The Blood of Christ

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to Hebrews chapter 9, verses 12 through the end of the chapter are our text for today. And the title is "The Blood of Jesus."

As we begin today's message, I would like for you to know that redemption is eternal. If you're taking notes, the first point that I'd like for you to see in verse 12 is that Jesus' blood obtained eternal redemption — eternal redemption.

Read with me in verse 12 if you would and see how we begin to think on the subject of Jesus' blood accomplishing eternal redemption. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 12: "And not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption."

This eternal redemption. Let's pray together. Lord, thank You for the opportunity to investigate what it means to understand that You gave Your blood. And I pray, God, that not only will we truly exposit the truth in the text today, but we will internalize it to the point where we live it out in our own daily display as dynamic disciples and not ones who are shrinking back. In Christ's name we pray, amen.

And so again, the title is "The Blood of Christ." And you see right away as we begin to go through the rest of chapter 9 today that it is by the blood of Jesus that He has accomplished eternal redemption. The priestly work of Jesus Christ provided an eternal redemption.

Negatively in the text you see that the blood of goats and calves was temporary and it could not do anything but simply temporarily appease God. It never accomplished eternal salvation. Positively, you see in the text, His own blood was given once for all and it obtained eternal redemption.

And when you think of the word eternal, think of it as outside of the confines of time. Eternal is not just futuristic and it's not just present, but it's before time began. The Greek word here describes God's redemption of souls as without beginning or end. This is an eternal redemption that was obtained. So God's love, God's grace — it's infinite. And it is before, during, and after time began. Ephesians 1:4 says that He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. And so this payment was efficacious. It was eternal. It's an eternal payment for sin.

Now in regards to the blood of Jesus, He literally died for us and literally gave Himself up on an old rugged cross. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 2 and 3, and see this as well. These verses talk about how Jesus Christ died and His blood was sprinkled and it washes away sin — or expiates it. In 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 2: "According to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood. May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure." Verse 3: "Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

And so now back to Hebrews chapter 9. This Old Testament signifying of the sprinkling of the blood was typologically fulfilled in Jesus's blood.

Now we see in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 24 — not to skip too far forward, but this is rather fascinating — skip with me to chapter 12 verse 24 in Hebrews and see the same concept referenced in a very unique way. This verse has been dumbfounding to many. In Hebrews 12:24 it says, "And to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant" — that's what He did — "and to the sprinkling blood" — that's a reference to the Old Testament job of the priests who are constantly sprinkling the blood in the tabernacle and on the people — "which speaks better than the blood of Abel."

That's interesting that the blood of Jesus speaks better than the blood of Abel. And what this is, it's another argument in the book of Hebrews which is very typical of the preacher of Hebrews: to argue from the lesser to the greater, from the lesser to the greater. And so the lesser one, Abel, who was murdered by Cain unjustly, his blood speaks and demands justice. It cries out, "Lord, take Your vengeance out, justify me." But the blood of Jesus speaks better because it inaugurates a new covenant and brings forth a new covenant that is effectual in true salvation. Not just justice, but salvation. And so Jesus' blood actually pardons a person — not just justifies, but actually pardons. So it speaks better, typologically representing the need for continual sacrifices while pointing to the one true sacrifice — which is what the Old Testament system did.

Now you have Jesus who gave His blood.

So the first point is, number one: obtained eternal redemption.

Point number two is that the blood of Christ cleanses your conscience. This is something else that is very fascinating. Back to Hebrews chapter 9 as we kind of skip through this chapter the best that we can and dig out some of these wonderful truths.

In verse 14, read with me: "How much more will the blood of Christ?" So now we have seen the blood of Jesus Christ mentioned again. And so this we're going to see now in verse 14 — that it has the special ability to cleanse your conscience. "How much more" — see, another lesser to the greater argument — "how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

And this gives us a purpose here as to why we have our conscience cleansed. And this is very powerful to understand that it is the blood of Jesus that can wash away your sins.

And so when it comes to something like rust, what do you need to remove rust? You need an effective rust remover, some type of chemical. What about grease? You need an effective degreaser. What about guilt and shame? You need an effective guilt remover and a shame remover.

