If you would open your Bibles
with me to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 9. We'll begin
our reading in verse 15. Hebrews chapter 9. And for this cause, he is the
mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the
death of the testator. For a testament is a force after
men are dead. Otherwise, it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament
was dedicated without blood. For Moses has 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 hath 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 shedding of blood is
no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of
things in the heavens should be purified with these, the heavenly
things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ
has not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us. 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. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. We'll end our reading there.
Thank God for his word. Let's bow together. Our God and Father, Lord, how
thankful we are that you've brought us here this evening, that you've
given us one more opportunity to hear the gospel of your dear
son. You've given us one more opportunity
to worship you, lift up praise to your name. And Father, I beg
of you that you send your spirit upon us, that you would enable
us tonight to hear word from thee. That we wouldn't just hear
the words and thoughts of men, but Father, that you speak to
the hearts of your people by your word, and that you'd enable
us to worship. We've gathered here together
this evening out of a dry and barren land. Out of all the responsibilities
of this life, we've come in tired and weary and worn. Father, we
pray you'd refresh us with your word. Speak to us, we pray. Don't leave us alone. And Father,
we're thankful for your many blessings, how you've blessed
this congregation over the years. You supplied for every need.
Father, we're thankful. And we're especially thankful
for all the spiritual gifts that you've provided for your people
and your son. You've made us righteous, perfect,
justified, accepted in him. Father, that you would do such
a thing for vile, sinful men and women such as we are. There's no human words. Father,
we thank you. Father, we pray a blessing for
those that you brought into the valley of trouble and trial.
There's many who are recovering from surgeries and awaiting test
results and in deep, deep waters. Father, we pray you'd be with
your people. We pray your hand of healing would be upon them,
that you'd heal their bodies, that you'd comfort their hearts,
that you would be pleased to soon deliver them. according
to Thy will and purpose. Father, all these things we ask
and we give thanks in that name which is above every name, the
name of Christ our Savior. It's for His sake and His glory
we pray. Amen. Now last week, Brother Todd Nybert
and I were talking about this passage of Scripture. He had
recently preached on it. We were talking about this passage.
And it just blessed me so much, I determined, that as soon as
it would be possible, I would preach from this passage. And
I've titled the message tonight, When Christ Appears. Now you
think about the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God, appearing to
men. When someone is wonderful, as
the son of God appears to men, something wonderful is bound
to happen. Don't you reckon he's so wonderful
And that's what I want us to look at tonight, the wonderful
things that happen when the Lord Jesus Christ appears on the scene.
And I'm gonna limit myself to four appearances of Christ after
his resurrection, after his incarnation, but there are a number of pre-incarnate
appearances of Christ in the Old Testament, aren't there?
And even then, in the Old Testament, every time he appeared, something
wonderful always happened. The Lord appeared to Abraham
as he was on his way to destroy Sodom. He went there and he spared
Lot in his mercy. You know, that's the time Abraham
made intercession for Sodom. Something wonderful happened,
didn't it? Then you remember when the Lord wrestled with Jacob.
He wrestled with Jacob all night there in Pentium. Something wonderful
happened. He confirmed his covenant that
he made with Abraham, with Jacob. There that night when he appeared.
The Lord appeared to Joshua. Remember Joshua, they're getting
ready to cross over Jordan, go into the land, the promised land.
They've got to fight these giants. They've got to take these giant
walled cities. And Joshua's out walking by himself. And who's
he see? Captain of the Lord's host with
his sword drawn. Then the Lord appeared to Manoah
and his wife. And Manoah asked him, what's
your name? He said, my name's Wonderful. Something wonderful
happened. He appeared to Manoah and his
wife Now he gave them the promise of Samson, and didn't you know
what he did? Manoah had offered a sacrifice,
and he got right in the smoke of that sacrifice and went back
to glory. And Manoah said, we're gonna
die. We've seen God. Something wonderful happened.
