I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gifts. Therefore it says, When he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. Now this expression, he ascended, what does it mean except that he also who had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is himself also he who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. And he gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints and for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by the craftiness of deceitful scheming, but speaking the truth in love. We are to grow up in all aspects unto him who is head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitly and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. Thus this reading of God's holy word. Let me also give you now the text that's going to be before us before I have you be seated. In Mark chapter 16 verse 19. So then when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God." And there ends our reading of God's Word. Please be seated. The last time I had the privilege of preaching to this congregation, it was Sunday evening a few weeks back, and it was on Mark 16, 19, the verse which I just read, which was our text verse then as well, on the Ascension. And there were many of you who were not in that service, and yet as I looked at what I intended to follow in three parts on the Ascension, and as I looked over what I wanted to cover, it struck me that it was a stand-alone sermon and really didn't need to be dwelling on what was said last time, and so I decided to continue in Mark and then finish up on the ascension at tonight's service. However, part two is something that I just want to build on what was said last time, and so just very briefly, in the first part it was about the fact of the ascension, And the specific single verse text that I mentioned states that fact. He ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of the Father. And we noted last time how disproportionately little attention is given to that great fact of the ascension as contrasted to things such as the incarnation or the resurrection of Christ or perhaps some other days that people deem holy or special or sacred or feast days or whatever. And we first dealt with the scriptural fact of the ascension that was so explicit in the text, but it also shows up in Luke's gospel on his account of the ascension in a little more detail and also in the history that Luke writes in the book of Acts. And it's thus not from a lack of evidence of the fact that it is not more frequently alluded to, but because it's so closely connected to the resurrection, I think people quickly pass on through it as just part of the last chapter in that, perhaps, and neglect it in its own right. And so I spent some time trying to convince you that it had a wealth of worthiness in its own in its own way. Well, this morning I want to look at the reasons for the ascension and the necessity of it, if you will, and why it is important. It still enters into some of that same essence. But the thing that we want to touch up on finally this evening then will be the doctrine of the ascension, somewhat more systematic, building on the confessional statement as we bring it to a close. But we concluded with the underscoring of the amazing reality of it, and the seeding of Jesus in that position of authority that we mention each time we use the Apostles' Creed, and then the sending of the Holy Spirit. And one of the great conclusions of that fact, and the concluding was not just a fact of it, but the note of joy with which it ended. And it's worth spending some time on what I've pulled out of seven reasons for the ascension and its necessity, and why that is important to us. Its necessity is proved not only by the fact that it actually took place, but also by the predictions that the Lord Himself made of it, and also the Old Testament prophets. the memorable discourse on the road to Emmaus. You may recall Jesus saying, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? Referencing that. And the sublime ascription of the 68th Psalm, verse 18, Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captive the captives, Thou hast received gifts among men, even among the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell there. And this is expressly referred to as the ascension by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4, 9-10, from which we previously read. Now, after quoting this verse from the psalm, Paul says, he who descended is himself also he who ascended from far above into the heavens that he might fulfill all things. He descended from that ascended spot that he might fulfill the work that he came to do. Now here Paul not only makes the ascension a matter of ancient prophecy, but states that it's necessary in order for Christ to fulfill all things. And that's very important because Jesus had to do the work that he was in a covenant relation, a promise to do, and to be rewarded with what the Father had promised to reward him upon the completion of that covenant. The epistle to the Hebrews has similar views and yet in more elaborate details. But Paul only makes the ascension a matter of ancient prophecy. He makes the point that it is necessary in order to fulfill all things. When our Lord met Mary Magdalene at the resurrection, he refused to allow her to touch him with the view she had of him in his return to life. because he had not yet ascended to the Father. And he told her to go and tell the disciples, and tell them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. And before his death in the touching farewell discourses recorded in the closing chapters of John, he says, if you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. John 14, 28. Now these passages of scripture are sufficient to prove that there is an absolute necessity which Christ came to fulfill in the process of His work before He ascended into heaven and why it was necessary. The rationale behind the necessity comprises seven reasons that I've pulled out and want to turn now of why this is essential. They get shorter as I go along, so don't panic too much on this. But the first, and in many ways, the main ground of the necessity is found in the Old Testament in the priesthood of Christ and the prophecy that is there. In fact, that He appeared on earth to make atonement for sin. That great work is incomplete without the ascension. In the mosaic ritual, in the ceremony, typology, the ancient law of God, the high priest was required on the great day of atonement, what Paul refers to as the pattern of heavenly things, to enter the Holy of Holies and present an offering for sin in the very presence of the Shekinah glory and sprinkling on the mercy seat of the sacrificial blood for himself and for the people. And as he came forth, from that awful presence alive, he gave assurance that the atonement was complete and that all that was done was required on that great day of atonement for the sins of the people and that they were safe to be in the presence of God. The offering was accepted, the priest was okay, he would return a year later, typifying, symbolizing that same thing which Christ was to be the priest of reality when he came. Now this yearly entrance to the high priest in the most holy place prefigures the entrance of Christ into heaven at his ascension. For this we have expressed assurance in the epistle to the Hebrews in some elaborate detail in chapters 8 and 9. Let me take you there to a minute. In chapter 9 verses 7 and 8 is what I want us to look at first of all. Hebrews 9 verses 7 and 8. But into the second only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is standing. And then in verses 11 and 12, But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of his creation, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. And then verse 24, For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. An absolute emphasis on that last phrase, for us. The type, the shadow, the reality is Christ, the Holy of Holies is into that heavenly dwelling place. Now the reason for this fact is asserted here by no means is obscure or hard to understand. Man has sinned and that sin had passed to all men, all mankind. And therefore he had been banished from the presence and the favor of God. That was the result of God's law, and He was just in keeping His law. Heaven was closed to Him, He lost all right to its enjoyments, the law with its inflexible demands excluded Him as it excludes us, and no work of His own could meet the demands that God required. If he suffered the penalty of the law, there would be no space left for hope, since the penalty was the extinction of hope, namely death, eternal death. That was the only door that was open. And to save man from this penalty, to satisfy the claims of the law, and thus to remove the obstacle of admission into the favor and the presence of God again in heaven, Jesus assumed this nature, that had sinned, our nature. He took it upon himself and united it in a mysterious manner to our minds in a way that is hard to grasp and yet we understand it. Oneness of unity of the divine nature and the human nature that a mediatorial person might be formed capable of the great work that Adam, the first Adam, had failed to do. And He then obeyed both the precept as well as the penalty of the law for man. And this means that on the cross, our nature suffered, obeyed, died, rose again, and entered into heaven. Our nature. In the person of Christ. The person of the second Adam. Our covenant head. Now, this is all gospel. Simple gospel. Preaching and knowledge that you get all the time, but the point I'm making is all of that was concluded in this ascension into heaven. Now, it's an important point with respect to the main topic then of the ascension. Every step of this process demanded the work be complete in itself before it could be manifested to us. Had Christ not assumed a human nature, He could not have atoned for the sins of a race of that nature. Had He not obeyed the precepts of the law, every one of them, it could not be written that by the obedience of one man, the many will be made righteous. Had He not died, He could not have redeemed us from the curse of the law, whose penalty is death. It would still be upon us. Had He not risen from the dead, There would have been no assurance for the world that he did not die for his own sin, no authoritative declaration from God that his atoning work was accepted and the penalty of death remitted for those who believed. It would not be finished. And thus his resurrection was needful as God's endorsement of his work and as an assurance from the eternal throne that the law was satisfied. The price had been paid. He returned in full glorified life. Now, suppose all of this had not happened, and Christ had remained on earth. Suppose that were the reality, or at least not visibly in heaven. Would not the work and the proclamation be incomplete? The resurrection only assures us that the penalty of death and the banishment from heaven and banishment from heaven is remitted, but this is not enough. We want to know that our nature is to be admitted into the eternal dwelling places in heaven. Not just that our sins are paid for, but that we have a future in glory. If this is what we lost in the first Adam, then this is what we would regain by the second Adam. You know, one of the real things that I have seen throughout my ministry, time and time again, when you ask someone, and let me even ask you now to be thinking about, you know, what is your hope of eternal life? What are you trusting in for salvation? What is it going to be? And many people say, well, Christ died for