It is extremely important that we understand BY THE SCRIPTURE this term, "time and order". "Time" as it is related to in the scripture is something very few folks understand. Now we will deal with what I feel to be necessary to understanding time and order, and that is to just define Biblically FIRST AND SECOND. I have found that not too many folks understand or comprehend that. Time and order relates to something, and I don’t think it’s an oversimplification to say that our Bible, as it is written, is divided by this understanding of the FIRST AND THE SECOND. So we are going to relate the FIRST AND SECOND to the Scripture so that we understand what time and order deals with.

The Lord has really reasoned with my heart over this and now every place I go, I just reason with those that are there in the scripture concerning this understanding of the division of the Bible. I am going to throw another word in here. There is "the first ORDER of things" as opposed to "the second ORDER of things" and the term we are going to come to is COVENANT: First Covenant and Second Covenant. We all know that the division between the First and the Second Covenant is THE CROSS. Understand that the First is everything of that order prior to the Cross: the first man, the first covenant, the first tabernacle, the first priesthood, the first heaven and earth, etc. The First relates in the Bible to the word "OLD". On the other side of the Cross, that which is called Second relates to the word "NEW": The New Order, The New Creation, The New Man, The New Tabernacle, The New Temple, and The New Heaven and Earth. It’s called "NEW" because it is newness of life, eternally so, hath no end; that is end as of cessation. It is not time related nor time regulated.

We have to understand, then, that He deals with the First and the Second by the Cross, through the WORK OF THE CROSS. We’re also going to have to understand that His Coming, as to the First and the Second, has to be related to the Cross. His appearing, as to the First and the Second, has to be related to the Cross. It has to be because He is related to the First and the Second by the Cross. It is in the Cross that the "OLD" is done away and the "NEW" is brought forth. It is by the Cross that the flesh is done away and the Spirit remains. We should know that the Cross is not merely a historical thing, but when we speak of THE CROSS, we speak of Christ crucified. We speak of Christ as related to His Death, His Burial, and His Resurrection: That Momentous Work of God in His Son whereby not only is the First Order of things divided from the Second, but the First Order of things comes to its finish and the Second Order of things begins. There are a number of references throughout the Bible concerning flesh and spirit, old and new; but the Biblical term for these is so often: FIRST AND SECOND.

In verse 9 we read "He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second." The phrase "taketh away" is translated from the Greek work anaireo (an-ahee-reh'-o) Strong’s #337 it means to take away (violently), i.e. abolish, murder, put to death, kill, slay. The word "establish" is translated from the Greek word histemi (his'-tay-mee) Strong’s # 2476 which means to bring forth, to make to stand up, to stand up, to uphold.

These are words relating to the Power of His Resurrection. Christ establishes a thing by living in it, by being the Life and Substance of it. This is clearly seen in John 11:25. Jesus tells Martha that He is the "Resurrection and the Life". In other words, He is not only the raising up of, but He is also the Life and Living of that which He raises.

So, we have this division in our Bible between what the scriptures often refer to as "THE FIRST" and "THE SECOND", but that First and Second defines something and what it is actually defining are things relating to COVENANT. Everyone will agree that God is a Covenant God, that He relates to man, and always has, by Covenant. He has always done that and in relation to man that has included a lot of things. This whole natural creation at one time was greatly disturbed because of God’s relation to man. So it’s not just man and nothing else being touched by that; everything has, but His Covenant has never been with a tree, it’s never been with a stone. It might have been written on one, but it’s never been WITH one. It’s never been with the natural creation, though the natural creation has certainly been affected by it. Things have been affected, but God has never entered into a Covenant with things. His Covenant has ALWAYS been in one way or another with A MAN.

We understand from that, through the pages of scripture, God’s purpose in relating to man and what He desires through His relating to man and finally, how He had to ultimately, through His Son, perfect – make complete that relationship to man. But in all of that, there are just TWO COVENANTS: there is a First one and a Second. His dealing with Adam to Noah is summed up in a Covenant. His dealing with Abraham and Isaac is summed up in a Covenant. His dealing with Israel is summed up in a Covenant. It all comes together in Israel and is shown to be the same Covenant; it’s all THE OLD COVENANT. After all, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, which includes the creation, Adam, Noah, and people like Enoch, the Tower of Babel and all of that. It was Moses inspired of God to think and to write that and it’s all brought in under the Old Covenant. We all know from the scriptures that before the Law came that all men were adjudicated under sin and when the Law came, even those who were alive before Moses were brought in under the Law, because the Law was for the condemnation of sin. The Law was for exposure of sin, but even before the Law, sin reigned, death reigned. It is just that the Law recognized that, and adjudicated that and necessitated some answer to that.

