Now then again this evening, take your copies of God's Word and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. Start our reading again in verse 23, looking at this passage that we began to look at last Lord's Day evening. Hebrews 9 in 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 entered the holy place year by year with the 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. Let us seek our God together again in prayer. Father, as we come now to open Your Word, we are of needy people. And we pray that the Spirit of God would come and minister unto us, have dealings with us. We pray that the Word of God would be living and active in our hearts and lives, even as that two-edged sword. And may you receive the glory and the honor for all that is accomplished in our time together in looking into your Word. For these things we do pray in Christ's name. Amen. When I was in college as a freshman, all of us had to take a course called the History of Civ. The History of Civ was in a big lecture room with several hundred students. And the professor would stand up at the beginning of most classes and begin this way. He would say, please take out a half a sheet of paper, which simply meant we were going to have a quiz on what we were already covered to see if we remembered those things. I thought this evening I would begin that way. But I was afraid not all of you would have a half a sheet of paper. But I trust there is something in your memory with regard to what we considered last week. For in this passage, we noted that the author is setting before his readers a contrast between the earthly sacrifices made in the earthly tabernacle and the sacrifice of Christ, which he concludes in verses 11 and 12, is much better. And we noticed together last week in this passage that we find three appearances of Christ cited. One from the present, One from the past and one from the future. Now, we only looked at a couple of them last week. We considered the first one. His appearance in the present. There in verses 23 and 24. And here we are told, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Christ now appears in the presence of God as our mediator. in order to bring us into the presence of God. In order that we might draw near to Him. And then secondly, we saw His appearance in the past, especially at the cross. Verses 25 and 26. He came into this world in order to offer Himself as a sacrifice to put away sin. for all time. We read there in verse 26, He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. So now, this evening, I want us to take up that third appearance. His appearance in what the author here calls a second time. A second time in verses 27 and 28. And as we open up these two verses of Scripture, I would have you note with me that the author points us to two divine appointments. Two divine appointments. The appointment for all men, and then the appointment for Christ. So notice those two things with me as we open up these verses together. First of all, an appointment for all men. Verse 27, inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes the judgment. That's a very familiar portion of Scripture. Probably most of us have heard that, especially at a funeral, when we are reminded that every man has a destiny with death. It's not really a topic we want to talk about. Who wants to talk to your friends about death? How are you doing today? Have you thought about dying? Well, there's a conversation piece for you. That might ruin the moment. But there are two certainties about this life. One is death. The other is judgment. And at the end of the day, they are not two popular subjects. But one that we have to consider if we're going to look at this text of Scripture and deal honestly with it. We have an appointment with death. Having just called his reader's attention to the fact of the death of Christ, the writer tells them also that every one of us will experience death. Every man will experience death once. Now, the difference between us and Christ is Christ's death was voluntary. Our death is mandatory. Just yesterday, I was up in Anderson, Indiana. Talk about something morbid. I was with my daughter-in-law. We're driving down the street. And I said, I want you to know, that'll be the last place you'll have to say goodbye to me. And she looks over and she says, all I see is a cemetery. To which I said, yes, I have lots there. And one day, that's where I'll be buried. And she said, well, thank you for sharing that. That's a wonderful thought. But it's a reality. We're all going to face death. In Ecclesiastes 7, verse 2, it says, it is better to be in the house of mourning than go to the house of feasting. Because that is the end of every man. And the living need to take it to heart. What an unusual verse of Scripture. It's better to be in a funeral home than it is to be at a party. My son-in-law's grandfather died recently, and I did his service. And at that service, I preached from this passage. And I said that very thing, that God says it's better for us to be here in a funeral home than at a party. At the end of that service, One of my granddaughters came to me and said, oh, Grandpa, that's not true. I would far rather be at a party than be here. To which I said, naturally, that's true. Of course we would all rather be at a