Appearances X 3 - Hebrews 9

     For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a
     copy of the true one;  he entered heaven itself, now to appear
     for us in God's presence. 

     Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the
     way the high priests enters the Most Holy Place every year
     with blood that is not his own. 

     Then Christ would have to suffer many times since the
     creation of the world.

     But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages
     to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.....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. 
                           -- Hebrews 9: 24-28

God's rescue mission (to bring us back from bondage
to sin and the Evil One) is all described here in this
passage.

God's mission is complete and permanent. Nothing can change what He has done! And there is nothing more to be done!

I notice the word "appear" occurs three times in the passage.

I once heard a Bible scholar respond to a student's
question: "Are you saved?"

The kind and patient teacher said, "What do you mean? Have I been saved? Am I being saved? Will I be saved? Which to you mean?"

The student didn't know how to respond.

The teacher went to explain that the fact of salvation involves three tenses -- past, present, and future.

We have been saved - past tense - from the guilt of sin. That is irrevocable and complete.

We are now being saved - present tense - from the power of sin by Christ's presence right now at His Father's throne, making intercession for us, praying for us and being our advocate.

We will be saved - future tense - from the very
presence of sin when He has taken us home to live with Him forever.

We see all three facts here in this passage, giving us the complete picture of what Christ has done, is doing, and will do for us.


(1) He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us,
      and to help us resist the power of sin (present).
(2) He already appeared to sacrifice Himself and take
      away our sin (past).    
(3) He will appear again, not as a suffering Savior,
     but as Conqueror and Victor, to take us to 
     heaven and save us from the very presence of sin
     (future).

We are saved - past, present and future.

His mission accomplished!

Authentic Prayer

I was about 13 when the accident occurred. I heard my mother answer the telephone and I listened in. News travels fast in a small town.


My friend, Susie McLain, and her two brothers, with their parents, were on their way to their cabin in East Texas. There was a flat tire, and Mr. McLain pulled off the road to fix it.

A car propelled by a drunk on his way to Galveston left the road and smashed into the McLain automobile. Susie and her two brothers were killed. So was her father.

Only Mrs. McLain, Rose, was left, gravely injured. It was several weeks before she was released from the hospital.

I remember the Sunday she returned to church.  She was fragile and trembling, reminding me of a tiny lost bird in a rainstorm. Lots of folk rushed up to her to welcome her back and to express the grief they desperately wanted to share with her.

Our pastor asked the congregation to stand and pray for her.

I remember her reaction clearly. "I don't want to pray," she cried out. "I want to scream!"

And so we did. All of us, as a mournful, but purposeful group, accompanied her outside and we screamed. At the tops of our voices we screamed. We mourned and wailed. We shook our fists in the air challenging the God we loved and worshipped, trying to make some dreadful sense of it all.

I don't know how long it lasted. I think quite a while.

I was 13 then. I am 70 now. That might have been the most authentic prayer service I have ever attended.

The Best Kind of Giving

Daniel prepares for the den of lions:

     Daniel...went home to his upstairs room where the windows
opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on  his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.   Daniel 6:10



Jesus, at His final Passover with His disciples, just before His arrest and crucifixion:





     After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, 'Take this and divide it among you'....and He took the bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them. Luke 22:17,19



Jesus on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection:





     When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it...Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. Luke 24:30


Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus:





     Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me..." and Jesus called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"  John 11:41






Solomon and his people dedicating the new temple:





     The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD..."He is good, His love endures forever."



Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.  2 Chronicles 5:13






Jesus feeds the 5,000



     Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated.  John 11:4

First: giving thanks, and then the miracle!

Want to please God?

I will praise God's name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD. Psalm 69:30

How do we approach God?

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him, bless His name. Psalm 100:4

(Why would we want to approach Him in any other way?)

How do we obey God?

Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.
Ephesians 5:20



In everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 
Philippians 4:6

Babette Prepares a Feast!

Babette Hersant, in 1871,  flees a terrifying life of violence in a French commune.  She finds herself in a small village in north Denmark.

The villagers, hardened by hypocrisy and self-centeredness,  experience a loveless, cheerless religion.

She takes up residence in the home of two woeful sisters, Martine and Filippa, daughters of the founder of their bleak religious order.

Babette suddenly becomes the winner of a lottery,
(10,000 francs) and keeping her winnings a secret,
decides to offer her community an extravagant French dinner.

The lottery ticket is her only tie to her previous life in Paris -- a gift from a friend who keeps renewing it every year.

She could have used the money to return to her life in Paris, escaping from the joyless existence of her village life. She had been there 14 years and certainly going back to Paris must have had some appeal.

But, instead, she decides to gift the entire community with a fabulous meal, one that they would never have had occasion to experience.

(Babette had been a master chef during her earlier life in Paris).

Using her new wealth, she has all the necessary items shipped in by boat: ice, dishes, fine linen, cheeses and meats, cases of wine, and a very large turtle--destined for the soup pot.

The opulent dinner scene reminds us of the splendor of a wedding banquet, an image also presented for us in the Bible to describe God's fellowship with his people, when we are brought, with great rejoicing, safely into His heavenly kingdom.

The extravagant richness and joy of the meal transforms the guests from gloomy and petty souls into people who have tasted divine mercy.


Their eyes and now open, realize they are the recipients of an experience they could never have imagined.

They are changed, transformed at the magnificent display of Babette's feast.

One guest, General Lowenhielm, says, "The moment comes when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that grace is infinite. Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude...grace takes us all to its bosom and proclaims general amnesty."

God's grace is seen, by most in the room, for the first time, as God who reveals His love, even partially, in a meal prepared with love and sacrifice.

Babette's Feast was movie produced in 1987, based on a screen play written by Isak Dinesen.

What more joyous words than from the General: Grace is infinite....demands nothing from us but that we await it with confidence and acknowledge it with gratitude....

"So what", we might say, "It was just meal!"

Perhaps.

But it is a reminder of another meal, two thousand years ago, in an  upstairs room, when Jesus had dinner with His disciples....

When it was time, he sat down, all the apostles with him, and said, "You've no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It's the last one I'll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God."

Taking bread, he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, given for you. Eat it in my memory."

He did the same with the cup, after supper, saying, "This is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you."
 (Luke 22)


God's infinite grace...explained at a simple meal, a meal prepared with love and sacrifice.

The Biggest Miracle of All

Longfellow could take a worthless sheet of paper, write a poem on it, and make it worth several thousand dollars - that's genius!

Rockefeller could sign his name to a piece of paper and make it worth a million dollars - that's capital.

Uncle Sam can take gold, stamp an eagle on it, and make it worth hundreds of dollars - that's money.

A doctor can take material that is worth only a few dollars, stitch up a wound and save a life - that's skill.

An artist can take a cheap piece of canvas, paint a picture on it an make it worth thousands - that's art.

God can take a worthless, sinful life, wash it in the blood of Christ, put His spirit in it, and make that life priceless - that's salvation.