[0:00] Please be seated and turn to Hebrews chapter 9.! Hebrews chapter 9. We're going to be reading verses 11 through 28.! Hebrews chapter 9.
[0:12] And we'll be reading beginning in verse 11. When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation.
[0:30] He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
[0:42] The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.
[1:08] For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
[1:24] In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is enforced only when somebody has died.
[1:35] It never takes effect while the one who made it is living. This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.
[1:46] When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves together with water, scarlet wool, and branches of hyssop, and he sprinkled the scroll and all the people.
[2:00] He said, This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you to keep. In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies.
[2:12] In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. It was necessary then for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
[2:33] For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.
[2:44] Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world, but now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
[3:08] Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people, and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
[3:28] Let's hear the preaching of God's word. The Philistines and the Israelites were squared off for battle in the valley of Elah, and on one hill was the Israelite army, and on the other, the Philistine army, along with their giant, mocking Israel's God and challenging Israel to present a man to fight him in a winner-take-all contest.
[3:54] If he beats me, then we Philistines will be your servants, but if I beat him, then you will be our servants. And so, for 40 days, twice a day, the giant came out and made his challenge.
[4:08] Give me someone to fight. And for 40 days, twice a day, the Israelites cowered in fear and disgrace. And then, the teenage David showed up.
[4:23] He made an appearance at the valley of Elah. And the rest is history. It was David's appearance that saved the Israelites as he came there with faith in God.
[4:38] And that story is meant to point us to a greater son of David who showed up, and his appearance saved his people from their sins.
[4:50] Now, here at the end of Hebrews chapter 9, we read of three appearances of Jesus Christ. Three different times that Christ shows up.
[5:00] He appears. He appears. He appears. And the result is the salvation of his people. We read of a past and a present and a future appearance.
[5:14] Verse 26. He has appeared. Verse 24. He now appears. And verse 28. He will appear.
[5:26] And because he has appeared, I have been saved. And because he now appears, I am being saved. And because he will appear, I will be saved.
[5:40] And so the long and short of it is, is that I am saved because of Christ appearing for me. Christ has showed up for me. Now, I want us to work our way through these three appearances then in chronological order, in the order in which they happen, not the order in which they're given in our text, but in the order in which they happened and see just how it is that Christ saves us by these three appearances.
[6:07] So, first of all, his past appearance. Christ has appeared. Verse 26. The last half of the verse. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
[6:28] Now, of course, this appearance of Christ did not go unannounced. It was foretold for thousands of years. The Old Testament prophets announced he is coming.
[6:41] He is coming. The offspring of the woman, the seed. Of Abraham, the son of David, the servant of the Lord, he's coming.
[6:55] And then 2000 years ago, he showed up. He appeared. He appeared among us. Born of a virgin, the eternal son of God. It's not that he began that.
[7:06] No, he just appeared. He was from all eternity, the eternal son of God. And he was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, John says.
[7:18] The glory of the one and only God. Paul writes, great is the mystery. God appeared on earth in a body. He appeared.
[7:29] He appeared. In a body. First Timothy 316. God visited our planet in the person of Jesus Christ, who is himself God.
[7:41] What a mystery. He's God and yet he's no less man. John writes that which was from the beginning. The life appeared.
[7:55] And we have seen it and we testify to it and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the father and has appeared to us.
[8:06] He's appeared. He's come. He's shown up. Children, did you know that every time that you write underneath your name on your paper, the current date, you are testifying that God has appeared.
[8:22] 2017. What is that number that you write? It's a date. It's the approximate date when Jesus Christ appeared on earth.
[8:33] And that appearing is so important that all human history is dated by it. If something happened before it, it's BC, before Christ appeared.
[8:46] If it's after, it's just that many years after Christ has appeared. It's the great event. He, God, has appeared in a body, a real human body, a real human soul.
[9:00] Well, the question is, why? Why has God appeared? Why did Christ appear? Well, he wasn't here on a vacation visit, was he?
[9:10] He had work to do. And our text says in verse 26, but now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin. That's why he came.
[9:23] To do away with sin. John says the same in first John three, eight. The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. And what is the devil's work?
[9:36] It's to introduce sin into God's sinless creation. And Jesus Christ appeared to destroy sin. He appeared.