From every direction that you care to approach it, there is a general agreement that everything from Genesis to Malachi is brought in under what is called "THE FIRST COVENANT ORDER" and it is an ORDER. It has an order to it: THE ORDER OF THE SPIRIT. The Spirit ordered that Covenant: in divers places, in sundry times, and in diverse manners God spoke. Yes, He used all of these types and shadows, but it was still God speaking and in doing that He established an Order of the Spirit. Though it was NOT SPIRITUAL, because the scriptures say that THE FIRST is not spiritual, but rather THE SECOND is spiritual (1 Cor. 15:46). But even in the First order we find testimony of that. Even in the First Covenant we find the testimony that the first is not spiritual, but rather the second. As far back as Cain and Abel we see that order established: that the first, Cain, was not spiritual; but rather Abel, the second. You can follow that all the way through: Esau and Jacob, Ishmael and Isaac. These are very obvious, but you will find a lot that are not so obvious, yet they still maintain this order of God showing that it is not by might, nor by power, not even by natural order, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord. It is God who determines and He determines according to an ORDER. The order that He has established is the First and the Second. We might then ask ourselves, what is the First all about? Hebrews tells us that the First was a necessary pattern of things to come; a necessary figure of He WHO was to come, a necessary testimony of the Witness that was to come. The First is always necessary to the Second, but never is brought over into or substituted for the Second; and the end of the First always comes with the Second.

So looking at it in general terms, we come to understand that the First is time related. From its inception, it had a designated end. Time relates to this First order of things; it had a designated beginning, it had a designated end that was actually according to time: days, weeks, months, and years. GOD IN THE FIRST USED TIME TO SIGNIFY ETERNITY; to speak of eternal things he used timely things. To speak of a day that has no boundaries, a day that has no beginning or end – THE SABBATH. He regulated that according to a numeral 7: a seventh day, then a seventh week, then a seventh month, and then a whole series of those. Then we see a whole series of those coming in a series of ten, making up a Jubilee and on and on. God used time signifying timelessness: time signifying Eternity. Think of the Feasts of Israel. These are Times, but each of those Feasts signify a work of the Spirit that is timeless. I mean, how many times did the REAL LAMB have to die? ONCE! Not every year, but once! In fact, the argument of the Hebrew writer is that if He had to die every year, then He’s no better than the sacrifices that came before Him; He’s no better than the priests that offered them. ONCE: that relates to the Time and the Order of which we will speak, and all this relates to His Appearing.

We want to look at: What is the First and what is the Second and is there a THIRD or is our Bible complete in its teaching with regard to the First and the Second? Is there a Third, a Third Covenant spoken of? Everything that relates to the First has a purpose which is served, which is fulfilled, which is REALIZED IN THE SECOND. Is there in fact anything of the First that is not fulfilled in the Second? If there is, how could the Apostles ever believe the Jews would ever accept anything they had to say; except they show in the Second all things of the First FULFILLED and if they couldn’t do that, what kind of insanity was it to believe that any Jew would accept it? How could they themselves? How could Paul, who was a "Doctor of the Law" ever accept the validity of Christ, unless in the Second, the Second Order of Things which are summed up in Christ Jesus, he finds everything of the First fulfilled? How could he possibly have ever accepted the Second? Those are questions that we have to face if we are to understand that our whole Bible is based on the First and the Second Order and that everything in our Bible relates to one of those Two Covenants: One of those Two Orders. It is according to those Two Covenants, those Two Orders that Christ has His Appearing.

