I want to start with a question this morning. In the Old Testament, you've got various prophets speaking oracles of judgment, right? Who is the one who executes these judgments? Who is the one doing the judging in the Old Testament? Who? When Isaiah talks about judgment against the Northern Kingdom for plotting against them, who's going to do that? What's that? God, right? God is the executor of judgment. Sometimes, often, he directly uses someone else to be the actual instrument. But there's always this assumption when Isaiah talks about that the northern kingdom will be judged for its son, for example, that it is the Father, God in heaven, who will do that thing. Or when he speaks about judgment against the southern kingdom, that God in heaven will do that. Also later on in Isaiah, for example, when he talks about deliverance for the people, who's going to do this? Is this going to be God as well? I want to start by turning to the book of Daniel. If you would please turn there. In the context of the Old Testament, there were often special people, you might recall. Sometimes these were judges, for example, or before this, Moses, or Abraham. And later on, special people would include, for example, the prophets. Now, generally speaking, the prophets would sometimes execute judgment themselves, though not often. They were more often than not announcers of judgment. Also another special person was the king. And so sometimes God would use a king or a prophet or whatnot. But you've got a shift, I think, in Daniel 7. And this really comes out in the New Testament and then shows up in the Creed. There is a distinctive shift to where the locus of authority and judgment is no longer on God the Father. It shifts. So if we look, for example, in Daniel chapter 7. Let's just start at the beginning of the chapter. In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. Daniel declared, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. Then, as I looked, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground, and it made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth, and it was told, arise, devour much flesh. After this, I looked. And behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back, and the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this, I saw in the night visions, behold, a fourth beast, terrifying, dreadful, exceedingly strong, and had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it. It had ten horns. I considered the horns, behold, there came up among them Another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots, and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things." It's a vision. In this case, animals represent kingdoms, essentially. Sure, there's leaders among these kingdoms, but essentially these represent kingdoms. The third of which, four heads, often considered to be, for example, the kingdom after Alexander the Great. And then the last one then, the Empire, the Republic, the Empire of Rome. But that's not unusual. The Old Testament frequently talks about various empires. Not often as animals. That's very Danielic. This is unusual, starting in verse 9. As I looked, thrones were placed. in the ancients of days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him. A thousand thousand served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. And the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened." This vision of the throne, does this remind you of any other prophet? Before John. Ezekiel, remember, has the throne with the wheels. And a lot of these visions are picked up later also by John. This is very much an image you'll certainly see in Revelation. So you've got God, right? God, the Ancient of Days. That's the idea, the Ancient of Days. This would be the Father. Sitting on a throne. Books open. Why would books be opened? Books are open. Well, that'll be really clear. I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beast, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came One like a Son of Man. He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him." Alright? Think of the action here. Where is the Ancient of Days? The Ancient of Days is enthroned in Heaven. One like a Son of Man is going on the clouds to be with the Ancient of Days. Alright? Up to God's space. Up to Heaven. And 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 one that shall not be destroyed." Now this is quite a bit beyond what we're used to seeing, in the Old Testament at least, in terms of what might happen if a human ruler, for example, came to the throne of Israel and was blessed by God. What would happen if that were the case? Well, Israel would prosper, right? Israel would prosper. Hopefully that king would live to a ripe old age in his righteousness. But eventually he would die, right? That is not the image here. This is something greater than a regular David, right? This is something greater than a Josiah, for example. This must be something else. But whoever it is, he's receiving a kingdom. And it's the context of books being opened. It's in the context of an Ancient of Days being enthroned and ready to judge. And how do we know that it's related to judgment? Well, what's that paragraph between the Ancient of Days and the Sun? Well, it's a paragraph of judgment. The fourth beast destroyed, the others allowed to live, but weakened. And the Creed, when it says, He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom shall have no end. This is, in the Old Testament, not a particularly common notion, but we see it very clearly here in Daniel. And we see in the New Testament where it Looking at the theology of the Old Testament, they see that and then they identify a certain individual as fulfilling that thing. Right? A certain individual, that individual being Jesus the Christ, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the King. That one individual who will fulfill that role and actually would do what was going to happen in Daniel 7. He's not named in Daniel 7. We know he's like a human. We know that because then there came one like a son of man. He came to the ancient of days. One like a son of man means he is a man. He's a human. He's not an angel. He's not a demon. He is a human, whatever he is. Now if you would, let's turn to the New Testament. