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Our focus this morning, as I 
mentioned, is on the ascension of our Lord Jesus, verses 9 to 
11, but I'll read beginning in Acts 1 at verse 1. The former 
account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both 
to do and teach until the day in which He was taken up, after 
He, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the 
apostles whom He had chosen. to whom he also presented himself 
alive, after his suffering, by many infallible proofs, being 
seen by them during forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining 
to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together 
with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, 
but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, you 
have heard from me. For John truly baptized with 
water, that you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many 
days from now. Therefore, when they had come 
together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore 
the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, it is not 
for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his 
own authority, but you shall receive power, and the Holy Spirit 
has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, 
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. 
Now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he 
was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while 
they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, 
two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, men of 
Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, 
who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like 
manner as you saw him go into heaven. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for this 
written record of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
We thank you for the ascension. God, may we see the significance 
of it, not only theologically, but practically, for our own 
lives as your people. We pray for the ministry of the 
Holy Spirit, that Spirit promised to the disciples in a in a unique 
and powerful way on the day of Pentecost, that Spirit that does 
proceed from the Father and the Son. We pray for His ministry 
and His blessing and His guidance and leadership, even now, as 
we consider the glory of Jesus Christ. Again, forgive us for 
our sins and our transgressions, and we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Well, last time we looked 
at the prologue, verses 1 to 3, what Luke says concerning 
the former account of Theophilus. This connects us not only to 
the book of Acts, but to the book of Luke, the gospel of Luke. Luke wrote both. They were two 
volumes of a set that circulated in the early church until such 
time that the four gospels were gathered together. And then we 
have Luke and Acts being distributed separately. But Acts is written 
by Luke. Theophilus is the same man. who 
is addressed in both books, both in the Gospel of Luke and here 
in the book of Acts. And as well, we noted this thematic 
link. When he says in verse 1, the 
former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both 
to do and teach. The book of Acts continues to 
show us what Jesus does and teaches. He doesn't do it locally, present 
with His disciples, but He does it from the right hand of the 
Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through His truth, through 
the agency of those apostles. So Christ is present with His 
people. Again, not physically and not 
locally, and that's what we learn here from the Ascension, but 
He is nevertheless with us even to the end of the age. Based 
on or after that prologue, we rehearse the commission given 
by Christ to the disciples. They were to tarry or wait in 
Jerusalem until they were given power from on high, specifically 
the Holy Spirit. And having been armed with or 
clothed with that power from on high, they were to go and 
witness to Christ, to testify to Christ, first in Jerusalem 
and then Judea, Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. 
That was their mission. That was the comprehensive plan. 
That is the means by which God fulfills the promise to Abraham. Remember, this is no new thing. 
This is consistent with what God has always said, that in 
Abraham, specifically in his seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
all the nations of the earth would be blessed. And so the 
book of Acts records for us how that began. So let's look at 
this ascension, that taking up of our Lord into heaven. Three things we're going to notice. 
First of all, the ascension of Christ in verse 9, the fact of 
it stated. Secondly, the explanation given 
by the angels in verses 10 and 11, and then I want to draw out 
some theological significance. of the ascension. But note first 
with reference to it, verse 9, now when He had spoken these 
things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received 
Him out of their sight. Notice in verse 2, until the 
day in which He was taken up. We see this also repeated for 
us at the end of the Gospel of Luke and then again at the end 
of the Gospel of Mark. We see Christ taken up. He returns 
back to heaven. There are previous references 
to this in Scripture. We see it in Psalm 68. The Apostle 
Paul applies that to Jesus in Ephesians chapter 4. The passage 
that I read at the outset of worship. Yahweh said to my Lord, 
sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 
That was a prophetic testimony concerning not only the resurrection, 
but the ascension and enthronement of our Lord Jesus Christ. We 
see it throughout the Old Testament and references in the Old Testament, 
and we see it throughout the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Specifically in the Upper Room Discourse, he tells his disciples 
that he is going back to the Father. He tells his disciples 
that it's to their advantage that he goes back to the Father. 
