Hebrews 9

CHAPTER 9THEME: New sanctuary better than old; the superior sacrifice

Hebrews 9:1

NEW SANCTUARY BETTER THAN THE OLDOur subject is the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ who is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Presented to us are two ministries which are in sharp contrast. The Levitical service, the ministry of the Aaronic priesthood, was carried out in an earthly tabernacle down here. That sanctuary on earth was merely a type of the one which is in heaven, the sanctuary in which the Lord Jesus is serving today. This sanctuary in heaven provides for better worship. A great many people consider the Law from the standpoint of the Ten Commandments, but the Epistle to the Hebrews approaches the Law from the viewpoint of its place of worship and its priesthood. That approach puts the emphasis on the settling of sins, and, as the writer will point out, the Law never really settled the sin question. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Heb_10:4). The word for “service” here would be better translated as “worship.” “A worldly sanctuary” does not mean worldly as we usually think of it, but it means a sanctuary of this world; that is, it was made of materials of this world. It was made so long, so wide, and so high, and there was a ritual that the people went through in the sanctuary down here. In that sense it was of the world. The writer is going to further contrast it with the sanctuary that is in heaven.

Hebrews 9:2

“For there was a tabernacle made"notice that we are not taken back to the temple. There is no reference made to Herod’s temple for the sake of this illustration. Although the third temple was then in existence, when the type is given, the writer goes beyond them all to that very simple structure that God gave to Moses in the wilderness. “There was a tabernacle made,” and it was made of the things of this world. It was patterned after the one in heaven, but it was much inferior in many different ways, as we shall see. “Which is called the sanctuary"that is, it was the Holy Place. The tabernacle proper was just a big gold box thirty cubits (about forty-five feet) long, ten cubits (about fifteen feet) wide, and ten cubits high. It was divided into two sections. The first was the Holy Place in which there were certain articles of furniture: the table of showbread and the golden lampstand. Then, in the background was the golden altar, the altar of incense, which speaks of prayerno sacrifices were ever made there.

Hebrews 9:3

In the Holy of Holies (which was separated from the Holy Place by a veil and into which only the high priest entered), there were two articles of furniture. There was the ark, which was just a box made out of gopher wood and overlaid inside and outside with gold, and on top of the ark was a highly ornamented top called the mercy seat. It was fashioned with cherubim, made of pure gold, looking down upon the top of the box. That was where the blood was placed, and that was what made it a mercy seatfor “without shedding of blood is no remission” of sins. “Which had the golden censer,” that is, the golden altar. Notice that a change has been madewe are told that the golden altar is inside the Holy of Holies rather than inside the Holy Place. Why has it been moved to the inside? The veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was made of fine twine Egyptian byssus linen with the cherubim woven into it, and it spoke of the humanity of the Lord Jesus. When He died on the cross, He gave His life, His human life, and at that time the veil was rent in twain. So the veil which was torn in two has been removed, signifying that the way to God is wide open, because Christ has made a way.

He said, “No man cometh to the Father, but by me” (see Joh_14:6). The veil has been rent in twain, and we can come right into God’s presence today. But what happened to the golden censer or the golden altar? It has been moved inside the Holy of Holies. Aaron on the great Day of Atonement came with the blood to sprinkle upon the mercy seat, taking a censer filled with coals and with incense in it, and he went inside the Holy of Holies. He was actually transferring, as it were, the altar of incense to the inside.

He took the censer of burning coals from off the altar with sweet incense on it, and took it into the Holy of Holies, but he brought it back out again. And he had to do that again the next year and then again the next. However, we have a Great High Priest who is our Great Intercessor always at the golden altar making intercession for us. His prayers are heard, by the way. Therefore, the golden altar is on the inside, but it is also on the outside, because you and I can come through Him by prayer. That is what Paul meant when he said, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access …” (Rom_5:1-2). The writer mentions also the things which were in the ark. “Wherein was the golden pot that had manna"this speaks of the present ministry of Christ. He feeds those who are His own. He feeds them with His Word. He is the Bread of Life. The Bible is God’s bakery, and if you want bread, that is where you will go to get it. “And Aaron’s rod that budded.” This speaks of the death and resurrection of Christ, because it was a dead rod and life came into it. “And the tables of the covenant” speaks of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all the law. “Of which we cannot now speak particularly.” The writer means he doesn’t have time to dwell upon the tabernacle, because the things that he is emphasizing are the priesthood and worship. He is concerned about what real worship is and how we are to worship.

