Turn with me back to Hebrews
chapter 9. Hebrews 9, we're going to begin
with verse 23. The reason I had Brother Randy
read that Psalm 50 was mainly because of the last verse of
that Psalm. The whole Psalm talks about the
glory of God in Christ. Salvation by God's grace in the
glorious person and the finished work of Christ. You see, salvation
is all about who Christ is and what he has done, what he has
accomplished. And the last verse of that psalm,
it says in verse 23, it says, whoso offereth praise glorifieth
me, and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will
I show the salvation of God. Now is that saying that salvation
is by works, that God will show you salvation if you do right,
if you do good works, order your, is that what that means? Conversation
means your walk, that's what it is. And it doesn't mean that
at all. To say that it would mean that
would be lift that verse out of the context of the whole Bible
and deny the rest of the book. What does he mean, order my conversation
right? It means to walk in the light
of the truth of God's gospel, which tells us that he saves
sinners like us, who cannot be saved by our works, that he saves
sinners like us by his grace through the blood of Jesus Christ,
the righteousness of Christ. And he said that's the ones whom
he shows salvation. Now the term salvation, the word
salvation, is a word that could also be translated by the Old
Testament name of Jesus, which is Joshua or Yeshua, as some
pronounce it in the Hebrew. Transliterated, obviously. And
that's what the name Jesus means, salvation. And so this morning,
I want to talk to you a little bit about these last verses here. The title of the message is Christ
Appearances Our Salvation. Salvation is to see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. When we speak of his face, we're
talking about his person and that which shines forth from
his person in his finished work. These verses here, beginning
in the last of Hebrews 9, tell us of three appearances of the
Lord Jesus Christ, all which involve his great work to fully
and finally save his people from their sins. These three appearances
is the salvation, the complete salvation and the security of
salvation for all whom Christ died. all who were given to him
before the foundation of the world. These three appearances
give us a full description of salvation, past, present, and
future. Maybe you've heard somebody preach
this salvation from the scriptures in this way. There is a sense,
you know, salvation, a lot of times, or to be saved, is described
in just about every tense of the English language. There is
a sense, if I'm saved, saved by the grace of God, not by my
works, saved by the grace of, that means it's a free gift,
folks. It means we can't earn it, we can't deserve it. It's
totally up to God. And if I'm saved by grace, there
is a sense in which I have been saved, And there's a sense in
which I am continually being saved. That doesn't mean an experience
now. That doesn't mean I do what the
religious world does, you know, in rededication. It means I'm
kept. I'm kept by the power of God. And then there is a sense
in which I will be saved in the end, speaking of our glorification.
And that's what these three appearances describe here. So they give us
a full description of salvation. Past, present, and future. They
set the parameters of the gospel and underline the way in which
we are to think of Christ and his work on the cross. What think
ye of Christ? You know, if you really want
to examine yourself, as the Bible says, examine yourselves, whether
you be in the faith, most people sort of think, well, that means
I'm to take personal inventory to see in some way if I measure
up. Have I done enough? Do I believe
enough? Am I sincere enough? But that's
not what that passage in 2 Corinthians 13 means when it says examine
yourselves to see whether you'd be in the faith. It means to
examine yourself to see if you're really Genuinely trusting the
true Christ of the Bible. Who He really is and what He's
done. Is He my only hope of salvation? Because if I'm looking anywhere
else, to anyone else, even to myself, to my works, my sincerity,
if I'm looking anywhere else, I'm not in the faith. Do you
understand that? If your hope and assurance of
salvation lies within yourself and not in Jesus Christ, the
author and finisher of our faith. We're not in the faith. That's
the way it is. And so the issue in self-examination
is this for me. What do I really think of Jesus
Christ? Who is He? What did He do for
me? Did He just make me savable if
I would do my part? Because if He did, He's not the
Christ of this book. You understand that? Is the matter
of the gospel that Christ did all he could, now the conditions
are upon me? That's not the Christ of this
book. That's not who he is and that's not what he did. And these
three appearances show us that. His appearance, all three of
his appearances, is the complete, full, and final salvation of
all his people. And it's all conditioned based
upon who he is, and what he has done, what he has accomplished.
