Hebrews 9, 24 through 28. Our subject this morning is Christ's
three appearings. Christ's three appearings. And when we say that, we're not
referring to what Paul talked about in first Corinthians 15,
the post resurrection appearances. You remember that scripture.
Paul said after the resurrection that Christ was seen of Cephas,
then of the 12. After that, he was seen or appeared
to more than 500 brethren at once. After that, he was seen
of James and of all the apostles. And then Paul said, and last
of all, he was seen of me also. He appeared to me and he's referring
to Christ's appearance to him on the road to Damascus. But
the three appearances we're considering today are all found in this passage
we've read here in Hebrews 9. In verse 26, look at it with
me, it's hath appeared. That's past tense. In verse 24, it's now to appear. That's present tense. And in
verse 28, it's shall appear. That's future tense. So that's the three appearings
we're going to talk about this morning. The past appearing,
of course, referring to his coming into this world, born of a virgin,
to live and to die, to rise from the dead, and ascend back into
the glory. The present tense appearance
here, meaning that our Lord Jesus Christ is somewhere right now
doing something. And the future appearance, meaning
that He will return to this earth. Our Lord is coming again. So
we're going to look at these three appearings for a little
bit this morning. First, the past appearance. Verses
25 and 26 said, nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entereth into
the holy place every year with blood of others. You can read
about that back in Leviticus chapter 16. There was a day in
Israel known as the day of atonement once a year in which a sacrifice
was made. And the high priest alone would
take the blood, catch the blood of the sacrifice in a basin,
enter into the Holy of Holies, that innermost compartment of
the tabernacle, sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat to
make atonement for the sins of the people for a full year. And in the example here, the
comparison made here, He said if that were the case with Christ
our Lord, then he should often have suffered every year. But
no. Verse 26, but now once in the
end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. It's a one time thing. Past tense
to us. Now the phrase in verse 26, the
end of the world, does not mean the end of world history. That
time has not yet come. We're still here. Yet he's already come to put
away sin. What does it mean, the end of
the world? Well, when he came, it was the end of the old Jewish
world. It was the end of the age. It was the end of the old economy
because all the symbolism of the old covenant and the Old
Testament, the prophets, the priests, the kings, the sacrifices,
it all pointed to Christ, our Redeemer. He is all of that. He is the supreme, the true prophet,
priest, king, sacrifice. He fulfilled it all. when he
came. Matthew 5.17, our Lord said,
think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am
not come to destroy, but to fulfill, to accomplish the purpose for
which those things existed. Now, there was a time, I'll just
give you, try to give an example, there was a time when a kerosene
lantern was a very valuable thing in every household. But now we
seldom see one. Occasionally you'll see one hanging
on a wall just for decoration or something. But with the convenience
of electricity, nobody goes to the trouble to pour kerosene
into a lamp, strike a match to it, smoke up the room, and try
to use it for light. We do that when the electricity
goes out. That's about the only time. Now we don't despise the
old lantern. We just don't need it very often.
There's something better. We don't despise the Old Testament
offerings or they were very valuable and still are very valuable for
us to refer to in seeing pictures and glimpses of our Lord. We
don't despise the offerings, the priesthood, the tabernacle,
the temple. It's just that when the substance
appears, you no longer look at the shadows. And that's what
the Old Testament was. Types and shadows. That's what it is. All pointing
forward to Christ our Lord. And in the fullness of time,
he came. He appeared once. And that was
the end of that old world. He appeared once in the end of
the world of types and shadows, and he appeared to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself. Also in that phrase, the end
of the world, we could say the purpose of the world, the very
end for which it was created, to bring glory and honor to himself
through the redemption of his elect people who were fallen
in Adam. But thank God he came. He appeared
once to put away sin. He'll never do that again. He's
already paid for all the sins he's going to pay for. He's already
died for all the sinners he's going to die for. Don't talk
to me about a universal atonement. If that's so, nobody is in hell
and nobody can go to hell because Christ's atoning death was effectual. He was successful in doing what
he died to do. Don't talk to me about a potential
atonement, a potential salvation. If that's so, what Christ did
is absolutely worthless without your two cents worth. But I'll
ask you a question. What kind of God would leave
the success of his dear son to such creatures as you and I?
Uh-uh. No. There is no potential atonement. There is no potential salvation.
