He Shall Appear the Second Time

Now, if you'll open your Bibles
to Hebrews 9, it says in verse 27, note this
carefully, and as it is appointed unto men
once to die. Now, the greatest affairs of
life can only be performed once. It is appointed unto men once
to die. We're born once naturally. My
mother and father gave me life fifty years ago. I cannot be
born again naturally. I've been born once. I have gray
eyes and I'll always have them. I have the body and mind which
I have, and I'll always have it till I die. This is it, one
time. We live only one time on this
earth. If I mess it up, it's messed
up. If I misuse it, that's it. I live one time, one life. I used to have a commercial on
TV, you only go around once, and that's so. Absolutely so. One life. I can only be born once spiritually. I hear the gospel. I either believe it or I refuse
it. I either receive it or I reject
it. That's it. One time. I can only die one time. That's
all. My father was born in 1893. He
died in 1974. Job asked the question, if a
man dies, shall he live again? No, sir. Not here. Not here. He's dead. He's dead. He's gone. He was born one time.
He lived one time. He's a dead man now. It's appointed
unto men once to die. Whatever he did with his life,
he did it. However he lived his life, he lived it. to whatever
it was applied, it was applied. He won't come around again. We'll
die one time, we'll be judged one time, we'll receive the final
sentence one time. Christ will either say, Enter
ye, blessed, into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world, or else he'll say, Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, I never knew you. If a man die, shall he live again?
Not here. It's appointed unto men once
to die. Once you might blaspheme God, but not again. Once you
might reject the gospel, but not the second time. Once you
might ignore God and live for yourself, but not twice. One
time. It's appointed unto men once
to be born, once to live, once to die, once to be judged, and
wants to hear that final word from the Master. So, in the same way, Christ was
once offered to bear the sin of many. By one offering, the
Scripture says, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Look back at verse 12, Hebrews
9. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
he entered in one time. once into the holy place having
obtained eternal redemption for us. One time. Hebrews 10, verse
10 says, By the witch will we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And then in Hebrews 7, verse
27, the Scripture says, "...he needeth not daily as those high
priests to offer up sacrifice first for his own sin, and then
for the people's. For this he did once," this he
did once, when he offered up himself. So Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many. Now look at the next line. And
unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time." Now,
Paul in Hebrews 9 writes of three appearances of Christ for us.
First of all, in verse 26, he says this, in the last line,
"...once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away
sin." That's the appearance that he made on this earth in human
flesh. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were born under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of son. He took upon himself a human
body. He bore our sins to Calvary's cross. He was buried. He rose
again. He appeared on this earth one time to put away sin. Now
look at verse 24. Here's the second appearance.
For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands,
which are the figures or pictures of the true, but in the heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. He right
now appears. Christ appears this very moment
in the presence of God for us. He prays for us, He intercedes
for us, He's our mediator. And then it says in verse 28,
and this is what we want to look at now, unto them that look for
Him, the last line of verse 28, Unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time." Christ appeared on this earth to put
away sin. He now appears in the presence
of God as our intercessor. But unto them that look for him,
he shall appear the second time. Now, these two appearances of
Christ on this earth have some degree of likeness. First of
all, they are both personal appearances. I look for a personal coming
of Christ. I look for a personal reign of
Christ. I look for a personal session
of Christ in judgment. I look for a living, flesh and
bones person to come again. Now, first of all, when Christ
came the first time, turn to Luke 24. When Christ came the
first time, he came not as a spirit, but as a real man. He came not
as a fantasy, but one having flesh and bones. He walked on
this earth. He walked on this earth. John
said, our eyes have beheld him, our ears have heard him, and
our hands have handled him. That's what John is emphasizing,
that the Son of God, the Redeemer, was a real man in flesh and bones. And even after he died on the
cross. and arose from the grave and appeared to his disciples.