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 3. So in the Old Testament, generally speaking, Who does the judgment? The Father does the judgment. And even in that Daniel passage, the judgment happens between when the Son of Man ascends to the throne and when the Ancient of Days opens the books. Matthew chapter 3. So the question is going to be, all right, now we have the New Testament. We're going to have John the Baptist. What is John the Baptist proclamation like? Beginning in Matthew chapter 3, in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. All right, and so in the Daniel passage it talked about a kingdom being established that had no end, right? Perhaps John is speaking of that. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And this is talking about John. John as a preparation. for someone else. Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and malt honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan confessing their sins. So John was out in the wilderness preaching and lots of people were coming out. to see him and to listen to him. And then in verse 7, But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come, bear fruit in keeping with repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Now is John saying he's going to kill them? No. Right? God is going to judge you. Right? It's not me. He's a voice. He is not an actor. He is not the one who will be doing the judging. He is the one who is proclaiming the judgment. He is the voice in the wilderness. Now notice this. I baptize you with water for repentance. But he who is coming after me is mightier than I. Whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Right after John talks about that, well, you know, even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees, every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. That's generic. Who's doing it? Well, God is doing it. The next paragraph is very specific. There is one coming after me. There's a person coming after me. I baptize you with water for repentance. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And he will have his windwing fork in his hand and will clear his threshing floor. We're changing images, but same idea. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. That person is going to take on that specific role. An individual, not a nation, even though he could still use a nation, theoretically. That person, that individual, a man, will come and will take on that role of judgment. He will be God's judge and he will himself, he won't talk about the judgment, he will Execute. Actually execute the judgment on the wicked. Turn to Luke chapter 12. Yeah. Not specifically, no. That means he's given power. Now, the implication of that is, as someone who's given full dominion, that means they're going to both have power to bless and power to curse. So I think the assumption is there, but it is not as obviously clear. Right? Because God the Father does some judging things before the One like a Son of Man comes to the Ancient of Days. But I don't think it's meant to exclude His judgment. There's a sequence where the father was doing the judging and then now a son of man is going to come and then he's going to be given the dominion and the power. And so if you're John the Baptist reading that, I think what's happening is essentially he's going, and of course progressive revelation, he's going and says that man is about to show up. Right? And he is going to be given that dominion and that power. And therefore, you know what? He's bringing his winnowing fork. And he's going to be doing the burning of the chaff. He will be the one who lays the axe to the roots of the trees. I think is the sequence there. Luke chapter 12. This notion that the Son of Man would be judged is confirmed by Jesus' speech, but also delayed. Because within His earthly ministry, Jesus did not come to judge but to save. That was His earthly ministry. But, He did not abdicate the role. The role was His. And you see that in a number of places. And this, for example, is one. In Luke chapter 12, In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, He began to say to His disciples first, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden. that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light. What you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed in the housetops." We're going to combine this with something in Matthew in just a moment. The idea here is... Jesus is talking about the judgment of God that's coming. It's not just a judgment against overt actions. It's not just a judgment against things that are obvious, that are done in front of people. It is a judgment about what goes on in people's heads. It's a judgment about what goes on in private, when no human can see. Turn to Matthew, chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25, you've got the parable of the ten virgins at the beginning, and then you have the parable of the talents. Let's read the last section, verse 31. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, you should think Daniel chapter 7. When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne, also from Daniel 7. