 Tonight we're in chapter 9 here in the book of Hebrews. We're going to be looking at verses 16 through 28 So let me read to you beginning at verse 16 read to verse 28 And we'll get into our study Hebrews chapter 9 beginning at verse 16 The writer writes there for where there is a testament There must also of necessity be the death of the testator For a testament is in force after men are dead since it is since it has no power at all while the testator lives therefore Not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law He took the blood of calves and goats with water Scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people saying This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you then likewise He sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry and According to the law almost all things are purged with blood and without shedding of blood. There's no remission Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands which are copies of the true but into heaven itself Now to appear in the presence of God for us Not that he should offer himself often as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood of another He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world, but now Once at the end of the ages. He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and As it is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many to those who eagerly wait for him He will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation And so Jesus Christ is the one who comes to give to us a better covenant based on better promises and Jesus as a high priest has made the perfect sacrifice Jesus made the perfect sacrifice When he gave himself up for us the Bible tells us that God so loved the world That he gave his only begotten son that whosoever should believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life And so as we look at the New Testament the New Testament conveys to us the Understanding that the promises of God in Jesus Christ are yes and amen all things are fulfilled by him And so you have in the Old Testament a picture of sacrifice The daily offerings that would be made and then that great sacrifice young kapoor the day of atonement That would be made and in the daily sacrifice and yearly sacrifice You have a remembrance of sins your conscience is never cleansed because in the continuation of the offerings There is also a reminder of the fact that you aren't right before God But God did something in the New Testament and what he did was he sent his son Jesus Christ and In Jesus is coming for us to rescue us to lay his life down for us Jesus Christ demonstrates the great love of God for us and how far God was willing to go in order to redeem us I was reading a story that is purportedly a true story that spoke to my heart concerning a Naval SEAL team that was dispatched to do a rescue mission There were certain hostages that had been held as hostages for some time And they had discovered the location and sent a team in order to rescue them And so they got into the compound where these prisoners were being held and As as is the way they do things they burst into the the room where the prisoners were being held But as they burst into the room all the noise and all of the confusion All the sounds and smells that were occurring at that time had caused the prisoners to be exceedingly terrorized And so when the team got into the room there they searched the room for the people and there they were They were all huddled together in a corner and so the naval team yelled out to them were Americans We've come to rescue you come and follow us. They wouldn't move They just remained paralyzed they're in fear and they stayed that way for some time and because time is of the essence They didn't know what to do because there were too many people being held hostage For the small extraction team to be able to take them out to carry them out Individually these people had to get up on their feet and they had to follow them out And even though they yelled out we are Americans. We've come to rescue you come with us Follow us. They wouldn't follow them. And so one of the team members there got an idea and he removed his helmet And when he removed his helmet he actually went and crawled up next to this this group of people that were huddled in fear Their eyes being closed and he huddled next to him for a moment and as he was there next to them He made contact with them even reached over and began to just soothe And as he did so one of the people who were being held hostage opened their eyes And when he opened his eyes The man looks at him the the seal member looks at him and he says we're Americans We've come to rescue you follow us And the seal commander stood to his feet and when he did so the person he spoke to Stood to his feet also and then all of them stood to their feet and followed him out And they were able to rescue them took him to an aircraft carrier and brought him home And what I found interesting about that was the picture obviously that we have of jesus christ That we are huddled in a corner afraid We've been terrorized and and misused abused by this world But jesus came and said i've come to rescue you and when he came into the room to rescue us because We weren't expecting him in that way. We became afraid We were already afraid and the noise and confusion of of our lives kept us in in a corner huddled But jesus actually got down next to us You embraced us spoke to us in a language that we could understand And he brought us to a place of being rescued. That's what jesus christ did When you have in the old testament pictures of the law and the covenants You have all of the various offerings the sacrifices that were being made and all those