[9:49] To do away with sin. That's why he showed up. To deal with sin. Not in part, but the whole. To deal with it. Lock, stock and barrel. To deal effectively with the problem of sin.
[10:02] And oh, what a problem this is for every one of us. As we come into this world. This is the problem of humanity. This is the problem at the heart of every other problem in the world today.
[10:15] Whether in your home, in your marriage, your relationships, your school, your workplace, the nation, the international scene. It is the problem of sin that is at the root of it all.
[10:26] It's a giant sized problem that we have sinned against a holy God. And compared to this, all other problems are molehills. We sinned against God.
[10:38] He said, do not. And we said, I will. He says, do. And we said, I won't. He says, love me with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.
[10:48] And your neighbor as yourself. And we said, no. We will love ourselves. We will love pleasure rather than God. That's trouble. That's problem.
[10:59] Because that disobedience is rebellion against our holy and kind maker. And it's so offensive to him that he's already pronounced his curse against any sinner.
[11:11] They are already condemned. John 3 tells us. The Bible says that those who die in their sins will go away to everlasting punishments. Matthew 25.
[11:23] How few people realize how serious their problem is. It is a giant that they are facing. Because God says, I remember all your evil deeds.
[11:36] They are always before me. Hosea says he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins. You know, your sins are recorded in a book.
[11:48] In heaven. Written down in the record books of heaven. The Bible says that the last day of judgment, the books will be opened. And all men will be judged according to their words.
[11:59] What they did. And one sin on the books will be enough to keep you out of heaven in that day. Just one sin on the books.
[12:09] You see, that's the giant sized problem of sin for the whole human race. For you, the youngest children here who are hearing. That's your problem. That's my problem.
[12:20] We're all in this together. And there was nothing we could do to fix the problem. There's no way that we could somehow get one of our sins off of our record in heaven.
[12:31] No amount of our good deeds could make up for our bad deeds. You see, if I already owe God my obedience and my good deeds, that's just what's expected of me.
[12:41] That can't be extra credit to take off some bad deed that I've done. No, there's no way any religious ritual or good that I could do could remove even one of my sins from the record book of heaven.
[12:57] Our sins left us guilty, condemned, awaiting the eternal punishments we deserve. Then what good news is it to read that Christ appeared to do away with sin?
[13:10] To do away with the very thing that is my biggest problem. And he did that when I was powerless and without strength to to do anything about it myself.
[13:22] He showed up. To do away with sin. But how? How will he do it? How will he do away with sin? Well, we read Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
[13:38] That's how he does it. Now, you remember in the Old Testament, God required that sins be dealt with by animal sacrifices.
[13:50] But those sacrifices were only provisional. They were only temporary. They were ineffective means to actually do away with sin.
[14:00] And that's seen in the fact that they had to be made over and over. Day after day. Year after year. And those repeated animal sacrifices, you see, far from pardoning sin and cleansing from sin, were rather reminders of sin over and over to the people of God.
[14:19] Because as Hebrews 10 verse 4 tells us, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
[14:31] Animal sacrifices can never atone for human sins. No animal's death can substitute for a man's death. If I deserve to die, no death of an animal will make up for that.
[14:45] There's not an equality between man made in the image of God and an animal not made in the image of God. No man has sinned, so man must die.
[14:59] And not just any man. If there's to be a substitute for that man, he must be himself sinless. Otherwise, he just dies for his own sins. And so these animal sacrifices, you see, were object lessons to teach the Old Testament sinner of God's one way of salvation.
[15:18] By a substitute sacrifice. By the innocent receiving the punishment due. And the guilty then going free. They had this before them.
[15:29] Day after day. Year after year. And that it pointed them. It pointed them forward then.
[15:40] To the coming of a sacrifice that God himself would provide. Every time that they brought their lamb. They had this picture set before them.
[15:53] For they would lay their hands upon the head of the lamb. And thereby confess their sins. Symbolically transferring the sins as they confess them.
[16:06] From them to the sacrificial lamb. And once their sins were confessed upon the head of the lamb. Then the sinner would watch as that innocent lamb was treated as he deserved.
[16:21] And its throat was slit. Its blood was shed. Its life was taken. And he went free. That's what he saw. In the sacrifices.
