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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. We're going to consider the ascension 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. When He rose from the dead, He 
appeared to His disciples for 40 days. And then he went back 
up into heaven. And that's a very significant 
event both for the individual Christian and also for the church 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll make several observations 
concerning his ascension and then a few practical applications 
this morning. But I'll just begin reading 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, but 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 when 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 light manner as you 
saw Him go into heaven. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in Heaven, we give You thanks for the Holy Scripture. 
We give You thanks for the Spirit who inspired it. We thank You 
for the fact that it is profitable to us for doctrine, for correction, 
for reproof, and for instruction in righteousness. And we pray 
that even this morning, God, You would fill each one of us 
with Your Spirit and guide us into an understanding of this 
most blessed truth that Christ ascended on high. that He led 
captivity captive, and that He gave gifts to men, that He sits 
enthroned at the right hand of the majesty of God on high, and 
that He will come again to judge the living and the dead. May 
these thoughts sober us, may these thoughts cause rejoicing 
in our hearts, and may these thoughts promote worship and 
praise and adoration to our great God. And we ask through Jesus 
Christ our Lord, Amen. Well, as we saw, as I said a 
few weeks ago, the resurrection, the Lord Jesus, after He died, 
He was buried, and on the third day He rose again. And as we've 
just read here in chapter 1, verse 1, it says, The former 
account I made, O Theophilus. The author here is Luke. Luke 
wrote the Gospel according to Luke, and then he wrote this 
book of Acts. So, the former account he mentions 
is the Gospel according to Luke. He's writing to Theophilus and 
he says, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, the Gospel 
according to Luke records all that Jesus began both to do and 
to teach. The book of Acts continues to 
report on what Jesus does in terms of teaching. He hasn't 
stopped. He hasn't given up His authority. He hasn't given up 
His role in the church. He continues on at the right 
hand of the Father as a prophet, priest, and king to His church. And then we notice there in verse 
2, it says, 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. So even in this time frame, Christ 
is preparing His apostles. He's preparing these followers 
so that they can engage in the missionary and evangelistic enterprise. And that's what the primary emphasis 
of the book of Acts is on. Disciple making and church planting. And the power of Jesus is with 
His people. And in verse 8, we see the outline 
of the book itself. Christ says, you shall receive 
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall 
be witnesses to me in Jerusalem. Now in chapter 1 through chapter 
8, the emphasis in the book of Acts is on Jerusalem. And then 
he goes on and says, and in all Judea and Samaria. We see that 
in chapters 8 to 12. And then he says, and to the 
end of the earth. with the call of Paul the Apostle. 
The Gospel then goes forth from Judea and Samaria to the uttermost 
parts of the earth in the power of the Spirit, testifying to 
the grace and majesty of our Lord Jesus at the right hand 
of God. It's the general outline of the 
book of Acts. Now, let's focus in specifically 
on the ascension. It is His going up. It is His being received up into 
heaven upon the successful completion of His role, of His duty as the 
covenant mediator. As the One who came and died 
and rose again for the salvation of His people. We have six observations 
on this ascension. And the first is simply this, 
the ascension followed the atoning work of Christ. This did not 
happen in a vacuum. It did not happen as an isolated 
incident. But when Jesus was taken up before 
their eyes, He had already accomplished the purpose for which the Father 
had given Him. He came into this world in the 
fullness of the times. He was born of a woman and born 
under the law. And He did this in order to redeem 
those who were under the law. We know He did this through His 
life and through His death and through His resurrection. In 
fact, Luke highlights this. He also presented Himself alive 
after His suffering. So this Ascended Lord was first 
the suffering Savior. This Ascended Lord first accomplished 
what we could never do. He fulfilled all righteousness. 
He obeyed the Father. He never questioned authority. 