things are all partial They were not complete But jesus christ has come in order that he might completely save us remember in verse 12 Out here in chapter 9 of hebrews That the writer said not with the blood of goats and calves But with his own blood he entered the most holy place once for all having obtained eternal redemption While he was pointing out that jesus's blood is superior to the blood of sacrificial animals those that he refers to as goats and calves Peter tells us in first peter chapter 1 verses 18 and 19 You were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold From your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers But with the precious blood of christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot And so jesus's blood is more capable of cleansing And jesus's blood actually brings the desired result, which is the cleansing of our conscience You see animals could have an exterior physical appearance of perfection But jesus is perfect spiritually Morally in every in every way and the blood of christ is more effective because it actually cleanses your conscience from dead works Your conscience can be clean Through jesus christ There are so many people that that Have such guilty consciences because of the things they've done in the past they can hardly live with themselves Though it's interesting to me to note that there are some who don't have guilt at all It appears that they have no conscience whatsoever Their conscience though may excuse them But in reality because they have sinned against god Though they may have a conscience that to them is clean in reality before god it is still impure It is still dirty the fact is we all need to be cleansed We all need our conscience is cleansed by the lord jesus christ I mentioned this to you before but you know that old saying well you christians are brainwashed and the answer is absolutely My brains were dirty and I needed to be washed by the blood of jesus christ And so that's what happens is the lord jesus christ cleanses us in a perfect way And now our conscience is clean before the lord jesus christ And so according to verse 15 jesus is the mediator of a new covenant by means of death So in the old testament a person who was in need of salvation And uh in needed to be cleansed uh would be cleansed by faith in the one who was to come We in the new testament period are cleansed by the one who has already come the old testament was looking forward to jesus The new testament we look back to the things that he has done the old testament saints in other words were saved if you will on credit So for us we know that salvation is an accomplished act In the book of acts in chapter 16, there's an interesting story there concerning the apostle paul and and one of his traveling companions Man by the name of silas They entered into the city called philipi and while they were there they began to minister While there was a young woman who was following them around she was a person who was a Diviner she would prophesy under the influence of an evil spirit and she continued to follow them around for some time And as this young woman would follow them around she was saying something like These are are you know men come from god and they're going to show you the way of salvation and and after she did that for several days Bible says that paul became greatly annoyed and he turned and he cast the demon out of this woman Well, that wasn't something that everybody appreciated because she actually had brought revenue to an individual and he was upset because he lost the source of income So as a result of that he made accusation against paul and silas and ultimately were taken they were imprisoned and they were beaten As they were there in this philipian Prison there in this jail cell and after they've been beaten and as they've been treated in the way that they had Yet the scripture says at midnight they began to sing praises unto the lord and god actually enacted a release and escape for them And so he released all the prisoners and he took their the the the cell doors and opened them up And and so the philipian jailer who was there in charge of making sure the prisoners Were uh, not able to escape when he saw the doors were open got exceptionally afraid and he actually took out his weapon It was about to kill himself But the apostle paul said do yourself no harm And when he began to speak to this man the man asked him a question the man said him and to silas sirs What must I do to be saved? And the answer came from paul believe in the lord jesus christ and you shall be saved you and your household And so the promise of salvation comes to a belief in the lord jesus christ That's how we're saved and we are saved by looking back at the cross How that jesus fulfilled all of god's righteous requirements found in the law of moses and when he died on that cross He took upon himself our sin our penalty and in doing so we by faith are saved and justified in relationship to him and with god And so that's what we're looking at tonight as we move into verse 16 because he continues here and he says Where there is a testament there there must also of necessity Be the death of the testator for a testament is enforced after men are dead Since it has no power at all while the testator lives if a man has a will The will does not become effective until the person who drew up the will dies That's when it becomes effective. And so I have a living trust And so, you know, it's not effective to my kids. My kids can't begin to spend the money that they didn't earn yet They're going to be spending that after their father dies actually after their mom dies because Anything I have goes to marie and then she's going to party it up. Anyway But