Hebrews 9:6

“The priests went always into the first tabernacle.” The priests went continuallythey never finished the job. If they went today, they would be going again tomorrow, and the next day, and on and on and on. I am of the opinion that it must have become very monotonous over the years for a priest to continually go through this ritual. The very repetition of it meant that it was not sufficient, that is, that one time would not do. However, we are going to see that Christ went once into the Holy Placeit was necessary for Him to go just one time. “Accomplishing the service of God” should be “accomplishing the worship of God.” This was the ultimate goal of it all, that God’s people might worship Him. This is speaking of real worship, not just a church service where an order of service is followed. When real worship takes place it is a worship that draws us into the presence of Christ where we can adore Him. The word worship comes from the same Anglo-Saxon root word as worth. To worship is to give someone something of which they are worthy. The Lord Jesus Christ is worthy to receive our praise and our adoration. That is worship, and from that follows service. Real worship will always lead to service. In the midst of His temptation in the wilderness, the Lord Jesus answered Satan, “…For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Mat_4:10, italics mine).

You will not have to beg and coax and goad people into doing something, if they are participating in real worship of Christbecause real worship leads to service. Many ministers spend a great deal of time urging people to do somethingurging them to give, urging them to do visitation, urging them to teach, or urging them to sing. Real worship will lead to service. Such worship is possible only through Jesus Christ. The ritual of the tabernacle never brought the people into the presence of God. The high priest alone went into the Holy of Holies.

Hebrews 9:7

He is speaking now of the great Day of Atonement. This was Yom Kippur, in one sense the high day in the life of the nation Israel. This is the day that the great high priest went into the Holy of Holies on behalf of the nation. And on the basis of his having done this, the nation was accepted for another year. Our Great High Priest has gone into the Holy of Holies, into the very presence of God. He has gone in, and He has not come out. He is going to be there as long as we are in the world. When He does come out, He is coming out after His ownwe are a part of Him; we are the “body” of Christ. The purpose of all of this is to make real to your heart and mine the presence of the Lord Jesus. Did you start out the day with Him? This is a hurly-burly world you and I are in, and it has no time for Him. As you have rushed through this day, has He been with you? Have you worshiped Him? To worship Him we do not have to go to church and sing the doxology (although the writer of this epistle is going to urge us to do that, because we need to be with God’s people and participate in concerted, corporate worship; it is essential for our growth) but we can worship Him anywhere.

You can worship Him at the end of a cotton row or a corn row. You can worship Him on the freeway. You can worship Him in the office. You can worship Him in the classroom. My friend, I don’t care where you are, you can worship Him. You and I need to pour out our hearts in adoration and praise unto His holy name. Now our High Priest has gone into the Holy of Holies on our behalf this very day. And you can see how superior this is to the past when the high priest went in on just one day each yearand didn’t stay; in fact, he hurried out. Tradition tells us that he actually had a chain around his foot, because if he did anything wrong, he would have been struck dead and they would have had to pull him out and get a new high priest. Oh, the wonder and the glory of it all! Our High Priest has gone into the very presence of God for you and me, and He is there today. Someone has given a little different translation of Heb_9:24, and I want to give it to you at this point: “For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us.” Moses asked to see God’s face but was told that no man could see God. However, you and I have a High Priest who has gone into the very presence of God. We do not worship Him by going through a ritual. We do not worship Him by burning candles or incense, or by having a nice little altar fixed up. Some Protestant churches have really gotten involved in such things. The last time I was in the church of a minister friend I asked him why he had a cross set up on the table used for the Lord’s Supper. He said, “Oh, not only that, but did you notice the candles?” I hadn’t noticed them, but he also had a candle at each end of the table. He said, “That’s to help the people with their worship.” My friend, if you need that kind of help, you are not worshiping Him. The woman at the well asked the Lord Jesus where the people should worship God, and the Lord replied, “The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (Joh_4:23). I have another minister friend who is very concerned with Jewish evangelism, and he has a menorah with seven candles on it in his church. He told me that it was to keep their minds centered on the fact that they have an obligation to the Jewish people. If we need that sort of thing in our churches, we are not really worshiping God. Oh, that you and I could get into His presence and smell the sweet incense of His presencenot with our noses but with our hearts and our souls and our minds. I pray that I might be conscious of the sweetness of His presence, that I might walk in the light of His Word, and that there might be reality in my life every day. I covet that for you too. We need to put away our bottle of milk with its little nipple, and we need to feed on the meat of the Word. We need to get into the presence of the living Christ who is our Great High Priest ministering yonder at a better tabernacle than the one that was on this earth. We can worship the living Christ today.

