We want to look at the appearing
of Jesus Christ the Lord. We read here in these last four
verses of Hebrews chapter 9 of three appearings, three appearings
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. First we read in verse
26, once in the end of the world has he appeared. to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. This is talking about our Lord's
first appearance here on the earth into flesh. He came into
flesh. He appeared into flesh to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. We read in Galatians
chapter four and verse four, but when the fullness of time
was come, that's what he's talking about here in Hebrews. When the
fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a
woman, made under the law for a purpose. What God doeth, he
doeth for a purpose. And that purpose, when God sent
forth his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that purpose was to redeem
them that were under the law, that we. You and I, that look
to Christ by faith, that we might receive the adoptions of sons,
that you and I may be joined into a family, that you and I
may be considered the sons of God, that you and I may be considered
those who worship God in spirit, rejoicing Christ Jesus, and have
no confidence in the flesh. In verse 24, we read of another
appearing of our Lord. For Christ is not entered into
the holy place made with hands. which are a figure of the truth.
The Old Testament tabernacle and sanctuary was a picture,
a type, a shadow that was pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
They came to a place to worship. We come to a person to worship.
They came to a place to offer sacrifice. They came to a place
to offer all these things that they did, that the high priest
did once a year. Then every day they offered sacrifice
for sin, sacrifice for offering. We come to a person. We come
to a person. For Christ did not enter into
the holy place made with hand, which are a figure of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us. The high priest came to this
place to offer this sacrifice. Our Lord Jesus Christ took his
place before God to offer this sacrifice before God for us. He appears right now. He appears
right now in the presence of God for me. He's standing there
pleading my cause. He's sitting at the right hand
of God right now making intercessions for me. You remember when they
stoned Stephen? Stephen had preached the gospel
to them and they hated him. They hated him for it. And they
picked up stones and they stoned Stephen to death. And right before
Stephen died, he said, I see one likened unto the Son of God
standing at the right hand of God. The scripture says he's
seated, meaning his work of redemption is accomplished. All that he
came to do, he said, I finished the work thou gavest me to do,
and now, O Father, glorify thou me with the glory that I had
with thee before the world was. And he sat down, he sat down
on the right hand of the majesty on high, expecting, waiting,
waiting until his enemies be made his footstools. When Satan
and all his followers accuse us, accuse the brethren, they
point an accusation unto us and say, He's sinned. He's sinned. He's come short of the glory
of God. He's not worshipped God as He should. He's not loved
God as He should. Our Lord says, He's right. The
accusations are right. He has not done these things.
He does sin and come short of the glory of God today. But my
blood is sufficient. My blood is sufficient to put
away all transgressions. All the sins of all my people
were laid upon me, and I took them to the cross, and there
I suffered and died under the wrath and penalty of God. And
now I arose victorious over death, hell, and the grave. And now
I'm seated at the right hand of God, there to make intercession
for them. or that we may understand that
our sins are gone. My sins are gone. And your sins, if you look to
Christ by faith, they are gone. I know that we still have this
problem of sin, we still have this flesh to deal with, as we
talked earlier, but our condemnation, our condemnation is gone. What
was it, Romans 8? There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that live in Christ, to them that look to Christ.
There's no condemnation. Their condemnation has been met
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God said, I'm satisfied. I have no fault with them. I
find no fault in them. And I find no sin because their
sin and their transgressions, their iniquities had been put
away. They'd been paid for to the point
that they no longer exist. This is what our Lord did for
us. And now he's seated at the right hand of God, making intercessions
for us. We read in verse 28, 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. The appearance of our Lord Jesus
Christ, as Paul wrote this year in the book of Hebrews. He shall
appear the second time. without sin unto salvation. Our
Lord shall appear upon this earth the second time. He's coming
back, he's coming back. But once in the end of the world
has he appeared to put away the sin by the sacrifice himself.
So Christ was once offered to by the sins of many and to for
them that look to him, shall he appear the second time without
sin unto salvation. These two appearings of our Lord
Jesus Christ are alike in some ways. First of all, it was a
personal appearing. It was a personal appearing.