He showed us by picture the sure success of his sacrifice, that
he would go back to the Father, Remember the three Hebrew children
refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's statue. Nebuchadnezzar was so
angry, he heated the furnace up seven times more than it was
wanting to be heated, and threw them in. And Nebuchadnezzar said,
boys, didn't we throw three men down there? He said, I see four,
and one of them's liking the Son of God. The Lord appeared
to them in that furnace, and they pulled those three Hebrew
children out, Not only were they alive, they were unharmed. You
didn't even smell smoke on their clothes. But Lord, something
wonderful happened. I delivered his people. And all
those things are wonderful, aren't they? But like I said, for time's
sake, I want to confine myself to four appearances of Christ,
how he appears to his people. And I trust it'll be a blessing
to you. First, let's begin reading in verse 18, Hebrews chapter
nine. whereupon neither the First Testament 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
with which God hath been joined 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 is no remission. 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 who's going to do that? Who
is it that's going to come and offer better sacrifices? It's
not just going to purify in type and picture, but actually purify
heavenly things, actually purify God's people, purify them, make
them without sin. Who's going to do that? Well,
you know, it can only be the Lord Jesus Christ because he's
the only one able to do it. So here's his first appearance.
I want to look at when Christ appeared to put away sin, verse
26. 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. Now this phrase in the end of
the world means the last days. It's all the days from the time
of Christ's birth to a time that he comes again in his second
coming. So the last days, the last days of the world, they
began when Christ was born in Bethlehem. And when Mary gave
birth to her firstborn son in that cow stable, the son of God
appeared. He appeared. Now notice it doesn't
say the Son of God was born. It doesn't say the Son of God
was created. It says He appeared. Now the
man Jesus was born, wasn't a child was born, but the Son was given. The Son appeared. He was born
in a body that the Father had prepared for him. But now the
Son of God is eternal, so He wasn't born. He appeared. Since
He's eternal, He had to be somewhere before He came. Then He's with
the Father. and he appeared in human flesh. When he came to earth as a man,
he appeared in human flesh. Now the question is why? Why
did he appear like that? Why was Christ born? Well, if
you look back in John chapter 10, the Lord told us. He was
born, if I said 10, I meant 12, John chapter 12. He was born
to be the sacrifice for the sin of his people. That is the reason
Christ came. He appeared to put away the sin
of his people. John 12, verse 20. And there were certain Greeks
among them that came up to worship at the feast. The same came,
therefore, to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and
desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. And Philip cometh
and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. Now they go to the Lord and say,
want to see you? And the Lord answers, if you're
going to see me, you're going to see me by faith. And here's
how you'll see me. Verse 23. And Jesus answered
them saying, the hour has come that the son of man should be
glorified. If you're going to see me, you're
going to see me glorified. Now, how's that going to happen?
How are you going to see the son of God who appeared in human
flesh? How are you going to see him glorified? Are you gonna
see, is he gonna reveal himself as the son of God? Is he gonna
reveal himself as the light of heaven? Is he gonna show everybody
his glory as God? How is it that he is going to
be seen as glorified? It's by his death. It's by his
humiliation. It's by his death as a substitute
for his people. And that death is gonna put away
the sin of his people. That's how he's gonna accomplish
what he appeared to do. Verse 24. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. That's what he's saying about
himself. He's gonna die and bring forth much fruit. He that loveth
his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me,
let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my father honor. Now is my soul troubled, and
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?
Am I gonna ask the Father to deliver me from being crucified,
to deliver me from being made sin, and deliver me from suffering
the humiliation of having to sacrifice myself like this? Am
I gonna say, Father, save me from this hour? No, he says,
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Here's why Christ
appeared. Here's why He came. To put away
the sin of His people by His death. Now that's why He came. I think it's fair to ask this
question. That's why He came. Did He get the job done? Did
He do what He came to do? Well, of course He did. I mean,
of course He did. It boggles the mind that people
really ask that question, really think he might not have got done
what he came to do. It's ludicrous to think the son
of God would fail to do what he came to do. It's ludicrous.
And the only reason you doubt that he did what he came to do
is you don't know who he is. He's the son of God who appeared
in human flesh. I tell you this, the father sure
knew he's gonna get the job done. Look at verse 28. Father, glorify
thy name. See, this is the prayer of the
Savior. Father, glorify thy name. The father will be glorified
if the son dies to put away the sin of his people. Father, glorify
thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I both glorified it and I will glorify it again. The father knew his son was gonna
glorify his name. He's gonna glorify the name of
the father by his death, which put away the sin of his people.
