The children are like clay. Everything
you do with them, it impresses. There's an impression made. Keeping
them under the gospel, I cannot give any better advice to anyone
than to keep your children under the gospel. That's so important. Okay, Paul is now coming to the
climax of all that he's been speaking about, and I'm going
to say Paul's the writer of Hebrews. He's here coming to this climax
now of all that he's been speaking about, that Christ has put away
sin once and for all. There remains no more sacrifice
for sin, no more offerings. There's nothing that we do that
puts away sin. Believe in God. Faith is a gift
of God, but faith does not put away sin. Repentance is a gift
of God. Repentance, you can weep over
sin all day long, but it does not put it away. It's the blood
of Christ. It's the sacrifice of Christ
that puts away sin. And when we are enabled of God
to truly lay hold of that, we can have some real comfort, some
real joy if God enables us to lay hold of this. that the blood
and sacrifice of Christ put it all away, put all my sins away. When he cried on the cross, it
is finished. Brethren, amen. It's finished. There's nothing left for anyone
to do. The Redeemer has finished the
work and there's nothing left for me to do in any way, shape,
or form as far as to accomplish salvation or redemption. So Paul
comes here to this climax of this message, and now he's going
to end it with the blood applied in heaven. He says there in verse
24, For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with
hands, which are the figures of the truth, just another type,
just another print of the original, but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us. When Christ died, and
shed his blood on Calvary. He did not go into that Old Testament
holy of holies that was set up, and the high priest would go
in there with blood of bulls and goats and blood of others.
He did not go into that place. He did not go there. He went,
it says, and what a powerful statement this is. He went into
heaven itself. Our Mediator, our High Priest,
those Israelites watch that High Priest, that man go into that
Holy of Holies every year, once a year with the blood of atonement. Our Mediator, our High Priest
went into heaven itself. He went into the Holy of Holies
where God Almighty resides. That's where he went, where God
Almighty resides. And he's there, listen, it said,
now to appear in the presence of God for us, now, present tense. He's there now. There is a man,
a real man who is our high priest in the presence of God for us
now. He's there just as real as we
are here. He's there right now for us, for us. I thought how spiritually dead
But one has to be to claim, after reading this, after what we've
seen this morning, after reading this, and to claim that Jesus
Christ died for every son of Adam, that he appeared in the
presence of God, that he suffered the hell. Now, what he suffered
on the cross was my hell, our hell, the hell that the elect
of God deserved. He suffered their hell. And then
he takes his blood, and he enters into the Holy of Holies. And
now you tell me that one is going to perish for whom he did that
for? How spiritually dead a man has to be to believe that and
to preach that, that he would go into the Holy of Holies with
his blood for a Judas. And God will say, no, no, not
this one. No, not this one. How spiritually
dead. I know we don't like to use that
word, but I'm telling you, he has to be so ignorant of the
work and person of Christ to say such a thing. When you read this, but into
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us,
us, his elect. So he's talking about us, his
elect. He appeared there for every one of the promised seed
of Abraham. That's who he appeared for. Nor
yet, he says here in 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. The high priest had to
offer the blood of bulls and goats because they never put
away sin. He had to do it year after year
after year. Well, in this, Christ, listen,
is not like the type. You say, now, if he's going to
be true to the type, then he should enter in often, like they
entered in often. No, this is where the type ends. You know, it can only go so far. A type and a picture can only
go so far. That's all it can do. It can't
go all the way. He did not need to offer himself
often. Why? Because this one is God. This one is God Almighty. This one is holy. And this one
is a real sinless man who knew no sin. Therefore, his offering
was accepted. His offering, his one offering
of himself, was enough for every one of his elect. Every one of
them. It was enough. If he was going
to follow that type, it says, for then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world. If he were no better than the
Old Testament figures, if he were no better, then he would
have to suffer many times. He'd have to be crucified many
times, which would be saying he's not any better. He's not
any better at all. But because of who this man is,
and this is what Paul is pointing out to these Hebrews, This is
not just an ordinary man now. This is God Almighty come down
in the flesh. This is God incarnate. That's
who He is. And because of who He is, He
had to offer Himself one time, and God the Father said, Accept
it. Accept it. Nowhere do we read
where God had to do something more than once. because it wasn't
sufficient the first time. Nowhere. He appeared in the flesh. He
offered himself one time, and it was accepted of God Almighty
for every one of his people. Now, it says here he appeared
once. He appeared once, listen, as an infant. One time he appeared
as an infant, as a baby in a manger. One time he was laid in a manger
surrounded by animals. One time. He appeared one time
as a poor carpenter. They said, well, you know, you're
the carpenter's son. He appeared one time with no place to lay
his head. He appeared one time as a man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He appeared one time this
way. We're going to see a difference
here by the end of this. He appeared one time this way.
