The Old Testament seems so irrelevant to my life. Why do we even have the Old Testament Scriptures? I mean, after all, we're Christians. Shouldn't our preoccupation with the Bible really begin in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? I'm convinced, dear friends, that a great number of contemporary Christians share these very sentiments. Whether or not they actually articulate them is a different matter, but that they ponder such questions is very common indeed. The fact of the matter is, dear friends, after becoming a Christian, these were my questions. I will never forget that saintly woman who gave to me my very first Bible. And as she handed it to me, said, don't bother with the first half of it. Just jump right into the Gospel of Matthew. And so what was God's purpose in giving to us the first two thirds of our Bible really? What is that all about? Is the Old Testament merely a collection of religious bedtime stories, albeit authentic and accurate? Is the primary purpose of the Old Testament to supply us with a record of human history beginning from the point of creation and extending through to the coming of Jesus Christ? Is that what the Old Testament is? A history book? How are we to read the Old Testament scriptures? That question has been answered for us by Jesus Christ himself on the evening following his resurrection from the dead. It was on that particular occasion he showed his disciples that the Old Testament was to be read with him in mind, that he was the principal subject of all of those inspired writings. In fact, if you recall in the 24th chapter of Luke's Gospel, Jesus chided his disciples for their failure to anticipate his resurrection from the dead, but not because their failure revealed a lack of belief in him. Rather, because their failure revealed a lack of willingness to believe in the Old Testament. He said to his disciples on that road to Emmaus how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe what? All that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. It is an amazing thing. We read that later that evening he appears to these same men and supernaturally as it were, he opens up their minds. He grants to them understanding and he shows to them how from all compartments of the Old Testament he is spoken of. He is the theme. He is the object of their concern. Someone beloved has captured the relationship of the Old and New Testament this way. The New is in the Old concealed. The Old is in the New revealed. And that's a good word. I take that to be a legitimate axiom. The New is in the Old concealed. The Old is in the New revealed. Now it's not that we go to the Old Testament and hunt around for things that are not there. Rather, it is that the coming and dying and rising of Jesus Christ is the single definitive interpretive event that unlocks the Old Testament to us. The Bible, as it were, is a book with the answers in the back. St. Augustine captured it this way. It's like stepping into a darkened room with a light in your hand. Now there's nothing in that darkened room that wasn't already there before it was illuminated. The light in that sense did not add anything to the room, but you're unable to see what is there without the aid of illumination from that light. And this you see, beloved, is what Jesus Christ does to the Old Testament scriptures. When you step inside of them, now with the lantern of his person and work in your hand, what do you see? One revelation of his glory after another. Now it was always there, there from the very first, from the moment those inspired writers put a pen to a parchment. It was always there, but now, as we read the Old Testament through the glasses, through the lenses of the New Testament, it becomes clear, it becomes apparent. And this you see has been the methodology employed by the author of Hebrews to display to us and for us the greatness of Jesus Christ. That is to say he is repeatedly drawn upon Old Testament persons and events to show us how they arrive at their consummated meaning, their ultimate fulfillment in him. He is the greater prophet, chapter 1. He is the ultimate Adam, chapter 2. He is the true Joshua leading us into Sabbath rest, chapter 4. I forgot chapter 3, he is the one greater than Moses. He is the new Melchizedek, chapter 7, the better intercessor, chapter 7, the inaugurator of a superior covenant, chapter 8 and chapter 9. It is as though the author wants to say to us, touch the Old Testament scriptures at any point and they will lead you directly to Jesus Christ. And this my friends is especially the case now, as he speaks to us of the sacrificial offerings of the Old Covenant and how they were by intention designed to find their meaning in the ultimate sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ. And how does the author make this clear? The superior sacrifice of Jesus Christ by setting forth three facts that reveal the greater effectiveness of this new covenant sacrifice. Do you remember the first two of these from last Lord's day? Let me remind you. We learned firstly that Jesus Christ has offered a sacrifice that is quantifiably superior, that is measurably superior. Verse 23, do you recall it was necessary then for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices? But the heavenly things themselves, that is the people of God with better sacrifices than these. The copies of heavenly things needed to be purified with the sacrifices of bulls and goats, but the heavenly things themselves, as it were as we discovered last Lord's day, the people of God, they need to be purified with the sacrifice better than that. Of course the sacrifice being Jesus Christ and you'll note how in the next verse he explains the basis for this claim that the sacrifice of Jesus was better. Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven itself. There was a radical contrast being set forth here. Under the old covenant, the lividical high priest for a moment would enter into that earthly sanctuary to make a tomen for the people he represented. Then he would quickly remove himself from that place, from the presence of God to the contrary, Jesus Christ has sacrificed himself for our sins. He has been raised from the dead. He has entered into heaven itself, whereas our representative, he experiences now un-inhibited access to God. When the text says that he entered into heaven, it means that he entered and he is still there unlike the lividical high priest in the Holy of Holies, and very much in a hurry to get out, he is there as our representative. Well, his presence in that place evidences the superiority of his sacrifice. Moreover, friends, please take note of what he does there. Now to appear for us in God's presence. Remember the word we talked about it, that word presence, God's presence, the specific word used speaks of the face, presence of God. He is an absolute immediate intimacy with God as intimate as two people can be. Now friends, this week a particular verse shot through my mind that very much ties in together with this. You remember how the opening of the gospel of John begins? In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. John is telling us one that the word was already in existence when beginnings began. In the beginning was already was the word. What's more, he tells us that this eternal word was full deity and the word was God, but did you catch that middle phrase? He also says about this eternal word who was full deity and the word was with God. Now that may not sound like a big deal to you, but that is a monumental deal. You see that little proposition that is used there and the word was with God speaks of the closest possible intimacy between equals. In other words, prior to the coming of Jesus Christ to us, the eternal second person of the Trinity enjoyed face-to-face communion in equality with the first person of the Trinity. But what happens? The word becomes flesh and dwells among us. He adds humanity to his deity. He leaves the glories of heaven. He comes to live among us. To die as a sacrifice for sinners like us. God raises him from the dead. He returns to glory to do what? To share with the Father what he enjoyed before the foundation of the world. In other words, he resumes his intimacy that he experienced with the Father in all of eternity past. Only now there is something significantly different about his presence in that place. His presence there concerns us. Now to appear in God's presence for us to secure our well-being. On the basis of what? A quantifiably better sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews told us in chapter 7, Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them. You realize that the resurrected life of Jesus Christ is bound up within ensuring our well-being, all on the basis of this better sacrifice. Secondly, then, we learned that Jesus Christ has offered a sacrifice that is comprehensively sufficient. Notice, remember, at the end of verse 26, but now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. If you recall, we gave our attention to the finality of this sacrifice, but now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages, once for all this sacrifice, unlike all of the others will never need repeating. It is thoroughly sufficient for all who will seek forgiveness by means of it, and then we gave consideration to the intentionality of this sacrifice. Now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin. This is why Jesus Christ came to us, friends. At the end of the day, this is why the Son of God came to put away sin by the sacrifice of his life, and we need to remember this as we begin to approach now this Advent season. This season when we recognize the incarnation, lest we lose our way in the sentimentalizing of a baby's birth. Why did he come to us? What did the angel tell Joseph? You were to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. This is why he came. This is why God took on human flesh. The Apostle Paul summarizes it like this. Here was a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This is why he came. That is perhaps the single most definitive Christmas verse in all the Bible. We like the preified story of the manger and all of those kinds of things, but beloved, if you want a theological understanding of what takes place at the incarnation, it is right here. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Finally we gave attention to the adequacy of this sacrifice. He appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself by the sacrifice of himself, the offer of his own life. You see, beloved, it wasn't enough for any man to die a sacrificial death in the place of men. The efficacy of this sacrifice was grounded in the fact that it was this man. The value of the life of the eternal Son of God could alone compensate for the enormity of death we had accumulated by our sin. Jesus Christ has offered a sacrifice that is quantifiably superior and comprehensively sufficient. Now thirdly, and for the remainder of our time this morning, very important friends, all of it doesn't mean a thing if this is not true. Jesus Christ has offered a sacrifice that will consummate our salvation. He has offered a sacrifice that will consummate our salvation if you are a Christian today. You realize that as yet you have only experienced a portion of what constitutes the total gift of salvation. This is not all that there is. Now admittedly God has done some wonderful things for us thus far. We've been given