The father never would have glorified him if he failed. He glorified
him because he knew the Son was going to be successful in putting
away the sin of his people. If you look back in our text,
Hebrews 9, the writer to the Hebrews says the very same thing.
Hebrews 9, verse 25. 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. See, the Old Testament priest
had to offer sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice. He's never done it. Morning,
noon, and night. He had daily sacrifices, weekly
sacrifices, monthly sacrifices. He had annual sacrifices, the
day of atonement, all the different feast days and the different
times of the year. There's always a sacrifice for
everything. He constantly was offering sacrifices. He did it
his whole life, his whole ministry. Whenever they made him high priest
until he died, that's what he was doing. And when he died,
another one came up and took his place. If he had a son, I
reckon it was his son. And he offered sacrifice after
sacrifice after sacrifice. It just continued going on like
that, continually offering the same sacrifices year after year
because the blood of the sacrifices that they offered were animal
blood. And that blood, animal blood, could never take away
sin. And here's the contrast. Christ
came and he suffered once. I just can't even imagine how
many sacrifices Aaron offered. Can you? I can count how many
Christ made. One. One. He only had to offer
himself one He didn't have to offer himself and then suffer
and die again because there was more sin of his people. He just
had to suffer and die once because his sacrificial death got the
job done right the first time. Got it done the first time. I
can show you that, look at across the page there, Hebrews 10 verse
eight. Above when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not. Neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then he said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second, and by the which
will were sanctified, made holy, through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Didn't have to do it again, once
for all. Every priest in the daily ministering, and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices which could never take away sin,
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
he sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. Now why did he do
that? For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified. Now it's done, isn't it? If words
mean anything, the great transaction is done. Christ appeared to put
away sin And if he appeared to put away your sin, your sin's
gone. He put it away. He put it away
so that your sin can never continue. He put it away. And when I say
sin, I mean all sin, all sin. The only way the sacrifice of
Christ could put away the sin of his people, it couldn't just
be a legal transaction. He had to take the sin of his
people. He had to make it his. He had
to bear the guilt of that sin. He had to bear the shame of that
sin. He must be made guilty and suffer
the shame of appearing before his father in that guilt of sin. And here's why that must be so.
The father's holy, he cannot put an innocent man to death.
He cannot do it. He made his son guilty and he
put a guilty man to death. He put that sacrifice to death.
And when Christ was made sin, he took all of the sin of his
people, all of it. He took the guilt of it. He took
the filth of it. He took the shame of it and he
put it away by paying for that sin with his own precious blood. If Christ appeared to put away
your sin, you'll never, ever stand ashamed before God. Never. He took it away. You'll
never stand before God guilty. He took your guilt away. You'll
not stand before God with even a hint of sin. Just like those
three Hebrew children. They pulled them up out of that
fire. You couldn't even smell smoke on them. Even the scent
of your sin is not gonna appear on you before God. Christ took
away the sin of his people. His blood satisfied God's justice. And now God himself, the righteous
judge, says the sin of his people is gone. Now that's wonderful,
isn't it? I told you wonderful things happen
when Christ the Savior appears. He put away the sin of his people.
Here's the second thing. Christ appears before the Father
as the mediator of his people. Verse 24, for Christ has not
entered into the holy places made with hands, which are figures
of the truth, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us. I showed you from scripture,
when Christ died, he put away all of the sin of all of his
people. The death of Christ completely
satisfied God's justice against the sin of his people. The death
of Christ justified his people. That means that he made it so
that his people have no sin, no sin whatsoever. And the proof
of that is the resurrection. The father raised Christ from
the dead as proof. He justified his people. He put
away their sin. Christ arose from the dead. And
he appeared to his disciples. Paul said he appeared to over
500 brethren at once. He appeared, his first appearance
was to those women of the tomb. He appeared to the disciples
on the road to Emmaus. He appeared to the 11 as they
were there in that upper room, all locked away, afraid the Jews
were gonna come get them. Christ arose from the dead. He
appeared to his people because his sacrifice, he wanted them
to know My sacrifice has put away your sin. You're justified. Death couldn't hold him, because
the thing that causes death, sin, had been put away. Death could not hold him, and
he's comforting the hearts of his people. Death can't hold
him, and it can't hold you either, if he appeared for you, because
he put your sin away. And after about 40 days, the
Lord Jesus ascended back on high, I mean, what a homecoming that
was. He strolled back into glory. He sat down on the right hand
of the Father, waiting till his enemies be made his footstool.