Turn now to Hebrews 9:1-7: Here you’ll see this term used and let’s understand what he’s talking about. In the first place he’s talking about the first tabernacle; that’s The Tabernacle of Moses, but in that first tabernacle, this writer is saying there were actually two: A FIRST AND A SECOND and the Second is that which comes to be fulfilled in Christ. That’s what he is saying. He also comes to say that as long as the first tabernacle remains that had a division between the first and the second, the way into the second was never made manifest. So that tabernacle, which means the whole Jewish system, the whole Old Covenant system HAD TO BE DONE AWAY, because as long as it stood, it spoke of a First and a Second, but couldn’t get you to the Second. It spoke of it; it was there, but a veil was there, and a High Priest only one time a year could enter in and he couldn’t stay there. He could only come there with the blood of another.

So he concludes in verse 8 that the whole thing was The Holy Spirit saying something. It was saying that as long as this Tabernacle, with its divisions between the first and the second remains, then you are NOT going to get to the second: The way into the Second, the Holiest of All, which is what he calls it is NOT MADE MANIFEST. Heb 9:1, "Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances…". You see, "the first covenant", but the word covenant has been added there by our translators, and this is one of the times that they are right since it is Covenant that is being spoken of here. My heart certainly agrees. We will see that the first man, the first priesthood, the first tabernacle – all of those are things of The First Covenant. They are all Covenant related things. In other words, The Tabernacle served The Covenant, The Priesthood served The Covenant, The High Priest served The Covenant. Man was with whom God made Covenant and established Covenant; so with the First Covenant this is true and it has to be true with the Second Covenant, or New Covenant.

We can label these "old" and "new" because throughout the scriptures you find that relation: "old and new". We could also label it "flesh" and "Spirit", because in Romans 7 and 8 particularly it is labeled "flesh" and "Spirit". To understand the Lord’s dealings with us today in realms of flesh and Spirit, we have to understand the Biblical division of what is flesh and what is Spirit. That which belongs to the Old Covenant is flesh, and that which belongs to the New Covenant is Spirit and it doesn’t mean that every one of us who are in Christ are walking after the New Covenant. We may be in Him, and still have an Old Covenant mentality, following after the flesh, trying to make ourselves something, because that’s basically what the Jews tried to do.

The First Covenant was never given for that reason, but it was given to show you that no matter what you did, you’d never come to be anything! Paul’s frustration with this in Romans 7:15 comes out when he said, ‘The more I do good, the worse I see it is’, because the Law keeps showing that my goodness is sin. So the more I do good, the more sin encompasses me. That’s what the Law is: it’s like a Catch 22. The Law was given NOT to bring righteousness, but to show you that you are not righteous. That’s a simplification, but basically that’s right. The more you kept the Law, the more unrighteous you saw you were: if you were really a true Law-keeper and Paul was an honest hearted Law-keeper.

Jesus tells the Pharisees, "You’ve long since left the Law, and substituted it for the traditions of your elders so that now you are the blind leading the blind". If you really believe Moses, which is the Law, you would receive Me, but you’ve substituted your traditions for that. They had come to a point where they had found in The Law a self righteousness; and the Law doesn’t teach that. Paul saw that; he saw that I’m after the Law. According to the Law I am blameless, he says at one point (Phil. 3:1-6) and yet that very Law kept showing him that no matter how good you are, or no matter how much good you do, you are not righteous. Finally he says, What’s the answer? "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Bible scholars will tell you he is talking about the body of the administration of death that he was bound to; that body of Israel; that body of the administration of death. "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God for Jesus Christ." (Romans 7:24-25)

He puts that right between Romans 6 and 8, and he comes into Romans 8 talking about NOW! NOW I have found the IN CHRIST JESUS there is NO CONDEMNATION. That’s the condemnation of the Law. That doesn’t mean there’s no conviction of the Holy Spirit, but there’s no condemnation brought about by the Law to those who are walking not after the LAW, but AFTER THE SPIRIT; to those who are not trying to find themselves righteous, but rather understanding that CHRIST IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS! That’s what that whole chapter is about, but unfortunately people get a hold of Romans 8 today and don’t understand the difference between the First and the Second, so they talk about their "old flesh" and make excuses for it, but Paul’s whole emphasis there is they that are after the FLESH are those who are still trying to establish THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS BY THE LAW. They that are after Christ are they that are learning that they have no LIFE BUT CHRIST and that HE IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

