I don't know when I have had
a message on my heart longer than I have this one. As we have
been going through the book of Hebrews, I knew we would be approaching
this passage of scripture that we will look at tonight in chapter
9, and I have been working on the message for weeks. I have
no idea how many commentaries or sermons I've read on the passage.
I don't even have any idea how many times I've outlined it.
jotted down a number of outlines, I've preached from it before,
but there's so much here. I have deliberately gone to bed
with these blessed verses on my heart every night for the
last couple of, maybe three weeks, and usually wake up with them
on my heart in the mornings to my delight. Now I hope that when
we have looked at the text this evening and that which is contained
in it, you will go to bed with it on your heart rejoicing tonight
and awake tomorrow and walk in the strength and joy of it through
the day. Turn with me, if you will, to
Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. Our text will
actually be taken from verses 26, 27, and 28, but let's read
together beginning at verse 24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the truth.
But, that is, he has entered into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us. What a word. He entered into heaven as our
forerunner, took possession of eternal redemption as our substitute,
and stands before God Almighty as our advocate this day. He's
entered into heaven itself for us. Read on. Nor yet that he
should offer himself often. That's not going to happen. As
the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with
the blood of others. If that were the case, then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world.
Now here's a text. But now, one time, One time. One time. No more sacrifice.
One time. In the end of the world, that
is, in this last age of time, the end of the world spoken of
here began when our Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh, and
it is this gospel age in which we live which is the end of the
world. John said it is the last time. That is, it is the last tick
of the clock. This is the end of all things. All right, read on. Now once
in the end of the world hath he appeared, he lived forever,
for he is life, he is God the eternal son, he is himself the
only begotten of the Father from eternity, and he in types and
shadows of the law and in visions and in dreams and in pre-incarnate
manifestations he sort of made himself known to men in days
gone by but now he's appeared he's appeared God came in human
flesh God was manifest in the flesh he appeared so that there's
no question about it he he who came here that one you read about
John chapter 6 who fed the multitudes, who healed the sick, who caused
the lame to walk and the deaf to hear and the dead to be raised
up, that man is God in human flesh. Now, once in the end of
the world, hath he appeared to do something, to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself, and as it is appointed unto men,
wants to die, but after this the judgment So Christ also 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 here the Holy Spirit tells
us of three great appearances made by the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, God the Son in human flesh. He appeared once
in the end of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. That's our atonement. Jesus Christ
has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Thereby we are now
reconciled to God. Lindsay taught you Sunday morning
concerning the atonement and reconciliation. We are now at
one with God because Jesus Christ came here in human flesh to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now in verse 24 we're
told that our great Savior right now appears in the presence of
God for us. What a word. He's not just sitting in heaven.
He is constantly appearing, constantly apparent, constantly manifest
in the presence of the thrice holy God on our behalf, on our
cause, He appears in heaven before God for us as our advocate. John writes these words, my little
children these things write I unto you that you sin not. Let no
one ever mistake our message of grace and our free pardon
of sin. My brothers and sisters strive
against sin. Resist the lust of your flesh.