What does he mean by that? He means that he will send another 
Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, that will be with them, that 
will aid them and guide them and help them. in their ministry, 
but Christ spoke often of returning to his Father. And so we see 
in the first place a fulfillment of the Scriptures, not only the 
Old Testament text, but the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. He 
said he would go back to the Father, and this is played out 
right before the eyes of the disciples in this particular 
instance. Now, notice what Luke says in 
verse 9. Now, when he had spoken these 
things, I doubt he trailed off mid-speech. I doubt he was in 
the middle of a sentence and then he was taken up. I think 
Luke's concern is to tell us this. While he was or having 
discussed these truths with his disciples, them having been equipped, 
he now is taken up. And what are the things that 
Jesus had discussed? What were the things that occupied 
the mind of Christ prior to His ascension on high? We have seen 
it. He spoke to them concerning the 
power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. He spoke to them 
concerning the presence and definition of God's Holy Kingdom. And He 
spoke to them concerning their particular mission. In other 
words, we often wonder, what does a man say when he's about 
to leave his family? I mean, if I was about to die, 
I'd call my family together. I'd like to think I wouldn't 
talk to them about what my favorite Chinese restaurant is, or what 
my favorite place to take the car to get serviced is, You know, 
I don't think that would be, I'm hoping it wouldn't be, the 
sorts of things that would occupy my 11th hour. I'd like to tell 
them to fear God, to keep His commandments, to walk in obedience 
to the Lord, to make the Lord Jesus Christ the way the bridegroom 
sees Him or the bride sees Him, as altogether lovely and chief 
among 10,000. May He be that chiefest in your own heart and 
affection. I'd like to think that would occupy most of us 
in our last instructions to our children. Christ says to the 
apostles, Don't start revolution, don't topple the earthly government, 
don't march against the political powers. Now there might be a 
place for all of that amongst individual believers, but in 
terms of church as church, she needs the power and the presence 
of the Holy Spirit, and she needs to preach the gospel of the kingdom 
to Jews, to Gentiles, to all men everywhere. That's the marching 
orders. That's what dictates. That is 
prescribed by God in the book of Acts. This is what we must 
be about. The kingdom of God in its beauty, 
the kingdom of God in its extension, visibly expressed in the local 
church and preaching, testifying, witnessing. Certainly teach the 
whole counsel of God, Jesus says, teach people to believe or observe 
all that I've commanded. That means political theory, 
that means kings, that means monarchy, that means principles 
of warfare. Certainly we teach all that stuff 
with a focus on shaping the disciple of Christ in a manner that is 
consistent with the written word of God. You see, Christ spoke 
these things, and then he was taken up from them. Now note, 
specifically, the ascension was visible. And this is brought 
out to us conspicuously by Luke. You know, you meet these people 
at times that have sort of an understanding, or actually have 
no understanding of Christianity, and they think it's like so many 
other religions, that it's just an idea. It doesn't matter if 
it's true, what matters is what it produces. I think unfortunately 
we get that in our own heads at times. It doesn't really matter 
if Jesus rose from the dead. It just matters how we live in 
light of that thought. No, it really matters that Jesus 
rose from the dead. It really matters that God created 
the heavens and the earth. It really matters that Christ 
was crucified. It really matters that blood 
atonement is the only way taught by God in terms of our acceptance 
with him. It really does matter. And Luke 
makes it conspicuous with three references that the disciples 
watched this event. It wasn't an idea. It wasn't 
mass hysteria. They hadn't shared the same drug 
trip. They actually observed this. Christians don't give away 
the theological form. Don't begin to entertain the 
thought that the facts don't really matter, but it's the consequences. If there are no facts, there's 
never going to be consequences. If there is no true doctrine, 
there's never going to be true practice. Just because somebody 
does a nice thing doesn't necessarily mean that they're accepted by 
God. Notice specifically within the 
context. It says, while they watched, 
in verse 9, while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, in 
verse 10, why do you stand gazing into heaven, verse 11, and then 
at the end of verse 12, will come in like manner as you saw 
him go into heaven? You see, it wasn't a fable. It wasn't cunningly devised. 
It wasn't, you know, made up. One commentator, Barrett, says, 
the use of blepane, which is the word to see, places the ascension 
in the same category of events as any other happening in the 
story of Jesus. In other words, they saw like 
they saw Jesus die. They saw like they saw Jesus 
buried. They saw like they saw Jesus eat fish and honeycomb 
with them. They saw it. They witnessed it. It's interesting, it was more 
than two, certainly. I think the presence of these 
two men, I think they're angels, again, confirms that Deuteronomy 
19.15. We don't receive the testimony in a witness situation except 
on the basis of two or three witnesses. We have a whole raft 
of witnesses concerning the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. But it was visible, it was real, it was an observable 
thing. Daniel Bach says the event is 
portrayed as one that was seen by the apostles with three different 
verbs for seeing appearing in verses 9 to 11 to emphasize the 
point. A second thing we ought to appreciate 
is that his movement was local. And by that I mean he moves from 
one place to another. There's a group called the ubiquitarians, 
and that simply means that the physicalness of Jesus is everywhere 
present. No, he was ascended, or he left, 
or he went up into heaven according to his humanity. His deity is 
immense. It fills all things. This is 
why in John 3.13, he can say, just as the Son of Man is in 
heaven, right now, as Christ is on earth, he is both God and 
man in this context. So what is locally translated 
is this humanity. He goes back to the Father. He 
sits enthroned at the right hand of God, Most High. His physicalness 
is not everywhere present. This has effect upon the way 
we do the Lord's Supper. The problem with Romanism and 
the problem with Lutheranism is they have a defective view 
of the body of Jesus Christ. If it is locally present, then 
that destroys the hypostatic union. Now, if I've already lost 
you, I'll try and pick you back up in just a moment. But for 
those who are following, we cannot mess with the person of Jesus 
Christ. We must imbibe the doctrine as 
it's taught in Scripture, as it's codified at Chalcedon, as 
it is recodified in our London Baptist Confession of Faith. 