He always submitted Himself perfectly. In fact, He used to say in His 
earthly ministry, My meat is to do the will of the Father 
who sent Me. He says this so often to show 
that He is indeed the Man of Integrity who satisfies fully 
the requirements of God's covenantal dealings. Philippians 2 highlights 
this reality as well. That the ascension followed on 
the heels of this wonderful work of redemption performed by the 
Lord Jesus. Philippians 2, beginning in verse 
5. He says, Let this mind be in 
you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form 
of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. Beautiful 
statement. Being in the very form of God 
Himself. Remember in Jesus' earthly ministry, 
in the upper room, they said, show us the Father. Christ says, 
if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. He is in the 
very form of God. He images God. He is the exact 
representation of God. He did not think robbery to be 
equal with God. What that phrase means is that 
He didn't seize His prerogatives. He didn't come to earth and demand 
everybody bow down to Him. No, He said the Son of Man has 
come to seek and to save that which is lost. He said that the 
Son of Man did not come to be served, but rather to serve and 
to give His life a ransom for many. He didn't lay aside His 
deity. He just didn't insist upon the 
prerogatives associated with that deity. And notice what the 
Apostle goes on to say in verse 7. But He made Himself of no 
reputation. It's a better translation than 
the emptied himself. There's a theory called the kenosis 
theory, where Jesus emptied himself of divinity, where Jesus laid 
aside the privileges of godhood. That is not what the text is 
teaching us. The new King James has it accurately. He made Himself of no reputation. Taking the form of a bondservant 
and coming in the likeness of man, and being found in appearance 
as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point 
of death. He says even the death of the cross, the most wretched 
form of execution ever imagined, Christ underwent on our behalf. And then notice, based on that 
reality, verse 9, Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him 
and given Him the name which is above every name, that at 
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven 
and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that 
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory 
of God the Father." Great statement concerning Christ's redemptive 
work. He made Himself obedient to death, 
even the death of the cross. Based on that reality, God has 
highly exalted him. And I want you to observe something 
in Philippians 2 here this morning. It's by way of an aside, but 
a very important one. You may not be a Christian this 
morning. You may not be professing faith in the Savior. You may 
think all of this is just so much rubbish. It's all so much 
foolishness. You may think, why would anybody 
give their time and attention to the study of an ancient book? 
Why would anybody give their time and attention to the following 
of a man from Nazareth? What possible benefit could there 
be in this? Well, I want you to see from 
Philippians 2. You may not confess Jesus as Lord right now, But 
you will one day. Rest assured. You either confess 
Him now as Lord and Savior to His glory and your eternal bliss, 
or there is a day coming when you will confess Him as Lord 
to your shame and to your eternal damnation. He will drag your 
soul right out of hell and put you before Him so that you can 
make this confession, only to be discarded again. That's what 
the text tells us. Every knee shall bow, every tongue 
confess. You may think that you have no 
need for this Christ whatsoever, and that He has no authority 
over you. He has absolute authority over 
you. He has universal power and reign, 
as we'll see as we move through these observations. There is 
a day coming, the day of reckoning, the day of judgment. The Bible 
calls it that last day, when as sure as you're sitting here, 
you will confess Jesus. You will confess Him as Lord. 
Not necessarily as Savior, but you will confess Him as Lord 
to the glory of God the Father. Now you just think about that 
as you go about your daily life. You just think about that reality 
that this Christ who is preached each and every week, and probably 
preached in your home, is the Christ whom you will most certainly 
meet on that day. Please do not fall prey to that 
idea that the Bible is an old-fashioned book, that Jesus is an old-fashioned 
Savior, that we don't have any need or desire for Him whatsoever. 
Christ is everything. Christ is all in all. If you 
have Christ, you possess the riches beyond comprehension. That's who Jesus is according 
to the Scripture. Notice in Hebrews chapter 1, 
it's making this point that the ascension followed the atoning 
work of Christ. Hebrews 1 verse 1, God, who at 
various times and in various ways spoke. Consider that yesterday 
morning. God spoke. That's the fundamental 
presupposition of Christianity. God spoke. God revealed Himself. God addressed Himself to us. And we have the Bible. It alone 
is the Word of God. It alone is that foundation for 
truth and knowledge and rationality. It alone is that declaration 
of God's mind for His creatures. It says that He spoke in various 
ways in times past to the fathers by the prophets, as in these 
last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir 
of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, who being 
the brightness of His glory and the express image of His Person, 
and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had 
by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the 
Majesty on high." You see that link. He by Himself purges our 
sins at the cross. He is placed in the tomb. The 
third day, He rises again. And then God exalts Him. God, 
through the ascension, stations Him at His right hand where He 
has all power and all authority. And as the Apostle says in verse 
4, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by 
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. And then over 
in Hebrews 10, beginning in verse 11, it says, And every priest 
stands ministering daily, and offering repeatedly the same 
sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after 
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at 
the right hand of God. Beautiful testimony. I guarantee 
you that on that Day of Atonement, according to Leviticus 16, when 
that high priest went into the Holy of Holies, he gave up the 
sacrifice and he got out. He didn't sit down in there. 
He didn't relax. His task was not completed at 
that point. He still had to go out, confess 
the sins of Israel, lay His hand upon the scapegoat, and drive 
it out into the wilderness. When Christ offered up one sacrifice 
for sins forever, He ascended on high and He sat down at the 
right hand of God Most High. He is not coming again for sacrifice. He is not coming again to go 
through the earthly ministry. He is not coming again to be 
a baby in a manger, to live as a toddler, to live as a young 
man, to work as a carpenter, to fulfill the righteousness 
of God, to die a substitutionary death, and to rise again. That's 
not what's going to happen. He finished that work. He said 
it on the cross in John 19. It is finished. He sat down at 
the right hand of the Father where He ever lives to make intercession 
for His people. So, this ascension followed on 
the heels of the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Going back to 
Acts 1, the second observation is that the ascension was visible. 