Turn to Isaiah 53 and see this, that our griefs He Himself bore and our sorrows He carried. In Isaiah 53 and verse 4, this is so important to see — especially from the Old Testament word study perspective — that when He says He bore our sins, it means that He took them away. He didn't take your sins away and leave the shame. He didn't take your offenses away and leave the blame, the shame and the guilt. He took all of that away.

In Isaiah 53:4 it says, "Surely our griefs" — not only your sin, but your griefs — "He Himself bore." The word bore means to take away. "And our sorrows, He carried." Listen, how many of you live underneath a false sense of guilt and shame?

It is very important for us to recognize that if we are living underneath guilt and shame of past sins, we do not comprehend the cross and have not fully lived it out yet. Jesus' death on the cross — He gave Himself not only to pay for your sin debt, but also to expiate, to remove, to take away all of the sins: punishment, shame and guilt and everything.

So that in the written text, back to Hebrews chapter 9, there's a reason why He did this among all reasons. There's a reason right here in the text: so that you can serve the living God. In verse 14, "Cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God, to worship God." God wants you to be able to serve Him with all of your heart and soul and mind and spirit freely, without carrying a false sense of past sin and shame and guilt and grief. God wants this all removed from your heart.

It's the power of the washing of the Word of God upon your conscience and upon your heart. It is this power of the cross that invades your heart and soul and completely renews you into a new creation. This is the work of Christ. And so now we can sing and serve and worship and minister freely. We can sing because you're completely clean and you can worship because there's no mud on you. God has washed your conscience and He's washed your reputation. He has washed you. You can truly tabernacle in the holy of holies before an almighty, pure and holy God freely without any guilt and shame. All of this has been washed away and all of this has been renewed.

God doesn't want you walking around with your head down shamefully, regretful of the things in the past. He wants you living in a rejoicing way to say, "Thank God that He removed this from me and I want to worship Him."

Now do you doubt this? Do you doubt the power of the blood to wash away dirt? Well, sometimes we live underneath the doubts of the devil. So many in the Bible were subject to the doubts in the reviewing of the past that I would just simply say to you: when the devil reminds you of your past, simply review his future. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 10 — turn there with me if you would. This is something that you should turn to right away if you deal with all of this grief and shame.

Revelation 20:10 helps us to remember that that old dirty scumbag Satan is going to be thrown into the lake of fire and tormented forever and ever and ever. Revelation 20:10: "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone." Let me just pause there for just a moment.

One of the best descriptions of the devil is the fact that he is a deceiver. And if he can deceive you into living underneath guilt and shame as a Christian, then by and large he can diffuse your evangelistic zeal, your ability to make disciples, your ability to walk freely and glorify God. He can reduce the light in you that is Jesus. And don't let him do that.

"And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet were there also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

Now this cliché that I just alluded to in regards to when the devil reminds you of your past has been often quoted: "You just simply remind him of his future." And I did not say that. I'm saying to you — you do not talk to the devil. You don't remind him of anything. You don't have any power over him. You just simply review, think through where he's going and be at peace. And so we don't fight like the Charismatics in our prayer life and try to bind Satan and all that kind of silly stuff. It's not possible. Do not invite him into your prayer life by talking to him. You pray to Jesus Christ and to Him alone. We don't pray to Mary. We don't pray to Satan. We don't pray to angels. John made the same mistake in regards to worshiping angels in the book of Revelation — and what did the angel tell him? Don't do that. Focus on Jesus Christ.

And so it is Christ — back to Hebrews chapter 9, verse 14 — that cleanses the conscience. When you get saved, it's almost like hitting the conscience reset button. And now you have a cleansed conscience. And from there on, you need to participate in the sanctifying agent of the washing of the Word. The Word of God sanctifies and cleanses you. You know that none are good, says the Bible. And the Bible didn't save you because you were good. Praise the Lord for that. And all of the sins that we have committed in the past are covered underneath the blood, the sacrificial gift of Jesus Himself on the cross.