anything that's left over from her is going to go to the kids That's how wills and living trusts work It they become effective after the person who drew it up Actually dies and so that's what he's referring to here when he says in verse 16 where there is a testament There must also be of necessity be the death of the testator the one who drew up that will So provisions of a normal will are enforced when that person dies in verse 18 therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood For when moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law He took the blood of calves and goats with water scarlet wool and hyssop And sprinkled both the book itself and all the people saying this is the blood of the covenant Which god has commanded to you now you find that in exodus chapter 24 God has given the law to moses moses has been there on mount sinai And as god has given to him the the 10 words the decalogue the 10 commandments as god has given him those words moses is about to give those words to the people and as as as god has done this work moses is there at that mountain And as he begins to share with the people what god has said according to exodus 24 3 The bible says after moses gave god's commands israel responded All the words which the lord has said We will do and so there was an agreement an agreement that the people of israel made they had stated Whatever god says is fine with me. I will do everything that he has he has said and so after he has done that On the next morning. He erected an altar He also had 12 pillars and there he began to offer bird offerings and peace offerings And he collected the blood from these sacrifices According to exodus 24 6 moses took half the blood and he put it in basins And the other half he sprinkled on the altar and next he begins to read to them From the book in which were written the terms of the covenant and again The people stated that they would accept its obligations at that point moses took the remaining blood And he sprinkled it on the people and in doing so instituted the covenant in exodus 24 8 It says moses took the blood sprinkled it on the people and said this is the blood of the covenant That the lord has made with you in accordance with all these words And so the lord actually symbolically is covering them on the old testament the blood is a temporary It's a picture of covering, but it's not completing. It's not perfect. That doesn't occur until jesus christ dies Now he goes on and he says in verse 21 Likewise, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry And so after the tabernacle has been built later on in the history of israel Once again the tabernacle is consecrated to god according to exodus 29 12 God said take some of the bull's blood put it on the horns of the altar with your finger Pour out the rest at the base of the altar And so he's just pointing out that that the people the law and the utensils the tabernacle everything Is basically covered by blood So in verse 22 according to the law almost all things are purged with blood and without the shedding of blood There's no remission without the shedding of blood. There's no remission The purpose of the blood is to symbolize sacrifice for sin which results in cleansing Because without the shedding of blood, there's no remission According to leviticus chapter 17 verse 11 the life of a creatures in the blood I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar It is the blood that makes atonement for one's life You see the bible tells us in romans chapter 6 verse 23 that the wages of sin or the penalty of sin is death And therefore nothing less than death symbolized by the shedding of blood can atone for sin The bottom line is is forgiveness is costly Forgiveness is costly Now it's about 24 years old Half you know many years ago now And I was 24 years old I was talking to one of my professors at biola and um I had become disillusioned with christianity. I'd become disillusioned with the christian life It's kind of odd because I was teaching bible studies at the time going to bible college at that time I actually had as a life's desire to be a pastor someday And I thought that by going to biola that would be something that and it was Something that the lord would use to put me in a position of one day serving Him as I am today, but I had gone through a time of disillusionment a season of disillusionment And I was speaking to my professor and I remember speaking to him And saying that I was having a difficult time And he's something to me that I've never forgotten all these years later I still remember what he said to me as we were speaking and he was sharing with me concerning the fact That forgiveness is costly And he said to me and david he says you know after all You need to learn to forgive is what he said and and uh after all he said God has forgiven you god has forgiven you And I remember looking at him saying he has to that's his job My attitude at that time was it was easy for god to forgive and you want to know something I suspect that there are people today who still have that kind of attitude That it was easy for god to forgive It was easy for him to do that You know, it's no secret that I love my children. It's no secret. I'm a family man. That's the truth and I thank god for it And there's no secret that I love my grandson Josiah with every bit of my heart That's the truth and everybody who knows me knows that for sure And as I hold him even as I did the day after service in before services this morning He came into the office to see grandpa And it's kind of funny that nobody knows us. Of course, unless you're standing there But after third service when I walk and I say god bless you I'll see you tonight And I walk through that door