We're also going to make a switch in the Scripture reading. We're going to turn to Ephesians 1. Notice that I used Hebrews 2, which we were going to read for an earlier Lord's Day, and I had not read Ephesians 1 in connection with Lord's Day we consider. Pretty important passage for the material of Lords Day 19, Ephesians 1. Keep in mind that this Lord's Day concerns Jesus sitting at God's right hand and return. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. We now look at Lord's Day 19 for our text this morning. Why is it added, and sitteth at the right hand of God? Because Christ is ascended into heaven for this end, that he might appear as head of his church, by whom the Father governs all things. What profit is this glory of Christ our head unto us? first that by his Holy Spirit he pours out heavenly graces upon us, his members, and then that by his power he defends and preserves us against all enemies. What comfort is it to thee that Christ shall come again to judge the quick and the dead? that in all my sorrows and persecutions with uplifted head, I look for the very same person who before offered himself for my sake to the tribunal of God and has removed all curse from me to come as judge from heaven, who shall cast all his and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but shall translate me with all his chosen ones to himself into heavenly joys and glory. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ and Lord's day 19, The Heidelberg Catechism combines its treatment of two phrases, and sitteth at the right hand of God, and shall come again to judge the quick and the dead. And it's good and right to combine those two phrases together. Rightly, the Apostles' Creed captured a major biblical doctrine when it included the phrase, and sitteth at the right hand of God. That phrase comes from such a passage as Ephesians 1 that we read, verse 20, where we read that God raised Christ from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. And in that regard, we may note that our catechism understands the truth of that phrase taught in Ephesians 1 verse 20. And as well, Colossians 3, verse 1, which also connects these two things, If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Notice the connection between the resurrection and the ascension. Our catechism is going to even put it stronger when it says that Jesus is raised to the end that he might ascend. Because Christ, rather, is ascended into heaven for this end. The idea is that Christ is raised from the dead, that he might ascend, and he is ascended that he might be seated at God's right hand. Everything aims for that one thing. So we're going to look at what that means for us, what it means for Christ in that regard. Two things are of a special note. The first is that this is glory for Christ. That's brought out in 51. What prophet is this glory of Christ our head? Notice it simply looks at the being seated at God's right hand as to glory for Christ, but then also for us, where it's noted multiple times that he is ascended into heaven and seated at God's right hand as our head, from whence he pours out heavenly graces. but rightly also the catechism treats the return of Christ. And this is especially significant in our day. Increasingly, this truth is being denied even in Reformed and Presbyterian churches. There is a name for this denial, although this denial comes in many forms also. It's a denial that Christ shall return bodily on the clouds of heaven, as he said. Strictly speaking, this is called preterism. Preterism basically believes that all the signs that the Bible tells us precede Jesus' coming have already, for the most part, and even completely, depending on what view of preterism you look at, has already happened. They've already occurred mostly in A.D. 70, when Jerusalem was destroyed. But regardless of the variety of the preterism or the view, the end result is the belief that Jesus is not returning. If he returns at all, they will either say he's already returned in some sort of way, or that he is returning simply by the work that the Church does. Jesus' kingdom is established on earth by the work and labor of the Church, which increasingly is found to be not by the Word and Spirit, the preaching of the Gospel, and the gathering of the Church, but by a sort of what they call Christianizing the world, transforming the world culturally to a outward Christian institution. Over against that stands the Apostles' Creed, the faith of the Christian Church, which is that Christ shall come again, and explains how. So consider with me this morning, Jesus seated at God's right hand. We're going to notice three major points of the Lord's Day. that he appears as head of the church at God's right hand. From there, he also pours out heavenly graces. And finally, that he is returning as judge of all. When we consider the phrase that Jesus is seated at God's right hand, There is a progression in the understanding and development of the office of king with regard to Christ. We ought to be aware of that. There's not only a transition or an increase in the development of his glory and exaltation, We'll consider that too. We are considering the states of Jesus from humiliation to exaltation. And there's a progression in the manifestation of that. But also there's a development in the manifestation of his threefold office. It's