If you see this true division, there in Romans 8, it’s not talking about a schizophrenic Christian, but it’s talking about those that maintain AFTER THE LAW, and those that maintain AFTER THE SPIRIT. To this day there are Christians who do maintain after the Law; trying to find an understanding of God that is not of The Spirit, but of the Law of the letter. They are trying to find a righteousness other than Christ and THAT BRINGS US UNDER CONDEMNATION. THE SPIRIT WILL CONDEMN THAT EVERY TIME and the Law condemns it every time. There are only two answers to that. One is the right answer: The understanding of Paul’s frustration where he came to this: "I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST and He is my Life" (Gal. 2:20). The other answer to that is to form a self righteousness such as the Pharisees and find a self righteousness in the Law, but you can’t do that and be honest in the scriptures. You have to revert to tradition and a lot of Christians have done just that. I don’t know how we got from the REAL TRUTH of Romans 8 to some of the areas of Christian religion, where we get into how long your hair is or what kind of clothes you wear, but we labeled these things and we started teaching traditions. Unfortunately much of that continues to this day.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

My point is that the whole Bible is seen in two realms: The First and The Second; that which is the First Order of things, and the predominant issue there is The Law, but it is in the Old Covenant. You remember that the Law is just part of the Old Covenant. It’s the enforcement part because actually "Covenant" in the Bible means "an understanding by which TWO walk as ONE". Even when two men made a covenant it brought those two folks together and they walked in the understanding of One. Their understanding became One by Covenant, and they would have a sign of that. Sometimes the sign was a shoe. God’s sign with man was circumcision, because that was going to be fulfilled at THE CROSS at a point in time. My point is they became bound in One understanding relating to each other at least on that particular issue; wherever they were bound by Covenant. Well, in a very broad term, it’s an understanding given of God. Under the Old Covenant there is an understanding given of God, yet in the New Covenant there is a PERFECT UNDERSTANDING given of God. In other words, in the Old Covenant the understanding that God gave of Himself to man had to be IN TYPES AND SHADOWS. So he said, "Build a Tabernacle" and He brought them into it. There He appeared in types and shadows. He gave them understanding of Himself, but it was never PERFECT, and it couldn’t make anybody PERFECT because it was an imperfect understanding. It had to be imperfect because it was in types and shadows and facsimiles as it was meant to be.

It was until that which is Perfect come. In Christ we have a PERFECT UNDERSTANDING; whether we understand Him perfectly or not; in Christ, we have a perfect understanding, because in Him we have THE WORD of GOD MADE PERFECT. Not types, not shadows. "God who at sundry times… spake in this way, BUT HATH NOW, at the end of those days SPOKEN IN SON." (Heb.1:1-2) That’s the First Chapter of Hebrews. He brought us from the FIRST TO THE SECOND: from the First Covenant which is in types and shadows, blood of animals, people, places and things; to the Second Covenant which is secured, fulfilled, and perfected in HIS SON. No wonder Paul said, "Now what we need is the eyes of our understanding enlightened, that we may know HIM, that we may grow up into HIM in ALL THINGS!"

In Christ is this understanding given of God: that He could only speak of in pictures, types and shadows in the First Order of things; but in the Second order of things, He shows us in the PERSON OF HIS SON. In the First order of things, He could only say that there is a time coming when I will dwell in the midst of My people; they will be in Me, I will be their God and they will be My people. In the Second order of things, He doesn’t just speak of such a place, He actually brings us into such a union with His Son. The fulfillment of the First is seen in the Second: HE DOES DWELL IN HIS PEOPLE. HIS PEOPLE DO DWELL IN HIM, WE DO WALK IN HIM, AND WE DO LIVE IN HIM THROUGH OUR UNION WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. So the Second is NOT a greater promise to come, but is the FULFILLMENT of what the First promised would come.

We have a whole First order full of promises and prophesies and types and shadows of all of those promises and prophesies. To every promise and every prophecy there is a type and shadow of it. You get a promise of an Eternal Kingdom and God gives a type: He gives a David and a Solomon and a Temple made of gold; yet it is only a type and a shadow. When Solomon dedicated the temple, he knew that. He got the whole thing ready and then he looked at it in his dedication prayer and he said, "God will NEVER dwell in anything WE make! Let alone this building. But, Oh God, that you would just honor the people that serve your name; that you would honor them and keep them and bless them; who keep your name in this place." (1 Kings 8:26-53). He realized that. So the Glory of the Lord filled it, but it was only in type and shadow, and that was only when the only original thing left was brought in and set in its place. The only original type and shadow of Christ in union with a people through His death, burial, and resurrection: THAT ARK OF THE COVENANT.

