Hebrews chapter 9, our text will
be verse 24. Here in Hebrews 9 we read, For
Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands,
that is the tabernacle here on earth, which are the figures
of the true, but into heaven itself. And what is he doing
there? What does he do there that concerns
you and I, his people? Now to appear in the presence
of God for us. I sometimes chuckle, watching
TV, that it seems like four out of five commercials is for a
lawyer. Call me. I can get you more. I can get you more money. Call
this one. Call that one. We're here for
you 24 hours a day. Just call the man. I wonder,
well really I don't wonder, But I know not one of them can represent
me before the judge of all the earth. That demands perfection. None of them can bring from him
to me a pardon. Can stand before God and represent
me with the result of a full pardon of all my sins. An acquittal
in the court of heaven that declares this sinner, this sinner, not
guilty. Now what earthly law you can
do that but that one in heaven that represents us the Lord Jesus
Christ he can and he does. We're well represented. A child of God is well represented. That's the title of my message.
Well represented. Nothing can be more comforting
than this conviction to be assured of this that Christ as our great
covenant head and surety has passed into heaven itself and
is there as our representative. He represents each of his people.
His entrance into heaven, the very fact that he entered heaven
after he rose from the dead and sits right now at the right hand
of the majesty on high, that's the place God put him, at his
own right hand. That proves to you and I the
everlasting safety, not only the everlasting security and
safety of His people. They're secure. They must be. They're in His hands. They're
in His hands. You're in good hands. That's
what Paul told those Athesian elders, didn't he, in Acts 20.
He said, I'm leaving and I'm never going to see you again.
And they wept. They loved Paul. Paul loved them. But he said,
I'll never see you in this life again. And they went for that,
but he said, I'll tell you what, I'll leave you with this. Though
you won't see me, though I won't be with you, I'm leaving you
in good hands. I'm commending you to the grace
of God, everlasting grace, saving grace, keeping, preserving grace. So this fact of our Lord's entrance
into heaven manifests the safety of his people, but it also proves
the perfection the perfect perfection, the perfection and obedience
of his sacrifice. God said, it must be perfect
before I'll accept it. Now if Jesus Christ is accepted
in heaven in the presence of God and he intercedes for his
people, then his sacrifice, his work on behalf of them must be
perfect. Christ appears before God on
the behalf of another. As our advocate on behalf of
his client. Christ appears in the court of
heaven for His elect. He represents them by presenting
Himself. I'm here for them, Father. I
represent them. His blood, His sacrifice, His
righteousness before God on our behalf, on our account, and He
introduces us into the very presence of God. Verse 26 here in Hebrews
9, it speaks of Christ's first coming. and why he came, why
he came. It wasn't to set up an earthly
kingdom. If that had been his purpose,
he could very easily have done it. It wasn't his purpose then,
it's not his purpose now. But look what it said, but now
once in the end of the world had he appeared, Had he appeared,
why, what was the reason? To put away sin, that's what
he came to do. And this is how he did it, by
the sacrifice of himself. He appeared, past tense. Notice verse 28, speaks of his
second appearing. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation he
shall appear. That's future. Future, but certain. As Brother Don used to say, he's
on the way. Jesus Christ said, I go to prepare
a place for you. And if I go, I'm coming back
again to take you to that place that where I am, there ye may
be also. And Don would say, he's on the
way. Jesus Christ's coming back for
his bride. But what about that in-between
time? What about that interval? between
his first appearing and his second appearing. What about that time
his people find themselves in during their lifetime here below,
during this journey here below? Oh, in the world, he said, you'll
have tribulation, heartache, sorrow. God's people are not
exempt from that. And in addition to that, the
sufferings that are common to all men, physical and so forth,
what about that spiritual battle? The lost man knows nothing about
this. It's not possible for a lost man, even the most religious
lost man, to experience this. As made Paul, the apostle, cry
out, O wretched man that I am, when is this going to stop? When
is this going to cease? Will there never be an end to
this? Yes, there will. Yes, there will. Between those
two comings, our text tells us, in the meantime, in the meantime,
this is what is taking place. Christ himself now appears in
the presence of God for us. Now just briefly, just briefly,
what does that mean? What does that mean? Does that
have anything for me down here in the trenches? What does that
mean for me now? Well, it means this. It means
this. It is proof that God Almighty
accepted the sacrifice of his son, and it means that he must
have succeeded in his mission in coming into this world. He
must have succeeded. In order to save us, Christ had
to appear. There was no other way for man
to be saved. The Son of God could never have
saved a single sinner, not one, if he had not left the courts
of glory. except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it'll abide alone. It'll be all by itself.
