The Three Appearances of Christ

In Hebrews chapter 9, the Lord Jesus said, He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear. Everybody is not blessed with
an ear to hear. He said to the apostles, Blessed
are your ears, for they hear, and blessed are your eyes, for
they see. The Apostle said, Lord, why do
you speak to the multitude in stories and parables? He said,
because they have ears, but they can't hear. They have eyes, but
they can't see. Hearts, but they cannot understand.
If God gives you ears to hear the message that I'm bringing
this morning, you'll enter into the very counsels and purpose
of God in the revelation of his mercy. If God gives you an ear
to hear this morning, you'll enter into the purpose of God
in his great salvation for sinners. That's what Paul said in Ephesians
chapter 3 verse 11, according to the purpose, God's purpose
given to us in Christ Jesus. The second thing I want to say
about this message before I continue, this is the foundation of faith
of all ancient believers. We're talking about the appearances
of Christ. I want you to turn to Luke chapter
2 verse 25. Luke chapter 2 verse 25. It says here, Behold, there was
a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The same man was
just and devout. He was waiting for the consolation
of Israel. He was waiting for the consolation
of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was upon him,
and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he would
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ, the appearance
of Christ. Our Lord said, Abraham saw this
day the appearance of Christ, and he was glad. And the third
thing I wish to say about this message, this is the summary
of our hope. This is the summary of all our
hope. Paul said, who is he that condemneth? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Christ died and rose again and
intercedes at the right hand of the Father. So this is a summary
of our hope and of our confidence and of our faith. Now when I
speak of the appearances of Christ, the three appearances of Christ,
I don't mean to imply that Christ is not always present. I don't
mean to imply that Christ is not always personally involved
in the affairs of men. But there are special times of
divine visitation. There are special times of divine
visitation. There are special times in which
God personally confronts men. There are special times when
God personally confronts men. We have two examples of that
in man's sin. God confronted man in the garden.
He confronted man at Calvary. In the garden, man said, I'll
be like God. I'll reject and resist His reign,
His rule over me. At Calvary, man said the same
thing. I'll not have this man reign
over me. Now these three appearances of
Christ are divine visitations. these three appearances of Christ
in which our Lord personally confronts men. The first one
is found in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 26. Hebrews 9 verse 26. Now listen to it, read it with
me. For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared. Once in the end of the world
hath he appeared. Now he's always present. He's always personally involved
in the affairs of men. But this talks about a special
appearance. a special appearance. Once in
the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. Now let's look at this verse
carefully. First of all it says, and this
interested me, it says now once in the end of the world. What
does that mean, in the end of the world? Well this means the
same as the last days, the last days spoken of by the Apostle
Paul in Hebrews 1.2. He said, God, who in different
manners spake to our fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken to us by his Son. It refers to the same thing
that Peter talked about in 1 Peter 1.20, when he said this, 1 Peter
1.20, Christ was ordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times
for you. And then in Acts 2, verse 17,
the apostle refers to these last days. Acts 2, verse 17, when
it says, And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith
God, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. The last days.
These are the last days of the Jewish economy. That's true. But I believe also these are
the last days of creation as we know it. It appears to me
that the world's days may be divided into three dispensations. We have the time from Adam to
Moses. We have the time from Moses to
Christ appearing. the appearance that we're talking
about now, and we have the time from Christ appearing to the
end of the world, in these last days. This I believe, and no
man can speak with any authority because the scripture says, no
man knoweth the day nor the hour when the Lord doth come. But
it appears to me that we're in the last days, and have been
in the last days since Christ came. I look at the text again. It says, once in the end of the
world, in the last days, He appeared. He appeared. Now this is the
greatest event in history. The invisible God appeared on
this earth in human form. The Word tells us that in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God, and all things were made by Him. Without Him was
not anything made that was made, and the Word became flesh. And
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. He, the Word, was made flesh. He appeared in human flesh. He came through the virgin's
womb to Bethlehem's manger. The angels announced his coming.
