For the scripture reading, we turn to Psalm 24. Psalm 24. The text is the last four verses of the psalm. We won't reread that because it's at the end of the psalm. It will be profitable to keep our Bibles open to this psalm as we are going to consider the whole psalm, and we'll be going through those last few verses a few times. Psalm 24. A psalm of David. This is, as we'll hear in the preaching tonight, this is a psalm that they sang when David brought the ark up into Jerusalem. That's the setting. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O Jacob, Selah. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. Selah. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, today is Ascension Day. After Jesus arose from the dead on Easter Sunday, Jesus spent 40 more days here on the earth. And during those 40 days, Jesus continued to appear unto his disciples and he continued to teach them the things of his kingdom. But then after 40 days, after 40 days after he arose from the dead, Jesus gathered his disciples on the Mount of Olives, just outside of Jerusalem, just across the Kidron Brook. And as he was blessing them, with his hands stretched out, he started to rise up from their midst, above them, into the sky, you might say, and a cloud took him out of their sight and he departed to go to heaven. That's Jesus' ascension. So that in Jesus' ascension, Jesus' human body, his glorified human body with his soul, went into heaven, his body now for the first time entering into the realm of heavenly glory, there to stay until He returns again on the Day of Judgment. We celebrate Ascension Day tonight because today is 40 days after we celebrated Easter. Well, in order to commemorate Ascension Day, we turn this evening to Psalm 24. We turn to Psalm 24 because this is a messianic psalm that speaks about the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. In its original context, Psalm 24 speaks about the ascension of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. It speaks about that event when David, with great pomp and with great circumstance, brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem for the first time. You children remember what the Ark of the Covenant was, don't you? It was that little box that God had commanded Moses to make in the wilderness. That special box that was really meant to picture God's presence with his people. That's where God dwelt, even in the temple. When Solomon built the temple, that was the Ark of the Covenant that was placed in the most holy place, behind the veil. And that was where God dwelt, above the ark, between the cherubim, above the mercy seat, right there in the most holy place. In that ark, you remember, were the two tables of stones on which God wrote the Ten Commandments, the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded And the Ark of the Covenant represented in a special way God's presence with his people. What is significant for our purposes tonight is that when David brought up the Ark into Jerusalem, that event was a picture. It was a type of the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. So tonight for our sermon, we're first going to look at the wonderful Old Testament event of the ascension of the ark into Jerusalem. Then we're going to see how that was a picture, that was a type of Jesus' ascension into heaven. And then we're going to see that looking into the future, there's still more to come. There's still one more entrance of the King of glory that He will make. And that is His entrance on the last day when He will enter into the fullness of His glory, the full realization of His kingdom and His kingdom's glory. We take as our theme the entrance of the King of glory. And we look at that theme under three points. First, the Old Testament event involving the ark, the New Testament fulfillment in Christ's ascension, and then third, the ultimate fulfillment at Christ's second coming, the entrance of the King of Glory. In Psalm 24, verses 7 through 10, we have the words that were sung when the ark was brought into Jerusalem. If you remember, it took David two tries to bring the ark into Jerusalem. The first time, David and the people did not obey the law of Moses. and the instructions for how they were to handle the ark, so that instead of having the priests carrying it on their shoulders on those staves in between them, on either side a priest and multiple priests, they decided to put the ark on a wagon and then have it pulled by oxen. But you remember, when the ark started to rock and started to tip over, Uzzah touched the ark in order to stabilize it, and when he touched the ark, he was struck dead. And the point there was this, David and the people were not reverencing God like they should have been in that moment. They were treating God far too lightly, and they were disregarding God's commandments for how they were to handle the ark. Well, three months passed by, David repented of his actions, and David again attempted to move the ark to Jerusalem. And this time, he did it properly. He also did it with great pomp and circumstance. So now picture for yourself on this second attempt, a great and joyful procession. Children, you can think of a great and mighty parade taking place. A multitude of Israelites assembled together, perhaps even thousands upon thousands of God's people. Because we read in the Bible that the whole nation took part in this event. They're all crowded together. and they're gradually moving, ascending up to the hill of