Good morning. I invite your attention to the
epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 9. The epistle to the Hebrews,
chapter 9. My text will be found in verses
27 and 28, the last two verses in that ninth chapter. My message
is titled, appointments, the final appointments. It is said that the purpose of
the book of Hebrews was to tell the Hebrews to quit
acting like Hebrews. And they were still acting as
it were under the old covenant. They were Christians now under
a new covenant. The old covenant is gone. Christ changed it all. He brought
in a new covenant, and the writer of this epistle to the Hebrews
is setting forth that truth. Interestingly, we do not know
for certain who wrote this epistle. the epistle to the Hebrews. He
undoubtedly was a Hebrew. He undoubtedly was a Hebrew of
the Hebrews, and there is a man in the New Testament who was
exactly that. Paul probably wrote it, but we
do not know for sure. It appears to have been written
by a lawyer. He was a lawyer. It was written by a man who was
well-versed in Hebraism, and he was, he was. But whoever wrote
it, I'm glad he did. Hebrews chapter 9, Then verily,
the first covenant hath also ordinances of divine service
in the worldly sanctuary, a tabernacle out in the wilderness, For there
was a tabernacle made, the first, and this tabernacle had two divisions
in it. The first wherein was the candlestick
and the table and the show grid, which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, which
was inside the tabernacle, that tabernacle which is called the
holiest of all, which had the golden censer, and this would
have been on the day of atonement when that censer which was usually
in the first part of the tabernacle was placed inside the holiest
of all on the other side of the veil. It was a sweet fragrance in a
most holy place and it produced smoke that made
one's vision a little difficult which was understandable because
in that holiest of all, God was there. He was there,
the Shekinah glory between the cherubim. Verse 4, which had the golden
censer and the 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, the Ten Commandments.
And over it the cherubims of glory, overshadowing the mercy
seat, of which we cannot now speak particularly, because he's
writing to Hebrews, they know all about it anyway. Now when
these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into
the first tabernacle. Notice, priests, plural, Priests,
plural, went into the holy place, the first tabernacle, accomplishing
the service of God. But into the second, the holiest
of all, went the high priest. Notice, not priests, high priest,
not just a priest, the high priest. Alone, nobody with him. Once
every year. Do you see the difference between
the holy place and the most holy place? And not without blood. You could walk into that holy
place without carrying blood. For example, if you're changing
bread on the table, but do not walk into the most holy place
unless you have blood. Nobody can do it but the high
priest, and he can do it only once a year, and he's got to
do it the right way. which he offered for himself
and for the sins and errors of the people. The Holy Ghost thus
signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet
made manifest while as yet the first tabernacle was yet standing. There is a tabernacle better
than the one that Moses built in the wilderness. which was
a figure for the time then present in which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices that could not make him that did the surface
perfect as pertaining to the conscience. Even on the day of
atonement when that priest made a sacrifice for sins and says,
an atonement for your sins has been made, the people would say, why is my conscience still guilty?
Why? My conscience still smites me
which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and
cardinal ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation
when Christ came. But Christ being come and high
priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not the one Moses built. No, no, no. Not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. The high priest
went into the most holy place once a year, beginning at 1440
B.C. Until about 30 AD, the year Jesus
Christ was crucified and never was a single sin forgiven. Never! Never! Jesus went into
the most holy place one time. It's finished. Eternal redemption! And my conscience is clear. For
if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer,
sprinkling the unclean, sanctify to the purifying of the flesh,
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit, the Holy Spirit, offered himself without spot to God,
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament,
better new covenant, that by means of death for the redemption
of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they
which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, consider
it a will, if you will. For where a testament is, there
must also of necessity be the death of the testator. A will
has no force. until the one who made it dies,
and then it must be in force by the executor. For a testament
is of 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 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 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, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices
than these." The heavenly tabernacle is greater than the one in the
wilderness. The heavenly tabernacle is Christ's
tabernacle. 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. The high priest, on the day of
atonement, went and stood in the most holy place before the
Ark of the Covenant, and took hyssop dipped it in blood and
sprinkled the mercy seat in the most holy place and then backed
out. Did it twice, once for the sins
of the people and for himself and then actually for himself
so that he could be pure enough to make a sacrifice and then
he did it for the sins of the people. Jesus Christ walked in
to the better tabernacle with his own blood. His own blood. Not the blood of a bull or a
goat or a calf. His own blood. He only walked
in once. The priest walked in twice. Once
to purify himself and the second time to purify the people. Jesus
walked in one time. He did not go merely before the
mercy seat. He is the mercy seat. And he
sprinkled that blood right there before God. And God said, it's
done. And he could shout, it is finished. Verse 24, For Christ is not entered
into the holy places made with hands, with other 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 often entered into the holy place
every year with blood of others, for then he must have suffered
since the foundation of the world. Now watch this, but now once
in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. Is that not glorious? Well, there's
an application to be made from this. Here it is. And as, this
is my text, 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. Now look at that phrase,
it is appointed unto men. that I wants, and it is appointed unto men
to afterward be in the judgment, and it is appointed unto the
Christ to return." Three final appointments. There are three
of them. We're going to look at them today
in our message. Appointments. Now we all keep
some kind of a record of our appointments. There is now a grind fertilizer
calendar on our refrigerator and I suppose I'm going to be
seeing pencil markings in it so that appointments can be made.