And so if you have any lingering shame from abortions or divorces or drugs or adulteries or envy — any type of sin in the past, small or great, whatever you may deem — it doesn't matter, because nothing is greater than the love of Jesus on the cross. And nothing is greater than His ability to wash away your sin and cleanse you. In 1 John chapter 1, verse 9, it says, "If you confess your sin, He is faithful and just to forgive your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness." And if you embrace the forgiveness of the sin, you should also embrace the cleansing power of it and come out from underneath any type of past guilt and shame. Utilize that as praise power — to powerfully praise Jesus, to say, "Okay, to the extent of my depravity, He is greater." And I praise God for that.

And so point number two: the blood of Christ cleanses your conscience.

But not only that, the blood of Christ — point number three — inaugurated a new covenant. Look with me back in Hebrews chapter 9, verses 15 to 20.

Talk about this. In verse 15, it says, "For this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant." And so He inaugurated a new covenant. Or if you're a child taking notes, instead of the word inaugurated, you can write down "brought in." Christ brought in a new covenant. That is, as opposed to the covenant that Moses inaugurated — the old covenant with blood from sacrifices.

In Exodus chapter 24, it attests to the fact that Moses inaugurated the law by the sprinkling of blood on the altar and the people. I'll read it to you in Exodus chapter 24, verses 7 and 8: "Then he took the book of the covenant and he read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient.' And so Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, 'Behold, the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all of these words.'"

And now we have Jesus Christ who is inaugurating the new covenant with the sprinkling of His blood. Read in verse 19, Hebrews 9:19: "For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, the book itself and all the people, saying, 'This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.'"

Now you see that Moses inaugurated the old covenant with blood, but let's keep reading. In verse 21: "And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels in the ministry with blood. According to the law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Therefore, it is necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands — a mere copy of the true one — but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor was it that He would offer Himself often as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now, once at the consummation of the ages, He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

He has inaugurated a new covenant by the sacrifice of Himself. And so Christ by His blood simply established what was already arranged — all the way back from Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 where we first see the gospel, all the way through to Galatians chapter 3 verse 16 where the climax of this covenant is in Christ. We see that Jesus mediated to us a new covenant. He inaugurated this. He established this. And so we can receive this promise. Hebrews 9:15 says that He mediated a new covenant. So grateful for that.

Point number 4, if you're taking notes, is that the blood of Christ removed symbolic rituals. Aren't you glad that all that I just read to you has been replaced by the once and for all sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ? We don't have to sacrifice all of these animals anymore. What a bloody job it was for the Old Testament priest to have to sacrifice all of these lambs and goats and calves over and over and over again, which simply foretells the deep need for there to be a blood sacrifice to cover your sins. And so these symbolic rituals that were necessary in the Old Covenant have been removed.

Back to verse 19 and verse 20. Hebrews 9:19: "For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses" — he said to all the people according to the law — "he took the blood of the calves and the goats and with the water and the scarlet wool and the hyssop, and he sprinkled both the book and all of the people." What a job that was to have to sprinkle the tabernacle and all the furnishings with blood and the book and the people, which simply means that these were the people that were covered by the covenant.

Now these restrictions that were inaugurated by the Old Covenant for the priest to have to perform — these rituals, the sprinkling of the blood — all of these requirements have been removed by the once and for all duty, privilege, and passion of the Lord Jesus Christ. But if they weren't performed accurately according to the Old Testament law, Leviticus 16:2 says that they would die. So these were deadly restrictions that have been removed. They were essential restrictions and rituals to be able to access the presence of God. All of these restrictions, these deadly restrictions, have been removed.

And isn't that wonderful? Because now, like for example, the high priest had to enter once per year. Look in verse 25 with me in Hebrews chapter 9: "Nor was it that he would offer for himself as the high priest enters the holy place year by year." And so one time a year — this was the day known as Yom Kippur. According to the Jews and Judaism, on Yom Kippur, Aaron in the Old Testament was to put on holy linen tunics. And then from his linen garments, he would then serve a linen sash and a linen turban after he bathed.

