Thank you, Brother Wayne. Let's look at the scripture on our screen from Romans 8.34. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Let's ask the Lord's blessing upon his scripture, upon the preached word today. Our Father, we thank you once again that we are able to come before your holy word, that word which is established and will never fade away. We pray now, Lord, you would instruct us, that your spirit would guide and bless, and that we would grow in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus and the great things that he has done in Jesus' name. Precious name we pray. Amen. Christ lived, Christ died, Christ rose, and Christ ascended. This is the confession of the Christian Church. The eternal Son of God, by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, took upon Himself our human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He was born a normal human birth, and though a helpless infant He was the eternal Son of God who had entered fully into our humanity. We call this act of God's entrance into our humanity the incarnation. The word incarnation basically means in the flesh, in the body. This is what had happened when the eternal Son of God stepped out of eternity and entered our time and space history. He who had created the world and humankind humbled himself. He veiled his divinity and became a fully human Jewish man. And so he walked the roads of ancient Galilee and Judea 2,000 years ago. Today is Ascension Sunday. that day on the yearly church calendar when we give special attention to this great redemptive act of Jesus Christ. What do we mean by the Ascension? Acts chapter 1, verses 1 through 11, we read about this incident. Now Jesus had been appearing to his disciples after the resurrection for a period of 40 days, and he had been teaching and instructing them. And then something radical happened, something quite unexpected. We read in Acts chapter one, verses nine through 11. And when he, that is Jesus, had said these things, as they were looking on, the disciples, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven, as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. We read here that Jesus was lifted up into a cloud and disappeared from their sight. And then two angels appeared and told them that Jesus was taken up into heaven and he would return in the same way that they had seen him go up. This was the ascension, at least the human view of what happened on earth before these shocked disciples. But that's not the whole story. What happened after that, as Jesus ascended into heaven, we read about in other places in the Bible. For example, in 1 Timothy 3.16, we read that Jesus was taken up into glory in Acts chapter 2 verse 33 we read that being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and we read in Philippians 2 verse 9 therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so the ascension of Christ is lifting up his being taken into heaven not only marked his departure from the earth, but it also marked his being received into God the Father's presence where he was honored and exalted for winning the salvation of his people. The Church of Jesus Christ throughout the last 20 centuries has confessed and declared that in Christ God entered into the time and space of human history and that the coming of Christ is an objective historical event that has been confirmed and verified by reliable witnesses. The amazing truth is that God did not despise our human flesh, but he honored it by taking it upon himself. This is one of the great points of the Incarnation. It shows without a doubt that God considers our human nature, our bodies, as not something unclean or unspiritual or unworthy of His attention, but our full human nature, our bodies of flesh, bones, and blood, is precious and sacred, and the Son of God did not hesitate to take our flesh, our full humanity, unto Himself. Now, is that what the Christian gospel is really teaching that our bodies, our humanity is valuable to God, that it is worthy of his attention, even worthy of his own habitation and being clothed upon? Yes, that is exactly what this means. You and I are valuable to God. Our bodies, our total humanity is valuable to God. In fact, so valuable that in His Son, God, became a man so He could rescue and redeem our whole persons, including our bodies, unto Himself. Jesus came to save His people, minds, bodies, and souls. The Son of Man, the Son of God, I should say, became a man. He died as a man. He was buried as a man, he was resurrected as a man, and he ascended to the right hand of God as a man. All the redemptive acts of Jesus were accomplished in his body. This is a very earthy salvation he has accomplished. It is because he came to save us in the full humanity of our persons that he himself became a man and performed all his redemptive acts in the body of his incarnation. When you and I die, our souls, our spirits, separate from our bodies and go to the realm of the dead awaiting the resurrection of the dead. Not so with Jesus. When he died and after he was buried, he rose from the dead in his body He appeared to his disciples in his resurrected and glorified body, and he ascended in his resurrected body. And now in heaven, he sits at the Father's right hand, not just as a spirit, but in his