I invite you to turn tonight to the book of Hebrews as we conclude chapter 9 tonight and we're looking at verses 23 through 28 that's found on page 1193 in the Bibles before you. Hebrews chapter 9 beginning at verse 23 tonight. Give our attention to the word of the Lord. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. nor was it to offer himself repeatedly as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world but as it is he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and just as it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him there will end the reading of the scriptures tonight. Well, at this point in Hebrews, we have been considering wonderful things, lots of things that have been said to us and different themes that he's been working through going through the Old Testament and looking at the sacrificial system. I've been deeply moved that the author has made such a big deal, and I hope you've appreciated that, of this ministry from heaven that we're receiving since christ has completed the work and is is seated far above all principalities and powers it's a ministry to us from heaven he's ministering to us from heaven and one of the big things that we rehearsed in the last few weeks was this this added blessing from that ministry constantly to us of him cleansing our consciences from dead works we all struggle with sin. We all continue to struggle with it, and we've looked at and considered what a blessing that even when we come together in morning worship, we read the law, and we have a confession time, and then an announcement of forgiveness. That is exactly the kind of ministry He has put in place to bless us and cleanse consciences in the continued struggle against sin. And He invites you to come in your prayer closets, to come to Him, confess your sins to Him, and He's faithful and just to forgive you your sins. But look at the special blessing of this on the day of rest. It's such a big encouragement we've been looking at. We're in these struggles. But notice here this great question I think that he turns to now in the book of Hebrews. There's a theme that he's working with. It's one word really in this passage. And I think I could get there tonight by simply asking the question, are continued? Are we still struggling with that? Great question is, is God pleased with me. We are like what sometimes is described, I think, in Philippians and elsewhere of sin, being like a dog returning to its vomit. It's what you feel like at times when our sins rise up against us. We sing that in the psalm. Our sins rise up against us day by day, prevailing day by day. You can't get away from this theme. Any true Christian is going to struggle with this, And the Bible gives a lot of attention to it. So you've got to help people with this. And the message is so wonderful. Christ continues to minister to us and help us, as we've looked at these last weeks, with a message that his blood actually purifies us. And this is a great encouragement tonight. But I want to think about this theme tonight. Can we really be sure of how judgment day is going to go? That's a really important question. And I think that little verse is sort of a shocking verse in the middle of all of this. The verse that makes us all a little bit scared. It is appointed for you to die. Your death is already appointed the hour to the second when you take your last breath. And then the judgment. It's kind of a scary verse, isn't it? That's a verse that we have to listen to. That's a verse that we have to consider. And it comes then with my question. Does Christ's work provide that much assurance that we will stand on judgment day. And we have that in this life. This may be one of the most misunderstood questions that we now approach in Hebrews. There are statements in God's word that seem to say we're going to have to answer for our sins. And that judgment day is still a question that looms in our minds as to whether we're going to make it through. Take, for instance, this verse. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one of us may receive what is due for the things you've done in your body, whether good or bad. Doesn't that plainly say that our sins are going to be raised and the things that we've done in our body, whether good or bad, are going to be raised? Isn't that a fair question? And it's not as if this is so clearly understood in the evangelical world. Many teachers leave open this question in their teaching based on a requisite amount of good works. Because that's what you're going to have to fall back on if you're going to open that door. The idea is prevalent that there will be a final justification that will occur based on your works. And that has been popularized in our day by figures that are somewhat surprising to us, but have been very muddy on this, figures like John Piper. And then there are others, some who assume to be Reformed, but others who have said it is absolutely right in the ministry to take the approach of the Christian ministry to constantly preach in such a way that one of the purposes of the minister is to make people constantly question and doubt whether they're really a Christian. John MacArthur has done that and said that. We should be doing that. Well, there is a valuation of our lives. Test yourselves to see where you be in the faith. I'm not here tonight, and I'm going to promote what is the great concern behind that is some easy believism that denies that what Hebrews says, without holiness, no one will see God. We're going to get there. But as we're seeing in Hebrews, what the author is doing here, in the midst of this verse that challenges us a little bit, It's pretty astonishing. He is looking at the objective work of Jesus. And he is speaking of things that are yes and amen and done. And how does he want us to take that? What does he want us to do with that? What Christ has actually accomplished, meaning that for us in terms of our relationship with God and our forgiveness which he has been pressing us clears conscience now what does that mean for the judgment day many would look at our passage tonight and say well see we have one of these verses that proves that point it's appointed for man to die after this the judgment end of discussion of course there's a judgment is that verse intended tonight to put a big question mark as to whether those who are truly believers looking in g looking to christ may face the judgment i would say everything about our passage tonight says the exact opposite so that when i want to drive home tonight is what christ has answered