If we're wrong on who Jesus is, we're wrong on everything. Christ 
went to heaven, there was a local movement. Now notice, the ascension 
was glorious. Look at what it says, he was 
taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. Now there 
might be a whole host of ways to understand clouds. In fact, 
clouds are used in scripture in a whole host of ways, but 
I think the idea is, is glory. I think that's what we ought 
to appreciate here. Remember on the Mount of Transfiguration 
in Matthew's gospel in chapter 17, what enveloped Jesus was 
a cloud. Those of you who read the Old 
Testament, you'll know that God's presence among Israel was oftentimes 
represented by a cloud. We call that the Shekinah glory. 
Remember in Exodus chapter 40, they finish the construction 
of the tabernacle, and the glory of God descends, and its presence 
there, and it's present there, and it's manifested in this cloud. 
The problem was nobody could go in, not even Moses himself. 
Hence the book of Leviticus that tells us how they can go in. 
It's through blood atonement. It's through a burning altar. 
It is through the means that God has ordained that man meets 
with God in his tabernacle or temple. But his presence is represented 
by a cloud, and I think that's what's in view here. Christ is 
received by this cloud. It's a glorious thing. I mean, 
brethren, imagine this. You're talking to Jesus, and 
he was taken up. Of course there's going to be 
a cloud. Of course there's going to be some glorious display. 
Of course, because he is the mediatorial king being taken 
back up by the Father to sit enthroned at the right hand. 
This is the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice, 
secondly, the explanation given by the angels in verses 10 and 
11. I realize it doesn't say angels, 
it says men. I'll argue that they are angels 
appearing as men. If you look at the gospel records, 
you see similarly described angels, and Mark tells us that it was 
a man. Don't think there's contradiction. 
I think the idea is that these are angelic beings, as they are 
portrayed, appearing to the apostles as men. And they interpret what 
just happened for the benefit of these apostles. They interpret 
the significance of this and essentially tell them, you need 
to go get at what he told you. That question, I think, bespeaks 
that. Notice, specifically, their question, verse 10, while they 
looked steadfastly toward heaven, again, another seeing verb or 
another seeing statement, as they looked steadfastly, and 
while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, 
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, 
men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? Now, on 
the one hand, you know, that question, who wouldn't stand 
and gaze into heaven if they saw that? You know, go stand 
down on five corners someday and just look up. I guarantee 
everybody walking by is going to look up too. It just happens. 
It's the nature of the beast. It's what we are. We can't help 
but look up. It's like standing in an elevator. Everybody stands toward the door. 
They all face the door. Nobody ever faces the back. We 
just don't do that, do we? You say, well, I do, Pastor. 
Oh, good. You're the odd exception. Blessedly odd. So on the one 
hand, this question, you know, of course we're gonna look up. 
Our Lord, our master, our savior has been taken up. There might 
be more to the question though. Why do you stand gazing? He's 
given you your marching orders, obey him. Wasn't this essentially 
Jesus' response to their question concerning the restoration of 
Israel? In other words, as we're discussing 
the kingdom of God, Lord, are you gonna restore the kingdom 
of Israel at this time? What does Jesus say? You don't need 
to worry about that. God's got that. You need to go wait for power 
on high and go and make disciples of all the nations. The same 
sort of thing is going on here. Why do you stand gazing at the 
sky? I think we might, you know, sort 
of indulge in a little bit of applicational rhetoric and say, 
you know, we do that today as well. We're gazing at the sky 
when we should be about the Lord's work. I think we should gaze 
and do. I think the tendency is for most 
of us, either we're gazing and not doing, or we're doing and 
not gazing. I think a genuine Christian response 
is one eye heavenward and one eye earthly. That's how we are 
most serviceable to our God. This is Paul's emphasis in Colossians 
chapter 3. What are we supposed to set our 
mind on? We're to set our mind on the things above, where Christ 
is, seated at the right hand of the Father. And it's based 
on that reality we put to death the members on the earth. It 
is based on that reality that we conduct ourselves toward one 
another in a godly way. It's based on that eye toward 
heaven that we love our wives if we happen to be husbands. 
We submit to our husbands if we happen to be wives. As parents, 
we don't abuse our children, but rather we bring them up in 
the fear and admonition of the Lord. You see, it is that gaze 
heaven that gives us the impetus for our conduct on earth. And 
so the disciples are asked, why are you gazing? You ought to 
be about obeying. Bach says the idea is that they 
should not be surprised that the risen Jesus is lifted up 
into God's presence. His departure means that they 
now have work to do. They now have work to do. Jesus' 
command means that they are not to gaze into the heavens idly, 
awaiting his return, but engage in the task Jesus has given them 
to do in the meantime. Now, we've already seen a couple 
of truths concerning the ascension. In verse nine, we note that it's 
visible, we note that it's local, there's a movement from earth 
to heaven, and we note that it's glorious. The angels are gonna 
flesh it out even more and tell us some certain things about 
the ascension. First of all, I've already mentioned 
the angels are witnesses to this event. They, along with the apostles, 
they, along with all those who saw this, are witnesses to this 
event. Brethren, we are not following 
cunningly devised fables. We're not following a story that 
happened in a galaxy far, far away or in a fairyland where 
there's dust and pixies and whatever there is. We're following objective 
truth, historical truth. We're following facts and data. And we are given the interpretation 
of that data so that we know the theology behind it. Now note, 
the angels identify the Ascended One as this same Jesus. Notice in verse 11, Men of Galilee, 
why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus. What 
does that mean? That means the Ascension was 
bodily. It was bodily. Gotta keep this in your repertoire 
with reference to a defense of the ascension. It was visible. 
