Let us turn once again to the
Word of God. In the portion of Scripture that
we read, Hebrews chapter 9, and turning to the latter part, the
last verses of the chapter from verse 26 to 28. In verse 26 we read, But now, once in the end of the world, as He appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after it is 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. There then in the middle of that
26th verse we have that statement, Now once in the end of the world
hath he appeared. It introduces us of course to
the Gospel dispensation. It's speaking of that that is
prophesied of in the Old Testament, the last days, how many times
we find that expression in the writings of the Old Testament
prophets they speak of the last days or the day of the Lord's
great and dreadful is the day of the Lord says the prophet
Malachi and again in the prophecy of Joel the day of the Lord is
great and very terrible and who can how they speak of that day
that was to come and here we're introduced to the coming of that
time that is spoken of so frequently but now once in the end of the
world as he appeared the end of the world The American Presbyterian
commentator, T.V. Moore, who wrote commentaries
on those minor prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, he makes the statement
that the mission of Christ in the Old Testament is regarded
as a whole, from the manger of Bethlehem to the throne of judgment. from that first coming of Christ
then to his second coming, his return in power and glory. This is that that is referred
to here as the end of the world. And in this portion that we've
just read as a text this morning we see the reference both to
the first coming of Christ and also to the second coming of
Christ. In verse 26, But now once in
the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. And then at the end of verse
28 we read, Of them that look for him to whom he shall appear
the second time without sin unto salvation. And so in this portion
of scripture we have both Christ's first coming and also his return,
his second coming in power and great glory. And this morning
I want us to consider more particularly what he said here with regards
to that first coming, that first appearance of the Lord Jesus
Christ which ushered in these last days, or the Gospel dispensation,
that's the day in which we're living of course. It's that day
of the Gospel. Behold now is the accepted time
and behold now is the day of salvation. Turning then particularly
to the words that we have here in verse 28, 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."
First of all, his appearance, his appearance, in which we are
to consider something of who it was that appeared. We must
attend to the person then of the Lord Jesus Christ. and see
how there is a certain emphasis upon this appearing. As I said,
we have the word used there at the end of verse 26, he appeared
it says, he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself
and then the end of verse 28, unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time, without skin, unto salvation his appearance. And what was that appearance?
Well, he appeared as a real man as he came the first time, so
he will come the second time. The disciples assured of that
when the Lord ascended to heaven as we have it recorded there
in the opening chapter of the Acts. They were with him, they
beheld him ascend into glory after he had accomplished all
his great work and risen from the dead and ministered to them
for those 40 days after his resurrection as they saw him ascend to heaven
and the angels come and tell them quite plainly, assure them
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 manner of his ascending
so shall he be in his descending when he returns in power and
glory. And that first appearance of
Christ was one in which clearly the scriptures testified to the
reality of his human nature. It was not an apparition or a
phantom that appeared here upon the earth at the beginning of
these last days. And John, of course, is that
particular apostle who is constantly testifying to the reality of
Christ's human nature. Remember the opening words of
his first epistle? That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, that our hands have handled of the word
of life, how he appeals to the senses it's something we heard,
we heard him speak we saw him with our eyes, we touched him
his was a real physical presence here upon the earth and John
of course in many ways was the most intimate of the Lord's disciples
he was that favoured one who was there leaning upon the Lord's
breast when he instituted the Holy Supper and so he testifies
throughout and he is careful as he might to answer those who
denied the reality of the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ
that was one of those early heresies that crept in amongst those who
professed the name of Christ there were some who denied that
he ever was a real man and what does John say there in his First
Epistle, several times he asserts the truth of the Lord's human
nature. In chapter 4 and verse 3 in particular,
every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh, he says, is not of God. And this is that spirit
of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that ye should come and
even now already is it in the world. the spirit of antichrist
is that spirit that denies him the true human nature of the
Lord Jesus Christ what was his appearance? oh friends he appeared
