So, I'm going to preach tonight a little bit about the resurrection, but more what happened
after the resurrection.
The title of the sermon is After the Resurrection.
Of course, this being Resurrection Sunday, we spent a lot of time talking about and thinking
about and even reading about the resurrection story, the crucifixion, so on and so forth.
But it's also good to think about what happened immediately after the resurrection and just
kind of get some thoughts as we go through, just kind of look at the who, what, where
and when kind of approach to what took place after the resurrection and really primarily
it's about the ascension of Christ is really what we're going to be preaching about.
That's immediately what took place in the life of Christ after he was resurrected was
his ascension.
So we're going to be talking a lot about that, just some of the basics about that, but really
kind of make application about what does that mean to us.
And I think by the end, we'll see that we are benefited a great deal by the fact that
not only that Christ died for our sins and that he rose again, but even in his ascension
because of the fact that he went and sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Father,
we as New Testament believers benefit a great deal from that.
And that's why I want to preach tonight about what took place after the resurrection.
So of course, after the resurrection, you'll see there in Acts chapter 1 verse 1, the first
thing we see is that Jesus stuck around for a period of 40 days, that he was here teaching
and preaching his disciples here on earth 40 days prior to his ascension.
It says in verse 1 of Acts 1, the former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus
began both to do and to teach until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through
the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen.
Of course, this is Luke writing, he's taught that former treaty that he's referring to
is the book of Luke, and he's talking about everything from his birth all the way up to
his ascension, right?
That's what he's discussing here in that former treaty.
And he says there, verse 3, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by
many infallible proofs.
So we talked about that this morning, the proofs of the resurrection, how Jesus, the
proofs of the empty grave, the fact that he had a physical body, so on and so forth, we
talked about this morning, there were many infallible proofs that he showed himself,
that he proved himself to be alive, that he showed himself alive, being seen of them once
or twice.
No, it says he was seen of the disciples for 40 days, and in that time we read in 2 Corinthians
how it was seen up to 500 brethren at once.
So Jesus, before he ascended into heaven after having been resurrected, he was here
for 40 days and showed himself alive by many infallible proofs.
He began to do and to teach many things during that period.
Now we don't know everything that he did and everything that he taught, but we do have
an idea here from Acts that he says there he was being seen of them 40 days and speaking
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
So what was he doing here during those 40 days?
Well he was teaching and preaching about the things that pertain to what?
The kingdom of God.
So what we see here is that this 40 days wasn't just Jesus hanging out and just saying, hey,
look how cool it is that I'm alive or anything like that.
Now that was obviously an amazing thing, it's the power of God and we understand that, but
what we see is that this 40 days is actually a time of instruction for the church.
We should never underemphasize the importance of church being a place of teaching.
That's what Jesus did for 40 days.
He stayed here and he taught the things, he spoke the things that pertain to the kingdom
of God.
He was giving instructions to the church and we see here some of the things that he would
have discussed were the purpose of the church.
What was the purpose of it?
Well it was the kingdom of God.
So you see that in Acts chapter 1 verse 3, that's what he was talking about.
The things pertaining to the kingdom of God, meaning this is the church's purpose.
What is the purpose of the local New Testament church?
It's to increase the kingdom of God.
That's what we're here for.
There's a lot of things that come along with that, I understand, but we are as a body supposed
to be multiplying, to be preaching the gospel, to bringing people in, seeing people baptized,
seeing people begin to walk with the Lord, growing in the Lord, and the church is something
that is supposed to grow and it's something that is supposed to expand.
And of course we understand that the Lord, he increases.
He's the one that adds to the church such as should be saved, but we also have a part
in that, don't we?
And Jesus, again, he was taking these 40 days to instruct the church concerning the things
about the kingdom of God, concerning the kingdom of God.
So we see first of all that when he was instructing the church, he was giving them their purpose,
but he's also giving them the power.
He's saying, here's your purpose, the kingdom of God, increasing, bringing in new converts,
increasing the kingdom of God, so on and so forth, but there's also, here's how you're
going to do it, right?
He gives them the purpose and then he gives them the means by which to do it, the power,
right?
The power.
He gives them the purpose and the power and we all understand that power is the Holy Ghost.
It says in verse 4, being assembled together with them, he commended them that they should
not depart from Jerusalem.