It's very important that we understand this. The ascension was visible. Men saw it. This is a doctrine 
that's been under attack for, oh, let's say, 20 centuries. 
Men have denied the resurrection. Men have denied the ascension. 
Men have gone so far as to say, it really doesn't matter if those 
things happened or not. It's the story. It's the idea. It's the existential event that 
meets us in the reading of these things. That's hogwash. Christianity 
is established by God in history. It's not a cunningly devised 
fable. It didn't happen in the corner 
of the world where nobody saw and there's a bunch of cult members 
just drinking Kool-Aid and celebrating the founder. No, this is rooted 
in history. Men saw these things with their 
own eyes. Men, by God's grace, reported 
it. And this is precisely what we 
see in verse 9 of Acts 1. Now, when He had spoken these 
things while they watched. Notice in verse 10. And while 
they looked steadfastly toward heaven. Twice it's repeated in 
these short verses that they saw this take place. Albert Barnes 
makes the good observation. He says it was of importance 
to state that circumstance and to state it distinctly. It is 
not affirmed in the New Testament that they saw Him rise from the 
dead, because the evidence of that fact could be better established 
by their seeing Him after He was risen. When they saw Him, 
they knew of a truth that He rose from the dead. There wasn't 
several witnesses in the tomb at the time, but the fact that 
He was no longer in the tomb highlights the fact that He rose 
from the dead. That the angelic refrain was 
true. He is risen. Barnes goes on to 
say, but the truth of his ascension to heaven could not be confirmed 
in that manner. Hence, it was so arranged that 
he should ascend in open day and in the presence of his apostles. 
And that not when they were asleep or were inattentive to what was 
occurring, but when they were engaged in a conversation that 
would fix the attention and even when they were looking upon him. 
It's conspicuous, brethren. Luke wants us to know that these 
men saw Jesus ascend into heaven. It's not a myth. It's not a fable. It's not a drug-induced report. It is historical narrative. It is accurate history. It is 
the account of the life to death, the resurrection, and the ascension 
on high of the Son of Man and Son of God. The third observation 
is that the ascension was bodily. Bodily. He physically ascended 
into heaven. Remember that story or that report 
when Jesus had risen from the dead. You go back to Luke's first 
book, the Gospel according to Luke in chapter 24. Luke 24, 
beginning in verse 36, Now as they said these things, Jesus 
Himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, Peace 
to you. But they were terrified and frightened 
and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said to them, 
Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your 
hearts? Behold, my hands and my feet, 
that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit 
does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. When he had 
said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while 
they still did not believe for joy and marveled, he said to 
them, Have you any food here? So they gave him a piece of broiled 
fish and some honeycomb, and he took it and ate in their presence. There was an early heresy called 
docetism. Docetism from the Greek verb 
dēkēō, which means to appear. These people thought that Jesus 
only appeared in a physical body. This is associated with what's 
called gnosticism. Every time I'm giving you one 
of these words, I'm trying to define it, so you say, he's trying to 
confuse me. No, I'm not. Gnosticism claimed to have a 
direct line of information between them and God. They also denied 
the physical. They thought physical was bad. 
I'm not suggesting that full-blown Gnosticism was a present reality 
in the New Testament era, but the seeds were definitely there. 
And it developed not long after. This idea that the physical is 
bad. That we should be more enamored 
with the spiritual. That the soul is what's really 
important. That these bodies are simply a prison house. And 
what's good is inside. That's not biblical. God made 
the body. God created us physically with 
an immaterial part, to be sure, the soul or the spirit. But He's 
not got a war against our bodies. He's not got a war against our 
nature. He's got a war against our corruption, 
against our sin. If we all drop dead right now, 
our spirits depart and they're with the Lord. But that's not 
it. There's a day coming when God 
will raise the bodies of all men and rejoin them with their 
spirit so that they may be in the presence of God. The physical 
is not bad. Jesus is physically dwelling 
locally in heaven at the right hand of God Most High. That's 
a good thing. He sets the pattern. He tells 
us physical is not bad. He physically ascended on high. A fourth observation. We'll pull these together in 
just a moment. A fourth observation is that the ascension was glorious. 
