he appeared to John there on the isle of Patmos and
I say these friends does not the Lord Jesus Christ in a spiritual
sense, appear to his people. He appears to his people. If
we are those who are the saviour of the Lord, are we not those
who have seen something of Christ by the eye of faith? Now we have
to examine ourselves, you see, as to the very basis of our religion,
the ground of our hope. What is the ministry of the Holy
Spirit? Well, Christ speaks of the Spirit
much, of course, in those chapters in John, those valedictory discourses. And what does He say? I will
not leave you comfortless. He says, I will come unto you.
And how does the Lord come unto His people? Does He not come
by and through that gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit? is to come to us as the Spirit
of Christ. And He comes to reveal Christ. When the Comforter is come, Him
I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth,
which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me. Thou be it when He, the Spirit
of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth, For he shall
not speak of himself. All that self-effacing ministry
of the Spirit. He is God the Holy Spirit. But
here we have the economy of Christ. The outworking of that great
purpose of salvation. And in that he comes as the Spirit
of Christ. He shall not speak of himself.
But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will
show you things to come. He shall glorify me, says Christ. Speaking of the Spirit, he shall
glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto
you. He comes to be the revealer of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is, I say, a spiritual appearance
of Christ. This is the great day, is it
not, of the Holy Spirit. He is coming instead on the day
of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit. And we live in
such a day, the acceptable time, the day of salvation, or do we
look to the Spirit to come and to reveal Christ to us? We might
know something of what it is to have this blessed appearance,
we don't see onto salvation how important it is friends if
we have a religion that we know that that religion is the right
religion it is Christ himself who comes to us who makes himself
real in our souls experience now Having said these things, and
these are precious truths, yet we have to acknowledge that what
we have here at the end of this chapter, this second appearance,
is not so much those spiritual revelations, though those spiritual
revelations be vital and important to us, but to recognize that
what is spoken of here is Christ's physical return It is the second
coming. We have in these verses the first
coming of Christ. Now once in the end of the world
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,
yes, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second
time without sin unto salvation. It is the second coming then
of the Lord Jesus Christ. that word that was given to those
disciples in Acts chapter 1 as they beheld the Lord going up
ascending from earth to heaven the angel said this same Jesus
which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like
manner as you have seen him go into heaven in the same manner
as he ascended in that same manner shall he descend and he shall
appear again at the end of the time. And so we must take account
of that. And here we see that it concerns
the faith of those who are true Christian believers. Unto them
that look for him it says. Unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Are we those
who are looking for Him? Are we those who are looking
to Him? Isn't that one of the marks of faith? Look unto me,
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and
there is none else. There is to be that look, that
looking away from ourselves. Remember we have it, as we said
this morning, there in the second verse of chapter 12, looking
onto Jesus, looking away. Remember the force of the particular
verb that is used there by the apostle, it has that idea of
taking the eye off every other object. It's that singleness
of sight, that looking to one thing only, looking away, looking
only onto Jesus. The author and finisher of our
faith. He is the one that we have to
look to first. He is the author of faith. We cannot give ourselves faith.
Many imagine that they can. Many love to talk of duty, faith
and the like, but it's a nonsense. When the Lord takes us in hand
and begins to instruct us and to show us what we are, do we
not learn then that sin which so easily besets us, that awful
unbelief, that accursed unbelief? It was the sin of our parents
in the Garden of Eden, was it not? What was the sin of Adam
and Eve? Unbelief. Unbelief. And that's what we're
born in, unbelief, dead in trespasses and in sin. We cannot of ourselves
believe it's looking on to Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. Those who look to Christ alone
for their salvation are the same who are also looking for his
second coming. If we are looking to Christ,
are we not also looking for his coming again? unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. Are we looking? Are we longing? Are we yearning for his coming,
for his appearing? To such, of course, it is a most
blessed hope. It is a most blessed hope that
they have. The return of Christ. Paul says it, does he not? Titus
2 verse 13, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. so little is said today of his
coming again of his return in power and great glory and yet
Paul speaks of the Christian there that one who has faith
that one who has faith in Christ also has hope in Christ looking
for that blessed hope what is the Christian's blessed hope?
oh it is that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return the
glorious appearing the glorious appearance of the great God and
our Saviour Jesus Christ. Them that look for him, for to
such he shall appear. I read those verses there at
the end of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, where
the apostle speaks of that return. The Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them. in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. Oh, there's comfort you see.
There's hope in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
the great hope of the Christian. But there's comfort. There's
a comfort one another that that blessed, that glorious prospect
of the Lord is going to come. Are we looking? Well, we have
to look to ourselves, do we not? We have to examine ourselves.
What does it mean to be looking? What does it mean to come into
this text? The text is before us on the page of scripture,
but does this text come to us? Do we enter into the text? Unto
them that look. What does it mean to look? Well,
I want to mention at least four things involved with looking.
First of all, where there is this looking, there is a love.