Look at chapter 24 of Luke, verse 39. He said, Behold, my hands
and my feet, it is I myself. Handle me, touch me, and see. For a spirit hath not flesh and
bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken,
he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet
believed not for joy, and wondered, he said, Have ye any meat? They
gave him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb. He took it and
he did eat it before them. Now we have no doubt that our
Lord, when he came to this earth, born of Mary, was flesh and bones. He was a real person. It was
a personal coming. He walked this earth in human
flesh. He thirsted. He wept. He sweated. He labored. He hungered. He died, he shed blood, real
blood. It dripped on the ground from
his vein. When he was buried and rose again,
he appeared back to his disciples and he told them to touch him,
to handle him, to put their hands and feel the nail prints and
the scar on his side. It's real. It's real. Flesh and bones. Now the angel,
when he ascended back to the Father, and right now the scripture
says there's a man at the right hand of the Father. The man,
Christ Jesus. Now in Acts 1, verse 10, and
when our Lord ascended back to heaven, the disciples stood there
and watched the cloud receive him out of their sight. And they
kept gazing. They had never seen anything
like this before. Here was a real person who was caught up from
them right on up into heaven. And they stood there and watched,
and the angels appeared while they looked steadfastly toward
heaven. Two men appeared. stood by a personal reign and a personal
session and judgment by the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the glory that
shall surround him! John on the Isle of Patmos saw
him, and he said his face was like the sun shining, his voice
was like the voice of many waters, his feet were brass, bronze,
shining. There will be a glory about him,
but it will be the same person. In that, the two comings are
alike. The two appearances of Christ on this earth are alike
in this respect. Both of them are according to
promise. Now the promise of his first
coming made glad the hearts of early believers. He said, your
father Abraham saw my day. He rejoiced to see my day. He
saw it and he was glad. Abraham had a promise. He talked
about in Hebrews chapter 12 or 13, these all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.
The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then Job said, I
know my Redeemer liveth. This is hundreds of years before
Christ came the first time. He said, I know my Redeemer liveth,
and he shall stand at the latter day on this earth. He's going
to stand right here on this earth. So the promise of his first coming
made glad the hearts of early believers, and my friends, the
promise of his second coming makes glad the heart of believers
today. Our Lord rejoiced the hearts
of his disciples with this promise. When he was going to the cross,
he told them he was going to die, that he was going to leave
them, and they were sad, they were troubled, their hearts were
broken. And he said in John 14, 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, I will
come again. I will come again." And Paul,
writing to the church at Thessalonica, said, "...the voice of the archangel
shall sound, the trumpet of God shall sound, and the heavens
shall open, and Christ shall come again, and the dead shall
be raised." Comfort one another with these words. With what word? The coming of the Lord. The coming
of the Lord. Now, no man knows the day or
the hour when Christ is coming. I get trouble when I see all
these announcements in the newspaper about these preachers who are
going to open all the mysteries of the book of Revelation. They're
going to open all the mysteries of the book of Ezekiel and the
book of Daniel. They're going to tell you what's going to happen
two years from now or ten years from now, what's going to happen
when Christ comes almost down to the fine point of every event. Now, I'm going to make a statement
here, and I want you to listen to it. This is how I feel in
my heart. I took the book of Revelation last night after supper. I came over here to the church,
and I sat down and started reading it. It's a readable book. It's a
blessed book, and I believe every word of the book. But there's
no way in this world that an honest man, an honest preacher,
an honest servant of God can tell you what's going to happen
tomorrow. He can't do it. I looked at that book and I studied
it, I read it in an amplified version, and I believe these
things are going to happen. I believe the plagues, I believe
the three and a half years, another three and a half years, it talks
about the 42 months, it talks about a thousand years. But my
friends, it's like this. When Peter stood on Pentecost
and the Holy Spirit came, he said, when he saw the effects
of the Holy Spirit's coming, he said, now this is that which
was spoken by the prophet Joel. This is what Joel was talking
about. Peter didn't understand it the day before. He didn't
understand it the month before. He didn't understand it the year
before. The people in Joel's day didn't understand it. The
people after Joel didn't understand it. But when it happened, they
understood it. This is what Joel was talking
about when the Holy Spirit came with cloven tongues of fire and
a rushing mighty wind, and men spoke the gospel in another language,
a language they did not know. Peter said, this is that which
Joel talked about. And I'll tell you this, I can't
tell you when Christ is coming. No man knows the day or the hour,
only the Father himself. I cannot tell you what these
great earthquakes are, such as the world has never seen. I cannot
tell you when they're going to happen. I cannot name the nations
that shall invade Israel. I cannot tell you who the beast
and the false prophet are. I cannot tell you who 666 is. I cannot tell you about the Mark
and the 4th. But when I see it, I recognize
it. You see what I'm saying? The
birth of Jesus Christ is prophesied all the way through this Bible.