party. But it's important that we consider death. It's important that we realize we have an appointment in which every one of us is going to walk through death's door. There's no getting around that. Death is our destiny. And here we are told the living need to take it to heart. So even you young people, you children, need to think about this reality. And you ought not to have the mentality that says, well, if I was as old as you are, Pastor, maybe I ought to take it to heart, but I've still got my whole life ahead of us. In my time in the ministry, I've done the funeral of an infant, and I've done the funeral of a man who was a hundred and some years old, and everywhere in between. And we never know when that day will come when we're asked to walk through death's door. We do not know. Joshua at the end of his life says, I'm now going the way of all the earth. I'm now going to go the way of all the earth. Job says in Job chapter 14 verses 1 and 2, Man is born of a woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil. Like a flower, He comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. Since His days are determined, and the number of months is with you, and His limits you have set, so that He cannot pass them." God has set a time. God has set a date. And there's no getting out of that. And we do not know when that day is. And that does not mean we ought to walk in the street and see if we can get hit by a semi to see if that's the day. It simply means, though, there is a day. There is a day. We have an allotted amount of time. And here the Bible says, then comes death. And the sovereign God has appointed those days. And you will keep that appointment. It's not like your wife setting a doctor's appointment for you. It's not like she comes in and says, honey, I've noticed You're short of breath, and you seem to be tired a lot. I've set an appointment for you for this coming Wednesday at 6 o'clock. You're going to the doctor. And you spend the rest of those two days, leading up to Wednesday, to get out of that appointment. And you might even be able to do it. You might finagle a way to get out of going to that doctor's appointment. But this is one appointment you will not miss. You won't. You will keep it. Because the Word of God makes it clear that it's appointed unto every man to die once. I heard someone say, well, wait a minute. What about Lazarus? What about those other couple people in the Bible that died and then came back to life? What about them? Well, my friends, this is a general principle. And I'm willing to say that you're probably not going to be like Lazarus. You will die only once. In the midst of studying this, I came across a couple of times in my studies a woman by the name of Sarah Winchester. Sarah Winchester's husband, had acquired a fortune by manufacturing and selling rifles, the Winchester rifle. After he died in 1918, Sarah moved to San Jose, California. Because of her grief and her long interest in spiritualism, Sarah sought out a medium to contact her dead husband. And when Sarah met with that medium, that medium told Sarah, as long as you keep building your home, you will never face death. Sarah believed that medium. So she went out and bought an unfinished 17-room mansion and started to expand it. And that project continued until she died at the age of 85. She continued the project until she, what? Died at the age of 85. It cost $5 million at the time. And the workmen were only receiving 50 cents a day. The mansion had 150 rooms. It had 13 bathrooms. It had 2,000 doors, 47 fireplaces, and 10,000 windows. And Mrs. Winchester had bought enough material so that that project could continue for another 80 years. She was determined, as long as she was building that house, she would not die. That house still stands in San Jose, California. I Googled it. I don't Google a lot, but I Googled it, whatever that means. Sarah Winchester's mansion. You ever see it? It's a tourist attraction. People come to see Sarah Manchester's mansion. But can I say this? It's more than just a tourist attraction. It is a silent witness to the fear of death that holds many in bondage. They don't want to face death. Sarah thought as long as they're hammering and as long as they're building and putting in 10,000, oh, if they could only put in that 10,000 in one window, maybe I won't die. But she died. It's an appointment for every one of us. But we also then have an appointment with judgment. It's appointed unto every man to die once, verse 27, and after this comes judgment. There is an eternal reality that follows death. It's called judgment. And just like the reality of death, judgment will fall upon every one of us. No one will escape. You will stand before Almighty God one day in judgment. When we think of judgment, the word judgment here means primarily to distinguish. or to separate. It has the idea of division. This judgment will bring about a division. And this judgment that is pronounced brings about a division of either life or death. Death for the wicked and life for the righteous. Turn over to that familiar passage, Matthew 25. And let me just set this thought before you as our Lord does here in Matthew 25. Verse 34. Then the King will say to those on His right, come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat. I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited