Let's turn, if you will, now
to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9, and beginning
our reading in verse 24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as a high priest entered into the holy place every
year with the blood of others. 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 to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment. 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. In these final verses of chapter
nine, we read of three appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
verse 26, we read, he hath appeared once in the end of the world
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. In verse 24, we read
that he has entered into heaven now to appear in the presence
of God for us. And then in the last verse, verse
28, that unto them that look for him shall he appear the second
time without sin unto salvation. Three appearances of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, one of the truths,
there are many truths, in the Word of God concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ and His work of salvation. But one of the truths
that thrills and gives assurance to those who trust in Him and
His saving work is the fact, the fact of the success of His
work, the success of His work. We are convinced from the Word
of God that He accomplished all that he intended to accomplish
by coming into this world. He was able to pray just before
he went to the cross, and of course, in light of the cross,
I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work
which thou gavest me to do. John chapter 17 and verse four. I have finished the work, the
success of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I use the word fact, the
fact, because there's nothing doubtful about Christ and his
work. In Isaiah chapter 42, which begins
with the Lord God exhorting men, behold my servant. Behold, my
servant. We know that he is the eternal
son of God, but he came into this world, took upon him that
body which was prepared him, and became the servant of the
Lord. Came to do the will of the Father. And God says, behold, my servant,
whom I uphold. And then just a few verses down,
we read this, he shall not fail. He shall not fail. How could he fail? How could
he fail saying that he is God? It's impossible for God to fail
and he is God. And so the servant of the Lord,
the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to do the will of
the Father, the work which He had given Him, and He finished
that work, and we rejoice and draw assurance from the fact
of the success of that work. Even in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah,
which speaks to us so much of Him as a suffering Savior. But even there, we are assured
of the success of his work, of his sufferings. It wasn't in
vain. It accomplished the purpose,
the will of the Father. And so we read, he shall see
of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. The success
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have no doubts. This is a
fact. And this gives us assurance.
And it thrills our hearts to know that our Savior is a successful
Savior, a reigning Savior, a living Savior. I want us to look at
these verses tonight here, beginning with verse 24, by asking five
simple questions. Five simple questions, and we'll
go through the verses. The first question is this. Where
does the writer say that Christ entered? That's the first question. Where does the writer say that
Christ entered? Notice in verse 24, for Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself." Where
does the writer say that Christ has entered? He has entered into
heaven itself and to the very presence of God. The high priest
associated with the old covenant, the old covenant that was given
a covenant that was given to the nation of Israel. The high
priest that were associated with the old covenant, they entered
into the most holy place made with hands once each year. That's where they entered. That
most holy place that the high priest entered once a year was
a type. It was a picture. It was a shadow. of to the true, that is to heaven. The high priest of that old covenant
entered into the type of heaven, but Christ, our high priest,
where has he entered? He has entered into heaven itself. The Lord Jesus entered there
the day that he died upon the cross. And this is what some
people misunderstand. They misunderstand a word that
I'll give you in just a moment. But when the Lord Jesus Christ
died that day on the cross, where did he go? He went to the third
heaven. He went to the paradise of God. How do we know that? Because
he told that dying thief, remember the words of that hymn, the dying
thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there may I,
though vile as he, wash all my sins away. If there's ever an
illustration of salvation by grace, it's that dying thief,
isn't it? How he was saved and entered
heaven in just a few hours. Today thou shalt be with me in
paradise. His soul, his spirit, entered
into paradise, the third heaven. Now his body did not enter into
paradise the day of his death. We know that Joseph of Arimathea
and Nicodemus, they begged Pilate for the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ so that they could take that body and bury it. And they did in a new tomb. His body did not go into heaven
that day, but His soul entered into heaven. And He was laid
in the grave with this promise, not only this promise, but with
this promise, Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell. You say, what does that mean?