And there he sits to this very second. Now, at the end of my day, I
probably should go for a walk. I should, because I'm sitting
all day, you know, writing, studying. I should probably go for a walk.
I should probably do, you know, you know what I do? I go over
and sit down in my easy chair. Now, when I'm sitting there,
I'm idle. I'm idle. Don't think our Savior
is sitting idle. He's not. He's there, ever living,
making intercession for us. And the us is all those that
the Father gave him to save. Our Savior is sitting, because
there's no more work to do. The job's done. He's sitting. He's not running around like
a chicken with his head cut off, worried something's not going
right. No, Bob's all on schedule. He knows it. He's not worried.
He sits there. He sits in the presence of his
father, making intercession for his people. But now when we say
that, like I said, don't think the son is frantically pleading
with the father, constantly, oh, forgive that sin, forgive
that sin, forgive that sin. Like he's worried that the father
is going to forget the debts paid. He's not worried. He's not worried that the father
is going to forget the sacrifice has been made. How just ridiculous is it to
think that the father is gonna forget slaughtering his son?
Oh, he's not gonna do that. The father knows the sacrifice
has been made. It's been accepted. The father
knows the price has been paid. He's the one who accepted the
payment. Christ didn't come and offer his blood to you and me.
He offered it to the father. And the father accepted it as
payment in full. Now this is written for our comfort.
Our God is not surprised by our sin. He chose to save sinners. He's not surprised when we sin.
He knew the sin we were gonna commit before we did. He knew.
God's not surprised, but we often are, aren't we? Somehow we're
surprised by our sin. How can I do that? How can I
think that? How can I say that? And we become surprised for some
reason, you know, that a sinner would sin, and we become afraid. God's gonna condemn me now. That's
just one too many. That's just sinning against too
great a might. I know better than that. This
sin is just too bad. God's gonna condemn me this time.
And here's our comfort. Our Savior sits as the mediator.
by his father with the scars of his sacrifice in full view. The father has a constant reminder
the sacrifice has been made. Those scars happen in his sacrifice,
always in full view. Those scars in our savior's body
are the ever present reminder that when he first appeared,
his sacrifice did indeed put away the sin of his people. And
the father always accepts that sacrifice, always. Now we see
our sin, and we hate our sin. But you know what the Father
says? The Father says, what sin? I don't see any sin in my people.
It's all been covered in the blood of Christ. Look back up
at verse 15. For this cause, he's the mediator
of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption
of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they
which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, and
that testament is like a will in a testament, where a testament
is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
For a testament is a force after men are dead, otherwise it is
of no strength at all while the testator live it. Here's what
the writer's saying here. The Lord Jesus has a last will
in Testament. I have a last will in Testament.
If I would suddenly die, Janet gets everything. If Janet and
I would suddenly die together, the girls get everything. Now
they can't start come taking that stuff. Well, me and Janet
are using it. We need it. It's after we're
dead. It all belongs to the end. What's in the will can't be handed
out, can't be given, can't be distributed until the testator
dies. Well, Christ has a last will
and testament and he's died. That makes his last will and
testament to be in effect. But unlike all of us, the Savior
is both the testator and he's the executor of his own will.
He died to put that will in effect. And then he rose from the dead
to ensure what he put in his last will and testament is carried
out. Isn't that something? Look back at Romans chapter 8.
See, because that's true, this is why Paul could write this
in Romans chapter 8. Our Savior died to put his will
in place, and then he rose to make sure as the executor, to
make sure it's carried out. This is why Paul wrote in Romans
8 verse 32. He despaired not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all? How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. If Christ appeared to put
away your sins, He is appearing for you right now, pleading His
sacrifice as the forgiveness of your sin. Can you think of anything more
comforting than that? See, it's a wonderful effect of Christ
our Savior appearing. Now here's the third thing. Christ
is gonna appear again to gather all of His people to Himself.