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on the right, come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. And I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you? thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick in prison and visit you? And the king will answer to them, truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." And Jesus is talking about a general principle here. In the final judgment, God is going to, or the Son of Man, is going to look for people who are merciful. Merciful to the weak. Merciful to those who are hungry. who are in prison, to those who had a rough time in the world. And God would look favorably upon them. Or excuse me, the Son of Man, whoever He is, would look favorably upon them. Next paragraph, then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me naked. and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they will answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Jesus often talks about when the Son of Man comes in glory. He's always talking about Himself. Some people might have looked at that and go, oh, well you're talking about that figure in Daniel 7. Who is... I wonder who that is, right? This is an interesting statement that Jesus is making, based on that idea in Daniel 7. Who is the Son of Man? Of course, Jesus is always talking about Himself, when He's talking about that. And one reason why he uses this circumlocution to talk about himself, just kind of talking around, is at that point, he's trying to avoid dying. Alright? It's not his time yet. There's a time where he will need to be clear, so that when it is time for him to die, he will be clear, and therefore, he will be put to death. But not at that point. He's not quite ready yet. A lot of the Gospels, he's talking in oblique ways. He's giving parables. Sometimes the parables are meant to make something very clear through an image. Sometimes the parables are meant to make something opaque. So that you don't exactly know what he's talking about, because it's not yet time. However, if you turn to chapter 26. The Son of Man statement, perhaps there might not be particularly clear. When you get here, when it is time for Jesus to die, He's very clear. And so in Matthew chapter 26, starting in verse 57, so this is when Jesus is before Caiaphas and the council. And then those who had seized Jesus, this is Matthew 26 verse 57. For those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. And Peter was following him in a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last, two came forward and said, this man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. And the high priest stood up and said, have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you? But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, you have said so. And now is where he makes it very clear. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Right? The high priest is talking to Jesus and he's trying to say, did you say these things? You said it was so. But I tell you, you will see the Son of Man. You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. The priest is not at all confused about who he's talking about at this point. He is talking about himself. We know that because he said, then the high priest tore his robes and said, he has uttered blasphemy. He hasn't uttered blasphemy if he's just quoting Daniel about some Son of Man in the future. It's not blasphemy to quote the Old Testament. What it was considered blasphemy for the high priest was for him to quote Daniel 7 and apply it to himself. for the high priest. And it's true. If someone were to quote Daniel 7 and apply it to themselves, and they're not actually the Son of Man, that is legitimate blasphemy. But Jesus is the Son of Man, right? And the high priest doesn't realize it. And so he says, then the high priest tore his brogues and said, he has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard this blasphemy. What is your judgment? They answered, he deserves death. Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him saying, prophesy to us, you Christ, who is it that struck you? So at this point, Jesus makes it very clear, all right? And that old, if you think about that arc of progressive revelation, generally speaking, God the Father, it is just God who is doing the judgment in the Old Testament. And then there's a statement in Daniel, all right? That the Father will be enthroned and execute judgment, and then one like a man, one like a human, will come on the clouds to the throne, alright, to that throne where the Ancient of Days is seated. And He will be given authority and dominion. He will be given a throne Himself. That's the idea. John says it's happening. And the guy I'm talking about is that guy. And Jesus at this point says, I'm that guy. You will see me, the Son of Man, sitting at the right hand of power in Heaven. And of course, we know the story. They killed Him for this. Right? Well, they didn't just kill Him for this. They wanted Him dead. Right? Because they were jealous. They wanted Him dead because He was a troublemaker. But when it was time for Him to die, Jesus made sure When it was His time, Jesus made sure, let's do this now. And He makes the definitive statement, and they kill Him. And we've talked about His death quite a bit recently. And we've also talked some about His resurrection. Right? He rose from the dead. Bill has been talking about it a lot. In the 11 o'clock hour as well. He rose from the dead. He spent time with His disciples. Now, turn over a couple chapters to Matthew 28. I want to read the very end of Matthew and the very end of Luke. Something definitive happens. Something