It was local, movement involved from earth to heaven. It was 
glorious to be sure, but it was bodily. Christ makes this conspicuous 
after his resurrection, especially in Luke's gospel, when he appears 
to the disciples and he says, look, I have flesh, I have bones, 
I'm not a phantom, I'm not an apparition, I'm not an idea, 
I'm not a thought, I am this same Jesus that lived among you, 
that was brutalized on the cross, that ultimately died, that entered 
into the tomb, that same Jesus has risen from the dead. Now 
Luke is telling us that this same Jesus is ascended on high. You see, there is, in heaven, 
a particular person, and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. 
See, heaven isn't just this ethereal place of clouds. Jesus, according 
to his humanity, is sitting at the right hand of the Father. 
For those interested, Enoch and Elijah are also there physically 
as well. It's not ethereal, it's not super 
spiritual, rather those men are there bodily in the presence 
of God Almighty. Jesus' ascension was bodily in 
nature. Our confession of faith says, 
on the third day he arose from the dead with the same body in 
which he suffered, with which he also ascended into heaven. So the angels confirm the event. The angels identify the one ascended 
as this same Jesus. So this indicates the same Jesus 
who lived, the same Jesus who died, the same Jesus who was 
raised, the same Jesus who has now ascended on high. The angels 
don't stop there. The angels assure us of a second 
coming. The angels testify that this same Jesus is going to come 
again. and all the things true of His ascension on high are 
going to be true of His coming in glory. It's going to be visible. You'll see it. It's going to 
be bodily. Christ, the God-man, will stand, 
or we will stand before Him. It's going to be glorious, isn't 
it? He will come in the glory of 
His Father with all of His holy angels. It's going to be glorious 
indeed. As well, it's going to be true. It's not the case that this is 
some idle tale made up by Christians as well. The second coming of 
our Lord Jesus will be in like manner, the end of verse 12, 
will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven, bodily, 
visible, glorious. Francis Turrett, I think, summarizes 
a great statement or gives a good summary statement concerning 
the ascension. He says, we maintain that Christ 
went up locally, visibly, and bodily from earth into the third 
heaven or seat of the blessed above, the visible heavens, not 
by a mere withdrawal of his visible presence or familiar intercourse, 
but by a true and local translation of his human nature. There He 
will remain until the day of judgment, so that although He 
is always present with us by His grace and spirit and divinity, 
yet He is no longer with us by the bodily presence of His flesh. Again, you need to insist upon 
this because it affects the way we view, for instance, the supper. 
We differ from Rome, we differ from Luther on that. They believe 
that the elements actually become the body of Jesus. That's to 
divinize the humanity of Christ and you can't do that and end 
up with the Christ, end up with the same Christ. We need to be 
careful. So that's a brief exposition. 
Let's draw out some theological significance of the ascension. 
First, the fulfillment of scripture. I think at times we sort of run 
through that. I think at times we as Bible readers see, you 
know, all these references to the Old Testament and our New 
Testament, and we say, well, that's just sort of the means 
or manner in which they did things. Brethren, every time there is 
a so that it was fulfilled, we sort of blow our minds, you know? You know, the prophet Isaiah 
described Jesus in the most accurate way, 700 years before Jesus. Have you ever read Isaiah 53 
and said, man, how in the world could Isaiah get it so right? 
Daniel and his prophecies are so accurate that, of course, 
people say, well, he couldn't have wrote before the fact. He 
must have written after the fact. But that's just the way that 
people dismiss that. This is a thing that you'll meet 
with people who have no idea what Scripture says. Well, you 
know, the Bible's full of contradictions. Really, show me some of these 
contradictions that you're always yammering on about. I'd love 
to see them. Brethren, we go on the offensive. 
