which comes with benefits and challenges.
One of the challenges of being a father and a husband
is that I live with three women.
And a son.
And if you count the dog, there's four women.
And that means I have an audience for when I do right,
but I also have an audience for when I do.
It doesn't happen very often.
But it's when I do wrong.
Dads, are you with me?
Is that a challenge in your house?
I get it wrong a lot.
A lot, a lot more than I'd like to admit.
I really believe that the Lord gives us family
in some ways to keep us humble.
Because I mess up all the time and my wife and kids
sometimes let me know when I'm wrong.
I don't always get it right.
I was, I'd written this earlier in the week
and last night when I was writing my sermon,
I was reviewing my sermon for today
and I read the sentence, I don't always get it right.
And I had spelled right, W-R-I-T-E.
I misspelled the word, there's irony in that, right?
I mess up.
I don't want to except sometimes I want to.
It's complicated.
Paul put it this way, the things I don't wanna do,
sometimes I do, the sometimes the things I do,
when I do, I don't do.
Oh wretched man that I am,
who can save me from the body of this death?
And I feel that sometimes.
It's complicated and yet it's so very simple.
There's right and there's wrong and I do wrong.
I sin.
And I'm not the only one, right?
I'm here to tell you that my wife is a sinner.
And my kids are sinners.
And you're a sinner.
And your kids are sinners.
And if you're honest, it's the same in your house.
You sin too.
And it's not a very politically correct word, the word sin.
Outside of the church, you probably don't hear that word
very much.
When's the last time you heard the word sin on the news?
And not having the concept be mocked on television.
Sin affects us relationally, financially, physically.
Sin ravages cultures and nations.
I believe sin is destroying our country.
And I'm going to talk about that a little bit more next week.
I'm going to talk about the problem of sin in our country
and what the solution is.
The good news is there is a solution.
And so I want you to come back.
We're going to celebrate our freedom.
I'm excited about barbecue chicken and all the stuff you're
bringing.
That's going to be fun.
But sin is a big deal.
Sin, sin is the deal.
Sin is the problem.
In today's text, we see a solution to the problem of sin.
And it shows up three times in the text talking about the
appearances of Jesus.
You see the word appear or appeared happening three times
speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse 24 it says, for Christ is entered, later on it says,
into heaven itself, now to appear.
It says in verse 26, now once in the end of the world,
he hath appeared.
Do you see that?
And then look down at verse 28.
And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time.
Who sees those three appearance in the verses?
You see them?
24 to 28.
In these three appearance of the Lord that are mentioned in
this text, we see how the Lord Jesus Christ has dealt with the
sin question.
The great question of life is the question about sin.
What am I going to do with my sin?
What am I going to do about my sin?
How can I cope with my sins?
People really don't have but two problems in life.
You might be saying, what do you mean?
Ben, seriously, I got lots of problems.
I've got a thousand problems.
You're saying there's only two problems?
I only got two problems?
We have all kinds of problems but when you get to really down to
the root and the core of life, there are really only two
problems that you have.
It's the problem of sin.
What am I going to do with my sin?
And it's the problem of death.
How can I cope with the death of those I love and how can I face
my own inevitable death?
Those are the two problems of life.
And the good news is that Jesus has dealt with the problem of
sin.
He is dealing with the problem of sin and he will deal with the
problem of sin.
Did you catch what I said?
He has dealt with it.
He is dealing with it and he will fully and finally deal with it.
And so today I want to examine how.
And I want to do it by looking at Hebrews chapter 9 verses 24-28.
We can see how Jesus Christ dealt with our sin by understanding
the three appearance of Jesus Christ spoken about in Hebrews 9-24-28.
First we are going to see what is talked about in verse 24, which
is his present and appearing.
In his present appearing, he deals with sin's power.
Now, where is Jesus now?
Jesus is alive.
Jesus is alive right now.
He is alive.
He died on the cross.
We sang that, didn't we?
First song.
Jesus came and loved me, took my sins to Calvary.
He has made a way for me.
He died on the cross for me at the cross.
My Savior died.
Shed His blood, was crucified just for me.
He gave His life at the cross.
He died.
But then He didn't stay dead.
He rose again.
Because He lives, that's what we're saying, I can face tomorrow.
Right?
That's what it's talked about here.
We know that He lived 2,000 years ago,
that He walked on this earth, that He was born in Bethlehem,
that He was brought up in Nazareth,
that He conducted His ministry in Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem.
We know that He died outside the city gates of Jerusalem
on a hill called Calvary.
We know that He was buried in the tomb,
and we know that three days later He rose again.
So the question is, where is He now?
In verse 24, we're told.
