Verse 50 through verse 53, Luke chapter 24, our subject today, the ascension of our Lord into heaven. And you know, if you think about it, I don't hear a lot of preaching on the ascension of our Lord today and down through the ages. It seems like it's kind of been a neglected doctrine, but it is a vital one and it is part of our Lord's saving process. So in Luke chapter 24, and verse 50 to the end and he led them out as far as to Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them and it came to pass while he blessed them he was parted from them carried up into heaven and they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. Luke, or rather Mark chapter 16 verse 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and he sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and priests everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs, wonders, and miracles." So today, we're looking at the ascension of our Lord back to heaven. If one studies in John 17 that great prayer of our Lord as he closed out the upper room discourses, they will find that he brushed very close to this subject, that he would be restored to the glory that he had with the Father before the world began because he had finished the work that the Father had given him to do. But now we look at it more extensively in our message of the morning. We find that as the Lord neared closer to the time of his death, he began to prepare his disciples for his coming death and burial at the hand of the Jew and of the Roman. And there were two things that he seemed to emphasize to them over and over. Number one, that he would be betrayed by a friend, that he would be rejected by Israel, that he would be condemned, killed, crucified at Jerusalem, and indeed he was. And the second thing is that he would live again after three days, that he would return to the right hand of the father and In his absence bodily, he would send unto them another comforter, a paraclete, that he might have comfort. and guide them. And in both of these doctrines, the disciples were very slow to believe. They could not really understand. They were slow to understand what our Lord was actually saying, that He would actually die and be killed in Jerusalem. And they heard Him speak of His death. And in Mark, for example, chapter 9, verse 32, They understood not that saying and were afraid to ask him. Were afraid to bring it up, afraid to ask him about it. Again, in John chapter 16, at the close of the upper room, discourses unto them the Lord told them that he would go away but that he would send them another comforter which would abide with them forever and yet they could not at that time grasp the full meaning or the significance of those words of our Lord. And you see that in John 16, verse 16 through verse 21, their reaction. Thus to accommodate their lack of understanding, the Lord graciously and wonderfully managed his departure to their understanding and to their profit and to their use and belief. In that, number one, he did not ascend immediately and directly to heaven forever after he arose out of the grave from the dead. But he appeared unto them on different occasion before the ascension and confirmed that he indeed was alive again from the dead. And he did that to confirm them. Secondly, He granted them the privilege of being an eyewitness of his actual ascension to the right hand of God in heaven. And we notice that both Mark and Luke close out their gospel with a very brief account of the ascension. as well as the fuller account that we have in Acts chapter 1, verse 8 through 11. And ere he ascended, the Lord blessed them, he comforted them, He spoke well unto them. He promised unto them the Holy Spirit, Acts 1 and verse 8. Then he was taken up out or in their sight, and a cloud received him out of their sight and into heaven, Acts 1, verse 10 and 11. Not only that, but two angels of God appeared and tell them that this same Jesus which was taken up from you shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. And the message there is twice repeated. He is gone into heaven. He is not whisked away into another place or another country upon the face of the earth. He's not just simply moved from one location unto another. He is not transferred to some other place to continue a life upon the earth. I think you might remember in Second Kings the case there of Elijah and Elisha when Elisha was taken up, or Elijah, was taken up in a whirlwind into heaven out of the sight of Elisha. Remember what the people said. They wanted to send out a search party. Quote, lest peradventure the spirit of the Lord has taken him and has cast him upon some mountain or into some valley. unquote, as if he had been simply yanked up and let down in another place upon the earth. We also remember Enoch, that great example, in the book of Genesis chapter 5, who walked with God and was not because the Lord took him away into heaven. We have mention of that also in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 5. So such a translation almost defies the belief that one might be standing at one minute upon the earth and caught up and snatched up and taken out and taken into heaven and that alive off of the face of the earth. But seeing the Lord go up, exactly as he had said, no doubt confirmed the faith of the disciples and apostles in the ascension of the Lord. Now concerning that ascension, what are the implications that our Lord has gone into heaven after his death, burial, and resurrection. What are the related doctrine that are attached unto this? Has Christ gone into heaven, having finished his work, there to sit down and to do nothing forever? Or has the Lord gone into heaven, having finished his sacradotal work upon the earth, and turned the matter of the salvation of the elect over to the Holy Spirit like Elijah did unto Elisha. How do we know? that the Lord Jesus Christ has actually entered, has reached heaven? How do we know that he has arrived, that he is with the