How do we know it was glorious? The presence of the cloud indicates 
this. It says, He was taken up and 
a cloud received Him out of their sight. Take your concordance 
sometime and look up cloud and run through the Old Testament 
and see that cloud associated with the glory of God, associated 
with the judgment of God, associated with the power and authority 
of God. In fact, if you're reading Robert Mary McShane's calendar, 
you read Psalm 68 today, and it talks about this glory cloud 
in the context of God's judgment upon His enemies. If you're reading 
in a few days, you'll read Isaiah 19 where it says that Jehovah 
rode on a cloud into Egypt. That doesn't mean you saw some 
physical picture of God on a cloud. The idea is He's coming in authority 
and in judgment to punish Egypt for their wickedness. This cloud 
receives Jesus Christ. F.F. Bruce says, the cloud in 
each case is to be understood as the cloud which envelops the 
glory of God. In the Old Testament, Not in 
the Scripture itself, but a word that has been used to define 
it called the Shekinah glory. When that cloud came down upon 
the tabernacle or the temple, that Shekinah glory of God manifested 
itself. He goes on to say, that cloud 
which resting above the Mosaic tabernacle and filling Solomon's 
temple was the visible token to Israel that the divine glory 
had taken up residence there. Remember Jesus on the Mount of 
Transfiguration. What do we see? That glory cloud, 
when that sound of heaven or the sound of the God the Father 
comes up and He says, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well 
pleased, hear Him. The cloud indicates that this 
ascension of Christ was glorious. Pastor Cam read at the outset 
of worship, Daniel 7, 13 and 14. We'll refer to that in just 
a moment. The idea there again, He's coming 
on the clouds of heaven. It's glorious. It's authority. It's beauty. It's judgment. It's 
God being enthroned. That's what's in view here in 
Acts 1. He was taken up and a cloud received 
Him out of their sight. A fifth observation is that the 
ascension set the pattern for the second coming of Jesus. Notice 
what He says in verse 11. The angel 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. So in like manner as He went 
up, in like manner He comes back. The reason why this is important 
is that there's a teaching today, well it's not just today, it's 
been around for a while, called hyper-preterism. Preterism is 
a doctrine that teaches that things happen in the past. Hyperpreterism 
teaches that everything that the New Testament specifies concerning 
Jesus has already taken place. The second coming has already 
happened. Use the language of Brian Adams, we're in heaven 
according to this doctrine. It was present in Corinth. It 
was present in 2 Timothy as well. It is the Hymenaean heresy. Hymenaeus 
and Philetus had taught that the resurrection had already 
taken place. Not so according to the Scripture. 
If He's going to come in like manner, what ought we to expect? 
That it's going to be visible. That it's going to be bodily. 
That it's going to be glorious. That every eye will see Him. 
that those who are His will marvel at His coming, according to 2 
Thessalonians 1. Those who are not His are going 
to run. They're going to cry out to the 
mountains and the rocks and the hills to fall upon them and hide 
them from the wrath of the Lamb. Christ's ascension sets the pattern 
for His coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead. 
Turn to 2 Thessalonians for a moment. Chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 
1. Paul is comforting the saints 
in Thessalonica. He comforts them in a way that 
we probably wouldn't do. Notice what he says in verse 
3 of chapter 1. He says, We are bound to thank God always for 
you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, 
and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other. 
so that we ourselves, most of you among the churches of God, 
for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations 
that you endure." He's writing to a suffering church. He's writing 
to those who know persecution. He's writing to those who know 
tribulation. What's he saying? Verse 5, "...which 
is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may 
be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer." 
Since, verse 6, it is a righteous thing with God to repay with 
tribulation those who trouble you. Do we ever think that God's 
enemies, the persecutors of the saints, men who are committed 
to killing Christians, do we ever think for a moment that 
a comforting reality is that if those persecutors do not repent, 
they will be punished by God? We bear the image of God. And 
one of those aspects is justice and righteousness. That's why 
when you turn to the book of Revelation and you see those 
souls of those martyrs under the altar, what are they crying 
out to God? How long, O Lord? How long will 
you not avenge your people? Vengeance is God's, to be sure. But the saints of Christ ought 
to want to see that inflicted on God's enemies. Now at this 
point, you're probably saying, this guy's no longer a Christian 
preacher. Just stick to those imprecatory psalms. How dare 
you say mean things like that? This is what Paul says. It's 
right for God to pay with tribulation those who afflict you. And if 
you don't think that way, you need to change your thinking. 
God is a righteous God. God is a just God. Paul is able 
to sign off the Corinthian letter, 1 Corinthians 16, 22, if anyone 
does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. 
Now, brethren, that doesn't mean somebody cuts you off in the 
street. God, send your wrath upon them. It's God's enemies, 
not your enemy. Not your difficult situation. 