Would you read it with me?
For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands.
Let me pause there.
We've been talking in the last few weeks
about the tabernacle and how that Jesus
enters now, not into an earthly tabernacle.
There was that earthly tabernacle
that had the holy place and the holy of holies.
And the priests in the olden days,
they would go into the holy of holies, that holy place.
And that was a representative of the real place,
a real sanctuary not made with hands.
And what the writer of Hebrews, the preacher here,
is telling us in verse 24,
Christ is an entered into the holy place is made with hands,
which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself.
That's the true sanctuary.
That's the true holy of holies.
Now to appear in the presence of God for us.
This really is a summary statement of the whole chapter.
Jesus did not go into his,
did not go in his priestly ministry
to the tabernacle or temple to execute that ministry.
He did not stay on the earth.
He went to heaven itself.
Why?
The temple and the tabernacle were a picture
of the heavenly temple, the holy dwelling place of God,
not made with hands.
Jesus is in the presence of God.
They were pictures of that true tabernacle.
The earthly ministry of the human priest
was a picture of the lasting, effective, eternal ministry,
the ministry that Jesus now does in heaven for us.
The present place of his present ministry
is now to appear in the presence of God.
And I love those last two little words, what?
For us, for us.
The point he's making is that Jesus did not appear
in the earthly tabernacle or temple.
All of that was just a figure of the true
he's in heaven itself.
I love to preach about when Jesus Christ came back to heaven.
In Psalm 24, we have a beautiful poetic description
of the Lord Jesus going back to heaven.
It says in Psalm 24, verse seven,
lift up your heads, O ye gates,
ye everlasting, and ye lift up ye everlasting doors,
and the king of glory shall come in.
Who is this king of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up,
ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in.
Who is this king of glory?
The Lord of hosts.
He is the king of glory.
Isn't that good?
When Christ ascended back to the right hand
of the Father as our living Lord
and the captain of our salvation into heaven itself,
we're back in the first verse of chapter eight.
The Bible says that he sat down at the right hand
of the throne of the majesty in the heavens.
He's appearing right up there.
In verse 24, it says that Christ is now appearing
in the presence of God.
Literally, that means face to face with God.
It's a statement of the equality of Jesus.
Jesus Christ is the man, but he's also God.
He is co-existent, co-equal with God the Father.
You know, the Bible teaches a trinity.
The Bible teaches that God is one person
yet God manifests himself in three persons.
Do I understand that?
No, I don't.
There's one God and he's three persons.
And there's a lot of things I don't understand in the Bible.
I don't understand how it is that God is God
and he's God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit.
But I know that these three are one
and that they are equal one to another.
Jesus Christ appeared at the right hand of the Father
face to face in the presence of God.
And why did he do it?
It says it right there at the end.
He does it for us.
We've already studied what he's doing
at the right hand of the God, the Father for us.
He ascended to heaven and now he's our advocate.
He ascended as our high priest.
And earthly priest in the Old Testament
represented the people to God.
We know now that the teaching of the New Testament
is that born again children of God
don't need a priest here on earth.
You don't need me to get to God.
You can get to God yourself if you're saved,
if you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you.
You don't have to come to a,
Pastor Corey is a great pastor.
I'm so thankful for him.
Pastor Miles is a great pastor.
He's doing a great job with our teenagers.
We are just dudes.
We're just guys.
God's called us to what we're doing,
but I ain't special.
I don't even speak good grammar.
I just said, ain't, right?
You don't need us to get to God.
Jesus is your advocate.
You don't need a priest.
In heaven, we have a high priest.
His name is the Lord Jesus.
He's in the presence of God face to face
with the Father for us.
What's he doing up there?
The Bible says he's praying for us.
He's interceding for us.
He's praying on our behalf.
What does this have to do with the sin problem?
Well, sin's a powerful force.
James says when it's finished,
sin when it's finished, it brings forth.
When it's finished, it brings forth death.
Paul wrote that the wages of sin is death.
Jesus deals with the power of sin and is present appearing.
The majority of us here have received the Lord Jesus
as our personal savior.
I'll show you in a minute what that did for us
in terms of our sin in our past.
But what does that do for us right now
in terms of our present battle with sin?
The present appearing of Jesus for us
before the Father deals with the matter of sin's power.
And as the present appearing right now,
he deals with sin's power.
First John 2 1 says this, if you're God's child,
you're in this verse in 1 John 2 1.
My little children, these things write unto you
that you sin not.
Provision has been made for you to not sin.
You don't have to sin.
Now we all sin.
You're never gonna stop sinning completely.