Back in our text, Hebrews 9, Verse 27, for it's appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. So Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them who
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. Now Christ has died as a substitute
for his people. He died to put away their sins
so that they will never die. Isn't that what the Lord told
Martha when he was there at the outside of the tomb of her brother
Lazarus? He told Martha. Martha said, oh, I know my brother
will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. He said, Martha,
I am the resurrection. I am the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Martha, you believe
that? She said, Lord, I believe. Now
don't be confused by this. There are two deaths. There's
not one, there's two. There's a death of this body.
This body's got to die because of sin. And then there's a second
death, which is eternal condemnation in hell because of sin. Now,
unless the Lord returns first, every believer will die a physical
death. We're all gonna die. We're all
gonna lay down, draw our last breath and die. But there's no
reason for the believer to fear that day. to fear that moment. There's no reason to fear the
death of these bodies. It's appointed unto men once to die. When this
body dies, we will immediately appear before God in glory. Every believer will. And when
we appear before the judgment seat of Christ, the only verdict
that the judge of all the earth can pronounce on his people is
innocent. And you know why he's gonna say
they're innocent? Because that's what he made them. He's the one
that made them innocent, righteous and holy. Now, I'm telling you,
that's comforting to think that the judge of all the earth is
the same one who appeared to put away the sin of his people.
It's the same one who's been appearing as the mediator for
his people on the right hand of the father. Nobody knows better
than the judge that you're innocent. It's he's the one that died to
make you innocent. Isn't that comforting? Now when
this body dies, that will be the moment that the Lord returned
for me. Someone will be alive and they'll
remain. They'll still be here on this
earth when the Lord returns and they'll be changed in the twinkling
of an eye. And that's when the Lord will
return for them, one way or another. I had a dear friend some years
ago. He was getting up in years And
he told me, he said, I don't know what the Lord's will is,
but he said, I really think the Lord's gonna let me live till
he returns. And I see him come. I really
think he's going to. I said, well, I hope so. He said,
oh, I do too. He said, I do too. I just wanna see that. That'll
be so glorious. I just wanna see that. You know,
it wasn't long after he made that statement, my dear friend,
had went to the doctor. He was feeling fine. Just some
sort of annual checkup and they found out he had cancer. Died
very shortly after that. And we got the call that the
Lord called him home. And I reminded Jan of that conversation.
As you know, he wanted to see that glorious return of the Lord.
Oh, he's seeing glory now. See, one
way or another, the Lord's coming for his people. either in the
death of these bodies or when He returns. But either way, I
can assure you of this, the Lord's returning for His people. He
died to buy them. He bought them. He's coming to
get them. He's gonna return for them that
where He is, there His people may be too, that we may behold
His glory. He's coming back to get His people. He's not leaving us here. He's
coming back to get His people because He appeared to obtain
eternal redemption for them and they're going to have it. He
lives to see to it. And if you trust Christ, you're
looking for His return with great anticipation. I know that there are things
we've got to do, things in this life we've got to get up and
do tomorrow and plans and I got a brand new grandson. I haven't seen him in over a week.
It's killing me. I want to see him again. I'm
planning to real soon, if the Lord allows. I'd like to see him grow. I want
to see him learn to crawl, learn to walk, learn to talk, be my
little buddy, be his dad's mini-me. I'd look forward to seeing all
those kinds of things. But while I look forward to that,
I kind of like to see that, I'm also looking with great anticipation
for the Lord's return. You think about when He returns,
there's going to be no more sin, no more effect of sin, because
the writer of the Hebrew says He will appear without sin. Sin will be gone. When Christ
returns, there's going to be no more doubts. There's going
to be no more worries. There's going to be no more tears.
There's going to be no more sorrow. Our Savior will come and wipe
away every tear, and they'll be gone because sin will be gone. When Christ returns, there's
going to be no more weak faith. How often have you who believe
beat yourself up over your weak faith? I do it every day. When Christ returns, there'll
be no more weak faith. because there'll be no more faith.
We won't need faith then, we'll see him face to face. And I'm confident of this. If
we're seeing the Savior face to face, nothing else will matter. Oh, it's gonna be so glorious.
Let me give you a few scriptures on the Lord's return. And if
you're not already anxious for it, these will make you anxious.
This will make you look for his appearing. Philippians 3 verse
20. For our conversation, our citizenship
is in heaven. We believe we don't have a citizenship
in this world. Our citizenship is in heaven.