there and I go into the back and I go into my office As I started to walk into my office I open the door up and standing right there at the door as my grandson Just standing there puts his arms up the minute I open the door, you know grandpa papa He didn't come to grandpa papa and he jumps into my arms And then for the next until you know I deliver him to his mama to take home to get you know to take him home to feed him or whatever He's in my arms basically and he's three years old, you know, he's not an infant anymore He's growing up and yet I have to tell you, you know I'll carry him around and I'll hold him and I'll set him on my lap And he puts his head on my shoulder and if you try to take him out of my arms He puts his arms down like this so that you can't reach him I put my arms around him He even puts his hands out to his grandmother whom he calls mama to Marie and puts and says no, you know You he said this you can go away. I just want papa and that's what he does And so naturally, you know, he's he's a very wise kid, you know, and He's made some good choices, but you know You know, he is my heart in in every way. This is the way my kids are And and you know, I I know this may be a little a little melodramatic to some in this room And perhaps you might not even believe this to be true though it is I on time on many times the Lord has spoken to my heart about his love for me And he has done that through my children and he has done that now through my grandson And and it's very simple. It's just as I hold and as I and I and I kiss him and and I'll just embrace and just And I really do just hold on to him as if he's just a baby still as I hold him like that in my arms There have been times the Lord says, do you know how deeply you love this little boy? Could you imagine giving him up not just for people Who whom you may love But giving him up for those who who hate him who would never want anything to do with him And and I actually think that way and I think of course not I couldn't in a moment ever for a moment conceive of yielding one of the my children's lives up for For people who who would not appreciate Or people who who would even hate and yet that's what god did and he illustrates that to me He illustrates that through through the love that he has given to me for for my wife And for my children and for my grandson and and so no it wasn't easy It wasn't easy for god to just yield jesus up He yielded up his son and jesus shed his blood for us and salvation is costly His sin is horrible and god hates it and it separates man from god and there's an eternal penalty because of it And and that eternal penalty is separation for eternity in a place called hell And god in order to rescue us from that place paid a price that is exquisite Is a price that is beyond anything we can imagine it was the life of his own son And that's the point that he's making That he's pointing out that the lord god gave his son in order that jesus christ might die on the cross to save us Because forgiveness is costly he says in verse 23 therefore it was It was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these for christ has not entered the holy places made with hands Which are copies of the true but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of god for us Not that he should offer himself often as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood of another He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world But now once at the end of the ages he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself So notice what he's saying He's making it very clear that christ has has not entered the holy places made with hands Which are only copies of the true in other words is in the actual presence of god If the question is asked where is jesus while the bible's answer would be he's in the presence of god He's in the actual presence not in an earthly tabernacle, which was only a copy When jesus was speaking on one occasion, he said i came forth from the father and am come into the world Again, he said i leave the world and go unto the father So jesus christ there seated at the right hand of his father in first peter 3 22 the bible says jesus has gone into heaven And is on the right hand of god angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him In hebrus we read in chapter 7 verse 25 He is able to save them to the uttermost who come to god by him Seeing that he ever lives to make intercession for them So the lord jesus christ is before his father in the presence of god on our behalf Jesus christ is our defense attorney pleaded our cause before the lord Jesus our defense attorney is pleading our cause because we haven't we have somebody who is our opponent And his name is satan and satan will make a statements Concerning us and to be honest with you many times the statements that satan would make concern in us are true He could you know in a picture he could say to god there's there's david He's claiming to be a pastor, but look he's not very kind at all Look at how he just spoke to his wife or look at the attitude that he has or watch the way that he really is And and and he could point my faults out before god the father very easily Because the scripture says he accuses the brother in both night and day And that's what he is. He's the accuser. He does the same for you too None of us in this room though. We may be deceived into thinking we're perfect. None of us are There's you know, there's a doctrine today called sinless perfectionism. It's been around for a long time It's been part of the holiness movement. It's been part of the church of god And it's part of uh of the westland theology I mean it's been around for a couple hundred years where you can actually