If you would, let's turn in our
Bibles this morning to Hebrews chapter 9, the ninth chapter of the book
of Hebrews. Now, I have to nail this down
so that when I forget, you won't forget. This is our home page
now for this morning. And it has to do with three appearances
of Christ. Two that have already occurred
and one that could occur at any time. the second coming of our Lord
Jesus into this world that we anticipate. After we have prayer together,
I want to read you the whole chapter. I'm saying this to myself,
you ain't even supposed to be listening. I'm going to do it
with as little commentary as I can. So let us pray. Lord, thank you for letting us
gather in this place this morning. Thank you for the glory and wonder
of your holy word. Words from the lips of a triune
God who cannot lie, whose Word is the very essence of truth. Lord, we live in an age when the Bible is still one of
the most published books in all the world, but for the most part,
it is not read. And for about 99%, it is not
understood. People bring strange ideas from
what they've read in your book, and it has nothing to do with
Christ, but it's all about them. But your gospel is not all about
me or us or any other human being, except the human nature and divine
nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. That, indeed, is that wisdom
of which we've heard about in our Bible class this morning. Lord, we come... Sometimes we think the Lord's coming is imminent. soon to be. At other times we
perhaps view it from a more distant position and decide that certain
things have to occur before he can come, but I'm unacquainted
with what those things are and I don't believe they exist. Sometimes
your word reads in such a way as to set traps for people that
are smarter than anybody else. Namely, that brood and tribe
called the Pharisees. And you can drive them mad, as
you did when you were here on earth, if you please. But Lord,
what we're asking this morning, We are seeking to understand
what this book has to say about the Lord Jesus Christ and His
coming into this world, living for 30 some years, and
then returning to glory after He was raised and did raise Himself
from the dead. Lord, this subject ought to be of great
interest to all of us. Oh, I would that it were so.
Maybe I just think I have an interest and I really don't. Lord, that's scary. If we do not know you today,
Let not this day pass until we do. It is a divine work, a holy
work, not something that we can do for ourselves. So we plead with our intercessor,
the Lord Jesus, to grant us His presence in this place, not physically,
not literally, but spiritually speaking. we beg for your mercy,
we lift up by your grace the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus.
Amen. Alright, Hebrews chapter 9 verse
1, Then verily or truly the first
covenant had also ordinances of divine
service and a worldly sanctuary." Now, most of you were raised
to call this place right here the sanctuary. This ain't no
sanctuary. Well, unless you're not a sinner.
Now if you're not a sinner, you can make any place holy wherever
you go. But you're not holy, and neither
am I. Christ is our sanctuary. He's the only sanctuary there
is. He's the only hiding place for sinners. For there was a tabernacle made
in the Old Testament under Moses, The first wherein was the candlestick,
and the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. And there ain't a chair in the
place. Not one. Not a one. And after the second veil, the
tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, or the holy of
holies, which had the golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant,
this little box not much bigger than the top of this pulpit, this Ark of the Covenant overlaid
round about with gold wherein was the golden pot that had manna
and Aaron's rod that budded and the tables of the covenant, that
is the Ten Commandments. and over it the cherubim of glory
shadowing the mercy seat of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle according
to the service of God. But under the second went the
high priest once every year, not without blood, which he offered
for himself and for the errors of his people, of the people,
the Jewish people. The Holy Spirit thus signifying
or meaning that the way into the holiest of all was not yet
made manifest. which while as the first tabernacle
was still standing, which was a figure for the time then present,
in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, now listen to
this, that could not make him that did the service perfect. When a sinner came and offered
his worship to God, when he left, he's still a sinner. Let me see if I can read that
one more time. Which was a figure, verse 9,
of the time then present. in which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service
perfect as pertaining to the conscience, which stood only
in meats and drinks and various washings and carnal ordinances
imposed on them unto the time of reformation." Now, when is
the time of reformation? It is the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ into this world. The time of reformation. Verse 11. But Christ, being come,
and a 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, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by Christ's own blood, He entered into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us." Now, where did this
take place? Unless I've missed something
somewhere, there's no record in our Bibles that Christ ever
went in that tabernacle. But he went into the presence
of God, carrying his own blood necessary for the redemption
of his people. Verse 12 again, "...neither by
the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, Christ
entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of a heifer can sprinkle the unclean, sanctifies
to the purifying of the flesh, That's like going and washing
your hands and you use a certain kind of soap, you're not supposed
to have any germ on that hand. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without
spot to God, how much more shall Christ purge our conscience from
dead works to serve the living and true God? And for this cause,
He is the mediator of a new covenant. I know it says testament, but
it is a covenant. You'll see why in a moment. That
by means of death, this covenant, this last will
and testament, if you please, is not valid until the person
who makes it has expired and left this life. Then it is in
effect, and that's what we're being told. Verse 15, and for
this cause he is the mediator of the new covenant that by means
of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the first testament, the first covenant. What is that?
