This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Amen. Well, let's take our Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 24, starting at verse 50. And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising God. Amen. The last few Lord's Days and the times that we've gathered together, we've been journeying through Luke's gospel. We looked at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. We looked at Jesus' vicarious death on the cross for us, his Calvary love. We looked last Lord's Day at his resurrection. Typically, we as Bible-believing Christians rightly emphasize the atoning work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Our songs are filled with references to Christ and his death, the pain, the penalty of our sins, and his substitutionary atoning work. And that's right, and it's good that we do that. Because as we read our Bibles, we realize that when we get to the epistles, there's actually an increased emphasis on the death of Jesus, and also an increased emphasis on explaining the meaning of the death of Jesus. So we see it in terms of redemption, and we see it in terms of atonement, and we see it in terms of substitutionary sin bearing, and substitutionary curse bearing, and we see it in terms of ransom and redemption. When it comes to the resurrection, though, although we may emphasize the resurrection in our hymns and our songs, we typically don't emphasize the resurrection as much as we emphasize the death of Jesus. And yet, if you go through and read the book of Acts, what you realize is that in the apostolic preaching, there was much more of an emphasis on Jesus' resurrection than on His death. Now, there's actually a very good reason for that, and that is those that were being preached to typically were the ones that were involved in his crucifixion, and so his crucifixion was an obvious reality, but also every time you bring up the resurrection, you are by necessity implying, inferring the death of the Lord Jesus. And so as we read the book of Acts, the message that we see from the apostles typically goes like this, you killed Jesus, but God raised him up from the dead. We typically emphasize the resurrection around what's called Easter Sunday, but the fact is that the resurrection is woven throughout the totality of the New Testament, and in fact, in the early church, The resurrection was such a significant event, in fact, the significant event that our day of worship is on the first day of the week, the day of Christ's resurrection, which now we refer to as the Lord's Day. And so, in a sense, every time we gather on the first day of the week, we are in essence celebrating the risen Christ. But there is one truth in the New Testament that I think that we neglect, we fail to emphasize, and that is the ascension. Now to be sure, as we read through the Bible, the New Testament in particular, it is actually pervasive, as we'll see in just a moment, but I think one of the reasons why we don't spend the kind of time on the ascension that we do on the death of Jesus, and then to a lesser degree on his resurrection, is because we actually have not seen the redemptive significance of what it means for Jesus to be raised to the right hand of God the Father. In fact, let me just throw something out to you to demonstrate this. Do you realize that Jesus' ascension to the right hand of God the Father is directly tied to each of his three messianic offices as prophet and priest and king? In other words, the ascension of Jesus is actually in large part foundational for our salvation. Think about this, your salvation, your salvation both past, present, and future, final salvation, in large part depends upon the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ and his present ascended work. So, I'm gonna give you a really short Bible quiz and it's very, very easy. Number one, does the New Testament emphasize Christ's ascension? Okay, three of you passed, good. Answers, absolutely. Second question is, Is the Ascension a vital, important doctrine for the Christian faith? Yes. In fact, I'm not going to do it today, but maybe some other time. You know, in the Apostles' Creed, what's interesting is that as you go through, it's the Ascension which is the hinge between Christ's past work and Christ's present and future work, all right? Now, as we think about this, what we're going to do today is we're going to... Let me see, how many points are there in this sermon? There are eight points in this sermon. This is an eight-point sermon. And some of these points will go by quickly. You thought you were getting lunch today, didn't you? Some of these points will go by quickly, others will be a little more expansive, all that to say we might not finish. So I preached this yesterday at prison, didn't finish, and so now I need to go back into prison in a couple of weeks because when I didn't finish, they were like, well, you have to come back or we won't let you go home. So, number one, the ascension is a vital New Testament doctrine. The Ascension is a vital New Testament doctrine. So what is the evidence? Well, I think that there's two kinds of evidence about the Ascension when we get to the New Testament. And one is that the Ascension is just pervasively everywhere in the New Testament. It is just all over the place in the New Testament, and that by way of oftentimes just implication, all right? And I'll show you some examples of that. You don't need to turn there, but just listen to these words. Jason's been preaching through this section. Jesus says, John 14, 3, if I go, what's that a reference to? What's the reference to the ascension? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, which is a reference to what? the Ascension, there you may be also." Same chapter, listen to this, John 14, 12, Jesus says, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also, and greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father.'" And that reference, I go to the Father, is a reference to, obviously, the Ascension. The Lord Jesus in the high priestly prayer, John chapter 17, he's done instructing his disciples. And in fact, Jason, are you going to continue on in the high priestly prayer? Okay. What's that? Don't ruin it. Okay. Well, let's take our Bibles and turn to John 17. Jesus is now praying, but one of the things that he does as he's praying is he prays with a, as it were, a prophetic perspective. In other words, there are things in his prayer that have not yet happened, that are still yet future, but he prays about them as if they're already past. And the reason he does that is because of the certainty of those events. And so, for instance, he says in verse 4, Father, I have glorified you upon the earth by having accomplished the work that you've given me to do?" Well, on the night that he prays that prayer, had he actually already accomplished all the work that the Father had given him to do? And the answer is no, not really, because he still needs to go to Calvary, still needs to be raised from the dead, still needs to ascend into heaven. But the certainty of those events is so indisputable that Jesus can pray about them as if they're already accomplished, alright? So listen to this, this is verse 11, he says, I am no longer in the world. Which of course is a reference to what? To his upcoming ascension. and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to you, Holy Father, which I think is also an allusion to the ascension, I come to you, Holy Father, keep them in your name, the name which you've given me, that they may be one even as we are. And so throughout the New Testament, I think that there are multiple, multiple, multiple references that just simply imply Jesus is going back to the Father, all right? But there are explicit statements about the ascension that you're, of course, familiar with. And so flip over to Acts chapter 1, which we looked at not that many weeks ago. Jesus had given instruction to his disciples for how many days, by the way? Acts 1-3 tells us he was with them for 40 days. All right? Now, let's see. Verse 9. This is right after he tells them they're going to be his witnesses. And after these things, after he said these things, he was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received him out of their sight. This is what we could call a glory cloud manifesting the immediate presence of Almighty God. So a cloud comes, as it were, and is Jesus' chariot, in a sense, taking him. And verse 10, as they were gazing intently into the sky while they were going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them, and they said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This Jesus, notice his language, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will, in just the same way as you've watched him, will come back in just the same way as you watched him go into heaven. Now, I mentioned a few weeks ago that this seems like a really strange question, don't you think? As they're watching Jesus ascend into heaven, the angels go, why are you looking up in the sky? Now, There's a point behind the question though. It's not just a silly question. It's not like, hey, what are you looking at? Is there something up there that we should be seeing too? They're actually asking them this question because their gaze is not gonna any longer be trying to see the ascended Jesus. Their gaze is gonna be on actually doing what he's called them to do, okay? But notice how clear this reference is that Jesus Christ is taken up into heaven. Look over at Acts chapter two. Verse 32. this Jesus God raised up again to which we are all witnesses therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit he's poured forth that which you both see and hear now verse 36 therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made in both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified so what I want you to do is I want you to see what Peter does Peter says God raised Jesus up, we're witnesses, that's resurrection, and therefore he's exalted him to his right hand, that is ascension. Now, as we think about this, Paul will talk about the ascension of Christ in Ephesians 4, verses 7 and 8. In 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, we have what amounts to an early hymn in the Christian church, and the last line of that early hymn is, and he was taken up into glory. And so, there are