God's word teaches a definite atonement that all for whom Christ
died cannot perish without him perishing, and he's not going
to perish. And that alone gives Him all
the glory. We're in a religious age that
wants to put God on a lily in the things. And all Jesus is,
He's a poor beggar up there wringing His hands, pleading with His
folks to believe on Him. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. No, He has the
power to change men's hearts as He changed my heart and changed
your heart. And He changed the hearts of
all for whom He died. Oh, it is this that gives him
praise and honor and glory. And he is worthy of all of it.
I want to give you three words concerning his first coming,
coming into flesh as a man at Bethlehem. And the first word
is the word approved. Approved. Acts chapter two, verse
22 says, You men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also
know. He was a man approved of God. Now, no child of Adam, including
you and I, could be approved of God in ourselves. But yet he says of Christ, he's a man approved of God. And God himself spoke loudly
and openly from heaven and said, this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. Jesus Christ was a man approved
of God. Not only approved, but the second
word is appointed. Appointed. Luke 22, 29, and I appoint unto you a kingdom
as my father hath appointed unto me a kingdom. The father appointed
the son a kingdom. It was not a kingdom already
conquered. It was a kingdom he must conquer to bring himself
honor and glory in his kingdom. Well, did our Lord conquer? Oh,
yes. He conquered all the way. from the cradle to the grave.
He conquered every obstacle, every demon, every devil that
got in his way. He conquered all the way. And
ultimately, on the cross, he conquered. He said in John 18,
37, to this end was I born. And for this cause came I into
the world. He came conquering and is yet
conquering in his kingdom. And the third word in connection
with this past coming, his first coming, is the word accomplish. Accomplish. Did you know, I hope
you did, a lot of people don't, the crucifixion of our Lord was
no tragedy. It was no accident. It was no
plan B. God has no plan B. It was ordained. Christ was born
to die. You and I were born dying. He
was born so he could die. It was no accident. It was no
unplanned and uncontrollable course of events. It was decreed. It was a definite appointment.
It was an accomplishment. In Luke 9.31, at the Mount of
Transfiguration. You can go read this story. He's transfigured there in his
glory. And the Bible says that he talked with Moses and Elijah,
both been dead and gone for hundreds of years. There appeared with
him and talked with him, Moses and Elijah. And that verse, Luke
9 31, tells us what they talked about. It says they spake of
his decease or his death. which he should accomplish at
Jerusalem. Our Lord's death was spoken of
as an accomplishment. It was a deliberate act. It was
part of his conquering work, an accomplishment. That's his
first coming, his first appearing. He was a man approved of God.
He was a man appointed a kingdom. He was a man who accomplished
his work. That's the first time he came.
Now look with me secondly in verse 24, we read about a present
appearing, a present appearing. For Christ is not entered into
the holy place made with hands, referring to that Old Testament
tabernacle or temple, which are the figures, in other words,
just types or pictures of the true, But he's entered into heaven
itself now, right now, to appear in the presence of God for us. Now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Hebrews 7.25 says that he ever
liveth to make intercession for us. Christ alone is called, in Hebrews
4.14, our great high priest. He represents us in the presence
of God as we speak and as you sit right now. Isn't that wonderful? In the Old Testament, you study
and learn there were many ordinary priests of the tribe of Levi. There was only one man at a time
who was called the high priest. And when he died, they'd have
to appoint another. But only Christ our Lord is called our
great high priest. He's already died. We need not
appoint another in his stead because he rose never to die
again. And that's what the scripture
meant in Hebrews when it said he ever liveth. He is forever
alive to make intercession for us. We never have to worry about
our great high priest being unable to be our great high priest.
He ever liveth. We don't need any man with his
collar turned backwards, wearing a robe to represent us to God. We have in our Redeemer the Lord
Jesus Christ. the one and only mediator between
God and men. No point in fooling with anybody's
religious traditions or religious ideas. Christ our Lord, right
this moment, is seated in the heavenlies. And all his people
are represented in him and seated in him in the very presence of
God. That's so blessed, so blessed.
All right, concerning this present appearance, Christ our Lord,
our great high priest. We have three words about that.
The first word accepted, accepted. Risen from the dead. Ascended
back into God, he was accepted of God, accepted. Turn with me
for a moment to Psalm 24. Psalm 24. I was just looking
at it this morning concerning this thought. This is so blessed.