I'm not preaching that some kind of second sanctification
that some teach that like, well one day I can make it where
I can get so good, Jesus can so work in me
that I'll stop sinning.
You know what that happens?
That happens when we're absent from the body
and present with the Lord.
That's when that happens.
Who's looking forward to not sinning anymore?
That's gonna be awesome, right?
But you know what?
You can't grow in us and through us a growing and growing
and growing power over sin.
You can't be sinless, but you can sin less.
I'm glad for that.
Provision has been made and he goes on in verse one.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father,
Jesus Christ, the one who didn't sin,
he's righteous, isn't that good?
One of the reasons I know I'm saved is when I sin,
I feel bad about it.
I'm not saying to everybody that feels bad about sin
is saved, but if you sin continually,
you never have any kind of guilt, probably aren't saved.
This morning in Jeremiah 12, we were in that passage
and Jeremiah tells God, God, it seems like the wicked
are prospering and they're happy.
Won't you do something about them?
I've thought that before.
When we sin, if we're born again,
the Holy Spirit troubles our heart.
The Bible says the Holy Spirit convicts of sin.
That's one of his ministries.
The Holy Spirit starts dealing with me down in my heart
and I know I shouldn't have done what I did.
I shouldn't have said what I said.
I shouldn't have acted the way I have.
I shouldn't have blown up.
I shouldn't have lost my temper.
The Holy Spirit starts dealing with us in 1 John 1.9
where he says, if we confess our sins, he's faithful
and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us for all unrighteousness.
That's how, that Christ helps us on a daily basis
as part of how he deals with sin power.
After you're saved, you still don't have the ingredients
in your own humanity, your own flesh,
to live a victorious Christian life.
A lot of Christians think that they have to trust
Jesus Christ to save them and then they're on their own
to live the Christian life, but you don't have to do that.
Not only do you need Jesus Christ to save you,
you need Jesus Christ to give you power over your sins
on a daily basis.
The gospel saves you, but also the gospel ought
to sanctify you.
You need Jesus.
You seen that T-shirt, y'all need Jesus?
You do.
We need him.
Students, you're gonna hang out with your friends this week
or you're gonna go online this week
and you have to have God's power.
If you're gonna deal with the temptations that come
when you get out into the world, you need Jesus.
You go through rough temptations on the job guys,
you need God's power.
We're weak in our flesh.
The Bible says the spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak.
The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead
now dwells in you.
And you can ask God to give you power over sin
and he can grant it to you because Jesus is in heaven
advocating for us with the Father.
Do you get it?
In his present appearing right now,
Jesus is face to face with God,
helping us to deal with sin's power on a daily basis.
So in his present appearing, he deals with sin's power.
Number two, in his past appearing,
he dealt with sin's penalty.
In his past appearing, he dealt with sin's penalty.
In verse 24, the preacher in the text explains
that God had entered into the presence of God
and the real holy of holy is for us.
Starting in verse 25 and into 26,
the preacher, the author of Hebrews,
refers to another appearing of Jesus.
That of his appearing in the past, look at verse 25.
Nor yet that he should offer himself often
as the high priest entered into the holy place every year
with the blood of others.
So he's, again, what's the comparison?
The priest, Jesus doesn't go to an earthly tabernacle.
He's in a heavenly tabernacle appearing to God
for us right now.
He didn't go, he didn't have to go
and does not have to go, offer himself often.
Right?
He didn't offer himself for sacrifice over and over
and over and over again.
He only had to go once.
It says in the Old Testament, those earthly priests,
they had to be sacrificing all the time,
the blood of bulls and goats, the blood of sheep,
all the time, every day.
The earthly priests had to go over and over again
because the sacrifices they made
didn't fully and finally deal with sin's penalty.
Jesus' offering was of his own blood and body,
not the blood and body of another.
His offering was once for all.
So that's why it says in verse 26,
for then must he have offered himself,
have suffered since the foundation of the world.
If it had to happen all the time,
he would have had to have been crucified
from the very beginning over and over and over
and over and over again because it didn't have it fully
and finally one time, it had to happen since sin began.
His offering was once for all.
Let me be very clear with you about something.
Jesus died on the cross for everyone, for everyone.
He didn't die for just a few.
He died for everybody.
All means all, that's all it means.
Jesus died for everyone.
And it says, now once in the end of the world,
he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Because he is the only acceptable sacrifice for sin,
he had to be sacrificed only once and not repeatedly.
Here we see his past appearing.
He appeared, you see that in the verse?
In the past, why, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
If Christ was like that earthly high priest,
then he would have to go to die on the cross all the time.
But now, that's not what happened.
Now once, you see before, they did it often.