explicit statements about the Lord Jesus ascending directly into heaven. I want you to think for a second about the book of Hebrews. As we travel through the book of Hebrews, how many references are there in the book of Hebrews to the resurrection of Jesus? The answer is, there are not that many references to the resurrection of Jesus, but how many references are there to the ascension and ascended status of Jesus? And the answer is, from beginning to end. So for instance, in that opening section in the book of Hebrews, what you have is this marvelous declaration of Jesus as the final word, and then it starts listing, as it were, the attributes of Jesus. He's the exact representation of God's nature, the impress of his being, and he upholds all things by the word of his power, so forth. And then it gets to this last phrase, and after he made purification, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. And this is actually what the writer to the Hebrews does throughout the book consistently, is he goes right from Jesus' substitutionary crucifixion immediately to his exaltation to the Father's right hand. And by the way, just as you cannot refer to the resurrection without implying crucifixion, you cannot refer to the ascension without implying resurrection. All right? And so throughout the book of Hebrews, just look at a few examples with me. These are texts that should nourish your soul anyway. Hebrews chapter 4, Hebrews chapter 4. Look at this language, it's absolutely magnificent. Verse 14, therefore, since we have a great high priest who has done what? 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 cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." So what is the motivation for you as a child of God to actually draw near with confidence to the throne of grace where you receive grace and mercy? And the answer is, here is the grand motivation. Your high priest is already there. He has already passed through the heavens. He's already in that place. And he is already occupying the right hand of the father. Look at chapter six, verse 19. This hope we have is an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. And so the fact that Jesus Christ has not only been raised but actually ascended into heaven is an anchor for our soul. And so throughout the book of Hebrews, The resurrection is everywhere assumed, and it's the ascension that is explicitly emphasized. Now, let's just talk very briefly about the nature of the ascension, all right? The nature of the ascension. This is not point 2, by the way. This is point Roman numeral 1, capital letter B, all right? So, just in case you thought we were moving quicker than we were, What are we talking about when we talk about the ascension? When we talk about the ascension, please listen to this, we are saying, the same body which was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin's womb, the same body which was crucified and put into a tomb, And the same body which was put into that tomb, which was raised up from the dead, is the very same body that ascended into heaven that is God's immediate presence. This is not like some mystical idea about Jesus somehow mystically or spiritually ascending into heaven. This is Jesus Christ, the God-man, ascending into heaven with his full humanity. And you think, oh well, is he in danger of being hit by a meteor? The right hand of the Father is the immediate presence of God. Don't think just like this. You know, don't be such a knucklehead that there's no room in your thinking for the infinite mystery of a God who can call into existence that which did not exist. and that his son is now physically present in his immediate presence, which we call heaven. Now, by the way, for you theological eggheads, this, you love the Reformation, right? Anybody love the Reformation? You have Lutherans and you have Calvinists. Right? Well, I'm not a Lutheran. Okay? Now, the biggest point of contention at the Reformation was not justification or among Reformation people. It was not the nature of preaching or the nature of worship. All these things were issues, justification, all that. The biggest issue among people in the Reformation came down to the nature of Jesus' ascension. You say, what? It's true. So Luther, I'm actually now regretting I started this conversation. Luther believed that upon the ascension, Jesus' humanity took on the attributes of deity, therefore the physical nature of Christ is also omnipresent, which is why Luther continued to believe in the real physical presence of Jesus at the Lord's table. And you know what I think? I think Luther drank too much German beer. That's just crazy. That's just crazy. And Calvin said something like this. This is a rough paraphrase. That's crazy. Jesus, humanity is not omnipresent. It's actually localized at the right hand of the Father. And therefore Calvin actually rejected Luther's view of the Lord's Supper. See, the ultimate issue of the Lord's Supper at the Reformation was not actually the nature of the supper itself. It was the nature of the ascended Christ. Well, that was free. All right. Now, This is all preliminary stuff, this is all introductory stuff. So the next thing is then the