Appointed to Death and Judgment

Introduction:

1. Paul made it clear that the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ should be our theme (I Cor 2:2; Gal 6:14).
2. We are studying the defense of the words of the KJV. Do you appreciate every word of Heb 9:27-28?

And

1. The conjunctive conjunction or coordinating conjunction, “and,” ties our text to the context.
2. The whole chapter compares the new covenant of Jesus Christ to the old covenant of Moses, which Paul did to encourage Jewish believers that they had made the right choice to convert.
3. Consider the first section in which the old covenant is described for its inferiority (9:1-10).
   1. For 1500 years the people of God worshipped by ordinances of the Old Testament (1).
   2. They worshipped first in a tabernacle – a tent building, and then they used a temple (1).
   3. A sanctuary is a holy place for the worship of God, which we have in the Holy Spirit.
   4. The Old Testament was inferior in its message and its worship to what we enjoy today.
   5. There were two sections to the tabernacle or temple, which contained pieces of furniture.
   6. The first section had ordinances of divine service occurring daily with the priests (1-6).
   7. The second section was only entered once a year on the Day of Atonement for sin (7:10).
   8. Only the high priest, and only with blood, could enter the holiest of all for service (7).
   9. The presence of God was not then open for sinners to come before the Lord (8).
   10. The ordinances of divine service did not free the conscience from guilt before God (9).
   11. This deficient and inferior form of worship last 1500 years until Jesus Christ (10).
4. Consider the second section, which describes the new covenant for its superiority (9:11-26).
   1. Our Jesus, as a better high priest, had His ministry in heaven, not on this earth (11).
   2. His sacrifice was His blood, offered only once, and fully effectual for redemption (12).
   3. The blood of Christ is such a superior sacrifice as to motivate greater service (13-14).
   4. It is by this good conscience we enter the waters of baptism to answer God (I Pet 3:21).
   5. Note that Jesus Christ offered Himself through the Spirit to God, not to sinners (14).
   6. We do believe in salvation by means – we are not totally anti-means – death (15).
   7. And these means – the death of the Son of God – obtained eternal redemption (15).
   8. Testaments require the death of the testators, so God died by Jesus Christ (16-17).
   9. Since blood and death are essential to covenants – they are involved in both (18-23).
   10. Our Lord Jesus Christ entered into heaven into the presence of God for us (24).
   11. In contrast to the repeated sacrifices of the O.T., Jesus died once for everything (25).
5. The connection is this simple – the emphasis is on “once” from 25-26, by which Paul compares our need to die once with our Lord’s death once (9:27-28). And though He only died once, He is coming twice – the first time to die for us, and the second time to gather us!

As

1. This adverb means, “In the manner described or specified,” which is connected to “so” in 28.
2. An “as … so” construction is very powerful in connecting the two things being compared.
3. Since man must die once (9:27), Jesus was put to death once (9:28) … to pay for their sins.

It is appointed

1. God appointed this consequence for Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:17).
2. The rule is simple – the soul that sinneth shall die, regardless of circumstances (Ezek 18:4).
3. The appointment is sure – there is no discharge in this war with death by sin (Eccl 8:8).
4. The appointment is in the present tense, which means death is still as active today as ever.

Unto men

1. This reference includes you, for all have sinned and come short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23).
2. When the Lord looked down on the children of men, He did not find any good (Ps 14:1-3).
3. So Jesus Christ took on Himself the nature of sinful man to die for them (Hebrews 2:14-17).

Once

1. Compare this “once” with the “once” in 9:28 to grasp the comparison Paul made for us.
2. Having established that Christ’s offering was only “once” (9:26), he included our one death.
3. The Lord Jesus Christ did not need to die twice or more, for His one death put away sin.

To Die

1. We chose the way of death in Eden, and we choose it every day (Gen 2:17; Rom 6:23).
2. The appointment to die will be kept, regardless of your eating or exercise (Psalm 90:10-12).

But

1. This disjunctive conjunction makes its short phrase adversative to what has been written.
2. Paul is primarily pursuing our one death paid for by Christ’s one death, but here is a reminder of something else that occurs after death … the Final Judgment before God and Jesus Christ.
3. Judgment is worse than death, so do not think that death is all that bad … look wisely past it!
4. While we have our one death compared to Christ’s, we also have judgment compared to “without sin unto salvation. Jesus died in our place, and He will deliver us from Judgment.

After this

1. Death is not the end of your existence; in fact, your existence only begins after death!
2. The heresies of annihilation or universalism are lies of Satan to ignore this sober warning.