full human person, mind, soul, and body. Now we know that God is a spirit. The Bible is clear about that. He has no physical body. He is an invisible spirit. But though He is invisible, He possesses all the characteristics of a person, such as reasoning and love and compassion and righteousness, but He is invisible. His throne in heaven is resplendent with the glory of His presence, but we cannot see Him, though He is more real than the universe itself. Yet now, at the right hand of his throne is seated one we could see if we were there, and he is sitting there clothed in his full humanity, the same body he had on earth, the same body in which he was conceived of in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The tomb of Jesus is empty. It's been empty since that Sunday morning when he arose. He was not there because he had left the tomb. And then on that first resurrection morning, he began appearing to his disciples. The first person he appeared to was Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons. And when she realized it was him, she grasped his feet and tried to hang on to him. And Jesus had to tell her to let go. But it was really him. He was resurrected from the dead in his body. It was not a so-called spiritual resurrection, but it was a flesh and bone physical resurrection. And these appearances of Jesus to his disciples happened at least nine more times over the next 40 days. But this physical phenomenon of the resurrection of Christ's physical body did not stop when he was taken up and ascended into heaven. What happened at the incarnation was that in Jesus Christ, our humanity was joined to his deity permanently. The resurrection of Christ did not result in him losing his physical body, nor did the ascension into heaven cause any separation of his soul from his body. There in heaven is an ascended man, a complete man at the right hand of God, at this very moment. This is a cornerstone of the gospel. This really is good news. The Eternal Almighty God did not despise our lowly human flesh, but He came down from heaven and He took this flesh upon Himself, never to be separated from it. Doesn't this help us to see how important our human nature is to God and how valuable it is Even Christ did not shrink from taking upon himself our human nature. The point I'm trying to make here is that we have an ascended man at the right hand of God in heaven. Let me stress again that in the incarnation of the Son of God, he did not forfeit or lay aside not even one ounce of his deity. He remained fully God, even though He took upon Himself our full humanity. We can see this point made clearly in the book of Philippians, chapter 2, verses 6 and 7. It says here, though He was in the form of God, He 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. Notice that the phrase form of God here, the word form as form of God is the very same word used to describe what he did in the incarnation. He took up the form of a servant. Another translation such as the New International Version uses the expression very nature. Though Christ was in very nature God, he took upon himself the very nature of man. I think sometimes we as Christians, when we're talking about the essentials of the Gospels, or maybe we're witnessing to someone, we rightly stress Christ's incarnation, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. Yet we may fail to speak of his ascension. Actually, Christ could not have accomplished our salvation if he did not ascend into heaven. We know this is true because the very fact that God took him up into heaven showed that God was accepting and confirming the efficacy, the effectiveness of all of his redemptive work. Then the fact that God exalted him at his right hand and gave him a name above every name shows that the salvation that Christ won was accepted and received by God. If Christ had not gone on from the Resurrection to the Ascension, His redemptive work would have been cut short and it would have been insufficient to save us from our sins. We need the Ascension of Jesus as much as we need His Resurrection. It was at the Ascension that Jesus presented to the Father His shed blood, that is, His death on the cross as a payment for the sins of His people. It was at the Ascension that Jesus began his ministry of the high priest of his people, praying for them. It was at the Ascension that Jesus received from the Father the Holy Spirit, which he poured out on his church and which he continues to pour out into the lives of his people. The fact of the matter is that without the Ascension, Christ's sacrifice for our sins would still be in limbo And we, his people, would never have received the indwelling Holy Spirit. But in view of the fact that what Christ has done in the ascension, we could pray a prayer like this. Lord Jesus Christ, we're so grateful that you ascended into the throne room of heaven and presented your death as the payment for our sin. And there you began your high priestly ministry of a necessary prayer in behalf of your people. Amen. We are debtors, not only to the cross and to God raising his son from the dead, but we're debtors to Christ, to God for Christ's ascension. It was Christ's ministry as the ascended man, which carried forward and sealed our salvation before the Father. and before