the down payment of what's to come in the person of the Holy Spirit. We've been raised as it were from death to life. The power of sin, Roman 6, has been broken. We have been forgiven of all guilt. We have been brought into a relationship of intimacy with the living God. We have been placed into the body of Christ. But as glorious as all this is, it's not all that there is. Salvation in the fullest and richest sense is something that is still to come. Farmore has been purchased for you by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, then you presently experience. And to establish this very point now, the author employs an analogy. That is to say, if you look at the verses here, to illustrate the point he wants to highlight, to illustrate the event that he wants to highlight in verse 28, he first draws upon an event that is common to all human experience in verse 27. And the reason he does this is because these two events share an important point of resemblance. Notice, look at it, what reveals the analogy. He begins in verse 27 by saying, just as man, the answer to that is verse 28. So Christ, he's drawing our attention to a similarity that exists between two events. Now, if I've lost you in that, friends, another way of looking at this thing would be to say it like this. In verse 27, we have the point illustrated. In verse 27, we have the point illustrated. In verse 28, we have the point articulated. Now, to begin with, let's look at the point illustrated, verse 27. Just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment. Now, this is an illustration of what he wants to establish in the next verse. And in this particular illustration, friends, he asserts three things that are worthy of our consideration. You can see them there. The death of men, the judgment that follows, and the cause of both. Look first at the death of men. Just as man is destined to die once. And I might add that the key word in this phrase is the word once. You'll notice that this applies a point of comparison with the following verse, verse 28. So Christ was sacrificed once. Every person will die once. Now, maybe your mind is already racing. Maybe you're already ahead of me in this. And so, perhaps you're thinking, yeah, well, there are exceptions to this. And to be sure you're right in God's sovereign design, there have been exceptions to this rule. Lazarus, for example, obviously died twice. As did all others who had been raised from the dead in the old covenant economy or in the ministry of the Lord Jesus. And there is even yet another exception to this. And that is those Christians who will be alive at the return of Jesus Christ. Those people who will not experience physical death according to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. But exceptions aside, and of course we don't make the rule by the exception. The common experience of humanity is the experience of physical death. The Scriptures testified to this very thing. Like water spilled on the ground which cannot be recovered, so we must die. Job said to God, I know that you will bring me down to death to the place appointed for all the living. And listen to Solomon. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting for death is the destiny of every man the living should take this to heart. Solomon says, you know what, there are times when it's better to go to a funeral than to go to a party. And you want to know why because death is the destiny of every one of us and we who are living need to take this to heart. That is our future. Come he slow or come he fast, it is but death who comes at last. You've heard me quote George Bernard Shaw before who said death is the ultimate statistic. One out of one persons die. The fact of the matter is friends you open up to the front part of your Bible and what do you discover that when God created man, death was a potentiality wasn't it? What was God's warning to Adam? You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for when you eat of it you will surely die. The potential for death was there from the very beginning which means what? That immortality in the truest sense is something that God alone possesses. In part it's what defines God to be God. Life is his it in hears him it is his gift to us. Death on the other hand is a powerful reminder of our creatureliness that we are not God. And yet to be even more exact friends it is death that graphically reminds us of our fallenness. Every time we stand at an open casket it was that way at my own father's funeral you realize this is what sin has cost us. This is the consequence of being part of a fallen race. Death is part of the curse. And do you remember God was very explicit with Adam subsequent to the fall by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground. Since from it you were taken for dust you are and to dust you will return. The wages of sin Paul said simply is dead. He's illustrating a point here. He first of all begins by talking about the death of men. Notice also secondly he mentions judgment that follows. Judgment is the inevitable consequence following upon the heels of death. Notice justice man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment death friends is not all that there is. Death does not terminate the human experience though some people desperately hold onto the hope that that is the case. Nor will death give way to a second opportunity at life allowing the person to compensate for his or her failings the first time around as Hollywood would lead us to believe. As the eastern reincarnationists would be inclined to believe. Death does not make an end of man friends rather death were told is subservient to everything else as death leaves man judgment finds him. And so the writer