timing of the ascension. So we read Luke 24, and as we read Luke 24, did you see the way Jesus appears to the disciples, they go to Bethany, he blesses them, and then ascends to heaven, did you see that? Now that makes it look like he was raised, he appeared, he ascended, right? That's what Luke 24 looks like. But you read Acts 1, and you realize that Jesus is with the disciples for 40 days, and it's after a 40-day period that Jesus actually then ascends, and Acts 1 says, Mount of Olives. Now, so here's, I don't wanna spend too much time on this, because I don't think it's that big of a deal. Who writes the book of Acts? Luke. Who writes the gospel of Luke? Same guy. Basically, you've got volume 1 and volume 2, right? Luke knows he's going to write two volumes. Now, some people think that Jesus ascends temporarily in Luke 24 and then comes back down to his disciples. I actually don't think that that's necessary to think that at all. First of all, As far as the location, if you say Bethany and Mount of Olives, Bethany is actually on the outskirts of the Mount of Olives. You can look at any Bible map, so there's no conflict there. But I think that what Luke is doing is Luke is, as it were, in a sense, kind of knowing that he's going to be giving further explanation once he gets to volume two, he kind of collapses the events at the end of the gospel, which then prepares us for an explanation of the events in volume two of what we call the Book of Acts. And so I was trying to think of a way that this would make sense. And so let's say I was telling you the history of World War II. And I, how many of you were alive in World War II? Boy, here's some aged people here. Okay, so I'm just talking by hearsay. You can talk to those that were there and watched it firsthand, all right? But here's the thing. I could tell you history about the way that Germany went into, you know, Yugoslavia and so forth and started to do this and that. And then I could make this statement as I was getting to the end of, let's say, chapter one or volume one. I could say something like this. Then the Allies landed at Normandy and we won the war. Now, would that be a true statement? And the answer is yes, that'd be a true statement. But what did I just do? I actually just, in a sense, just sort of collapsed this big chunk of time in between for the sake of doing what? Giving you a very brief synopsis, a concise statement about what happened, all right? I think that's all Luke is doing at the end of chapter 24. And then as he gets into Acts chapter one, He then gives us a fuller explanation. Now, Daryl Bach makes this comment. He says, the ascension is not just about a departure. This is very important. The ascension is not just about a departure, it is about an arrival. The ascension may in fact be the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, but it is the beginning of his heavenly reign and the precursor to the initial distribution of all of his saving benefits. And so that's how we're supposed to think about the ascension, is that this is not just Jesus departing from earth, this is Jesus actually arriving in heaven, and as he arrives in heaven, the earthly ministry of Jesus may be now over, but he's now commencing his heavenly ministry, which will have a worldwide impact through his Holy Spirit in a way that he never could have done while he was on earth in the flesh. All right, second point. The Old Testament gives us typological foreshadowings of the ascension. I'm not going to go into this. I preached on this extensively when we were in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 8. Paul uses Psalm 68, 15 to 18 as an example of Old Testament typology pointing to the ascension of Christ and his giving of gifts. We actually sang another typological Psalm that points us to the ascension this morning when we sang Psalm 24. Psalm 24, Jason will actually do a full-blown exposition of how this is typologically pointing us to the ascension sometime in the very near future, but let me just sketch it for you in 30 seconds. The Psalm is celebrating the Ark of the Covenant going back up to Jerusalem going, in a sense, home to where it belongs. And there is this jubilation and this worship going on so that the doors and the gates are actually worshiping and praising as, in a sense, the glory of the Lord manifests, symbolized, in the Ark, returns to its ascended home. Remember, when you go to Jerusalem, which way do you go? No matter where you are, you always go up. All right, and so the early church fathers saw in Psalm 24 this idea of our Lord Jesus, as it were, ascending back through the very gates of heaven itself and being in the presence of God. Point number three, the ascension is the completion of the resurrection. The ascension is the completion of the resurrection. Now, we know that the Lord Jesus is not actually the first person to ever be raised from the dead in redemptive history. There were people in the Old Testament that were raised. The widow of Zarephath, Elijah, raises her son from the dead. We know that in the New Testament there were people that were raised before the Lord Jesus. He's not the first one raised, but the Bible calls him