Hebrews 9:8

In other words, all of this was a picture and a type that the way into the very presence of God (actually, right into the very face of God) had not yet been opened.

Hebrews 9:9

“That could not make him that did the service perfect,” could read “that could not make the worshiper perfect.” The way to God in the tabernacle was actually blocked by the three entrances and compartments. In other words, the people could come only to that outer entrance and bring their sacrifice. If a man brought a little lamb, he would put his hand on it in an act of identification since it would die in his place, and then the priest would take it from there. It would be slain and offered upon the brazen altar. The individual who brought the lamb could go no farther than the entrance. Then, as far as the Holy Place was concerned, only the priest could go in there.

And into the Holy of Holies neither the priest nor the people could go. Only the high priest could enter in there. Therefore, the tabernacle was a temporary, makeshift arrangement. The service of ritual and ordinances was given for just a brief time. Now Christ can bring us to God, but only He can bring us there. “…No man cometh unto the Father,” He said, “but by me” (Joh_14:6). Such is real worship, and real worship will lead to service. Once we get into the presence of God, there will be no problem about serving. Worship is something that the liberal today condemns. Years ago the late Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick said that the world tried to get rid of Jesus in two waysone was by crucifying Him and the other was by worshiping Him! My friend, it is blasphemy to say that if you worship Him you are no better than those who crucified Him! We approach a holy God today on the basis of a crucified Savior. He alone can cause us to worship. That is the reason for Paul’s writing to the Ephesians: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Now notice the first thing Paul speaks of after being filled with the Spirit: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph_5:18-19). That is worship. My friend, the greatest thrill in the world for a child of God is to be filled with the Spirit of God and to have the Spirit of God take the things of Christ and make them real to us. What joy that brings to our hearts! If you have been in the presence of God to worship, you will have joy in your heart and you will have a song in your heart. Some of us have difficulty getting that song to our lipsI always have!but it is certainly down in my heart. It is wonderful to worship Him. I want to recapitulate what we have said concerning the sanctuary here on earth which is inferior to the one in heaven. To do so, I will share from an outline put out by a good friend of mine, Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe (Be Confident). This is what we have seen concerning the sanctuary here on earth:

1. It was on earth. It was a worldly sanctuary, that is, it was made of earthly things, material things. It was erected on this earth down here.
2. It was but a shadow of things to come. It never was the reality. So many of us have things mixed up. We go back and study about the tabernacle, and we can really get our interest centered in that earthly tabernacle. But, at best it was just a shadow, a picture of the real one that is in heaven.
3. It was inaccessible to the people. You just couldn’t get in there. If you had been an Israelite in that day, you couldn’t go rushing into the presence of God. You would have been stopped at that first entrance. You would have needed a sacrifice there, and you couldn’t have gone any furtherthe priest served for you. However, today we are a priesthood of believers, and each one of us has access to God. That is one of the great privileges we have because Christ has rent the veil in twain. He has gone into the presence of God, into the face of God. He is right there, my friend, and He is there for us. The Israelites didn’t have that privilege under the old covenant.
4. It was temporary. But the Lord Jesus Christ is going to keep the way open for eternity. I have a notion that Vernon McGee is going to need someone who will keep it open for him throughout eternity. The earthly tabernacle was only a temporary arrangement.
5. It was ineffective to change the hearts of the people. This is the thing I want to emphasize above everything else. The earthly sanctuary had nothing in the world to do with changing people’s lives. But today you can come to Christ, and He can change your life. He alone can enable you to worship God in spirit and in truth and make Him a reality in your life.