be sinless and perfect At least in your mentality you are and and what happens is people begin to think that they are sinless And they aren't perfect in in actual practice when in reality what we are we've been made cleansed by the blood of jesus before god And we are there in that position positionally. We are cleansed actually. We're going through cleansing Because positionally before god I right now stand in the righteousness of christ But in actuality I live a life that's still uh, I still fall short of the glory of god And so the enemy could point and say look at this person here. He's he's not what he appears to be He's he's not he's not a hundred percent perfect and and and that's the truth But you see he's accusing me, but I have somebody who defends me jesus christ And so jesus stands before the father and says that one belongs to me that one is washed by my blood And he's there before the lord making intercession on my behalf And so that happened when he died on the cross when he was buried resurrected ascended and he's now They're seated at the right hand of god and that's the point that's being made He's not in a copy. He is in the real and and he is appearing before the presence of god for us In verse 25 not that he should offer himself often as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood of another He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world But now once at the end of the ages he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself He's in heaven it demonstrates that sin has been dealt with forever And jesus fulfilled the entire ritual of the day of atonement and his death on the cross since since Sin has been a problem since adam and eve So if jesus's offering was not completely satisfying then out of necessity he'd have to be sacrificed often But the fact is jesus's death on that cross was a perfect offering one time for all time And so all god had to do is send his son one time jesus died one time And that sacrifice is something that has been for us for all time When he says in verse 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world But now once at the end of the ages he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself The end of the ages is the consummation of the ages and that occurred on calvary Because calvary is the focus of redemptive history and notice in verse 26 he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself Who killed jesus christ? Sometimes in the history of the church Those who have called themselves christian have blamed jewish people And they have said the jews killed christ Others would say oh wait a minute. He died under roman law Though he was accused by the jewish nation Yet it was a romans who put him to death on the cross therefore the romans But what you have there is you have jew and you have gentile and you have equal guilt before god Meaning that we put jesus on that cross jesus didn't die for his own sin because jesus never sin jesus died on behalf of sinners And what he did is he took our place So jesus put an end to sin By the sacrifice of himself The debt is completely paid over when jesus died on the cross There are in the new testament gospels There are recorded at the end of the gospels what are called the seven last sains of jesus christ And when you read some of the comments that he made You know You will see that one of the comments he made or one of the statements he made Was simply It is finished When jesus christ said it is finished he actually was using a word that people would understand By by the statement paid in fall There are those unfortunately who say that salvation was won in hell And there are some there are some who have picked up a fictitious story that jesus christ went to hell and And that he was being tortured by satan and Because there was some kind of loophole in the covenant satan didn't understand that jesus actually fully redeemed us in hell And then came out victorious, but the bible doesn't teach that The bible teaches that when jesus was on the cross that he said It is finished when he said it is finished. It is paid in fall Now i'm somebody who on occasion has bills. I don't like bills I try to pay cash for everything that I get I know I have I couldn't pay cash for my house I couldn't can't pay cash for a car. So I make payments on them But mostly normally I try to just pay cash for whatever it is that I buy because I just don't like paying interest on things I'm just not one who likes to pay long term and give people a whole lot of money And so over time, you know as you're paying though and I've done it on occasion What you end up getting is a statement and the state will come to you and it'll basically say paid in fall You know, I'm not one of these who will say well, I've been paying $50 a month for so long I'll just keep sending them $50 I'm somebody who will take the paid in full statement and I rejoice over it. I dance over it It's paid in full it belongs to me and then it normally breaks right after that But anyway, it says paid in full on that Well, salvation is something that is paid in fall when jesus christ died on the cross He paid in full my debt And so I can't add to that See the works of righteousness that I perform cannot in any way shape or form help me to be saved I can try all day long to be good, but the bible says there's none good No, not one the only sacrifice that god is willing to accept is a perfect one and not a single person That's ever lived outside of jesus christ can make a perfect sacrifice Every sacrifice that i've ever done before i was a christian everything i've ever done when i've said Well, this is for god was really tainted with self-interest because i was trying to somehow get into his favor By