my sins. He died for me on the cross. And then I say, well, anything else? And suddenly there's a blank stare. That isn't all that Christ did. That's not all that we need. We need a righteousness with which to stand before God. That our sins are paid for is absolutely essential, but that we must be clothed in absolute holiness if we're going to stand in the presence of God. And the Lord is our righteousness. He's our robe of righteousness. That's our only hope. The active obedience of God. So many people miss that or forget it or don't think of how utterly essential and indeed encouraging that note is. Because that's the only thing we can take with us. That's the only entry pass we have, and we must understand that. Well, a mere deliverance from death and hell gives no assurance that we are certainly, by the atoning of the Savior, admitted into heaven afterwards. Therefore, we need another stage in that magnificent work. We need that this great representative nature, this fleshly body that we have, God manifested in the flesh, in the person of Christ, Man manifested and represented it as a mediator that this nature shall visibly and openly ascend into heaven and remain there as the first fruits of our perpetual and rightful dwelling in heaven as in its resurrection it was the first fruits of them that slept. What Christ has done, what Christ is, becomes ours, because we have that in Christ. And it is only thus that the exiled, doomed, wandering nature is restored to what was lost. It was banished from heaven, and its work of restoration cannot be proclaimed as complete until it publicly has been restored to the dwelling place in the person of our great representative, as the first Adam was banished from paradise below, and we with him. The second Adam openly is admitted to paradise above to dwell there, and as being in Christ, united with him, we too shall enter into that eternal dwelling in these earthly bodies, glorified to be sure. and the dread work of sin is undone, the world assured that the Son of Man has destroyed the works of the devil. That's the great exclamation point, if you will. That's the reason that we say the ascension was absolutely necessary because the resurrection proved indeed that the curse of the law was gone, that our nature had escaped hell. But it might still be true that no provision was made for our secure place and entrance into heaven. And our right to do so might still hang in uncertainty. And it was further needful that the representative nature ascend into heaven, that we would have that completion of the cycle to understand. And this was done at the ascension, and hence, as a companion to the work of redemption, it was also a declaration that the world, that it was complete. that Christ had paid it all. It is needful that he should thus receive his glory, that we might receive ours. So the first is the priesthood of Christ that is seen in completing his work in this. Now we next observe the reason that the mediatorial office required it. There was a glory to be assumed by the Lord after his work of suffering. and it demanded this public entrance upon it. He alludes to this in his high priestly prayer in John 17 verses 4 and 5. Jesus prayed, I have glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do. And now glorify thou me together with thyself, Father, with the glory which I ever had with thee before the world was. Jesus emptied Himself of all of that. And now in completion of His work, He's returning. And His prayer is for what the Father promised. That's what our prayer should mainly be, for what the Father has promised. We're sure that we will get them. And Christ prays for that at that critical time. Jesus here emphatically tells us there is a glory into which He was to enter, a work that is a result of His work of redemption, And while we may only partially comprehend it, there are faint far-off glimpses of that mighty coronation day in the heavenly kingdom, a triumphal entry into the heavenly city, where the heavenly host will lift their shouts of praise, lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Psalm 24. And when the lofty challenge of one of the choir's rejoicing voices says, Who is the King of Glory? There came the responsey strain, The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Remember, those of you that were with us in the first time, it's a fact of the Ascension. We talked about the whole point of Christ's ministry was the Kingdom of God. Here the King is coming in His completed victory. to his position of ultimate authority in all of this. And when the ascending Redeemer entered into his glory, sat down at the right hand of God, and assumed the scepter of mediatorial kingdom, and entered into the royal authority of having all things and being ruler of all, He will reign there until he has put all enemies under his feet. All of these promises come together and thus the ascension was necessary that there should be a display of that mediatorial glory on our behalf entering into that royal authority which he shall hold until he defeats all of his enemies and our enemies and takes us to himself. And thus the Ascension was necessary that there should be a display of that mediatorial glory and he entered into the kingly rule that he is now exercising on our behalf and will continue to exercise until the work of redemption is complete at the end of the age. Third reason for the Ascension, the display of his divine majesty. The ascension was equally required to display the Divine Majesty as the God-Man, the Eternal God, the Savior of all mankind. Had He remained on earth, it is possible that the world might have grasped the great doctrines of His divinity and the Trinity of the Persons of the Godhead that are now so clear, but if possible, it surely would have been much more difficult. Had Jesus