But even Simeon did not know when it would happen, how it
would happen. You see what I'm saying? Until
he took the child in his arms and he said, Now let me die,
I've seen thy salvation. I understand what they're writing
about back here now. He didn't. But when it happened,
he did. When it happened, he did. So
I've got the promise of his coming. I've got the promise of his reign.
I've got the promise of his glory. I've got the promise of his blessing.
But I will not know of these things until they happen. And
when they happen, I'll say, wow, this is what John was writing
about here in Revelation 4. This is what John was talking
about in Revelation 5. This is what he's talking about
in Revelation 7. And I'll tell you what Satan's
doing with all these sensational sermons. He's just getting people's
mind off Christ and the cross and substitution and the gospel
and the blood and how we ought to conduct ourselves right now.
People run around talking about the earthly reign of Christ.
I'll tell you what this Bible is interested in, and you better
be interested in, is his personal reign in your heart right now.
It's not what's going to happen a hundred years from now, it's
what's happening right now, right this moment. You say, I'm going
into town tomorrow, I'm going to stay there a year, I'm going
to buy and sell and get gain. He said, you know not what shall
be tomorrow. What is your life? It is but
a vapor that appeareth for a time, then vanish away. You better
say, if the Lord will, I'll go to town tomorrow. boast not thyself
of tomorrow. Then the second coming, like
the first coming, is going to be unexpected by most people.
Turn to 2 Peter 3. The second coming, like the first
coming, will be personal, in the flesh. The second coming,
like the first coming, is promised. It's right there. It's promised. And then it will be unexpected
by most people. 2 Peter 3, verse Verse 3 says
this, Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last
days scoffers, skeptics, walking after their
own lusts, and saying, Well, where is the promise of his coming?
Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of the creation. Where is your Jesus? I thought
he was coming soon. That's the only objection I got
to these signs on the highway, Jesus is coming soon. I've ridden
by and seen some of them, been standing there for 50 years,
and now they're decayed and rotted and fallen down. It'd be better
to say Jesus is coming. How soon, we don't know. But
the scoffers and infidels and skeptics, where's the promise
of his coming? Well, when he came the first
time, not many people were looking for him. Simeon was looking for
him. But he came unto his own, and
they received him not. He was in the world. The world
was made by him, but the world knew him not. And there was not
even any room for him in the inn. But to those who looked
for him, unto them that looked for him, blessed are the eyes
that saw him, blessed are the ears that heard him, blessed
are the hearts that embraced him, blessed are the lips that
kissed him, blessed are the hands that touched him. Strangers on
earth, O Lord, we wait for Thee. O Savior, come from Thy Father's
throne. Come with a shout of victory,
Lord, and claim me for Thine own. No resting place I seek
on earth, no loveliness I see. My eye is on that royal throne
prepared for us and Thee." We are in the latter days. I don't
have any doubt about that. Christ is coming. There are many
ways in which his first coming is like his second coming. He's
coming in person. It'll be a personal return, this
same Jesus. He's coming to reign. It'll be
unexpected by most people. It'll be loved by many. Every
promise shall be fulfilled. He said not one jot or one tittle
shall pass from my word. And I thought as I was reading
that book, the book of Revelations, I saw all these openings of the
seven seals and the plagues and the angels and these things.