Never be content with the reality of the fact that sin is mixed
with all you do, but rather long to be like the Savior and strive
to live as he lived. These things I've preached to
you because I want you to be without sin. But if any man sin,
and that's an accurate translation, But an accurate interpretation
is this, and when you do say it, when you do say it, like you're
doing right now, or like you do when you're in
a fit of temper, let your tongue rage, or in your lust your heart burns
cold, when you do say it, nothing changes. between you
and God. Nothing changes. We have as sinners
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and
he's the propitiation for our sins. Our Lord's first appearance
to put away sin is our atonement. His appearance now in the presence
of God for us as our advocate, that's our assurance. Our assurance
before God is not our feeling. Our assurance before God is not
our experience. Our assurance before God is not
our devotion, our consecration, or our personal holiness. Our
assurance before God is not our growth in grace. Our assurance
before God is not our sanctification. Our assurance before God is not
even our faith. Our assurance before God is the
object of our faith. Him who is our advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He who is our
advocate, the righteous one, Christ, the Christ of God, He's
the propitiation. the justice satisfying sacrifice
for our sins all right in verse 28 of our text the inspired writer
declares that our Lord Jesus shall appear to them that look
for him the second time look at this now without sin without
sin he came here to put away sin which he bore in his own
body on the cursed tree when he was made to be sin. And when
he died at Calvary, he died under the wrath of God as that one
who was made to be sin for us, as one who deserved to die before
the law of God because he was made to be sin. But when he rose
from the dead, He rose from the dead to declare our justification,
so that He was justified in the Spirit. When He arose from the
dead, God the Spirit declared Him to be altogether without
sin. He who is now appearing in the
presence of God for us is without sin. And blessed be His name. We're without sin in Him. And
we're looking for Him. Are you? Looking for Him. Looking
for Him. Looking for Him. We look to Him
and we're looking for Him. He's coming a second time and
soon He will appear right here without sin. Without any sin. Him or us. Unto salvation. You remember how Paul said now
is our salvation nearer than when we believe? I've often told
you, and I will tell you many more times in the days ahead,
I'm certain, if I live long enough to tell you again. Salvation
is not one thing. Salvation is not one experience. Salvation is not one act of God. Salvation is the total deliverance
of God's elect from all sin and all the consequences of sin which
is consummated in resurrection glory when we're made perfectly
like Jesus Christ, body, soul, and spirit. unto them that look
for him, shall he appear the second time without sin, to bring
about the complete accomplishment in our experience of salvation. Now, that will be our advancement. He came here, that was our atonement. He sits there, that's our assurance. He's coming again, that will
be our advancement. Now tonight, I want us to simply
look at these three verses beginning at the latter part of verse 26,
and I'm going to give them to you just line by line. I'm not
going to try to give you an outline. To follow, just hold your Bibles
open and read the verses with me and listen to the comments
made. Now, what's in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself? That being said, I conclude that
sin must be a horrible, horrible, horrible thing. Many definitions are given in
scripture concerning sin. Sin is the transgression of the
law. Sin is iniquity, it is missing the mark. It's not only just
Missing the mark, but it's transgression. It's breaking down the barriers
and breaking God's law. And sin is what we are. Sin. But that hardly describes
sin. No man really knows what sin
is. We become so heartened to iniquity,
not just because it's all around us, but it's all in us. No man
ever knew what sin is before God Almighty except the God man
who was made to be sin. Sin is rebellion against God. It is treason against the throne
of the Almighty. Sin is man's attempt to rape
and defile God Almighty. It is man's attempt to make God
what he is, and failing to do so, it is man's attempt to shove
God from his throne, to murder God. Indeed, sin is the murder
of God Almighty in our hearts. That's what it is. It's the murder
of God Almighty. God came down here in human flesh
and man took God and nailed him to the tree and said that's good
enough for God. I didn't do that. You were born
doing that. What does the scripture say?
The carnal mind is enmity. It doesn't say it is that enmity. It is enmity in the totality
of the essence of our being. Enmity against God. Sin. expresses the enmity of our hearts. It displays our natural heart
hatred of God Almighty. So I don't know anything about
that. If God ever makes you see the
plague of your heart, you'll know something about it. What
sin is. Depravity. Depravity is not just
sensual lust. Depravity is not just lust after
the world and the things of the world and the things of the flesh
and the pride of life. Depravity, those aspects of man's
inward depravity are just glosses upon what sin is. Sin is our
hatred of God Almighty. hatred of the fact that God is,
that God rules and that God is who he says he is. Man wants
more than anything else, man wants himself to be God. That's what man's rebellion is
in its essence. Sin is that which makes us obnoxious
to God. It is the defilement of our race.