striking how they proceed also along the lines of Jesus' historical revelation Certainly, Jesus is king when he is born. That's brought out by the worship of the wise men. That's brought out in many of the epistles, but especially Matthew, that he is king of the Jews already there in Bethlehem. But it's not manifest, it's not obvious. What we see in Jesus' earthly ministry is, first of all, the office of prophet. We see him as prophet, one who reveals the Word of God in his public ministry, especially by speaking. And then there's a development in his offices, in that near the end of his life, we especially see him as priest, What stands out is that he is God's priest who represents the people of God before the throne of God's grace, and he offers himself as a sacrifice on their behalf. There's even a mention of that in this Lord's Day. when it says that with regard to the coming of Jesus, we look with uplifted head for the very same person who offered himself for my sake to the tribunal of God and has removed all curse from me to come. So there the child of God is reminded that Christ is returning, but Christ is the same priest who offered himself as a sacrifice. Consider also, that's a part of the ministry of Jesus and his threefold office that was highlighted in the Ascension, where we considered he remains our advocate, which is part of his priestly work, and intercessor, he intercedes for us, again, part of his priestly work. But it's especially when you get to the phrase, seated at God's right hand, that the kingly office, which was so often hidden and not so clearly manifest in his public ministry, comes to the foreground. Yes, he was king on earth. He showed that in his miracles. He showed that in his casting out of devils. He showed that when he arose from the dead, and he was sustained in all his obedience, even to death. But now we observe him seated on a throne at God's right hand. Now, about that, a couple of things. that are emphasized in Scripture. And this morning, we're going to quote a lot of Scripture. I thought I would go to the Scriptures and show how often the Scriptures speak to this aspect of Christ's work. One thing that is brought out is that this is according to God's eternal counsel. that as with all the work of Christ and all of his labors, this being seated at God's right hand is part of what God's plan was. In other words, even when we focus on the cross, And rightly so, because of what the Catechism says. It's there that He removed the curse from us. So much centers upon the cross, yet we must see that all of that has a higher end, which is the seating of Christ at God's right hand. And it's amazing how often Scripture brings us to that perspective. And that's especially amazing when you consider that Jesus is already the Son of God. Jesus, as to his person, is the Son of God. He already has all authority and power. He already is King and Lord over all. So why would the Scriptures emphasize that? And the answer is because we're talking about the Son of God in human flesh. The mystery of God's will, as we read, that Jesus reveals, is that it was God's intention and purpose to delegate or give His authority and power to a human being in the person of Christ. And that's why even when we read these passages in Scripture, it's important for us to have that in the back of our mind. Otherwise, they don't really make sense. They make sense, but we don't really grasp the wonder of it all. Then we simply have the Son of God, who already is King, coming to earth, and then He's sort of like restored, as it were. The idea is he gave up something and now he takes it back, but that's not the idea. The idea is he comes to Earth, takes a human nature, and now in that human nature rules. And so many ideas, such as what we considered last time, with his advocacy And with his intercession, him being a sympathetic high priest comes down to understanding that emphasis on the human nature of Christ. Hebrews 1 verse 3, Christ being the brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." Notice how that's phrased very carefully. It doesn't simply say Christ, who is the brightness of God's glory and express image of His person as the Son of God, came, purged our sins, and then took His throne back. but sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high." Notice the emphasis upon his humanity there. Ephesians 1 verse 9 especially brings out this perspective of God's eternal plan. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, something hidden, in the will of God, something not revealed, Christ made known according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself. Now notice the that. I emphasized it when I read it. What is this hidden mystery that Christ came to reveal, this good pleasure of God, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ. Remember, Christ not simply as the Son of God, but the man Jesus Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him." So that's emphasized, first of all. Second of all, what the Scriptures emphasize is that this position at God's right hand is not only ordained by God in all eternity and sets forth God's plan for man in Christ, but that Christ receives this position because He earned it. He actually merited it. He did the one thing that no other human being could possibly do. So impossible is it for us, when we understand this