of Ecclesiastes says be happy young man while you were young. And let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. God will bring every deed into judgment including every hidden thing whether it is good or evil. We find this friends in the Old Testament and if you think the Old Testament is severe the New Testament is twice as infantic about this point. In fact the New Testament tells us that the person who will be the judge on that great and final day will be none other than Jesus Christ himself. He will be the judge. What did Paul say to those philosophers on Mars Hill in Acts chapter 17 he says for he God has said a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead Jesus Christ this man raised from the dead will be the judge of all men the living in the dead Paul tells us in second Timothy. And of course this is very much what Jesus himself spoke of in John chapter 5 when he said the father has given all judgment to the son. And thus second Corinthians chapter 5 Paul says for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Jesus Christ will return with thousands and thousands of angels to judge everyone and listen to the scene. Listen to the description of it. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence and there was no 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 as recorded in the books. The C gave up the dead that were in it and death and Hades gave up the 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. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire. Now friends this is after all the God breathed word. The death of men the judgment that follows thirdly notice the cause of both. Just as man is destined and that were destined governs both of what follows death and judgment. It's a word that means to be reserved for to put away for to store up for what is said to be reserved for men what is said to be put away for men what is said to be stored up for all people. Death and judgment death and judgment my dear friends you must not live as though this were not true you must not walk through this life in a colossal fog of denial because this is your destiny. This is the destiny of every person born on this planet death and judgment you need to awaken to the fact that this is the inescapable destiny of every person to die once and to face the eternal judgment of the God man Jesus Christ. This is an appointment that you cannot keep that you cannot escape it is an appointment that you cannot reschedule. The only question is the condition in which you will meet these events either you will meet them joyfully having had all of your sins forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ or you will meet them dreadfully having the bright guilt of sin painted all over you. And if the latter is the case the judgment you meet will result in what one commentator has termed the eschatological catastrophe if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire is your name in that book is your name there. Death and judgment is your destiny it's the destiny of every person that's the point illustrated physical death followed by final judgment is the inevitable destiny of every person with that illustration ringing in your ears. Judgment follows death judgment follows death judgment inevitably follows death observed now the point articulated just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people and. He will appear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him now watch friends and you can see the logic in what he's trying to say there is an inextricable connection for man between death and judgment they cannot be divorced they go together so to there is an inextricable connection between the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. And his appearance a second time that he might bring the fullness of salvation to us this is how guaranteed it is just as death follows judgment so the second coming of Christ to complete our salvation is sure to follow his first coming when he came to put away sin. But notice something in verse 28 I want to be very careful not to hurry over this because it is so precious friends he says so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people of course this is not new to us if you've been with us in Hebrews chapter 9 this is not new territory. We've been told that this is why Jesus came on the scene the first time you recall from the end of verse 26 but he has now appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself very clear to us he absorbed in himself on the cross the penalty for sin. He gave himself as a sacrifice for sin you'll note back up in verse 14 it was mentioned earlier how much more than will the blood of Christ to through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God there it is again he offered himself he gave himself he sacrificed himself now friends follow with me here. He almost always when the writer of Hebrew speaks about the sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ he always speaks of it he almost always speaks of it in what we would call the active voice Christ gave himself Christ sacrificed himself it speaks of the voluntary nature of his sacrifice we come to verse 28 and we have something here that doesn't appear anywhere else in the book of Hebrews and that is the passive voice is used not that he gave up himself now but that he was sacrifice the idea is it happened to him. He in verses 26 and 14 the emphasis is more on Christ as priest offering a sacrifice we come to verse 28 and the emphasis is not on Christ as priest but on Christ as sacrificial victim here he's not the agent of sacrifice but the object of sacrifice. Who is the implied agent of sacrifice the rest of the Bible forces us to conclude that it