We read in the book of Luke, in Luke chapter 24 and verse
36, And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of
them, and said unto them, Peace be unto you. This is after his
resurrection. They had saw, the disciples had
saw the Lord Jesus Christ hung there on the cross. They had
saw that he had died and he gave up the ghost and they took his
body and they laid him in a tomb and there on the third day he
arose victorious over death, hell, and the grave. And now
he appears unto them. He appears unto them. And they
were terrified and affrighted. They did not understand these
things. supposing that they had seen
a spirit. And he says in verse 38, and
he said unto them, Why are you troubled? And why do you doubts
arise in your heart? They had just saw this man be
put to death. They had saw him put in a tomb.
They had saw him lay there for three days, and now he has arose.
And he came and walked right into the midst of them. He said,
behold my hands and my feet, that is I myself, a personal,
it's a personal thing here. Men and women around us today
cry out about this thing of, oh won't you make Jesus your
personal Savior. There's no other type Savior.
There's no other type. Buildings, he saves individual
people, individual souls. He forgives their individual
sins. Behold my hands and my feet,
that is, I myself. Handle me and see, for the Spirit
hath not flesh and bone, as ye see me have. He's trying to tell
them, it's me. It is the same Jesus Christ that
you've seen crucified. Here I am, risen from the dead. And when he had thus spoken,
he showed him his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed
not, they believed not for joy and wondered. He said unto them,
have you any meat here? And they gave him a piece of
boiled fish and a honeycomb, and he did eat it. He did eat
it. And then he opened their understanding. that they may understand the
Scriptures." And he said, all these things, the prophets, the
Old Testament Scriptures, the prophets and the Psalms, these
things are written of me. They concern me. Everything that
the high priest did in the Old Testament tabernacle, it was
pointing to what I did in the flesh. Thus it is written and thus it
behooves Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third
day. He opened their understanding
and they saw. We look for the man, Christ Jesus,
to come again. This same one, this same one. You remember there in the book
of Acts, and the scripture says, and as he spoke these words,
this was his ascension up unto the Father. As he spoke these
words, while they beheld him, he was taken up in a cloud and
received out of their sight. And while they looked steadfast
towards heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel." These were no doubt two ministering angels.
Which said unto them, you men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing
up into heaven, this same Jesus? A personal thing, this same Jesus
which is taken up from you shall come again in like manner if
you've seen him go into heaven. This same body that hung on the
cross shall sit on the throne. The same hand that was nailed
to the tree shall hold the golden sepulcher." John saw him in the
Isle of Patmos and John said his face was as the shining sun
and his voice was as the many water. His feet was like brass,
but it will be the same person, the same person, the same one
that hung on the tree shall come again in like manner as you've
seen him go, and he shall come and receive us unto himself. And these two appearances are
alike in this way. They were both promised. They
were both promised. The scripture says, Abraham saw
my day and was glad. God promised back in the Old
Testament Scriptures in these types and shadows and pictures
that there's one coming. There's one coming. All for this
sacrifice as there's one coming, there's one coming. And when
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John said, here he is, behold the
Lamb of God. Then from Acts through the book
of Revelation, it says He's coming again. This same one that was
prophesied, typed, and pictured in the Old Testament Scriptures,
this same one that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John says, Behold,
here He is. He's coming again. He's coming
again. Our Lord rejoiced the hearts
of His disciples when He said unto them, Let not your hearts
be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That's
a promise. That's a promise that he's given
us. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. We read in 1 Thessalonians 4,
Paul's account here, it says, "...the Lord himself shall ascend
from heaven with a shout." This same one, this same Lord Jesus
Christ that hung there on the cross, he shall ascend with a
shout, with the voice of an archangel. and with the trump of God and
the dead in Christ shall rise first. Those that have passed
on, those Old Testament saints, these New Testament saints, our
brothers and sisters that are in Christ that have passed on,
they shall rise first. Then we, we which are alive and
remain, then we shall be called up together. with him in the
cloud to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be
with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."
This is a personal coming. It's a promise coming, and it's
an unexpected coming. I can't tell you when he's coming.