It has brought us under the curse of God's holy law. It's put us
under the sentence of death, both physical death and eternal
death. Sin justly, rightly, rightly
shuts the door of hope against all men. Sin says no hope. Sin says no possibility. Sin says you have no pain before
God Almighty. You're a treasonous rebel against
Him. Now, that being said, it is not an easy thing to put away
sin. This is what Buddy read to us back in the study, what
I read to you earlier in Psalm 49. It's not an easy thing to
put away sin. No carnal sacrifice can do it.
Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain could give
the guilty conscience peace or wash away one stain. No work
that a man performs can remove one spot of sin. No matter how
hard you work, no matter how diligent you are, no matter what
sacrifices you make, you cannot remove one stain of sin. Don't ever talk. The foolish
language of this religious world say well boy I'll tell you my
grandma she was a good woman if anybody ever deserved to go
to heaven she did. Nobody ever did. Nobody. But I'll tell you what don't
tell me don't tell me that man's not worth the Lord I know he
is he was such a good man. That's got nothing to do with
God's grace. Nothing. Nothing. You can't remove
sin by what you do. No amount of repentance will
put away sin. You can weep crocodile tears,
you can weep and cry all you will. I just read last night,
late, I was reading a little bit of history and one preacher
talked about his great confidence because he wept thousands of
tears. You put your confidence in your
tears, your tears are sin. Your repentance needs to be repented
of. Your righteousness needs to be bathed in the blood of
Christ. Not even our faith can put away sin. Faith has nothing
to do with putting sin away. Faith enjoys the blessedness
of it. Faith receives free justification. But your belief in God won't
satisfy God's justice. Not all the labors of my hands
can fulfill God's laws demands. Could my zeal no lake could know? Could my tears forever flow? All that was sin could not atone.
Christ must save, and Christ alone. I'll say more than that. Never got your attention? Not
even God himself. in his strict, absolute, pure
character as God can put away sin. Can't be done. He reveals himself to Moses and
says, I will by no means clear the guilty. God cannot simply
sweep it under the rug. God cannot simply say, well,
I know you've done bad, but now that you've repented, I'll bend
over and forgive you. You say, well, we do that all
the time. That's because we are sinners. It's easy enough. It should be easy enough. I'll
take that back. It's not easy enough. We're not
very forgiving. But it ought to be. It ought to be. You deal with your children.
You know, they get accustomed, if you're a good mom or a good
dad, they get accustomed to the fact that if they break the rules,
they suffer the penalty. You know, they just as well get
ready to rub their behinds because they're going to get blistered.
But occasionally, they'll come and you recognize without the
pain of rod, they're genuinely sorry. And you hope maybe they've
learned their lesson. And so you say, all right, son.
Now, we'll forgive this. We'll forget that. But in doing
so, listen now, in doing so, you do two things. You admit
that you, yourself, are just like the boy. And you create in the boy more
obstinate tendency toward rebellion against you. I got by with it
once, maybe I'll get by with it twice. He might or he might not punish.