He appeared one time with no beauty that we should desire
Him. He appeared one time that way. He appeared one time to
bear the sin of many. He appeared one time to be laughed
at and mocked at and made fun of and rejected. He appeared
one time for that to happen. He appeared one time. to work
out a righteousness, an everlasting righteousness for His elect.
He appeared one time to hang on the cross for sin. He appeared one time to be made
sin for us. He appeared one time for this.
He appeared one time to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He appeared one time to do that.
Not many times. One time. This is how effectual
his sacrifice of blood is. He only had to do it one time
because he's God. He's God Almighty. And when did
he do this? And this is a sobering statement.
In the end of the world. We, my friends, are in the end
of the world. That's what the scriptures teach
us. We are in the end of the world. We are on the last page
of the book. I believe we're on the last page
of the book. And what does this mean now?
He appeared one time in the end of the world. It means this,
that redemption is complete. That's what it means. Redemption
is complete. The sin issue, this matter of
sin, and nobody can comprehend what sin is. We cannot comprehend
the vileness and wretchedness of sin. But this sin issue that
was in all of God's elect has been settled. It's been taken
care of by the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
therefore, there is no more offering, he says, for sin. They have been
completely atoned for. They've been completely paid
for. God Almighty is absolutely satisfied with His people through
the Lord Jesus Christ. God is absolutely satisfied with
me. in you who believe the gospel. God is satisfied with you. I
don't do anything to have to satisfy God. He's satisfied with
me through the blood and righteousness, the right doings of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's nothing left to do. You say, well, there's faith.
There's repentance. The scripture says that faith
is a gift of God. It says in Acts that he granted
repentance to the Gentiles. It's a gift. They come together. It's all of God. Here's another
thing it means. It means that sin shall not have
dominion over you. You will not be controlled. You'll
not be under the dominion. You'll not be under that powerful
influence of your wretched nature you were born with. He's cancelled
it. He's cancelled the power of sin. He's broken his power. He's cancelled
it. Here's something else it means.
Satan has been conquered. That enemy of God, that enemy
of all of God's children has received his death blow in the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our sin has been conquered, and
Satan, our greatest enemy, has been conquered. That's what it
means. That's what it means. His redemption
is complete. And then here's the finality
of his sin-atoning sacrifice in verse 27. And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. Here's the
finality. Here is the finality of the work
of the sacrifice of the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this to judgment.