Now let's look at these. Look at verse, let me read through
the verses first. He says in verse 23, he says,
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 hold onto that,
that's a little confusing if you don't read the context, but
I'll get back to it. Verse 24. For Christ is not entered
into the holy places made with hands. Christ did not enter into
that earthly tabernacle, what he's talking about, which are
the figures, the types, the symbols of the true tabernacle, which
is Christ himself. But he entered into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us. Now, that is actually
his second appearance. But it's put first because it
serves the lesson that the apostle is trying to teach here, saying
that Christ, his coming into the world and doing his work,
is the fulfillment of the tabernacle. He's the fulfillment of all the
types and the pictures and the shadows and the symbols of that
tabernacle, and they're abolished by way of fulfillment. And so
just like that high priest who entered into the holiest of all,
he went into an earthly tabernacle, into an earthly sanctuary with
the blood of animals. Well, Christ didn't do that.
He didn't go into an earthly sanctuary with the blood of an
animal. He went into heaven itself, into
the very presence of almighty God with his own blood. And that's
what he's teaching. So now he turns to actually the
first appearance. Look at verse 25. He says, nor
yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entereth
into the holy place every year with the blood of others. For
then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared. to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's his first appearance
there, to die on the cross. And then the last one, verse
27, as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this,
the judgment. So Christ once offered to bear
the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time. That is his first coming to die
for our sins, his second coming in glory. without sin unto salvation. Now, I know all that can be confusing,
but don't try to rack your brain over it all right now. Let's
just go into the scripture. The first appearance of Christ
was to put away sin. When he appeared on earth, that's
when he was born, and when he was conceived in the womb of
the virgin, and he took into union with his holy divinity,
a holy humanity. Walk this earth to do one thing.
to go to the cross and die for the sins of his people. Our sins
imputed, charged to him. And so this describes his appearing
openly, visible for all to see, not in secret. He didn't come
stealthily. He didn't come like a spy. It
was open to all people. The Bible says that even when
he was crucified on that cross, It was a public thing. There
was no scheme here. There was no hoax here. It was
all, it was in the sight of other people. Sitting down, they watched
him there, Matthew 27. And it said, Christ, he appeared
on earth publicly as God in sinless human flesh to offer himself
one time to do away with the sins of his people completely.
And that's the foundation, the basis and ground of our whole
salvation. It's the condition of our whole
salvation accomplished for us by Christ. He appeared to put
away sin. That's what he says in verse
26. But look back up at verse 25. Listen to this. He says, nor yet that he should
offer himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy
place every year with blood of others. Under the law of Moses,
There was a earthly tabernacle. And under that old covenant,
the law of Moses, that sinful human high priest entered into
the holiest of all, the very holy of holies, where the Ark
of the Covenant was, one time a year, as many times as he lived
as high priest. If he became high priest at 50
and died at 80, he entered that place 30 times, one time a year. He entered with the blood of
animals, the blood of a lamb taken off the altar of a burnt
offering. In other words, that's the others
he's talking about. Not his own blood. No high priest
sacrificed himself. And the blood offered unto God
had to be the blood of a spotless lamb. And you know the story
about the Passover. But look at verse 26. If Christ
had done that, If he was required to offer himself more than one
time, but many times, like that earthly high priest, for then
must he have often suffered since the foundation of the world.
He would have had to go in from the foundation of the world,
the beginning of the world, every year. If that repetition of that
sacrifice that God required was the way of salvation, Christ
would have had to offer himself many, many, many, many times. since the world began. Now why
is that? Well, because he's the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. He's the author and finisher
of a salvation that was given to his people before the world
began in light of Christ being the surety of the everlasting
covenant of grace before the world was created. But the salvation
of all God's elect in all times was conditioned upon one sacrifice,
one time, once for all, for all whom the Father had given him.
And that's what this is saying. But now, verse 26, but now once
in the end of the world, that's the end of the age, that's the
new covenant age, which began at his death, burial, and resurrection. But now in the end of the, once,
he says, now once. That's how powerful, how valuable,
how effectual Christ's one sacrifice for sin. All the blood of animals
slain under that old covenant many, many times by those human
high priests could never put away sin, could never bring forgiveness,
could never bring out righteousness for his people. But this one
sacrifice of this one person It did it all. Put away all the
sins of all of God's elect. All of his sheep. That's why
he said he laid down his life for the sheep. And so once in
the end of the age hath he appeared. To do what? To put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. Now think about it. Put away
sin. That's an amazing thing. The Bible said back here in verse
22 that without the shedding of blood, there's no remission
of sin, no forgiveness. Do you know without the death
of Christ, there is no forgiveness. Without the death of Christ,
there is no righteousness to stand before God. Without the
death of Christ, there is no spiritual and eternal life. And what does that teach you
when he says, without the shedding of blood? All the animal sacrifices
that were accomplished in the Old Testament, even before the
Old Covenant. Remember Abel, Cain and Abel? What did Abel bring as his ground
of worshiping God? He brought the blood of a lamb.