I told the brethren on Wednesday night, there's something called 
apologetics. And in Christianity, that doesn't 
mean saying, I'm sorry. Somehow the way we often bring 
it about, I'm sorry, didn't mean to offend you. We're afraid to 
pray at Tim Hortons because of what somebody might think. What 
happened there? The earth is Yahweh's and the 
fullness thereof. The problem is people at Tim 
Hortons that aren't praying to Yahweh, we're not the mess-ups 
in this equation here. You know, we need to apologize 
biblically. That means defend the faith. But I mentioned to the brethren 
on Wednesday night, one of the functions of Genesis 1 is polemical. Now, apologetics means defend 
the faith, polemics means to attack others. Not like Muslims, 
guns blazing and swords wielded. Please don't go from here and 
C4 up and promote the cause of Christ. That is not what I'm 
suggesting. Polemics means we show the utter 
futility of every other way of thinking. We'll see it with Paul 
later. He stands before the civil rulers. Festus says, much learning is 
driving you mad. He says, I am not mad, most noble 
Festus, but I speak the words of truth and reason. Brethren, 
there's a polemical edge that you and I should adopt. Again, 
not to be obnoxious, not to alienate everybody we ever met, not to 
be that kind of person that nobody wants to be around at a dinner 
party. I'm not suggesting that. But in terms of the ascension 
of Jesus Christ and the coming again of Jesus Christ, this has 
to do with the fulfillment of God's word. And if anything, 
as Bible readers, one thing we should all agree on is that God 
takes his word seriously. In fact, in the psalmist, Psalm 
138, it says that he has magnified his word above his name. Brethren, there is fulfillment 
of scripture here. Secondly, the ascension theologically 
instructs us concerning the completion of Christ's earthly ministry. In Hebrews 9, 11, and 12, we 
read, but Christ came as high priest of the good things to 
come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with 
hands. That is not of this creation, 
not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, 
he entered the most holy place once for all, I love this, having 
obtained eternal redemption. Next time somebody says, well, 
I think you can lose your salvation, take them to Hebrews. Please 
do yourself a favor. You don't have to be as smart 
as John Calvin. You just got to know a few places 
in the book of Hebrews. He has obtained what? eternal 
salvation. You see, the idea is, is that 
if a sinner was actually saved and loses his salvation, that 
isn't ultimately a reflection upon the sinner. I mean, I guess 
it is, but we would expect that from a sinner, wouldn't we? MacArthur 
says, if you could lose your salvation, you would. If a sinner 
is actually saved and then loses his salvation, it impinges upon 
the integrity of the Savior himself. God doesn't almost save. God 
doesn't possibly save. God doesn't partially save. We 
have the sure word in Hebrews 7 that He saves to the uttermost 
all who draw nigh unto God through Him. In other words, you come 
through the mediator Jesus to the Father, and guess what you'll 
get? Acceptance. You come to the Father through 
the mediator, guess what you'll get? Forgiveness. You got a burdened 
conscience today? You've been sinning all week? 
You're engaged in things that you would hope your wives or 
your husbands or your children or your parents would never find 
out? I don't know your hearts. God knows your hearts. He knows 
what's up in each and every one of you. The eyes of Yahweh are 
in every place, beholding the good and the bad. We don't say 
that to threaten you. We don't say that to bash you. 
It's not some sort of Santa Claus theology. It is simply the reality. 
God knows your heart. And if you're burdened this morning, 
and if you're loaded down with sin, and if you're weighed and 
heavied, come to the Father through the Son, and forgiveness will 
be your lot. It's a most blessed thing, isn't 
it? If you ever ask me what's the best thing about Christianity, 
I'm going to tell you the forgiveness of sins. I always love singing 
580. My sin, oh the bliss of this 
glorious thought. My sin, not in part but the whole, 
is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, 
praise the Lord. Say what you will about a Christian 
on their deathbed, they got a smile on their face for this one reason, 
their sins are forgiven. Isn't that it? Isn't that what 
differentiates us? Are we going to heaven because 
we're good? No. If you think that, you're in 
the wrong church. I'm going to tell you flat out. Stay here 
because I want you to get sorted out, but if you think you're 
heading to heaven because you're good, you have misunderstood 
the Bible. You have misunderstood the entirety 
of it. The glory of the gospel isn't 
that we accept Jesus into our hearts. The glory of the gospel 
is that God has accepted miserable sinners through the redeeming 
work of His most blessed Son. And that salvation is available. I know this is common ground. 
This is a Dan de Beer Sheba moment for us in our church. We traverse 
this often, and I hope we do till I die at least. And whoever 
you get to replace me, I hope they continue to pound that drum. 
Salvation is free. Salvation is good. Salvation 
is glorious. And salvation is available through 
Jesus Christ. Don't tarry. Remember God through 
Ezekiel? Why will you die in your sins? 
Why? Remember the prophet Isaiah in 
Isaiah 55? Why do you spend your wages on 
that which does not satisfy? Why do you take the good resources 
God has given you and you throw it away? Why? God says, come 
and let your soul delight itself in abundance. I remember preaching 
that text and saying that we're similar to the person that would 
rather eat from the bottom of a garbage can than enter into 
the restaurant where there's a great big steak and a lobster 
or crab or whatever it is that you like. We would rather sup 
on that garbage at the bottom of the container when the almighty 
God himself is saying, sit, sup, dine, eat, enjoy. Oh, everyone 
who thirsts, let him come. Without money, without wages, 
come, buy and eat. the milk that nourishes and satisfies, 
the water that refreshes, and the wine that exhilarates. You 
have all that in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'll say, 
with God, through the prophet Ezekiel, why will you die today? 
Why will you hear this sermon, continue to reject it, continue 
to resist it, and go home on your way to hell? Flee! Run! Fly! What's Jesus say in 
Luke 10? Don't rejoice that the spirits 
are subject to you, rather rejoice that your names are written in 
the Lamb's Book of Life. If there's anything that can 
cause a believer to kick his heels up and do holy flips, it's 
that reality. Our names are written in the 
Lamb's Book of Life. Remember David whirling about 
the Ark of the Covenant before Yahweh. It embarrassed Michael. What's David's response? I'm 
going to be even worse if that's the way you're going to view 
this, because I delight in my God. You know, we do this, hopefully 
we'll do this forever. Well, not forever, but until 
Jesus comes and we all drop dead and we all enter into the kingdom 
of God, and we're there. You gotta think about this. And 
I think at times our services are set up or structured in such 
a way as to squeeze this out. The very end of the service, 
it's just all bets are off. Take a moment to contemplate. 