I know that a lot of people use this text as just preaching on
judgment, but there's a lot being said here that more than just
meets the eye. Now, we know this. We all have
an appointment to die. Every one of us. Unless the Lord
comes back, we meet the Lord in the air. We know this. Everyone
has an appointment with death. God made it for us. God made
this appointment. I had a doctor call me the other
day. He was doing some checking on my throat. She said, I made
you an appointment with another doctor. She made the appointment
for me, so I kept it. God made this appointment. God
has made this appointment for every last one of us. There's
a time for every one of us, no matter how much we try to live
and continue on, there is a time to die. There's an end to this. God made this appointment. And
listen, God will keep it. God Almighty will keep it. It
cannot be avoided. It cannot be avoided. It cannot
be overlooked. Do you know anyone that's forgotten
to die? No. I've never seen anyone whom
God forgot to take out of this life. No one. There's no one here that says
this man's 800 years old. This man's 1,000 years old. We
barely make it past 70. Some of us make it into our 80s,
but God always keeps that appointment. We can't be overlooked. God's
going to keep it. Man will fulfill his days, Job
said, like a hireling. Like a hireling we fulfill our
days. And then we will go the way of
all flesh. We'll go that way. We'll go to
our long, as Job said, our long-awaited home. And as the tree falls,
Solomon said, so shall it lie. So shall it lie. There's no such
thing as reincarnation as the Buddhists teach. There is no
such place as purgatory. It is finality. It's the finality
of life. As death finds us, eternity will
keep us. I want you to look over in Luke
16. We get a glimpse here. See, over
in Luke 16. God gives us a glimpse here.
of what happens after death, after we die. In Luke 16, we are going to get a glimpse
into what happens when a person dies. This is probably one of
the only places in the Word of God that I know of where we get
to look, a glimpse into that next world. He says in verse
19, there was a rich man which was clothed and purple and fine
linen, and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores,
and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked
his sores." Now at this point, anyone walking by would say,
I'd rather be that rich man. Anyone walking by would not want
to be Lazarus. There is nothing about Lazarus,
outwardly, that you could see that you would envy. Nothing.
But it came to pass, as all things do, that the beggar died, and
he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the
rich man also died, and he was buried And in hell he lift up
his eyes, being in torment, and saith Abraham afar off, and Lazarus
in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and said, Lazarus, that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am
tormented in this flame." So we are given a glimpse into what
happens. We know this. To be absent from
the body to the believer is to be present with the Lord. But
the unbeliever, well, there's your glimpse. There's your glimpse
of what happens. The dread of death, for most,
it really is the finality of it more than the judgment of
it because they really can't even comprehend this thing of
judgment. But it's the finality of it. But listen here. Here's
where I wanted to come to. Paul is not writing this just
to show us that there is a judgment. He's not writing this just to
show us that there's a judgment to come. But to show us the finality,
here's what he's shown us, the finality of Christ's death and
what it accomplished. You see, death is the finality
of everything here. And he's going to show us the
finality of what the death of Christ accomplished here. So
he says in verse 28, so Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many. He suffered their judgment. He suffered their hell. That's exactly what he did. Let
me read you what I copied down here from what I read this week. If our death is final and seals
our future, how much more did the death of Christ finalize
and seal his life's work in saving his elect. That's what he's teaching
here. How much more did the death of
Christ finalize his life's work and seal it to every one of God's
elect? If in death men fear and face
the judgment of God for their sins, if they fear that and Now
listen, this gives you some comfort. We who look to Christ, we who
have died in Christ under the wrath of God at Calvary, have
nothing to fear. We have absolutely nothing to
fear. Our judgment has already passed. Our judgment was passed
upon the Son of God at Calvary. It's already gone. It's gone. So we have nothing to fear in
death. We look forward to believer now. I know that many are not
ready to die yet. Children you need to raise. There
are some reasons to stay here. But there comes a time when it's
time to go home. And I thank God gives. And I've
seen this in others. He gives dying grace. It's time
to leave. It's time to go home. Because there's no fear of judgment
in death. Death to us is nothing more than
going through that door into glory. That's what death is all
about to the believer. It's going through that thin
door right into the presence of God forever. That's what death is to the believer.
Now, who is this death for? Who is his death for? It says
this, here's who his death is for. And unto them that look
for him, That's who it's for. That's who his death is for.
Unto them that look for him shall he appear. Martha said, I know my brother
will rise in the resurrection in the last day. He said, Martha,
I am the resurrection. Quit looking for the event. Look
to me. Look for me. There's a lot of
people looking for an event that's going to miss the resurrection.