the firstborn of the resurrection. because his resurrection is absolutely unique. Well, what makes his resurrection absolutely unique is that it was not a temporary resurrection. Let's say like Lazarus. So Lazarus was raised from the dead. I'm assuming that Lazarus at some point later ends up dying again. Now, Jesus, when he's raised up from the dead, he actually then ascends into heaven in this really marvelous book called Jesus Ascended. Garrett Scott Dawson says the resurrection requires an ascension to be completed because there's no triumph over death if it's only temporary. And so what we know through, because of Jesus' resurrection, is that he triumphs over death, he triumphs over sin, he triumphs over the grave, and the only way that that can actually be an absolute victory is if it is a permanent resurrection, and it is the ascension that completes the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Look at Hebrews chapter seven. Hebrews chapter seven. This is picking up right in the middle of the writer to the Hebrews discussion on the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek. Verse 15. And this is clearer still. If another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such, not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. Now, I want you to keep that phrase, the power of an indestructible life, in mind. So, you're a first century Jewish person, and you hear this guy talking about Jesus being our great high priest, your immediate objection is what? He's not qualified to be a priest because he does not meet the physical requirement of priesthood, being born in the tribe of Levi, and he's not one of the sons of Aaron, and so he can't be a priest. And the writer to the Hebrews wants us to see something, and that is, understand this, first of all, the Aaronic priesthood was flawed for two huge reasons. First, they were sinners. If you have somebody mediating between you and God, they better be better off than you. And then the other thing was, is they died. And so you kept having to get more of them. And so, they weren't recycled, they just died, and they had more that would come in. And so, this is fundamental flaw. And so, what the writer to the Hebrews says is, well, you know what, it's true, he didn't meet the physical requirement. as far as the flawed priesthood goes, but here's the glorious thing. There's another priesthood the Bible talks about that is the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek, and that is a priesthood that actually perpetuates itself forever, and this Jesus, although not from the tribe of Levi, but from the tribe of Judah, although he's not qualified to be a priest in that sense, he is qualified to be a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. How? because he was raised up from the dead, and because he now has the power of an indestructible life. And so that indestructible life is the result of the ascension. He's raised up from the dead, he ascends into heaven, and now he is the one who has an absolutely indestructible life. Look at chapter seven and verse 23. So the former priests, on the one hand, Existed in greater numbers Because they were prevented by death from continuing But Jesus on the other hand Because he continues how long? forever Does what? holds his priesthood and permanently. In other words, it is the ascension of Jesus that actually is the demonstration that God has given him an indestructible, resurrected life, and it is by virtue of that indestructible life that he is now a priest forever. Now, number four, Christ's ascension results in his exaltation. We've already seen this in some sense where Peter, for instance, in Acts chapter 2, actually connects together Jesus' ascension and exaltation. But stop and consider this. So here's Daniel, and he says this night vision, and Daniel sees one like the Son of Man coming in, and he does what? He actually comes up to the Ancient of Days, where the Son of Man is then given glory and dominion and authority and a kingdom which will know no end. And some people think that that's the second coming, but I don't think that's a second coming. I think that's the ascension. I think that's what happens when Jesus ascended back into heaven and entered into the throne room of God and approaches the ancient of days. What does God do to him? He actually bestows on him a kingdom. And so what? What? What is said by Jesus in Matthew chapter 28 verses 19 and 20? All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples. And so Jesus enters into heaven and what happens? The glory which he had with the Father before the incarnation is the glory which is restored. Peter says God has exalted him to his right hand. where he is both Lord and Christ. Paul rejoices in the fact that this Jesus has been exalted and actually has been now given the name which is above every name both in this age and the age to come and there is a sense in which the exalted Jesus, he has been put in a place of power and dominion and he has a kingdom and he now is the one who actually rules over principalities and powers and there is no rival authority, there's no rival power He is the one who is supremely reigning from the