Not your problem. Not your challenge. But when 
the enemies of God Most High do not relent or repent from 
their wickedness and their persecution and their ill treatment of God 
or His people, it is right to pray, it is right that God pays 
with affliction those who afflict you. That's how Paul rolls here. Notice in verse 7, "...and to 
give you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus is 
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels." Christianity 
gets a lot of pot shots. People say, oh, you just have 
this pie-in-the-sky dream. No, that's not all we have, but 
you know what? There is some of that. You may 
be called on this earth to suffer. You may be called on this earth 
to persecution. You may be called on this earth 
to tribulation. You may be growing up a God-fearing 
man, woman, boy or girl in Somalia. You may be growing up a Christian 
in the Orissa state in India. When we talk about our persecution 
here, brother, I don't think we have a clue. Pakistan. Saudi Arabia. North Korea. You may be called 
upon to suffer, but what does Paul say? You have an exceedingly 
great reward in heaven. This lower world may be filled 
with trial. This lower world may be full 
of difficulty and hardship. You know what? If it weren't, 
you'd probably get settled into this lower world and have no 
longing for heaven. Maybe we don't think about heaven 
enough because we got it so good. Most of us probably aren't ready 
to check out yet, because quite frankly, it's nice here. But 
if we were in some places in the world, if we were on the 
run for our faith in Jesus Christ, we'd be saying, Lord, Lord, Lord, 
I can't wait to be in Your presence. Paul says there is something 
far greater coming for you in the future. And to give you who 
are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from 
heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance 
on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey 
the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished 
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord 
and from the glory of His power. When He comes in that day to 
be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those 
who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. Don't 
you love that? Look at that last portion in 
verse 10. When He comes in that day to be glorified in His saints 
and to be admired. Don't you love that? What are 
you going to do in heaven? We're going to admire Jesus. 
You say, oh, I can't wait to get to heaven because I get to 
play basketball all the time. Some people say, oh, I love golf. 
You know, it's going to be like gold paved putting grains. Can't wait. We got this idea 
that whatever we like, that's what heaven's all about. It was 
Roy Rogers, one of these old cowboys. He said, if dogs aren't 
in heaven, then I don't want to go there. For him, his canines 
were heavenly. Do you know what makes heaven 
heaven? Jesus. Do you know what makes heaven 
glorious? Admiring Christ. That's what heaven is all about. To see Him. To be in His presence. To see His holiness. To see His 
beauty. To see His majesty. To learn 
of Him. To grow in Him. to dwell with 
one another without sin so that we may stand in the presence 
of our thrice holy God and say salvation belongs to our God 
and to the Lamb who sits upon the throne. When Christ comes, 
it is to be marveled at or admired by His people. The ascension 
sets the pattern for the second coming. It will be visible, it 
will be bodily, it will be glorious, contra-hyper-preterism, or any 
other doctrine that de-heavens Christianity. And the sixth and 
final observation is that the ascension resulted in enthronement. 
See, Jesus was received up in that glory cloud, but as we've 
already intimated in Hebrews chapter 1, He sat down. What 
did He do when He sat down? Look over at Acts 2 for just 
a moment. Acts chapter 2, verse 22. Men of Israel, hear these 
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, 
wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, 
as you yourselves also know. Him being delivered by the determined 
purpose and foreknowledge of God. You have taken by lawless 
hands, have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up, 
having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that 
he should be held by it. We see the death of Christ. We 
see the resurrection of Christ. God raised Him up. The appeal 
to Psalm 16, where Peter says, David wasn't writing about himself. 
David was writing about his greater Son. David was writing about 
his great Lord. David was writing about Jesus 
Christ. Notice in verse 29, Men and brethren, 
let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he 
is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 
Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with 
an oath to Him that of the fruit of His body, according to the 
flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on His throne. 
He, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, 
that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see 
corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, 
of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the 
right hand of God, and having received from the Father the 
promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now 
see and hear. For David did not ascend into 
the heavens, but he says himself, the Lord said to my Lord, sit 
at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 
He says, therefore. The Bible, the sermons in the 
New Testament aren't just to fill your head with knowledge. 
I want you to learn this about Jesus. Don't you understand this 
about Jesus? No, the sermons in the New Testament 
end with, therefore. This has application. This has 
implication. This speaks to your life. This 
has meaning for you. It is personal. The ascension 
of Christ isn't just a sermon that you listen to in Chilliwack 
on May whatever, and then go home and not be changed. Therefore, 
he says, let all the house of Israel know assuredly There's 
no potential here. There's no possibility of knowledge 
here. Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made 
this Jesus both Lord and Christ. God has stationed Him at His 
right hand. Jesus' ascension led to the current 
session. The current session means that 
Jesus is now reigning and ruling over all things. Jesus is enthroned 
on high. Jesus, according to John in Revelation 
1, is the ruler over the kings of the earth. Jesus has all authority 
in heaven and on earth, he tells his church. Jesus is exalted 
above every name that is named, both in this age and the age 
to come. Jesus Christ is the King of kings 
and Lord of lords. Jesus Christ has been given this 
kingdom. He has been given this dominion. 