No man can. There was a man Several years
ago, he said, he's coming this day right here. When the year
2000 turned over, men got religious and went about all these different
things. I can't tell you when he's coming,
but I can tell you this, he is coming. He is coming. And to
many, it will be an unexpected coming. Peter wrote in 2 Peter chapter
3 and verse 3, it says, knowing this first. that there shall
come in the last day scoffers, walking after their own lust.
If this day that we're living in right now don't fit this,
I don't know what does. But in this last day, In these
last days, scoffers walking after their own lust and saying, where
is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
All things is continuing, where is the promise of His coming?
I don't see anything happening, men say, that's leading up to
this big event. It's going to be an unexpected
coming, an unexpected coming. For this they willingly are ignorant
of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the
earth standing out of the water and in the water. Whereby the
world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the
heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are
kept, if kept by the word of God, reserved unto far against
the day of judgment and prediction of ungodly men. But beloved,
but beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day
is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day. The Lord is not slack concerning
His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward, to usward, not willing that any should perish. but that
all should come to repentance, every one of his sheep. The only
reason that the world is standing here right now is because somewhere,
somewhere in this world, there is a lost sheep that has not
been brought into the fold. When that lost sheep, that last
lost sheep be brought into the fold, then cometh the end. That's when Christ will return.
But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night,
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise
and the elements melt with a fervent heat. The earth also and the
works therein shall be burned up, seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of person ought we to
be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking looking and
hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we..." Oh, I love
the we's and the us's in God's Word. Nevertheless, we, according
to His promise, for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be ye diligent that ye may be found
of him in peace without spot and in blemish." He came the
first time, not many were looking for him. The scripture says he
came unto his own and his own received him not. There weren't
many looking for him. There were many looking for a
king to rule in Israel. There were many looking for this
and looking for that. There were not very many looking
for a Lord and Savior. They were looking for someone
that would do this and do that for the nation of Israel. But
there was one man. There was one man by the name
of Simeon that was looking. diligently looking for the Lord. Simeon, the Lord had told him,
he said, thou shalt not depart this life till thou hast seen
my salvation. And as Simeon grew old, he came
to the tabernacle, he came to the place where they were going
to do the things for Christ after the custom. I suppose it was
probably some type of circumcision, whatever the law required in
that day. But this man, Simeon, whose name was Simeon. He was
a just man, a devout man, waiting for the consolation of Israel,
waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ to come. And the Holy Ghost was
upon him. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit. God
brought him into the temple. where the parents brought in
the child Jesus to do after him the customs of the law." Again,
I don't understand exactly what all that meant, but whatever
the law said was to be done with a man-child, they brought Christ
to do it. Then, he took him up in his arms.
He went and took this child, probably eight days old. He took
him up in his arms. And the Scripture says, he blessed
God and said, Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, for
mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Mine eyes have seen him. Simeon
was looking for him. Not very many people were looking
for him. It was an unexpected coming, and not very many people
cared much about it. Blessed be the people that await
and look for him to come again. This second coming, like the
first, will be a personal coming, a promised coming, and an unexpected
coming. But there are several ways that
it will not be the same. There are several ways that this
second coming is not like the first. He came the first time
as an infant. He's coming back Lord over all.
He came the first time to a manger. He's coming back to the throne.
Oh, there's a difference here. It's the same person, same person,
same promise, and it's the same unexpected coming. But there
will be a different theme here. He came the first time. hanging
on his mother's breast. This showed his humanity, his
dependency. He was all man, but yet all God. I don't understand that. But
this showed his dependency upon his mother to feed him and to
take care of him, to comfort him, to clothe him, to clean
him. He didn't do these things for himself. Someone did this
for him because he was an infant child. He came the first time hanging
on his mother's breast, but he's coming back with the universe
hanging about his shoulders. This shows his power, his authority,
his right, his glory, and his majesty. He came the first time
to troubles, trials, heartaches. He's coming back to glory. He
came the first time born in poverty. No place to lay his head. No
room in the inn. He's coming back in the fullness
of God. He came the first time as a lamb,
a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He's coming back
as the King of Glory. He came the first time alone.