We know that He did not go to hell. His soul did not go to
hell. He went to paradise. Well then,
what does that mean, that promise that He was given, thou shalt
not leave my soul in hell? By hell there, it means that
separated, the spirit and the body being separated. That state
when the spirit and the body are separated. I remember reading
many years ago an old writer speaking about this as a sword
and a scabbard. The sword is pulled out of the
scabbard. The soul, the spirit of the Lord
Jesus Christ, went to heaven. The scabbard, the body, was laid
in the grave. Laid there for three days, just
like Jonah, was in the belly of the fish, so he was in the
grave for three days. And then he arose on that third
day, and on the 40th day from his resurrection, then, yes,
his body ascended into heaven. Remember, he went out to the
Mount of Olives And his disciples were there with him, and they
watched him, they saw him ascend into heaven. And that angel said,
this same Jesus, why stand you here gazing? This same Jesus that you have
seen go into heaven, he's going to come again. He's going to
come again. He's there. My question was,
where does the writer say that Christ entered? He entered into
heaven, and he entered there as a forerunner, as the scripture
says in Hebrews chapter 6. That is, he's the first of many. He's the first of a long fowl
of his people who will enter there in a new body, resurrected
body. Christ is the first fruits from
the dead. It pleased the Father that in
him all the fullness of the Godhead should dwell bodily. And it's
God's purpose that he have the preeminence in all things. And yes, he's the first begotten
from the dead. That is, first raised from the
dead. Here's the second question. What are two differences between
the type and the antitype? Now the type is the shadow. the
picture, the anti-type is the reality, the real. What are two
differences between the type and the anti-type in verses 25
and 26? Notice what the scripture says,
nor yet that he should offer himself often as a high priest
entered into the holy place every year with blood of others, 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 to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. What are two differences
between the type, the shadow, and the anti-type, the real? The high priest of the old covenant
was a type of our great high priest of the new covenant. Here are two differences. Number
one, The high priest, under that old covenant, entered the most
holy place often. You say, often? Yes. They only
entered there once a year. That's true. But they entered
there often. That is, from the time that God
gave the covenant, and they set up the sanctuary, then once every
year, for all of those years, the high priest entered there
often. As long as that dispensation
continued, our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, has entered
once. Once. Now, once in the end of
the age hath he appeared to put away the sins of his people. A second difference that we see,
the high priest of that old covenant, which was a type of Christ, He
entered there with the blood of others. He entered there with
the blood of others. The blood of bulls and of goats.
Never, high priest of old, never entered into that most holy place
with his own blood. What a difference. Our great
high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, he entered there with his own
blood. What did the high priest under
that old covenant entering often with that blood, what did it
plainly declare? Think about that. The high priest
going in there once every year, but year after year after year
after year, what did that plainly declare? The repeated offerings
and sacrifices of the old covenant plainly, plainly declared that
the blood of animals could not, could not take, could not remove
sin. If you look back to chapter 7
here in Hebrews and verse 19, the writer said, for the law
made nothing perfect. The law, that old covenant With
all of its rituals and all of its ceremonies, it made nothing
perfect. Nothing. You know, we see today
some so-called churches and they have so many ceremonies and rituals
and rites and things that they advise people and lead people
to go through. All of it show, all of it show,
has no power No power at all, but the blood of Jesus Christ
has power to cleanse and to save. All the ceremonies in the world
cannot take away sin, just like the blood of those bulls and
goats. What does it mean that our high
priest put away sin by the sacrifice of himself? What does that mean? Well, let me give us several
things. First of all, notice that's what the Scripture says,
that He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Notice that in verse
26. Hath He appeared once, or hath
He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself? First
of all, He by His sacrifice put away the filth of our sin. The filth of our sin. He opened
up a fountain in which we are washed and the filth is washed
away. The filth of sin is washed away. He by his sacrifice put away
the guilt of our sin. The sins of his people were charged
to his account, and he, by his death, put away the guilt of
our sin. We were guilty before the justice
of God. Can you imagine standing before
God Almighty without Christ? Coming there to appear in the
presence of the Christ Holy God in yourself, in your sin, with
all your guilt, that's an awful thought, isn't it? That's an
awful thought to think of that. But thank God He put away sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. He took our guilt and He bore
our sins in His own body on the tree. so that now we are justified,
that is declared righteous. A third thing, he by sacrifice
put away the punishment of sin. God punished his son for the
sins of his people. The wrath of God was poured out
upon him and upon him alone. And he, by his sacrifice, put
away the power of sin. I want you to look back to Romans
chapter six. He put away, by his sacrifice,
he put away sin, put away the power of sin. Romans chapter
six and verse 12, Paul said, writing to believers now, those
who are justified by faith, Let not sin therefore reign in your
mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof.