the great question about the final judgment for us. Right now, cleansing, and this is what he's going to make the great point here, cleansing everything. Here's the point tonight. Cleansing everything that is necessary for us to escape the final judgment and appear before God without spot and without blemish. And in that way, this whole passage is intended to keep your eyes on Jesus because this is exactly what the first century Christians weren't doing. You know, we've looked at, they've wanted to go back. They've kept wanting to go back to the sacrificial system. And this passage is meant to make you glory and rest in Christ as the basis of being received on the last day. It really is one of the most important passages here then to consider. So that's what we're looking at here tonight. Remember what we picked up and actually where we left off with last time, this important section of the blessings of the covenant. We've really had a lot of covenant themes running through our sermons, and we looked at Christ's work through the lens of the first covenant and the new covenant, but now he presses us on the implications of the final judgment. What does that mean for the final judgment. Look at verse 9. Therefore, it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these. But the heavenly things themselves, that's a remarkable statement, 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 who? In a way, what he's just said is it's already happened. Everything's been purified. Heaven's been opened and he's standing up there in your place. That's a remarkable statement. It's a summary conclusion tonight to everything he's been explaining with regard to tabernacle ministry, the ministry of the high priest and the sacrificial system that they were looking back to. In the last section, he rehearsed this concept of purification, didn't he? There were the blood of calves and goats and blood was sprinkled on the tabernacle itself. I mean, blood was thrown on the tabernacle, Blood was thrown on the vessels. Blood was thrown on everything. It was even thrown on the people. All things had to be purified with blood. And it's as if he stops here and asks, well, why do you think that was done for century Christians? Don't you understand this yet? It was teaching people about purification. Because sin and everything they touched was contaminated. Everything that God set apart as holy and they touched was contaminated. And that's the pollution of sin. And this is a big point. Do you guys realize that? Do we realize that sin contaminates everything when it comes to the holiness of God? which is why we have to keep being reminded of this. Just like this morning, take your shoes off, you're on holy ground. Sin contaminates everything. It's similar to what I experienced in the Gordon household. You know, just when we get the house clean, my kids come back from school and it doesn't take but five minutes. And there is stuff everywhere. And the kitchen's a disaster. and there's food on the floor and rooms are a mess and then I feel like a failed father. You know, that's just what happens. They've contaminated my whole house. This is what sin does. I'm going to pay for this illustration later. You understand that, right? I'm going to really pay for this. Everything we touch when it comes to the presence of God is defiled. What has Hebrews been saying? Without blood, there's no cleansing. And everything was sprinkled in the Old Covenant to teach this point. And it was a mess. The sprinkling itself, you can imagine the blood sprinkled everywhere. and the people were seeing this year after year after year, and blood would have to ultimately go in on the mercy seat once a year and be sprinkled. And that meant that the altar was sprinkled. That meant that the table of showbread was sprinkled. That meant that the altar of incense, the candlesticks, everything was sprinkled with blood. God had told Moses to construct the tabernacle according to what was shown to him on the mountain. Remember, boys and girls, what it represents. It's a little replica of heaven. That's what he's been telling. It's a little replica of heaven. And blood was all taught about the cleansing that needed to happen. And how wonderful it was, as we've been studying, when the veil was ripped in two and Christ ascended and was seated in heaven and ministers to us from the holy places. Well, what now to do about the problem of contamination? And this is the shocking aspect of this passage tonight. When he went up back into heaven, Acts 1, Christ didn't just go into copies that were on the earth. He went, not the sketch, not the model. He went back up into the reality that taught us about the reality. And notice what Hebrews says. he cleansed heaven itself. Now that should make us pause. There's huge debates about this all over the place. How can you cleanse heaven? There's nothing impure in heaven. Heaven is not defiled. But there is still a problem. For us to have access, all has to be purified. What does that mean? I don't think it's that hard. What did the table of showbread represent? Communion with God. Being able to dine with God. Enjoy the table. What did the candlestick represent? His light to us, given to us. The altar of incense, the ability to receive our prayers. The ark, his immediate presence. What the author is overwhelmed with here is this. I don't think it's complicated, is that fellowship with God in heaven and on earth has been absolutely opened up to us through Christ. All has been purified to give us that access. And what is he doing? He went up to appear in the presence of God for us. Everything that would bar us and would have kept us out because of the pollution and contamination of sin, he has purified so that he, and we being in union with him, ministers directly to us these blessings of the covenant. And that's the beautiful statement that's made here. Christ, who is totally pure, listen, has appeared in the presence of God for us. That's one of those verses, again, in Hebrews that you have to stop and say to yourself every day. He doesn't have to continually, year after year, make atonement for sin, but at the end of the ages, He has appeared, and now He is in heaven on our behalf, has put away sin, and its defilement ever by the one sacrifice. That's it. It's done. It's all put away. His blood has purified it all. He has purified everything necessary to give us that access, is what he's saying. And to continue to minister to us the cleansing of conscience on earth. Now I said before, I'm not talking tonight about what we