appeared in his divine glory, yet while still on earth, as he does in heaven, the whole character and dispensation as one of faith would have been changed, and heaven robbed of its strongest attraction. Were he to appear in the ordinary form of humanity, it would be a perpetual humiliation. implying that his work of atonement was not yet complete, that his full deity had not been assumed, all of the benefits of that, that he gave up to come and do that work. And it would have been most difficult for men to believe that this lowly man, doomed to an undying humiliation on earth, was in actual fact the Son of God. But when he's been visibly taken to heaven and welcomed by the rejoicing angels, when the Shekinah glory carries him up to the heavenlies, and the visions of the apocalypse at the martyrdom of Stephen, And as at the right hand of God in the midst of the throne, where the seat of all power and glory, we have no difficulty in believing that He indeed is God over all, not just God incarnate, but God over all, blessed forever, true God of true God. And thus, to that extent that the revelation of the divinity of the Son is needful to us, was the ascension which is manifest such to us a necessary event in that process. Now a fourth necessity or reason for the ascension is found in connection with the work of the Holy Spirit. We've alluded to that in the previous sermon, but while this connection is much beyond our comprehension of how all this works and the marvel of it and the wonder of it, it was promised, we understand it's promised, there were results of that that were important. It's clearly revealed in the ascension of Christ. And it was a necessary preliminary to the descent of the Holy Spirit. And in John 16, verse 7, Jesus makes it much more explicit. John 16 verse 7, we read this. Now they have come... 16 verse 7, that will help. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away For if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. And then we read similarly back earlier in John chapter 7 verse 39. John 7 verse 39. He who believes in me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. Now why this is true, we cannot tell with a degree of certainty. That it was necessary for him to ascend before the sending of the Spirit. We know it's true because he said it was. But why, we're not told. It may be that the Spirit could not work in fullness until the redemption was complete. And the Son acknowledged to be in heaven, to be the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. It was very much incorporated with a lot of that. But the fact is clear in the Bible that the ascension must take place before the Spirit could descend in New Testament power. Priceless for the believer is the work of the blessed paraclete, inspiring the tongues and the pens of those who wrote the gospel on which we build and live. and is the absolute authority for faith and practice. It was absolutely essential. The Spirit inspired that and gives it the certainty that we need. The Spirit is the converting person of thousands and millions of millions of people who were dead and in trespasses and sin. Without the Holy Spirit's regeneration, they would all perish. The comforting and sanctifying of the holy people, that we not only are holy in Christ, but we become holy, actually, in our sanctification, is a work of the Holy Spirit, and necessary for believers and those that will be saved. Dwelling in the hearts of the saints and making their bodies holy temples, as it were, and as absolutely necessary to the church and the world, as these gifts and graces are, so necessary the ascension of Jesus. because until the ascension he would not, could not send the Holy Spirit, was what he told us, without which he would not descend in Pentecostal or New Testament power. According to Ephesians 4, 8 to 12, quoting Psalm 68, 18, the very offices of the church to which men are called by the Holy Spirit are among the ascension gifts that he gives to men. And when He led captive, the host of captives, and He gave gifts to men. That's where that comes from. Now, a fifth reason the Scripture gives for the ascension is that Christ might make intercession for us. We understand by our weekly confession of sins, and seeking pardon from them, and our daily requesting forgiveness in our prayer, as we ought to be doing, we learn from that it's absolutely necessary that Christ be interceding for us. And we are assured in Hebrews 9.24 that Christ entered into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. In the presence of God for us. He had to be there. And in Hebrews 7.25 we are told He always lives to make intercession for them. Paul in Romans 8.34 informs us that Christ is at the right hand of God making intercession for us and is also said to be an advocate before the Father on our behalf. And surely it is a sweet thought to a trembling sinner who fears like that tax collector that didn't even want to get near the altar as he called upon God. That there is one beside that throne even now who is interceding with him. with that blood of sprinkling that speaks better than the blood of Abel. And that if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. From 1 John 2 verses 1 to 3 that we use as in the assurance of pardon after our prayer of confession. What encouragement then is ours to come to the throne of grace when we know that we do not come alone, but the heavenly pleader, our attorney if you will, in heaven is making the perfect case for us that God would be unjust if he didn't receive us because it is what God has promised. That's the kind of person you want in your corner. And Jesus' ascension speaks to that. What encouragement to have such a person in heaven that the Father, we learn from Scripture, always hears Him. We want Him praying for us. And to enable Him to intercede, it was necessary for Him to ascend. Well, the sixth reason that we may cite for the ascension and its necessity must not be overlooked. There was a work of preparation for His people. to be done in heaven. Jesus gives us the explicit statement in John 14, 2. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. We've all heard that text at funerals and the like. Great consolation in that. But what are we speaking of there? I'm not going to pretend to tell you what that preparation is. We're not told. Isn't heaven already decorated with glory and perfection and beauty? How could it be made more glorious? I don't know. But the answer may be found in the fact that our place in heaven will be determined by our lives on earth. Now, I'm not taking to works righteousness here. Don't jump out of your seat too quick here. But there are rewards according to works. Not because of works, but according to works. There are rewards of grace, and we are challenged to pile them up as much as we can. It's an incentive for us. And in that light, it may well be that part of their preparation is preparing for those different levels of rewards that are going to be there, but we know it's there. Rewards proportionate according to grace. He whose talent had gained ten talents shall rule over ten cities. He that gained five, but five, and he that gained two, only two cities. As the cross, so shall the crown be. As is the burden and heat of the day on earth, so is the great and exceeding weight of glory in heaven. There is a proportion. to our involvement and laying up rewards. It has nothing to do with merit in them or God owing them to us in any way, but He promised to reward us in proportion to our works. As the cross, so shall the crown be. Well, what a glorious blessing to understand that we, as we toil for our Savior here on earth, perhaps even suffer for Him as we go through our duties to know that our blessed Savior is preparing a place for us, blessed with rewards and glory, and that we shall enjoy perfect bliss whatever our connection may be, whatever the number of rewards, our infinite blessing will be secured, but there is yet this point of particular rewards. Is this not why Jesus told the sorrowing disciples who shrank from their work and the trial that was before them as He was about to leave and they could not imagine them carrying on the work in their own strength and all of that as He ascended into His Father's house with its many mansions? He told them it was for their benefit that He leave them and ascend to His Father's house with those many mansions For while they were toiling in weariness and tears and even persecution, He was preparing a bright and warm and glorious home for them, that they might be glad, proportionate to their years of sorrow. But the key is, for this work, it was necessary that He ascend into heaven to get the job done. Now, the seventh reason why the ascension of Christ is necessary for us, and this is truly important, is that God in Christ, Jesus, is our forerunner and our great example. And this is where he goes. It was necessary that he should enter his rest in heaven, after he had finished his labors on earth. And he's our forerunner. You know, there's a temptation that you've got to be careful of, that especially in evangelical fundamentalists, orthodox churches, that there is such a zeal for the deity of Christ, because the liberals want to deny it. There's a good reason for a zeal for it, but because of that we forget sometimes, or at least forget to the extent that we act as though Jesus was not truly human, but he was something more than human. He was very man as very man, even to the utter extent that he was very God of very God. Jesus was like us in all ways, excepting sin. A big exception. But He was like us in every other way. And He could be touched by the feeling of our weaknesses, even without sin. He was weary. He was hungry. He was thirsty. He was faint. He was lonely. He was sorrowful. He was indignant. And you could go on down the line and add several other things to that. He encountered the various trials in his earthly life. He was mocked. He was made fun of. He was ridiculed. He was persecuted. All kinds of things. Even without specific assurances, we may surely infer that he felt the same longing for heaven and glory that the lonely and weary have here on earth. You think you're lonely? You think people have deserted you? You think you've got it bad? Jesus knows what that's like. But we have assurances most explicitly given. Hebrews 12, 2 declares to us that, For the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The ascension or the return to heaven was a thing that cheered and sustained him. It was a hope that was far more vivid and bright than any other longing soul could have. Jesus knew what was there. That's where he came from. And he yearned for it more than we could ever appreciate. But that's the forerunner. That's where we're going. We know it's there even though we cannot comprehend it. And you may sense something of this yearning in that wonderful high priestly prayer which breathes the homesick longing of a child for his father's house. A soul that's ripe for heaven and a yearning for rest in a heavenly home. Take for example the heartfelt words Chapter 17 of John verses 4 and 5 as part of Jesus' prayer. I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do. And now glorify thou me together with thyself, Father, with the glory which I ever had with thee before the world was. Bring me back to that eternal existence which God put aside, those privileges, in order to do all of this work for us. But the reward came. He fulfilled the covenant and he returned to that full glory manifested. Now, this is a longing of a weary heart that is conscious of faithfully having done his work and now wistfully