Listen to all of this blabbering ritualistic requirements that now have been removed: then sacrifice two male goats for a sin offering and then one ram for a burnt offering and then one bull for a sin offering for himself. And this was atonement for his household. And then offer one goat and set a scapegoat free to the wilderness. And then bring incense inside the veil. And the burning incense was then to produce a cloud that would cover the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant so that he would not die. Leviticus 16:13 — these rituals, this process had to be performed very accurately. Otherwise Aaron would die.

Aaron was to sprinkle blood from the bull on Israel's behalf on the mercy seat seven times. This was a significant act of worship and it symbolized atonement. Sprinkling blood on the mercy seat over the law of God — that they broke, by the way — acknowledges that their sins are covered and paid for by the blood of another. Hebrews 9:22 speaks to this. And even though this blood covering was temporary, it pointed to a sacrifice to come that would be once and for all. Hebrews 10:10.

All of this sacrificial system, all of these requirements, now have been fulfilled in Christ when He did this sacrifice once and for all. All of these requirements — these deadly requirements — have been removed.

And so significantly, the blood was placed in between God's presence. When you look at the Ark of the Covenant and the cherubim, in between the cherubim, you have the law — which obviously Israel broke, and so have we broken His law. The Ten Commandments are inside the Ark of the Covenant, in between the cherubim representing the holiness of God, and the law which we broke. There's a mercy seat and the blood ritualistically was sprinkled on the mercy seat. By the blood of Jesus — by that once and for all sacrifice — He provided mercy, atonement, and salvation for those who have broken the law and cannot be in the presence of a holy God.

The blood of Jesus — you being washed by the blood of Jesus, being covered by His gift of His life to you — now makes it possible to be in the presence of God, in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant, so to speak. In the Holy of Holies, you walk right in and commune with God because of the sacrifice of Jesus. Hundreds and hundreds of years of sacrifices. Thousands and thousands of animals sacrificed. Millions and millions of gallons of blood poured out to be able to signify to you how meaningful it is that you can commune with Christ. That you can walk with the Lord. That you can dwell with the Almighty God. How significant is that gift — the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

So by the blood, the deadly restrictions have been removed. We have eternal redemption. It's been accomplished. Hebrews 10:19 says this: "We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus." Our confidence is based upon the significance of His sacrifice — not our good works, because the merit is about as much as whatever a filthy rag would be worth. We have no merit. We have no worth. We have nothing that we can bring to God of any worth or merit. We only come to Him dependent upon the sacrifice of Jesus Himself.

And so now Christ has removed all of those deadly restrictions. If the priests did not, if the people did not follow those restrictions, they'd die. He's removed those. And He's removed all of the rituals, all of the processes. He's done all that and provided atonement eternally, forever. All of this is such good news.

He's our mediator. One of the great benefits mentioned in this passage in Hebrews 9:22 — if you're taking notes — is that the blood of Christ expunged our record. What a benefit. This is important to recognize that this is the doctrine of expiation. And so if I could just take a moment and explain to you the doctrine of expiation and what that is and how Jesus Christ has expunged or removed our sin — in Hebrews 9:22 it says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness or remission of sin. And so the doctrine of expiation means this: that someone has been covered by another.

And so you can write down expiation if you want to. What it means is that you've been covered by another. The removal of sin has been done by another who took on your penalty. The penalty for the sin that you deserve to have to pay was paid by another, by a substitute. Hence the reason why one of my favorite doctrines is the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of the payment of our sin. But as a result of having that substitute in your place to pay your sin's debt, the consequences have been paid on your behalf. Because Jesus did that — not only is eternal death and separation in hell forever been removed, there's no consequence — but also the penalty is no longer lingering on you. You are no longer liable.

It's been covered, completely paid. The debt was covered by another. The guilty party — us — we've been legally freed. Theologically freed. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and a result of this expiation is that it was for freedom that Christ sets you free — Galatians 5:1. For freedom.

Now you can think through this doctrine from a civil perspective, but it is very limiting. Let me explain to you the difference between expungement and expiation. In civil law, you can have your record expunged. Average people, average employers, average criminal investigators perhaps can investigate your reputation or your record. And if you have had your record expunged, they can't see but so far. But judges, lawyers, governors, presidents — they can get behind the scenes, so to speak, and dig a little bit deeper behind perhaps an expunged record and still see the crimes.