The first covenant. It's the covenant that God made
with the children of Israel with Moses on Mount Sinai. They behaved so saintly that
when Moses got down from the mountain, he just awarded them
everything he could find. No, if you think that's the case,
you don't know squat. Moses hadn't been gone many days
when they made a golden calf melted all their jewelry that
was gold that the Egyptians had profusely conferred on them just
to get them to leave their country. For the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the first testament or the first covenant, they which
are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Now, when it comes to our souls,
time is not enough. It must be eternal. You can't leave this world and
meet God without knowing Christ and worshiping Christ. Verse
16, for where a testament is, where a covenant is, there must
also of necessity, here it is, be the death of the testator,
the person making the will. Until he or she dies, when they do die, nothing can
be changed. for a testament is of force after
men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all while the
testator lives. Wherefore, neither the first
covenant was dedicated without blood, For when Moses had spoken
every precept to all the people according to the law, he took
the blood of calves and of goats, with water and scarlet wool and
hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying,
This is the blood of the testament which God has enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood
both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, and
almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without
the shedding of blood There is no remission. Verse 23, It was
therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens
should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these. Now I hope you have this verse
marked, verse 24. It is a very important statement.
For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands,
which are the figures of the true, but he's entered into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Who's us? Every poor sinner that's
resting in Christ alone is us. I told you about that little
store that was in the backwoods near where my wife and I were
born and raised. It was called Us's Store. Us's. And Us's don't meet everybody. Somebody owned that store, but
not everybody. Alright, 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, blood for others."
The priest is representing the people. All right, verse 26,
heads up, ears up. "'For then must he often have
suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once In
the end of the world. Now look at that word. You know
when a preacher comes down, he's going to preach on prophecy.
And he talks about the end times. Here's the end times. They've
already started. They've been going a long time.
Before any of us were ever born or heard from. Now once in the end of the world
has Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 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. Well, I know a good million people
that believe He died for everybody. But that ain't what this says.
And what do we do with statements like this that are all over our
Bibles? We better learn to understand what it's saying. God has a people
and those people are in Christ. And Christ came and saved those
people whether they know it yet or not. Men, as we live generation
after generation, God brings to himself in Christ those that
Christ represented and purchased in his death on the tree. So
Christ was once offered for sins. Yeah, offered to bear. Let me
read it again. 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. Now there are three appearances
of Christ. I want to take verse 26 And then
go back and take verse 24 and then hop down to verse 28. Verse 26. The very last, little more than the last line
in verse 26. Speaking of Christ's appearance. to put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. To put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. What did the dying thief do to remake his own life and history
in this world? He didn't do anything. He cried
out to the Lord Jesus Lord, when You come into Your Kingdom, save me. Let me go with You. And He does. He certainly does. Put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. Now He obviously Either that
or God is unjust. He obviously did not die for
all men. For if He had, all men of all
time, of every place, every tribe, every kindred, every tongue,
all without exception would have to be saved. God honors His Son. And our Lord undertook that awful
task of redeeming His people. But you need to chew on that
if you're not fully convinced of it. So Christ, verse 28 again, was
once offered to bear the sins of many. Now jump back to 26
and I'll see if I can stick with what I've got in front of me.
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world has he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Now this end of the
world, when our Lord spoke these words
in the Gospel accounts, It's been over 2,000 years ago. And this world's still standing.
How do you account for that fact? That God has an elect people
and some of them have not yet been born. And when the last
one is in the fold, this world is over with. It'll be burned
with fire. How did the Lord Jesus appear
in verse 26? This is the first time. Now, obviously, the Lord Jesus,
how He did this, I have no idea. But He talked to Moses, He talked
to David, He talked to a host of other people. Go to the 11th
chapter of Hebrews and, you know, it will start out with Abel.