He may or he may not punish me. I believe I'll test it. God said
the soul that sinneth it shall die. And that's what's going
to happen. God in his straight justice,
in his absolute holiness, in his perfect righteousness, cannot
arbitrarily, freely forgive sin. He forgives it freely as far
as our experience is concerned, but it costs dear to obtain the
free forgiveness of sin. The only way God in his holiness
can forgive sin is by the satisfaction of his justice. If Christ would
put away sin, then Christ must appear in this world to put away
sin this way. by the sacrifice of himself. You see, our Lord did not just
die to show us a good example of what men should be. Certainly
he does that, but that's not his reason for dying. He did
not die simply to show us an example of the necessity of moral
government and moral goodness, though certainly he did that.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into this world. He appeared
here in human flesh to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself
as a penal substitute by whom justice is satisfied, by whom
the debt is paid, by whom the law of God is fully vindicated,
and the law of God itself declares, looking on him, the soul for
whom he died must go free. So that redemption is an act
of grace in that it arises from grace. But it is an act of justice
in that it satisfies justice. Redemption magnifies God and
all the attributes of his being. So look at our text. Now, once
in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. If you're taking notes, as I
hope you always do, the title of the message is Only Once and
Once Enough. Only Once and Once Enough. He appeared one time to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself, and his one sacrifice was enough
forever. You see, our Lord's sacrifice,
His sufferings and death as our sin-atoning substitute, His blood,
the merit of His blood is of infinite value and efficacy. He suffered for sin just once. He appeared once in the end of
the world to put away sin. Well, what does that mean? How did He put away sin? He put
away the guilt of it by atoning for it. He put away the punishment
of it by suffering all the punishment that justice could demand. He
put away the penalty of it by satisfying every aspect of the
law's penalty. He put away all the consequences
of it by his obedience unto death. Our Lord Jesus comes in the fullness
of time, sprinkling the hearts of chosen sinners with his blood
by the power of his Spirit, and puts away the dominion of it
by the operation of his grace, causing those who were long held
in the dungeon of darkness, depravity, and sin, held with the chains
of iniquity and the fetters of their own heart's lust, suddenly
they're broken loose and they're set free to live without living
anymore under the reigning power and dominion of sin. He puts
away the filth of it by the sanctifying work of his spirit and by finally
raising us from the dead, delivering us from the body of sin. And
he puts away the very being of it. Oh, wondrous work. The very being of it. I can't conceive what I'm trying
to preach to you. I can't imagine, I can't imagine
what it shall be, but the reality of it, oh, the thought of it, most joyous,
glorious, sweet prospect I've ever known. He shall put away
the very being of sin in resurrection glory, put it away. The word for putting away sin tells us that our Lord Jesus
accomplished this great deed by burying our sins in his own
body on the cursed tree. He took it, he carried it, and
he carried it away. Lainesy illustrated it so well.
That high priest would take the Lord's goat and the scapegoat
and he would lay his hands ceremonially on the head of the scapegoat
as well as the Lord's goat. Pressing the weight of his being
on the goat. Ceremonially transferring as
the priest bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
pressing by imputation ceremonially the sins of the people upon the
goat. And the goat is carried by the
hands of a fit man out into no man's land and carries away the
sin. That's what Christ did. Our sins
were made to be his, imputed to him, transferred from us to
him by his own act, by his own work, by the act and work of
his father, made to be his, and he carried them away. The scripture
tells us he has removed our iniquities from us as far as the east is
from the west. The scripture tells us that God
declares their sins and iniquities. Will I remember no more? Now you can scratch your head
all you want to try to figure that out. How on earth can God
Almighty who knows all things not remember our sins? Because
he took them away. He took them away. Now you can
put that in whatever theological language you want to put it into
and make it cold and dry and meaningless and dead. I'm telling
you, blessed be his holy name. The Son of God has taken away
our sins. God has cast them behind his
back. And when you can find his back,
you can find my sin. They're gone. Gone. I remember
when I was a boy, I used to sing a little song the kids did in
church when we went. How'd they go? G-O-N-E. They're gone. Gone, gone, gone. Thank God my sins are G-O-N-E. Gone. Did you hear what Jesus
said to me? They're all taken away. Your
sins are pardoned and you're free. They're all taken away. How fully so? In those days,
and at that time, the Lord God says, the iniquity of Israel