The angels said, unto you is born in the city of David a Savior,
Christ the Lord. That's who it is. He appeared
on this earth and walked among men and talked with men. He was
in their houses. He was in their temple. He was
on their streets. He walked by the river in the
desert and on the mountains. And the anointed forerunner,
the prophet of God, said, He's the Lamb of God that has come
to take away the sin of the world. The Father announced His coming. The Father said, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I'm well pleased. This is He. The demons witnessed
to His deity. The demons said, We know who
you are. Pharisees may not know, and the Sadducees may not know,
but we know you're the Holy One of God. The elements witnessed
to his deity. The storm and the sea obeyed
his word. And then the miracles which he
performed. No man can do these miracles.
Nicodemus said, except God be with him. One day one of the
disciples said, show us the Father and it'll suffice us. And our
Lord said, he that has seen me has seen the Father. Now in the end of the world,
now in the last days, he hath appeared. He hath appeared. What for? Well, look at the next
line, to put away sin. Now his coming into the world
accomplished many things. And I want you to listen carefully
to me just now. His coming into the world accomplished
many things. One thing, it revealed the mercy
of God. It revealed the love of God.
It manifested the goodness of God. Christ coming down here
into this world. God leaving his throne and laying
aside his glory and wrapping himself in human flesh and taking
part in our nature. That revealed God's care. God's love and God's mercy. Second
thing, it revealed what we ought to be. Christ in his perfect
obedience and in his perfect righteousness and in his perfect
submission to the Father's will revealed what I ought to be.
I can look at Jesus Christ and his life and I can see what I
ought to think and what I ought to say and what I ought to do. And his coming into this world
manifested self-sacrifice and set the example of love to others. He came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister and to give himself a ransom for many. I can see that. But in saying
all this, he appeared in human flesh. He appeared on this earth. He appeared down here in our
world. to reveal the goodness of God
and what we ought to be, and to manifest self-righteousness
and set the example of love to others, but when you say all
this, you still haven't preached his mission. Why'd he come? Once in the last days, he hath
appeared on this earth in human form. Why? To put away sin. That's why he came. When the
angel announced his birth to Joseph, he said, Mary shall bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. because he's going to save his
people from their sins. He appeared, in the end of the
world, he appeared for what purpose? To put away sin. Don't make Jesus
Christ anything if you're not going to make him the Savior.
That was his primary purpose. I know he accomplished these
other things, and I know he fulfilled other things, but his primary
goal and purpose and aim and task and mission was to save
sinners That's why he came. And if you do not preach him
as the sacrifice and as the Savior, you don't preach Christ. Now
look at the next line. Once in the end of the world,
in the last days, he appeared to put away sin. How? By the
sacrifice of himself. Now sin, I'm going to deal with
this verse tonight. Sin cannot be put away by deeds. Sin cannot be put away by words. Sin cannot be put away by ceremonies. I can sprinkle water on you,
but can't put your sins away. I can say words of religious
meaning over you, but cannot put your sins away. I can put
you underneath the water, but I cannot put your sins away.
I can give you the wafer and the wine, but that will not put
your sins away. Sin cannot be put away by confession. The scripture says, but wait
a minute, preacher, it says if we confess our sins, he's faithful
and just to forgive us. Yeah, but that same scripture
says in the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin. It's not the
confessing that cleanses you. It's not the repentance that
cleanses you. It's the blood of Christ that
cleanseth you. For sin demands death. The scripture
says the soul that sinneth shall die. The wages of sin is death. Sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death. And Christ Jesus came to put
away sin by his death, by the sacrifice of himself. That's the whole conflict between
the two great religions of this world. The two great religions
of this world, what are they? What are the two great religions
of this world? Well, you say Catholicism and
Protestantism. No, sir. That is not so. The two great religions of this
world are works and grace, human works and Christ's sacrifice. Those are the two great religions,
and they started back yonder shortly after man left the garden. When Cain and Abel, the only
two sons of Adam and Eve, came to offer their sacrifices, one
came and offered the works of the flesh, the deeds of the law,
the efforts of his own hands, and the other offered the blood,
which represented Christ. And those are the two religions,
and the Bible talks about us going the way of Cain. instead
of the way of Christ. There are just two ways, the
way of Christ and the way of Cain, the way of grace and the
way of works. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 1. Let's
look at some scripture here. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18. 1 Peter 1 verse 18. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ." That's how you're redeemed. With the precious blood of Christ. As a lamb without blemish and
without spot. Look at 1 Peter 2, verse 24.