I thought not one jot, not one tittle, not one word is going
to fail. It will all be fulfilled in God's
own time, in God's due time. And when it happens, I'm going
to recognize become so familiar with it that when it happens,
I say, this is the finger of God. But there are many ways
in which the two comings are not alike, not alike at all. First of all, they're not alike
in this respect. When he comes, there will be
a vast difference in his person. He came the first time as an
infant. He's coming back as the infinite. He came the first time
to a manger, he's coming back to a throne. He came the first
time to hang on a woman's breast, when he comes the second time
the universe will be hanging about his shoulders. He was born
to trouble, sorrow, he's coming back to glory. No more tears,
no more sweat, no more bloody crosses. He was housed in a carpenter's
shop. Now the earth, the scripture
says, will be his footstool. He was born in poverty. He's
coming back in all of the majesty and splendor. Oh, read about
it sometime. Breathtaking, followed by millions
of heavenly hosts. He came as the Lamb. He's coming
back with a name, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When he came
the first time, he suffered all alone. He endured the garden of weeping
alone. He walked that trail from Pilate's
hall to Calvary alone. He stretched forth his hands
and died on that cross under the wrath of God alone. But when
he comes back, he won't be alone. He will be accompanied by the
angels. He will be accompanied by millions
of the redeemed, and every eye shall see him. And every tongue
shall confess." Turn to Philippians 2. Listen to this. Verse 9, Philippians
2, "...God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name." That at the name of Jesus, every knee
should bow in heaven and in earth and under the earth, and every
tongue shall confess that he is Lord. There's going to be
a difference not only in his person, but in the treatment
he receives. Oh, they that see me laugh me
to scorn. They thrust out their lips. And
they say he trusted in God, that God would deliver him. Let God
deliver him if God delights in him. He said, I am become a reproach. I am despised. I am rejected
of men. I am a man of sorrows. I am acquainted
with grief. When we shall see him, there's
no beauty about him that we should desire him. But oh, when he comes
again, Step forward, you Pharisees. Now let's see you try to tempt
him and entangle him in his talk. Come on! Where are you? Where
are your tricky little speeches now, you Pharisees, as you stand
in the presence of the King of Kings? You Herodians, have you
no penny to put in his face and test his loyalty to Caesar? Get
your penny! Ask him, whose inscription is
here? Come on! You Sadducees, have
you no riddles to ask him about whose wife she's going to be
in the judgment? Judas, you got a kiss for the Savior. Pilate, bring your basin of water
now and wash your hands and mock innocence in the presence of
the King. Oh, when Christ stood there with
his hands tied behind him and the crown of thorns upon his
brow, a pitiful spectacle of nothing, a worm, no man, a reproach,
Pilate stood and washed his hands in mock innocence and said, I've
got nothing to do with the blood of this man. Now wash your hands,
Pilate. There he is. There he is in splendor
and glory. You soldiers of Rome, where's
the crown of thorns now for the king? Where's the reed scepter? Have you no cloak, no mocking
scarlet robe to throw across his shoulders? Set him in a chair
now and spit in his face. Is there no one here to step
forward and pluck out his beard or smite him on the face and
say, who struck you, prophet? Have you no songs of mockery
and jokes to tell in his presence? Thrust out your tongue now and
laugh him to scorn. What you say, O rocks and mountains,
fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth
on the throne and from his glory. When he came the first time,
he came as our surety, as our representative, as our substitute,
born low so that he might be identified with the lowly, tested
and tried and tempted in all points so that he might be identified
with us, spat upon, despised, rejected, humiliated, ridiculed,
mocked, crucified, shamed. that he might be identified with
the lowest form of humanity, that he went to the dunghill
to find those on the dunghill. He went into the pit to lift
them from the pit. But when he comes again, it won't
be that way. No, sir, it won't be that way.
He subjected himself to all of this in my place, but when he
comes again, it won't be that way. They shall mourn for him
as for an only son. There won't be any laughter on
their faces in that day, nothing but horrible, tragic, hopeless
grief. There is a difference in the
purpose for his second coming. He came the first time to endure
the penalty for my sins. He who knew no sin was made sin
for me, that I might become the righteousness of God in him."
He's coming the second time to receive the reward for his sacrifice. He came the first time to serve.
He said, I'm among you as he that serveth. He's coming the
second time to rule. He came the first time to save.
The Son of Man has come to seek and to save. He's not coming
the second time to save anybody. He's coming to judge. He came
the first time to open the door of grace. He said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. It's standing wide open. Come.
Right now it's open. When he comes the second time,
he's coming to shut it. And when he shuts it, he said,
no man will open it. And you will stand without the
door and you will say, Lord, open to us. He came the first
time to invite the guilty to himself. He says, come to me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Come to the water, come! The Spirit and the bride say,
Come! Let him that hear it say, Come!