Now me, mine's electronic. It's got bells and whistles.
It sets off an alarm when I'm supposed to be somewhere or supposed
to leave the house. It's a date book, whatever you
have. Everybody keeps a record of your appointments, right?
Maybe a post-it note on the refrigerator. Whatever it is, there's a reason
for that. If you are appointed to be at
a certain place on a certain day at a certain time, you better
be there. You better be there. Do not miss
it. It can be expensive if you miss a doctor's appointment. I don't know how much it is now,
but I recall just a few years ago, $25 for missing a doctor's
appointment. I don't know what it is. It's
probably more. Miss your appointment to appear in court. See what
that's going to cost you. Miss your appointment for this
or that. They can be expensive. Missed appointments can be expensive.
But there are at least two appointments. that you will not miss even if
you would like to. I mean, there are some appointments
that I have to, you know, jury duty. Oh, come on. You mean I
got to go to jury duty? What happens if I don't show
up? I think I'll just find some exchange, whatever. You know
what I'm talking. There are some appointments you
say, I got to find some way to get out of this one. Well, I'm
going to tell you about two appointments that you may wish you could avoid,
but you can't. You have no control over it.
Furthermore, you do not know when these appointments are scheduled. You do not know the day nor the
hour. You do not know where you will
be when the appointment comes, there will be no alarm going
off in your little electronic calendar saying you need to be
at a certain place within an hour. None of that. These appointments
are going to come, and you will not miss them. And if you are not ready for these
appointments, It will be the costliest mistake
you ever made. It is appointed unto men once
to die. Are you ready? Are you ready
for that appointment? You're going to keep it whether
you want to or not. And if you die, you're going
to be judged. You cannot avoid that appointment.
And if you're not ready, It's going to cost you your very soul. It's going to cost you all that
you have. The most costly mistake you will ever make is being unprepared
for these appointments. Therefore, it is incumbent upon
me, having a concern for not only
my soul, but for yours as well, to tell you from God's Word what
is said about these final appointments. And here they are, four points.
Our appointment with death, our appointment with the judgment,
Christ's preparation of his people for their appointment with the
judgment, and then Christ's appointment to return. Let us consider these
three appointments and Christ's preparation of us for them. Number one, our appointment with
death, it is appointed for men to die once. Now, every appointment has a
reason. If you have an appointment with
a physician, there's a reason why you have it. You're not feeling
well, you need this attention or whatever. You do not make
an appointment to see a physician if you're, you know, in good
health. You do not wake up some morning
and say, you know, I never felt better in my life. I think I'll
make an appointment with a doctor. No. If you make an appointment
with a doctor, there's a reason for it. And if I make an appointment
with a doctor, there's a very serious reason for it. And there's
a reason for disappointment with death. What is that reason? The soul that sins shall die,
and all have sinned. Consider, that's the reason for
this appointment. The soul that sins shall die,
and all have sinned. If you are alive right now, you're
going to die. You have an appointment with
death. You know not the day, nor the hour, nor the place you
will be, but you have this appointment. All have sinned, and all must die. This appointment
is predestined by God. Please ask these three, one.