by faith, that some even deny this. So impossible is merit or earning with us that it's quite common to deny that Christ could even do that. But that would be opposed to Scripture. Christ earned that throne by His perfect obedience. Revelations 5, verse 12 brings that out in a wonderful passage that has been made part of the well-known Messiah. Worthy, truly worthy is the Lamb. to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and glory and blessing. This time of year, we rejoice and give thanks that He alone is worthy. The Belgic Confession, Article 22, makes it confessional. To attain the true knowledge of salvation, the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts an upright faith which embraces Jesus Christ with all his merits. All his merits, that is, all that he merited or earned. And now, also with regard to that position of being seated at God's right hand. We notice that's a kingly position. It's a position that God ordained in all eternity to give to this one. And it's something Jesus earned or merited There are two aspects of that position, and they shouldn't surprise us. The first is that he's vested by God with authority over all things. Authority is the right to rule. When he was seated at God's right hand, what was given to him? And the first is the right to rule over all things. This is 1 Peter 3.22. He is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and power being made subject to Him. Same in Ephesians 1.22 that we read, He hath put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things. This all things is all things that are created, both in heaven and in earth. This includes Jesus' providential rule over all the earthly world and all of its creatures. This is something we considered when we considered Lord's Day 9 on the providence of God. We considered that even the phrase that's used with regards to providence, that God rules all things by his right hand, is a reference to Christ. We may view Christ as the right hand of God, by which God even now exercises all of his providential rule. This is part of what we call the Reformed world and life view. This governs all of our view of all natural, earthly, historical events. The Reformed look at them not simply as those which God, God brings about, or God the Father brings about, but Jesus the Christ, brings about, changes things a bit, doesn't it? And you can go back and look again at the Catechism's treatment of providence and notice there that it connects the two. When we talk about the fatherly hand of God and God's fatherly providence, The connection is that's our Father, but how is God our Father? And the answer is in Jesus Christ. Makes a vast difference, you see, in how we look at providence. There is an exception in Scripture to God giving him authority over all things. I said it was over all things God created. in heaven and earth. Not those things that are uncreated, which is namely God Himself. It's actually amazing that the Scriptures bring this up. Again, it's brought up in Scripture because the emphasis is that Jesus, the Son of Mary, Jesus the Christ in our flesh, is seated at God's right hand. The question is what authority is given to Him. If we simply looked at Him as the Son of God, this would not need to be said in Scripture, but it is. He has given authority over all things except God Himself. Read of that in 1 Corinthians 15, For He hath put all things under His feet, But when he saith, All things are put under him, it is manifest that he, that is God, is accepted, which did put all things under him. You see? The idea is that the triune God delegates authority to the man Jesus Christ, and it's authority over all things except God himself. That's the first part of this kingly rule, its authority. Secondly is the actual power and wisdom to exercise that authority. That always goes with office, power and authority, but in the world of men, one may have one to a certain degree and not the other. There's a difference there. There have been kings who have been given great authority over things, but didn't have any power to really exercise any rule over their dominion. Or there have been kings who have seized the throne, who have mighty armies and many resources to exercise power in their rule, but really don't have the authority to do that. Jesus has both, all authority to rule over all created things in heaven and earth, but also has been given the power to do that. That's what amazes Paul in Ephesians 1, read 19 and 20 again. Notice, what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe? You'd think that's enough, but now the Apostle's going to lie. He said, well, pile it on. He's astounded that Christ, the Son of God in human flesh, is given this kind of power according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And how did he display that in his ministry? Again, it's quite astounding. Jesus walks right on top of the water. Jesus simply speaks, and the wind and the waves obey him. He speaks, and one arises from the dead. He speaks, and a legion of devils come out of a person. So he showed that power already in his ministry. We sometimes look at that and say, well, if only we could see that again, then we'd have more faith. But the fact is, faith believes that Jesus has, as it were, even more power now. That being seated at God's right hand signaled a complete and utter Dominion and