He has been given this majestic position by His Father. And it's 
not Jesus Christ as God the Son. It is Jesus Christ as the Messiah 
King. It is Jesus Christ as the victor. It is Jesus Christ as the One 
who is the surety of a better covenant and who has in fact 
done all that the Father had given Him. I said that the passage 
that Pastor Cam read was fitting. Daniel 7. Most older commentators, 
until the rise of dispensationalism, took this as a reference to the 
ascension of Christ. It's an ascension passage. Daniel 
7, verse 13. It's not a second coming in glory 
passage. It is the ascension of Jesus 
to the right hand of God Most High, where He then receives 
this kingdom, majesty and power. The text tells us as much. Daniel 
7.13, I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one light, 
the Son of Man. When Jesus took that title, Son 
of Man, His audience knew what He was talking about. His audience 
knew that He was identifying Himself with Daniel, Son of Man. 
They understood when He said, you will see the Son of Man coming 
on the clouds of power with great glory. And the High Priest rips 
His garments and accuses Him of blasphemy. Why? Because the 
High Priest understood His claims. He was referring to this passage. 
And behold, one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds 
of heaven. Notice, He came to the Ancient 
of Days. In this passage, the Ancient 
of Days is the Father. Jesus comes to Him, not from 
Him. Jesus comes to Him at the Ascension. And it's then that all these 
things are true. They brought Him nearer before 
Him. And then notice in verse 14, then to Him. He's come to 
the Ancient of Days. He's enthroned at the right hand 
of the Ancient of Days. then to Him was given dominion 
and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages 
should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting 
dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom the one 
which shall not be destroyed." And the New Testament confirms 
this time without end. John Calvin in his Institute 
said this, carried up into heaven, therefore, he withdrew his bodily 
presence from our sight, not to cease to be present with believers 
still on their earthly pilgrimage, but to rule heaven and earth 
with a more immediate power. By his ascension, he fulfilled 
what he had promised. that He would be with us even 
to the end of the world. Praise God for the ascension 
of Christ and the enthronement of Christ where He was given 
universal dominion, sovereignty, authority, and power. Well, we 
learn from this a couple of things and then we close. First, the 
ascension and the individual Christian. Where ought our comfort 
to be? The Heidelberg Catechism, number 
one, tells us. In Jesus our Lord. Both in life 
and in death. The book of Hebrews tells us 
that as well. Look at how it links Christian 
comfort with the ascension of our Lord Jesus. The ascension 
and the current session of our Lord Jesus. Hebrews chapter 4. 
A passage I hope that is near and dear to every heart here. 
A passage that I believe is one that ought to be there when you 
are tried or having difficulties or persecutions or trials. Hebrews 
4.14, saying then, he says, that we have a great high priest who 
has passed through the heavens. What is that? The ascension. 
He passed through the heavens to be seated at the right hand 
of God Most High. What's the implication of this 
reality? Seeing then that we have a great 
high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of 
God. Here's the first implication. Let us hold fast our confession. You know what he means there? Read your Bible and know doctrine. That's one of the important lessons 
in the book of Hebrews is to hold fast your confession. You may not ever fly to the moon. 
You may not ever be a Hudson Taylor rowing along ponytail 
and being a missionary in China. You may not single-handedly restore 
the economy or put in place a decent economy in Haiti. But this one 
thing you are charged to do, one thing that I'm growing more 
and more convinced is the most important thing, to make it, 
to finish. to persevere. What Kevin DeYoung 
calls the glory of plodding. Hold fast your confession. Why? Because Jesus, the Son of 
God, has passed through the heavens. Notice verse 15. For we do not 
have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, 
but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Another 
implication. Verse 16. Let us therefore come 
boldly to the throne of grace. The fact that Jesus is at the 
right hand of God the Father gives you access, bold access, 
to the throne of grace. Do you ever consider the ascension 
in your prayer life? Jesus has secured for you prayer. Jesus has won that privilege 
for you to come boldly to the throne of grace. Notice what 
he goes on to say, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to 
help in time of need. I ask you, when is that time 
of need? It happens when the alarm clock goes off in the morning 
And when you lay your head down at night to sleep, it's still 
there when you're asleep, but thankfully you're unconscious. 