doing something perhaps praying or maybe a good deed or whatever that is But when i got saved i got saved because i came to realize something I got saved because i heard the gospel and the gospel said that my debt is paid in full by jesus christ So it's not by works of righteousness which i have done but according to his mercy He saved me by the washing of regeneration the renewing of the holy spirit And i think that's where a lot of people have their problems because before they come to christ They may really desire to know god so they do incredible things They you know just recently there were multiple millions of hindus who were by the ganges river And they camped out all night so that they could step into the waters of the river that they call a goddess So that they might step into that river and that the waters of the ganges might Might wash their flesh so that they might walk away believing that their path to reincarnation has been has been guaranteed And that's a sad reality when we as believers know That god has already accomplished that for us through jesus christ So somebody walks up to an evangelist this evangelist had recently been doing some ministry in his town and The young man approaches the evangelist and says to him What can i do to be saved? And as the evangelist was about to climb in his car to drive out of town the the series of revivals being finished The evangelist turns to the young man and he says i'm sorry son. You're too late And the boy looks at him and he says i'm too late He says you're too late Because there's nothing you can do to be saved It's already been done for you It's been done been done through jesus christ And what you need to do Is simply believe him There's an interesting passage. It's just a couple scriptures. It's found in the gospel of john in chapter six But it's interesting to me because In john chapter six jesus has done an amazing thing. He has fed a multitude of people several thousand He has taken some bread and some fish and he's multiplied the loaves of bread and the fish To the extent that he is able to to serve many thousands of people With just a few articles and and it's such an incredible thing that the people began to just be amazed by that and and they they want to follow him and and and and they and they do and so in In john chapter six verse 25 The bible says that jesus after he had gotten into a boat and went to capernaum It says when they found him on the other side of the sea They said to him rabbi When did you come here Jesus answered them and said most assuredly i say to you you seek me not because you saw the signs But because you ate the loaves and were filled Do not labor for the food which which perishes But for the food which endures to everlasting life Which the son of man will give you Because god the father has set his seal on him God will give you eternal life in the way that jesus took the bread and the fish multiplied and gave it to the people Who had no resources to be able to purchase it or to care for themselves The reason jesus christ multiplied the fish and the loaves is because his disciples had said you need to send them back because They're you know, we don't have the resources and jesus was concerned because they may have fainted along the way They were hungry So he decided that that his disciples needed to learn ministry 101 to minister to these people and jesus took in a Miraculous way multiplied this young boy's lunch to the feeding of many, but he says you didn't get the point You don't understand so the reason you're here seeking me out is because i fed a physical hunger that you have I was able to provide for you But i'm telling you don't labor for the food which perishes You could have a great meal a wonderful meal, but ultimately the meal is over the minute you finish consuming it It's done. He says don't labor for those things. Why because they don't satisfy If a meal could really satisfy all we'd need to do is eat one time we'd be satisfied for a lifetime But he says that's not going to work What you have to do is you need to have that which which gives everlasting life And by the way he said the son of man will give you this Because god the father has set his seal on him and the way that i was able to feed with the The bread and the fish even so i can meet your spiritual hunger, but they go on to say in verse 28 of john 6 they said to him What shall we do? That we may work the works of god And then he gave the answer This is the work of god That you believe in him whom he sent You want to do something believe me You want to do something to receive life you want to do something that will satisfy you You want to have something that will satisfy your spiritual hunger and desires Believe in me the word believe means more than just a mental ascent to some facts The word believe means to cling to to adhere to hold fast to me Trust in me rely on me have full confidence in me But everything that you have and believe Towards me and you'll have eternal life the thing that you need is to trust me Because jesus would say he's already taking care of the sin Debt when he died on the cross for us And that's what the scriptures telling us here He would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world But now once at the end of the ages he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself Because sin is costly it cost when jesus died on the cross in verse 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment So christ was offered once to bear the sins of many to those who eagerly await him He will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation The christian belief is not one of multiple opportunities The christian faith is an acknowledgement a reality of the fact