is none other than God the Father. What is being emphasized here beloved is the submission of Jesus Christ to the will of God and you see standing behind these words are the very passage that Michael read to us earlier this morning from Isaiah chapter 53 those beautiful lyrics from the servant song. Listen to them once again at times almost word for word with what we read here in Hebrews 9 surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows yet we considered him stricken by God smitten by him and afflicted but he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed we all like sheep have gone astray each of us has turned to his own. Now watch and the Lord Yahweh the father has laid upon him he is the object of sacrifice the father is the agent of sacrifice the father has laid upon him the iniquity of us all in fact beloved it is even more profound a couple of verses later when it says it was the Lord's will to crush him here Christ is the victim. And so you see what we must never ever allow ourselves to think is Jesus saying to the father will you love them if I die for them will you love them if I die for them some of you have grown up in church traditions where you have this image of God the father is the God who is stern and inflexible. And unbending and God the son who is compassionate and forgiving and merciful for a whole host of reasons this is as wrong headed as wrong headed could be not the least of which is the fact that all throughout the Bible we read that the son comes because the father sent him and this is love first John said not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins Jesus as it were does not say will you love them if I die for them he says because you love them I will die for them the source of his coming was the father's love for us here he is the victim. And so back with the illustration just as judgment inevitably follows death in the case of man so to the second appearing of Jesus Christ will inevitably follow his first appearing. So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people and just as judgment inevitably falls on the heels of death so he will appear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him now allow me to ask you three brief questions about this last little section of verse 28 first of all in what manner will Jesus Christ appear. In what manner will Jesus Christ appear it is interesting the word appear the verb here to appear is is not often used in the New Testament to speak of the return of Christ in fact I think that this is the only place anywhere in the New Testament that this specific Greek word is used to speak of the return of Jesus Christ which means that it is used here to emphasize something very important. And that is this word means to become visible to the eye the idea is to be seen it is interesting to note that this word is used on several occasions to speak of Jesus's resurrection appearances. For example Luke chapter 24 the disciples say the Lord has risen and appeared to Simon now this is not some kind of spiritual appearance you see to a man's mind but a physical appearance that falls upon a man's eyes over and over this word is used in the book of Acts to speak of the various resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ appearing to the eyes of men and what the writer is saying here. The second coming of Jesus Christ will be defined by an appearance of him that will be evident to our physical eyesight he will appear physically so that we can see him physically and of course friends you see this perfectly answers what the angels told the disciples in Acts chapter 1. Do you remember? After Jesus said this he was taken up before their very eyes and the cloud hid him from their sight they were looking intently up into the sky as he was going when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them men of Galilee they said why do you stand here looking into the sky this same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. In what manner will he appear open for all to see second to what end will he appear to what end will he appear notice first of all negatively he will appear a second time not to bear sin literally he will appear a second time without apart from sin that is to say not for the purpose of atoning for sin. We're told earlier in the verse that he was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many in the second coming of Jesus Christ his business will not be to a tone for sin sin was decisively dealt with at his first appearance not to bear sin but now positively to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Now friends put this all together in your mind it is the vision of Jesus Christ at his second coming that will result in the final salvation of believers you see friends a Christian dies their body goes into the grave the immaterial part of who they are is immediately ushered into the presence of Jesus Christ and they experience the first fruits of glorification but that is not the end of the day where salvation is concerned. At a moment in time when the Lord Jesus Christ returns establishes as it were his second coming it is at that particular point that all believers will enter into the full experience of salvation purchased for us in his first coming by his sacrifice. And what that means is that sin and all of its lingering effects will be gone intimacy with God will be perfect and all of the promises of the new covenant will be brought into maximized realization. And this you see is what the Apostle John is telling us at the end of his apocalypse and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying now the dwelling of God is with men and he will live with them they will be his people and God himself will be there