So he teaches them the things concerning the kingdom of God and then he says you need to
stay here in Jerusalem, to not depart from here, but wait for the promise of the Father,
which sayeth he, ye have heard of me.
And we're going to talk about that in length here in a little bit, all the promises that
he made of the Holy Ghost.
For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not
many days hence.
And we understand that that took place in Acts chapter 2 with the day of Pentecost and
so on and so forth.
So again, when Jesus is here for 40 days, he's not just standing idle.
He's telling the church its purpose and he's telling them the power by which they're going
to accomplish that goal.
And that goal of course is the plan.
What is the plan for the local New Testament church?
It's the Great Commission.
Verse 8, but ye shall receive power so that you can just look really cool or you can just
brag about all the power you have.
There's a purpose behind the power that Christ gives us in Through the Holy Ghost.
Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses
unto me.
So why does God give us the power of the Holy Ghost?
It's to reach others.
To be a witness unto him both in Jerusalem and all Judea and all Samaria and in the uttermost
parts of the earth.
That is the purpose, excuse me rather, that is the plan for the church.
That is the plan for it.
That's what God intends for the local New Testament church to be.
So when you see a church that's backing off from soul winning, a church that's no longer
trying to reach out to the lost and preach the gospel to every creature, are they accomplishing
the Great Commission?
No they're not.
Are they following the plan that Christ laid out during those 40 days?
No they are not.
So the question then becomes if you're not attempting to accomplish the plan, what need
is the power?
What do you need the power for?
If you're not going to go out and preach the gospel to every creature and do that and
that takes power, that's hard work, and if you're going to do it successfully, you're
going to need wisdom and discernment, so on and so forth, you're going to need the power
of the Holy Ghost.
If you're not willing to do that, you don't need the power.
That's why, you know, you show me a church that's giving up and quitting on soul winning,
I'll show you a church that's going to have no power.
That's going to be a dead church.
You can mark it down.
That is the purpose behind giving the Holy Spirit.
So that the church would go out and accomplish the plan that Christ has given us to preach
the gospel to every creature.
So we're talking about after the resurrection, his ascension, right?
He ascended 40 days after he was here instructing the church concerning the things pertaining
to the kingdom of God, giving them instruction, telling where the power is going to come from,
so on and so forth.
I want to talk a little bit about the way he ascended, the way he ascended.
So we're just kind of, it's kind of just a scattered shotgun sermon a little bit this
morning or this evening, rather, as we're just kind of going through this and just talking
about what took place after the resurrection and just making application as we go.
So we're going to talk about the way that he ascended.
Now this is always interesting to me, and I know I've mentioned this probably once or
twice before, but every time I think about it, it's always interesting.
The way he ascended, the actual way he did it, okay?
Because Jesus, if you remember, multiple times after his resurrection, just showed
up and just disappeared in the blink of an eye, just vanished, right?
He could have done that in his ascension, but that's not how he did it.
He did it in a very particular way.
Verse nine, and when he had spoken these things while they beheld, he was taken up and a cloud
received them out of their sight.
So you get this idea that Jesus is literally ascending, just begins to just ascend up into
a cloud, and they're just watching the whole time as he goes away.
I mean, that would have been cool to see, wouldn't it?
That's quite the sight.
Now he could have just gone away, right?
Then we'll get into the why I believe he did that.
But he says there in verse 10, and while they looked up steadfastly toward heaven, as he
went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven, this same Jesus which is taken up from you
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
So this ascension into this cloud is also a reminder of his return.
And we also understand that he's going to come in the clouds, right?
In the same way, he's going to come back, he's going to appear, and he's going to descend
upon the earth.
And that is going to be a very magnificent sight that we also shall behold, whether we're
alive or dead.
You know, we missed out on this one, right, but we're going to get to see that one.
And if you ask me, this one's better, right, the one where he's coming back, because then
it means business.
And you know, it's interesting, this is all, of course, if you look at verse 12, and they
returned unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath
day's journey.
So this is where it's taking place, the Mount Olive, Olivet there.
And Zechariah chapter 14 tells us that this is a picture of his return, because this is
the exact same place that Jesus is going to come back.
And that's a place we can go to right now.
You know, this is actual geography that you could go say, this is the mount that he left
on, and this is the mount that he's coming back to.
Now when he comes back, there ain't going to be much of a mount left when he gets done
with it, because I'll read to you from Zechariah 14, verse 4, he says, and his feet shall stand
in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount
of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there
shall be a very great valley, and half of the mountain shall reroove toward the north,
and half of it toward the south.