all the heavenly host. Someone has said that we're not saved by the cross of Christ, but by Christ himself. We're saved by his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension, by all that Christ did to bring us to himself. The ascension is a vital link in the chain of salvation. And if it is severed from the chain, Our salvation is aborted. It is cut off. It is terminated. But the good news is that Christ went all the way. He completed all the milestones necessary to win the salvation of his people. Now he is the ascended man in heaven for our sake. On this Ascension Sunday, let's consider three essential ministries of the ascended man in heaven. First of all, he is reigning over all things. In his sermon on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter was explaining to the people of Jerusalem that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that they had witnessed upon Jesus' disciples was a fulfillment of the prophecies of the book of Joel, that God would pour out His Spirit upon his people in the last days and God's purposes were being manifested and that even though Jesus had been crucified and killed as it says here in our text before you Acts 2 32 and 33 this Jesus God raised up and of that we are all witnesses Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing." Peter is saying that the resurrected and ascended Christ has been exalted to the right hand of God. This is a position of divine power and authority. Jesus has been awarded rulership and sovereignty over all things by God the Father for His redemptive work as the Incarnated Lord. In Philippians chapter 2, Paul explains that because of Jesus' obedience to the point of death on the cross, that 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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus himself, having been raised from the dead and brought into the presence of God, is exalted at the Father's right hand. And so Jesus, after his resurrection, Anticipating this, said to his disciples in Matthew 28, 18, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Who is ruling and reigning over the universe at this very hour? Is it the impersonal force of godless evolutionary processes as many people believe? Or is it the great and gracious person of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Bible reveals. It is not blind fate that is befalling us all around. No, Christ is working out His purposes. He is the personal, all-wise, kind, and compassionate God who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Instead of being anxious about our lives or the future, we can have peace in our minds and hearts knowing that Christ is in control of all things. His all-wise providence is carrying history and is carrying each individual life on the course which God has set out for it. Should we not therefore seek His will and seek to please Him with the offering of our lives? What could please the reigning King more than this, that we would serve Him with all of our hearts? Part of the reign of the ascended man is rulership in a very specific way, and that is over his church, his people, his followers on earth. For example, Colossians chapter 1 verse 18 states this, that he, that is Jesus, is the head of the body, the church. So the ascended man's reign throughout the entire universe here is focused in a special and loving way upon Christ's church, his body on earth. Among the gathered people of God, there is one who stands invisibly in our midst, yet authoritatively, and that is Christ, the head of the church, by means of his Holy Spirit. He's the great and the good shepherd, and we're to listen to his voice and follow him. He leads us into green pastures and beside the quiet waters to restore our souls. the gathered local churches on earth are the only places where Christ's kingship and rulership is being actively manifested in this present age, manifested among humanity, and being submitted to by believers in the Church, not perfectly, but sincerely and with full intent. The Ascended Man is reigning over all things and His Church. He is also doing another great ministry and that is he is sustaining his people. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25. Consequently he's able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. Christ is sustaining his people here on their pilgrim journey by praying for them, by interceding for them. Hebrews chapter 4, a little earlier in this book, verses 14 through 16, says that since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every way, every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The text is saying here in this passage that Jesus passed through the heavens. That is, he ascended. He's a great high priest. According to the Word of God, especially as we find in the book of Hebrews, a man can be a priest only if he is fully a man so that he can sympathize with the weaknesses and frailties of other men and women. So Jesus is that kind of high priest, not that he had sin or frailties, sinful frailties, but he understands our temptations and the stresses and difficulties of human life. His throne is one of grace, not of human merit that we have to earn, so he gives his mercy and his grace to his people in their time of need. Again, Romans 8, 34 says