in the garden, and right on through. How did He appear? He appeared
in what is called the Incarnation. God, in Christ, became a man. A perfect man, without sin. Not kin to Adam. Not at all. He was Adam's descendant. He would be born a sinner. And
that cannot be. You know why? Because Christ
is God. You and I wouldn't know how to
get out of the rain if it wasn't for God. Let alone figure out what we've
got to do to try to save ourselves. That's a pipe dream. It's not
a reality. So the second question about
verse 26 is, why did Christ appear? And it reads pretty simple. To
put sin away. Simply put it away. If that sin is under Christ's
blood, It's gone now and forever. Thirdly, how did He put sin away? It's
all right here in that verse. By the sacrifice of Himself. By His own voluntary, free will
sacrifice of Himself. Now God's will, my friend, is
free. But what He does has to honor
and glorify every divine attribute of His being, whatever that is. There are several versions of
it, probably still floating around here. One by Pink, and I can't
remember the other guy's name. Just amazing. Alright, back up
now to verse 24. For Christ is not entered into the
holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
truth, but unto heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. This appearance is Christ appearing
before God in behalf of His people. Now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Here are four wonderful, great
gospel pillars. Number one, Christ died. He died of His own volition,
His own will. He said it as plainly as words
can say it, no man takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. He's been knowing since there
was nothing to know. He's been knowing this before
there was ever a human race. Before there was ever a sinner. This is a glorious support. to uphold the gospel. Christ
died. He really died. Secondly, Christ is risen from
the dead. What does that mean? His sacrifice
is accepted. The Father says, it's done. The great transaction is done. Thirdly, Christ has ascended. Now, if He were not who He said
He was, and if He did not do what He said He did, and what
the Bible testifies to, then this cannot possibly be the case. He is risen because the sacrifice
is accepted. He has ascended to glory. This
is where He is now. This is the second appearance
of Christ. He has all honor and all power
and all authority. What more could you ask for?
What else is there? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Number four. Christ is interceding. He's representing His people.
He's praying for His people. And whatever He prays has to
be. I doubt I have time, but I don't
trust my brain. I ain't going to tell you where
it is, but you might realize it when I start to read it. Oh goodness me. There it is. Listen to these words. Father,
I will that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me, for
You loved Me before the foundation of the world." That is the explanation, or at
least one of perhaps many explanations in our Bibles as to why believers
die. Right now, that's the only way
to go to heaven is to die. But when this world is no more,
you know, there are going to be a lot of folks still here
on this earth when that happens. But there's one little tiny word
here. This is John 17, 24. He began
that statement, Father I will that they also whom you've given
me be with me where I am. And it's done. It's done. done completely, done forever. Now to verse 28 in Hebrews chapter
9. 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? That's this next appearance. He shall appear the second time. In part one, verse 26, we're
discussing our Lord's incarnation, and in verse 28, We are speaking
in this statement of Scripture that He shall appear a second
time, very much like He did the first time. And here's what we
have to look at in regard to this matter. This second appearance
on earth is in many respects similar to what took place when
our Lord first came into this world as an infant. Both are personal appearances,
both of them. Both are according to promise. My Lord, how many years passed
before Christ came and it's promise upon promise upon promise. The third similarity, Whether His first coming or His
second, it was unexpected by the vast
majority of people who live on this earth. I don't think I need to explain
that to you. We are born hating God. And if you ain't never hated
Him, you don't love Him. And neither do I. But I know one thing. This appearance
the second time is blessed to those who look for Him. Isn't that what the verse says? And unto them that look for Him,
shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation? Now we come to look at this a little bit differently. In those four things, we talked
about things that are similar. But here we talk about things
that are vastly different from each other. It is different indeed. His first coming was in absolute poverty. He was
born in a stable in a manger. different to the shore. But this statement says that
His next coming will be in glory. He will be
glorified and accepted by all who belong to Him. That, my friend,
is what we anticipate and hope for. The first coming had to do with
the cross. The second coming has to do with
His crown and His throne. In the first one, He died. But in the second one, He is
to judge. In the first one, He's the sin
bearer. All this second coming, the one
that we anticipate, is without sin. Totally, sinlessly perfect. Let's review these three verses. Hebrews chapter 9. Now we put the verses back in
their order. We start with 24. For Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands. This building or any other building.
Whether just a normal building or one
that's made to knock your eyes out. Doesn't matter. That's not where
Christ is. The Catholic diocese in Raleigh
has grown so much that they're building a humongous, whatever
you call it, but they're still lost. Lost. There's no gospel there. Nor would one be tolerated there. And there's plenty of Baptist
places in the same boat. Probably 98 or 99% of them, in
the state of North Carolina at least. And I'm sure what's here
is pretty much the rule of thumb elsewhere. Alright, verse 24,
Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands,
which are figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us. Verse 26, For then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world." Now that term, I tell
you one more time, is referring to Christ coming at Bethlehem
2,000 years ago. Preachers want to preach on the
end time. You better find out who the end time is. It's got to be verse 26. Yeah. For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the
world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. Verse 28. So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. Bless His name. And unto them
that look for him shall he appear the second time. Oh, what an
appearance that will be. Our sin will be gone. The slate is as clean as the
blood of Christ can cleanse it, and that's perfect. Unto them that look for him Shall
He appear the second time without sin unto salvation? Boy, you want me to keep talking
or something?