[16:33] Over and over. God is teaching the Old Testament sinner. There's only salvation for you by the death of an innocent victim. And it will be a victim that I myself.
[16:46] A sacrifice I myself. Will provide. So these were pictures. These animal sacrifices. These animal sacrifices. Were pointing the sinner's faith. To a coming messianic sin bearer.
[16:58] Who would save his people by the sacrifice of himself. By becoming sin. For us. That we might become the righteousness of God in him. So these Old Testament sacrifices of animals.
[17:12] Were just shadows. The reality is found in Christ. They are types that we're looking forward to the fulfillment. And I think the best way for us to understand this Old Testament perspective.
[17:24] That it's a way of anticipation. And forward looking to the coming of the one sacrifice that will put away sin. Is to listen in on the conversation that Abraham and Isaac had.
[17:38] As they made their way up to Mount Moriah. Genesis 22. God had told Abraham to make a burnt offering. To sacrifice his own son Isaac.
[17:49] As a burnt offering. Up on Mount Moriah. And so they're making their way to Mount Moriah. And Isaac says. Father. Here's the wood.
[18:00] And here's the fire. But where is the sacrifice? That's the Old Testament. It's ever in the position of asking.
[18:13] Where is the sacrifice? That will take away sin. It's that Old Testament perspective. Of looking for this sacrifice.
[18:23] Where is it? And Abraham's response is. My son. God will provide the sacrifice. God will provide. And that's what the prophets were announcing.
[18:34] All those hundreds of years. He's coming. He will make an appearance. God will provide. And then 2,000 years ago. He came.
[18:46] Born of a virgin. And one day John the Baptist. The last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets. No longer said he is coming. He says he's here. Behold. Look.
[18:57] The Lamb of God. Who takes away the sin of the world. He's God's Lamb. He's the sacrifice that God has provided. And he's here.
[19:08] To do what? To do what none of the other sacrifices could. To take it away. Take sin away. To do away with it. Once and for all. He has appeared.
[19:21] Our text says. He has appeared. Once for all. At the end of the ages. To do away with sin. By the sacrifice of himself. So Jesus is not just another high priest.
[19:32] With more animals blood. To offer upon more altars of Israel. No. He is the great high priest.
[19:44] Who. Makes a sacrifice of himself. He's both priest and sacrifice. Offerer and offering. Yeah.
[19:56] Makes the sacrifice of himself. He comes with his own blood. Not the blood of animals. Of richer blood than they. The blood of Jesus. God's son.
[20:07] Cleanses from every sin. So. Because the. The man Christ Jesus. Is sinless. He's a perfect man.
[20:17] Well then he's qualified. As man. Perfect man. To die in the place. Of sinful men. Sin. And when Jesus died.
[20:29] The sinner's death. And cried. It is finished. On the cross. That was the end. Of all. Sacrifices. For sin. No need to be repeated. Why not? Because it did away.
[20:40] These had to be repeated. Because they never could take away sin. But once Jesus died. All. Sacrifices. For sin. Ceased. Because. He did away with sin.
[20:51] By his sacrifice. And because he's divine. His sacrifice. Has infinite value. Infinite merit.
[21:01] Not only to pay for. My sins. One man's sins. But he's God. And he. His blood and death. Has merit to. To cover the sins. Of all. Who trust in him.
[21:15] Christ. Was sacrificed. Once. To take away. The sins. Of many people. Once. As verse. 18.
[21:26] Of chapter 10. Says. And where these. Have been forgiven. There's no longer. Any sacrifice. For sin. That's our. Savior. He. He appeared. To take away.
[21:36] Sin. By the sacrifice. Of himself. Now I come. To apply it. This is why. Christ has appeared. Then sinner. Believe him. Believe upon him. Trust in.
[21:48] Christ's sacrifice. Alone. To atone. For your sins. Let no other. Trust in. Truth. Don't trust. In your goodness. Don't trust. In what you intend. To do.
[21:58] All your good promises. Are what you. Hope to do. Let no other. Trust in. Truth. None. But Jesus. Can do. Helpless sinners. Good. And he's done it all. He's done enough.
[22:09] So. Just trust him. It's by trusting in him. That what he did. Is counted years. That's what pastor Jason was saying. How is it that this. This transaction of my sins.