There'll be no fruit unless it dies. Oh, but if it dies, if
it dies, what happens? Somebody might be saved. Somebody
might get in by the skin of their teeth. That's not what he said.
That's not the language of grace. Christ said if it died, it bringing
forth what? Much fruit. Much fruit. There's no question about that.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, yet for your sakes he became
poor, that you through his poverty might be rich, rich in grace. Brother Billy, when we come down
to die, if God is pleased to allow us to realize we're soon
to leave this world, we're leaving this world, we just have a few
more breaths left and we're closing our eyes forever to this world,
oh, what a joy it will be to know that I'm rich in grace. I don't have much to leave my
children. I hope they're not expecting
much because there's not much there. Oh, but I would that I
could leave leave them a testimony to God's saving grace. It's not
possible for God himself to put away sin except by the sacrifice
of his Son. There's no possibility otherwise.
Not all the blood of beasts, the writer said, on Jewish altars
slain could give the guilty conscience peace or wash away the stain. Repentance is necessary. Except
ye repent, our Lord said, ye shall all likewise perish. Repentance,
however, can never take away sin. Praying can never take away
sin. Good works can never put away
sin. Not even faith, not even genuine
faith, not even faith that is a gift of God, that cannot put
away sin. Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Christ can put away sin, and oh, what a job it did. How effectually
and completely and everlastingly did the blood of Jesus Christ
put away the sins of his people. Now once in the end of the world
hath he appeared, what did we read? To put away sin, how? By the sacrifice of himself.
This is the reason for our Lord's incarnation. This is why the
eternal world was made flesh and dwelt among us. Thou shalt
call his name Jesus, why? Why? For he shall say, mm-mm-mm,
Jesus, the salvation of the Lord, Jehovah, salvation. For he shall
save his people, all of his people, from all of their sins. And in
order to put away sin, God, the eternal Son, took upon himself
human flesh and appeared among men. The prophet 700 years before
said, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the
government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. And then Paul speaks of that
fulfillment of that very truth, that very prophecy when he wrote,
But when, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to do what? To
redeem. To offer to redeem? No, no, no,
to redeem. To attempt to redeem? No, to
redeem. To redeem them that were under
the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. That one
who came to put away sin is himself God. God was manifest in the
flesh. He's that one, the only one,
ordained and commissioned by God his Father to this great
and glorious work of redemption. Redemption is the theme of the
Word of God. And the Redeemer is that glorious one that redeems
his people. That one who appeared to put
away sin is the one who pledged himself to it in that everlasting
covenant of grace. You don't hear much about that
these days, do you? About the covenant of God's grace.
Preachers present God's purpose to save as an afterthought. Like
what happened in the garden caught him off guard. So he had to back
up, you know. Had to have a backup plan. No, no, no. There was an everlasting
covenant of grace. Before there was a fall, before
there was a sinner, there was a savior. Before there was a
need for redemption, there was the redeemer. He's the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world and in that covenant of grace.
Wherefore, Paul says in verse 5 of chapter 10 here in Hebrews,
wherefore, When he cometh into the world, he saith, this is
what Christ said to the Father, sacrifice an offering thou wouldest
not, but a body hast thou prepared me. And burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come. Oh, hallelujah, what a Savior.
Lo, I come, in the volume of the book that is written of me,
to do thy will, O God. In the fullness of time Christ
appeared, to finish transgression and to make an end of sin. That's
what he came into this world for. He appeared as a babe in
Bethlehem. Behold the Lamb of God. He appeared
publicly at the River Jordan at his baptism. He appeared in
Gethsemane when he prayed, Father, not my will but Thine be done.