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive
from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God, for sin shall not have dominion over you. How is it that sin no longer
has dominion over God's people? Because he put away the power
of sin by the sacrifice of himself. And then by his sacrifice he
put away the being of it hereafter. We will be in the presence of
God where sin cannot molest, where sin cannot come. And all
because of his one sacrifice by which he hath put away sin. His sacrifice It was not an example,
my friends. You know, that's one of the so-called
theories of the atonement. You read in a theology book that's
one of the theories that man has come up with about the atonement. It's just an example. It's an
example of how he suffered, though he was innocent, and so we should
follow his example. No? That's just one of the many
foolish and false theories. The truth is he suffered in our
place. His suffering was a sacrifice
to appease and satisfy Almighty God on behalf of his people. All right, third. Here's the
third question. What is appointed for all men? At verse 27. What is appointed for all men?
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this,
the judgment. It is death and then follows
judgment. Those who teach Reincarnation,
they are teaching an illusion. That's all you can say about
it. No, there's death, and after death, there's judgment. And
those who teach their doctrine of purgatory, that too, rather,
is a lie that men have invented to enrich themselves. There is
no second chance. There is no place called purgatory. When we leave this world, it's
appointed unto men once to die, and yes, the time of our death
is appointed of God. Pat and I were talking about
this on the way, or before we left our house a little while
ago. And I made this comment, people
die of all ages, of all ages, babies, children, teenagers,
young adults, middle age, old age. Of all ages, all men have
an appointment with death, and that appointment we're going
to keep. We can't speed that appointment
up, and we cannot delay it. That's fixed of the Lord. Read
about that in Job chapter 14 if you want to. But after death is the judgment.
Those who teach their false doctrine talk about a second chance, but
the Bible doesn't allow that. Preachers, and I'm one of them,
we use this text to often emphasize the certainty of death and judgment. But the writer's purpose here
is to show the contrast, the contrast. As all men must die,
yes, all men must die because all men are sinners and men fear
the judgment. Generally, men do not fear death,
But they do fear the judgment. But those who trust in Christ
have no cause to fear death or judgment, because Christ has
died and He was judged for our sins. So Christ, notice that,
was once offered to bear the sins of many. And that brings
me to my fourth question. Who are the many? Who are the
many whose sins Christ bore? Well, you know, they are the
many to whom He gives eternal life. In John 17, again, He said, Thou
hast given Him, that is speaking of Himself, Christ, Thou hast
given Him power over all flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ is upon
the throne. All the power, all authority
is given unto me, he said, both in heaven and in earth. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give, not sell, but give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. That's how many, that's
who the many are. The many are those according
to what John saw in Revelation chapter 14. First he saw that
144,000 who were sealed, and that speaks of all believers
of all ages, my friends. That doesn't mean there's only
going to be 144,000 people saved. Of course not. But everyone that
was given to the Son by the Father in that eternal covenant of grace,
everyone is sealed, not one is going to be lost. And then John
tells us in that same chapter, after seeing those 144,000, that
complete number, he said, he saw a great multitude which no
man could number. of all nations and kindreds and
people and tongues who stand before the throne and before
the Lamb clothed in white robes and palms in their hands and
cry with a loud voice, everyone crying the same thing. Salvation
to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. Don't you sometimes get anxious?
Do you ever get anxious thinking about that great multitude? I
remember Brother Ralph Barnard, you've heard me mention him many
times, but he told a story one time about having a dream. And
he said he dreamed that he died and went to heaven. It was like
a big stadium, just a big stadium. And it was just full of people,
just full of people. And he said in his dream he saw
one empty seat way up there in what we would call the cheap
seats. There are no cheap seats in heaven. But one of those way
up there. And he said he made his way up
there and he looked down and sure enough there was his name
written, Rolf Barnard. And he took his place and he
said he began to sing. He said he knew the song. Worthy
is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. There's going
to be a great number. Great number. Many. Many's not
all. But many's a whole lot. That's
for sure. And then the last question. When
will Christ appear the second time? Notice in verse 28. This verse tells us that He will.
And when He does, It will not be in relation to sin. He's not coming a second time
as the lowly Lamb of God, but He is coming as the King of Kings,
the Lord of Lords. Well, we're not told anywhere
when He shall appear, only that He shall appear and that we should
watch and look for His appearing. We should watch and look for
his appearance. Maybe at morn when the day is
breaking, maybe at noon, but he's coming. May we all be ready
like those five wise virgins with oil in our lamps so that
when the bridegroom cometh, we'll be ready to meet him, meet him. I pray that the Lord would bless
this word to each of us here tonight. We'll sing a verse or
two of a hymn and then we'll be dismissed. All right, let's all stand and
let's turn to a song that I never get tired of singing.