It's good to be with you again. I told the folks back in Adrian this morning that I would be coming out here tonight. And I told them if they want to know why I'm going out to Canton tonight to preach, I could sum it up in two words. Air-conditioned. We don't have it in our building. No, it is good to see you again. Take your Bibles and turn to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. I want to begin reading at verse 23. Hebrews 9, starting at verse 23. Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor was it that he would offer himself often as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, he would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now once, at the consummation of the age, he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, And after this comes the judgment. So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly await Him. Will you again seek our God together with me in prayer? Our Father in heaven, again, we would ask that you would come by the work of your Spirit and through your Word and have dealings with us this evening. We pray that all that is said and done would bring glory and honor to your name. We pray that the Word of God would fall upon hearts that have been prepared to receive it, and that in the end it would bring forth much fruit for your glory and your honor. For we ask these things in Christ's name, Amen. I believe the last time I was here, we looked at a passage of Scripture from the book of Hebrews, and I reminded you on that occasion that this book is written to Jewish believers who were facing the temptation to forsake Christ and go back into Judaism. If you look over to chapter 10, starting in verse 32, the author sort of addresses that very reality. But remember the former days, when after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of suffering, partly by being made a public spectacle through the reproaches and tribulations and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession, a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward. Don't throw away your confidence. Confidence in Christ. Christ who is better. And though these Jewish believers have spent their lives going to the tabernacle watching the priest as he's there at the altar of sacrifice, and watch as the goat is killed, and his blood is put into a basin, and then as that priest would go into the first veil, the holy place, and there, Scatter that blood over the furnishings there in that room. And then, one time a year, to watch the high priest enter into the second veil. And there, into the Holy of Holies, the very presence of God. And there He would sprinkle again the Sacred Blood of the sacrifice, not only for the people, but for Himself. And the people would wait outside that Holy of Holies to see if that high priest would reappear. They were used to all the ceremony, all the rituals, all the sacrifices, all the garb of the high priest, and they were thinking to themselves, maybe we should go back to that and leave Christ. And the author of this book is seeking to convince them not to do that, but to understand that Christ is better Christ is better. Not better with regard to this will work, but this is better. But better in the fact that He is the fulfillment, the reality of all that those rituals and ceremonies and sacrifices were but foreshadows of. Christ is better. And as you read through this book, and as you study through this book, The author here is seeking to convince his readers that Christ is a better High Priest. That Christ will bring a better covenant. And that Christ is a better sacrifice. Christ is better. And so when we come to chapter 9 of the book of Hebrews, the writer is setting before his readers the grand truth concerning the superiority, the sufficiency, the supremacy of Christ and His sacrifice for sin. He is the reality. of all that the tabernacle, the priesthood, the vessels, the sacrifices, the ceremonies of the first covenant were simply copies of. He is the reality. And at issue here is eternal redemption. At issue here is salvation. Having the power and the penalty of sin so removed that every true believer can freely draw near to the presence of a sinless God. Now remember, they only got to watch as the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies. They only got to watch as the high priest entered into that place which would represent the very presence of God. But in Christ, every true believer can draw nigh to God Himself through the one mediator, Jesus Christ. I need no other. And we come to verse 23 of chapter 9. To the end of this chapter, the author continues to pursue that same theme. Only now, he's setting this theme before his readers from the position of Christ's appearance. You see, if you think back to the ministry of the tabernacle, the priest would appear, first of all, there at the altar of sacrifice. Then he would next appear into the very presence, the Holy of Holies. And then he would thirdly reappear outside that box called the Holy of Holies. And what the author here of Hebrews does is tells us about the three appearances of Christ. In these six verses, there are three references made of Christ's appearance. Verse 24, now to appear in the presence of God. Verse 26, He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Verse 28, Christ will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin. So we have these three appearances of Christ. His appearance in the presence of God, His appearance at the consummation of the ages, and His appearance the second time. One speaks of His present appearance, one speaks of his