Father? And I would submit to you in answering that question that, as Peter suggested, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was and is an indisputable confirmation that he not only has gone into heaven, but that he has carrying on his mediatorial ministry even in heaven. Consider Acts chapter 2 and verse 33 when Peter tells his hearers, those gathered at Pentecost, that what had just happened had been accomplished by the risen and the exalted Christ. That pouring out of the Spirit, that great phenomenon, was a result of Jesus Christ having been exalted and receiving from the Father the promise, Peter said, He has shed forth this which you now see and hear. That is, the Holy Spirit has come in fulfillment of the promise of our Lord. First of all, let us remember the times that the Lord did promise to send the Holy Spirit upon his people, upon his church. John 14, 16 through 18, he said, I will pray the Father. He will give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever, even the spirit of truth to dwell in you. I will not leave you comfortless, or the margin has orphans. I will not leave you orphaned. I will come again in the form and the work of the Holy Spirit. In John chapter 14 and verse 26, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, When the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things. He shall lead you, he shall guide you into all truth. John 15 and verse 26, when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father. In John 16 and verse 7, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient. Some render that profitable. It is profitable. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. He had said back in verse 5, I am going my way to him that sent me and none of you are asking me where are you going. This seems to be a rebuke unto them. He is constantly telling them. that he would leave the world, that he would leave the world first by dying and secondly by being exalted to the right hand of the father. And yet they had not sought from him a fuller understanding of it. Sure it is true that Peter had asked him In John chapter 13 and 36, Lord, where are you going? Whither do you go? Where are you going? And Thomas' response was, in John 14 and 5, we know not where you are going. How can we know the way? The Jews in John 7 and verse 35, where will he go? that we cannot find him. So there was not in their mind yet a clarity about the ascension of our Lord returning again unto heaven. The Lord must depart the world, not only by death, but by entering again into that glory that he had with the Father before the world began. And the fullness of the Spirit came upon the day of Pentecost. It was expedient on several accounts that the Lord enter into heaven and there dwell at the right hand of God upon his throne. We'll consider soon such as to intercede, to present himself before the Father, to act the part of our great high priest, to be the advocate or the lawyer for his people, and so forth. All of those are carried on by the Lord at the right hand of God. And overall, to be the administrator of the covenant, that you might administrate that covenant under the salvation of the elect and the perfection of the will of God. But there is also a close connection between the glorification of the Lord and the effusion of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, as well as between the atonement and the resurrection and regeneration and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Those have a close connection. Consider the passage in John chapter 7, 37 through 39. Mysterious words, they might appear, and they did unto some that heard. The words of Jesus. spoken in the end of the Feast of Tabernacle as that feast was drawing to an end. Our Lord said and said loudly and in the hearing of many these words. He that believes on me out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water and verse 39. is an expository footnote by John and how often John does that in his gospel. This spake he of the spirit, that is, when the Lord spoke of thirsting and drinking, and believing, and of a river of water flowing out of their innermost being, John explains to us that he was speaking of the Spirit of God. This, he said, concerning the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and the graces which the Spirit of God instilled and impart, and to such as believe on him and would later believe upon him. And then John makes a statement that is both amazing and perplexing as we look at it at face value. And in his explanatory fashion, John connects the giving of the spirit with the glorification of the God-man, same in John 7, and verse 39. And listen carefully to these words, John 7 and 39. The Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Now, you note in the King James Version, the translators have added the word given as a supplement. The Holy Spirit was not yet, for Jesus was not yet glorified. But it would be an error on our part to conclude that John is saying that the Holy Spirit was not yet or then in existence. For He is the eternal Spirit of God. He is everlasting as is the Father and the Son. For the Spirit is He that breathed upon creation. Genesis chapter 1 and verse 2. He is the one that inspired the writing of the Old Testament prophet and servants and men of God. He is the one who conceived the humanity of the Lord Jesus in the womb of the Virgin, Luke 1 and verse 35. So John is simply establishing the connection between the effusion of the Spirit and the glorification of the Lord Jesus. just as the sun existed before the incarnation, but was not yet fully manifested on the earth until his incarnation. So the spirit existed eternally, but was not yet so fully manifested until Jesus was glorified and the time had come. And what might Jesus or John have in mind as being the glorification of the God-man? How was Jesus glorified? What does it consist of that our Lord was glorified? It occurred in connection with the