Psalm 24. His sacrifice, his death was
accepted, was raised, ascended and accepted. And this Psalm, Psalm 24 is about
our Lord's ascension. and acceptance back into the
glory he had with the Father before the world was. Look at
verse 3, Psalm 24, 3. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. Now, if you think that's talking
about you or me, you're way out of it. You're way off base. Ain't nobody here with a pure
heart and clean hands. You can forget it. You can forget
it. You don't say they that have
clean hands and a pure heart. There's not but one that qualifies
here. It's masculine and it's singular. He that hath clean
hands and a pure heart. We know who that is. We know
who that is. who hath not lifted up his soul
unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Do you qualify? I don't think
so. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness
from the God of his salvation. Look at verse 7. Now here's the
instruction, here's the command, welcome home command. From Almighty
God concerning our King, concerning the Lord Jesus, having conquered
sin and Satan and hell and death, the voice of Almighty God thunders,
commands attention and obedience in heaven, and says, lift up
your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. He who conquered sin and Satan,
death and hell. The Lord, mighty in battle. Lift
up your heads, O ye gates. Even lift them up, ye everlasting
doors. And the King of Glory shall come
in. Who is this King of Glory? The
Lord of Hosts. He is the King of Glory, Selah. Our Lord was accepted. After
he had suffered and conquered and pleased the Father, he's
accepted. We find this illustrated, typified
so often in the Old Testament. Leviticus 1.4, and he shall put
his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall
be accepted for him. Christ our Lord was our offering. He was our sacrifice for sin
and he was accepted for us. God said, it's enough. Most religious folks I know spit
in God's face and dishonor the Lord Jesus Christ by thinking
that we can do something to make God smile on us. He said, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased with all he did and he's accepted. Ephesians 1.6 says that we're
accepted in Him, in the blood. Not made acceptable, but accepted. Not made acceptable, for you
to add your two cents worth to, but we're made acceptable in
Him. And this is the gospel that most
religious folk hate, is that what Christ did is enough. But
it's enough. It's enough. Accepted second
word about this advocate advocate first John 2 101 my little children
these things right under you that you sin not and if any man
sin We have an advocate with the father one to represent us
and Who is this one? He tells us Jesus Christ The
righteous he's our advocate Jesus Christ, the righteous or the
righteous one. Or the one and only righteous
one. Adam was not righteous. Even
before he sinned. He was innocent. But not righteous. If he had been righteous, he
couldn't have fallen. But he did fall. But our Lord
is the righteous one. Our advocate is one with the
judge. What about that? Our advocate is as righteous
as God is. I'm telling you what a deal we
have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the third word is acquainted. acquainted Hebrews 11 excuse
me Hebrews 415 for we have not an high priest which cannot be
touched with the feelings of our infirmities But was in all
poets tempted like as we are yet without sin He's acquainted
With the feelings of our infirmities Isaiah 53 3 a man of sorrows
and acquainted with with grief. So that's our Lord's present
appearing in the presence of God for us. He's accepted. He's our advocate. And he's acquainted
with us in our sorrows and in our troubles. I want to say for
those in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, we could not be
any better fixed than we are. And I bless his holy name for
it. All right, third thought. In verse 28, we read of a future
appearing of our Lord. Look at it. So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him
shall he appear. See, there's our appearing. Here's
our third appearing. Shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation. Now that phrase, without sin,
means he's not coming to put away sin again. He's already
done that. But he shall appear the second
time in this world bodily, visibly, unto salvation. Not to accomplish
salvation. He's already done that. but unto
salvation, that is, unto the consummation of it. That's what
Paul meant in Romans 13, 11, when he said, now is our salvation
nearer than when we believed. In other words, the consummation
of it, the fullness of it, is nearer now than when we first
believed, when we first embraced Christ.
Now let me hurriedly say three words about this, His future
coming. The first word is Almighty. Almighty. Christ Jesus, our Redeemer,
is the Almighty, Omnipotent, Sovereign God. Among his last words after the
resurrection, before he left this world, before he ascended,
Matthew 28, 18, he said this, all power, meaning all authority,
is given me in heaven and in earth. You see, a lot of people
think of God, the Almighty, the highest one. He's up here on
one level. And Jesus Christ, His Son, is
down here on a little lower level. It's not so. When Christ was
born, it was not God producing another baby God. No. It was God Himself coming down. He shall be called Emmanuel.