[22:21] And his righteousness. Takes place. By trusting in him. By faith. Faith unites you. To Jesus Christ. So that what he did.
[22:32] Is counted years. His death. Is counted your death. Your sins are counted. As being punished. Paid for in full. At the cross.
[22:43] And so they're completely. Taken away. You see. A debt only remains. On the books. As long as it's unpaid. Right. But once you go. And you pay the debt. What is the. What happens.
[22:54] Well. Your debt is erased. It's blotted out. It's removed. It's no longer there. So that when you go. And say. How much do I owe. And they said. Well let's check the books. Well. They don't see anything. Against you.
[23:05] And that's what happens. When a sinner. Trust in Jesus Christ. All that Jesus did. Is counted the sinners. So when God looks at the record books.
[23:16] Let's see. What is there for John Heaney. On the books. He sees no sins. Because Jesus Christ. Paid. My debt at Calvary.
[23:27] He suffered enough. He died. For my sins. And by doing so. He's done away with sin. He's blotted it out. It's gone. What a glorious.
[23:39] Thing. To have our sins. Remembered. No more. Oh they're remembered. Unless Jesus blood. Blots them out. To have your record.
[23:50] Wipe clean. Past. Present. Future. The blood of Jesus. Is just that powerful. So trust him. Receive him. And all. Forgiveness of sin.
[24:02] In him. And child of God. When you sin. Come at once. To this Jesus. Look again. To him. And his. His. Atoning blood. And confess your sins.
[24:12] To this gracious. Savior. It's at the altar. Of Calvary. That your sins. Were punished. And paid for. In full. So believe it brother. Don't doubt it sister.
[24:23] When Satan tempts you. To despair. And tells you. Of the sin within. Run to this Jesus. Run to this payment. This sacrifice.
[24:34] Of himself. And. See. That he. He has already appeared. He's already. Done away with sin. He's already been punished. For your sins.
[24:44] Those very sins. Of that day. Go. And bask. Afresh. In the blood of Jesus. Shed. For you. They now stand.
[24:55] Separated from you. As far as the east. Is from the west. So that is chapter 10. And verse 17. Of Hebrews says. Your sins. And lawless deeds.
[25:06] I will remember. No more. Let's see. Where are they? They're gone. They're gone. The blood of Jesus. His promise.
[25:17] Is sure. His grace. Is just that good. He pays the debt. And sets us free. Nothing more. To be paid. So. So rejoice in it. Christian. Praise the Lord for it.
[25:27] Your greatest problem. Has been solved. Christ. Has appeared. To do away. With your sins. Now that's in the past. And that alone.
[25:37] Is enough. To keep us singing. For all eternity. Worthy is the lamb. That was slain. But it's not all. Is it? That. There's another appearance. Spoken of in this text.
[25:48] It's his present. Appearance. Verse 24. For Christ did not enter. A man-made sanctuary. That was only a copy. Of the true one. He entered heaven itself.
[26:01] Now to appear. For us. In God's presence. Now to appear. That's a present appearance. Jesus is somewhere. You know. Just because he went.
[26:11] Into the clouds. Doesn't mean he disappeared. As they saw him. No. He is somewhere. And this is telling us. Where he is. Now on the day of atonement. The high priest job.
[26:23] Was not complete. After he slaughtered. The goat. Out in the. The temple grounds. That's not the end. Of the high priest job. There on the altar.
[26:33] Of sacrifice. No. Then he would take. Its blood. Right into the most. Holy place. Of the temple. The place. Where God's presence. Dwelt. Out on earth.
[26:44] And he would take. The blood in. Behind that thick veil. And there. He sprinkled. The blood. On the mercy seat. The atonement. Cover. Of the ark. Of the covenant. And before it.
[26:57] Sprinkling. The blood. And pleading. For the forgiveness. Of the sins. Of Israel. And even so. Christ. Having sacrificed. Himself. On the altar. Of Calvary.
[27:08] Still had something. To do. But unlike. Israel's. High priest. Jesus did not. Go into the most. Holy place. Of the temple. Because that was.
[27:19] Only a copy. Of the true. Dwelling place. Of God. In heaven. And Jesus. Being the true. High priest. Goes into the true. Most holy place.