Many folk today just play churchlike we played house by the hours when we were kids. I know a lot of Christians who are grown up and have gray hair, and they’re still playing church. They go to committee meetings, they’re on the board, some sing in the choir, some teach a Sunday school classthey are as busy as termites and just about as effective. They think they are serving God. My friend, you can never serve Him until you have worshiped Him.

Hebrews 9:11

THE SUPERIOR SACRIFICE"Of good things to come” really means good things that have come to pass. Oh, the good things that have come through Him! “A greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands.” This tabernacle is nothing that man has built down here. The better tabernacle does not belong to this natural creation as to materials or builders. Let me say this very kindly. All of this business today of trying to sweeten up the worship service with pictures and stained glass windows and candles and crosses ministers to the flesh. It is fleshlyit ministers to the physical side of man. It doesn’t minister to his spiritual needs at all. We need to recognize that there is a real tabernacle in heaven; there is a real High Priest there, and there is spiritual worship. You can worship Him anywhere, and it is wonderful when people can come together in a church and really worship God. I’m sure many of you have been in a service like that, and it is a wonderful thing.

Hebrews 9:12

I believe this verse proves that Christ took His literal blood to heaven. If that is not what the writer is talking about here, I do not know what he is saying. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves"that is literal blood. “But by his own blood,” this is the literal blood which He shed on the cross. “He entered in.” How? By His own blood. His was a superior sacrifice and the only one worthy of the genuine tabernacle. “Having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Notice that in your Bible the words for us are in italics, indicating that they are not in the original manuscript. They were added to smooth out the translation, which is all right, but they are not the emphasis of the verse. The emphasis is upon the contrast that Christ entered once into the Holy Place and obtained eternal redemption. The Israelite priests went in continually, and they got a temporary sort of thing. Only Christ went in once and obtained eternal redemption. This now puts the authority and the importance upon the sacrifice of Christ, and it reminds us that the life of Christ never saved anyone.

You can follow His teachings and think you are saved, but, my friend, His teaching never saved anyone. It is the death of Christ, it is His redemption that saves.

Hebrews 9:13

“And the ashes of an heifer” is a reference to the ordinance of the red heifer in Numbers 19. The heifer was burned completely and its ashes kept in a clean place. When a man became ceremonially defiled (primarily by touching a dead body), the priest would take the ashes, mingle them with water, and sprinkle the offender. This served to ceremonially purify him so that he could be restored to fellowship. I would like to have you notice that here the heifer has a particular symbolism. A female, instead of a bull, is used. We are told in 1Pe_3:7 that the female is the weaker vessel. Our defilement actually comes through our weakness. We are weak, and Christ came down and experienced physically, in the flesh, our weakness. We are told also that a red heifer was used. The red, I think, speaks of the fact that Christ became sin for usnot in some academic way, but He actually became sin for us. How do we know that red is the color of sin! Isaiah said, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa_1:18, italics mine). So it must be a red heifer, speaking of the fact that He became sin for us. The animal must also be without blemish. It certainly could not represent Christ unless it was perfect. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. The red heifer must be an animal upon which a yoke had never been put. This symbolizes the fact that although Christ was made sin for us, He was never under the bondage of sin. The heifer was to be led outside the camp and there slain before the high priest. In this we have pictured that the Lord Jesus is both the offering and the High PriestHe offered Himself. The blood of the offering was to be sprinkled by the high priest before the tabernacle seven times. Many people think that seven is the number of perfection in Scripture. That is only indirectly true; the primary meaning is completeness. It speaks here of the fact that Christ’s sacrifice is a finished transactionone sacrifice takes care of the sin of the believer. The carcass of the heifer was to be burnedagain in the sight of the high priest. You see, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Jesus freely gave Himself, but we probably have never thought of the sorrow that was in heaven the day He died. Numbers also tells us that cedar and hyssop were to be put with the sacrifice. This is rather suggestive to me. 1Ki_4:33 says, “And he [Solomon] spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall….” Solomon ran the gamut of trees and plant life; he was a dendrologist and knew the entire field. I think this is what Isaac Watts meant by “the whole realm of nature.” Therefore I believe this speaks of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ not only redeemed mankind, but He has redeemed this world. We live in a world that is cursed by sin; it is now groaning and travailing in pain, but it is to be delivered. Someday it is to be redeemed, and sin is to be removed. A little later in this chapter we are told that even heaven itself had to be cleansed (see v. Heb_9:23). Someone says, “My gracious, is it dirty in heaven?” Yes, that is where sin originated, where Lucifer led his rebellion. Therefore, Christ’s sacrifice was adequate and it was complete. It was a finished transaction that covered all of God’s creation which has been touched by sin. Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” Isaac Watts The ashes of the heifer were to be kept in a clean place and then mixed with water when they were used. I think that the water speaks of the Word of God. It is the Word of God which reveals sin in the life of the believer. The sacrifice of Christ provided redemption for the futurefor your redemption and my redemption. It also provided redemption for the sins of those in the Old Testament. The Old Testament saints were saved by faithAbraham was saved by faith. How? He believed God and brought a lamb. Was that lamb adequate? No; it prefigured Christ. The sacrifice of Christ looks forward and it looks backward.