To everything there is a season, a time for every person under
heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die. When were you
born? At the predestined time. When will you die? At the predestined
time. What did you have to do in determining
the time of your birth? Nothing. What will you have to
do with determining the time of your death? Nothing. You may know that It may be coming nigh. Paul says
the time of my departure is at hand. I know that I'm closer to death
now than I was 25 years ago when I figured I was never going to
die. Felt like I think I could live forever. Well, I'm getting
to the place now where I don't want to. I'm going to die. All my forefathers have. There's
no one who's going to say, this is my great-great-great-grandfather. Today he is celebrating his 200th
birthday, born back in 1823. There's no such thing, folks. All my forefathers are either
dead or almost there. Same is true for you. And it's going to be the same for
us. We're all going to have this appointment with death. It is
predestined by God. Job rightly confessed to God
that man's days are determined. The number of his months is with
you. You have appointed his limits
so that he cannot pass. If God has predetermined, predestined
before time began that you're going to die at a certain moment,
you're not going to live a second longer. It'll be at the predestined
moment. You are no more in control of
the day or the time or the place than you were of your birth. This appointment is once a one-time
event. Job says, I go to the place in
which I shall not return to the land of darkness and the shadow
of death. I'm not coming back, folks. I'm
not coming back. There is no reincarnation. You
do not get a second chance when you leave by the route of
death. It's once. You're not coming
back. Second point, our appointment
with the judgment. First appointment, death. Second
appointment, judgment. Notice, it is appointed unto
men once to die, and after this it is appointed that they shall
be at the judgment. Now those two appointments are
inseparably linked. If you die, you will be judged. No one's going to abort it. If
you die, you will be judged. And if you are alive, you will
die. I mean, these events are inseparable. This appointment, like death,
is predestined by God. Acts 17, 31, we read that God
has appointed a day, appointed a day, on which he will judge
the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained.
He has given assurance of this to all about raising him from
the dead. When God raised Jesus Christ
from the dead, that was proof that men are going to be judged
and it's going to be on the day appointed by God and
so therefore you are not the only one who keeps a record of
appointments God does too. When was Jesus Christ born? In
the fullness of the time God sent forth His Son. When did
He die? Men tried to kill him and Jesus
said, they cannot, my hour has not yet come. And when it was
time to die, he says, Father, the hour has come. Everything
God does is by appointment with regard to men. He set the dates,
did it all by himself. This appointment with the judgment
is predestined by God and it will occur at Jesus Christ's
return to earth. For when the Son of Man comes
in his glory, then he will sit on the throne of his glory, and
all the nations will be gathered before him." All of them. They're
going to be judged. Sheep on his right, goats on
his left. It is also known as the great
white throne judgment in the 20th chapter of the revelation
of Jesus Christ. All the dead will be there. Hades
will deliver the dead who are in it up to the great white throne. It's a day of judgment. It is a judgment of all people.
Paul says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ
that each one of us receive the things done in the body whether
good or bad. Every one of us. Nobody's going
to be accepted, excused, permitted to miss this
appointment. No one. This judgment will be
of all things regarding us, including deeds performed, words uttered,
thoughts imagined, and whether they were done in public or in
private. whether the world knows you did
it, or whether no one but you know you did it, because, well,
there is nothing that you ever did of which you can say, nobody
knows but me. No, no, no. God's got a record
of it, and you can be judged for it. Every secret thing. Here's what the Scripture says
about this. For God will bring every work into judgment, including
every secret thing, whether good or evil. God will judge the secrets
of men by Jesus Christ. And he tells us, for every idle
word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day
of judgment. Be careful not only what you
do, but also what you say. And furthermore, what do you
think? I get the impression that some
members of government wish they were thought police, and I think
sometimes they... I'm so glad they're not. Let's
just put it that way. I'm glad they're not. But God
has got a record of every thought. Every thought. and we're going
to be judged. Point number three, Christ's
preparation of his people for their appointment with judgment.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, we read.