definitive happens. A major change happens after Jesus' death. Matthew 28, Now the eleven disciples, and this is after Jesus spent time with his disciples, Now the eleven disciples, minus Judas, because he had killed himself, went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven, and on earth has been given to me." That should sound like Daniel 7, right? All authority was given to him. Who's the Son of Man? Jesus is the Son of Man. All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded to you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." So, notice the sequence, alright? Jesus has come, When in His first advent, His first coming, He was not coming to judge. His first advent was to save. However, He talked about the coming judgment. Alright? Not that coming, later on there would be something. And the Son of Man would be very active in that judgment. He would divide the sheep from the goats. He would know what goes on and not only what is not only sin in public, but sin in private. Things that we thought We had hidden. But no, he actually sees those things. They are, you might say, written in books. He sees these things. He says that's coming, but that was not his first advent. His first advent was not to judge or to conquer. His first advent was to die. That's the purpose of it. And so he talks about these things. And then, so that his death can be executed, he talks about it again, publicly, with people who want to kill Him, and basically says, you're gonna see the Son of Man, me, coming in power. And they accuse Him of blasphemy, and kill Him. And now, they've killed Him. He was dead for three days. And then He came back, and spent time with His disciples. And then, He says this, all authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me. Okay? has been given to me, it's mine now. But also note, He delegates authority at that point. God the Father delegated authority, or said He would, in Daniel 7. That wasn't something in the past, that was something in the future when Daniel wrote. The Ancient of Days was going to delegate authority. He had all the authority, He was going to give it to the Son of Man, and His Kingdom would have no end. And so at this point, All that authority, all that power has been delegated to the Son of Man. And now, He's delegating it. Right? He can't delegate it unless He has it. He has it and now He delegates it to His people. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Spirit. Now, the primary power of judgment is the Son, not the Church. But He does delegate to His people. All right? The job of going and making disciples of all people. That is your job. I am leaving. All right? I am leaving. I will not... Jesus will not be physically present at this point. He is leaving. And so, therefore, that power which has been delegated to Him is now partially being delegated to His people. If you will turn to Philippians chapter 2, just to read a little bit from Paul, Same notion, different writer. A writer who at the time hated the Christians. Philippians chapter two. So if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord with one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. And so he's talking to the Philippians, talking to them how they should be willing to give and sacrifice and look out for other people's interests. Then he gives an example. Have this mind among you, among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. This is the mind, that mind of sacrifice. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form." This is, of course, talking about the Incarnation. "...he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Therefore, this is something that is not really revealed in Daniel. We've got a human. We've got a human who is coming to the Ancient of Days to receive a kingdom. We don't know anything about the backstory of this human in Daniel 7. Paul makes it clear. What's the backstory? The backstory is Jesus Christ, not a man, becomes a man. Becomes one like a son of man. In becoming obedient unto death, even death on the cross. Therefore, because of this, now we pick up Daniel 7. Because of this, therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above. every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus Christ is Lord. That word you would apply to God the Father in the Old Testament. That name is now being applied to Jesus. Jesus Christ is Lord. Because He became obedient to death as a man, God then exalted Him. All right? All authority and the name above every name was given to Jesus. Now turn to the end of Luke, if you would. Very last chapter. I would combine this with the great commission that was in the end of Matthew. Right? Jesus dies. He was raised from the dead after three days. He spends time with his disciples. And then in verse 50, at the very last chapter of Luke, "...and he led them out as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continuing in the temple, blessing God." So Jesus, alright, had his time as a normal man. Then a major change happened. He died. And then he was raised from the dead. Not quite the same. Now exalted. Now glorified. And then here in the ascension, now he's going to take that place. He's going to take that spot on the throne next to God the Father. Remember what He talks about in the Gospels where He says, I have to leave you. I have to leave you, but I'm going to send something to you. What is that thing He's going to send to His people while He leaves? the Comforter. He's going to send the Holy Spirit. So God sends His Holy Spirit to take the place of His Son. Alright? So His Son... Why does He need to take the place? Well, the Son has a role. The Son has a role He must fulfill. And that role is to ultimately sit upon the throne. Yeah, go ahead. It's just about to turn there. Turn to John chapter 5. Yeah. We'll start in John 5, verse 19. So Jesus said to them, John 5, verse 19, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. Think of this delegation. All right, this delegating act. There's a closeness between the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man figure in Daniel 7. It's not as clear at that point how close that relationship is. All right, one of the points that is made especially clear in John is there is a very tight relationship between the Son of Man and God the Father. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all that He Himself is doing. In greater works than these will He show Him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father." Just as. This is the thing that would make many people say, blasphemy. Whoever does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father who sent Him. If you're looking for a principle of, in Christianity, or a notion does Christianity teach any form of exclusivity, this is a strong statement. Anyone who does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father. All right. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but is passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute judgment. because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come out, and those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." Okay? Very much Daniel 7. One last reading, if you would turn to Revelation chapter 20. This is very late in the book. Much has happened in the book of Revelation. At the beginning of chapter 20, you have the thousand years. In verse 7, you've got judgment against and defeat of Satan himself. And then in verse 11, Then I saw, this is Revelation 20 verse 11, Then I saw a great white throne, and Him who is seated on it. And from His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. And then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. And then after that, you've got the new heaven and the new earth and the new Jerusalem and in chapter 22, the river of life. This is the scene from Daniel, right? This is the scene from Daniel. Books are opened. Why are books opened? Because they record things. What are they recording? In this particular case, you've got two books. You've got a set of books that are there to record the deeds of man. All that they had done. And based on those deeds, judgment will be executed. But also a book of life. All the people of God's name were listed in the Book of Life. And everyone not found in the Book of Life. would be thrown into the... would experience the second death, the lake of fire. So the son, when we read here in the creed, and he rose on the third day according to the scriptures, he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Understand, biblically speaking, that the ascension, what it is, it's not just a leaving of earth. That is obviously what it is. It is more than that. The ascension, if you go back to Daniel, the purpose of the ascension isn't just to leave the earth. The purpose of the ascension is to take rulership. It is coronation. Exactly. That's what it is. It's being given a throne. Ascended to where the real throne is. And so ascension isn't just taken away. Ascension is put in His right place, which is having all authority, and seated at the right hand of the Father. Right hand of the Father being the seat of the greatest seat of authority in Heaven. And He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Alright? Books opened. The Son of Man on the throne. judging the living and the dead. His kingdom shall have no end." We didn't focus on that much this time, but that was exactly the same statement in Daniel 7. Let's go back to Daniel 7 and then we will be done. So much of the New Testament's theology is building off of Daniel 7. I hope you see that. Alright, Daniel 7 It had just discussed the destruction of four kingdoms and in verse 13 it said, I saw in the night visions and behold, Daniel 7, 13, and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, there's your ascension, right? That all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion. which shall not pass away, unlike the four he had just discussed. An everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. Right? It would not pass away. It would not be destroyed. It would be like verse 18, but the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever. So not just the Son of Man, but also His saints. So Jesus Christ is Lord. All right? It means he has ascended. And ascended doesn't mean leaving or going up only. Ascending means taking the throne and taking his authority over a kingdom that will not end. Any questions or thoughts you want to share? Yeah. Just a quick thought. For example, in Deuteronomy and Exodus, if you read through there, you'll notice that God forbids this idea of serving other gods, right? And serving other gods obviously means, like, worshiping them, following them. And we see here in Daniel 7-14 that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve them. And I think that's really clear and consistent. language of, they're going to worship Him. He's going to be worshipped. Not just do what He does, do what He says as you would for a human master, but serve Him as in worship. Yeah. I think you're absolutely right. And that would be why it was right for the disciples. Even though, as I said, Matthew, some doubted. Right? Some weren't quite sure yet. They worshipped Him, and that was entirely appropriate. Because God had given delegated everything to the Son. Absolutely. Well remember, Jesus Christ is Lord. And today, as you worship, remember