as a man that word of God in the beginning was the word and
the word was with God and the word was God and the word was
my flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. This was no apparition, this
appearance that is spoken of here by the Apostle Paul. In
the end of the world as he appeared, not some phantom, but a real
man. Again, Paul tells us it was when
the fullness of the time was come that God sent forth his
son made of a woman, made under the law. He was made of a woman. He is that one who is the promised
seed of the woman, the promise that was given back in Genesis
chapter 3 when our first parents sinned in the Garden of Eden. And it was a woman who was first
in the transgression. And it is to be him who is the
seed of the woman who shall destroy all the works of Satan. He was made of a woman. And we need to mark the significance
of that statement. Oh yes, there is that that is
miraculous in his conception because he is to be preserved
from all the taints of Adam's sin and so the angel comes to
Mary there in Luke chapter 1 remember the Holy Ghost shall come upon
them the power of the Highest shall overshadow them therefore
also that Holy thing that shall be born of them shall be called
the Son of God that Holy thing that's the human nature and it's
a real human nature. I cannot emphasize it too much,
friends, that Christ's humanity is a reality. We rightly sometimes
have to contend for the truth of his deity. There are those
who deny that Jesus is God, the eternal son of the eternal father. There are those who deny that
truth, as you are familiar. I'm sure with such as the cults
like the Jehovah Witnesses they deny that he is God and so we
contend in the light of what is recorded in scripture that
he clearly is God. It's another truth that John
deals with and answers those who had fallen into that terrible
heresy to deny the deity. but in emphasizing the reality
of his divine nature we are not to lose sight of the truth of
his human nature he is as much a man as he is God he is his
real human nature this is the one who appeared in the fullness
of the time at the end of the world he appeared And his appearance, of course,
is unique. What a remarkable statement it
is that we have here now, once in the end of the world has he
appeared. In that sense it's never to be
repeated. Yes, he'll come again. He will
appear the second time without sin unto salvation, but that
first coming how significant it was. That's when he came to
accomplish all that was necessary in order to the salvation of
his people. Now, once, as he appears to put
away sin, it's never to be repeated. The work is done. The work is
accomplished. His appearance then, it's that
of a real man, and there is that that is unique about this particular
person. and the purpose of his coming
into the world now there were appearances of the Lord Jesus
Christ in the Old Testament there were those theophanies as they
are called and the Lord Jesus Christ did appear unto men in
the Old Testament he appeared to Abraham and we see that do
we not in what's recorded in the 18th chapter of Genesis when
Abraham is entertaining strangers. These three strangers appear.
But how does chapter 18 in Genesis begin? The Lord appeared unto
him in the plains of Mamre. This is Abraham. Here is an appearance
of the Lord. The Lord appeared unto him in
the plains of Mamre, and he sat in the tent door in the heat
of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and
looked, and there were three men stood by him. And when he
saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed
himself toward the ground, and he entertained them. As was their
wealth there in the east, he provides food for them. and then later we see how these
men depart or at least two of them in verse 22 the men turned
their faces from thence and went towards Sodom but Abraham stood
yet before the Lord observe what it says the men turned their
faces from thence towards Sodom but Abraham still stands before
the Lord, it says. And then, in chapter 19, there
came two angels to Sodom at even. And Lot sat in the gates of Sodom. And Lot seen them rose up to
meet them and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.
So, two of these strangers, these men that had appeared to Abram,
they go to Sodom and there they meet with Lot, but one of them
reminds and this is the one that Abram stands before he stood
yet before the Lord and the Lord speaks to him and tells him what
he is going to do with those wicked cities of the blind with
Sodom and Gomorrah and he is going to pour out his wrath upon
them but the significant thing is that it was the Lord he was
one of those three strangers that is the Lord Jesus Christ,
he says does he not in the course of his ministry in John chapter
8 your father Abraham rejoiced to see my guy and he saw it and
was glad and he is speaking not just there of Genesis 18 but
Genesis 22 when there in the mount Moriah where he had gone
with his son Isaac at God's command he was going to offer his son
but there was that provision made there was that ram that
was offered in the stead of Isaac but in all of this you see it's
the angel of the Lord who comes and appears there are these theophanies
in the Old Testament and not only Abraham, others, Joshua
read the end of Joshua chapter 5 where the captain of the host
of the Lord appears on to Joshua. But who is that one, the captain
of the host of the Lord? Again, it's Christ, it's a theophanant.