And at the appointed time by the Father, Christ appeared on
Calvary's hill to make an atonement for sin in due time, God's time,
God's exact time Christ died for the ungodly. The sinner was
called forth and the sinner stepped forward and appeared before God
and said, here I am, take me. Here, just like he said to that
mob in the garden that night, whom do you seek? Jesus of Nazareth.
Well, you found him. You found him. And if you found
me, take me. Here I am. I don't resist. Take
me. But my sheep's got to go free. You can't have me and my
sheep too. Oh, glorious substitution. The
Lord Jesus Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. The Lamb of God had to be slain. Nothing but his own blood could
put away sin. Christ offered himself. Christ
offered himself as a sacrifice for sin. Christ offered himself
alone, and Christ willingly, willingly poured out his life's
blood unto death upon the cursed tree to put away the sins of
his people. We are redeemed. Now, if redemption
means no more than the average professed Christian tells us
in this day, that most preachers tell us in this day, if it's
no more than just an offer, if the success of Christ's redemption,
if the success of what Jesus Christ did on the cross is determined
by something the sinner must do in time to make it work, to
make it effectual, then it's not worth singing about. is not
worth nothing. Oh, but He redeemed His people.
When He died, He in reality bore all of His sins of all of His
people away forever to such a degree that God said in that day, they
shall be looked for, but they won't be found. They're gone. They're gone. That's why we say,
redeemed, how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb. That which Christ did on the
cross, He did for His people. He didn't do for everybody. I
know people hear that, religious folks say, oh, I just can't stand
that. Oh, if you ever get in on it
like Don used to say, you'll stand it. You'll rejoice in it
to know Jesus Christ laid down His life for me, therefore I
must go for it. If He paid the penalty for my
sins, then they can't be paid by me again. God cannot exact
the same penalty for the same transgression. No, they're gone.
They're gone. And the fact that Jesus Christ
now appears right now, child of God, in the meantime, now,
now, where are you right now? Well, you won't find much comfort
in dwelling on that. I know it's impossible not to
and we all do it, but it's not where you are now, it's where
He is now that gives us comfort. He appears in the presence of
God right now is what our text says, doesn't it? in the presence
of God for us, and that's proof that He succeeded in putting
away all the sins of all of His people. When the Lord Jesus Christ
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, that's
exactly what He did. He actually put away the sins
of His people. The sins of all believers, past,
present, future, the sins of all who have been saved and all
who shall be saved, the sins of all God's elect were put away
when Jesus Christ died on Calvary. When he shouted out those glorious
three words, it wasn't a cry of defeat. It was a cry of victory. Glorious victory, complete and
utter victory. It is finished, Father. It's
done. It's done. And all the sins of
his people were put away forever. God had delivered us from the
power of darkness and have translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. His dear son in whom we have
redemption. Have redemption. Through his
blood, even the forgiveness of sin. What Christ meant to do
when he died on the cross, that's exactly what he did. He didn't
die in vain. He left no part of the glorious
work undone. The Lord Jesus Christ actually
accomplished the eternal redemption of his people by coming into
this world, living as our representative, dying as our substitute. He put
away sin. He didn't try to, he did it.
He didn't make it possible, he did it. He put away all the sin
of all of his people. He appeared once in the end of
the world. He offered himself once. Why
once? Because once was enough. once
got the job done. He died one time. He will never
offer another sacrifice of himself for sin again because his one
sacrifice was both sufficient and effectual for the salvation
of all of his people. And God's justice cannot demand
more than Jesus Christ has already given. No, it cannot demand more
than what Jesus Christ has already paid. Complete atonement thou
hast made, and to the utmost farthing paid, whatever thy people
owed. Nor can God's wrath on me take
place, if sheltered in his righteousness, and sprinkled with his blood.