that i have one life to live and therefore Either i give my life to jesus christ and enter into eternity through faith in him into the presence of god Or i reject him, but i don't get a second and i don't get a third chance I mean there are those who believe in reincarnation They believe in multiple births and all as they move themselves up to nirvana or some state of bliss But uh from my perspective one i wouldn't want to come back a second time would you Would you want to come back again one time's enough for me to be honest with you one time's enough You know so i don't feel like coming back again and and then what if i came back as a worm I mean to think about it for a minute. I mean that's probably not the most you know You know hope filled thing that you can have that i might come back as a worm or a cow I mean i'm not quite sure that i'd like to do that I think one time is enough but the bible teaches that the bible teaches that that there is no such thing as reincarnation The bible says it is appointed and to meant to die once and after this judgment one time You don't have a second opportunity. You don't get a new chance There is no temporary place in between death and entering into eternity called purgatory Where your sins are purged your sins have been purged by the blood of jesus christ while still alive on earth And so we receive christ as lord and savior and the blood of jesus christ cleanses us from all sin That's how it works And so the bible is very clear when it says it is appointed unto a man to die But one time now interestingly enough There have been exceptions to that You have in the old testament a man by the name of inoc who walked with god and was not for god took him And and you see that elijah was taken in a fiery chariot into heaven But the standard is it is appointed unto men to die once And then you stand before god in what is called the judgment And as you stand before god as a christian i stand before him At what is called the bema seat of christ the reward seat where jesus issues rewards for service done As unto him so i stand before him to receive from him as a believer And as i stand before him i'm going to receive from him a reward for the things that i've done Turn with me for just a moment to first carinthians i want to show you something in chapter three first carinthians chapter three And let me illustrate this through scripture A believer stands before the lord jesus christ to receive reward And in first carinthians chapter three verse 11 Following Paul said no other foundation can anyone lay Then that which is laid which is jesus christ Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold silver precious stones wood hay straw Each one's work will become manifest for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire And the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is If anyone's work which he has built on it endures He will receive a reward if anyone's work is burned He will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved yet. So as through fire And so it's a picture of the works that i've done And as i've done these works it's like a pile and the lord's judgment like fire is going to incinerate Those things that have been done in the flesh Even good things that i've done that i thought were great You know giving money to the poor or helping some neighbor out in distress or If that was done with a fleshly desire then the bible makes it very clear that i have no reward for that Jesus spoke about that when he said some people stand on street corners and they and they pray out loud Well, they receive the reward some people give certain things to people they give alms to the poor and the recognition from other people That's the reward and some people will fast and it will even disfigure their faces to appear to man to be fast And he says i tell you from man they receive the reward You can do religious things like giving and and and serving and and fasting you can do those things But if they're done with the wrong intent then their wood hay and their stubble they're burning up when god reviews them Then there are the other things the things that are done simply out of pure love for jesus christ Because i love them and i serve them with all of my heart And those are the rewards that you receive those are the things that endure Some people are going to enter into heaven. This is true But they're going to be smoking as they arrive We've all seen wily coyote And they're going to be people like that standing in heaven i promise you i was i used to work at a place long time ago now That had blast furnaces i think i've shared this with you before some of you have heard this but they had these small blast furnaces they were actually pressurized containers And so you they were heavy metal lids to them and and there was a long a long shoot and One of the men who worked there Would light these furnaces up and he had a long rod and at the end of the rod would be a match And the match would be used to ignite the gas so that this gas fueled Furnace could be ignited and and i remember on one occasion as he was standing next to One of these furnaces this big furnace as he was standing there and as he had Turned the gas on somebody came and spoke to him and as they spoke to him He just stood there for you know for about a minute And he's got the he's got the thing and he lights it and then he slides this down the tube Well, the gas had built up and it exploded and when the when the the gas exploded it actually knocked the door Right off the off the furnace and it if it didn't have these safety measures It would have killed it it exploded and when it exploded all of the the flames escaped from it And he was standing there now it was