this, who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who's at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Someone has said that it's not the cross that saves God's people, but it is Jesus himself. So although the death on the cross for our sins is crucial, it takes more than his death to save us. We need his resurrection and we need his ascension. Otherwise, our salvation will be incomplete. It is the prayers. the intercessions of the great high priest that sustains us in our daily lives. But we need something else to sustain us in the hardships and the temptations and trials of the Christian life. We need actually the very presence of God among us. Jesus is in heaven, but he's not left us as orphans. He sent his Holy Spirit to be among us, to be with us, to live within our hearts. Jesus said, in John chapter 14, verses 25 and 26. These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. He's speaking to his disciples. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. It is the Spirit whom Christ sends to his people who truly sustains them in the trials and difficulties of their lives. Paul said this, the apostle, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Well, how does Christ who is in heaven strengthen his people on earth? It is by the ministry of the Holy Spirit whom Christ sends to his people. So it is by the intercessory prayers of Jesus, our great high priest, and the bestowing of the Holy Spirit that our God sustains us in this life. One more thing I want to mention about a ministry of the ascended man on behalf of his people is this, that he is preparing a home for his beloved people. We read in John chapter 14, verses one through three, Jesus is speaking and he says, let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. Christ told his disciples that he would be going to prepare a place for them and that he would return and take his people to himself so they could be with him. This is a great goal and promise of the Bible, that out of every nation, tribe, and tongue, God would call out a people for his own namesake, that he would be their God and they would be his people. When Christ returns and clothes us in our resurrection body, like unto his own glorious body, we will be with him forever in the new heaven and new earth. At the end of the New Testament, the end of the Bible, we read in Revelation chapter 21, verses 3 and 4, it states, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning or crying or pain any more, for the former things have passed away. Who is it that will be in our midst in this new Jerusalem, in the new heaven and new earth? It is, as the book of Revelation states, the Lamb who was slain for His people to purchase them unto God. The God-man, the ascended man, who is fully God and fully man, the Lord Jesus Christ will be there in that city. John Calvin, that great reformer from the 16th century, said this about the cruciality of the ascension of our Lord. He said, the whole of scripture proclaims that Christ now lives his glorious life in our flesh. just as surely it was in our flesh that He once suffered. Indeed, if this foundation is overthrown, our whole faith falls into ruin. For what ground is there for our hope of immortality except the evidence that we now have in Christ? Well, what is the main point that I have been seeking to get across today? Well, this is it, that Jesus in His full humanity ascended to the right hand of God, and there he continues to minister the blessings of salvation for us, his people. He is reigning over all things. He is sustaining his people, and he's preparing a home for his beloved ones. We've seen today that our human nature is good and precious to God. Even the Son of God did not hesitate to take it upon himself permanently. as He added our human nature to His divine nature. Our physical bodies are a creation of God. We should treasure them and use them in the service of our Lord. And we have seen that the incarnation of our Lord Jesus, His miraculous conception in the womb of a Jewish maiden named Mary, was not a temporary situation, but that he took our human nature upon himself permanently. The Ascended Lord was and is the God-man who will never shed his humanity, but has embraced it as essential to his nature as the one who is fully God and fully man in one person. The Lord Jesus has, so to speak, made himself manageable and understandable to frail humans like ourselves by taking upon himself our own humanity, so that we can behold him and enjoy face-to-face fellowship with him in his kingdom to come, where the worship of his name will be central to our activity and existence there. And finally, because the glorified flesh of the Ascended Man has entered Heaven, this is our guarantee that we too shall follow Him at the resurrection of the dead so that our mortal bodies will be like His immortal body. The ministry of the Ascended Man to His people is our assurance that in our flesh also we shall see our Lord Jesus, our Savior, with our own eyes and bow before Him. So let us embrace him in our hearts now so that when he comes in glory, we can embrace him even with our arms at that time. Let's pray together. Gracious God, how marvelous is this salvation that you have provided your people through the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, it's