Payment God cannot twice demand, first at my bleeding surety's
hand, and then again at mine. The Son of God completely, forever
annihilated the sins of his people. Listen to what the prophet said.
chapter 7, he will turn again. He will have compassion upon
us. He will subdue our iniquities and that will cast all of their
sins into the depths of the sea. Someone said yes, he cast our
sins in the depths of the sea and places a sign there that
says no fishing allowed. They can never be brought up
again. Psalm 103 verse 12, as far as the east is from the west,
so far if he removed our transgressions from us, they're gone, they're
gone. Like that burden that rolled
off a Christian's back when he ascended the hill and saw that
cross, they're gone. He said they just kept rolling
and rolling and rolling until they fell into a sepulcher and
I never saw them again. Oh my sins, they're gone, they're
gone. Isaiah 43, I, God says I, even
I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake
and will not remember thy sins. Oh, isn't that a glorious comforting
thought? Isaiah 44 verse 22, I have blotted
out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins returning
to me for I have redeemed thee. Jeremiah 50 verse 20, in those
days And in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel,
God's Israel, his true people, shall be sought for, and there
shall be none. And the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve. Insofar
as the law and justice of God is concerned, my sins are no
longer in existence. That's why they can't be found.
They shall never be brought to my charge. They shall never be
imputed unto me. They can't be. That would be
wrong. That would be unjust on the part of a holy and just God
because they were already imputed to my glorious substitute. Look
what the Psalmist David said in Psalm 32. You know this is
blessed verses, don't you? Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven. That's the blessed man. Those
whose transgression is forgiven. whose sin is covered. Blessed
is the manner to whom the Lord imputed non-iniquity, and in
whose spirit there is no guile." Here's a second thing. Christ
appearing in God's presence for us now means this. God accepted
the sacrifice His Son offered for His people. Otherwise, He
would never have arisen from the grave. And this is what the
apostles, after the resurrection, starting at Pentecost, whenever
we're preaching the successful Redeemer, the successful Savior,
they didn't know anything about a pitiful Jesus that needs our
help. A pitiful Jesus that we ought to pity, oh no, they preached
him as the sovereign Lord of all. Acts 2, this is what Peter
preached, verse 32, this Jesus had God raised up, whereof we
are all witnesses. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which you now see
and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he himself
said, The Lord said unto my Lord, Set thou on my right hand, until
I make thine foes thy footstool. Therefore, therefore, that all
the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same
Jesus. this same Jesus, not this imposter,
not this weak imposter, no, this same Jesus whom ye crucify is
both Lord and Christ. You don't make him Lord. He's
Lord, anointed so and exalted so by God the Father. When we
read that Jesus Christ now appears in the presence of God for us,
it means God accepted his sacrifice. Now God Now God, in absolute
justice, declares this concerning all those for whom Christ died.
This is what God says. In accordance to perfect justice,
deliver his soul from going down to the pit. How is that so? God
says, because I've found a ransom. This is my blood, which is shed
for you, a ransom for many. Philippians chapter 2, speaking
of Christ, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore, because he did that, wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and giving him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven
and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. And if God accepted his son,
and he did, he made that plain when he raised him from the dead,
if he accepted his son at the very same time he accepted all
those that were in his son, Always has, always has. Ephesians chapter
one, it's exactly what we're told. It's always been acceptance
in the beloved. Nothing we've done, nothing good,
nothing bad. Nothing can add to it, nothing
can ever take away. Ephesians one verse three, blessed
be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessing and heavenly places in Christ. According as he has chosen us
in him. before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he had made
us accepted. Oh, don't you like that? Doesn't
that feel like a warm cloak? He had made us accepted in to
be loved. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace. Being redeemed means we are his. He is the travail of his soul,
the purchase of his blood, the ransom of the Lord, the fruits
of his redemption. Bringeth forth much fruit. A
multitude John saw that no man could number. Nothing less than
that could be the result of him who offered himself without spot
to God as a substitute for his people. Hebrews chapter 1 verse
3, I like this verse. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of
his person and upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself, oh, I've trod the winepress alone, he
said, and of the people there was none with me. When He had
by Himself, His own glorious Self, purged our sins, He sat
down. He sat down on the right hand
of the Majesty on high, and now He appears before the throne
of God for us. He represents His people. He
represents His people. He doesn't plead what you deserve,
He pleads what He deserves. He doesn't plead your desert,
your merit, He pleads His own. God accepts us in the beloved. Listen to what we read in 1 John
chapter 2. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have
an advocate. If any man sin, just throw in
the towel. If any man sin, you're a goner.
