“Once” [Matt's Messages] ~ Matt Mitchell

“Once”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

August 23, 2026 :: Hebrews 9:27-28

Are you ready?

How many times do we hear those words every day? How many times do we say them?

Are you ready?

You probably said them or heard them today. Are you ready for church? Are you ready to go? Do you have your shoes on? Are you ready for breakfast? Are you ready for tacos? Are you ready for the bounce-house? Are you ready to rumble? Are you ready to worship?

Are you ready...to die?

Oh. That’s a question we all need to have answered. It’s a question that is hanging over all of our heads. It’s a question we may not have heard recently or asked recently out loud, but it’s one that we all have to have answered before it’s too late.

And this short passage of holy scripture presses that question upon us and tells us how to know if we are.

Are you ready?

Are you ready to study it? Hebrews 9:27&28.

Now, as a church family, we’ve been studying this sermonic letter to some scared Christians, called “The Letter to the Hebrews,” and we’re about three quarters of the way through. Some of you are just joining us, and most of us need a quick recap, because it’s been a few weeks since we were in Hebrews together.

These primarily Jewish Christians were getting nervous about persecution. They were being threatened with trouble from their neighbors and from the authorities for following Jesus Christ. That may be hard for us to understand in modern day America where Christianity is currently tolerated and has historically in many ways been privileged. But it hasn’t always been that way in history and isn’t that way in many places around the world today.

Follow Jesus. Get in trouble.

So, these Hebrew Christians were tempted to stop following Jesus. They didn’t want to be in trouble (who does?), and the easiest way out of that trouble was to simply stop chasing after Jesus Christ. They were tempted to just go back “to being Jews” and following what they grew up on–the Old Covenant from the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures.

But this wise pastor loved these Hebrew Christians enough to know that that was the exact wrong thing for them to do, so he sat down and wrote them this letter that draws heavily from their beloved Hebrew Scriptures to show them that there is no going back, that Jesus is greater, better, superior to everything in the Old Covenant, and in fact, is what everything in the Old Covenant was pointing to.

And he called the Hebrews to “fix their eyes on Jesus” and not look back. And that’s what we’ve been doing this year as we’ve studied this letter together. Fixing our eyes on Jesus.

For the last several months we’ve been studying the center of the letter which centers on how Jesus’ sacrifice is superior to the Old Covenant sacrifices and sufficient for our eternal salvation.

We’ve been talking a lot about blood. In fact, the last message was entitled, “Cleansed With Blood,” which sounds almost like a crazy thing to say. We don’t use blood to clean most things! Blood stains, right? Blood stains.

But not sin. Blood cleanses sin. In fact, we’ve learned a fundamental rule of the universe, and that is: without blood there is no forgiveness for sins (see 9:22).

And by blood, the book of Hebrews means “a sacrificial death.” Not so much the red stuff with corpuscles and so on, but what that red stuff stands for–the sacrificial death of an innocent living being in the place of a sinner. It takes a bloody death to get to a holy God.

There was lots of blood in the Old Testament. We’ve been learning about the Old Covenant sacrificial system where bulls and goats and lambs were killed, and their blood was poured out on altars by priests.

In particular, we’ve focused on the annual Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, when the Levitical Aaronic High Priest took the sacrificial blood into the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle and sprinkled the sacrificial blood on the Mercy Seat, on the Atonement Cover, making atonement for the people of God (see Leviticus 16).

That sacrifice was a great thing for the people of God. But now something better has come!

Three words, right? We now have what?

Great. High. Priest.

We now have a greater high priest, Jesus the Son of God, Who has entered into a greater sanctuary (into the heavens!) the most holy place in the universe. The very throne room of God. And our greater high priest has entered there with a greater blood sacrifice. He has presented His very own blood!

The sentence right before our passage for today says (v.26), “[Jesus] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

Our great High priest is both the One who presents the sacrifice but is also the sacrifice Himself!