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. For God to pardon sin is not
to say, I'll try not to remember it. For God to pardon sin is
not for God to say, I'll try my best not to think about that
anymore. For God to pardon sin is to put it away. And this he
did in one day. Zechariah 3.9. One day. One day
the iniquity of the land of God's elect is taken away. All right,
look at verse 27. And there's a connection here. As it is appointed unto men once
to die, but after this the judgment. The text here speaks particularly
of physical death, the death of the body, not spiritual and
eternal death. Even physical death is the wages
of sin. God has appointed and decreed
the length of every man's life, the time and space of every man's
existence in this world, the place and appointed means of
every man's death. You were back in the office talking
a little bit ago. I remember several years ago Brother Larry
Brown here had a heart attack. And you said what, three or five
close friends, three friends died just a few days, same time
he had a heart attack. How come? Them, not you? Because
God appointed you to be here at least this long. And not them. Not them. Some of us have experienced
things that traditionally, commonly, take the lives of men. And God
calls us to experience them so that we might know the frailty
of our lives, and the brevity of our lives, and the shortness
of our days, and yet those things which take away life. He's called us to minister help
to our souls and keeps us in life. He's appointed the day,
the time, the place, the means of our death. He's appointed
it. Set the bounds of our habitation
and we're not going to cross it. No man can lengthen his days
and no man can shorten his days. No man. For I can. You'll find
out when you try it. God's appointed the days of man's
life. He sticks the time of our existence
in this world. Now some folks look at this and
imagine that there's a contradiction in scripture. Here it says it
is appointed unto man once to die. But what about Enoch? He didn't die. What about Elijah?
He was translated, taken, so that he didn't experience death.
What about those believers who live when Christ appears the
second time and are translated, taken up to meet the Lord in
the air? Why, there must be a contradiction. Not at all. Enoch and Elijah
and those believers who shall live until Christ comes and are
alive and remain on the earth when he comes again and are translated
up into glory must experience the equivalent of death. What
is that? Well, for believers, It's just
release. It's just release. Did you ever,
I guess they don't do it much here, I have seen it in this
country and I've seen it more commonly in other places where
they have wildlife refuges and most places they don't treat
them quite like kings like we do in our zoos here and that's
commendable, we ought to treat them well, but did you ever go
to a zoo and see an eagle sitting on one of those poles those cross
members usually set up about 15-20 feet high but it's tethered
and every little bit he'll just look up into the heavens and
stretch his wings and he'll fly about 15 feet that's all he can
do right back down on pole he sits That's exactly how I feel. Every
now and then I, like David, stretch my wings and say I would soar
away unto my God. And I do. I stretch my wings
and fly about 15 inches. Because I'm tethered to this
flesh. But soon, I'm going to be released. released released from this body of sin
this body of flesh released from this body of corruption released
from this prison house released no wonder our Lord said he that
liveth and believeth on me shall never die the believer doesn't
die we just drop this body of flesh and we call it death the
unbeliever dies And then it dies. Those who are made partakers
of the first resurrection, that is those who are born of God,
on them the second death shall have no power. Revelation 20
verse 6 says so. The second death is everlasting
judgment and damnation in hell, and the believer shall never
die. Our friends who have gone before
us have been released. When the believer is released
from this body, we miss them, we hurt for ourselves and for
their families who miss them, but for them, oh, oh, they're free, they're free. For the unbeliever, They're forever dead, banished
from God, banished from heaven. But after this, the judgment.
I have no question at all. The passage certainly refers
to the great general resurrection and general judgment of the last
day when we stand before the great white throne of our God.
But there certainly is Manifestly, 2 Corinthians 5,
10 and 11 certainly imply this. A judgment awaiting everybody
as soon as he leaves this world. A judgment by which it is declared
plainly the grounds upon which men and women either enter into
the bliss and glory of everlasting happiness with Christ or into
the banishment of darkness and prison of everlasting hell. I preached a lot of funerals
and you know the funerals of those dearest
to me who are one with us in Christ they're a little difficult
on the flesh but oh I tell you what I relish it I really do
I relish it I'd much rather I'd much rather Be responsible for
preaching Buddy Dardy's funeral right now than be responsible
for preaching your granddaughter's wedding right now. Much rather.