If any man sin, you're an outcast. Oh, no, no, no. Oh, no. Oh, we
underestimate so much, don't we? the love of our Heavenly
Father. If any man sin, we have an advocate. We have an advocate. He can't
deny Him. We have an advocate with the Father. Who is it? Jesus
Christ the righteous. And He is the propitiation for
our sins. And not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world. Jew, Gentile, black, white. Some of all mankind make up His
elect. Our Savior entered into heaven
as our forerunner. That's a guarantee. That's an
assurance that we're going to follow him there. In Hebrews
6 and 20, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus
made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He's
gone ahead of us. His entrance into heaven is the
assurance of his people following him there. He's gone to a prepared
place for us, and he'll bring us there too. There won't be cobwebs on any
crowns. There won't be any empty mansions
in glory. All of his people shall be there
with him forever. Listen to what Paul said in Colossians
3, verses 3 and 4. For you're dead, your life is
here with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. With him. Oh, in the beloved
accepted am I, risen, ascended, and seated on high, saved from
all sin through his infinite grace, with the redeemed ones
accorded a place. In the beloved, God's marvelous
grace calls me to dwell in this wonderful place. God sees my
Savior, and then he sees me. In the beloved, accepted and
free." I like that. I like that, don't you? Before
God rejects one of his own, he would have to reject his son.
In the beloved, how safe my retreat. In the beloved, accounted complete.
Who can condemn me? In him I am free. Savior and
keeper forever is he. And that brings us to the third
and last thought. If Jesus Christ now appears in
the presence of God for us, his people, his sheep, his church,
his bride, how safe they must be. How safe, how secure they
must be. Jesus Christ has never lost any
he represents before his father. He's never lost one. God accepts
him now. Christ intercedes for us now.
And we shall soon join him there. Last Thursday after the service
for Don, there at the funeral in Alex City, Robin and I got
in the car and was driving from the cemetery and asked Robin
I told her, it seems like God takes one by one. Every so many months, God takes
one. And I said, I wonder who God's
gonna take home next. I wonder which one of us it'll
be. I'll tell you this, whichever one it'll be, it'll be okay,
won't it? It'll be all right, won't it?
Who will be next to leave this world and to be forever with
the Lord? Who's gonna be that blessed one? that'll close their
eyes next to this world and open up beholding the king and his
beauty. Who's it gonna be? Oh, glorious,
glorious promise. Blessed, blessed prospect. The
justice of God demands his children be with him where he is. The
honor of Christ requires it. And the eternal salvation of
all those he represents must be the outcome of it. They must
be with him where he is. Peter said in 1 Peter 1, wherein
now ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be,
you're in heaviness." Oh yeah, seems like so much at the time.
In heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than that of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. whom having
not seen you love, in whom though now you see him not yet believing,
you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Arise, my soul, arise. Shake off thy guilty fears. The
bleeding sacrifice on my behalf appears. Before the throne my
surety stands. My name is written on his hands.
He ever lives above, for me to intercede. His all-redeeming
love, his precious blood to plead. His blood atoned for all his
race, and sprinkles now the throne of grace. Five bleeding wounds
he bears, received on Cabaret. They poor effectual prayers,
they strongly plead for me. Forgive him, O forgive, they
cry, nor let that ransomed sinner die. Oh no, there's no ransom sinner
will ever perish. No ransom sinner that Jesus Christ
redeemed with his own precious blood that will not be with him
in glory. The father hears him pray, his
dear anointed one. He cannot turn away the presence
of his son. His spirit answers to the blood
and tells me I am born of God. Let me close with these verses
from Romans 8. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who could be against us? He that
spared 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 is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is
Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, shall distress,
persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword? It is written,
for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted
as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us, for I am persuaded
that neither death, nor light, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And he, even now, appears in
the presence of God for us. Amen. God bless you. Hallelujah,
what a Savior.