That’s what we’ve been learning. And that gets us ready to be confronted with the basic truths of Hebrews 9:27 and 28. These are some of the most fundamental truths that Christians believe. These are the facts. I believe every Christian who can should have these two verses memorized. I’ve preached them many times, especially at funerals. These are the basic facts. They may not teach them in public schools with reading, writing, and arithmetic, but they are the fundamentals that everyone must grapple with. And they turn on this one word that is our sermon title for today, “Once.”

Once. In these two verses, I see two key “onces” and a “once again.”

The writer to the Hebrews loves this word, “once.” Perhaps a bit ironically, he uses it again and again.

He especially uses it with the words “for all.” “Once for all.” How many times have we seen that so far in Hebrews? Anita sang a song about it last time. It’s there in verse 26, and we’re going to see it again next week in chapter 10 when he really is going to give it to us, “once for all.”

But here in verses 27 and 28, it’s just “once.” As in “only one time and one time only.”

I’ve got three points for us this morning, and each one raises an important question for our hearts.

#1. WE ALL WILL DIE ONCE.

Look at what he says in verse 27.

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment...”

Stop right there, in the middle of his logic. You can tell he’s got a bigger point he’s making with that “just as,” but he lays down as an unarguable fact that humans are destined to die once.

You and I are going to die once. Have you grappled with that fact?

Many people are ignoring it.

Many people do not want to think about it.

Many people are trying to avoid it altogether.

There is a whole industry right now (immortalism, transhumanism) that is not just trying to keep people healthy as long as possible, but to elongate human lives without end. To eliminate death.

Good luck with that. The Bible says here, “man is destined to die once.”

Now, that’s talking about human death. The ceasing of human life. The heart stops. The brain stops. The body stops. The soul goes to judgment.

There is something in the Bible called, “the second death” which is the death of the soul, the eternal separation of the human soul from eternal God in the lake of fire (see Revelation 2:11, 20:6, 14, and 21:8). This isn’t talking about that when it says that humans will only die once. Some will die the second death.

And there are a few exceptions in human history. There is Enoch in the book of Genesis and Elijah in 2 Kings. And there are those believers who will be alive at the return of Christ and not "sleep" but will be changed in the blink of an eye at the last trumpet (see 1 Corinthians 15). They’ll skip that human death thing on their way to glory, and that group might include some of us if Jesus returns in our lifetimes. May it be so!

But aside from those few biblical exceptions, this is the general unalterable rule.

We will all die once. We are all headed to our graves.

You are mortal. Do you know that? You are going to die. And you’re only going to die once.

This rules out reincarnation, doesn’t it? Life is not a great big circle where you live and then die and then come back as another life form (maybe a butterfly, maybe a cow, maybe Shirley MacLaine) and then die again and then live again and then die again and then live again.

Life and death on constant repeat.

Nope! That’s not how it is. That’s wishful thinking. It’s not like a video game where you “die” and then re-spawn.

We’re not on a circle. We’re on a line. And on that line we’re inevitably headed towards death. Ever since Adam we’re inevitably headed towards death (see Romans 5:12).

Once. And after that, judgment. After we die, we get judged.

Have you grappled with that fact?

Many people do not.

Many people do not want to think about judgment.

Many people are trying to avoid it altogether.

But it is coming.

You and are headed towards death and then judgment by a holy God.

Question: Are you ready?

Because it’s coming.

The word translated “destined” in the NIV is “apokeitai” in the Greek, and it can also be translated “appointed.” The King James, ESV, and CSB Bibles all use the word “appointed” in verse 27. That means that you and I have an appointment with death and judgment.

Do you like appointments?

I often do. It all depends on what the appointment is for.

My friend and former publisher Dave Almack called me this week and set an appointment for lunch on Friday, and he was paying! So I loved that appointment. I looked forward to it all week long, and then we got to catch up after a long time of no see.