Me in. Naked, and you clothed Me. I was sick, and you visited Me. I was in prison, and you came to Me. And then the righteous will answer Him, Lord, when do we see You hungry and feed You and thirsty and give You something to drink? And when do we see You a stranger and invite You in or naked and clothe You? When do we see You sick or in prison and come to You? And the King will answer and say to them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even to the least of them, you did it unto Me. Then He will say also to those on His left, depart from Me, accursed ones, into eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in. Naked, and you did not come and clothe Me. Sick and in prison, and you did not come to visit Me. Then they themselves also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry and thirsty or a stranger or naked and sick or in prison and did not care for you? Then He will answer them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And in these words, these will go away into eternal punishment. but the righteous into eternal life. There will be a day in which every one of us individually will stand before God and we will either pass into life, eternal life and God's kingdom, or we will pass into death and eternal punishment separated from God. And let me say, on that day, God's judgment, as Dr. Ferguson says in his little book, If I die before I wake, His judgment will be true. There will be no mistakes. He knows us all together. It will be righteous. It will be right. No one will be able to say, this isn't right. This is not what I deserve. It will be individual. You will be there before God yourself. His judgment will come and the righteous inherits life and the wicked eternal punishment. That's a sobering reality to think about standing before God. Blessed be God for the righteousness of Christ. Clothed in His righteousness, He will welcome us into His kingdom. So there's the appointment of every man. He's appointed to die and then the judgment. But then we come to verse 28 and we see the appointment of Christ. And I believe the parallel between the appointment of men to die and then judgment, he now makes with Christ. He also had an appointment with death, but he is the one that prepares us for judgment in his death. So notice with me the appointments of Christ. The author moves his focus away from man and onto Christ. And he points out, first of all, Christ's appointment with death. Christ was appointed to become a sin-bearer. Look at verse 28. who came not to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many. Christ came to offer Himself. Christ came to die. This perfect, sinless Son of God takes sin, our sin, upon Himself. And He sacrifices Himself in our place. And He experiences the full wrath of God. Paul tells us in Romans 8, He spared not His Son. He didn't draw back any of His wrath, but poured it all out upon His Son there on the cross. And there His Son died. in order that He might redeem a people. In order that His people might know forgiveness of sin and be drawn to God. No earthly priest was able to make that claim. This was the very reason Christ came into the world. And again, remember who this is written to. To Jewish believers. who in the midst of persecution was thinking about going back into the sacrificial system, going back to having a priest sacrifice a goat, take the blood of the goat, walk into the Holy of Holies. They were thinking about going back to all those rituals and ceremonies, and the writer here says, listen, Christ is that final sacrifice for all times so that you might know the forgiveness of sins. He becomes that once for all sacrifice wherein He places the sins of His people upon Himself. He becomes sin in our place and experiences the full wrath of God. He came into this world in order to save His people from their sins. John 10 and verse 11, I am the Good Shepherd. And the Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. Ephesians 5 and verse 25, Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. So Christ also died. It's appointed unto every man to die once. Christ also died offering Himself as a sacrifice to bear the sins of many. Then we see here, He will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly await Him. Christ has an appointment to return. To return. You see, during those days of that earthly tabernacle, the people would watch as the priest would sacrifice the animal, put the blood of the animal in a basin, walk into the holy place, and then on into the holy of holies. And as they watched the priest enter that holy of holies, they would now anticipate, they would be awaiting his reappearance. Historians tell us that there were times in which the high priest would tie bells at the bottom of their garments. so that the people could continue to hear the little bells ringing, telling them He's still alive. Because there was always a fear that the high priest would do something wrong there in the holies of holies that represented the presence of God, where God would not accept His sacrifice and He would be strut dead. And there they would wait in anticipation for the reappearance of the high priest. For when He walked out of the holies of holies, there was this, The sacrifice has been