almost beyond our ability to conceive the great things that Christ has done in taking upon himself our flesh, living among us, dying for our sins, being raised from the dead, and then ascending into your presence where he's crowned with glory and honor, and where he ministers to us, your people, continually. We thank you for this great salvation, for this great Savior, for all that you have done, all that you are doing, and all that you will do for your beloved people In the precious name of Jesus, our ascended Lord, we pray. Amen. Amen. There's a great hymn to the ascended Christ Jesus written many years ago, which we sing. These are the great words of that hymn, hymns to the ascended Christ Jesus. Where high the heavenly temple stands, the house of God not made with hands, a great high priest our nature wears, the guardian of mankind appears. He who our guarantor once stood and poured on earth his precious blood, pursues in heaven his mighty plan, the savior and the friend of man. Though now ascended up on high, he sees us with a brother's eye. He shares with us the human name. and knows the frailty of our frame. Our fellow sufferer yet retains a fellow-filling for our pains, and still remembers in disguise his tears, his agonies, and cries. In all that pains the human heart, the man of sorrows had a part. He sympathizes with our grief, and to the sufferer sends relief. With boldness, therefore, at his throne, let us make all our sorrows known. and ask the aid of heavenly power to help us in this evil hour. Perhaps at this moment, you might like to bow your head and pray to God, presenting before him your griefs or sorrows, or looking to him for his strength, his comfort, and his blessing. Amen. Let us now join in this prayer of thanksgiving and petition. Blessed be your name, O most high God, forever and ever. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion is from one generation to another. You have delivered us from the power of darkness and from all the tribulations of this life. You have brought us up into your kingdom, washed us and clothed us, seated us at your table, and feasted us with all the goodness of your house. It is to you we belong. It is to you we serve with our praise, with our gifts, with ourselves. Yours is the kingdom, O Father, the power and the glory. Hasten, O Lord, the day of Christ's return. Your kingdom come on this earth in all of its fullness through Jesus our Messiah, our High Priest and King. Amen. Now let us profess our faith. We're going to use words that come from the Heidelberg Catechism, but put before us as a profession of faith. Christ, while his disciples watched, was lifted up from the earth to heaven. He will be there for our good until He comes again to judge the living and the dead. Christ is truly human and truly God. In His human nature, Christ is not now on earth. But in His divinity, majesty, grace, and spirit, He is not absent from us for a moment. Christ pleads our cause in heaven in the presence of His Father. We have our own flesh in heaven. a guarantee that Christ our head will take us, his members, to himself in heaven. Christ sends his spirit to us on earth as a further guarantee. By the spirit's power, we make the goal of our lives not earthly things, but the things above where Christ is sitting at God's right hand. Christ is seated at the right hand of God to show that he's head of his church and that the Father rules all things through him. Through His Holy Spirit, He pours out His gifts from heaven upon His members. And by His power, He defends us and keeps us safe from all enemies. In all our distress and persecution, we turn our eyes to the heavens and confidently wait as judge the very one who has already stood trial in our place before God and so has removed the whole curse from us. All of His enemies and ours, He will condemn to everlasting punishment. but all his chosen ones he will take along with him into the joy and glory of heaven. This we affirm, this we believe. Amen. Ordinarily, we were gathered together as a congregation this morning. We have the celebration of the Lord's Supper, the holy meal which Christ gave us to remember him by, to always recall His sacrifice, His atoning sacrifice for us, so that our sins might be forgiven, and so that we might have eternal fellowship with God in Him. And we long for that time where we can gather again around the table of the Lord to share the bread and wine as Christ commanded. We do this in the remembrance of Him. Of the bread, He said, this is my body given for you, of the wine, This cup is the blood of the new covenant which is poured out for the forgiveness of the sins of many. If there is a group of believers there listening, perhaps you at this time might be able to share in this holy meal. The Lord bless you. Amen. And now receive the benediction of our God. Yahweh bless you and keep you. Yahweh make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. Yahweh turn his face towards you and give you peace. Amen. This is a presentation of worship presented to you by the Good Shepherd Church of Dallas, Texas. May the Lord continue to bless you throughout this day and the coming week, and we look forward to another time of being together with you in online worship. Until then, farewell.