But I don’t especially like an appointment with the dental hygienist. No offense, Renee, and I know it’s important, but I don’t especially like making an appointment for someone to poke around in my mouth with sharp instruments and spray guns.

So how about your appointment with death and judgment? Who is looking forward to that?!

Here’s the question though: Are you ready for your appointment?

Because this is an appointment you’re going to keep. You and I don’t make these appointments, but we are going to keep them. That’s why “destined” is such a good translation in verse 27. Death and judgment are inevitably coming, and the question is not “Are you going to go to your appointment?”, but “Are you ready for it?” Are you ready for your date with death?

You don’t know when it’s going to be. We do not know who is the next person in this room that is going to die. We do know that every person in this room is going to die.

“...once [and only once], and after that to face judgment.”

Are you ready?

Are you ready for your heart to stop?

Are you ready for your lungs to stop?

Are you ready for your brain to stop?

And are you ready to be judged by a holy God?

Because we’ve learned that God is holy, holy, holy and cannot stand sin. Perfection is required. Holiness is necessary. God does not let sinners stay in His presence.

We’re going to learn in the next chapter that, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

Are you ready to face God?

Because there is no second chance. You don’t get a “do-over.” It says, “once,” it means once! It’s die once and after that judgment. There’s no going back through the line again. So this is super-important: Are you ready?

Thankfully, we can be made ready by the blood of Jesus Christ! That’s what he is saying in verse 28.

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment [now he finishes the logic], so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people...”

#2. CHRIST WAS SACRIFICED ONCE.

You see his logic? Once and then once?

All humans die once. Jesus was a human. He died once. But His death was special. He died as an offering, a sacrifice.

What we’ve been learning in the rest of this chapter. He died in our place. He offered up His blood. And He did this for His people. It says, “to take away the sins of many people.”

Some versions say, “to bear the sins of many” (KVJ, ESV, CSB, etc). And that’s a echo of Isaiah 53, isn’t it? This pastor loves his Old Testament. And he knows that Isaiah 53 (written 700 years before He was even born) is all about Jesus:

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 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 way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

...Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:3-7, 12).

This is how a sinner like you and like me could be ready to face death and judgment!

Because of the blood of Jesus Christ! Cleansed by His blood. Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice for sin, and His blood covers and cleanses all those who put their faith in Him.

So that raises the question: Are you trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ?

Jesus died once, and that’s all it took. He didn’t have to die over and over again. He died one time for all time. And His death saves all those who come to Him.

Have you turned from your sin and put your faith in the blood of Jesus Christ? It’s gross. It’s gory. It’s hard to think about Jesus dying like He did. But there is no salvation without it. His blood is precious, and it’s our only hope. Jesus died and then He was buried, and then He came back from the dead! He was resurrected and lived once more! And then the Bible tells us that He ascended into heaven as our great high priest to intercede for us on the basis of His precious blood.

So that our sins are taken away. What a wonderful thought that is! Our sins covered and cleansed and paid for and gone because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Are you trusting in Him?

Those are the two “onces,” but there is also a “twice.”

In the last part of verse 28, we get a “second time.” Look at verse 28.

“...and he [Jesus Christ] will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

3. CHRIST IS RETURNING ONCE AGAIN.

Jesus is coming once more.

Verse 26 says that He appeared at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And where is He now? Church, where is Jesus now?

He’s at the right hand of the Majesty on High! But He’s going to appear once again here on earth. This time, “not to bear sin.” He’s not going to come and die again. He’s done that once and only once. Next time He comes, what’s He going to do?

He’s going to bring salvation! What does that mean? It sounds really good. What does it mean? Don’t we have salvation already? Yes, we do, but we don’t have it in full now. We have it promised. We have our sins forgiven by the blood of Christ, but this is not as good as it gets. As good as the Back to School Bash is going to be, it’s not nearly as good as what the kingdom of heaven will be! We will be saved, not just from the penalty sin or even the power of sin, but we’ll be saved from the presence of sin!

Everything broken will be fixed.