received. The sacrifice has been received and accepted. F.F. Bruce puts it this way, the Israelites who watched their high priest enter the sanctuary for them, waited expectantly for his reappearance. That was a welcome sign that he and the sacrifice which he presented had been accepted by God. His reappearance from the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. was an especially welcome sign. So now the writer of Hebrews says, we wait for our great High Priest to reappear. We're anticipating His return from the presence of God. And when He reappears, notice what it says, He will appear a second time for salvation. What does that mean? I thought He already brought salvation into the world. I believe what the writer is referring here to is the consummation, the crescendo of our salvation. In Christ now, we have been delivered From the power of sin, we have been delivered from the penalty of sin. Sin no longer reigns over us. I no longer stand as a guilty sinner before God. In Christ, I stand as a righteous man. But when Christ shall appear, Not only will the penalty of sin be removed, and the power of sin be removed, but on that day, the very presence of sin will be removed. No more sin. No more sorrow. No more death. No more disappointment. No more getting sleepy in the midst of worshiping God. No more sickness. So when the writer here says, when he appears a second time for salvation without reference to sin, sin's been dealt with. He will not reappear a second time to make atonement for sin again. That's already done. But he will reappear. And sin will be done away with and his enemies will be cast into hell. It's coming again. And though we don't know when, it says here at the end of verse 28, it's for those who eagerly await him. That word eagerly. carries the idea of an earnest expectation. It's just an anticipation. When's He coming? When's He coming? As you think back over this past week, how much thought have you given to the Lord's return? Be honest. How much thought have you given to the fact that Christ will one day come again? And we don't know when. I wish there was a way, and I haven't mastered it, but I wish there was a way I could get up every morning and say, could it be today? Is it going to be today? Sometimes we can go weeks. I say we. I don't know everybody, but I know me. We can go weeks, we can go months without giving any thought to the return of Christ. This life, this life is filled with disappointments, discouragements. I look over this past weekend and there's been so many sad things that have taken place. I won't go into all of them. But if I did, you'd feel sorry for me. But I'm not going to do that. But this life is filled with those things, pain and sorrow and death. Two o'clock this afternoon, I was at a funeral. The lady from our church who was sitting beside me at the funeral says, this is my third funeral this week. In light of all those things, we should long for His reappearance. We should be like those Jews. When is He coming? When is He coming? How much more glorious the return of Christ will be over that of the reappearance of the High Priest from the Holy of Holies. The Word of God tells us, He now appears. He appears in the presence of God as our mediator. Interceding for us, His children. He has appeared. He came to this world and willingly gave himself to doing the will of God. That's what you find out in verse chapter 10. He came and took on a body because that was the will of God. And he went to the cross because he wanted to do the will of God. And he died in our place. He now appears. He has appeared. And he will appear. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Let's pray. Father in heaven, there may be some here tonight, and the reality of death and the reality of judgment is absolutely terrifying. They don't want to think about it. They've tried to distract themselves so as to not to think about it. But Father, it's a reality. It's appointed unto every man to die once and then the judgment. Father, we thank You that it does not have to be a terrifying thought because of the work of Your Son and His willingness to offer Himself on the cross, to be the sacrifice the once for all time sacrifice for His people, so that being united to Him, we are numbered with those who in the judgment will be welcomed into the Kingdom of God. Father, how we pray that those who do not know that reality, that even now you would be working in their hearts and lives, drawing them unto Yourself. Father, Your Word tells us that Your Son's coming again. May we be a people who live with an eager anticipation of His return. We get so distracted with the things of this world. We at times become very comfortable living in this world. Father, help us to keep our eyes upon Him and eagerly await His appearing. Father, we know that we have confidence in praying, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus, because that's what your scripture teaches us. And therefore, we would cry out again, even so, come quickly. And we might see our Savior face to face. We might see the presence of sin done away with and worship you as you ought to be worshiped. Father, take your word. and use it for your glory and your honor in each one of us this evening. For we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.