Now once, when?
In the end of the world.
Christ died 2,000 years ago,
but that wasn't the end of the world.
The phrase, the end of the world was used in many ways
in scripture and one sense of the word,
from the coming of Christ until now,
we've been living at the end of the age.
The Bible calls this time period the last days.
We're living in the last days.
We're not saying that because it's like past 2,000.
We're saying that in the way that history works,
the way that God is telling his story,
he says, Jesus says he's coming back.
I'm going to prepare a place for you.
And if I go to prepare a place for you,
I'll come again to receive you to myself
that where I am there, you may be also, right?
He's coming back.
When Christ comes at the end of the world,
he's coming at the end of the age.
He appeared to put away the sin by sacrifice himself.
That's the second appearing that these verses
are talking about, but it's a past appearing, verse 27.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this, the judgment. Now, he's comparing
the death of Jesus to how we deal with death.
The Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die,
but after this, the judgment.
And that kills reincarnation, doesn't it?
You die once, just one time.
Eastern thought teaches that life is a cycle.
Everything goes around in circles.
The Bible teaches that life is linear,
that it's moving forward, that it's going somewhere,
that it has a destiny, that it has an aim,
that it has a purpose, who's glad for that?
There is meaning to this life.
Life's not meaningless.
Some folks think you just keep recycling.
You come once around, you die, you come back again,
but this verse of scripture says you die once.
It's appointed unto man once to die.
One of the things that's really kind of concerning about
that verse is that word appointed.
It's an appointment you keep.
You can't like, oh, I'm gonna call in sick that day.
You may be sick, but you'll keep that appointment.
No, it's appointed unto man once to die.
What are you gonna do about when it comes to die?
This is the subject that when I bring it up,
everyone does what you guys are doing right now.
Screaming.
We preachers are good at going for awkward topics.
What are you gonna do about your death?
You're going to die.
It's appointed unto man once to die.
And I've been at two different kinds of funerals.
I've been at funerals of people that knew what was gonna happen
to them when they die.
And who had a confidence in the people that knew what was
gonna happen to them when they met that appointment.
And those funerals, although there's some grief,
they're like celebrations.
You really can't laugh at a funeral and it's okay.
I've done it at funerals of people I love
because I know that out of all the people in the room,
they're the one having the best day because they're
with Jesus in heaven.
They can meet that appointment and you have to worry about it.
But I've been to those other funerals too
where all you can do is hope that because they lived in a
country that had a lot of gospel, maybe they heard it
and responded to it and we didn't know.
That's a tough one.
What are you gonna do about your death?
It's a pointer and a man wants to die
and after this the judgment.
He says in verse 26,
once in the end of the world he has appeared to put away sin.
The words put away means to abolish or to put aside sin
by the sacrifice of himself.
And just like it's appointed once for men to die
and after this to judgment, verse 28,
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 under salvation.
To bear the sins of many means to take up
and carry away the sins.
Now he's talking about the penalty of sin.
The Bible says the wages of sin is death.
That's a penalty we all owe.
But 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ died on the cross,
he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
2,000 years ago Christ bore the sin of many
on that old cross.
First John 3.5 says,
and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins
and in him is no sin.
In the first chapter of John's gospel
when the Lord Jesus Christ came down
to the river of Jordan and John the Baptist saw him coming,
John the Baptist said,
behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world.
As a lost sinner that burden and that weight
and that guilt, the penalty of sin,
if you don't know Jesus Christ as your savior
that penalty is on you.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3,
he that does not believe is condemned already.
But when Jesus Christ went to Calvary's cross
he took that load of sin and lifted it up
and boarded on his own body on the tree.
In his past appearing, he put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself.
He dealt with the penalty of sin.
Your sin debt has been paid in full once for all.
That's why those religious groups
who teach a system where the death of Christ is repeated,
they've totally missed the teachings of the New Testament.
To teach that Christ that when you give a wafer
or you give a juice that's the actual body
and blood of Jesus is to make Jesus die every week.
Do you get what I'm talking about?
He didn't have to die every week, he died once
for all of our sin.
To teach that every time people take the bread and wine
that literally becomes the body and blood of Jesus
is as contradicting exactly these verses we're teaching.
Christ Jesus has not continually sacrificed.
He made one sacrifice once for all forever.
His body was once nailed to the cross,
never to be repeated again.
His blood was once shed on the cross,
never to be repeated again.
His past appearing was to deal with sin's penalty
and his presence, present appearing, he's in heaven.
For us, helping us deal with sin's power.
In his past, he helped us deal with sin's penalty.
Number three, his future appearing.
He deals with sin's presence.