Jerusalem. Leading this great procession are members of the House of Levi, bearing the Ark of the Covenant on those staves. With them are their brethren, the priests and the Levites, singing and playing on all kinds of beautiful instruments. Near the front of the procession is King David himself, clothed with a robe of fine linen and also wearing an ephod of fine linen, an apron of fine linen. Also present on this special occasion are the elders of Israel, all the captains over thousands, and they are all decked out in their finest garments. And we read in 1 Chronicles 15 verse 28, that all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps. A huge, joyful procession is bringing the ark up into Jerusalem. Jerusalem, which not too long ago had been the fortress of the Jebusites. But David and his men had conquered it, and now it belonged to God's people, and David had prepared there in Jerusalem a tent for the ark. And there they go, making their way with the ark, singing loudly and with gusto. In fact, it is suggested that Psalm 24 should be divided into three sections so that it's divided this way. First, picture God's people singing the first two verses as the people are making their way to the base of Mount Zion. They're singing back and forth in two or three different groups, and they're singing verses 1 and 2 over and over again. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein, for He hath founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods. They're singing there of God's sovereignty, of God's power and rule. God is the King of creation. He's the one who's made everything, and He's the one who rules over everything, all the nations of the earth. He is the Supreme King. Then, as the procession gets to the base of the hill, the words change. And the people start singing verses 3 through 6, over and over again, as they actually go up the hill. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing of the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob." Selah. They sing of the fact that God is holy and that only those who are righteous in the blood of the Lamb can appear in his presence in Jerusalem. And then as they get to the top of the hill and they get to the gates of Jerusalem, the procession stops. There's a pause in the music. As the end of verse 6 says, Sela, pause. And then the words change once more. And suddenly, perhaps, you hear one of the singers belt out, lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. And now from within the gates of the city, from within the gates, someone asks the question, who is this king of glory? You see, it's all orchestrated. This is part of the procession. It's part of the ceremony. And then from outside the gates comes the glad and triumphant response from the whole crowd of people, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. And you can imagine this kind of back and forth continuing for a little bit, building up the excitement and the anticipation, so that it's actually repeated in verses 9 and 10. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. And then what happens? The gates swing open. Perhaps the top of the gate, the heads of the gate, also lifts up so that the opening of the gate is as big and as wide as it can possibly be. And the procession continues to sing as they bring the ark to the top of Mount Zion. And now notice the words of the text. Notice what they are singing. Who is this King of glory that is ascending the hill of Mount Zion? It's not David. It's not King David. It's the Lord. It's none other than Jehovah Himself, the mighty God of hosts. He is the one who's making His ascent up to Mount Zion. He who is the I am that I am. He who is the unchangeable God, the eternally unchanging God of His covenant, who from everlasting to everlasting is always faithful to His promises that He spoke way back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's Jehovah Himself ascending Mount Zion. Now, we understand in a certain sense Well, we understand God is omnipresent so that in one sense God doesn't ascend the hill of Jerusalem because God is everywhere present. But the idea, you understand, God is ascending Mount Zion as he's being represented in the Ark. That Ark of the Covenant, that's the symbol of God and God's presence among His people. It's the Ark of the Covenant that is ascending Mount Zion. And as such, it is God Himself represented in the Ark who is ascending Mount Zion. And why is He ascending Mount Zion? And why should the gates of the city be open to Him? Because He is Israel's King. as the song says, He is the Lord, and that's lowercase letters, or that's uppercase letters as well. But He is the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. And to understand and appreciate this song, we need to understand where God's people are in their history. This is really the climax of the Old Testament, along with Solomon's building of the temple and the entering of the Shekinah glory into the most holy place. This right here, you might say we're halfway through the Old Testament. This is the types in the shadows coming. to their great expression. God is the one who has chosen his people to be his peculiar people, the nation of Israel to be his peculiar people. He is the one who has delivered them out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm. He is the one who saved them and protected them from all the power of their enemies throughout the wilderness wanderings. He is the one who prepared for them the promised land