Whosoever is a thirst, come! He's coming the second time to
say, Depart. Depart. Depart from me. He came the first time with a
sin offering for justice. He came himself to take the sword
of justice into his heart in our place. He came the first
time to face justice and satisfy it. He's coming the second time
to administer it. And every transgression shall
receive a just recompense of reward. He came the first time
weeping in his soul. He comes the second time rejoicing
in his reward. What's all that got to do with
me, Preacher? Well, that's a solemn thing to
think about. I would say to those who would
not go to his house to hear of him, when that day comes, you're
going to see him. They shall look upon him whom
they have pierced. You wouldn't read his word. Now
you're going to hear his voice. His word speaks in grace, his
voice shall speak in condemnation. Even now the preacher gets a
little wearisome, a little long-winded, and we can't hardly bear to remain
to the close of a service. But in that day you're going
to stick around for the final word. You're going to stay through
the whole judgment. in order to hear that last word
spoken, depart. Oh, yes, now there are many things
more important to you than Jesus Christ, many things more important
to you than the Word of God, many things more important to
you than the gospel, many things more important to you than your
relationship with God. My friends, in that day, in that
day, Nothing will be of any importance to you at all except your relationship
with him. Think about it. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 22
says this, If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, if any
man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, More than mother, father, brother,
sister, husband, wife, that's his definition of love. Yea,
more than his own life also, that's his definition of love.
Let him be anathema. You know what that word means?
It means to be accursed. Let him be anathema, accursed. Maranatha, what does that mean?
When Jesus comes. That's what that word means,
maranatha, when Jesus comes. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be accursed when Jesus comes. I dreamed that the great judgment
morning had dawned and the trumpet had blown. I dream that the nations
had gathered in judgment before God's throne. From the throne
came a bright shining angel, and he stood on the land and
the sea, and he swore with his hand raised to heaven. The time
was no longer to be. The rich man was there, but his
riches had melted and vanished away. A pauper he stood at the
judgment. His debts were too heavy to pay. The good man was there, but his
deeds, when death came, was left far behind. The angel who opened
the record, not a trace, not a trace of his goodness could
find. The moral man came to the judgment,
but his self-righteous rags would not do. You see, the men who
had crucified Jesus, they passed off as moral men, too. The man
who had put off salvation, not today. I'll get saved by and
by. no time for me to think of religion."
Well, at last he found time to die. And oh, what a weeping,
and what a wailing, as the lost were told of their fate. They
cried, they cried, they cried for the rocks and mountains,
they prayed, but their prayers were too late. It says in our
text, unto them that look for him, shall he appear the second
time without sin. That is, without my sin. I don't have him and he doesn't
have him. He's borne him away. But unto them that despise him,
and look not for his coming, he'll appear to them too. But
oh, what a weeping, what a wailing, as the lost learn of their fate. They cried for the rocks and
the mountains. They prayed. They prayed, but
their prayers were too late. Our Father in Heaven, by the
power of thy Holy Spirit, create in our hearts a deeper, sweeter, more blessed
love for the Lord Jesus Christ. shed abroad in our souls and
in our hearts and in our minds an affection for Christ. Set
your affections on things above. We know that we must live this
life and the things of importance, but nothing as important as our
relationship with Him. We know there's work to be done.
We know there are duties to perform. We know there are responsibilities
that each of us have. But our Fathers show us our greater
responsibility, that which is of greater value and of most
importance to know Christ, to be found in him, so that when
he comes, we shall rejoice at his coming, we shall run to meet
him. And we'll be able to say right
now, even so, come, Lord Jesus, give us some insight into this
book, this precious book, this book which reveals thee, not
for idle curiosity, our Father, to satisfy our curiosity, but
that we might know him and the power of his resurrected life.
We ask these things in his name and for his sake and his glory.
Amen. Don, you come lead us in a closing
hymn. Let's turn to number 103. 103.
One day when heaven was filled with his praises, One day when sin
was as black as could be, Jesus came forth to be Lord of
the Virgin, wealth among men, my example is He. Living He loved me, dying He
saved me. Rising, He justifies, in Him
forever. One day He's coming, O glory!

He Shall Appear the Second Time

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He Shall Appear the Second Time

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