power over all creatures, including all the devils and Satan himself. Hebrews 1 verse 13 brings this up. But to which of the angels said he at any time, sit at my right hand? how utterly abhorrent that was to the devil to hear. That is his essential sin. That instead of himself, whom he imagined was the pinnacle of all the creation and therefore the one God would designate as king over all things, instead chose a man. to be head over all things. And to a man, he would say, you sit down at my right hand. Not the angels, not even the mightiest of angels I'm going to pick to sit on my throne. But this man, that he functions as God's right hand, it's amazing. Go to the Psalms sometime, and if you want to know the completeness of this authority and power, simply look at what the Psalms say that God does by means of His right hand, that is, by Jesus Christ seated at His right hand. I'll read you just a few. By His right hand, He saves. Psalm 17, verse 7. He upholds us. Psalm 18, verse 35. He hears us from heaven, Psalm 20, verse six. He discovers iniquity, Psalm 21, verse eight. He's full of righteousness, Psalm 48, verse 10. He teaches terrible things that is awesome things, Psalm 45, verse four. He plants his vineyard, Psalm 80, verse 15. He is in the sea and the rivers, Psalm 89, verse 25. He has done marvelous things and gotten the victory, Psalm 98, verse 1. Now, we have meticulously gone through the main elements of what it means that Jesus is seated at God's right hand and done that. because it helps us better understand what is even in a more amazing aspect of this truth, which is he's seated at God's right hand as the head of his church. That's the emphasis of the catechism. That's the main answer. Why is it added? He's seated at God's right hand, because Christ is sent into heaven for this end. And the answer is that He might be King over all things, which is true. It doesn't say, well, that means He was given all authority and power over all things in heaven and earth by God, which is also true. But it, as it were, skips all that. It says focus on one thing. He ascended into heaven that He might appear there as head of the church, by whom God the Father governs all things. Notice the emphasis. And it is brought up. What prophet is this glory of Christ our head unto us? It's amazing. because this is the emphasis of the catechism throughout. I don't have time this morning to demonstrate that. But whenever the offices of Christ or his kingship comes up, the emphasis is always upon the church. The emphasis of the church today is upon other things. Chances are if you would run into a Christian, maybe even a Reformed Presbyterian Christian, and said, tell me about the kingdom of God. Tell me about the kingdom of heaven. Tell me about Jesus Christ as king. What does that mean to you? What does that have to do, what do you think of? And they're immediately going to talk about such things as how Jesus' rule is manifest in this earth in a very physical way, perhaps in politics. or perhaps in the sciences, or perhaps when the church goes out and feeds the poor, or engages in social justice programs. It actually has very little to do with the church. But the emphasis of the catechism is always upon the church. You're also going to notice that emphasis is upon the church and how Jesus exercises this power and authority. There's a shift. Although it surely is over providence and all things of providence, the emphasis of the Reformed creeds, as is Scripture, is always upon the exercise of this power and authority by His Word and Spirit. That's even brought up in the Catechism too, that by His Holy Spirit, He pours out heavenly graces upon us. Notice, the emphasis is upon the church, upon His grace, upon His Word and Spirit. So yes, there is a manifestation of the rule of Jesus Christ in providence, and certainly it is over all creatures and over the earth itself, which He also redeemed. But it's always on behalf of and for the church. The emphasis is upon the Word, that is, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's how the Spirit works in connection with the Word. So there is a twofold purpose, and it always has to be recognized, and one always has to recognize what is first. What is primary and first as the head of the church is this church itself. It's amazing. Go to question answer 31, which explains the three offices. Go to the office of king, and notice what it says. What does it say? What does it mean that Jesus is King? That He, as King, governs us by His Word and Spirit, and then He defends and preserves us in the enjoyment of that salvation He purchased for us. Notice that. He's setting forth the primary way Jesus reigns at God's right hand. Gathering, defending, and preserving the church by His Word and Spirit, and then against His enemies. That means then when you turn to the issue of providence, the issue of Jesus' rule out there in the world, all of that is subservient to the church and its purposes and intentions of the church. And that's even hinted at very strongly in question answer 51. How will Jesus do all these things? Well, it's about the church, defending, gathering, preserving the church. Certainly it has to do with the world and the rest of the world, but what is that? Question answer 51, by defending and preserving us from our enemies, he destroys by casting them into everlasting