But that's the difference between expungement and expiation — because when your record has been removed by Christ, you can look and dig as deep as you want. It's been cleaned.

So live with this doctrine in mind that you have been completely washed clean — even from the guilt and the shame. They've been removed, been paid for, every single bit of it. Expiation is far superior to expungement. And God's removal of sin and our guilt and our penalties is far superior to anything that we can do as mankind.

And so what can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Point number six is this: the blood of Jesus opened heaven for us. In verse 24, you see that Jesus entered the presence of God for us. The last phrase in verse 24 says, "Now to appear in the presence of God for us." You know that the deadly restrictions were in place in the old covenant. And in order to remove those deadly restrictions, Jesus had to enter into the holy place, the holy presence of God for us. And so Christ entered the immediate presence of God on our behalf, which is in contrast to the symbolic rituals in the tabernacle. The high priest stood before the Ark of the Covenant, but yet now Christ is before God and He's put away our sin.

We need to remember that Psalm 16:11 says this: "In His presence is fullness of joy." And you've been given free access by the blood of Jesus to enter into God's presence — and in His presence is fullness of joy.

As a Christian, have you ever thought that you're missing out on something? When you look at how the wicked prosper and they're able to go and do and maybe live it up, so to speak — have you ever thought you're missing out? And as our young people are growing up, I want to make sure that you know that Psalm 16:11 says, "Fullness of joy." As a Christian, you're not missing out on anything. As a Christian, you have fullness of joy. There is not anything that you are missing out on.

And so don't compare yourself and your life to the ways of the world and say, "I wish I could." Because as the adage says, the grass is not greener on the other side. I'd like to say to you — fertilize your own grass. Read the Word and pray. Worship God. Be dedicated to Christ. Fertilize. Water your own life. And it will bear fruit, I promise, because the seeds here are real. In His presence is fullness of joy.

You develop your spiritual skillset on seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all of these things will be added unto you. Everything that God has planned for you will come about. He's sovereign. You stay on His path. Don't shrink back from Christ. Don't look at the ways of the world and think, "Oh, I want to go experiment for a little while and give it a test run." All these dead end roads lead to catastrophes.

And listen, if you're a child or a youth or a young adult, listen to the heart of this pastor right now. You can do things when you're younger that will affect the rest of your life.

Now, I don't want to pick on anybody or anything, but I'll choose something rather obvious. It is so unfortunate to see a young person get a tattoo on their face. You see how it mars the image of God and it affects them from getting jobs.

You can do things quickly when you're young and perhaps out of ignorance that can affect you for the rest of your life, even though you can have a tattoo removed — there's still scarring. And the same thing with being immoral, the same thing with drugs. You could do drugs one time and it affect your mind for the rest of your life. It is so worth it for you to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, doing what's right in His sight, living the light — do what's right and it'll be all right. I promise.

It is so important to set your gaze on this and not walk in the ways of the world. Don't allow your heart to drift in these ways. Christ died on the cross and paid for your sin and expunged you of all the guilt and the shame and the consequences. Now live in that freedom. Walk down that path. Stay dedicated. Stay on the narrow road. Pursue Christ. Walk with Jesus. He's the vine. You're the branch. Aim your life and your passions with Him.

Do not ever be deceived by the devil into thinking that by somehow living as a Christian you are lacking the fullness of being human or the fullness in your heart or the fullness of experiences. You can do all kinds of phenomenal things as a Christian without diving into the worldly sins. The Bible says in 1 John chapter 2 verse 15 to not love the world or anything in the world. And so rather than looking at the world, look at the Word and live your life with a biblical worldview starting with Jesus and the cross. Fullness of joy is in Jesus — Psalm 16:11.

The next point is the blood of Christ — point number seven — embodies all His suffering.

Now it's important at this point to recognize that when the Bible mentions the word blood — yes, Jesus' literal blood was spilt on the cross — but in Hebraic thought the word blood was synonymous with death, except it added a nuance in that the death was violent. And so the blood of Jesus is referring to His death being a violent death. He was beaten, battered, and bruised. He submitted Himself to the sufferings, all of the payment that sin brings. He embraced all of this. And so His death, the blood embodies and signifies suffering.