It's an appearance of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament before
the days of his incarnation. Again, when we come into the
book of Judges. In Judges chapter 6 we read of the angel of the
Lord appearing on to Gideon. And then later in chapter 13
we read of Manoah and his wife, the parents of Samson. And there
is an angel of the Lord who comes and appears to them. Who is the
angel of the Lord in these appearances in Judges? It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. What does Manoah say to his wife
there in Judges 13, 22, we shall surely die because we have seen
God. It wasn't just an angel, it's the
angel of the Lord, it's Christ. We shall surely die because we
have seen God. Oh, who can abide the day of
his coming, when he appears? He appears then in Theophany's
year in the Old Testament. We see him of course in the Old
Testament in all the types, all those wonderful types and figures. Here in the chapter that we read
concerning the tabernacle we are told in verse 9 which was
a figure for the time then present. Tabernacle was a figure Day, verse 24, the figures of
the throne. There are these types in the
Old Testament and the tabernacle was a type and the sacrifices
that were offered there in the tabernacle and then in the temple,
these were all types and they are all pointing of course to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul to the Colossians speaks
of a shadow of things to come. But, he says, the body is of
Christ. They are shadows. Christ is the
body. They are types. Christ is the
antitype. Christ is the fulfilment of all
these things. But then, in the Old Testament,
he appears, as it were, in types and in figures. as I said the tabernacle and
then the temple of course is the most remarkable type of the
Lord Jesus and that's what we see in this chapter. It begins
by speaking of the first covenant that is the covenant that was
given to Moses and the ordinances of the divine service and he
speaks of a worldly sanctuary that means a sanctuary or a tabernacle
that belongs to this world but then he goes on to speak of Christ
as that perfect tabernacle in verse 11 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
the tabernacle there in the Old Testament is a type the temple
is a type as I've said before Remember Advanian in that great
little work of his on Solomon's Temple, spiritualised, points
out that the temple is a type of Christ. And the tabernacle is a type
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we think of our own bodies,
are not these bodies spoken of in scripture as tabernacles those words of the apostle in
chapter 5 of 2nd Corinthians we know that if our earthly house
of these tabernacles were dissolved we have a building of God and
house not made with hands eternally in the heavens for in this, that
is in this present body we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed
upon with our house which is from heaven if so be the being
clothed we shall not be found naked for we that are in this
tabernacle do grow being burdened not for that we would be unclothed
but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life
if our human body then is spoken of as a tabernacle can we not
see that that human body that human nature of the Lord Jesus
Christ is also a tabernacle a more perfect tabernacle and the Old
Testament tabernacle was but a type but now you see we have
the fulfilment Christ has appeared and he has appeared as a real
man made of a woman made under the law now once in the end of
the world as he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself well we said that appearance directs us to his
person but we also hear read of the great work that the Lord
Jesus Christ came to do and what was that work? it was the work
of atonement He has appeared, it says, to
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. It's interesting
to observe the language that the Apostle uses here. In verse
26 he says, Now once in the end of the world has he appeared. And then in verse 28, So Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of men. He appeared once and he was once
offered. Again verse 25, nor yet that
he should offer himself often as the high priest enters into
the holy place every year with blood of others. No, that offering
of the Lord Jesus Christ, you see, it's one offering. He has
once appeared, and as I said that appearance is unique. There
is none like it. And He has appeared once to make
one offering. He was once offered for sins. Here we are reminded, are we
not, of the great purpose of Christ's appearance. Why was
it that Christ came? What was the reason for God sending
him into the world in the fullness of the time. It was that he might
make the one sacrifice for sins. He was born to die. He was born
to die. And he became obedient, did he
not? And obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. What was a man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, experienced? that cruel death, which was the
punishment of sins, and sins not his own. Look at verse 27, it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Christ has
once died, and in dying what has he endured? He has suffered
judgment. that judgment that was due to
the sins of his people it was visited upon the Lord Jesus Christ
but this was the purpose of his coming he came to make atonement
for the sins of his people he came to reconcile the sinner
to God to bear in his own person that that was there just as earth
the punishment of their sins Now with regards to this work
of the Lord Jesus Christ and particularly that great atoning
death, we can observe a number of things, three things concerning
his work. First of all, do we not see here
that his death was a voluntary death? His death was a voluntary
death. There in verse 26 we read of
the sacrifice of himself. The sacrifice of himself. In other words, he sacrificed
himself. Men didn't have the power or the authority
to sacrifice him. He was a voluntary death. And
the Lord says as much. There in John 10.17, Therefore
doth my Father love me. Therefore doth my Father love
me because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. How emphatic is the language
of the Lord there. Men were unable to take him.
You know, and we see it so clearly, we've referred to it several
times previously, when they come to arrest him there in the garden
of Gethsemane. Judas, of course, is the betrayer
who leads them to him. Judas is so familiar with the
place. And we're told there in John
18, Jesus therefore knowing all things which would come upon
him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered
him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. And Judas also which betrayed
him stood with them. As soon as he had said unto them,
I am he, they went backwards and fell to the ground. Remember the significance of
the words here in verses 5 and 6. The pronoun here, both in
verse 5 and verse 6, is in italics. In other words, the translators
have introduced the pronoun literally. When Christ answers them, he
says, I am, in verse 5. They answered, Jesus said unto them, I am. And Judas also which betrayed
him stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am, they went backward and fell to the ground. They
couldn't touch him. They couldn't lay a finger upon
him. They fell from him. They didn't fall down before
him in obeisance to worship him. They fell back. In a sense they
are repulsed, they are before Dayatan. And he puts himself
into their hands, his sacrifice, his death as voluntary. The sacrifice
of himself. And then secondly, with regards
to this atoning death, we have to observe how it is clearly
set before us here as substitution It's a substitutionary death.