1 Peter 2, verse 24. "...who his own self bare our sins, in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sin, should live under righteousness by whose
stripes were healed." What did he offer? He offered himself. In the end of the world, in the
last days, he, the Son of God, the Lord of glory, hath appeared
to put away sin. That's why he came. And he put
it away, not by the hocus-pocus of religion, and not by the ceremonies
and rituals of religion, and not even by the ordinances of
organized religion, but he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. That's how he put it away. Now
if words can mean anything at all, those words mean that sin
is put away by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as our substitute
and as our sacrifice and as our representative. He put sin away
by the sacrifice of himself. All right, let's go back to the
text now and see the second appearance. As I said, the Lord Jesus Christ
is present always, everywhere, all the time. But there are times
of divine visitation. There are times of divine confrontation. There are times when God especially
deals with mankind and with this world and with the race, with
Adam's fallen race. There are times when God deals
especially with this race. There are times when God has
especially dealt with mankind. There are times when God especially
deals with you. Some people are too dumb to know
when it is, but God deals with individuals. Now, the second
appearance, verse 24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy place made with hands, which are the figures or types
or pictures of the truth. but in the heaven itself now
to appear in the presence of God for us. He appears in the
presence of God for us. Now our first text said he appeared
on this earth to put away sin with a sacrifice of himself.
And it said he did it once, once, once in the end of the world,
one time. He appeared. He's not coming back for that
purpose. He didn't come before, and he's not coming later, he
came right then. He appeared on this earth to put away sin.
Now, he appears in the presence of God for us. Now then, it says
here, Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands,
which is a picture. What's that talking about? Well,
when the tabernacle stood in the wilderness, and when Solomon's
temple stood in Jerusalem, it was divided into two parts. The first part was the holy place. The second part was the holy
of holies. It was 15 by 15 by 15 feet. And in that holy of holies was
the mercy seat. And in that ark over which the
mercy seat was laid were the Ten Commandments. And this holy
of holies, this special place represented the throne of God.
It represented the very presence of God. And as I said, God is
everywhere. The heavens cannot contain him.
The heaven of heavens is his throne, and the earth is his
footstool. And God is not in anything. You
say, God's in his house. God's not in anything. Everything's
in God, and yet God is in everything. You don't put God in a room like
you do me. You shut me up in my study and
I can't be anywhere else. But you can't shut God up in
a house. You can't shut God up in a building. You can't shut
God up in a universe. The universe is in Him and yet
He is in all things. And that special little place
there contained the presence of God. It represented the throne
of God. It represented the presence of
God. And into that holy of holies,
into that awesome place, once a year, went the high priest. Just once a year. Never, never
any other time. Just once a year. And he crawled
under the veil into that holy place once a year, not without
blood. And he put that blood on the
mercy seat, the blood of the sacrificial animal, he put that
blood on the mercy seat as a sacrifice as a sin offering, as an atonement
for Israel's sins. Now then, it says here that Christ,
having appeared on this earth and died on the cross and shed
his blood, as our Lamb of God, as our sacrificial Lamb, as our
sin offering, as our atonement, he does not appear, he does not
enter into that holy place made with hands. That holy of holies
representing the presence of God, for that place has been
destroyed, it's been done away with. The veil in the temple
that separated the holy of holies from the holy place and from
Israel has been rent in two from top to bottom, torn in two, and
opened up, and now every believer can come into the presence of
God. But Christ doesn't go into that little place, that holy
of holies, that terribly majestic presence of God in the tabernacle,
but he has entered into heaven itself. Not into the place which
represents God's throne, but Christ has taken his blood to
God's throne. Christ has not entered into that
little place that represents the presence of God, He has entered
into the presence of the Father. You see that? And He appears
there, He appears, now to appear, the everlasting present, not
just to appear once like He appeared here in the flesh, but to continually
appear, He ever-living. He continually appears as the
favorite in the court of heaven. Why? For us. For us. He appears for us. There's one God and one Mediator
between God and men, and that's the man, Christ Jesus. Paul said,
Who is he that condemneth? Christ is died, he is risen again,
he is ascended, and he ever liveth to make intercession. Now, What
do we mean by making intercession? Well, number one, Christ in the
presence of God as our representative presents us faultless and without
blame to the Father. He brings every one of his friends. He brings every one of his brethren.