right hand of God, the Father, the Almighty. And so, what are we doing? We are waiting, Philippians 3, we are waiting for our Savior who is in heaven right now, right? And we are waiting for Him to return from heaven. But as He is there, what is He doing? Paul says in Philippians 3, He has put all things under His feet. Psalm 2, which is repeatedly applied to the Lord Jesus, ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession. And so as we think about this, John is in the throne room of heaven, Revelation chapter 5, and he sees this amazing scene. Here is this glorious being who is seated on a throne and he's got this scroll that is sealed with seven seals in his right hand. And one of the angels shouts out, who is worthy to come and to take the seal and to take the scroll and to open its seals? And there was silence. Nobody says anything. John begins to weep. Why does John begin to weep? Because there's something about that scroll that begs to be opened up. And as John is weeping, one of the elders, one of the 24 elders says to him, why do you weep? The lion from the tribe of Judah is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because he has triumphed. And so the very picture that John sees is now the lion of Judah is seen. And then what does John see next? He doesn't see a lion. And then I saw a lamb standing as if slain. The Lion of Judah, by the way, is the Lamb of God who's taken away our sins. And so as he takes that scroll, you know what happens? All of heaven reverberates with worship and praise to the exalted Lamb who is now in the place of dominion and power and authority. Make no mistake about it, Jesus Christ is the unrivaled ruler of the world. And so he is exalted, and he is exalted to what place? He is exalted to the Father's right hand, which, of course, is the place of honor and power and authority. And so it is the ascension of Jesus which results in his exaltation, so that now in his exalted state, what is he doing? He's exercising his kingly ministry. But there's more. Next, Christ's ascension results in his present session. Session. We use the word session in the way that the Bible uses the word session, but we often don't think about session in the way that the word session is supposed to imply. So when we say Congress is in session, what do we mean? Well, we typically mean they're ruining our country, is what we mean, right? But that's not exactly what session means. Session actually just simply means seated. In other words, they're seated in the places where they're making their decision. So when we say the court is in session, what do we mean? We mean the judge has come in and has taken his seat. The Bible teaches that Christ's ascension not only results in his exaltation, but also in his present session. The most quoted Psalm in the whole New Testament is Psalm 110, which begins, and the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And so we already quoted it, After he made purification for sins, he did what? He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The writer to the Hebrews will reiterate this again at the end of Hebrews chapter 7 and the beginning of Hebrews chapter 8. And so there are two things about Jesus being seated that actually just demand our attention. And the first is this. The fact that he is seated, the fact that he is, as it were, in session, is a demonstration of the absolute, utter completion of our redemption. What piece of furniture wasn't in the tabernacle? What piece of furniture wasn't in the Holy of Holies later in the temple? There were no chairs in there. Why were there no chairs in there? Because if you were a priest, you didn't get a break. You didn't get to sit down. Your whole existence, your whole ministry was that of perpetual motion of atoning and offering incense and sacrifice. And why? Because the work was never done. The Lord Jesus as our great high priest ascends into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Why? Because redemption has been accomplished once and for all. There's nothing more that is needed. When Jesus Christ declares on Golgotha, it is finished, paid in full. There's nothing more to do. There's nothing more for you to add. It's done. Your salvation, the work of your redemption is absolutely thoroughly accomplished. And it was done all, guess what? Apart from you. A finished work. a completed work, an atonement, which really atones and a redemption, which really redeems. And so he sits down. There's no more atonement to be made. There's no more sacrifice to be offered. It is finished. But that doesn't mean he's just sitting there. Isn't it time for the second coming yet? He's not seated at the right hand of the Father, idle, just waiting. He's actually continuing his priestly ministry, not in the offering of sacrifice or making atonement for sin, but for doing the great work of interceding on behalf of his people. And so who will bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Yea, indeed, it was Christ Jesus who died, rather who was raised again, who is now seated at the right hand of God and intercedes for you. My little children, I write these things to you that you may not sin, but