What's he saying? Come boldly to the throne of 
grace. We have Jesus, the Son of God, our High Priest, who 
has passed through the heavens. He has won your redemption. He 
has secured your salvation. He has given you the ability 
to approach God corporately as the body of Christ and individually 
in your private prayer to come to God. Fetch help in your time 
of need. Our minds, according to Colossians 
3, verses 1-4, are to be focused on the ascended and reigning 
Lord. We saw that in great detail looking at Colossians 3. Set your mind on things above, 
where Christ is. Why? So you'll be of no earthly 
good? So everybody that comes around 
and says, well, no, I'm just thinking about Jesus. Don't mess 
with me. I'm thinking about Jesus. That's 
not what Colossians 3 says. Colossians 3 says, set your mind 
on things above so that you as husbands can be good to your 
wives. So that you as wives can submit to your husbands. So that 
you fathers will love your children and bring them up in the training 
and admonition of the Lord. So that you children will honor 
and obey your parents. Instead of being like all the 
other kids. Instead of reveling in rebellion, you do what you're 
supposed to do. Because it pleases God. when 
a 10-year-old or a 15-year-old or an 18-year-old or a 20-year-old 
renders honor and obedience to their parents. God is pleased 
with that. Where do you get the power to 
do such things? By setting your mind on Christ. This ascension 
is intensely practical. How are you supposed to work? You're to set your mind on things 
above. Now, when your employer comes and he says, I want you 
to put this here or do this, I can't, I'm thinking about Jesus. 
No, you're thinking about Jesus so you do what your employer 
says. You're thinking about Jesus so you as a master are kind-hearted 
to your employee. You see, this isn't just ethereal 
stuff up here. The ascension is intensely practical 
for each of us down here. That's Colossians 3. That's what 
the Bible tells us. What about the ascension in the 
church? Go back to Acts 1. I want you to see something interesting. 
Acts 1. Remember we saw in verse 8, but 
you shall receive power when 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. Jesus gave 
them their marching orders, didn't he? This is what you're supposed 
to do. You're not just supposed to sit around and say, what a 
great Savior we have. You're supposed to go out and witness. 
You're supposed to go. Remember the Great Commission? 
We interpret it as a command. Go, therefore. It's not a command. 
It's a presupposition. He uses a participle. Going, 
therefore. He supposes the people of God 
are going to want to go tell others about God. Crazy thought, 
I know. You see something of this in 
David, in Psalm 51, then I will teach transgressors your way. Once I have received that benefit, 
once I have known that cleansing, once I have known the purging 
of sin, I can't but then teach transgressors your way. It's 
presupposition, the Great Commission. So here Jesus outlines for them 
their mission. Now notice verse 10. 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. You know what I think 
they're saying? Go do what he told you. They want to stand 
there and look in the glory cloud and all that. He says, why do 
you stand there gazing into heaven? Go do what you're supposed to. Jerusalem isn't going to preach 
to itself. Judea and Samaria isn't going to preach to itself. 
The uttermost parts of the earth isn't going to preach to itself. 
He saved you. He converted you. He changed 
you. He gave you this gospel so that 
you won't stand gazing up into the sky, but so you'll go out 
and preach. You'll go out and teach. You'll go out and engage 
in the mission. You'll go do what He says in 
Matthew 28. Going, therefore, make disciples 
of all the nations. Baptize those disciples in the 
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And 
teach those disciples to observe all things that I have commanded 
you. And what does He say? And lo, I am with you always, 
even to the end of the age. physically located at the right 
hand of God the Father, Jesus is with His church in that going, 
in that making of disciples, in that teaching, or baptizing 
and teaching. Jesus is with His church when 
they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. We ought 
to spend time gazing into heaven and praising our God, but we 
ought to get busy with the work of the Kingdom. We ought to stop 
and go. That's what He says. He's coming 
back. Don't worry about that. He's 
got that all taken care of. What are we supposed to do between 
that first and the second coming? You've got to go preach, you've 
got to go teach. That's if you're an apostle or a disciple, you're 
called by the church for that work. If you're a wife, you serve 
in the home. If you're a husband, you love 
your wife, you work hard at work. You conduct yourself in that 
faithful plotting, knowing there is a day coming when Jesus will 
return in glory to judge the living and the dead. Christ has 
absolute sovereignty and authority over all things. He has commissioned 
His church according to Matthew 28. He has equipped His church 
according to Ephesians chapter 4. Therefore, the church, based 
on this reality, ought to be about disciple-making. ought 
to be about baptizing, ought to be about teaching, ought to 
be engaged in apostolic doctrine, in the breaking of bread, in 
fellowship and in prayers. We ought to be about those things 
that God has outlined in the New Testament for the church 
to engage in. And we ought to do it waiting 
and patiently, knowing that our Lord is coming again in glory 
to judge the living and the dead. This ascension has practical 
benefit and import for the Christian mission of the Church of Jesus 
Christ. And then finally, the ascension 
in the Gospel. Gospel simply means good news. 
Good news is not that I'm about done. That may be good news to 
some of y'all. But good news, according to the 
Bible, is simply this. God is a holy and righteous God. 