A love to Christ's return. Oh, we love the prospect of his
coming again. That was Paul's blessed hope,
was it not? In the in the second letter that he
writes to the Thessalonians. He says something like this,
I think it's It's 2nd Timothy, I think. 2nd
Timothy. It's the very last, of course,
of his epistles. There is the Apostle now, at
the end of his days, and this is very much his valedictory
letter, and he says this in 2 Timothy 4 verse 8. Henceforth there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appealing. All them also that love his appealing. Is that you? Is that me? or do
we love that prospect that the Lord himself is going to return
and he is going to return in power and great glory he is going
to usher in the end of all things he is the one to whom the father
has committed all judgment and upon his return he will sit upon
his great throne and he will divide the sheep from the goats
we love the prospect We love the prospect. In fact, we love
that prospect so much that we long for it. This is the other
mark of what it means to be looking, you see. It's not just a laugh
at the prospect of the Lord's coming again, but there's that
longing for it. Among the very last words that
we find here in the scriptures, there in the book of the Revelation,
We read this, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come Lord Jesus
Christ. Isn't that indicative of a longing
for Him? That He will come. He has promised
to come. He has said surely I come. And
He has added an Amen to it. So be it. Or do we say, even
so come. We long. We long for his coming,
for his appearing the second time. But then thirdly also where
there is this looking there will at the same time be a patient
waiting for his appearing. We know not the arrogance. As we read there in chapter 5
of 1 Thessalonians, of the times and the seasons brethren, you
have no need that I write unto you for yourselves know perfectly
that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night.
We know not. When the Lord is to return and
we have to wait. And we have to wait patiently. And it's not easy to wait patiently. Paul, again writing to the Thessalonians,
says, the Lord direct your hearts into the patient waiting for
Christ. He is praying for them, that
the Lord would help them, that the Lord would so direct them,
that they might indeed wait for that appearing again of the Lord
Jesus Christ, His second coming. because they were those of course
who were so ready to scoff and Peter speaks of those scoffers
in 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 3 knowing this verse
that they shall come in the last day scoffers walking in their
own last and saying where is the promise of his coming For
since the Father fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of creation. Oh, how they will scoff and ridicule
those who are looking and longing and waiting for the appearing
of the Lord Jesus Christ. have the believers in need, that's
grace of patience, to wait patiently for His appearing. And so there are these various
marks that we can see with regards to those who are spoken of in
the text, those that look for Him. They love the thought of
His return, or they long for His coming. And yet they have
to patiently wait for it, they know that the times and seasons
are not in their hands but in the hands of God. But here is
the vital thing, the fourth thing, and the great thing for us friends
is that preparedness, to be prepared for the coming of Christ, prepared
for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now remember Christ himself,
teaches the importance of that during the course of his ministry
there at the beginning of Matthew 25 he tells that parable the
parable of the ten virgins and five were told were wise and
five were foolish five were wise, five were foolish the solemn
passage of scripture is it not? and part of the ministry there
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself what does he say? well those
who were the wise virgins were the ones who were prepared and the foolish five were the
unprepared five of them were wise and five were foolish and
they that were foolish took their lamps and they took no oil with
them but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps
while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept
and at midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom cometh
go ye out to meet him they all arose and they trimmed their
lamps And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil,
for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, Not so,
lest there be not enough for us. But go ye rather to them
that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the
bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to
the marriage, and the door was shut. They went in with him to the
great marriage supper of the Lamb, and the door was shut. And then they come, Lord, Lord,
open to us. But he answered and said, Verily
I say unto you, I know you not. Watch ye therefore, for ye know
neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. All the vital importance you
see of that preparedness, ready for His coming, looking and watching
and waiting for His appearance. Oh, and I'm told again in the
Revelation, Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him. Yes, all are going to see Him,
and all will see Him as that One who is the Great Judge of
men. Verse 27, it is appointed unto
men once to die, but after this the judgment. And we know from
John chapter 5 that the Father has committed all that judgment
into the hands of the Son. The Father judges no man. He
is to sit as the great judge and to make that final separation
and every eye shall see him, thus see him as judge. All but
those who are prepared. those who are waiting and looking
and longing for him those who are living by faith in him why
they shall see him there as that one who is also their saviour
unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time it
says without seeing unto salvation They'll see their salvation,
they'll see the perfection of their salvation when He comes
because He will present to the Father that church which is without
spots or wrinkle or any blemish at all. The work is complete. But friends, now we have to look
to ourselves if we would be such as are looking for His appearance
and look to ourselves and examine ourselves with regards to our
faith? Do we have the marks of that
faith that is truly the faith of God's elected? Amongst those
marks, all this love for the thought of His coming again,
this longing for Him, this patience waiting for His return, this
concern that we should be those who are numbered amongst the
wise virgins. All God's grants that we might
have grace whereby we understand something of the significance
of these two appearances. To know that we have an interest
in that first appearing, once in the end of the world, that
he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of men, to be those who are trusting then in
his finished work. Trusting in that precious blood,
that fountain that's been opened for sin and uncleanness. But also to be those who are
anticipating His coming again, His return. And you know, every
time we observe that Holy Supper of the Lord, we don't only remember
His first appearance. We also anticipate His coming
again, this do we see, in remembrance of Mary. so we remember his first
coming but we don't lose sight of his return is he not the one who tells us quite plainly
he shall not drink of that fruit of the vine until he enters into
his kingdom the great marriage supper of the Lamb. But there in the words of institution
we are reminded, are we not, that it is until he come. As often as you eat this bread
and drink this cup, he says, you do show the Lord's death
till he come. O God grant then that we might
delight in both his first coming, but also delight in his second
coming, his return from heaven, in power and great glory. The Lord bless his word to us.