Chapter 9 and verse 26: "Otherwise He would have needed to suffer." The word suffering is brought up here in the text and I just want to explain to you that the cross simply wasn't the fact that Jesus bled out and died — because He did not die from a lack of blood. He didn't bleed out and die. In fact, when He was pierced in His side, what came out? Water and blood. He didn't die from a lack of blood. He gave His life.

And so the word blood here is not trying to point you to the literal physical liquid that is blood. The doctrine of the hypostatic union is at play here — when Jesus was fully man, the human side of the deity of Christ was fully man. That includes His flesh and His blood. And so when we refer to the blood of Christ, we're talking about His bloody death, His crucifixion. Yes, He's full deity and He's full man — hypostatic union, two in one. But the blood is referring to the cross.

The suffering was necessary even before the cross. Blood is not actually the main focus. Jesus's blood was essential for salvation — that's what the text is saying. But our Savior suffered before He gave His life. He suffered losing blood. He shed His blood. How graphic is it to think about the shedding of the blood? Very significant — shedding is the same as sprinkling. When you think of the life that is leaving the sacrifice, the goat or the lamb, and how it is being given, the blood is being shed and spread and then sprinkled.

Jesus suffered this loss, this giving of Himself. Our Savior suffered. So suffering was essential to the payment as well. Priests did not suffer while they were offering sacrifice, but Christ did. He had to be despised and forsaken of men — Isaiah 53:3. And so part of the suffering was being forsaken. He was turned on. He was betrayed. And we as Christians suffer in like fashion. But Christ had to suffer more.

He had to carry our sorrows and bear our sin — Isaiah 53:4. He had to be stricken and afflicted of God — Isaiah 53:4. He had to be pierced through for our transgressions — Isaiah 53:5. He had to be crushed for our iniquities, chastised for our well-being, and scourged for our healing — verse 5 of chapter 53. He had to take on all of our iniquities — verse 6. And He had to be oppressed and afflicted. The suffering was necessary. That's what I'm saying. And yet He didn't open His mouth — verse 7. He had to be slaughtered like a lamb and yet still be silent — Isaiah 53:7. And He had to be crushed and put to grief to become our guilt offering — Isaiah 53:10. He gave Himself as an offering. And all of the suffering was included in this bloody death.

And so it's not a mystical thing about the blood. The blood is signifying His death. It's pointing to the fact that He gave Himself.

Point number eight, my last point is this: the blood of Christ covers the saved at judgment. Oh, this is great news on how this chapter ends — covers the saved at judgment. In Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27 and 28, it says this: "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men once to die, and after this comes judgment, so Christ also" — here's a comparison — "having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who were eagerly awaiting Him."

And so this judgment — you know, it's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of God. Hebrews 10:26 and 31 talks about this: the terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But for the saved, Christ's appearance from heaven completes our salvation. It removes the rest of our suffering. We don't have to deal with the old man and the effects of the fall upon our life that continually make our eyes degrade and our bodies ache in this sin-saturated world — just simply reminding us that Christ is coming again.

We've been working out our salvation according to Philippians 2:12, and now we get new bodies according to 1 Corinthians 15:40 and 42. This body is imperishable — cancer-free, curse-free. We get new bodies at the point from which Christ comes back — ache-free and acne-free. The youth said amen.

We get new bodies. We get to be with Jesus forever and ever and ever.

So here for the Hebrews and for us who are eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus, this is an offensive spiritual strategy — to be able to live life, live on the offense, worshiping Jesus and eagerly awaiting His return. Hope in Christ. Have your hopes high in Jesus and keep your sins low. Have a high hope and keep your sins low. That's how you live with eager anticipation of Christ to remain on the straight and narrow.

We have these ending encouragements here. Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die — that's just a statement. You're born, you weren't in control of that; you're going to die, you're not in control of that. Okay, that has been stated. What does the author of Hebrews bring that up for? Well, just as these things happen without anything of your involvement, now when Christ comes again, it's hope for us who have hoped in Him and eagerly awaited Him. We've comprehended the cross. We've lived in light of the cross. And now we've been walking with Jesus and we understand that all of these Old Covenant significant items that happened then now have been replaced for us to be able to see just how significant our life is in Christ.