Actually, in some sense, that's terrifying news. The fact that the prophet Habakkuk 
says his eye is too pure to behold any evil ought to promote fear 
and trembling in all of us. We ought to be afraid of this 
God. Pastor Cam referenced Isaiah 6 when he was confronted with 
the exalted glory of Jesus Christ in his pre-incarnate state. The 
prophet Isaiah didn't say, wow, there's my big buddy. There's 
my big friend. Isn't this grand? What a great 
room! He says, Woe is me, I am undone. Why? Because I'm a man of unclean 
lips and I live amongst a people of unclean lips. When the prophet 
Ezekiel is confronted with the glory of God, what does he do? 
He falls as a dead man. What does the seer in Revelation 
do when he gets a view of the glorified Jesus? I fell on my 
face as a dead man. We don't reckon with the holiness 
of God as we ought. We don't consider the righteousness 
of God as we ought. We don't think about Him as a 
consuming fire. It's not popular in our post-modern 
world to have any negativity whatsoever. And the concept that 
God is going to punish sinners forever, that's just too much 
for us to entertain. People won't respond to that, 
so we have to cater the message to them. We have to paint Him 
in the most glorious language that He's only ever loved. That 
He'll always wink at their sin. He doesn't really care about 
what they do. He knows that they're trying. That's what the picture 
of the Bible portrays. Our God is a consuming fire. 
And then in our man, here's where the bad news starts. God made 
us upright. He made us in His image. Ecclesiastes, 
the preacher Solomon says, I know this, God made man upright. You 
read Genesis 1 and 2? God made man upright. He made 
us in His image. We retain that image to be sure. 
Solomon says we sought out many devices. We sought out many sins. Sometimes we look at Adam and 
Eve transgressing in the garden and we say, man, that's just 
overreaction. Come on, they took a piece of 
fruit. You know what I've gotten away with? You know what I've 
done? Edward Fisher in the Marrow of Modern Divinity tells us they 
broke every Ten Commandments, every one of the Ten Commandments 
in that act of rebellion against God. And we in Adam died. This is bad news. We cannot help 
ourselves spiritually. We cannot make ourselves better. 
Our free will won't get us out of the mess that we're in. In 
fact, it's our free will that put us in this mess. The good news is that God undertook. The good news is that God called 
Abram out of Ur of the Chaldean and He promised to save a great 
multitude through His seed. The good news is that Jesus is 
that seed of Abraham. That Jesus did all that God calls 
us to do. That Jesus obeyed perfectly. 
That Jesus then died as a sacrifice and as a substitute such that 
God poured on Him the wrath due our sin. And then God took that 
righteousness of Jesus and He put it on us. There's no better 
news, no greater news than the forgiveness of sins and the imputation 
of a righteousness that avails with God. And that ascension, 
that Christ now enthroned at the right hand of the Father 
assures you that if you believe this gospel, He will receive 
you. He is there. He has power. He is glorious. He is majestic. He is a Savior for sinners. A 
real Savior for real sinners. Not hypothetical ones. Not, I've 
got to pretend. No, you bring all your filth, 
all your wickedness, all your garbage, all your rebellion, 
every breaking of the Ten Commandments that you've committed. Come to 
Jesus Christ and what does He do? He pardons your iniquity. He gives you a righteousness. 
It's like that picture in Zechariah chapter 3, when the Lord God 
orders that Joshua's garments be stripped away and that the 
clean garments be put on him. And that's possible because God, 
in Christ, stripped away righteousness and imputed sin and punished 
him in our stead. If you don't know this Jesus 
today, believe the Gospel. You may not understand a lot 
of the language that I've used. You may not understand a lot 
of language or the words or the terminology, but this much you 
should know. You're a sinner. God is angry with you. He's not 
like men. He's not like an earthly judge. 
He won't just pretend that you didn't do that. God must punish 
sin. The Bible says all those who 
believe the Gospel, that Jesus died for sinners and rose again, 
will have everlasting life. That's my earnest prayer and 
desire for each one here, is that you believe that message. 
You believe that truth. Men would much prefer to be told 
what they need to do, how they need to perform, how they need 
to buy, how they need to sell, how they need to function. The 
Gospel message isn't what you do. The Gospel message is what 
Jesus has done. You need to believe that and 
you will be saved according to the Scripture. Well, let us pray. 
Father, we thank You for Your Word and we thank You for the 
ascension of Jesus Christ to Your right hand. We thank You 
that He ever lives to make intercession for His people. We thank You 
that He will come again to judge the living and the dead and that 
coming will be visible. It will be bodily and it will 
be glorious. And God, I pray that each one 
of us here would rejoice in that day, that we would marvel at 
him, that we would admire him, that there would be none of us 
here found on that side of being dealt vengeance by a sovereign 
and a holy God. We just pray. Be merciful. I 
pray for the children. I pray for the young people. 
I pray for adults. Any and all who do not know Jesus 
Christ as Lord and Savior, God, do what is impossible with men 
and open their hearts to respond to the truth of the Gospel. And 
we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.