if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And so Jesus is now interceding on behalf of his people. And I want to talk more about that in the application, but so just understand this. So Jesus' ascension results in his exaltation, and it results in his session, which means the work of redemption is accomplished, and now he is interceding on behalf of those for whom he died. Next, point six, right? Christ's ascension results in the gift of the Spirit. Jason has hit on this multiple times from the Upper Room Discourse. Jesus actually says to these bewildered disciples, you have to understand this, it's better for you that I go away. How could that be? Peter answers it. Don't you know, Peter must have heard that and just agonized. I don't have any textual support, but just knowing Peter. I mean, you read the New Testament and you know what you feel like you know? You know Peter, right? Because Peter is just a little too much like us. Okay, so we just kind of we got a we got a, you know, our eye on Peter, we understand Peter, and here's Jesus, it's better that I go away. And I'm sure Peter thought, Lord, I know the last time I told you no, you said get behind me, Satan, I don't want to do that again. But I'm really having a hard time thinking about how it's better that you go away. I mean, when you're here, you're here, you're with us, we're with you. There's a sense of closeness, a sense of communion. How in the world is it better that you go away? And here's the answer, is because once Jesus goes away and ascends into heaven, he now gives the gift of the Spirit to his church. And so here's the way that Peter describes it. So Peter does get it, and so on the day of Pentecost, what happens is that Peter says, we already read this text, that God highly exalted him and gave to him the promise of the Spirit so that he poured it out on us. So that what you see and hear today is a result of that. And so here's the picture. Jesus ascends into heaven, and the Father now says, as a result of your accomplished work of redemption, Son, I now give you the promised blessing of the Holy Spirit, which you now, in turn, as head of the church, pour out upon your church, and you give the church the Spirit under the new covenant, which is the Spirit in its fullness, unknown in previous epochs. And so, we sing this song, we sing, talking about the Holy Spirit, crowning gift of resurrection sent from your ascended throne. Isn't that wonderful? What's the Spirit? He's the crowning gift of Christ's resurrection. What is the Spirit? He's the one who has been sent from Jesus' ascended throne. Now, I'm going to just bring out two things about this, and then we will finish this next Lord's Day, all right? If Jesus is ascended and exalted, he's exercising his kingly ministry. If Jesus is ascended and in session at the right hand of the Father, he is extending his priestly ministry. If Jesus is ascended into heaven and has now given the gift of his spirit, guess what he's continuing? His prophetic ministry. Okay? Now, We know that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Moses' prophecy of Deuteronomy 18.15, that the Lord is gonna raise up a prophet like me among you, among the people. And in fact, we know that that is fulfilled in Jesus because in the book of Acts, that's one of the texts that they repeatedly quote in relationship to the Lord Jesus. And so in the gospel of John, when they say, is this the prophet? That's the prophet they're talking about. The one that Moses had actually said is going to come and be raised up after me, and you better listen to him. And so he is the long-awaited prophet. Now, of course, Jesus is Prophet, capital P. He is the prophet. But Jesus, understand this, Jesus is more than the prophet. Prophets under the old covenant would bring the word of the Lord to the people. When Jesus Christ enters into this world, He is the word. He doesn't just bring the Word, He is the Word. And so, what do we have when we think about Jesus? He is actually the final Word. And so, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. What is the Word? It's a revelation. And then we see this in the book of Hebrews. God, in many times and many parts in the past, has spoken to our fathers in the prophets. But now, in these last days, He has spoken. Anybody remember? In son. Boy, you guys pay good attention. In son. Jesus Christ is the final revelation of God. He is the final word of the Father. There is nothing beyond Jesus. There is nothing around Jesus. There is nothing underneath Jesus. Jesus is the final revelation of God the Father, all right? So you see these nuts on TBN and they're telling you about this, that, and the other thing, and they're wanting to take you beyond Jesus. They are lying spirits, okay? Jesus is it. Now what happens is Jesus actually continues his prophetic office now that he is ascended into heaven by doing what? By equipping his church with his word and with his spirit so that Christ as prophet speaks to his assemblies through his appointed servants as they preach the word in the power of the outpoured Holy Spirit. And this is why the Reformers were so absolutely adamant when they would say things like this. The preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. When the Word of God comes with power, and the power of the Holy Spirit, and it's preached accurately, that is God speaking to His people. And so here's the ascended Christ, who is head of His church. You see this played out in Revelation 2 and 3, and the letters to the seven churches, where Jesus Christ is addressing through the Spirit, to his church what they need to hear. And so that is one of the ways that Jesus continues his prophetic ministry. But I want to give you another. Sinclair Ferguson, Ariel's favorite preacher. She loves the Edinburgh accent. He says this, and I'll skip the accent. By the way, best book on the Holy Spirit I've ever read is by Sinclair Ferguson. Ferguson says this, the correlation between the ascension of Christ and the descent of the Spirit signals that the gift and gifts of the Spirit serve as the external manifestation of the triumph and enthronement of Christ. The outpouring of these gifts of the Spirit marks the downfall of Christ's enemies and the beginning of the building of the church. As in the case of the building of the tabernacle, so in the case of the building of the new temple of God, gifts of the Spirit are given to equip the people of God and enable them to set on display the glory of God, the fullness of Christ in the temple of God, and thus Christ adorns his bride. And so, the fact that Jesus has ascended into heaven and has poured out his Spirit, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit. Okay? There aren't two kinds of Christians, those that have the Spirit and those that don't. If you don't have the Spirit, Romans 9, 8, 9, you don't belong to Christ. So there's only one kind of Christian and that's the kind that has the Holy Spirit and that Holy Spirit has been given to you by the ascended Christ who is the head of the church and he gave you his spirit to equip you and empower you to actually do the works of ministry in serving the body of Christ and building it up. And so is the ascension of Christ just some sort of neat doctrine that we listen to here, you know, around Easter time, or if you're a liturgical church, you know, you have Ascension Sunday or whatever, and the answer is no. The reality of the ascended Christ, it should be a daily reality for the people of God as we operate under the power and the influence of the Holy Spirit, using the gifts that he's given us to build up the body of Christ. The fact that he is head of the church and given you the spirit is a demonstration that he loves his church and he wants you to serve. He wants you to do something. He wants you to employ the gift of the spirit that has been given to you to build one another up. And so some of you, you have a wonderful gift of just being able to say the right word at the right time, just encouraging, Somebody, and you know what that is? That's a sign of the ascended Christ who is doing what? Working through his spirit to build up his body. Some of you have the ability to give a word of exhortation. That doesn't mean that you are sanctified in telling people off. That's not what that means. What it means is that the ability to have a word of exhortation is you're able to challenge somebody. You're able to call somebody to repentance. You're able to actually bring the word of God to bear. and expose sin and to help them come to repentance. That is a gift that God has given you. Some of you have just the ability to, the spirit-empowered ability just to serve God's people. And you know what? If you open your eyes, you know what you see? You see the Holy Spirit at work every Lord's Day. Okay, let me tell you how. So when you see Daniel Berlich or Isaiah Weller and they're carrying a bucket of water with a sponge in it to wash off tables, that is a demonstration of the ascended Christ who has given his spirit to build up and to serve his body. God has given us his spirit as a gift. The ascended Christ as prophet, priest, and king loves his body, loves his bride. Okay, so next week, we'll get to point seven, and then to point eight, and that's all. So just come next week, you'll hear a two-point sermon, okay? All right? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. What privilege we have as the people of God to know that our Savior is ascended to the right hand of the Father. What a glorious thing. We don't worship a dead Savior. We don't follow a dead savior. We follow one who is alive and even now ever lives to make intercession for you, his people. Let's pray. Father, how we thank you for the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ taken up into heaven. And so, Father, we pray that even as we've thought about this today and looked at the scriptures today, Father, we pray that you would encourage us and strengthen our faith with the reality of Christ's ascension, exaltation, and session, and Him pouring out the Spirit upon us. Father, how we thank you. how we thank you for the Lord Jesus who has passed through the heavens, the very fact that He is at your right hand as an anchor for our souls. Thank you, Father, for such a glorious Savior in whose blessed name we pray. Amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.