Everything wrong will be made right.

Everything sad will come untrue.

When Jesus comes, salvation will come in all of its glorious fullness.

I can hardly wait. Can you?

Of course, we have to wait. Right? Because Hebrews 9:28 says that it’s those people who are waiting that will get the salvation that is coming! Look at verse 28 again.

“...and [Jesus] will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to [whom?] those who are waiting for him.”

Are you waiting for Him?

The word for Greek word for “waiting” in verse 28 is “apekdecomenois,” and it means more than just sitting passively twiddling your thumbs. It has a flavor of eager expectation (see Romans 8:19, 23, 25, 1 Cor. 1:7, Col 5:5, 1 Peter 3:20). It’s waiting for something you can’t hardly wait for. You’re longing for it.

Are you longing for the return of Christ? Do you want Him to come? Do you want to see Him? Do you want to be with Him? Are you doing the things we’re supposed to do when we’re waiting?

Last year in 2025, we focused on the return of King Jesus. We studied the Prophecy of the Wiseman Daniel and the promise of the victorious coming King of Kingdoms. And we also studied 1 and 2 Thessalonians about how to live in the meantime as we look for Jesus to return at time known only by God.

Our waiting is active. It’s not passive. We stay busy on the king’s business. And we don’t get all comfortable with the kingdom of this world. We go around living out the values of the kingdom to come as citizens of the kingdom that is coming, but we do it with one eye cocked to heaven. One ear listening for the trumpet.

Our hearts beating for the return of the king.

As Paul said in Philippians 3, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await [same Greek word] a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21).

So that our new bodies will never die again. That’s salvation! Are you waiting like that?

You can know that you are ready if you are waiting.

You can know that you are ready for death and judgment if you are trusting in the blood of Christ and are eagerly waiting for Him to return. You can know that you are ready if you are waiting.

Some of the people that this pastor is writing to were in danger of stopping waiting.

They were tempted to give up on Jesus. They were going to stop waiting for Him. Stop thinking about His return. Stop hoping in His kingdom. Stop living out the values of His kingdom to come. It was just too hard.

But this pastor knows better. He knows that waiting for Jesus is the way to get through the hardness of this world. Waiting for Jesus is the way to resist temptation and to weather the storms, including the storms of persecution. Waiting for Jesus is the way to hold on.

Because when we’re waiting for JESUS. Not just for His salvation. Not just for what He will do for us for eternity–which will be wonderful. But we’ll be waiting for Him.

Have you ever longed for someone to come home? Maybe it’s a spouse who has been on a business trip? Often it’s a father or a mother who has been away.

I remember coming home from a ministry trip, and my kids just going wild. “Daddy’s home! Daddy’s home!”

That’s how I feel now when they come home. “Isaac’s home! Pete’s home! Macy’s home! Hooray!”

We’re looking forward to when we see Robin again. And Andrew. It’s been since January since we saw Andrew. We’re longing for him.

Are you longing for Jesus?

I was taught something I had never heard before on this passage this week. A few of the commentators I read pointed out that how great the people of Israel felt when the high priest would come out of the Holy of Holies after applying the blood on the Day of Atonement.

Some of them were probably holding their breath to know if the high priest who had gone into the most dangerous place in the world with incense and blood would safely come out again.

And then they’d rejoice like nobody’s business when he emerged from behind the veil to the Most Holy Place.

There are even historical accounts of this from the time between the testaments. Where the people rejoiced that their High Priest had returned bringing word of their forgiveness for another year.

How much more should we be longing for the return of our Great High Priest bringing salvation to those who are patiently (because we don’t know when) actively (because He doesn’t want us just twiddling our thumbs) and eagerly (because He is so worth it!) waiting for Him.

When He Comes, Our Glorious King

All His Ransomed Home to Bring

Then Anew This Song We’ll Sin:

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

- Philip P. Bliss (of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania!).

Once again: Fix your eyes on Jesus.

Get ready for Him.

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