of Canaan. He is the one who parted the Jordan River. He is the one who drove out all their enemies. He is the one who chose Jerusalem itself to be His habitation. And more particularly, He has specifically chosen Mount Zion, one of the hills of Jerusalem, to be the place where He would have His throne. There, from Zion's holy hill, God would establish His sovereign rule over His people. There, He would establish His throne. There, He's going to dwell among His people and show forth His glory and power. And there, He's going to rule His people, giving them His commandments and blessing them. And now the Ark, the ascension of the Ark to Jerusalem, that's when you have the establishment of God's kingdom. This is really the climax of everything in the Old Testament leading up to this point. It's all leading up to here where God enters into His glory, ruling over His people from Mount Zion. Again, remember the history. For many years, there were Canaanites living in the land of Israel. In fact, during the days of the judges, there were times when it seemed as if God's people were going to be entirely pushed out of the land of Canaan. In fact, there were even times when the Ark of the Covenant itself was captured and it dwelt in the land of the Philistines in the Temple of Dagon. But what happened? God showed Himself faithful to His covenant promises, and God went to battle to fight the enemies of His people. And He graciously gave His people victory after victory. And now in the days of David, God had given to His people, you might say, the complete victory. He's crushed all the heads of His enemies. The boundaries of the kingdom are now stretched out from river to river to the borders which God had promised. All of the enemies are subjugated so that, as we know, Solomon, who's king next, he just enjoys basically a kingdom of peace. And what has the Lord proved through it all? The Lord has proved through it all that He is the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. And so you can hear the joyful chorus sing once more. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Jehovah, He is our King, and He is taking up His throne here in our midst in Mount Zion. Open the doors that our King might take up His place sitting on His throne. He is the King of glory. That is to say, He is the glorious King. He is the King who's characterized by power and wisdom and truth and faithfulness and mercy and loving kindness towards His people. All His perfections are shining forth in all His mighty works, which He has done for His people. Open the gates that the King of glory might come in. And what happens when the gates of the Holy City are opened? The Ark of the Covenant enters into the city and takes up its place on Mount Zion. The Ark is placed in a tent which David had prepared for it. And what's going to happen? The Ark of the Covenant is not just going to be a picture of God's throne and God's rule as king, it's also going to be the heart and center of all the worship of God in the holy city. Before long, the Temple of Solomon is going to be built. The Ark of the Covenant will be at the center of the temple in the most holy place. And from there, God would not just rule his people as king, but he's going to dwell with them as their friend. This is his house in the midst of the community of houses of his people. He is the one who dwells with them. He's their friend sovereign. He is Emmanuel, God with them. From there, he's going to bless his people and show them his love. And so you can understand the excitement on this festal day. This is the Old Testament Ascension Day. How does David behave himself? You read in 1 Corinthians 15, he sings and he dances and he leaps for joy. You remember so much so that his wife, Michael, despises him for it. She despises David's joy as if it's something inappropriate. But he is rejoicing in the ascension of God up to Mount Zion. And Psalm 24 is the song that they sang on this occasion. Well, that was the Old Testament event involving the Ark of the Covenant. But all of that was typical. All of that was history. It was real history. But God's, in His sovereignty and in His infinite power and wisdom, is going to use that history to point His people ahead to something greater, a greater ascension, the ascension of Jesus Christ into the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly city of heavenly Jerusalem. What we need to understand is this, the earthly Mount Zion, that itself was a type and a shadow of the place at God's right hand. That was a picture of where God dwells in heavenly glory. The most holy place was but a type. It was a shadow of the inner sanctuary above. where the Most High dwells in heavenly beauty and glory. The ark itself, as we said, was but a type and a shadow of God's presence among His people. The ark itself was but a type of Immanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ. That's what the ark symbolized. The temple was only a type of God dwelling with his people in covenant fellowship. And David himself was only a type of the greater king who's going to come and fight on behalf of God's kingdom. David himself is the type of the greater king through whom the Lord would give his people the ultimate victory, the true victory over all their spiritual foes. And then one more thing, even this ascent. of the ark into Jerusalem was typical, pointing ahead to the greater event of Jesus' ascension into heaven. And that becomes clear from the language of the psalm itself. Maybe you already noticed it. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. What kind of doors are these? These are everlasting doors. These are the doors of heaven itself. And who is this King of glory? He's none other than our own blessed Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the King of glory. Jesus is the Emmanuel. Jesus is Jehovah God. And he's also of the royal line of David. He's God himself who dwells with his people in the flesh. Jesus is really David and the Ark of the Covenant combined into one. He's the anti-type of all these things, the one whom all these things were pointing to. He is the King of glory. And why does Jesus ascend into heaven? Why should the gates of heaven be opened unto Jesus? Well, just as the Psalm says, He is the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. You see, when Jesus ascends into heaven, we need to understand where we are in the history of God's people. Just like in the Old Testament, you need to understand where they were in the history of the Old Testament. So with Jesus' ascension, you need to understand where we are in the history of God's people. For many years, God's people were under the oppression of the enemy. For many years, the gates of heaven were closed. And that was because of sin, that was because of our guilt. We were in bondage to Satan. We had given ourselves over to the power of the enemy. And yet what happened? Well, just like in the days of David, God showed Himself faithful to His promises. God Himself came in our flesh, and God Himself in the flesh, Jesus Christ, fought the battles of His covenant people. He met the foe head on, and it wasn't just the foes of the Canaanites and the Philistines that he was fighting against. He fought against the enemy of sin itself, death and the prince of darkness, Grim, Satan himself, and this wicked world. He met the foe already there at the beginning of his earthly ministry in the 40 days in the wilderness being tempted of the devil. He met the foe throughout his earthly ministry, and it all culminated with the battle he waged on the cross. And there on the cross, Jesus crushed the head of His and our enemy. There on the cross, Jesus vanquished all the foes of sin and death and the devil and his whole host. There on the cross was brutal conflict. It was warfare, the warfare of righteousness against unrighteousness, life against death. And in the battle, the very prince of life endured the unspeakable agonies of hell, and of God's wrath against sin, and yet he bore up under it all. And he endured to the end, and in so doing, he obtained the complete victory over all his and our enemies. Our guilt was wiped out. Sin was hopelessly stripped of its power. Death itself was killed. He who had the power of death was crushed. The head of the devil was crushed. And though Jesus Christ had to lay down his life on the battlefield, and he gave up the ghost, and though it seemed that in his death the battle was lost for God's people, Nevertheless, on the third day, he arose from the dead. And he showed by his resurrection that he was, in fact, the only one left standing on the battlefield. All the enemy was laid waste, lying dead on the battlefield, and all that is left is Jesus, the captain of our salvation, the lone victor standing on the battlefield. And what did Jesus prove through it all? He proved that He was and is the King of glory. He is the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. And that was especially evident in the glory that He took to Himself in His resurrection from the dead. Because when He rose from the dead, He did not merely return to an earthly mortal life, but He took upon Himself immortality. He took upon Himself resurrection life. And by His resurrection, He also showed that He had obtained a right to heavenly glory. He had finished the work that He was sent to do. He endured the cross and He has gained a right to enter into the highest glory as the King of His people. And so now, 40 days after His resurrection from the dead, the time has come for Him to enter into greater glory. And as Jesus ascends into heaven, Perhaps you can imagine hearing the words of Psalm 24 being sung. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and the righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob." And now you see it's singing there of Jesus. This is who Jesus is. And then there's a pause. Jesus ascends into heaven, and the music changes. Selah. Suddenly, there is an angel that shouts, lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. And from inside the gates of heaven, there's the response. Who is this King of glory? And then you can imagine all the angels responding, the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. And what happens? The gates of heaven open wide, Jesus enters into the holy city, and he takes up his place at the throne of the right hand of God. There, seated at God's right hand, he's given a scepter to rule with authority over heaven and earth. He's given a crown on his head. And from that throne of his father, he will reign, and God will reign through him. He will reign in might over all the world, over all the universe, over all his subjected foes, even those who now are still loathe to admit utter defeat. And he will reign through the blessed power of his grace and spirit, he will reign in the hearts of all his own. At God's right hand in heaven, Jesus is given a name which is above every name. In his ascension into heaven, Jesus enters into the glory of his kingdom. So that the angels continue to cry out, you can read it in the book of Revelation. Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth on the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And in his ascension, Jesus is not only given all power and authority, but he also intercedes on behalf of his people. He also continues to bless his people, serving the citizens of his kingdom. And even by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, he also dwells with his people, so that even though he is in heaven, nevertheless, He continues to dwell with His people by His Holy Spirit. All from heavenly Mount Zion. All from the heavenly city of Jerusalem. From heaven, Jesus is busy gathering His people. The fact that you have been delivered from the bondage of sin, the fact that Satan no longer rules in your heart, is due to the fact that Jesus the King has ascended into heaven. And from heaven, he sent forth his Holy Spirit into your heart to break down that throne of the devil and to establish his own throne in your hearts. Having shed his blood to wash away our guilt, he also now comes into our hearts and speaks that word of forgiveness to us in our hearts so that we know our sins are forgiven. And having spoken to us the word of forgiveness, He also frees us from the power and the pollution of sin. He liberates us and He sets us free to live unto Him. And this is how He rules His people. He makes us the citizens of His kingdom. We're born again from above. We are citizens of His kingdom, subject to His rule, friends of God who serve Him in willing obedience. And so you can understand why we celebrate Jesus' ascension into heaven. This day is worthy of a special worship service indeed. This is our joy. This is our comfort. King Jesus sits on the throne. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. Selah. Yet as we consider the fulfillment of Psalm 24 in the ascension of Jesus Christ, we should also recognize that there is also a sense in which these words must still be fulfilled in an even higher level. The reality is, although the glorious kingdom of grace has been established in Christ, and although His kingdom is established and realized in our hearts and in our lives, yet we know all is not finished. There is a sense in which the tabernacle of God is not yet fully with men. There is the reality that even though we are Jesus' subjects and citizens of his kingdom, we are still very much imperfect. We have but a small beginning of the new obedience. Sin still harasses us from outside and from within. And physically, we are still in weakness and honor, carrying about with us this body of death. Corruption has not yet put on incorruption. This mortal life has not yet put on immortality. Although in Christ we have the victory, nevertheless, in the flesh, we still are often defeated. The enemy still assaults us and causes us to suffer. This whole creation has not yet been finally delivered from the curse of sin. It still groans. The new heavens and the new earth are not yet. Nevertheless, what we need to know is this. The King is coming. Even as He sits enthroned at God's right hand, He's working. He's working all things towards His second coming. On His throne, He's opening the seals. He's causing the trumpets to be sounded. He's causing the vials of God's wrath to be poured out. The Apostle John saw it this way. and I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. This is Jesus being described. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself, and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. He is coming, beloved. He is coming to judge the world in righteousness and save His elect and establish His eternal kingdom. Then He will enter into the full manifestation of His covenant and His kingdom. Then shall all His enemies be destroyed forever, and then shall the tabernacle of God dwell with men forever. And what do we say? Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. And who shall enter with him into that everlasting tabernacle of God? Well, the passage says, he that is of clean hands and of pure heart, washed by the blood of Jesus, cleansed by the power of his grace through faith in him. You, beloved, you, beloved, you have a share in that glorious future. And as much as Jesus is your King, is He not? You belong already now to the ascended King of glory. And that's how we can still sing this song today. This song is given for us as New Testament saints, so that we can sing it with the same kind of joy and gusto and anticipation that the Old Testament saints sang it many years ago. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and let the King of glory come in. Come, Lord Jesus, yea, come quickly. Let us pray. Our Father, Thy Word is so glorious. Thy Word is so full. Thy Word is so good for us to hear as Thy children and as the citizens of Thy kingdom. Lord, we humbly ask, give us more a sense of seeing Jesus sitting on the throne. Give us more that strong faith to know that He is in control. And then give us the confidence and the joy that comes from that. And then give us the zeal to live courageously, knowing that the day is surely coming. And it will be here quickly when we will see Him, and we will be with Him, and we will live with Him in that glory. Lord, we ask that Jesus Christ might come quickly, that he might be glorified and exalted as the great judge of all and as the king of the new heavens and new earth. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.