[27:30] Into heaven. Itself. Now this. Refers to his. Ascension. And his. Appearance. In heaven. He has. Appeared here.
[27:40] He now. Appears there. You remember. After he had. Appeared first. To do away. With sin. By the sacrifice. Of himself. He was buried.
[27:51] And raised. From the dead. And then. He ascended. Into heaven. Right in front. Of his disciples. As. As he taught them. He starts to ascend. Until they can see him.
[28:02] No more. And the clouds. Hide him from view. And the bible. Fills in the blank. And he. He went right on up. Into the. The most holy place. Where God dwells. And he took his place.
[28:14] On the very throne. Of God. In heaven. He's there. Now. He's appearing. There. Now. He appeared here. Now. He's appearing.
[28:25] There. And in some ways. His appearance. There is even more amazing. Than his appearance. Here. Because when he. Appeared there. He no longer.
[28:36] Was appearing there. As he had been there. For. Ever. And ever. Forever. And ever. He had been there. With the father. But as a pure spirit.
[28:48] Now. He appears there. In a human body. With a human. Soul. There's a man.
[28:58] A real man. At the right hand. Of God. In heaven. That's amazing. He took. Our humanity. Into heaven. That's significant.
[29:09] That. That he's there. Now. Appearing. In heaven. In God's. Presence. But why?
[29:20] Why is he there? And. Our text. Verse 24. Says. For us. For us. For us. Who have trusted in him. To do away with our sins.
[29:32] For us. Who sins. Were punished at Calvary. For us. Who still have a thousand. Other. Sins and problems. That we're dealing with. In this life. He's appearing there.
[29:43] For us. Now. Appears for us. In God's presence. So he came down. For us. And then he. Went up. For us.
[29:55] And he now. Appears. For us. In heaven. In God's presence. In God's presence. I wonder. I wonder. Brother and sister. If we.
[30:05] If we think enough. About what Jesus. Is doing for us. Right now. And that's what I like. About this. This. This text. At the end of chapter 9.
[30:17] Of Hebrews. We're told. In chapter 12. We're to fix our eyes. On Jesus. But. We have three. Wonderful ways. To look at him. As he. Appeared. Once for us.
[30:27] To take away sin. But. But now. To. To think of him. And fix our eyes. On him. As he is now. And what he's doing. For us. Today. Well.
[30:38] There's several things. He's doing for us. He's there for us. As our representatives. Or as our representative. As our mediator. He's there. To intercede. For us.
[30:50] There is only one mediator. Between. God. And man. Who is he? He's the man. Christ Jesus. And. You see. He's there for us.
[31:00] As our representative. And he represents us. To God. The perfect man. He. He answers for us. He's. He's our advocate.
[31:11] If anyone sins. We have an advocate. With the father. He speaks to the father. On our. Defense. And so he. He's there. And he's pleading.
[31:21] The merits of his blood. Father. Forgive her. He cries. Forgive her. Nor let that. Ransomed sinner die. She's mine. I bought her.
[31:32] With my own blood. For her crimes. I died. He's interceding. For us. Representing us. Before the father. Because Jesus.
[31:42] Lives forever. He's a. He has a. Permanent priesthood. Chapter 7. And verse 25. Therefore. He's able. To save completely. All that come. Unto God. Through him. Because he.
[31:52] Always. Lives. To intercede. For them. So he's there. He now. Appears. In heaven. For us. To intercede.
[32:03] For us. And he appears. In heaven. Also. As our forerunner. Ensuring. Our safe. Arrival. There. This is our solid.
[32:14] Hope. For our. Entrance. Into heaven. At last. Hebrews. Chapter. Six. Verses. Nineteen. And twenty. We have this hope. As an anchor. For the soul.
[32:25] Where does your. Where does your. Anchor. Grip. Where have you. Got your anchor. Hooked. He says. We have this hope. As an anchor. For the soul.
[32:36] Firm. And secure. It enters. The inner. Sanctuary. Behind the curtain. Where Jesus. Has gone. As a forerunner. For us. You see. Our hope.
[32:47] Goes. Where Jesus. Is. He is. Our hope. He is our anchor. And where is he. He is not. In some holy place. Of a temple. In Jerusalem. He is in the real holy place.
[32:58] In God's presence. In heaven. And he is there. As our forerunner. Children. You are learning about. Compound words. Big words.