like a starter's pistol for me to be honest with you and that thing went off I was out the door. I mean I was gone But I remembered turning and looking into the room at this man Who was still standing at the furnace and his hair had caught on fire and there was smoke all over the room That's how some people are going to enter into heaven We made it, you know I don't want to come in that way I don't want that to be the way I stand before the lord the works that I perform Are going to be judged by god some people's works as they do they receive the rewards other people may be relying on their good works But there's no work a human being can do That is equal to the one work that god has already done And that is in the giving of a perfect sacrifice his son jesus christ And so back in hebrus and concluding it is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment I mean these people who are freezing their bodies You know they freeze them in hopes that sometime that they'll be defrosted and come back to life That's a sad thing because you're more than the flesh the soul is already departed And the bible makes it clear that it is appointed to die once after this the judgment and you stand before god So he says in verse 28 christ was offered once Even as I die once christ was offered once To bear the sins of many and to those who eagerly wait for him He will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation That speaks of the second coming and I want you to notice he speaks concerning those who eagerly wait for him eagerly wait for him You know that phrase Come quickly lord jesus That anticipation of being with him The way that a young bride Who truly loves the man she's going to marry Looks forward to her wedding day Looks forward to that day I had an opportunity just today to speak to a young couple in our church who have set their date And they wanted to talk to me a little bit about it and all and uh And I've known this little girl. She's a woman Since she was a baby Since she was less than about a year old I'd say And um She and I were talking and she happens to be very dear to me And as we were talking I said to her she said, you know, well, we want you to to marry us and I said, I'm sorry. I'm already married but I I'll perform your ceremony if that's what you'd like And as we were talking I looked at her and I said, you know, honey I said I have to tell you you know, you're like my daughter And you know that at your wedding, you know, I'm going to cry And she says, oh, I already know that let's go ahead I said, I will you know, and as I look at that I I can see that she is already in her victim I mean her fiance You know, he's uh, they're looking forward Already to that day and many many girls Throughout their life Begin to plan out their weddings even when they're just little girls They already begin to think who they want to be With them in their wedding who's a made of honor who are going to be the the girls who Where the ugliest dresses I've ever seen You know, they they begin to think of those things and they plan it out I want to have these colors. I want to get married in this location And everything is built around an event but ultimately what happens Is they begin to realize that everything is built upon a relationship Looking forward to be with that man That they have given their heart and their love to for the rest of their life And and they look forward to that you see And and and it's not something that if they're truly in love, they're not runaway brides If they're truly in love, they're looking forward to the day And as the day begins to approach it counts down until the day comes that they finally are joined in matrimony And so that they can go out and start a life with this person that they're terribly in love with And and the anticipation Is incredible until the moment that it is consummated and that's what he's saying He's saying listen if you're in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, you're going to eagerly wait to see him Peter said though we have not seen him yet. You love him There's this anticipation this desire this longing this this want to in your heart to be with him Why? Because he loved you so much. He gave himself up for you Now you simply want to give yourself completely over to him. And so we're awaiting him We're longing for him and we're preparing to be with him John said it like this in first john chapter three verses two and three He said beloved now are we the sons of god and it does not yet appear what we shall be But we know that when he shall appear We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is And every man who has this hope in him purifies himself Even as he is pure every person who has this desire to be with him Lives a separated life A pure life Even as the lord jesus christ is pure. I have met people who know a lot about bible prophecy They can speak to you concerning revelation in daniel and ezekiel and various passages of old testament and new testament prophecy They can give you understanding concerning the rapture and rewards and And uh marriage supper of the lamb and a variety of things like that, but they don't love people They don't care for people. They're more interested in information than they are in transformation They're more interested in things than they are about the one whom they are preparing to be with I encourage you today even as the writer here is saying we must eagerly wait for him He is going to appear the second time apartment sin for salvation He doesn't come the second time to die for sin. That's already taken place He comes now to rescue us to be with him and as we look forward to that We prepare ourselves to be with him. I live in a life that is pleasing to him