looks to release and rest. And you think of godly saints who are suffering, health things, even at this time. Some in our own congregation. And some who just from the infirmity of age are nearing that end, and they're weary, and they're longing for that beautiful home that has been set before them. And Jesus has gone there. And He's prepared the place. And He lives there now, in our nature. Our nature can survive there. And that's where we're going because we are in Him. There can be no doubting, this lonely man of sorrows, there came a vision of a better land and memories of sweet rest above, whispering angels and thoughts of the city that has foundations and a home and a throne that awaited him. Jesus understood these things. As he trod the dusty streets in the cities of Palestine, laid his head beneath the lowly roof in Bethlehem, spent the long cold night on the mountain or on the seashore, we are assured that His eye often lifted to those everlasting hills, gazing to that throne and that glittered and that had a rapture that we cannot even understand awaiting Him in that far off land. Now to be holy, being toiling on earth, it was necessary that when His work was done, He should return to that heavenly city. and the holy company that awaited him there. Jesus may have been mere man, indeed he was, an ordinary creature. But if he were ordinary in the sense of our sinful selves, it would not have been a fitting for him to ascend to such a place. But he went in our nature because he had suffered in our nature for us, and on that strength is our passage. But He was not just like us. He was God incarnate. Two natures. True man, but true God. And we are going where He has gone. To show that heaven was a place as well as a state. That He was a Savior of the body as well as the soul. People have almost always believed in some way about the immortality of the soul. But the resurrection of the flesh, That's what the pagans could not grasp. They could not consider any thought of that. That was new. And take possession of it in our name, as our leader, and give us assurance that the body as well as the soul can be saved, thus assuring us that there should be a resurrection from the dead of all who sleep in Jesus. The ascension is thus a great pledge and a picture of the future glory of Christians. that the same body with which Christ died and rose and ascended to heaven is the assurance that the same body that we carry about in this earthly pilgrimage shall be taken with him to heaven when our day comes. That this vile body will be made like unto his glorious body, whatever that will be like. As he ascended, so shall we. As he lingered after his new life for forty days on earth and then ascended into heaven, so shall we. After our new spiritual life, linger for a time on earth before we ascend into heaven. First through our disembodied spirits at death, and then in body and spirit at the resurrection and the second coming of Jesus. And this is so important for us to grasp as we desire to follow our forerunner. Death. Congregation of Lord Jesus Christ. Death is not descent into a grave, not for the Christian, but an ascension into heaven. It's going up to Jesus. An entrance into the heavenly city. As our risen body shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air at the resurrection, so at death we shall be conveyed by the angels to our resting place. And we shall see the everlasting doors lifted up welcoming us home to the King of Glory just as Jesus ascended as our forerunner. Perfectly blessed while still in the grave bodily, fully blessed with our glorified bodies at the resurrection day. Now these are not just reasons for the ascension, are they? We gather from these reasons very practical applications and encouragement. There is to be sure the great fact of the Ascension and there are compelling reasons why it was necessary. But the great fact of the Ascension with its reasons are full of instruction and comfort and joy. It's just not theoretical. It is opening the golden gates, as it were, the nearest approach to the visible unveiling of the glories that shall be given until the everlasting gates shall be lifted up not to welcome the King of Glory back, but to let him return to earth in the second advent to judge the world. As we today gaze up at the sky that once was opened and received our Savior into heaven, may our desire be to be among them, which soon will be in our love, for their Savior is real and united with Him by faith and knowing that all has come to fruition. More than rest remains for His people, but a glorious day of resurrection. Let the ascension thoughts of Jesus, the affections, the longings, more to the rest that appears for His people. And let us grasp in the amazing departure of that great reality that Jesus our Savior reigns now and forevermore. Let the ascension of Jesus keep our thoughts on that hope even as we labor in this world and as we come to love all the more, all that He did. There is so much here, a whole Gospel and a whole Bible of promises, prophecies, types and everything else that climax in this very important thing of the ascension and thus the importance of it in our lives and in our understanding. Let us pray. Gracious God, our Heavenly Father, we understand that He has ascended. And from there He will come again to judge the living and the dead. And He will not leave me behind because He has promised. And those that have gone before us, we know that they too are awaiting that full resurrection of the body to be joined with their souls in the glory and perfect blessedness that they now enjoy. And we need not grieve over their going. Father, teach us thy ways that we may know what is the truth and why it is so glorious and how it can be ours forever and ever. And it is for Christ's sake that we pray these things. Amen.