Now consider, Christ prepared many for this judgment. How many is many? Many is less
than all, but more than few. It actually is a rather relative
term, many. Many. It can be relative to some
people, many. What some would call many, others
would call a few. What others would call, or what
we might call a few, some would say, that's many. Let me tell
you how many these are. These are so many that they comprise
a great multitude which no man could number of all nations,
tribes, people, and tongues. Revelation 7 verse 9. Jesus has
prepared that many. He has prepared for the judgment
so many people that none of us can count them. They're like
the stars in the heavens. I mean, there is a definite number
as to how many there are, but none of us knows. And every time scientists say,
we have counted the stars, somebody invents a stronger telescope
and says, no, there's a few more out yonder that you've not seen
yet. You can no more determine the
number of God's people than you can count the sands by the seashore. Cannot. A multitude. That's how many Jesus prepared. If you want to know something
of the glory of my Savior, consider this. He prepared for judgment
a multitude that no man can number. No man can number. He made them
ready for it. And these are they who in our
text are those who eagerly wait for His return. They will say
at His return, Behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him
and He will save us. This is Jehovah. We have waited
for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in
His salvation. We're going to say that in the
Day of Judgment. On the Day of Judgment when the
Judge shows up. Here comes the Judge and He's
my Savior, He's my God. I have waited so eagerly for
this day when He comes. Consider also that Christ prepared
many for judgment by bearing their sins and dying as they
were offering for sin. The sins He bore were not His
own. He knew no sin. He committed no sin. And in Him
there is no sin. I love that expression, no sin.
It was never said of me. It was never said of you. But
of Him, He did no sin. He knew no sin. In Him there
is no sin. No sin. None at all. He never committed it. He never
experienced it. He was devoid of it. Rather, the sins Christ bore
and for which he died were those of God's elect. Now, this is
clearly set forth in Isaiah 53. The first verse in Isaiah 53,
you need to grasp this. It's very well known. Who has
believed, I report? To whom has the arm of Jehovah
been revealed? In those two sentences, the first
is a question and the second is the answer. Question. Who
has believed our report? Answer. To whom hath Jehovah
revealed his arm? They believed. They believed. Now, they are identified by two
ways in Isaiah chapter 53. They are identified as many. and Jehovah calls them my people. Is that not interesting? They are many, and Jehovah calls
them my people, and many is the number that Jesus prepared for
judgment. Here's what we read of them.
God's people confess, all we like sheep have gone astray,
we have turned everyone to his own way, and Jehovah has laid
on Christ the iniquity of us all. He had none except ours. We also confess surely He has
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Our sorrows are
the consequences for our sins. It's a sorrowful thing. Jehovah
said for the transgressions of, watch this, my people was He
stricken. Jehovah doesn't say He was stricken
for the sins of everybody. My people And we esteemed him
stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted, but he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the
chastisement for our pieces upon him, and by his stripes we are
healed." His work of salvation was successful. And Jehovah has
fulfilled his promise to Christ that he shall see the labor of
his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous
servants shall justify many because he shall bear their iniquities.
Notice what Jehovah says. For the transgressions of my
people and he shall justify many. Jehovah himself says my people
are many And they had their sins borne
by Jesus Christ, who suffered and died in their place, and
He did it only once, once for all. And that is why we do not observe
the Mass. In the Mass, Christ is sacrificed
again. They say so. It is a sacrifice
of Jesus Christ. Done every day? No. He was sacrificed once, and it's
for all. Never again, once for all, he
has been sacrificed. All right, fourth and final point. Cross appointment to return.
We read, to those who eagerly wait for him, He will appear
a second time apart from sin for salvation. It is appointed. We're back to
this predestination thing again. Folks, you just can't get away
from it. It is appointed for Christ to appear a second time,
and it's going to be at the predestined time. Of that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the sun, with regard
to his humanity, but only the Father. Take heed and watch and
pray, for you do not know when the time is." He's coming back. When? I have no idea. I'd like for it to be right now.
Thank you! I'd like for it to be right now. I'm ready. It could be right now. Are you ready? When you lift your eyes to that
eastern sky and behold the heavens opening
and Jesus coming. Are you going to jump for joy
or run with fear? Oh, here He comes. Here He comes! I've waited all my life for this
day. Here He comes. Here He comes. Scalpers say He will not return. They were come in the last days
walking according to their old lessons, saying, Where is the
promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of the foundation.
What they failed to realize is that they scoffed at Noah when he said, God's going
to send a deluge. A deluge? We'd never had rain,
much less a deluge. And they scoffed at him. Well,
their scoffing quit when the first drops of water fell from
the sky. First time ever water had fallen
from the sky, except as it had come up as mortia from the earth,
the way that God watered the earth in that day. Heavens opened
and here came the rain. And the scoffers are scoffing
no more, begging for mercy. Scoffers of the return of Christ
will be begging for mercy in that day. Oh no, preacher, what
you said is true. Here he comes. Hope you're ready
for that day. Oh, I'm looking forward to it.