He brings every one of his chosen race, he brings every one of
his elect, he brings every one of his believers into the presence
of God, clothed in his righteousness, cleansed in his blood, and presents
us faultless and without blame because of his righteousness.
And he presents us justified by his death. Our debt is paid,
our ransom is offered, our redemption is complete, and he presents
us right now into the presence of the Father, justified as if
we had never sinned. Totally innocent. And then another
thing, he presents our prayers and our worship. As I was conscious
of in my prayer this morning, God would strike us dead the
way we approach Him. The way some of you behave yourselves
in the house of God, He'd strike you dead and send you to hell
if it wasn't for Christ. Because your worship is so full
of works and so full of flesh and so full of foolishness and
so full of frivolity that God couldn't stand you in His presence.
His is an awesome, holy presence. We can pick up the Bible and
look at it and try to read it and our minds be in some other
state. We can sit in the awesome presence
of the living God and carry on foolishness. If it weren't for
Christ, I'm talking about myself too, not just you, myself and
every one of us. If it were not for Christ as
our high priest to make our prayers holy, and to make our singing
holy, and to make our worship holy, and to make our approach
to God holy, God would have to cast us away. Because there's
too much flesh in us. There's just too much flesh in
us. And that's what Christ does when
he intercedes. He makes this foolish mind of
mine and this foolish heart of mine acceptable to God because
He intercedes. You mothers sometimes intercede
for your children. Your son or daughter will come
to the father and say something and the mother will say, now
he didn't mean it that way or she didn't mean it that way,
she meant it this way. And kind of take some of the edge off
of it, you know. And you intercede for a fellow
down at work, you know. A fellow will do this and you'll
go to the boss and you'll say, That wasn't the way he intended
that at all. Let me kind of straighten it
out for him. And that's what Christ does. He straightens out
our messes and enables us to approach the Father in an acceptable
manner. We're accepted in the Beloved.
And don't you think for a moment that you can come to God without
Christ. And then the third appearance,
verse 28. Now he appeared, hath he appeared
to put away sin? He appears, he appears in the
presence of God for us. Now the third appearance, verse
28. So Christ was offered, once offered, to bear the sins of
many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second
time. He's going to appear on this
earth the second time. He will come again. Turn to Acts
chapter 1 verse 11. Acts 1 verse 11. Now this is
when Christ ascended back to the Father. He had died and was
buried and rose again. Now he's ascending back to the
Father and the disciples are standing around as the Master,
while they beheld, steadfastly toward heaven. two men appeared
by them, Acts 1.11. They watched him taken up by
cloud, and these angels, or these representatives, said this, verse
11, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This
same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. This same Jesus is coming back.
Now his two comings into the world have some degree of likeness. Christ came before, he appeared
to put away sin, he's coming back the second time, that's
what it says. He said, if I go away I'll come again. Now these
two comings have some degree of likeness. Number one, both
of them are personal. Christ came the first time. Christ
coming the second time. It wasn't a spirit who came the
first time, it was Christ in the flesh. Flesh and bones. And the one who died on the cross
is coming back to this earth. He's coming back. This same Jesus
is coming back. Secondly, both of these advents
are promised. Both comings are promised by
God. The Old Testament told how he would come into the world.
It also tells how he'll come back. The New Testament tells
how he came into the world. It also tells about his return.
He will return. Thirdly, both of these advents,
both of these comings, were unexpected by the mass of people. Unexpected. When he came the first time,
there were very few who expected him. Very few who looked for
him. Although hundreds of years of prophecy, hundreds of years
of prophecy, Christ was coming, that's what the scripture said,
but only a little handful really looked for him. This man, Simeon,
was waiting for the consolation of Israel. He was looking for
it. And when he comes back the second time, very few are going
to be looking for him. If I were to ask you this morning,
do you think the Lord is coming today? Most people would say,
I think not. At an hour when you think not,
your Lord does come. That's what scripture said. Very
few are looking for him. And then fourthly, Both of these
comings, both advents, were a blessing to those who did look for him.