condemnation. So much for building a whole physical, earthly, worldly kingdom on this earth, huh? Notice the emphasis in Ephesians 1. In fact, it's very striking how it's put. I'm going to read you just a little bit of this. Verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Where do you think the Heidelberg Catechism got that phrase, pouring out heavenly graces from? partly from Ephesians 1, verse 3. And then notice, everything comes down to the church, how He chose us, predestined us. Go to verse 9, having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself, which we then said was to gather all things together unto Himself. Then it talks about all this power that He exercises, but then it all comes to a head, as it were, in verse 22, and notice this. Listen very carefully. He talks about all this mighty power which He brought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places. Then He gives far above all principalities, powers, all those things, not only in this world, but the world to come. Don't forget the world to come. He's already been given all power and authority over that world to come. And hath put all things under His feet and gave Him to be the head over all things to the Church. To the church. That is for the church. For the benefit of the church. In his love for the church that he chose from before the foundation of the world. Take God's electing love and his purpose in the church out of it and you have nothing. You have nothing. All you have is what man's always been striving for, a kingdom of man. About that pouring out heavenly graces, there are two distinct ways we may look at that, one we're going to go light on because we really considered it for Thanksgiving Day. Which is, His rule over the earth and providence means that He gives us gifts in His grace. We're not simply given gifts, the whole world is given gifts. You notice that Thursday, everything God gives is a gift. Money, life, houses, property, all these things. But to the church, they're given in His grace. That is, they're given with a purpose and a purpose that can be and is fulfilled in us. Life is given and food is given and property is given so that we serve God. so that we glorify his name. Heavenly grace is in the sense that even earthly evils and troubles, as we call them, are turned to our benefit and profit. We can lose our job and have our house burned down, even have our head chopped off, but all of that works for our advantage and our salvation. Marriage itself is a gift of God. I don't mean it's automatically blessed and grace, but it is in the church. God uses marriage and family and the home to bring forth His church, to continue His church. Gives faith, grants faith according to His sovereign good pleasure through that ordinary otherwise means. So there's that. We need to recognize that, but again, the idea is, especially upon that which He imparts by His Word, those heavenly graces that belong to the Spirit itself. Through the Word, the power of the Word is salvation. Through the Word, Jesus Christ pours out His Spirit. There is really only one grace, the Spirit, but that Spirit Himself is the Spirit of Jesus Christ and therefore has many manifestations. This comes up in Scripture over and over again. That's how we have to see it. that when Jesus was seated at right hand of God, one of the primary, one of the essential, one of the most important things He was given power over was the Spirit of God. It was given to Him as His own Spirit. So it's not simply the Spirit of the Triune God as such, but the Spirit of Christ, Christ who died for our sins, who offered Himself up for us, so that when the Spirit comes, The Spirit is imparted to us according to sovereign good pleasure of God through Christ. We may say the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. The heavenly graces of God's wisdom and understanding, the heavenly graces of righteousness, the imputation of Christ's own righteousness to us as our own, the forgiveness of sins, the heavenly graces of repentance, the heavenly grace of faith, and the fruits of faith, good works. Those are the main and essential things that Christ pours out upon us. And it's in this way that the church is gathered, defended, and preserves. Amazing how that, too, is emphasized in the Scriptures. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 4, which talks about Christ using the preaching of the gospel to overthrow his enemies and save the church, says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, the casting down of imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. Turn the page in Ephesians, you have Ephesians 4, 10 through 12, he ascended into heaven, and was seated at God's right hand, and then what? And gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. It's not coincidence that one of the clearest revelations in Scripture of this phrase, being seated at God's right hand, is related to the pouring out of heavenly graces in the great book on the church as the body of Christ. because he ascended to heaven as our head. He pours out heavenly graces upon us as our head. And that dominion also is manifest in those whom he saves. Part of the salvation of Christ, exactly because he's seated at God's right hand, is not simply that he imputes or reckons righteousness to our account. That he considers us forgiven, and he considers