But every one of those looking for Christ is not going to miss
it, because He is the resurrection. That's what He said, I am the
resurrection and the life. We look for Him to appear. This is who this is for. It's
for those looking for Him to appear. God has given us a good
hope through grace, and this good hope is that when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him. We shall be like Him. It says
in Titus 2.13, looking for that blessed hope, and that blessed
hope is Christ and being like Christ, and the glorious appearing
of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's who we're
looking for. We have no dread of judgment.
But there also may be something here. There might be something
here hinting at the high priest. When he went in to the Holy of
Holies with the blood of atonement, You know those Israelites stood
out there and watched to see if he was going to come back
out alive? They were watching to see if
he was going to come back out of that Holy of Holies. If he
went in there with the wrong offering, if he went in there
and that blood was not accepted, he would be killed. That high
priest would be killed. So they're looking for him to
come back out of that Holy of Holies. And when it says here,
I think this has an allusion to this. That whenever He shall
appear, we're looking for Him to come back out of that Holy
of Holies and receive us to Himself. Oh my, there's just so much here,
you can't even begin to cover it. But unto them, it says, which
look for Him, He will appear the second time, the second time,
without sin unto salvation. The first time he appeared as
the sin bearer. First time. The first time he
appeared as the sacrificial lamb. The second time it will be for
full salvation of everyone looking for him. Are you looking for
him? I know a lot of people, a lot
of people look for the blessings, but they're not looking for the
blesser. Looking for him. The first time He appeared, He
appeared to put away sin. And then He appeared in the presence
of God for us. And now the second time He's
going to appear. Now listen, not as an infant
of days, but as the infinite God. He's going to appear the second
time, not alone. as He appeared the first time,
but this time He's going to appear with the whole host of heaven
with Him. He's going to come with all His
holy angels. He's going to appear the second
time, not poor, not as the carpenter's son, but as the royal King of
glory. That's how we are going to see
Him. The second time we're going to see him, it's going to be
as the royal king of glory. The first time, he had no place
to lay his head. The second time he appears, he's
going to appear as owner and sovereign ruler of all. That's
how we're going to see him the second time. What a sight that's
going to be when we see him the second time. The second time he appears is
not to die, that's been done away with, but to live and reign
forever with the saints of God. He's going to appear the second
time as God over all, blessed forever. That one who was despised
and rejected of men. That one who was hated, that
one who was spit on, that one whose face was slapped, they
plucked out his beard, they took a crown of thorns and drove it
down on his head, that one is going to appear as God over all
blessed forever. And he's going to appear, listen,
it says here, without sin. that sent the sin issues over,
without sin, not a trace of sin on his brow, not a trace of sorrow,
not a trace of grief. The first time he appeared, he
was made to be sin for us who knew no sin. The second time,
without that, without sin. And when he shall appear, it
says over, I believe it's over in 2 Thessalonians, when he shall
appear, he shall be admired. He shall be admired by all his
saints. You and I are going to stand
in absolute admiration of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are going
to be awestruck now when we see him. There are going to be many
who are going to cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall
on them and hide them from the face of the Lamb, but that one
face we want to see. David said, Lord, hide not thy
face from me. Oh, there's going to be a multitude
cry, hide us from the face of the Lamb, but not us. Not the
ones whom he's redeemed. Not the one who this sacrifice
is for. Not the one whose sins have been put away. Now we are
going to rejoice to see him. Let me read you this in closing
over in 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. It says, verse 1, behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. that we should be called
the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when he shall appear, listen, we shall be like him. We shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. I don't know when that day is
going to be. But we know this, when He shall appear, everyone
His elect is going to be just like Him. You're going to be
just like Him. You're going to love just like
Him. You're going to be holy just like He's holy. You're going
to be kind just like Him, meek and lowly just like Him. You're
going to be just like Him. We shall be just like Him in
every respect.