When Lucas plays that piano after the service, think about what 
Pastor Butler has said. You are a wretch, you're bad, 
you're miserable. And don't say, well, you know, 
he's just picking on. I'm worse, a hundred times worse. 
John Newton had a famous saying, I'm a great sinner, but Christ 
is a great savior. I side with Newton on that one, 
but think about it. Where are you at today? Should 
the Lord God call you, call you to his throne on this day? Are you prepared to enter in? 
Are you ready to meet your maker? Can you invoke Hebrew 725, all 
that comes to the Father, come through him? He'll be saved to 
the uttermost. Is that a reality in your life? 
If it's not, don't tarry. Don't wait, don't stay, don't 
stop, don't say, well, you know, I've been taught, just believe 
the truth of the gospel. So I think the devil gets in 
here. Sometime between the amen and the play, and you know, forget 
everything we just heard, let's run around and scream like banshees. 
And you know, then the kids, just kidding. Something happens. The devil 
gets in. And it's very intriguing, in 
Luke's version of the parable of the sower, or the parable 
of the soils, whatever you wanna call it, he likens the activity 
of the birds getting seed to the activity of the devil, lest 
they hear, believe, and are saved. Now, I'm sure that in my past 
I've pointed out, birds don't have malicious ends. I don't 
think birds are perched on a pole today looking at some poor slob 
of a farmer thinking, we're going to eat up all his seed to put 
him into bankruptcy. Birds just don't do that. They 
just need to feed their little bird bellies. They just do it. 
So the analogy does break down that Jesus utilizes, but it's 
consistent in the sense that when that seed goes out, the 
birds come, they gobble up, and that's like the devil. See, the 
bird doesn't have a malicious end, but the devil does. John 
8, Jesus says, you are of your father, the devil. The desires 
of your father you want to do. Now, who's he talking to? The 
Jewish leaders at that particular time. And how does he describe 
the devil? He is a murderer from the beginning 
and a liar. See, something will come in betwixt 
you and this sermon and say, well, you know, if you do this, 
if you look to Jesus, if you believe, it may not work. You 
believe in Jesus and you might betray the doctrine of election. You believe in Jesus and it might 
affect some of your relations. Don't listen to the devil today. 
Listen to Jim Butler. Believe the gospel and know the 
joy of being found in him. Not having your own righteousness, 
which is from the law, but that righteousness which is from God 
through faith. That's beautiful. You remember 
the story of Martin Luther. Martin Luther was at the point 
where he just couldn't stand God. That's terrible to say, 
isn't it? Love God, I hated God. His righteousness, his holiness, 
his burning purity, I couldn't conceive. Light of my own sin 
and my own wretchedness. But he got a glimpse of Romans 
1, 16, and 17. He says, that was when paradise 
opened up. Because the righteousness of 
God in Romans 1, 16, and 17 isn't God's right-ness. It's God's 
gift of righteousness to needy sinners. For in it, for in the 
gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to 
faith, that just as it is written, the just shall live by faith. 
There is a righteousness of God, which is his perfection, his 
rightness, his justice. But there's a couple of particular 
contexts, Romans 1 being one of them, Romans 3 or Romans I'm 
sorry, 1 Corinthians 1 and Philippians 3 being other ones, where it's 
the righteousness that God demands and that he gives to us in the 
gospel. That's what you need to listen 
to. That's what you need to hear. Resist the devil, resist your 
own flesh, resist your peers, resist anything and anybody that 
would get in the way of you and the blessed Redeemer. I think 
I've heard it attributed to Luther before, something to this effect. If Christ had a sword to my head, 
I'd still come. Not that he does, but I'd still 
come. Remember that statement in John 
6, 68? After all of these professed 
disciples, stop following Jesus. Why? Because the gravy train 
dried up. And Jesus showed himself as a 
preacher of what we call Calvinism, or what we call Reformed theology. 
Again, anachronism, it's Bible truth. But Jesus fed the multitudes 
and the multitudes flocked to him. And then he starts talking 
to them about sovereign grace, about the spirit giving life, 
about radical concepts like eating my flesh and drinking my blood, 
not as a Roman Catholic, but believing the truth of the gospel. 
And it says many of his followers stopped. What happens? Jesus asks his disciples, do 
you want to stop too? I love Peter's response. Some 
argue that it's even an expression of a weak faith on the part of 
Peter. At this point, I wouldn't care 
what kind of faith it is. It's a beautiful statement. He 
says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal 
life. Isn't that beautiful? Listen to that. Don't listen 
to the devil. Don't listen to the lies, don't 
listen to the pit, and by all means, please, please, please, 
don't listen to your own hearts. Your heart's the worst guide 
on the face of the earth. There is a way that seems right 
unto a man, but its end is destruction, Solomon tells us. You're the 
worst person to trust. Listen to the word of God. Again, 
Luther. I don't know why he's popping 
into my head. Probably because I'm preaching justification by faith. It's a good place for it. Feelings 
come and feelings go, but feelings are deceiving. My warrant is 
the word of God. None else is worth believing. Don't trust your feelings. Edward 
Mote, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest 
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. It ain't sweet frames that 
bring you to heaven. It's blood atonement. It ain't 
a good devotional life that brings you to heaven. It isn't a fulfilling 
church life that will ultimately commend you to God. It's the 
blood of the cross. And this ascended Lord, when 
he offered up himself to the Father, the ascension testifies 
that the Father was well pleased. That is a theological significance. As well, we have the enthronement. I was going to actually develop 