When it was set in its place in that Temple of Solomon, God did not honor the grandeur of that Temple. He honored that little piece of furniture! When it was set in its place and the staves were taken out and then the GLORY of the Lord filled the place (1 Kings 8:6-11). He honored that type and shadow that He would fulfill in the Person of His Son, through the redemption of the blood, through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus; that He would bring a people into Himself and would dwell in a people. Paul speaks of these prophets and then the fulfillment of all of this in 2 Corinthians 6:16 when he says, ‘Don’t you remember when God said, I will dwell… I will… I will…’ Then he says, ‘Don’t you understand that YOU are the Temple of God? Don’t you understand that? This is the very fulfillment of which Jesus spoke of when He said, "You will understand that I am in My Father, you are in Me and I am in you" (John 14:20).’

God hasn’t given us a Second Covenant full of promises, but full of fulfillment. He hasn’t given us a Second Covenant full of distant prophesies, but a fulfillment of what He has said! It is our INGNORANCE of the Second Covenant that only causes us not to see the reality of all that God has given us in Christ Jesus. Our tendency is to want to go back to the First Covenant and live there, in that mentality. Most Christians are in that "time" mentality that relates totally to the First order and that is so clearly set forth in the scripture.

I am not smart and I am not a Bible Scholar, but God has graciously revealed His Son in me and I sit in amazement that men who are "Bible Scholars" and "language scholars" can not see the simplicity of the First and Second Order of things. Then the Holy Spirit reminds me that in the days of Jesus, He healed the common people-yes, but He addressed the doctors, the lawyers and the scribes. He addressed the Pharisees and not one of them could make the connection and it was the Lord Jesus Himself addressing them. It was the Lord Jesus relating it and His only answer to them finally was, you are blinded by the traditions of your elders. You have become the leaders of the blind. Their answer to Him was, Let’s kill Him! Let’s get rid of Him! He makes Himself to be something He is not. Why? He makes Himself to be God. He said He would destroy this Tabernacle and raise it up again in three days! Let’s kill Him! He’s blaspheming! (Matt. 26:63-65, John 5:18, John 10:33) I thought, no wonder, we have been so overcome by tradition that we’ve lost the reality of the Second. We’ve really lost the reality of the First as being fulfilled in the Second. We’ve lost it; we preach it as though it is not real.

Gal. 3:1-3

What I want to do is just establish in our hearts that there is a First and there is a Second, and what it is. Well, it’s COVENANT. Look again at Hebrews 9:1, "Then verily they first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary." This refers to the whole tabernacle and ALL of its ordinances. Then we read: "For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All". He starts referring to this as the "first" and "second". "Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant." It had the golden censer because the Priest took that in there once a year, otherwise the golden censer was part of the golden alter that was in the first tabernacle, or what we would call the Holy Place, over against the Holy of Holies. "And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people".

Now what was this all about? Here it is: verse 8, "The Holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the holiest of all (which he has called "the second") was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing." And by this he means the whole of the First, in which there was a First and a Second stipulated. But while that whole thing stood (which included both the first and the second); while that whole Tabernacle stood, in the outer court the offering of animals, the burnt offerings, the laver; then every day the service of this other; and then once a year into the Holiest. But while that first Tabernacle stood, it represented this first and second that was shown in it – separated, they could not come together; there was no way from the first into the second shown, it was not yet made manifest. Something was YET to be made manifest, though it was shown clearly in type and shadow. Verse 9, "which was a figure for the time then present…"

Now that "time then present" is spoken of in Hebrews 1:1, "Hath spoken in time past… hath at the end of those days spoken in SON." That brings "those days" to an end and that’s what the Hebrew writer is showing in EVERY CHAPTER. He is showing that what was embodied in the First tabernacle, has found it’s fulfillment in the Second (that is the True Sanctuary found in Christ). It has not gone beyond it, but has come to its fulfillment, its end, its goal, its purpose, its time. IT’S ALL BEEN FULFILLED IN CHRIST, who is the Second. In verse 9 he describes the services but then in verse 11 he says, "But Christ being come an high priest of GOOD THINGS TO COME…" Now, what "good things to come"? The good things that these things were a type of! The First said that there were some good things to come, and it was in figures, and in washings, and ordinances.