do. I'm talking about the objective work of Jesus here. And do you understand what I'm saying when I say objective work? I'm saying everything that needed to happen to restore us and reconcile us has happened through his work. We're not talking about our response at this point. Now, that takes us tonight to the big problem that I raised at the beginning. Why does this matter? Because we come to a hugely significant verse in verse 27, and here it is again, and it is appointed for men to die and then the judgment. That's constructed in an interesting way, isn't it? And notice how verse 27 reads in verse 27 in the ESV. It's making a comparison here. Just as. And just as it is appointed for men to die, once and after that comes the judgment. What he's presenting to us in the front part of that verse, the conclusion's not done yet. The front part of that is this. It's a truth we all know to make a comparison point. What do we all know? I think the mass of people know. we suppress this. But this is the general truth that we know. On the human conscience, everyone knows in this life, whether they've suppressed it, whether they've pushed it down, whether they've said they hate it, whether they've despised it, they know it. There is a reckoning that's demanded. You can't have a holy God of heaven and earth who is pure and holy, just and righteous, who's not going to enter into judgment against sin. You can't have this kind of levels of violation of the law and even to the minutest violation, but even the big things that we see and think people are going to get away with that. We have a whole justice system that's intended to not let people get away with that. We are, this is what's hated about Christianity, is our unrelenting message on this point. But it's on the human heart. God has done what? Put eternity into men's hearts. And we live knowing that somebody is angry. That's why every primitive culture tried to do sacrifice and offering to their God. Jesus spoke frequently of the judgment. Jesus spoke oftentimes and tallied up sometimes more than love. This is what's going to happen. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no more place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done, recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. That is coming. How will you stand? What did he just say? Put it together. Jesus cleansed everything for you to have full communion with God. He has gone up into heaven and has appeared for you already, clearing the way, standing for you. This is what Ephesians is saying, Ephesians 2, when it says, he raised us up already and did what? Seated us with him in the heavenly places. So the purification's been made. We have been raised up. Jude says, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and do what? Present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. He's able. Come back to the comparison. Just as it is appointed for men to die, then the judgment. Here's the comparison. So Christ in your place was offered to bear the sins of many. You know where he took that. Isaiah 53. He took the end of Isaiah 53. For he bore the sins of many and he made intercession for the transgressors. You get the comparison yet? Just as it's appointed for men to die, then the judgment. Here's the comparison. So Christ was offered to bear the sins of many. In other words, what you're looking at and what he's saying there is, that's what Jesus did for you. He died and purified heaven facing the judgment for you to bear the sins of many so that you don't have to face the judgment. That's what he's saying here. And the great implication is, verse 29, isn't this beautiful? To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time. Let me pause with all the modern confusion on this issue. Can you imagine if I interjected at this point? Let's do it. To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time to raise your sins, and you'll have to face the question of whether you're finally going to be justified. What an offense. What an offense to the work of your Savior. That's not what he says. To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time apart from sin. He's already dealt with it. See, it's already done. It's already canceled. The debt's paid. There's no judgment. Apart from sin to get you and give you the reward is what he's saying. it's not going to fail to give you Canaan. You're going to get to enjoy your God forever. That's the best news that could be given to us. I don't know how that other news would inspire anyone to any kind of new obedience, but to a life of giving up. If you could ask the author of Hebrews that question, what do we do with all this tonight? You know, I think he'd smile. I think he'd smile. And I think he would say, look at all these people who are taking their eyes off of Jesus. Who has performed the central event in history to reconcile us to God. What do you need to do? Rest in Him. Trust Him. Believe Him. your burdens are lifted in him. Everything's been purified. He's stood in your place for you. And he's appearing again, not for your judgment, to give you eternal life, salvation. That's true peace, beloved. And that changes everything as you look for joy for the second coming. The second coming was never intended to be a vent to scare the sheep. It's meant to be the day of our great rejoicing. It's meant to be the day of Him fulfilling and giving to us everything His Son accomplished. And you need to rest in those promises, especially in these days. There's so much confusion on this. So look to your Lord this week. Praise and thank Him. Ask him to hate sin, sure, fight against sin, struggle against sin, but do it because you know that the sin has been forgiven and because you belong to Christ in life and in death and that everything's been purified and necessarily done to set you free. That's the truth he's talking about that sets us free. Amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for your glorious word to us tonight and the blessing of it, and we pray that you would fill our hearts with gratitude and thanksgiving, and that we would not doubt your word, but that it would inspire us, Lord, to look for this day with great anticipation and to be, Lord, happy as we go forward, not always doubting your promises, but living by faith, and may it produce in us by your Spirit, Lord grateful lives for the salvation that has been accomplished as those who eagerly await knowing you will appear apart from sin since it's already been dealt with to bring us the full reward of our salvation in Jesus name we pray amen