Hebrews 9:14

If the blood of animals could remove ceremonial defilement, surely the blood of Christ can take away the guilt of sin. After all, if the blood of bulls and goats had been adequate, Christ never would have shed His blood to do the adequate job. “Purge your conscience.” The ordinance of the red heifer in Numbers 19 speaks of the life of the believer and the fact that as believers you and I need constant cleansing. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth [keeps on cleansing] us from all sin…. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn_1:7, 1Jn_1:9). You see, the blood of Christ cleanses, not the flesh, but the conscience. It is the conscience of man that needs to be cleansed. You and I have not really arrived until we enter into this marvelous sacrifice of Christ, recognizing His authority to absolutely forgive and cleanse us from sin. It is the conscience that has been made alert by the Word of God, but it can also rest in a finished salvation. We can pillow our heads at night knowing that our sins are entirely, totally, fully forgiven. We can know that we are right with God because Christ has made it right. I heard a story of a man who had a little boy who did something wrong and went to his father to ask him to forgive him. The father told the little boy he would, and said, “Because you have come and confessed it, I will forgive you.” But the little boy came again and asked forgiveness. The father said, “Sure. I’ve already forgiven you.” The little boy kept coming back and coming back and coming back. Finally, the father said, “Son, I’m going to paddle you, if you don’t quit coming to me! I told you I’d forgiven you.” How many times do we find believers who say, “Oh, I’m not sure I’m saved. I’m not sure I’m saved.” And they keep going to the Lord. My friend, I think He would say, “I’ve already forgiven you. If you trust in My Son, your sins are forgiven.” We need to enter into that and rest upon His Word. “Purge your conscience from dead works.” Dead works have to do with works that you do thinking they will save you. You see, we are dead in trespasses and sins, and all that a dead person can do is dead works. I have never heard of a dead person doing live workit just can’t be done. Anything that you do to try to earn your salvation is a dead work. Because good works are never a cause of salvation but are a result of salvation, the writer goes on to say, “purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” The word serve is actually worship"to worship the living God.” Worship and service go together. You can’t serve God without worshiping Him; neither can you worship Him without serving Him. When I see a lazy saint doing nothing for God, I don’t question his salvation, but I do question his worship. Does he really worship God? Oh, if you fall down before Him in adoration and praise, then you are going to get up on your feet to start doing something for Him, my friend. I had this bit of verse written in the first Bible I ever owned, which my mother had given to me: I do not work my soul to save That work my Lord has done. But I will work like any slave For love of God’s dear Son. Author unknown

Hebrews 9:15

“And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament [or, covenant].” The emphasis is upon the fact that He is the mediator of the New Covenant. Those who came under the old covenant, the Old Testament saints, were saved because they were looking forward to His coming when they brought their sacrifices. I do not know how much they understood, and yet the Lord Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (Joh_8:56). Genesis doesn’t tell us that; the Lord Jesus did. I believe that all of the Old Testament worthies looked forward to the coming of Christ. In other words, God saved on credit.

The blood of bulls and goats never took away their sins. They brought the sacrifices by faith, and when Christ came, He died “…for the remission of sins that are past …” (Rom_3:25); that is, He died for the sins of all from Adam right down to the time of the cross. And since then, you and I also come to Him by faith.