And so the blood of Jesus helps us to be able to see all of these wonderful things. See Jesus through the blood of Jesus and don't focus on the actual blood. Focus on His life that He gave for you to be able to have this life in Christ.

So if you are a true Christian — if you are repenting of your sins regularly, if you are worshiping regularly, if you have it of your heart and soul to have fellowship with the brothers and the sisters in Christ, if you have it inside of your heart and it's just an outpouring of your life to love on the brothers and even to love on those who persecute you, if you have it in your heart and the outpouring of your heart to be able to sit down and read God's Word and understand it to know Him more — all of these are beautiful evidences of a true converted believer.

If you have guilt when you sin, and then when you confess your sin and are cleansed of that guilt and you feel free again and you're like, "I do not want to do that again" — having guilt and shame of sin is terrible. It's like the weight of your cross falls on your soul. But praise God for the fact that He can continually wash and forgive this regularly. If you're a believer, then you run to the cross when you sin. As soon as you start sinning, you're shaking your head to yourself, you're looking in the mirror and it's, "I'm not to be doing this. I can't be doing this. I've got to get on my knees and pray. I've got to get in my prayer closet. I've got to spend some time with Jesus." You're not going to run from your Bible. You're going to run to your Bible and be renewed in this.

True Christians seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things — that's life more abundant and free. All of these things: food, shelter, and clothing out of Matthew chapter 6 — all of these things that God has for you is a reality. And you don't worry about the ways of the world. True Christians truly do all of these things and they desire these things and they get better and better and better at these things.

If this does not characterize your life, then perhaps you're not a true Christian. And there have been many come to Ula Baptist Church who have said, "Pastor, early on I professed Christ as Savior, but that's all it was — is a profession. Early on, I went to church and I fell away in college. Early on, I knew what it was to have, but now as soon as I engage in these filthy, sinful practices, I feel guilt and shame and I have to come back to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. I didn't feel that before."

And so they recognize that they've been saved since they made that profession — that maybe the hand raising and repeating of a prayer and whatnot. They recognize that God saved their soul and now that they truly desire, they've had a new nature, a new heart. They recognize the salvation was a little bit later and they say, "Should I be baptized?" Yes. Believers' baptism is what the Bible teaches. You are baptized after you have been saved, after you believe.

And so this is the process for many of those whom God brings to Ula Baptist Church. If your life characterizes that of a Christian, praise God — continue to read your Word, to continue in the Word. John 8:31 says to continue in the Word, to prove your discipleship. Be biblically baptized if you haven't. Join the church. Be a member. Learn how to study His Word and go and be a great commission Christian. This is the process that we continue to equip and encourage here at the church.

But what if you're not a Christian? Well, the Bible says to believe in the light while you have the light. It's an important thing to know that the Holy Spirit draws a person to Himself. And while you have the light, you truly need to believe in the light. While the Spirit of God is working and convicting your heart and soul, it is so important to do this.

Acts 12:36 says while you have the light, believe in the light so that you may be sons of light. It's important to say to yourself — I'm not guaranteed tomorrow. If you're not a Christian, you're not guaranteed tomorrow. It's important to say to yourself, while I have this moment, I need to repent and to believe the gospel, to believe in the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent and believe.

The Bible says in Acts 16:31, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." John 10:9 says, "I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved." John 8:12 says, "I am the light of the world and he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 6:51 says this: "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever."

This eternal redemption is available to those who will freely repent of their sin, turn from their wicked ways and believe in the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ as a payment for the sins that you've committed.

Let's pray together. Lord, thank You so much for the opportunity to simply go through Your Word to finish up chapter 9 today. And I pray that Your Word would work bountifully in the hearts and minds of those who hear it exposited. And I pray, God, that Your Holy Spirit will continue to conform us all into Your image. Save those who are lost, sanctify those who are saved, glorify us on that day when You come. We pray in Christ's name, amen.