Now the blood of that animal couldn't bring forgiveness for
Abel, couldn't bring salvation for Abel, but what that blood
typified, the one that blood typified and pointed to and symbolized,
Christ. And Abel knew that. But what
was God teaching there when he says, without blood, there is
no salvation? He's bringing to the forefront
something that has been just about virtually lost in most
churches today. And that's this, God, when he
saves a sinner, he must be just. The sin debt must be paid in
full. In fact, if you go throughout
the Bible, the concepts of justice and righteousness are always
brought to the forefront of the gospel message. If I were to
ask you what is the most important truth of the gospel, most people
around here would say love. And let me tell you something.
I don't put down love. Love is part of it. But when
you speak of the love of God for his people, if you speak
of that love without justice satisfied by the God man, by
the Messiah, by the Lamb of God. If you speak of His love, His
mercy, His grace, all those things people love to hear about today.
If you speak of those without justice satisfied on that cross
to secure the salvation of all for whom He died, that's an empty
love, an empty mercy, an empty grace. It's not the gospel. That's what the whole thing's
about. And what did He do by His sacrifice? He put it away.
He put away sin. Now you think about that. That
means He did away with it. He appeared. He's the surety
of His people. That means He stands responsible
for our sin debt. Our sin debt was charged to Him.
It was taken from God's debt book and put on Christ. He is our substitute. He appeared
to stand in the place of His people. He became cursed for
us. He went under the wrath of God
for us. He cried, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? For us, for his people. And what
did he accomplish? He redeemed us. He paid the price.
That means he put away sin. Sin cannot be charged to the
people of God. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? They can never, they cannot perish
in their sins because their sins have been put away. That's why
this message today that God loves everybody and Christ died for
everybody, but if you don't do your part, you'll end up in hell.
Listen, if he's put sin away, it cannot be charged to me. It's Christ that died, there's
no condemnation. And that means this, if he puts
sin away, and sin cannot be charged to me, that means I have a righteousness
that answers the demands of God's law and justice. It's his, he
worked it out. I didn't have anything to do
with it, neither did you. God charged it to my account. And
if he's charged righteousness to my account, you know what,
that means he's gonna bring me to faith in Christ. and repentance
of dead works. He's gonna bring me under the
preaching of the true gospel, and I'm gonna be born again by
the power of God. He's gonna give me a new heart.
He's gonna put a new spirit within me. That's God's work. That's
his great work. He canceled the debt, which was
mine, but became his because God imputed it to him. The Bible
says in Hebrews 10, 14 that by one offering, He hath perfected,
He's completed, finished, fulfilled forever them that are sanctified,
them whom God set apart. Book of Daniel, it says He finished
the transgression. He made an end of sin. How did
He do that? By His death. By His first appearance. He brought forth everlasting
righteousness. by that one sacrifice. Look at
it, verse 26. To put away sin, how? By you
and him getting together and working this thing out? No. Put
away sin, how? By your believing? No. My believing
didn't put away my sin. I believe in Christ who put away
my sin. To put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And that's not just splitting
hairs. Well, let's look at his second appearance. Go back to
verse 24. Now, based upon his putting away the sins of his
people, it says here, for Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands. He didn't go into that earthly.
You do realize Christ had no right under the old law, the
law of Moses, to go into that tabernacle as a priest. He wasn't
from the right tribe in his humanity. Tribe of Levi, they were the
priest. Christ was from the kingly tribe,
the tribe of Judah. But they were types, they were
pictures and shadows of him. So he didn't enter into the holy
places made with hands, that earthly tabernacle or temple,
which are the figures of the true. They were pictures of the
true tabernacle, which is Christ. And when he appeared to put away
our sins, the Bible says in John 1.14, the word was made flesh
and tabernacled among us. But Christ, he went into heaven
itself now to appear in the presence of God. Now this describes his
present work for his people as our intercessor. Turn over to
Romans chapter eight. I quote this one all the time,
but look at it here and how it's put, how it's set up, how it's
ordered, the word of God. In Romans chapter eight, when
he says, verse 31, Paul, by the Holy Spirit up to this point,
has shown clearly and plainly and often how God saves sinners
based upon the one sacrifice unto death of Christ. His blood,
His righteousness imputed. And so he says in verse 31, now
look at Romans 8 31, what shall we then say to these things?