So when Jesus comes back, this time he left, and you could never have told he was even
there.
You know, everything remained the way it was, but when he comes back, when he descends upon
the earth, according to Zechariah, you know, he's going to split the Mount Olive just into
four pieces, and there's going to be a very great valley there.
So that'll be an interesting thing to see, won't it?
But a couple other things I wanted to point out about his, the actual physical ascension
is just that, that it was bodily, it was physical.
He was, when Jesus went into heaven, you know, Jesus is not some ethereal spirit, you know,
he's not some intangible being, he has a body in heaven right now.
That's where we, he went into heaven with that resurrected body, and we understand some
things about that resurrected body.
He was able to eat, remember, he ate fish, he ate honey, he was physically handled, right,
they actually were able to touch him and feel him.
So that shows us that that is what our resurrected body will be like.
I don't want to spend a lot of time on that, I've talked about that in the past, but it
was a bodily, excuse me, a bodily ascension into heaven.
He physically went there.
So that shows us that heaven, you know, is a, there's a locality to it, it's a physical
place, and that's where Jesus is right now.
Again, it was showing us, he went up there personally, you know, he showed himself, it
was visible because of the fact that he was showing the manner in which he would also
return, right.
Now again, going back to the fact that he didn't just disappear from their sight, but
that he actually took the time to ascend, right.
And as he ascended, the Bible tells us that that's when he gave the Great Commission,
as he went up, his parting words were, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature.
He's giving the Great Commission at the same moment as he's ascending up out of, from
the Mount Olives.
And that should, that's very significant, because it's his parting words to his church.
What are the last things he tells his church to do, what is the last thing he tells us
to do?
Go preach the gospel to every creature.
That's the most, and that tells me that's what he wants done more than anything else.
That's the, that should be the focus of every New Testament church, is reaching a loss,
because that is the last thing he said.
And it wasn't just, you know, something he just said in passing.
He's saying this as he's ascending into heaven.
You know, and if I, if you want to get somebody's attention, that's one way to do it.
Start to levitate up into a cloud.
You know, I don't care what you say.
If you start floating, you've got my attention.
I mean, you could recite a recipe for brownies, I'll know it by heart.
You know, you could just start quoting random facts about, you know, 18th century French
literature.
You know, I'd probably, but I'd be hanging on every single word.
If you started to float, you know, sometimes I wish I could do that, you know, get some
people to snap out of it a little bit out there and start to, hey, you know, just kidding.
But I believe that's the purpose of the ascension.
The reason why he did it the way that he did is because he's putting emphasis on his parting
words.
Go preach the gospel.
Go preach the gospel, right?
And that's just something that we can never lose sight of.
And the tendency is that people do.
In our personal lives, churches as a whole lose sight of this, and it is the thrust of
the New Testament church.
It is the main purpose of the New Testament church is to preach the gospel.
And unfortunately, it's what often gets neglected.
So we see, first of all, just looking at after the resurrection, the 40 days of instruction,
the actual way in which he ascended.
And also, let's talk about tonight the significance of the ascension.
Why is it a significant thing?
I mean, the Bible spends some time to tell us about it.
It could have just said he was there 40 days and then he went to heaven.
You know, it could have been very brief, but he spent some time telling us what he was
doing, what his last words were, the way in which he went, and so on and so forth.
So there is some significance here to the ascension.
What is it?
Well, let's just think about it.
1.
It showed us that the atonement was complete.
The atonement was complete.
If you would, go over to John 16.
Remember, Jesus said that his meat was to do the will of God.
That he was here to accomplish the work that God had given him to do.
And you say, well, he said it was finished on the cross.
Yeah, that part of it was done, right?
But he still had to go suffer in hell.
He still had to be resurrected.
He still had that work to do.
And he still had to ascend.
He had to do all of these things in order for us to be saved and in order to atone for
our sin.
And the fact that he ascended into heaven and left earth and left us with that commission
and went into a cloud and was received of the Father.
The Bible says, we'll see you in a minute, that he sat down on the right hand of the
throne of God.
The fact that God didn't say, well, you're not done, you know, and push him back down
and say you got more to do.
That shows us that the work of Christ was complete.
That's the significance of the ascension.
That he left this earth, meaning he came here to do what he came here to do and he did it
and it's all done.