this point in some length, but we'll wait until we get to Acts 
2. But the enthronement of Christ at the right hand of the Father. 
In other words, He ascended on high. What does He do when He 
gets there? He sits enthroned at the Father's right hand. This 
is precisely the flow in Acts 2. In fact, Luke uses a particular 
device so that we won't miss this. Acts 1-2 refers to the 
day in which he was taken up. Acts 2-1, the day of Pentecost. What's Luke telling us? The day 
of Pentecost is a result of the day that he was taken up. In 
other words, because he was taken up, he sends this gift of the 
Holy Spirit. That's what Luke tells us in 
Acts 2-33. The most amazing thing in Acts 
2 is not the speaking in tongues. The amazing thing in Acts 2 is 
the enthroned Christ at the right hand of the Father, He's poured 
out this which you now see in here. He has sent the Spirit 
in fulfillment of His Father's plan and purpose, that which 
was prophesied by Joel. This is testimony that Jesus 
is both Lord and Christ, and He is the one in whom there is 
salvation. The enthronement of Christ. That 
is taught us by the ascension. There are other passages which 
highlight this reality. Ephesians 1, 20 to 23. Philippians 
2, verses 9 and 10. God was pleased with the Father 
and He was exalted on high. Again, not according to the, 
you know, as the second person of the Trinity, but as the God-man, 
as the mediator, as the theanthropic one. That's the one who has ascended 
on high, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. Listen 
to John 80 on Ephesians 1. He says, the head that once was 
crowned with thorns is now crowned with universal sovereignty. Man, 
this is good. Get this in your bones, brethren. 
Get this in your heart. The hand that was once nailed 
to Calvary's tree now wields the scepter of unlimited dominion. The feet that were washed by 
the harlot's tears and carried the Savior up the hill Calvary 
are now over everything that is. He who lay in the tomb has 
now ascended to the throne of unbounded empire. That's going to be played out. 
Remember, the issue isn't, is Christ now absent? Christ is 
present. By the ascension, enthroned at 
the right hand of the Father, Peter's sermon in the book of 
Acts chapter two indicates this is the vantage point from which 
he continues to do and teach, just like the former account, 
Theophilus, of all that he began both to do and teach. This is 
most blessed. And of course, the glory given 
to Christ as a result of His mediatorial work. This is theologically 
significant. If we're genuine believers, it 
will be theologically significant. I think we're taught effectively 
by the state and by our life experience to say, what you're 
going to do for me? It's all about us, isn't it? 
How are you going to benefit me? And I think this finds shape 
in Christian preaching, where all sermons are tailored just 
to you. It's all about you. You be a 
better you. You be a better this. You be 
a better that. I want you to be well-adjusted and stable. 
Not that I don't. Don't go out and lose it. Be 
well-adjusted and be stable by all means. But brethren, there 
is something glorious to the people of God concerning the 
God-word nature of gospel truth. In other words, that our Jesus 
was exalted, that our Jesus was glorified, that our Jesus is 
magnified makes the heart of His people say, praise God Almighty. We want our Jesus to be held 
in esteem. We want our Jesus to be lifted 
on high. We want our Jesus to have that unbounded empire. John 
17, 5, And now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself, with 
the glory which I had with You before the world was. Philippians 
2.9, Therefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him the 
name which is above every name. 1 Timothy 3.16, God was manifested 
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached 
among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up 
in glory. Praise God Almighty that the 
Father was pleased with the Son's work, and as a result, He ascends 
on high, He leads captivity captive, and He gives gifts to men. Praise 
God Almighty that Christ did what He did, and now He has assumed 
that position of absolute, unrivaled, unparalleled sovereignty. Those 
are some theological significances, I don't know if that's correct, 
but that's what I got, that we need to consider and contemplate. 
In terms of practicality, we'll close. This is for you and me, 
the enthronement of Christ. You know how we benefit the most? 
It's by our knowledge of theology. We benefit most knowing Jesus. The enthronement of Christ means 
the Ascended Lord is the giver of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2.33, 
having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, 
he poured out this which you now see in here. As well, the 
Ascended Lord is the ever-present with his church Lord. How is 
he ever present? How does he fulfill the stipulation 
of Matthew 28? And lo, I am with you always, 
even to the end of the age. He's not physically, locally 
present among us, but he is spiritually, he is by spirit and word. Catechism 
here. It says, Is not Christ then with 
us, even to the end of the world, as he hath promised? Christ is 
very man and very God. With respect to his human nature, 
he is not more on earth, but with respect to his Godhead, 
majesty, grace, and spirit, he is at no time absent from us. 