Now how are we gonna respond to this? Well, if God be for
us, who can be against us? And he says, he that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all, that is all his
people, How shall he not with him also freely, unconditionally,
without a cause, give us all things? In other words, he's
saying here, if Christ died for me, then God must give me all
things in salvation. He can't hold that back. And
he says in verse 33, look, who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Now, are we sinners? Yes. But God will not lay sin to our
charge. Why? Because he's justified. It is God that justifies. It's
God who forgave me. It's God who declared me righteous.
Based on what? Look at verse 34. Who is he that
condemneth? It is Christ that died. That's his first appearance.
Yea rather that is risen again. That's the success of his first
appearance. How do you know he put away sin?
Because he didn't stay dead. Sin demands death. The wages
of sin is death. When our sins were charged to
Christ, he had to die to pay the penalty. Righteousness demands
life. He gives his righteousness to
us. He had to come out of that grave because he paid the debt
in full. So it's Christ that died, yea
rather it is risen again. Now here's his second appearance,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. He intercedes, he's our mediator.
As long as Christ intercedes for his people, we're safe and
secure. Christ did not appear in the
Holy of Holies in that earthly tabernacle, but according to
the covenant of grace, the new covenant, he alone had the right
to enter into the holiest as the Lord, our righteousness,
our mediator. And again, that speaks of the
accomplishment of his sacrifice, the success which resulted in
his resurrection from the dead. Christ's appearance before God
gives us the right and liberty to appear before God based on
His blood. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Just
one page over from our text. And look at verse 19. It says, having therefore brethren
boldness. Now that word boldness there
means liberty. Free access. But it can also stand for a confidence. Confidently. Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest. Now, upon what ground? Upon what basis? Now, remember
I talked about examining ourselves? Well, most people have the idea. Whether they state it this way
or not, I heard a preacher preach this one time. He said, don't
you have a hard time praying when you don't have a good day?
And I thought to myself, well no, that's probably one of the
easiest times I have prayed. Or you've sinned this or done
that. Prayer is part of our entering
into the holiest, did you know that? We're coming before God.
When you pray, you come before God. Examine yourself, upon what ground,
what gives you the right to enter into the holiness in prayer,
for example? Well, I had a good day today.
Or I haven't sinned as much as I thought I did. Or I've done
better today. Well, is that what gives us right
and title to enter the holiest? Well, if it is, you're not in
the faith. Look at it, verse 19. Having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus. That's it, nothing else. Simple
as that. People will say, well, that's
too simple. It's gotta be more than that. No, no, it's no more
than that. But that's everything. That's
the putting away of my sins. That's my righteousness before
God. That's my life. The blood of Jesus. What can
wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
That's His satisfaction, the law and justice. That's why God
cannot charge me with my sin. He charged them to Christ and
He died for them. You say, well, what about the love of God? 1
John 4, 10, listen to it. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and did what? Sent his Son to be
the propitiation of our sins. What is a propitiation? It's
just as satisfied by the blood of Christ. There's no love from
God outside of Christ. There's no mercy of God outside
of Christ. There's no grace from God outside
of Christ. Outside of Christ, you stand
before God on your own, based on your own merits, your own worthiness, and if you
come before God in that way, you'll find you have none. Isn't
that right? You say, but I've been religious
all my life. That's not meritorious. I've tried to be the best I can
be. You know, the Bible says man at his best state is what?
Altogether what? Vanity. You know what that means?
It means worthless. Now, don't get me wrong. There is a need for us to be
moral people, to be kind, all of that. But what that verse
is teaching us is this. When it comes to salvation and
a right relationship with God, The ground of this, the worthiness
of this is not in me, it's all in Christ. You see that? We were talking about it before
the service. The Jews held the Pharisees in
high esteem. If you wanna get to God, follow
these men. They're the best of the best.
They're the ones, if they're not going to heaven, nobody is.
And what did Christ come along and say in the Sermon on the
Mountain? Matthew 5 20. He said, except your righteousness
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you
shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. You see, that's
what he's teaching us here. The death of Christ, his appearance
to die, his appearance in heaven. as the mediator of his people.