[33:09] Made up of. Two smaller words. Jesus is there. As our. For. Runner. Do you hear the two words. Runner.
[33:19] For. For. Our. Before runner. So. So he's run. And got in. To the most holy place. Of heaven. In God's presence.
[33:30] And he's there. As our. Forerunner. Now if he's the one. Who's run before. It speaks of some. Who will. Follow after. And that's us.
[33:42] That's us. For whom he died. Who are trusting. In him alone. He's there. As our forerunner. And his presence. In heaven. And guarantees. That we will be there. One day. It's good news.
[33:53] For us. That he's there. For us. As our forerunner. The body. Of Christ. Must be forever. With the head. The head.
[34:04] Is the forerunner. And the rest. Of the body. Will be with him. He appears. For us. To intercede. For us. As our forerunner. Ensuring our safe. Arrial. And then he. Arrival.
[34:14] And then he appears. For us. In God's presence. As our high priest. To sympathize. With us. And to help us. To sympathize. With us. And to help us. That's why he's there.
[34:25] That's why he's making. An appearance. There for us. Hebrews 4. 14 to 16. Since we have a great high priest. Who's gone through the heavens. Jesus. The son of God.
[34:35] Let us hold firmly. To the faith. That we profess. We do not. Have a high priest. Who is unable. To sympathize. With our weaknesses. When I read those words.
[34:48] I think about. The high priests. That were in the temple. In Jesus day. And we read in Matthew. Chapter. 27.
[35:02] That when Judas. Who had betrayed him. Saw that Jesus. Was condemned. He was seized. With remorse. And he returned. The 30 silver coins.
[35:13] To the chief priests. The high priests. He brought the money. Back to them. And to the elders. And he said. I've sinned. For I have betrayed.
[35:24] Innocent blood. And then these. Chief priests. Responded. What is that. To us. That's your. Responsibility. You look at.
[35:35] After that. Issue. Yourself. And so. Judas. Threw the money. Into the temple. And went out. And hanged himself. When you come.
[35:48] Confessing. Your weaknesses. And your sins. To your high priest. Jesus. He doesn't say. To you. That's your problem. You made your bed.
[36:01] You lie in it. You see to it. That's your. Issue. Don't come around. To me. He's not a high priest. Who's unable. To sympathize.
[36:11] With us. In our weaknesses. That's simply. The negative way. Of saying. He has amazing. Sympathy. With it. For us. In our weakness. He sympathizes.
[36:22] With you. Though he's in heaven. In God's glorious. Presence. Receiving the praises. Of angels. And the spirits. Of just men. Made holy. He still remembers. What it's like.
[36:32] To be tempted. Down on earth. And he's been. Where you are. And he's felt. What you're feeling. He's been tempted. In every way. Just as you are.
[36:43] Yet without sin. And it's out of that. Personal. Experience. Out of the memories. Of what it's like. To live in this. Fallen world.
[36:54] And to be tempted. And tried. And experience. Weakness. He knows. Just what we need. In each. And every situation. We get ourselves into. He knows.
[37:05] Exactly. The. The. The mercy. We need. For our sin. Exactly. The grace. We need. To help us. In our time. Of need. Hebrews 4.
[37:15] 16. He's been tempted. He knows. Hebrews 2. 18. Because he himself. Suffered. When he was tempted. He is able. To help those. Who are being tempted.
[37:26] That's your savior. Sympathy. What is this. Heart. Of Jesus. Christ. And when your heart. Is broken under trials. And can barely.
[37:37] Whisper a prayer. There's a fellow feeling. That's what the word. Sympathy. Means. Symp. With. Pathy. Feeling. Pathos.
[37:47] Emotion. There is. An emotion. In the human heart. Of Jesus. That matches. Your emotion. Sister. Your emotion. Brother. A sympathy.
[37:58] In his heart. For each one. Of his children. He knows. He feels. There are a lot. Of needs. Right now. In this body. A good number.
[38:10] Of you. Are going. Through deep. Waters. And it. Genuinely. Hurts us. On the inside. To see you. Suffer. Bible.
[38:21] Says. We weep. With those who weep. That's not just. A trite saying. It means. We're joined. At the hip. And what. What hurts you. Hurts us. And. I had a brother. This morning. Just telling me.