ascension, in his removal from the earth and into heaven. And how could it better be summed up than the words of the great Puritan writer John Owen. Number one, the glorification of his humanity occurred at that time, and that the humanity of the Lord was not jettisoned in his ascension into heaven. He was not separated from it, did not throw it off to enter again into heaven, but he has taken it in perpetual subsistence with himself as the God-man and was glorified. Secondly, there is his mediatorial exaltation by which, as Peter said, he was made Lord and Christ. in the second chapter of Acts and verse 36. He is given a name above every name, Philippians 2, 9 through 11. He is highly exalted is the word of scripture. John Eady called this a supreme exaltation, unquote. And the word exalted in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 9 means to raise up, to elevate, to advance above others, to give a very high position to. And that's what our Lord received. And Paul thinks it good, and so he doubles it. Not just exalted, but highly exalted. And this exaltation is just not height or distance or mile. It's not measured in that manner, but it is honor. It is glory. It is power. It is authority. It's sovereignty. It's lordship. It's might. It's dominion that was invested in our Lord as he exercises his mediatorial sovereignty over the purpose of God. Now concerning the words in John 7 and verse 39, making the connection between the coming of the Spirit of God in His fullness and the glorification of the Lord Jesus. One of the best commentaries on that is the passage, I think, in Acts chapter 2 and verse 33, that at the Feast of Tabernacle, the Spirit had not yet been diffused in His fullness, because the Lord had not yet been glorified. While at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came as a result of our Lord having died, risen, ascended, and being exalted to the right hand of God. And then, and in that condition and position, he poured out the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, highly exalted. And Peter's points there are this. Yes, he was put to death, but he saw no corruption during his time in the grave and was raised again without it. And where is this one now? at the right hand of God, highly exalted. And consider, when our surety, the Lord, was let out of prison, that is, when he came out of the grave, it was proof that he had, number one, paid our debt, and number two, that God had accepted that as due and full payment. And when the Spirit came in the manner of Pentecost, In Acts chapter 2, it was confirmation that our Lord had been received into heaven and exalted as a mighty sovereign. Now before we go to other aspects of the ascension of our Lord, let's consider a puzzling text maybe to you, certainly to me, found in John chapter 20. Here's a quick summation of the events immediately following the resurrection of our Lord. John 20, in verse 1, Mary Magdalene A faithful disciple of our Lord came early to the grave. And when she arrived, she found the stone rolled away and the grave empty. No body, no Lord there. Verse 2, she goes to tell Peter and John immediately. She goes to those who are pillars in the Jerusalem church and recounts for them. In verse 3 through verse 10, they hasten to the grave, and they find nothing but the grave clothes of our Lord, and they return home again. Then in verse 11 through 18, Mary has an encounter with the Lord, whom she did not recognize. She took him to be the gardener, perhaps tending the garden. Verse 16, Jesus calls her by name. She recognizes him. And in Hebrew, calls him rabboni, or master, or teacher. And Gil thought that the word signified master, lord of the world. And some are of the opinion that in her excitement at seeing him alive again, and out of the grave she might have fallen. and grasped the Lord's feet, and began to hold him, and to worship him, and to weep, and to rejoice. Demonstrated her enthusiasm with a show of grasping our Lord, or whatever. Because some versions of the scripture, such as the New Geneva Study Bible, render the first words of verse 17 this way. Do not cling to me or stop clinging unto me. And the reason he gives is not so easy for me to explain. It's proven by the fact that most of the expositors also don't have a lot to say on this verse. They spend a little bit of time on it. And he says, don't cling to me. For I ascend not yet to the Father. But you go and you tell my brethren that I ascend to my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and to your God. Because a short time later, he did allow Thomas to touch him and feel him in the prints of the nail. Some have concluded between the two events, the Lord ascended to heaven as if to present his sacrifice and blood there before the God of salvation and then returned again. But this does not suit most Calvinistic expositors as the footnote in the New Geneva Bible John 20, 17 has this to say, quote, there is no reason to suppose that Jesus ascended to the Father between his encounter with Mary and encounter with Thomas, unquote. The question is, can we get inside of the mind of Mary at what she saw and what she did and whether we are helped by the words of the Lord under her or not. Her fault was not that she would worship or that she would honor or that she would glorify the risen Lord and even that she touched him or that there was anything inappropriate. and unseemly or untoward in touching him. For shortly thereafter, in Matthew chapter 28, 9, he allowed women, plural, to hold him by the feet and to worship him. And John 20, 27, he allowed Thomas to touch his hand and to touch his side in that room where he appeared. Now the words of Jesus, I believe, give us a strong hint as to the mind of Mary. For what it is worth, Methinks that those expositors are on the right trail and are nearest to the mark who think that perhaps Mary saw no further than the resurrection. that Mary saw no further than the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead. And