God with us. Jesus Christ is God. He is the Almighty. He became
flesh. He was made man without ceasing
to be God. You say, I don't understand that.
Well, join the club. It's so. He's God. He's God. He is not coming back. I don't think a lot of people
have ever thought beyond this. He is not coming back, the lowly
Nazarene, to walk the shores of Galilee in sandals. No, he's
not coming that way. To walk and live in poverty in
the eyes of the world. No, he did that the first time
he came. He's not coming again in the
character of a peasant carpenter He's the Almighty. The Almighty. I saw a silly bumper sticker.
I've told you all about this. Some of you may have saw it on
the back of the car. It said, My boss is a Jewish
carpenter. No, he's not. He's the Almighty. He's God. And he's coming in
his glory. I'm going to tell you he's the
Almighty. Revelation 1.8. Here's what he said. I am Alpha and
Omega, that's Christ. The beginning and the ending,
that's Christ. Sayeth the Lord, the Lord Jesus
Christ, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. He's the Almighty. If your Savior
this morning is nothing more than a Jewish carpenter, then
hell is your lot, I promise you that. But my Redeemer, thank
God, is the Almighty. The Almighty. Not only is He
coming back the Almighty, but second word, avenge. Avenge. To avenge means to vindicate,
to set aright, to straighten things out, to even the score. We all like to try to do that,
don't we? The common term we use is get
even. 2 Thessalonians 1, 8 and 9, he's
coming in flaming fire to take vengeance on them that know not
God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence
of the Lord and from the glory of his power. Our Lord is coming again to deal
with this wicked, God-denying, Christ-rejecting world that we're
in. Then He'll even the score. Then, concerning His people,
He's going to straighten out things. He's going to avenge
all the mistreatment and persecution and suffering of his people in
this world. Shall not God avenge his elect?
Oh, yes, he's going to do it. I want to say when Christ returns,
this world will have turned their noses up at God's children for
the last time. They will have mocked the preacher
and God's children for the last time. Our Lord gave a parable
in Luke 18. about this avenging, commonly
known as the parable of the unjust judge. A poor widow kept coming to this
judge pleading with him, avenge me of my adversary. And I guess because there was
no money to be had, the judge just ignored her. But she wouldn't quit, she kept
on coming. And finally, the scripture says that he got weary. He got
tired of her coming. And just to get rid of her, he
did what she kept asking for. He avenged her of her adversary. And after telling that, the Lord
Jesus Christ then made his point. And shall not God avenge his
own elect? which cry day and night unto
him, though he bear long with them, I tell you that he will
avenge them speedily." You say, well, that sounds wonderful,
but I have to confess, I don't exactly cry to him day and night.
Can I say to you that there's somewhere around this globe that
somebody is crying to him every second of the day and night to
avenge to heal my broken heart, to solve this problem, to heal
this sickness, to do for me, to deal with this injustice, this
mistreatment. Oh, yes. Day and night. He says,
yes, I will do it. I tell you that he will avenge
them speedily. You and I need to understand
this. We need to understand this real good. And we need to hear
this pretty often. If we have any faith in God at
all, if we trust Him at all, it is not our business to get
even with people. I'm preaching to myself. I'm
sure none of y'all have a problem with this, but I'm talking about
me. Over and over and over, the New Testament tells us plainly,
Romans 12, 19, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves. Rather
give place unto wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine,
I will repay, saith the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4, 6, that no man
go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the
Lord is the avenger of all such. And we also have forewarned you
and testified. Hebrews 10.30, for we know him
that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith
the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge
his people. He's coming back again to avenge,
to set things right, to straighten things out. That's not our business. It's his. We're not to be like
the old cutter lady that wanted to get rid of the liquor joint
next door to her house. And she kept thinking about what
she could do. Finally, she burned it down one
night. And they caught her. And the
preacher said, well, now, you ought not done that. He said,
I know it's wrong. I know you want rid of it. But
you ought not done that. He said, you ought to just let
God handle it. You know what he said? He said, huh, he's too
slow. That's kind of the way we are,
aren't we? Huh? We'd rather handle it today. Huh, he's too slow. Yeah, but it's his right to do
it, and he'll do it right in his time. He's coming back to
avenge. Third word, we're through. Adorn,
adorn. Revelation 21-2, And I, John,
saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. The New Jerusalem, the holy city.