that. Right? Jesus Christ is Lord. This is why we are a church. Alright? Yeah, there are those who would say, for example, he is not divine, but I don't know of any that would deny that. I mean, at the time when this was written, I mean, the Gnostics had a much lower place for Jesus. But generally speaking, the Arians, for example, which is really who a lot of this was against, did not. They did not believe Jesus was divine, but they had a very important place for Him. Right? And so they weren't, in their own minds, trying to downplay Jesus' role. They were just downplaying His being. So I don't know of any, other than the Gnostics, who would just really put Jesus as just one of many sub-spiritual beings that inhabit the heavenly places. I've got a question. Yeah. Couldn't you say, basically, every other faith outside of Christianity is a form of Gnosticism? Because you, like, necessarily need... I'm just thinking of many Eastern traditions. with a lot of New Age Western traditions necessarily requires some sort of defined knowledge that you're imparted as an individual is special to you. You know what I mean? When I think of Hinayana Buddhism, Hinduism, whatever-ism, there's always some sort of, you know, you have, there's a requirement involved with that. Which is, to me, because I was actually a lot more sympathetic towards Ignorantly, the Gnostic tradition. And then I came to realize, the more I understood about it, that every other faith tradition that I've been exposed to, at least, it seems, quite frankly, that there is, how I sum it up, is a simple divergence between a Christian or a Gnostic. Because a Gnostic is somebody that thinks that they're imparted some sort of divine wisdom that is in Christianity all the time. And even today, most people act and go about as narcissists. And anyways, to me, it's like the whole, this whole, I guess in a linear way to look at this is like, narcissism was the foundation of what we're trying to get away from. Yeah, He is the true source of wisdom, in total agreement. In Christianity, in all of these religious faiths, and this is true in Christianity as well, there is an element of knowledge. There are things that we must know and recognize to be within the faith. I would not actually say, therefore, Christianity is Gnostic. Gnosticism is not only the idea of special knowledge, but often it was special esoteric knowledge that isn't widely available. That was one of the elements of Gnosticism. Christianity wasn't that way. Christianity was like, you want the knowledge? Read the book. Well, they couldn't give them a book. Books were expensive. But they would read the book in church every Sunday and go, here's our knowledge. And they would preach about it. Here's our knowledge. Gnostics were different in a number of ways. One of them meant that they were more secretive, of I've got the special knowledge. They don't have the special knowledge. I've got the special knowledge, right? Isn't the Gnostic tradition the seeds to supremacy? Anytime, like, whatever. Because they have their own, we have this special knowledge. Our essay group is this. I would simply say no, because not that what you're saying isn't true, but I just wouldn't call it Gnostic. Because basically, if you call everything Gnostic, then the word Gnostic loses its meaning. And from an early church perspective, there was an element of knowledge there, obviously. That's their names, the Gnostics. But there was an element of secrecy there. But there was also a very strong dualism of coming out of forms of Platonism, of all matter bad, spirit good. And there are many that would not hold to that. For example, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and generally Judaism. Judaism is pro-body, is pro-physical. Because the Old Testament is pro-body, pro-physical, because God created everything that exists. And so therefore, Judaism must be anti-Gnostic and Christianity coming out of it, if you hold to the Old Testament, must be anti-Gnostic because we're not anti-matter, right? And so Gnosticism as a group had the knowledge aspect, but there were some other elements to it that were very strong, which really distinguishes them from others. Like Arius was not Gnostic, for example, but he was definitely in error. And so it's really, I would limit Gnostic to really more specific to not only knowledge, but often a secretive knowledge, but very much a platonic worldview of matter bad, spirit good, trying to escape the prisons of our own body, which go all the way back to Socrates. Some notions here. A few years ago now, in the afternoon service, we did sort of a survey of early Christian heresies, and I did it with y'all. Gnosticism was very much the most difficult one, because Arianism, Socinianism, all these are incredibly specific heresies, whereas Gnosticism is just very broad. And it's this secretive, very much anti-matter. The problem with you is you're broad. isn't it born of the, and I'm sorry to take up so much time, but my whole thing is, isn't it born of the Hermetic tradition, which is, and this is just my speculation, that in Genesis, the original law, I believe that those, the blood sacrifices, all the things that was going on was a part of the Hermetic tradition, or the Thoth, whatever you want to call it, but that was that tradition that still lives to this day. I would agree that Judaism is a divergence from that as well. I see a lot of the hermetic tradition. I see a lot of the hermetic symbols. I can play that with Gnosticism. And effectively, the outcomes are very similar. Let's talk about it during lunch. Yeah. All right, it is time for us to dismiss so we can have a few minutes before service. So Grady, will you pray for us please?