past appearance, and one speaks of his future appearance. So, as we open this passage together, we will take note of these appearances that the author has set before us. Now, this evening, we will only take up the first two. And so I want you to notice them with me. First of all, in verses 23 and 24, Christ's appearance in the presence of God. Christ's appearance in the presence of God. And what you will note is that as the Author sets these things before us, He also sets before us the contrast that exists between Christ and His sacrifice, and the earthly priests and their sacrifices. So first of all, notice with me, in Christ's appearance in the presence of God, the cleansing of the copies. The cleansing of the copies. Notice the language of verse 23. It was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these." Well, what are the these? Well, the these that is being referred to here is the sacrifices made by the priest with the earthly tabernacle. You see, these ceremonies and these rituals were very bloody. We don't often think about that when we think of the tabernacle, but it was a bloody event. If we had to rate it, we would probably rate it an R because of all the blood. As they would sacrifice the animal, they would put the blood of the animal in the basin, And then they would make their way, sprinkling the blood, the sin offering, all over. As they passed through the first veil, which they did every day, they would take the blood of the sacrifice and sprinkle it as a sign of cleansing. I mean, not only the sight of blood was all over this place, can you imagine the stench of blood all over the place as it would be a sign of cleansing? It was just explained in verses 21 and 22 that the blood was used as a cleansing and consecrated way of going before God. Notice verse 21. In the same way, He sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of ministry with blood. And according to the law, one may almost say that all things are cleansed with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. It was the sign of cleansing. All those items used in the ceremonies had to be cleansed. And they were cleansed through blood and sacrifices. And this cleansing was an ongoing activity over and over and over again. But all this was only a copy of a coming reality. All this was pointing to a better sacrifice. The better sacrifice of Christ. That's what it was pointing to. In many ways, it was like when we come to the Lord's table and we take that cup And it is a sign, it is a illustration of the blood of Jesus Christ for us. We are reminded of Christ's sacrifice on the cross as we take that cup. Do this in remembrance of me. So they, in their worship in the tabernacle, and in the strengthening of the blood, would be reminded of something better that is coming. Unlike us, looking back, they were looking forward to a better sacrifice. But then the author goes on to say, for Christ, verse 23, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." Here, the author says, heavenly things are cleansed with better sacrifices. Now, immediately, two questions ought to come to your mind. What in heaven needs to be cleaned? And why does he refer to better sacrifices? Those are two issues that have to be addressed as we come to the cleansing of heavenly things. What heavenly things would need to be cleansed? What were the things in heaven that needed cleaning? Ask yourself that question. I've got a mother-in-law who's a cleaner. Her house is spotless. And sometimes when we're there, somebody will call and say they're coming over and she'll say something like, we've got to clean up this place. And I look around and say, what? What needs cleaned? Here the writer refers to the cleansing of heavenly things. What does it mean? Was heaven a place that itself defiled and needed cleansing? Mr. Spurgeon answered this question this way, no, that cannot be. If you and I had gone there without atonement by the blood, heaven would have been defiled. Look at the crowds of the once sinful men and women who are daily entering there to dwell with God. How could they come there if the heavenly place had not been prepared for them? Look at the multitude of our prayers and praises that are daily going up there. Are they not all in a measure impure? And would it not have defiled heaven to accept them? But the Lord has gone there and has sprinkled His blood on the mercy seat that our prayers and praises indeed and ourselves also may enter without obstruction or hindrance." The author here is pointing to the fact that it is us who need to be cleansed. And Jesus Christ has prepared a way for us to go to the very presence of God. How? Through Him. Through Him. He is now seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in Heaven. He is right now in the presence of God. And through Him, we have access to God. And without Him, how could any of us dare to think we could ever be accepted by a sinless God? He's in Heaven preparing a place for us. Remember John 14? Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions. I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, there will I be also." He's preparing that place. Now, I've got to tell you, For years, as I've read that verse, I imagine our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven with a carpenter's belt on, preparing my mansion. And whenever He gets it done, He's going to invite me to come. It's ready! I've prepared it! That's not what He's doing. My blessed Lord is standing before His Father pleading my case. Pleading my case. So that now, I'm able to come boldly before the throne of grace and have an audience with the King of kings and Lord of lords. I am able to come boldly before the throne of grace and have an audience with the Creator of the universe I am able to come before God Almighty with all boldness, not because of who I am, but because of the One that stands between me and the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has provided a way through His own life that now I can come and draw near, draw near to God Myself, which no Jewish man could do in the tabernacle. Christ is better. He's provided the way for me to come to the Father. Let me illustrate it this way. A little over a year ago, one of my sons had a conference in Washington, D.C. He was going to be there for a week and he invited me to come with him. So I did. And while I was there, my congressman invited me to shadow him for the day. And so I met my congressman in his office and he took me around to various places. We went into a basement someplace in that office complex and went through hallways and there were people lined up and we just went right by them and nobody stopped me. Nobody said, what are you doing? And then we went up into Congress there at the House of Representatives and he sat me there and he made some speech and then he came and got me and said, come on, I want to show you some places. And he took me to the Speaker's office and then he took me outside to the speaker's porch where the inaugural address is made, and I'm walking all over that place, and not a single person stopped me and said, what are you doing? You can't come in here. Not because they said, oh, that's Calvin Walden. Of course he can come in. Who would dare stop that guy? No. I was with the Congressman. He got me into places that no one else was allowed to go into. And I felt bad at times there would be these tour groups standing in line waiting to go see some painting there in Congress or something, and we'd just walk right by them. You know, part of me wanted to say, hi folks. Me and the congressman, hey, hey. One day, I'll be ushered into the presence of God. And He's not going to look and say, oh, it's Calvin, of course. Welcome into my heaven. But He'll see His Son. And His Son will be my passage into His presence. That's amazing to me. as vile as I am, to be able to be in the presence of God. Because Christ, in His sacrifice, has cleansed me from my sins. Perhaps we see that better when we come to verse 24. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God. Why? For us. For us. You know, the sad thing is that some of You who sit here this evening may think that somehow, just you by yourself will gain access to God. And my friend, that's a foolish thought. You never will. The only hope you have of heaven and being in the presence of God is through His Son, Christ alone. That's it. Now, the second issue here is that it says He has cleansed the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices. Sacrifices. better sacrifices that cleanse things in heaven. Why the plural? I mean, if you read the book of Hebrews, it is stressed over and over again that it was a once-for-all sacrifice. So, why does he use the plural here? Well, my answer to that very briefly is that most agree that this was what Philip Hughes calls a generic plural. Corresponding to the plural used of the copies of the things in heaven being cleansed with these, these sacrifices. So basically, it's a literary device. And what the writer here is doing is saying, you know those high priests that would daily go in and make sacrifices again and again and again and again, and how the things of the tabernacle were cleansed with these sacrifices. He's simply now referring to the work of Christ as sacrifices, as a literary device so that the sacrifices of the priest would correspond with the work of Christ. But Christ was a once-for-all sacrifice. It wasn't done again and again and again. Christ died once. He was sacrificed once. Not over and over again. And so that's my answer to why the word sacrifice. It's more of a literary device than referring to the ministry of Christ as though it happened again and again. He died once. Hebrews 10 and verse 12, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all times. And so we now, We now have a High Priest who appears in the presence of God for us. He's there now. He is our propitiation. Our names are graven on His hands. He holds us in the palm of His hands. He's preparing a place for us with confidence. I now draw nigh because my Savior appears in the presence of God. Well, now secondly, notice with me, Christ's appearance at the consummation of the age. The author moves from Christ's appearance in the presence of His presence before God right now to the appearance of Christ in the past. The appearance of Christ in the past. And again, he brings this home by the use of contrast. Verse 25, Nor was it that he would offer himself often as the high priest enters the holy place year after year with blood that is not his own. So again, he reminds them, here in the tabernacle, that the priest would continually give themselves to sacrifice. But not their own blood, but the blood of animals. Year after year, this would happen. This would take place. Every year, the high priest would enter that place. without taking blood which He offers for Himself and for the sins of His people. Chapter 9 and verse 7. Christ is different. He doesn't do that. The high priest would often offer the blood sacrifice that was not his own every year. But Christ would not. He would. He would not offer Himself as the High Priest. And then verse 26 tells us why. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. If Christ's sacrifice was to be repeated, He needed to begin that sacrifice from the beginning of the world. Doing it again and again and again. But Christ does not need to do that. I put it this way. Christ didn't need a do-over. Did you ever need a do-over? Remember when we were kids, we'd play outside, you know, and do something, we'd throw a ball at something and if we missed, we'd say, wait a minute, do-overs, do-overs, come on. Christ never had to say, do-over, I need another chance, I need to do it again. If you're a golfer, we call it a mulligan, you know? It's when you hit the ball and it goes off into the woods. Mulligan. I thought you loved those, get to do it again. Not with Christ. He offered himself up once for all time. And the author makes that abundantly clear. Chapter 7 and verse 27. Chapter 9 and verse 12. Chapter 9 and verse 27. What Christ did, And his perfect sacrifice was done once for all time. What he offered was final. It was perfect. Never needing again to be repeated. And any ritual that says we sacrifice Christ again and again is unbiblical. It's abominable. It's abominable. When you speak of sacrificing Christ again and again and again, it's unthinkable that the death of Christ was not sufficient the first time and would need to be repeated a second time. But what does the author say? But now... You've got to love those two words. Verse 26, but now, once, at the consummation of the ages. He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Christ offers Himself. Things were done a certain way for a long time. Things were done there in the tabernacle over and over again. You saw it hundreds of times. You saw hundreds of animals sacrificed over and over and over again. But now, A change has taken place. This change was once for all times. This change took place when? At the consummation of the ages. For the apostles, their thought concerning the end of the ages began with the death, burial and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. From the death of Christ until now, we are living in the consummation of the ages. We are living in the last days. How long do the last days last? They last until they're done. The apostles thought they were living in the last days. They knew they were living in the last days. We continue living in the last days. Galatians 4.4, 1 Corinthians 10.11, Hebrews 1.2, 1 Peter 1.20. So what's the big change? The big change is this. They've brought about an accomplishment. He has been manifested. He appeared to put away sin. Jesus appeared on earth. He was manifested on earth to put away sin. To remove sin. The sacrifice of Christ would make it as though it had never happened. He says, I will take your sin and I will remove it as far as the east is from the west. He says, I'll take your sin and I'll put it behind my back. Through the sacrifice of Christ, all who are united to Him have had their sin removed so that it is no longer a legal issue. But before God, we are declared righteous. This is what Christ's sacrifice has done. We sing a more contemporary hymn. It's one that we've come to love and appreciate. It's the hymn called, All I Have is Christ. The hymn writer puts it something like this, that as I ran my hell-bound race, indifferent to the cost, I looked upon my helpless state and led me to the cross. And I beheld God's love displayed. You suffered in My place. You bore the wrath reserved for Me. Now all I know is grace." Christ came and offered up Himself as a sacrifice for sin. He'll deal more with that in verse 28. where it says, Christ also having been offered once to bear the sins of many. Christ came and took our sins. Christ came and died. It's incomprehensible. How does a sinless man die? It's because sin came in the world. We die. How does a sinless man die? He took our sins. bore the wrath of God on our behalf. So now, now, I can draw near to God. And here's the amazing thing. I can draw near to God as a righteous man. And if you know me, it's not because of me. It's because of the Son. My sin. Oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. It is well. with my soul. Can you say that? It is well. Christ is better. He now appears in the presence of God as my mediator. He has been manifested upon earth as my Savior. And He will come again. That's the Christ that is better. The fulfillment of all. The things of the tabernacle are but a copy. Let's pray. Now, Father, we pray that You would come and have dealings with us. Those of us who by Your grace have been united to You, Father, may we rejoice in such a wonderful Savior, in such a wonderful sacrifice. Father, we're thankful that we can with confidence draw nigh to you because of the work of Jesus Christ. The work that He is now doing as He's interceding for us. Father, we pray that we might rejoice in such a wonderful Savior. Father, we're thankful that our Savior was willing to come to earth. We're thankful that He was willing to take on the garb of humanity. We're thankful for His sinless life and then His willingness to go to the cross and become sin for us. That one who knew no sin taking our sin upon Himself, and then experiencing the full wrath of our God upon Himself, so that we might know the forgiveness of sin, that sin might be put away, and that we might be given a righteousness not of our own, but a righteousness of your Son, Jesus Christ. Father, for those who do not know that, May even this evening be a time of salvation. Do not leave them alone. Father, bring them to the Savior, we pray. For we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.