Do you realize that the baptism of John was NOT a "Christian" baptism? Jesus simply went down there and submitted Himself to the Jewish washings. He was washed of John in the Jordan. He wasn’t baptized in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. That wasn’t a Christian baptism: that was Christ, the supreme sacrifice, the last sacrifice, the only sacrifice accepted of God submitting Himself to the washing of the ordinances of the Law in the river Jordan. John himself said, ‘there’s a GREATER baptism coming than mine (Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:4-8, Luke 3:16-17, John 1:26-34). Mine speaks of good things to come. Well, it’s coming! This One is going to baptize you in that’. All of these spoke of good things to come. Not good things YET to come; no, the good things spoken of in the First to come. What he’s showing here is what is shrouded in the First, is revealed IN CHRIST; what is spoken of in the First is revealed IN HIM; what the First Tabernacle couldn’t do, this High Priest could. Look again in Hebrews 9 in verse 11, "…by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building." The word "building" is translated in the Greek as "creation" (ktisis (ktis'-is) Strong’s #2937). It is not of this creation.

So he presented not only that Greater Tabernacle as having come, but it having come by its High Priest, which is Christ. Then he goes on and relates the believers to that Tabernacle: that Greater Tabernacle wherein the High Priest Himself lives, and wherein the High Priest Himself ministers by His Own Blood. That established the Second Covenant of which the First could only speak through animals, and priests, and rooms, and chambers. But NOW – CHRIST BEING COME an High Priest of these good things to come, by a PERFECT TABERNACLE. That means one that is complete, one that has no divisions in it. The veil is gone, the veil is done away (2 Cor. 3:14-16). There is not now a First speaking of a Second, but an all together new has come in the fulness of Christ. The Second IS CHRIST. This is what the First spoke of, but couldn’t perfect, because as long as the First was there, these two were only there symbolically: one speaking of the other, but there was no way into it. Even the High Priest could only go there once a year, with the blood of others, and even then in fear and trembling for himself and for Israel. BUT CHRIST BEING COME… see what he’s doing here? He’s taking them from one whole order of things, to another whole order of things. He’s taking them from one tabernacle to another Tabernacle. He’s taking them from the tabernacle that had in it the very testimony of what Christ has done! Throughout the First Covenant is the testimony of the First and the Second, and always the Second speaks of good things to come – The One to come, the things to come, and the blessing to come, but it always speaks of that which is to come. This Hebrews writer is saying: IT IS COME IN THIS HIGH PRIEST! IT IS COME IN CHRIST!

Here he presents Him as the High Priest because he’s already presented Him as the sacrifice (Heb. 9:26, Heb. 10:12), he’s already presented Him as the Great Salvation (Heb. 2:10, Heb. 5:9), he’s already presented Him as the Eternal Word of God (Heb. 1:2). Now he’s presenting Him as the High Priest. This whole book of Hebrews doesn’t let one thing slip. Then He presents the BETTER MOUNTAIN, he presents the BETTER FAITH, he presents the BETTER RESURRECTION and every time he does, he concludes it as BEING IN CHRIST – IN CHRIST- IN CHRIST. My point here is that The Bible speaks of a First and a Second. It’s there and we will relate that to the Appearing of Christ because in Hebrews 9 he goes on to do that. That’s in verse 24-28. "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands; which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