[38:31] At school. He's dealing. With these. These little. Children. And they're. They're. They're. Broken. At the age of five. And he says. It just hurts. To be with this guy. All day.
[38:42] That's sympathy. And when I think. About the hurts. In this congregation. And then I think. About. What must the heart. Of Jesus. Be. That he has a fellow.
[38:54] Feeling in his heart. With. With every single. One of us. All the sympathy. Of Jesus. For his. People. He's there. For us. You see.
[39:04] He's appearing. There right now. For us. And out of his sympathy. He knows. Exactly. What to send us. In our time. Of need. He's.
[39:14] And he also. Is there. For us. In God's presence. As our king. He's reigning. Over all things. For us. He's seated. At the father's. Right hand.
[39:25] But he's not. Just there. For himself. He's there. For us. And so. So he reigns. Over everything. For the advantage. Of his church. Ephesians 1. 22. And so he's there.
[39:36] To make sure. That everything. Works out. Together. For the good. Of his people. He's there. For us. He makes sure. That nothing.
[39:46] Comes into your life. But what he will. So work with it. And everything else. About you. So that it brings you. Good. He's there for us. To do that. For us.
[39:57] To develop. A greater likeness. To his own image. For our growth. And grace. For developing. The Christ like. Virtue of patience. And perseverance. Under trial. Teaching us.
[40:08] To wait on the Lord. To draw near. To him. To find our strength. In him. He's preparing us. For heaven. He's weaning us. From this earth. So believer.
[40:19] Believe it. He's there for you. Make use of him. Is he right now. There for you. And all these. Then. Then. Let us come with confidence. Before the throne of grace.
[40:30] To this great high priest. And king of grace. That we might receive. Mercy and grace. To help us. Make use of this. Wonderful appearance. Full appearance. He's there.
[40:41] He's appeared there now. He is appearing there now. For you. And lastly. There's a future appearance. Verse 28. Tells us. That Christ will appear.
[40:52] Verse 27 and 28. Of Hebrews 9. Just as man is destined. To die once. And after that. To face judgment. So Christ. Was sacrificed. Once. To take away.
[41:03] The sins. Of many people. And. He will appear. A second time. Not to bear sin. But to bring salvation. To those who are waiting for him.
[41:16] Jesus is coming. Again. He's going to make a second appearance. On earth. And when he does. It will be different.
[41:27] From the first appearance. On earth. When he came the first time. He came in one way. When he comes the second time. It will be.
[41:38] A different. Appearance. Then. Every eye. Will see him. Just. Just some folks. Saw him. Those who were privileged. To live in Palestine. And in Galilee.
[41:49] And in Judea. And Samaria. They. They. They got to see him. When he appeared. The first time. But when he appears. The second time. Every eye. Will see him. Your eyes.
[42:01] Will see him. As. He comes. With a shout. That will wake up the dead. And every eye. Will see him. And every knee. Will bow. And every tongue.
[42:12] Will confess. That he is Lord. He is God. To the glory. Of God. The father. That didn't happen. At his first coming. Did it? It will.
[42:23] At his second coming. And. And when he comes. The second time. It will be different. In this regard. When he came. The first time. It was in such meekness. And humiliation.
[42:34] He came as a nobody. As a servant. And he was despised. And rejected. By men. A man of sorrows. And acquainted. With grief. But he's coming again.
[42:46] In power. And great. Glory. Indeed. Titus 2. 13. Says. This is the blessed hope. What is the happy hope. Of every Christian. The glorious appearing.
[42:58] Of our great God. And savior. Jesus Christ. He will appear. A second time. And it will be a glorious appearing. We will see him. In all the glory.
[43:09] That is rightfully his. And notice. At his second appearing. He's coming with a different agenda. He's coming not to bear sin. He did that at his first coming to earth.
[43:22] He. He did. He bore sin. He took the sins of his people upon himself. And went to the tree. And received the penalty due. He's not coming the second time to bear sin.
[43:33] But to bring salvation. To bring salvation. To those who are waiting for him. Full salvation. Not only salvation from sin's punishment.
[43:46] And sin's reigning power. But when he comes the second time. When he makes an appearance the second time on earth. It will be to bring salvation from sin's very presence.