We're going home. Our citizenship is in heaven.
From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body. Oh, I'm anxious for that, aren't
you? Colossians 3 verse 4, when Christ,
who is our life shall appear. Then she also appear with him
in glory. Oh, I'm anxious for that. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. 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. Oh, I'm looking for that, to
ever be with you. 1 Peter 5 verse 4, when the chief
shepherds shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that
fadeth not away. No more getting old and fading.
Perfect forever. 1 John 3 verse 2, beloved, now,
Right now, are we the sons of God? And it does not yet appear
what we shall be. We're still appearing in this
flesh, aren't we? But we know that when he shall appear, we
shall be like him. Can you think of anything better
than being made just like Christ? That's what's gonna happen when
he appears. Well, I'm looking for that, aren't you? I mean,
such wonderful thing happens when Christ appears And if you
think, I just can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait for
him to appear. This is worse than being a kid
waiting on Christmas. I cannot wait for him to appear.
Listen to what our Savior promised. Revelation 22 verse 12. Behold,
I come quickly. He's coming quickly. All right. How do I know? All of this is
true. How do I know this just isn't
a fairy tale? How do I know this just isn't in a feel-good story?
I mean, since you're all feeling, you know, pretty good about these
promises. How can I know this is true? Well, it's because of my fourth
thing. Because Christ has appeared to
me in the gospel. That's how he appears to all
of his people in the preaching of the gospel. Look at 2 Timothy
chapter one. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. Who has saved us and called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and
hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
through the gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher and
an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. Salvation in Christ
has been hidden for 2,000 years it was hidden, 4,000 years it
was hidden. In the law, the ceremonies, all
that Mosaic law, the Levitical law, all those ceremonies, Christ
was hidden in those things. And now he's been made manifest. Now I see what that Passover
lamb means. Now I see the sacrifices on the
day of atonement, the scapegoat and the goat for the sin offering.
Now I see those things were hidden in Christ. Now I see him because
he's appeared and he's been the fulfillment of. The answer to
the mystery has appeared. The answer is Christ. Now I see. And you know how I see that?
How do you see it? It's through the preaching of
Christ. Because somebody's preaching the gospel of Christ to you.
And when Christ is preached, wonderful things happen. The
dead suddenly receive life. Suddenly have spiritual life.
Suddenly they have faith in Christ to believe what they may have
been hearing for years and years and years and years and yeah,
they gave some mental assent to it Yeah, I kind of see that
that's true. But now I believe it. Now I hang
my soul on that. What happened? The gospel was
preached and the spirit blessed the word and gave life, gave
faith in Christ. Wonderful things happen when
the gospel is preached. Wednesday nights is probably
my favorite service we have all week. People drag themselves,
you're tired. I see you, you're coming up those
stairs, you're tired. I mean, man, working for a living's
tough, isn't it? It's just tough. And I hope you leave just skipping
down the steps. Wonderful things happen when
the gospel's preached. The hearts of God's people are
refreshed and strengthened. Helps you, doesn't it? Your soul
is fed. How can you be fed? How can you
feed on the children's bread? By the preaching of Christ. How
can you have a big old drink from the water of life? By the
preaching of Christ. He's the water of life when the
gospels preached were enabled to lay hold on Christ by faith. Oh, what a joy. What a joy that
he's appeared. You know, that third appearing,
Christ is coming again. Isn't it wonderful? He's given
us this until He comes again. I'm thankful, aren't you? Let's
bow together. Our God and our Father, how we
thank you for the appearance of Christ our Savior. That He
appeared to put away the sin of His people. That He appears
right now as the mediator of His people. that we're accepted
in Him. Oh, and how thankful we are He's
coming back. He's not going to leave us here, but He's coming
back. And Father, how can we ever thank You for making Him
appear to us through the preaching of Your Word? Oh, how we thank
You. Father, I pray that tonight that
You would be pleased to appear to the hearts of Your people,
that You'd be pleased to appear to each heart here tonight by
the preaching of the gospel and give us faith and rest and hope
and peace in Christ our Savior while we wait for His return. It's in His precious name, for
His glory, His sake we pray. Amen. All right, Sean.