His argument is still that if He’s like the other, then He must have suffered a lot of times since the foundation of the world. (Verse 26) But now ONCE in the end of the world… And the word "world" there refers to the Jewish age, the age of the old Covenant. It does in Matthew 24 and it does here. What age is being spoken of, what world is being spoken of here? The Old Covenant world up against a New Covenant world. We’ve got to see here and in other places, that the First didn’t just get tired and wear out; it didn’t just give up and die; it didn’t find its end in itself; that is, it didn’t find its completion in itself. Something had to bring it to its end. We see in this verse: CHRIST APPEARED! It took Christ appearing – He had to appear to bring this whole age to its end. Its designated end came when Christ appeared. We’ll see that in "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son…" (Gal. 4:4). What time is that talking about? We’ll find in that very setting that it’s the time of the Law, the time of the Old Covenant (Gal. 3:23-29, Gal. 4:1-5). The Hebrew writer is saying exactly the same thing, but he’s relating it to the High Priest. Think of this! With the coming of Christ, God speaking other than "IN SON" ended. Any sacrifice other than the Son ended. Types, shadows, and figures ended. The administration of the Law ended. Old Covenant ended. The whole first order of things, including its tabernacle and high priest ended. Everything of the First is gathered up, brought to its fulfillment and its climax. It’s END IS CHRIST.

TAKE AWAY AND ESTABLISH

We will deal now with this "take away" and "establish" that is in Chapter 10. "He taketh away the FIRST that He may establish the SECOND." And there he doesn’t apply FIRST and SECOND to any particular part of it; he applies it to the whole of it. He takes away the First… well, what part of it? All of it! He’s already applied it to parts: Now, ALL of it. That He may establish the Second… what part of it? ALL of it! How does He establish it? The same way He takes it away: IN HIS APPEARING. You’ll find that to be so. So, He appeared once at the end of the First. Hebrew 9:28 is relating to the Second, and any Interlinear Bible will show you that "time" is not in the original text. It doesn’t belong here because we are not talking about "time". It’s talking about First and Second. "Time" has been added there, but it does not belong there. To whom does He appear in the Second? TO THOSE WHO LOOK FOR HIM! That means a turning of the heart to see, and that has to do with His appearing.

* "Time" in Hebrews 9:28

Strong’s #9999 inserted word (x); This word was added by the translators for better readability in the English. There is no actual word in the Hebrew/Greek text. The word may be displayed in italics, or in parentheses or other brackets, to indicate that it is not in the original text.

My point is just this: there is a First and a Second, and that both are related to His appearing. He appears at the end of one; His appearing was necessary to bring it to an end, to its climax. But more than that: to take it away. We will look at the Greek words describing "take away" and it will show us that the First didn’t just get tired and wear out and go hide itself, but it was thoroughly, absolutely, and irrevocably done away. That is a tremendous word that shows us without room for doubt that this "taking away" was done AT THE CROSS. We certainly should be able to see that in "once in the end of the world to offer Himself". Now, if the First was taken away in His death, the Second had to be established in His resurrection, or else what is His resurrection about?

We can look at the type of that in this High Priest who went in, once a year on the Day of Atonement. And we can see how that relates to Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. And what Israel was doing during that time and how he presented himself at the end of that time. And that’s only a FIGURE of good things to come. All of those things were just figures, but Our High Priest has not presented us with another figure, but a fulfillment! That’s what Salvation is really all about! Our Salvation is tremendous: GREAT SALVATION! Because our Salvation is in a Person, it can only be comprehended as we know that Person and learn that Person. That Person WHO is also the Covenant of it, the understanding of it. The Word of it, the security of it, the guarantee of it. That Person is everything to Our Salvation!

Heb. 7:21-22

The First and the Second: that gives us a foundation. We see this also in 1 Corinthians 15: The First man, the Second man IS THE LORD FROM HEAVEN: but again it’s the First and the Second. There it is applied to man, applied to resurrection truth. Here it is applied to tabernacle, priesthood, but it’s the same. It’s the Covenant, it’s the First Covenant, and all of its articles and the Second Covenant and it’s fulfillment in ONE. And that He has done this ONCE and for ALL! That’s the only kind of gospel Paul could have received because he was looking for "once and for all". He would be the first to tell you: I have not comprehended all of this, I have not laid hold upon it, I have not apprehended that for which I am apprehended of God; but one thing I do: I PRESS ON… TO KNOW HIM (Phil. 3:10-14). TO KNOW HIM! That’s the whole thing folks. It was this Paul who said, "That you would grow up into Him, who is the Head in all things." Yes, that’s what is in the scriptures. Whether we have laid hold on all that is fulfilled or not is beside the point. The point is: IN CHRIST THE FULFILLMENT IS FOUND! YOU NEED NOT LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE!

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth,(most translations will render this "I AM THE LIVING ONE") and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.