The judgment

1. It is very important to remember the judgment seat of Christ (Rom 14:10-12; II Cor 5:9-11).
2. The whole duty of man is to keep God’s commandments in light of that day (Eccl 12:13-14).
3. John writes a horrific picture by the Spirit, but for the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev 20:11-15).

So

1. This adverb is to be connected to the adverb “as” opening the previous verse to unite them.
2. The “as … so” construction is powerful in drawing a very tight and valuable comparison.
3. The Lord Jesus Christ died in our place as our soul substitute to put away the power of death.

Christ

1. Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah and Christ – the anointed One of God for our salvation.
2. He is the Mediator between God and men: our only hope of salvation (Acts 4:12; I Tim 2:5).

Was

1. The past tense verb reminds us that our Lord’s death was a past event, now 2000 years old.
2. There is no further offering for sin, for the offering of His death was once for all (Heb 10:10).

Once

1. Compare to the “once” in 9:27, where we have the perfect substitution for our appointment.
2. The Lord Jesus Christ is not offered repeatedly on Catholic altars, no matter what they claim.

Offered

1. Jesus Christ was not offered to sinners; He was offered to God through the Spirit (9:14).
2. This offering was accepted, which obtained eternal redemption for us (9:12,15; Is 53:10-12).

To bear

1. The Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins in His body on the tree in His death once (I Peter 2:24).
2. Our iniquities were laid on Him, in order to cancel the certain appointment (Isaiah 53:3-6).

The sins

1. All your sins were put on Jesus Christ, so there is no sin left to even consider (Rom 8:33-34).
2. In contrast to the one offence of Adam, the Second Adam put away many sins (Rom 5:16).

Of many

1. Here is reference to the elect, which are only part of the human population (Rom 9:22-24).
2. Jesus laid down His life for the sheep, those given to Him by God (John 10:11,15,28-29).
3. Those the Father gave to Him shall surely be raised up at the last day (John 6:37-39; 17:2).

And

1. Here is a further connection of the trait of the elect and the blessings that are coming.
2. He not only put away death, but He also changed our nature and secured an inheritance.

Unto them that look for him

1. Do you want to know if you are one of the “many” of God’s elect? Here is the evidence.
2. Throughout the Bible are character traits of God’s elect: this is one of them. Lay hold of it.
3. Here is the character of the many – the elect: they look for His coming (I Thess 1:2-4,9-10).
4. Paul told both Timothy and Titus about this character trait (II Timothy 4:8; Titus 2:11-14).
5. There are even more verses describing this character trait (I Cor 1:7; Phil 3:20; II Pet 3:12).

Shall he appear

1. Jesus Christ is surely coming again, just as He promised His apostles (John 14:3; Acts 1:11).
2. He will come to be admired by all them that believe, and you have believed (II Thess 1:10).
3. A time nears in which He will show He is the Blessed and Only Potentate (I Tim 6:13-16).
4. He will appear; you will see Him again; Job knew he would see Him again (Job 19:25-27).

The second time

1. He only died once, but He is coming twice – once to die for us, and once to gather us to Him.
2. He has been here before, and if you fully believe that, you will believe He is coming again.
3. The second coming of Christ is the great hope of the believer (I Thess 4:13-18; Titus 2:13).

Without sin

1. Since your sins were put on Him at death, there are no sins left against you (Rom 8:33-34).
2. Because there are no more sins of which to accuse you, Satan was cast out (Rev 12:9-11).
3. Since the apostle had mentioned the judgment after death, there is comfort in these words.

Unto salvation

1. This is the final phase of salvation – our declaration as the sons of God and glorification.
2. This is a phase of salvation – our final salvation – that occurs at Christ’s coming (I Pet 1:5,9).
3. Remember, the elect are waiting for their adoption – redemption of their bodies (Rom 8:23).
4. Paul was sure of this salvation – He believed God would keep His soul safe (II Tim 1:12).

Conclusion:

1. It is not enough to know the doctrine of God’s predestinating grace in Christ. Do you love Christ?
2. Throughout the Bible are the character traits of the elect. You can know that you are God’s elect.
3. The elect of God are totally recreated with a new heart that loves heavenly things about Christ.

For Further Study:

1. Sermon Outline: “Eternal Life Is a Gift,” is a word-by-word explanation of salvation from Romans 6:23.
2. Sermon Outline: “God Commendeth His Love,” covers Romans 5:6-11 and its description of our salvation.
3. Sermon Outline: “The Two Adams,” details similarities and differences of Adam and Christ (Rom 5:15-19).