Everything is finished.
So it shows us that the atonement was complete, but not only that, the significance of the
ascension is the fact that now that Jesus has left, his earthly ministry is over.
Now the ministry of the Holy Ghost has begun.
And that's the ministry that you and I, as New Testament believers, are a part of.
We are taking part in that, the ministry of the Holy Ghost.
That's who ministers to us today, is the Holy Ghost.
Through his word, through preaching, through prayer, so on and so forth.
He ministers to us.
The Bible says, you're in John 16, but it says in John 7, in the last day, that great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirsts, let him come unto
me and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water.
But this he spake of the Spirit, which they that should believe on him should receive.
For the Holy Ghost was not yet given.
And why was it not yet given?
Because Jesus was not yet glorified.
So the ministry of the Holy Ghost could not begin until the earthly ministry of Jesus
Christ had come to an end.
That is the significance, or at least one aspect of it, of the significance of the ascension
of Christ.
Is that his ministry ends, the ministry of the Holy Ghost moves in.
And it's quite the ministry.
As you know, you heard me read there, he's saying, you know, if we thirst, we believe
out of us shall flow, out of our belly shall flow rivers of living water.
And this he spake of the Spirit, that they which should believe on him should receive.
Meaning this, that when we get saved and we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
we then also become a source of life.
Right?
I mean, that's what the likeness of water.
You have to have water in order to survive, right?
We give that water that if we drink of it, we shall never thirst again.
We become that spring of that living water through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
Meaning this, that we can go out and bring life to other people.
To no end.
And that is something that is part of that ministry of the Holy Ghost, that indwelling
of the Spirit.
It's not just for our own personal satisfaction so that we can just feel spiritually refreshed
and spiritually secured and understand that we're saved.
No, so that we also out of our own belly can spring, out of us shall flow rivers of living
water.
That is Christ's intention for us as believers, that we ourselves would become a spring of
living water.
Bringing that life to others, and that's the picture there that he's painting.
That's the picture that he's putting out there.
But none of that begins until what?
Until Jesus is glorified, until his earthly ministry begins, so we see the significance
of the ascension.
Look at John 16 where you are in verse 7.
He said, nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away.
It's proper, it's fitting, it's good, it's expedient.
He didn't say it was a bad thing, he didn't say it was a sad thing, he's saying it's a
good thing, it's expedient.
It's good for you 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.
So he's saying, hey, it's a good thing for me to go because if I go, then the Comforter,
which is another name of the Holy Ghost, will come unto you.
And when he is come, he will approve the world of sin and of righteousness and judgment.
Now how does he do that?
Does the Holy Ghost come to people?
Now I do believe the Holy Ghost ministers to lost people to some degree.
And he will speak to them or not in an audible voice, don't get me wrong, but he will cause
them to think about maybe eternal things, cause things to happen in their life in order
to prepare them for the gospel to be preached to them, right?
I believe that.
But primarily, it says here that when this Comforter is come, that he is going to approve
the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
Now how is he going to do that?
What's the main way in which he's going to do that?
It's through me and you.
I mean, isn't that when we preach, when we go there, when we go to the door, when we
talk to somebody, when we open up the scripture and begin to show them from the word of God,
what is the first thing we show them?
That they're a sinner.
That's where you gotta start.
Hey, you're lost.
You know, there's none good, no, not one.
For all of sin comes short of the glory of God.
He reproves these people through us.
He approves them of sin and of righteousness.
Hey, but you could have the righteousness of Christ and of judgment.
And if you don't, you're gonna get judged.
You're a sinner.
You need the righteousness because the judgment is coming.
This is the ministry of the Holy Ghost.
He accomplishes us through us.
So you can see how significant the ascension is.
Because Jesus specifically said, if I don't go, the Comforter isn't going to come.
But if I go, I will send him unto you.
He said in verse 12, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit, verse 13, howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth.
For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.
And he will show you things to come.
He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is a very real ministry.
And I think a lot of us as Christians don't fully grasp how real it is and just how deep
it really can be.
I mean, this is a pretty significant passage of what he's saying here.
He says, when the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth.
And people so often have so many questions, don't they?
And I'm not saying it's wrong to do this.
Of course we should be able to turn to other Christians that have learned, you know, preachers,
so on and so forth.
We should learn from those sources.
But one thing I always try to remind people is that there's no need that any man should
teach you.