[43:58] For John says. When we see him. We will be made like him. That's the believers. Blessed hope. When we see him. This process of sanctification.
[44:09] That's already been begun in us. At our new birth. Then it will be completed. And there will not be the trace of sin. In my heart. In my mind.
[44:20] In my life. And just as right now. My record in heaven. Because of Jesus death. Has no trace of sin. So in that day. My heart.
[44:31] And my life. Will have no trace of sin. That's the salvation. He's coming to bring. And he will judge the world. And there will only be a new heaven.
[44:42] And a new earth. Devoid of sin. And the curse. And the place where only righteousness reigns. That's the salvation he's bringing. But notice he's not bringing it for everyone.
[44:54] No. It says that he. He will appear a second time. Not to bear sin. But to bring salvation. To a specific people. It's to those who are waiting for him.
[45:07] Waiting for him. With faith. In his sin atoning sacrifice. Waiting for him. With hope. Of all that he's coming to do for us.
[45:17] Waiting for him. With loving obedience. To his commands. We are waiting. We are expecting him. And it's for them. That he's coming.
[45:27] To bring salvation. Those who are longing for the day. When we will be forever with the Lord. Is that you? Is that you? You see this has to do with us.
[45:41] Because as verse 27 says. We're all destined to die once. And then the judgment. And so. Is that a thought that you say. Even so come Lord Jesus.
[45:53] Or is it a thought that says. I'm not ready for that. He's coming for those. Who are ready for that. Who are waiting for that. Who that will be.
[46:05] The thing for which we pray. The thing for which we live. The thing for which we long. We long to see him. To be with him.
[46:16] Do you know that's what he longs for us. Dear child of God. That we might be with him where he is. That we could behold his glory. And he has planted in the heart. Of every one of his children.
[46:28] That. Corresponding desire. To be with the Lord. If you're not ready. To meet him. He's not.
[46:38] Bringing salvation. To you. So seek him at once. And be ready. He has appeared once. To do away with sin. And everyone who comes to him.
[46:49] He will in no wise cast out. He will. Give himself to you. And all. Of his saving work. But how will you escape.
[47:01] If you neglect so great. A salvation. Dear believer. He has appeared. To take away your sins.
[47:11] He's now appearing in heaven. For you. For all your needs. Right now in this life. And he will appear. For you. As he returns a second time. Persevere.
[47:23] In waiting. It will not be forever. Hold the fort. Christ is coming. And he wants us.
[47:34] To be with him. Where he is. Well there's a song. In our hymnal. That reflects. All three of these comings. And it's number 175. In your hymnal. All three comings.
[47:52] Man of sorrows. What a name. For the son of God. Who came. That was his first coming. Isn't it? Then we sing.
[48:07] In the fourth verse. Second stanza. Now in heaven. Exalted high. That's where he is now. Appearing for you in heaven. And in the last verse. We sing of his.
[48:19] Coming. When he comes. Our glorious king. All his ransomed home. To sing. To bring. So let's stand and sing. Praise him. For his three comings.
[48:29] That have been our salvation. Jesus. Our wonderful Lord. 175. Our father.
[48:44] It's only fitting. For us. To already. Begin. To sing. Praise the Lord. What a savior. He has come for us. The sacrifice. Is finished. It's over.
[48:55] All our sins. Paid for. For us. Who are in Christ. Jesus. No more condemnation. Remembered. No more. Thank you. We praise you. There's no savior like you.
[49:07] Lord Jesus. We're humbled at what it cost you. To forgive us. And then we thank you. That having risen from the dead. You took your seat on high.
[49:17] And now you're thinking of us. Poor and needy us. Yet the Lord thinks upon us. And it's your thoughts of us. And your sympathy with us. And the overflow of pouring out mercy and grace.
[49:31] From your throne into our hearts. That keeps us going. Thank you. And it will keep us going. Until we see you face to face. When you come for us. And bring that full and finalized form of salvation.
[49:46] From the very presence of sin. Oh do awaken in our hearts Lord. That longing to see you. And until you come. Keep us faithful. And keep us rejoicing in hope.
[49:59] In hope of the glory that is coming. And may it be that no one here would be absent from singing this song in that day. Draw them today we ask in Jesus name.
[50:10] Amen. Amen. Amen.