God this is the promise of the new covenant God with us and us with God but how with no caveat whatsoever. Absolute intimacy he will wipe every tear from their eyes there will be no more death their mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away he who was seated on the throne said I am making everything new then he said write this down for these words are trustworthy and true. In what manner will Jesus Christ appear open for all to see to what and will Jesus appear that he might bring about the full experience of salvation purchased by the sacrifice of his life thirdly for whom will Jesus Christ appear. But love of the Bible tells us that every I will see him but his appearing to all will not benefit all we're told in Jerry graphic terms in the book of Revelation that there will be those who run to the hills and cry out for the rocks to consume the fall upon him to destroy them because the wrath of the lamb has come his appearing will be in the side of all but not for the benefit of all. We're told that he comes to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Now friends admittedly there is nothing said here about the future of the unbelieving the author reserves those comments for the next chapter and I might add they are exceedingly terrifying at this point it is his burden to show us that this gift of full salvation will be granted to those who await the coming of Jesus Christ. Not I might add those who happen to be living on earth at the actual time he comes but to all of those Christians who in every generation have longed for the blessed home. Can you say with the Apostle John at the end of the book of Revelation on Lord Jesus if you can make that claim and he's coming for you to finish what he's begun he's offered a sacrifice that will consummate our salvation now friends why the Old Testament what purpose does it serve do you realize. But all that the author has said here about Jesus Christ was powerfully prefigured by the sequence of events on the day of atonement follow me very carefully here on that awesome day the high priest would appear before the people and sacrifice an animal in the courtyard of the sanctuary. He would then disappear from the side of the people and appear before the presence of God with a basin of sacrificial blood outside in the courtyard the people waited breathlessly anxiously as the high priest was carrying out his duties before God you see if he did anything wrong if he failed to carry out God's prescriptions to the tea he would die in that place and finally you see when he emerged from the holy of holies and appeared before the people a second time there was an overwhelming sigh of relief the offering of atonement has been accepted by God. And what is the writer of Hebrews tell us that Jesus Christ perfectly fulfills these three high priestly appearing verse 26 he appeared among us to make sacrifice. Verse 24 he has now disappeared from our site to appear in the presence of God for us verse 28 like the successful high priest of old he will come out of the holy of holies once again which among other things will confirm to us in the most powerful way that his sacrifice for our sins has been accepted by God. Are you among those for whom he will come? Are you filled with dread at the thought of the return of Jesus Christ or are you filled with delight by virtue of anticipating? And let me ask you will he come for you as savior or will he come for you as judge? Are you among the many or whom he was sacrificed to take away sins? You are if you will believe in him and the sufficiency of his sacrifice to purchase a full and complete salvation you will appear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Let's pray together shall we. Our father and our God I can't imagine hearing these things and at the same time persisting to refuse them either you are a liar or this is true we will die and we will face judgment every one of us. We will face you forgiven if we have indeed trusted in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ or we will face you in our sin trying to earn salvation by our own needs our own concoction our own religion or perhaps father there are those who will face you surprised because they walk through this light doing everything they could to tell themselves that this is all that there is. Our father we thank you for those of us who are Christians this morning we thank you that there is ahead of us a salvation that is yet to come when we speak about our biography as Christians we can certainly speak of salvation in a past sense at that moment when the spirit of God opened our eyes and affected the new birth and we trusted Christ. We can speak of salvation as the Bible does often in a present tense we are being saved progressively conformed into the image of Jesus Christ but father we know that the Bible also speaks of salvation as it does here in a future sense we are yet to be saved we will be saved a salvation that is completed when Jesus Christ returns to this place. Father for those who are somehow in denial of these facts I pray that your spirit would stay after them would continue to bring this to their attention and realize oh God that the most damaging thing they could do for themselves is to pretend that this is not true. Father made the truthfulness of your word empowered by the spirit caused them to come to terms with the inevitability of death and judgment and yet the wonderful promise that is ours who believe in Jesus Christ but though we have been saved in our being saved the best is still yet to come how we love you father and we give you great praise knowing that all of this from start to finish all of it was purchased by the sacrifice of your son we love you in Jesus name amen. Amen.