He came to tread the winepress alone. By His own self, He put
away my sin. He suffered the wrath of God
alone. He's coming back with all the
heavenly hosts. What a glorious sight. Who are
they now that slapped Him? Who are they now that spit upon
Him? Who are they now that pressed
His crown of thorn upon His head and mocked Him and made fun of
Him? The Scripture says, they cry for the rocks and the
trees to fall upon them to hide them from the face of the God
that sits upon the throne. This second coming is not like
the first coming in many ways. They cry out for the rocks, the hills to fall
upon them and hide them. from this man that's coming back. The same man, the same man that
they spit upon, the same man that they slapped and put this
crown of thorn upon him, shall appear in glory. There is a man
in glory, the man Christ Jesus. He came the first time as our
surety. He stood in my room, in my stead,
under the wrath and penalty of God. He's coming back as the
surety of God. His purpose will be different
when He comes again. He came the first time to suffer
for my sins. He's coming back to receive the
reward. The scripture says, for the joy
that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising his shame,
and is set down at the right hand of God. What was that joy?
Was it him being tormented? Oh, no. The joy of redeeming
his people from their sin. He came to suffer the first time,
but this time, when he comes a second time, he's coming to
receive the reward, the joy that was given unto him. He came the
first time to serve. He went about all of His earthly
life doing nothing but good for the people, doing nothing but
serving the people. He's coming back the second time
to reign. He came the first time to save.
By His stripes we're healed. He came to save the sheep of
Israel, the lost sheep of Israel. He's coming back the second time
to judge. Oh my. He came the first time
as an open door. He's coming back to shut the
door. He came the first time weeping in his soul. He's coming
back the second time rejoicing in his glory. He came the first
time speaking grace and peace. Come unto me all you that labor
and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. He's coming
back the second time in condemnation. Depart from me, I never knew
you." Son said, well, I've had more important things to do than
come right now. I'm going to make myself ready.
I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that. I don't have
time to read his word. I don't have time to hear the
preaching of the gospel. It won't be that way then. You
remember when Noah built the ark? If I understand some of
the scripture, Noah built this ark. It took him some 40 years
to build this ark. Every day, I'm sure he had to
go out and cut down a tree, and I don't know exactly how he made
this ark and formed it, but Noah worked there in the presence
of his family, his friends, his relatives. Everybody knew what
Noah was doing, and no doubt they laughed at Noah. It had
never rained. It had never rained. There was
no water to float this boat. He built this boat on dry ground.
And they mocked him and made fun of him, and Noah was faithful. Every day, he'd go out, add something
to the ark. Can you imagine the cry as they
saw the rain begin to fall, and they saw the ark that Noah lift
up off the land and float out of sight. Can you imagine the
people that cried for Noah to open the door? If Noah probably had power, he
would have opened the door. But if you read the scripture,
it says, Noah entered the ark and God shut the door. He's coming
back the second time as a shut door. He's not coming in grace
and mercy and truth, He's coming back in judgment and wrath and
condemnation. Then every eye shall see Him,
and every tongue shall confess Him, that He is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. Let us hear Him say now, come
unto Me. Let us hear Him say now. We pray that He speaks to our
heart and our family and our friends' hearts and say, come
unto me. Or we will hear Him say, depart from me, I never
knew you. Today is the day of salvation.
Let us seek Him while He may be found. Don't wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow may be too late. Today,
if we look to Christ, we live in Christ. Today, if we can rest
our souls upon Him, then in that day, that same One that we rest
in now shall come in like manner as you've seen Him go and receive
you unto Himself. We have the promise that God
will not leave us. He will not forsake us. He will
all go with you always, even unto the end of the world. And
if our trust, our rest, our peace is found in Him right now. We will be found in Him then.
We will persevere. by the hand of God bringing us,
directing us, bringing us unto himself and keeping us right
there. Not in my strength, not in my
power, not in my wisdom, but looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. We look for him because he said,
I'm going to prepare a place for you and if I go away, I will
come again and receive you unto myself. That where I am, there
you may be also. This is the second appearing
of our Lord Jesus Christ that we look for every day. Thank
you.