Look at verse 28.
And unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time.
Who's looking for Jesus?
Yeah, he's coming back.
And when he comes, he's coming without sin.
And look at those two little words, unto salvation.
That's kind of weird.
You're like, Ben, I thought that I already was saved.
You are, you're saved.
If you know Christ is your savior,
if you've put your trust in Jesus Christ
for the payment of your sins
because of what he done on the cross, you're saved.
You're already saved.
You're saved.
If you have done that, you're being saved.
Isn't that cool?
Right now, you're being saved.
But here, what he tells us is one day we will be saved.
Unto salvation means you're going to be saved.
It's both.
You were saved and you're going to be saved.
In fact, if you want to just get just thoroughly, biblically
about it, it's biblically correct to say,
I have been saved.
I am being saved and I shall be saved.
I have been saved from sin's penalty.
He appeared once at the end of the world
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Day to day, I'm being saved by from sin's power.
He appears now in the presence of God for us.
He has given us his Holy Spirit to deal with sin.
One of these days when Jesus comes back the second time
without sin unto salvation, I shall be saved
from sin's very presence.
Saved to sin no more.
Won't that be awesome?
One day we're going to get taken out of here.
We won't sin anymore.
Let me conclude this way.
Every year, the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies.
Before he would go in, he would take off that beautiful garment,
the High Priest would war with all the colors
and the breastplate with all the stones.
On that robe that he wore around the fringes,
there were pomegranates and bells all the way about the bottom.
When the High Priest was walking around in the tabernacle
and in the temple carrying on their duties,
you could hear those things clanging and tinkling.
But on the day of Atonement,
when he got ready to go into the Holy of Holies,
he would lay aside that robe and it would get really quiet.
People on the outside were quiet.
They knew that when he was going into the Holy of Holies
with the blood of the lamb,
if he made any mistake,
the Bible promised that he would be a dead man.
I've heard so many say,
I believe it to be true,
that they would tie a rope around the leg of the High Priest
so that if he did make a mistake
and he died in that Holy of Holies,
no one would have to go in there
and face the potential of being killed themselves.
They would pull him out.
Whenever the Old Head Testament High Priest entered
into the Holy of Holies on the day of Atonement,
the people waited with eager anticipation for his return
so they could know that the sacrifices
that he had offered were acceptable to God.
They would be listening.
And if everything had been done correctly,
he would put those robes on and before they saw him,
they would hear the tinkling of the bells.
He would come out and the people would shout
because the sacrifice had been accepted.
One of these days,
we're gonna hear a shout from heaven.
Paul wrote that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout
with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God.
It's not the tinkling of the bells,
it's the sound of a trumpet that we're listening for.
When that happens,
verse 28 says unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time without sin unto salvation.
Likewise, we who believe in Jesus Christ eagerly wait
for his return from the heavenly Holy of Holies.
And when he comes for us, our redemption is fully accomplished.
This is what the Bible calls a blessed hope.
You say, Pastor Van, you believe Jesus is coming back?
With all my heart.
There were hundreds of prophecies
about Jesus' first appearing and he fulfilled them all.
Every single one.
If you don't believe me, let's talk.
I'll show you.
He's promised to come again.
And there's all kinds of prophecies about that second coming.
And right now I know I'm saved
because God sent His Holy Spirit inside of me
and I know the penalty of sin was paid for by Jesus
when he came 2,000 years ago and died on the cross for my sin.
I know that the penalty of sin I'll never have to face.
There is now therefore no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus.
I don't have any condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
I don't have to worry about it.
I have to worry about hell.
I don't.
Not because I'm a good person, because he was a good person
and he is a good person.
So I know my penalty is dealt with
and right now I'm fighting sin.
Anybody like me?
We're fighting sin and sometimes it's hard.
But I know God's growing me.
I know He is.
I know He is, the things that used to thrill me, now disgust me.
I'm growing in Him.
I know some of you are too.
I'm watching it happen in your lives.
Things that you used to love, now you hate them.
The things that you used to not even know existed, now you have an affection for those things.
You have a love for things that you never thought was old and boring and dusty and stuffy.
Now you can't wait to get into it, because God's growing you
and He's helping you with sin right now.
And I want to give you the good news that He didn't leave us here
without giving us that promise.
He's coming back to receive us unto Himself that where we are,
He will be also and where He is, there's no sin.
There's no death. There's no tears.
There's no pain.
There's no cancer.
There's no corrupt politicians.
There's none of that stuff will be saved, not only from the penalty of sin and the power of sin,
will be saved from the very presence of sin,
because Jesus Christ, our great high priest, is going to appear.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me?