He's always with us. He wasn't lying. Your Jesus is 
present with you. You don't have to even sing weird 
hymns about it or sing or think weird, you know, I've accepted 
Jesus into my heart. You know, this little Jesus is 
living in my heart. That's not what it means. We 
know his presence by his spirit and truth. We come to celebrate 
the supper. We don't need a change in the 
tokens. We don't need an otherness to 
the bread and wine. We don't have to doubt Christ's 
presence. His spirit is with us, and in 
this we greatly rejoice. A second practical benefit of 
the ascension of Christ, His intercession. Now, intercession, 
kids, means that Jesus prays for us. If you ask me to pray 
for you, I probably need to text myself. As I'm getting older, 
that seems to be the best way to remind myself. I typically 
look at my phone. If I have a text from Jim, I 
pay attention. Jim, Jim, pray. Okay, I'll remember 
that. If I write it down, I might write 
it in my book and I'll try and pray. But I can't tell you with 
100% infallibility that I've always ever, always done that. Jesus can. He does intercede 
for you. You know, your best intentions. 
And I always wonder about this. You hear these radio programs 
and the people say, we're praying for you every day. Really? You're 
praying for that entire listening audience every day? Don't make 
promises your brain can't fulfill. Be very careful about that. Brethren, 
if you tell somebody, I'm going to pray for you, pray for them. Next available moment, pray for 
them. But all that to say, you still 
may not. Jesus always lives to make intercession. Is this a 
practical benefit of the ascension or what? Who is he who condemns 
it as Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at 
the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us? Romans 
8.34. Hebrews 7.25, therefore he is 
also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through 
him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 1 
John 2.1, and if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the 
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He's our intercessor. He is our 
benefactor. Calvin said, Thus he turns the Father's eyes 
to his own righteousness to avert his gaze from our sins. He so 
reconciles the Father's heart to us that by his intercession 
he prepares a way and access for us to the Father's throne. 
He fills with grace and kindness the throne that for miserable 
sinners would otherwise have been filled with fear and dread. I love that. And then finally, 
we ought to appreciate, with reference to our passage, that 
the Ascension is the pledge of our glorification. In other words, 
because Christ ascended, You can't separate any of the elements 
of Christ's work. He lived, he died, he was raised, 
he ascended, and then he was enthroned at the right hand of 
the Father. He has this current session. So, you know, to take 
out any of those elements collapses the entirety. But brethren, there 
is this special pledge with reference to the ascension. This was the 
glorification of Jesus. This pledge is ours. It's because 
of this that we'll ultimately be glorified. Because of this, 
that we'll ultimately be in heaven. Because of this, Paul in Romans 
8 can say, those whom he called, he justified. And those whom 
he justified, he glorifies. One day our heads will wear crowns, 
not because they're worthy, but because Christ is worthy. One 
day we'll enter into that place where there's no more sorrows, 
no more pain, no more tears, no more death because of what 
Christ went through. All that is ours is because of 
Jesus Christ. He is the pledge of our glorification. 
I'll ask you again to consider this. The text teaches that Jesus 
is coming again in like manner, visibly, bodily, gloriously, 
he is coming again. For the believer, that I hope 
promotes encouragement, that promotes comfort, doesn't it? 
My Jesus is coming again. I know that this is happening 
in the US. I know this is happening in Canada. 
I know this is happening in North Korea. I know that this is happening 
in Iran. I know that Turkey. It can be 
unraveling at times, can't it? You just want to say, forget 
it. I'm going to go move to Costa Rica. And there I'll find out 
they got issues, right? I'm going to lay on the beach 
somewhere. But my Jesus is on the throne and my Jesus is coming 
again in glory to judge the living and the dead. So you see, it's 
comfort, it's encouragement, it's stabilizing to the people 
of God. I hope, if you're not a Christian 
here this morning, it's terrorizing to you. I don't want to terrorize 
you in some ungodly way, but terror and fear are good motives 
to flee to the Savior. He is coming again in glory to 
judge the living and the dead. Not the only motive, but it's 
certainly a motive. Would to God everyone would be 
converted at a thought of the loveliness of Jesus. But sometimes 
us hardened hearted sinners need the thunder of Sinai and the 
threat of judgment to cause us to see our state before a holy 
God and cause us or promote in us a desire to flee to the Savior. May that occur by God's grace 
today. May sinners come to know Jesus 
Christ as Lord and Savior. May they know the blessing to 
be found in Him not having their own righteousness, which is from 
the law, but that which is from God through faith. Well, let 
us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
your written word, and we thank you for this doctrine of the 
ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray that it would indeed 
speak comfort to our hearts as your people, that it would speak 
terror to the hearts of those who are not your people, and 
that today they would flee to Jesus. They would believe on 
Jesus. They would listen to what Paul 
and Silas told the Philippian jailer. Believe on the Lord Jesus 
and you will be saved. Everywhere, in all places, Scripture 
holds forth to us justification by faith in Jesus Christ. Abraham 
believed God. It was accounted unto him for 
righteousness. May we see this and appreciate 
this, and as Christians, may we rejoice in this, and may non-Christians 
look unto him and live. And we ask this in the name and 
for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, let's turn 
in our Trinity hymn book to the doxology, and we'll stand and 
sing praise to our triune God.