Those who were looking for him were blessed by his coming, and
those who are looking for him the second time are going to
be blessed by his coming, for it says, Unto them that look
for him shall he appear the second time. Now it says two things
here in which I'm interested. It says, "...unto them that look
for him shall he appear the second time without sin." Without sin. Now when Christ came down here
the first time, He came in the flesh, in the likeness of sinful
flesh. And He took our sins in His body
on the tree. When He died on that cross, we
saw Him under the judgment and wrath of God for sin. When He
comes the second time, Not only are we free from sin, but the
surety is free from sin. He's not coming back bearing
our sin. When he came the first time,
he came bearing our hunger, and our thirst, and our weariness,
and our pain, and our sorrow, and our sin, and our death. When
he comes again, it'll be in glory and absolute holiness without
sin. He won't have it, and we won't
have it. and it will be unto salvation. What does that mean? It means
I'm finally going to be saved. It means I'm finally going to
be saved. I was saved by the death of Christ on Calvary. I
am being saved by the work of the Holy Spirit and applying
that redemption and regeneration to my heart, and my salvation
is nearer than when I believe. And I will be finally saved when
I stand perfectly conformed to the image of God's when not only
my soul is cleansed from sin, but now my new body has come
out of the grave, and I finally stand perfectly conformed to
the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then shall our salvation be complete,
for then shall be brought to pass the saying, Death is swallowed
up in victory. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. And when he comes back unto them
that look for him, shall he appear the second time without sin,
there will be no sin. Satan will be destroyed, his
power destroyed, the believers will be raised, all things in
heaven and earth shall be conformed to the image of Christ, and he
shall have the preeminence. Unto them that look fine. I read an interesting story in
God's Word yesterday. When Moses went up to the mountain
to meet with God. You remember, in the book of
Exodus it is, Moses went up to the mountain to meet with God.
And God told him to take seventy of the prominent men of Israel
with him. He took Joshua and he took seventy
of them. And these honored men went up
the mountain with Moses. They left the camp of Israel,
journeyed up the mountain, And up there somewhere they stopped
and they sat down, and God appeared to them. I don't know in what
form, but it says God appeared to them. They saw the Lord. And
they ate and drank in the presence of the Lord, those seventy men
with Moses and Joshua. And then after they had eaten
and drank in the presence of the Lord, Moses said to them,
I'm going up higher. and meet with God, and God's
going to give me the law. And he turned to these men, and
he said, Tarry ye here till I come back. Now these men had seen
the Lord. They had ate and drunk in the
presence of the Lord. And God had appeared to them.
And Moses turned to them and said, I'm going up here. Now
you wait. You tarry till I come back. So Moses left. And Moses
was gone for forty days, almost six weeks. And one day he came
back with the glory of God upon him, his face shining with the
law of God in his hand. And when he came back to this
place where he had left those seventy men, how many were there
waiting for him? Just one. That's all. Joshua
was there waiting on him. The rest of them had gone back
to the camp. Moses was gone for six weeks,
and they got discouraged. And they got lonely, and they
got tired of waiting. I don't know when they started
leaving, but I don't know whether they all went together, whether
they drifted back two at a time, or three at a time, or one at
a time. But all I know is this, when Moses came back to that
place, they were all gone. But there was one there, and
his name was Joshua. waiting on movement. And our
Lord Jesus Christ came down here to this earth in human form,
and he met with us, and he put away our sins. He put away our
guilt, and we ate and drank with him and feasted with him in the
presence of the Lord. And he said, I'm going away,
but I'll come back. I'm going to the Father. I'm
going to intercede for you. I'm going to talk about you,
but I'm coming back. And you wait, you tarry, you
watch, for you know not thou when your Lord doth come. I'm
coming back. One of these days he's coming back. I don't know
when. He's been gone a while, but he's coming back. Are you
going to tarry at the cross where he left you and wait on him?
Are you going back down into the valley where the people of
the world are and help them build their idols and worship their
false gods? unto them that look for him,
he is coming back the second time without sin unto salvation. Our Father, bless the message.
Thank thee for thy word, the appearances of Christ. He came
down here and died for our sins. He appears at thy right hand
as our Mediator, and we believe he is coming back. And we pray
with John, even so come Lord Jesus. I bless the word and use
it for thy glory. Through Christ our Lord we pray.
Amen.

The Three Appearances of Christ

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The Three Appearances of Christ

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