If it could happen before I finish this message, I will not be disappointed. It is appointed for Christ to
return apart from sin. Now in His first coming, He came
for sin. He had sins laid upon Him. He was made to be sin. He died
for sins. He was an offering for sin. But
in that first coming, He did this once for all. Notice what
we read in the verse preceding our text. He put away sin. Jehovah says of His people, a search shall be made for their
sins, and not one of them shall be found. Why? Christ hid them. Christ hid them in a secret place. Nobody can find them. When Saint and I lived on St. Croix, we bought a safe. And had it secured. And had a key. And I put that key in a secret
place. And I forgot where it was. I did. Forgot where I put the
key. Nobody has ever found that key.
Not even after I left. Nobody's ever found that key
because when Moose Parks put something in a secret place,
nobody's going to find it and he's going to forget where it
was. But here are the secrets of God. No, no, no. He does not
forget. He never forgets. He put away our sin. It's in
a secret place, but you will never find them. You will never
find them. And God never wants to see them.
So they're never going to be seen. They will never be seen. In His return, the Son of Man
comes in His glory. In His first coming, He came
for sin. In the second coming, in His
glory. He came the first time to be
nailed to a tree. He comes the second time to sit
on the throne. in all His glory. He came the
first time in shame and humility. He comes the second time in all
His glory. He came the first time to suffer
death by the hands of wicked men. He comes the second time
to judge those who crucify Him. They shall look on him whom they
pierced. He will come in all his glory.
And at that moment, sin will be forever banished from his
presence. Furthermore, it is appointed
for Christ to return for salvation. In his first coming, he came
to obtain salvation. And he did through his death.
In the second coming, he brings it. In his first coming, he paid
the penalty for sin by his own death. He thereby saved me from the
penalty of my sin. In his second coming, he comes
to save me from the very presence of sin. I cannot fathom what that must
be like. To never again have a sinful
thought. To never again have sin put before
my eyes. That's what He's coming to bring.
He is bringing salvation, perfect salvation. No more sin. None at all. He is coming for
salvation. Now believers in the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, therefore, eagerly wait for Him. We do not fear death. We do not fear death. I sat by the deathbed of my son and
heard him pray. Lord, let me go home today. We do not fear death. We do not
fear death. We're looking forward to going
home. We do not fear the judgment.
Preacher, I've just thought you said that every deed you did,
every word you said, and every thought you imagined is going
to be judged. Well, it's going to be brought
out and everything I've ever done. And when the book is opened, everything's been blotted out.
It's all blotted out. And the devil can stand there
and accuse me. This is not theologically correct,
but you understand the point of the illustration. The devil
can stand there before God and say, I know, I've got a record
of what he did on this day and that day. And the Lord says,
I don't have a record of it. Oh, it was there, but it's been
blotted out. It's covered with the blood of
my son. On judgment day, what do we have to fear? On death
day, what do we have to fear? That Christ's return? What do
we have to fear? He says, I'm coming quickly. I'm coming. And we say, even
so come, Lord Jesus. Come now. Come now. I'm ready
to die. I'm ready to be judged. I'm ready
for Christ's return. The final three appointments.
all through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for me. Ah, but
wait, I must tell you this. On that day when He returns, there's going to be some wicked
people. They're going to look up and see Him coming. The skies
are opened and here He comes. And the Scripture says, They
will cry to the mountains and to the rocks and say, fall on
us and hide us from the face of the lamb and from his wrath. That is a scary thought. It's almost a contradictory thought. Hide us from the wrath of the
lamb. Who ever heard of a lamb having
wrath? This one does, against his enemies. They shall look upon him whom
they pierced and say, hide us. The day of Christ has come and
we scoffed at him. We crucified him. We refused
to believe his gospel. We spurned the cause of his preachers
to come to Christ. We said He's not coming back,
but lo and behold, here He is. Here He is. Let the creation kill us before
He does. Well, it's not going to happen,
folks. We're going to be judged. Now, I ask you, are you ready
for that day of judgment? Are you ready for the day of
death? Folks, you know you're going to die, don't you? We're
all going to die. Are you ready for it? Are you ready to be judged? Can you point to Jesus Christ
and say, he represents me? My judge is also my advocate. Can you consider the day of Jesus
Christ and say, let it be now. Let it be now. Oh God, our Father, our final appointments, we will
not miss them. Let us be ready for them through
the blood of your son, Jesus Christ. and our faith in Him. To Your glory in Jesus' name
we pray, Amen.