I've got some confidence with regard to him and Christ. What's ahead for those kids? I'd just as soon stay out of
that. I'd just as soon stay out of that. Oh, but for the believer
to die. But without question the most
difficult thing on this earth I have to do for family and friends is to
stand by the bed of someone I love dearly and
watch them slip off into hell. And then have to stand up and
preach the funeral of one who's gone forever. So how can you do that? Men slip off into hell because
they go out of this world with a fist shoved in God's face. And I'm not going to lie on God
to try to make you feel better about somebody going to hell.
I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. Or to
try to make me feel better. So, look at the next slide. just as it is appointed to men
once to die, and after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered in death and in judgment to bear the sins of many. Don't you like that word many?
He didn't say to bear the sins of a few, but of many. Not of
all, but of many. If of many, why not me? I know
this, he bore the sins of the many who believe on him unto
life everlasting. The many who are justified by
his blood, forgiven by his grace, pardoned by his mercy, whose
sins God remembers no more. The many who are sanctified by
his spirit, given to him in the covenant of grace, and brought
to him in time by the power of his spirit. The many for whom
he appears in heaven. The many who look for Him. Whose
sins did He bear away? All who believe Him. What sins
did He bear? All kinds of sin. Past, present, future, inward,
outward, thought, word, deed, all of them. Sins of the flesh, sins of the
mind, sins of the heart. Sins against man, sins against
God. sins of omission, sins of commission. Every act of sin,
every thought of sin, every aspect of sin for all his people he
bore it. He picked it up voluntarily and
carried the hard and load of sin, guilt, before God's holy
law but he never sunk beneath it he never shrank before it
he carried it and carried it to the full satisfaction of God's
holy justice until God in justice said that's enough and then he
gave up the ghost he carried it away Our sins were imputed
to him and became his. He bore them all. And he bore
them away forever. No wonder, David said, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Thou forgavest,
listen to this, thou forgavest the iniquity of my sins. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh. All right, now look at the next
part of the verse. And to them that look for him. I'm thankful the text doesn't
even say to them that see him. Because I often wonder if I see
him at all. I've seen nothing as yet. I've
seen nothing as yet. And just about the time I begin
to think I see a little something I realize I'm walking about just
groping about in darkness yet. But I'm looking for him. I look
to Him and I look for Him in faith, in hope, in love. To them that look for Him shall
He appear. Suddenly He shall appear. He
shall appear. I guess it would be alright to
add for some of us, he will appear suddenly, secretly, and take us out of this world
to himself. But the text is talking about
his glorious second advent. Soon he shall appear, listen
now, without sin. Unto the total, complete, everlasting,
blessed deliverance from sin. He appeared once to put away
sin, that's our atonement. He appears yonder in heaven right
now in the presence of God for us, that's our assurance. And he shall appear without sin and to salvation. And that shall be our advancement.
Then we're going to know and experience and enjoy forever
what eye has not seen nor ear heard and what no man has ever
imagined in his heart. I love to think about eternal
glory. I love to think about eternity. I read the book and try to understand
what I can of it. Every time somebody starts talking
about it, trying to kind of dissect things and figure it all out,
get all the ducks in a row, you know, get every box lined up. We like to pigeonhole everything.
I think, oh, what a disservice. What a disservice. I'd rather
just think about it a little. I'd rather just meditate on it
a little. I recall a young man, 17 years
old, Shelby and I were engaged, and the whole year I saw her
just twice. Went to school at Springfield,
Missouri, left her in Winston-Salem, saw her Christmas and Thanksgiving,
the only time I saw her was the whole year. But I knew one week
after I got home, one week to the day, we were getting married.
if I could keep her interested. And I'd go to bed at night just
imagining what's going to be like. Oh, she's going to be mine. She's going to be mine. And it's been nearly 32 years
now. I wasn't disappointed then, haven't been now. Oh, but my soul. soon. Christ shall be mine in the experience
of the wedding of my heart in the totality of my being.