Hebrews 9:16

“Testament” could be translated will. If you have made a will and you are still alive, your will does nothing for anyone. It doesn’t operate until you die. Now the reference here is to a will that was made by a man who died. He couldn’t save anyone as long as He lived. Don’t misunderstand mewhat I am saying is that the life of Christ could never save you. It is the death of Christ which saves you.

Hebrews 9:18

The word blood occurs in this section six times, revealing the place and the power of the blood in the Old Testament ritual. “Without shedding of blood is no remission” is the axiom of the Old Testament. Also the blood is very important in the New Testament. As the hymn writer put it, “there is power in the blood of the Lamb.” In Revelation we find that the victory was won through the blood of the Lamb, not through some individual’s ingenuity, or physical strength, or even spiritual strength.

Hebrews 9:23

These heavenly things needed cleansing because sin originated in heaven (see v. Heb_9:11). The blood of bulls and goats has never been shed in heaventhere is no denying that that would be crude. However, the blood of Christ, we believe, is in heaven, and that is not crude at all.

Hebrews 9:24

The tabernacle on earth was just a figurethe reality is in heaven. “Now to appear in the presence of God for us” means before the very face of God. Christ has not entered into a manmade sanctuary. It is spiritual but real. He died on earth to save us. He lives in heaven to keep us saved. He is there for us.

Hebrews 9:25

The high priest entered the earthly tabernacle with blood not his own, and he entered often.

Hebrews 9:26

“But now once in the end of the world” should read “the end of the age.” This has no reference to what some people call the end of the world. Actually, the Bible does not teach the end of the world; it does teach the end of the age. “Hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Christ came, made under the Law. He appeared at the end of the Law age, and He instituted a new age, the age of grace.

Hebrews 9:27

Death is in the natural sequence of events for man. For the unsaved man, after death there is nothing but judgment. If the death of Christ does not save you, there is nothing ahead of you but judgment. Death is not appointed unto all menthank God for that. It is appointed unto men once to die, but some are not going to die. I hear people talk today about old age and, oh, how they want to die and get into the presence of the Lord. I don’t know about you, but I don’t mind waiting. I’m in no hurry to die! I hope I can live until He comes. I don’t know whether I will, but that is the way I would like it. Oh, joy! oh, delight! should we go without dying, No sickness, no sadness, no dread and no crying. Caught up through the clouds with our Lord into glory, When Jesus receives “His own.” O Lord Jesus, how long, how long Ere we shout the glad song, Christ returneth! Hallelujah! hallelujah! Amen, Halleljah! Amen. “Christ Returneth” H. L. Turner These words by H. L. Turner in “Christ Returneth” express the thoughts we cherish about His coming.

Hebrews 9:28

This is not speaking of the Rapture, but of His coming as sovereign to judge the earth. (However, believers will not come into judgment.) When He appears the second time it will not be to settle the sin question. He is not going to come the next time to walk around the Sea of Galilee or through the streets of Jerusalem to see what men will do with His sacrifice. He is coming in judgment. Therefore today we can put it very simply: there is just one of two places for your sineither your sin is on you, or it is on Christ. If you have not accepted the sacrifice of Christ, if you are not trusting Him as your redeemer, if He is no authority to you, then there is nothing ahead of you but the judgment of the Great White Throne. No one who appears there is going to be saved, but everyone will be given a fair chance to present their works and discover that God was right all along. And I have news for you: God is always right. So today if your sin is on you, there is nothing that can remove it but the death of Christ. When Christ comes the next time it will be “without sin unto salvation"that is, He will complete salvation at that time. Our salvation is in three tenses: I have been saved; I am being saved; I shall be saved. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth 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” (1Jn_3:2). Now that is going to be a great day. It is going to be a great day for Vernon McGee, so don’t you be dissatisfied with me, will you not? God is not through with me. Down in Mississippi a dear little lady wearing a sunbonnet got up in a testimony meeting under the brush arbor and said, “Most Christians ought to have written on their backs, ‘This is not the best that the grace of God can do.’” Well, that should be written on the backs of all Christians. God is not through with any of us. Thank God for that! He is going to appear the second time without sin unto salvationHe is going to deliver us. But, my friend, He will not come to settle the sin question for anyone who has not accepted Himto them He is coming as judge.