What does it teach us? It teaches us that we must have
a righteousness that we can't produce, no matter how good we
try to be. We must have Christ. Grace reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
So he says, verse 20 of Hebrews 10, by a new and living way which
he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his
flesh. This new and living way unto God, Christ consecrated
it, he worked it, he made it, he accomplished it for his people
through the veil, his flesh, his death, that's what that's
talking about. Verse 21, and having a high priest over the
house of God. See, he appeared as our intercessor
at the right hand of the Father. That's what Hebrews 9 says. But
here it says, having a high priest over the house of God, the household,
the family, the elect, the church, his sheep, let us draw near with
a true heart, a sincere heart. in full assurance of faith. Now
what is the full assurance of faith? It's the full assurance
of looking to Christ as the author and finisher of our faith. Having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, a guilty conscience,
a legal conscience. The sprinkling of the heart is
the work of the spirit to convict us of sin, show us the impossibility
of salvation, of entering into the holiest by our works and
driving us to Christ. pleading his blood and righteousness.
And our bodies washed with pure water, cleansed with the water
of the word. Look at Hebrews 9. Now here's
his third appearing. It's called the second time here
because it's his second coming. He's coming again. Verse 27,
as it is appointed unto men once to die, after that the judgment. Now that's true for everybody. This describes the future appearing.
He says, verse 20, so Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many. How many? However many he died
for. Not all without exception. And
unto them that look for him. That's who the many are. Those
who look for him. Not just looking for him to come
the second time. We're looking for him. I don't
know when he's coming again. It says, he shall appear the
second time without sin. You see, when he came the first
time, he bore the sins of the many. He bore our sins in his
body on the tree. Then he put away our sins by
his death. He arose again, ascended to the
Father, and appears in heaven for us as our intercessor. Now
he's coming back. But sin's been put away. The
second time, without sin, unto salvation. That's our final glorification
in His second coming. In His first appearance, He came
as our surety, bearing the sins of many. Again, not all, but
many. In His second coming, which is
His third and final appearance, He's coming, not bearing our
sins as He did in the first appearance, but without sin unto salvation.
Final glory. You know what that shows us?
It shows us the certainty of physical death. We're all going
to die. It's appointed unto men once
to die. Somebody told me one time, they said, well, that's
not right. Some of us will be alive when he comes back. We won't
die. Yes, you will. You'll be changed in the twinkling
of an eye. Changed from what to what? That's the equivalent
of death of this body. You can't exist eternally in
glory in this body. I hope not, anyway. We have a new body. This physical death is the consequence
of sin, but it doesn't necessarily mean eternal death. Because those
in Christ, what the Bible calls the second death, those who are
in Christ, they'll live forever in Him. Others will be damned
forever. So, the certainty of physical
death. This body, Paul said, is dead
because of sin. But it also shows us the certainty
of final judgment. You know, no one doubts the certainty
of physical death, or most people don't, but many deny the certainty
of final judgment. The appearing of Christ this
third time shows us that there's not only a life to live, a death
to die, there's also a judgment to face and an eternity to spend.
Physical death proves we're all sinners. The wages of sin is
death, but not just physical death. So the issue is this. What's
gonna happen to me when I face God at the judgment? Christ comes
again. Again, I don't know when. Maybe here in a few minutes,
maybe a hundred years, I don't know. I know he's coming. We're
to live in that knowledge. What's going to happen to me
at the judgment? Well, the Bible says that the
judgment is like this. He says that God has appointed
a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by
that man whom he hath ordained and that he's given assurance
unto all men and that he raised him from the dead. What's the
standard of judgment? It's righteousness. By whose
measure? By God's measure in Christ. Somebody
said, well, how good must I be to go to heaven? You must be
as good as God, as good as Christ, as righteous. How is that possible?
Only by his righteousness charged to my account, imputed to me. And who is this to? This appearance? Well, there is another appearance. When God the Holy Spirit brings
a sinner under the preaching of the gospel and gives them
life from the dead, a new heart, ears to hear and eyes to see,
then he appears to them in salvation. And who are they? Well, all whom
the Father gave him before the foundation of the world. They're
his sheep. They're the called of God. They're
the elect of God. Do you believe in the Christ
of the Bible? We have to say that because there's
so many counterfeits today. There are counterfeit Christ,
but there's only one true Christ. Do you believe in Him and rest
in Him as the Lord your righteousness? He's the only way that any of
us will pass the test or pass the judgment rather of God.