us as those who have perfectly obeyed his commandments. But he actually exercises that dominion in the heart and life of the child of God. that throne, as it were, is extended into the heart of the child of God, so that Christ is enthroned there. And He exercises that dominion over the old man of sin, over our depraved nature. So that a child of God actually does believe and live unto Him. He actually has eternal life. Lastly, we consider this phrase that he shall come again to judge the quick and the dead. About that, a couple of points. First of all, we must see that He is returning already now. He is coming. When we read the phrase, shall come, certainly it has reference to the fact that at some point in time, there will be some day which is the end of earthly physical time as we know it. Christ shall come bodily on the clouds of heaven as He left. But the Scriptures also teach he is already coming. His providential rule as the ascended king over all accomplishes that. The signs belong to His actual return. We should be able to see them by faith. See? Yeah. I see the hand not just of God in that event, but I see the hand of Christ. I see the footsteps of Christ. I see Him coming already now. We have opportunity to speak about that more elsewhere. The emphasis of the Catechism is that of the Apostle's Creed, as which he comes to judge. Of course, there's other things that are going to happen too, right? One of them is the resurrection, but that's implied by the judgment. The judgment follows after the resurrection of all from the dead, some unto death, some unto life, but all shall appear before Christ. And the emphasis also, by that phrase, the quick and the dead, the idea is that Jesus judges all, those who are currently dead, those who are alive at his coming, those who are elect, and those who are reprobate. those who are righteous and presently living in heaven, those who are unrighteous and presently living in hell. He will judge them all, which makes clear that the judgment simply isn't about determining who's elected to reprobate or determining who's righteous or unrighteous. That, in a very real sense, is already done as soon as we die. We don't sit in some sort of limbo, some sort of middle place, until the final judgment. We go to heaven in our souls. So we know what the judgment will be in the final judgment. So do the ungodly and the wicked. Again, the scriptures and catechism look at the judgment from the perspective of Christ himself and the glory that it is. That's a good way to look at it. Seated on the throne of judgment isn't simply God, but Christ. This man, Jesus Christ, will be seated on the throne of God to judge all men, and angels, and devils. Think of the glory that is for him. Think of how that shows his real power and authority, which is even being denied today in the church. Everything that everyone has done will be revealed and brought out into the open. Scriptures make that clear. And based on that, he will render a verdict. Innocency or guilty? The innocency of the children of God will be evident in that Number one, it will be shown they're sinners like everyone else, but are righteous because God has declared them righteous through faith in Christ. Christ is their righteousness. Christ is their perfection. Christ is their innocency. And the verdict of that innocency is everlasting joy and bliss. All else are condemned. All else will be his and my enemies. And notice everlasting condemnation. While the last or the rest are everlastingly condemned, he shall translate me, translate me with all his chosen ones to himself in heavenly joys and glory. Notice about that. Again, how it sets forth the kingship and the headship of Jesus, what I just translated, heavenly joys and glory. I think there would be all kinds of people that'd be really interested in that. But it's heavenly, translate me with chosen ones, to himself. The idea is we're chosen to a life with him, through him, and by him. And that's the heavenly joys and glory. That's what the child of God looks for, longs for. It's not simply an everlasting life with the same things that go on here. No, no, far higher than that, more glorious than that. And it will be revealed too that that's what the child of God longs for. That's what he wants, that's what he's wishing for, exactly because the rule of Christ in him now. Well, those are the basics of Lord's Day 19 with regard to the Apostles' Creed. And remember that this is brought up so that we might, as the Catechism says, look with uplifted head in all my sorrows and persecutions. The purpose of all this is not simply some interesting data and facts and doctrines, but so that we live our life with sorrows and persecutions, not a life of bliss and happiness, we may expect, but many sorrows, but we live with uplifted head, looking to him and his heavenly graces. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father which art in heaven, O Lord, we thank thee for Jesus Christ, our Savior, who has not only come and offered himself for my sake to thy tribunal and removed all curse from me, but who now is ascended into heaven and who shall come as judge from heaven to translate us with all his chosen ones into heavenly joys and glory. Give us then grace to live with uplifted head unto him, believing in him for all things. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.