Jesus knew her mind, and he knew it perfectly. And he graciously corrects her in the matter, as if she thought her Lord and Master would, now that he was alive. remain and continue upon the earth and perhaps just pick up where he had left off, as if he would be as before and never go away again from them, as if his resurrection was the fullness of his exaltation that he spoke about. After all, he had said that he would die and that he would rise again. Now that he had gotten up out of the tomb, perhaps as Richard Sibbes wrote in his commentary, quote, Mary was too much addicted to the bodily presence of the Lord, unquote. She and also his, quote, brethren, unquote, must come to the knowledge that Jesus, by dying, and living again, had entered into the next phase of his mediatorial work according to the purpose of God. For after his resurrection and ascension, he is entered into Shall we call it the second phase of his mediatorial or his priestly work in our behalf? Remember the Old Testament high priest? Not only it made the sacrifice, but he carried the blood in behind the veil to the Holy of Holies and there sprinkled it in that particular place upon the mercy seat. And as the priest went into the tabernacle, he went out of the presence and the sight of the people in the courtyard, but he was nevertheless engaged in a work in their behalf before the presence of God as the high priest of Israel. Thus the Lord sent the message that he would ascend. And where he would ascend is clearly stated. To my Father, to my God, and to your God. Indeed, he was raised up into glory in 1 Timothy 3, 16. But not to be idle. but to make intercession. Romans 8 and verse 34. This verse is a part of Paul's declaration that there is no condemnation to them who are in Jesus Christ. For the premise in Romans 8 verse 32 that God giving his son the greater gift he therefore will give us all things that pertain unto that in verse 33 that God's elect cannot be charged with sin as God hath justified them then in verse 34 As John Murray wrote, Romans 8, the apostle turns our thought to the security that belongs to God's elect by reason of what Christ has done and continues to do, unquote. What he has done and what he continues to do. It contains, verse 34, four aspects. of the saving work of Christ. Here they are. A. He died for us. B. He is risen again. C. He is ascended to the right hand of God. And D. He also maketh intercession. He died, he's risen, he ascended, and he is an intercessor. Now, this confirms the fact that our soul's interests are better served with Christ glorified and in heaven than still in the body of flesh on the earth. Consider Hebrews 7 and verse 25, having an unchangeable, or literally, and intransmissible priesthood. He got it from no other. It will pass to no other. On that ground, he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lived to make intercession for them in their behalf. And to repeat something said earlier, that being that the actual present or intercession of our high priest in heaven at the right hand of God is, as Owen put it, in the second act of his sacerdotal office, a fundamental article of our faith and a principal foundation of the church of our Lord. Actually, the saints have two intercessors, as we learn from Paul in Romans. We have the Spirit of God who makes intercession for us with prayers and yearning that we cannot utter or know what to utter. And we have an intercessor at the right hand of God, even the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So that means that our salvation cannot miscarry. It cannot miscarry at any point. or at any place. It cannot miscarry. As sinners, we're saved by the dead, the resurrection. As believers, we are preserved by his life and his sacrifice and his intercession, in that he ever lives to make intercession for us. The high priest interceded for the people. He had the tribes upon his breastplate. as he went in before the Lord to make intercession in their behalf. Now the sure and certain eternal salvation is laid in. Number one, the eternal purpose of God. Number two, the death, burial, resurrection, and intercession of our Lord. But what if we sin, someone may say. What if we are taken in a fall or we sin in spite of our desire not to sin and our trying to live holy and sanctified unto the Lord. Our praying for victory over sin that we'd be led not into temptation. What if in spite of all of that, we still sin and we do? Well, thank God, 1 John chapter 2, verse 1 and 2, if any sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Who is that? It is Jesus Christ, and he's called the righteous. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, the one who is the propitiation for our sin, who has made a sacrifice. And the intercessory life of Christ is a comfort to the saint in time of temptation and in sin and in our weakness. We have an advocate, one with the Father, one in the heaven, one who pleads our case against any accusation and deflects any charge from being lodged against us to our guilt. He represents us before the bar of Almighty God. We have an advocate with the Father. Now the only intercessor we have in heaven is the Lord. His only ground or reason of intercession is his death and his burial and the fact that he has put away our sin. No, he does not plead our personal worthiness. He does not plead that before the Father, not at all. He pleads the merit of his atonement and of his person. And that is our great high priest. He pleads before our Lord. So the Lord has entered into heaven. not to be idle, but to be our constant mediator and intercessor, and has given us another intercessor to dwell in us in this earthly journey, the Spirit of God. Two intercessors do we have, one in heaven and one within us. the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of Grace. Thank God for that doctrine then of the intercession. And it's typified in the Old Testament by the high priest going in.