Verse 28, Christ was once offered to bear the sins of men. He bared the sins of men. And now, this is emphasized,
it's substitutionary death. There's no cause of death in
Islam. the soul that sinneth it shall
die, otherwise he would have sinned his death and this is
a sinless man as we have seen he was sinless even in his conception
that holy thing Mary was told, that holy thing that shall be
born of them his sinless human nature, he has no taint of Adam's
original sin and in his life he is holy and harmless and undefiled
and separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens
how can he die? he dies to atone for sins not
his own do his own self bear our sins in his body on the throne it's substitution and we have
it declared of course so Remarkably there in the 53rd chapter of
Isaiah's prophecy, Surely he hath borne our grief, says the
prophet, and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our pleas
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and
the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Lord Christ is in the sinner's
place. He hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Sin for us. How was Christ made
sin for His people? Well, sin was upon Him, though
sin was not in Him. There was no sin in Him. But
the sins of His people lied to His child. Their sin was imputed
to them. There was no sin inherent in
Him. He was sinless. It was the imputation, the reckoning
of the sins of his people, to his account. That's substitution. He's free,
he's free from all sin. There's no sin in him, no sin
inherent, but sin imputed to him. In his work then we see that
he's atoning death, he's a voluntary death, It's a sacrifice of himself. He sacrifices himself. It's a
substitutionary death. Christ was once offered to bear
the sins of men. And then, the third thing with
regards to this work, this atoning death that he dies, it is a limited
atonement. It's a particular redemption. We are particular baptism. Here
it is, friends. Here is the very centre, is it
not, of the Gospel, that Christ actually accomplished something
when he died upon the cross. He didn't just die to make salvation
a possibility for all, he died to make salvation a certainty,
and a certainty for some, and that's from those that were given
to him of the Father. As it is appointed unto men once
to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of men. It is appointed unto men to die. All men must die, but Christ was offered to bear
the sins of men. None of all men but many out
of all men. If we go back to chapter 2 and verse 9 we read
this, we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour that he
by the grace of God should taste death for every man. The Lord Jesus Christ by God's
grace tightly decked, it says, for every man. But who is every
man? Who is the every man spoken of
there in that 9th verse? Well if we read on we discover
who every man is. Verse 10 For it became him for
whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many
sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he
is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren, In the midst of the church will I sing praise
unto them. And again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, behold, I and the
children which God hath given me. We see then quite clearly in
those following verses just who every man is. In verse 10, it's
many sons. Many sons. Many, just as we have
it here in verse 28, Christ was once offered to bear the sins
of Menelik. Every man then is Menelik. That's a multitude. But then
we are told something more with regards to these people. In verse
11 there, in chapter 2, they are referred to as the sanctified
and brethren. It was the sanctified, those
who were set apart. That's the basic meaning of the
word, to sanctify, to set apart. Were they not set apart in the
eternal councils of God? Were they not appointed to salvation?
Were they not chosen in Christ, before the foundation of the
world? In that sense they are sanctified and they are his brethren. and then he goes on in verse
12 then in chapter 2 to speak of them as my brethren and the
church and then again at verse 13 they are the children he says
that God gave me behold I and the children that God gave me
these are the ones that Christ came to die for We do sometimes
have that expression as we find it in that 9th verse of chapter
2. By the grace of God he tasted
death for every man. It's a multitude. But it's not
all, and suddenly all without distinction. We see those who
are to be identified with that multitude that Christ came to
save. They are the sanctified, they
are the brethren of Christ, they are the children of God. In fact,
what are they? They are believers. They are
believers. That's what we see here, is it
not? At the end of verse 28, unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Here is the mark of those that
Christ came and offered himself for he offered himself for the
sins of men and now those who look for him and now we have
to look to ourselves then this morning are we those who are
looking to him or do you really look to him
as we have it here in chapter 2 looking on to Jesus looking wise from every other
object looking only on to Jesus remember how unique he is He
is the only Savior. And what does it say there in
that second verse of chapter 12? He is the author and the
finisher of our faith. Or you say to me you desire faith,
you desire to know that you have an interest in this great work
that the Lord Jesus Christ came to accomplish. Or you want to
know that you have a part in that appearance Now once in the
end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. You say, oh you want to have
that knowledge, that assurance that you have an interest in
what Christ has done, why he appeared and the great work of
atonement that he came to accomplish. You want five? You haven't got five. Oh friends,
I know what it is to be in that very spot. To want faith, have
no faith. Oh yes, in a sense to have a
certain sort of faith, a natural faith, an historic faith, but
not saving faith. When God deals with us, you see,
and makes us to see and feel what we are as sinners, and what
is at the root of our sin, what's a sin which so easily be said
that it's ominous? Oh, could I but believe, then
all would easy be I would, but cannot, Lord, relieve. my help
must come from the it's looking on to Jesus the author and finisher
of our prayer that's where we have to look in spite of all
that we are we have to look to him and cry to him and call upon
him is he not that one who was appeared and appeared to this
end that he might save sinners oh God grant that we might be
those then who are looking and watching and waiting and desiring
that He would come and appear for us and come and save us. 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. May the Lord grant
His blessing on His work.