Now, the Revelation is a book full of symbols. John did not
look up and see what we call a city. He did not see a bunch
of skyscrapers and streets and cars. No, not that kind of city. Remember Matthew 5, 14, our Lord
said to his people, you're a city set on a hill. The city John saw coming down
was Christ returning with his people. And he goes on to say this city
was wearing clothes and jewelry, all dressed up. This city prepared as a bride,
adorned for her husband. There's my word, adorned. To
adorn means to decorate, to dress up, to beautify. A few weeks ago we spoke one
Sunday from Ezekiel chapter 16, you ought to read that chapter,
oh my, about the newborn, unloved and uncared for, cast out into
an open field, naked to die. God says, I came along and I
found you and I picked you up and I cleaned you up and I washed
you and I anointed you with oil and I clothed you. And then he
said this. I decked thee, I decked thee
also with ornaments, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, fine linen,
and silk. God says, I adorned thee. That's what he's doing. Now,
when Christ comes, none of his children will be dirty. None will be unclothed. All will
be beautiful. You say, well, I've got a long
way to go. So do I. But all will be precious in His
sight. He will have adorned us. We'll be changed totally in a
moment in the twinkling of an eye. He's coming again, the Almighty. He's coming again to avenge the
wicked. And He's coming again having
adorned His saints. and he'll present us to himself,"
he said, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. Three appearings, past, present,
and future. I do not believe in the popular
teaching of a rapture of the church While this world in its
wickedness continues on When Christ comes 1st Thessalonians
4 17 says we'll be caught up to meet the Lord in the air But
now don't miss don't miss this what I'm fixing to tell you We're
not going to be caught up For him to meet us on our way up We're going to be caught up to
meet Him. That's what Scripture says. We're going to be caught
up to meet Him on His way down. He's not the one going to turn
around. We are. And in that moment's time, the
wicked will be put in hell, the earth purified by fire, the curse
removed forever. And the Lord will set foot on
this earth with His people. And it'll then be a fit place
for us to live with Him forever. You say, well, what about that
dramatic, time-consuming judgment when He separates the sheep from
the goat? That's going on now. That's going on now. Those who
follow Him do so because they're His sheep. And those who don't
do so because they're goats. That separation is now. And when
He comes, that separation will be complete. We find it in the parable of
the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13. Christ said, in the time
of harvest, both will be dealt with, the wheat and the tares,
at the same time. The wheat will be gathered in
the barn, and the tares will be burned. The tares are not
going to be left for all this religious garbage you've heard
all your life. The tares are not going to be left for another
seven years called tribulation to receive
or reject Mark of the Beast and all that religious garb and ideology.
No, no. If you look up in your concordance
every reference in the New Testament to the word tribulation, You
do not find that it is any specific time period after any so-called
rapture. What you will find is that tribulation
is the very way of life for God's children right now. He said in
the world you shall have tribulation. And we do. We do. Oh my. As we speak, here and
now, Christ's sheep are sealed. Goats are marked. It is only Christ's sheep sealed
by the Holy Spirit. Only them are not already marked
by the beast. It's not some future thing we're
talking about. The minds and hearts of all humanity
are corrupt, deceived, loving evil, hating God, and marked
already for hell. Everyone except God's elect.
Y'all are mighty quiet, but I'm telling you the truth. I'm telling
you the truth. Every person under the sound of my voice is in one
of these two categories right now. You're a sealed sheep. Can't get away from God and He
won't let you. Or you're a marked goat that
can live like hell and think you're getting away with it.
And you couldn't get to God if you wanted to. You could if you wanted to, but
you can't want to. Let the scoffer scoff. Let the
mockers mock. Christ is coming again. Verse
28, He shall appear the second time. There's no mention of a
third or a fourth time. He's coming once more and that'll
end world history. Eternity will have dawned. And
every man, woman, boy and girl who's ever lived will be either
in the presence of the Lord forever to live in blessedness and bliss
with Him or else be alienated. from the Lord forever in the
lake of fire. I hope I've made it clear, Christ's
three appearings. Past as the sacrifice for our
sin, presently as our great high priest, and future as our coming
king. to rule and reign in us and with
us in his presence forever. Stand with me.