Because you have the same anointing that teaches you of all things, the anointing of the Holy
Ghost.
There's nothing you can't learn on your own.
There's nothing you can't learn here that you can't learn on your own.
Did I say that right?
I think I did, right?
Look, everything that I could possibly teach you from this pulpit, you could learn on your
own through the ministry of the Holy Ghost.
You know, the purpose of preaching is to accelerate that growth, to, you know, and honestly, it's
just repeating a lot of the things I've already been taught through preaching.
It's just passing it on and passing it on and passing it on to accelerate that growth.
But hypothetically, you know, I don't want to downplay the importance of preaching or
the preaching or the importance of church, it might, because it's just going to prolong
the process.
Well, I got the Holy Spirit, I don't need the church, you know, well, it might take
you a long time to figure out all those things that, you know, we otherwise could, right?
But hypothetically, you could, because the Spirit is going to guide you into all truth.
For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.
And he will show you things to come, right?
Now, obviously a lot of this, I believe, is very specific to the disciples and the apostles.
They were given certain understanding, you know, John had revelations and so on and so
forth like that.
So we can see, again, the significance, and this is all going back to, you know, why are
we talking about the ascension of Christ?
Yeah, I get it, it's cool, he went up in the cloud, yeah, but there's a lot of significance
behind that, because without him having ascended, we would not have this ministry.
That's what Jesus said, that if he didn't go, the comforter would not come.
Go to John chapter 14, John chapter 14, he says, I'll begin reading in John 14 verse
15, if you love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give
you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him.
Look, we receive something when Jesus ascended into heaven and sent the comforter to us,
the Holy Ghost, we receive something, it's impossible for the world to receive.
They cannot receive it.
They can't partake in that ministry, because they're not saved.
Now if they get saved, obviously, you know, they are, get to partake in that ministry,
but that's what he's saying here, that's how special this ministry is, the ministry of
the Holy Ghost.
He's saying, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth in you and shall be in you.
These are all things that were going to happen after Jesus ascended.
Look at verse 25, these things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you, but
the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said
unto you.
Again, going back to what he said in John 16, that he shall not speak of himself, but
that which he, he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak.
And what is it when he was going to speak?
He was going to remind them of the things that Christ had said, he was going to bring
those things to remembrance.
He does the same thing for us now.
That's a very real ministry.
If we're reading the Bible, if we're memorizing scripture, if we're meditating on the word
of God, and those things are taking root in our heart, as the psalmist said, thy word
have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee, wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
If we allow the word of Christ to dwell richly in us, that's what the Holy Spirit's going
to work with.
And people get way, way, way out of line with the ministry of the Holy Ghost.
They take a lot of liberty with it, and say some things that are just downright false.
And people get all kinds of mixed up.
They start thinking that the Holy Ghost, that their inner monologue is the Holy Ghost.
No, your inner monologue is your inner monologue, okay?
That's all it is, right?
That voice that talks to yourself in your head, I know not everybody has this, I guess,
but I thought everybody had it, but I saw a video or something where there's some people
that don't.
I don't know what it means or anything like that, but all I'm saying is this, is that
that inner monologue is not the Holy Ghost, okay?
And you say, well, who would believe that it's out there?
Believe me, it's out there.
And you'll hear preachers all the time, oh, God told me.
God told me to do this.
I was in prayer, and the Holy Spirit came, and he told me, and they'll quote verbatim
the Lord.
God said to me, you know, and to me, it just smacks of just this hyper-spirituality of
trying to, well, God speaks to me.
Has he not spoken to you?
What's the matter with you?
Maybe you're just not as holy as I am.
Maybe you're just not as close with the Lord as I am.
Or maybe you're suffering from delusions of religious grandeur a little bit.
You know, maybe there's a little bit of psychosis going on there.
Maybe you don't understand the ministry of the Holy Ghost that he brings to remembrance
those things which Christ has said unto us.
Now if you're in some situation, maybe you're trying to resist some sin, or you're trying
to make some decision, and some scripture comes to mind, and a verse, and you're thinking
about a Bible verse, yeah, that's the Holy Ghost.
That's him bringing to remembrance the things which Christ has commanded us.
That is the ministry of the Holy Ghost.
But him saying, you know, move to this city, buy this bus, marry this person, that's not
him, okay?
That's not how that works.
And that's important to understand, because people that think that that's the way it is,
because here's the thing, people get all kind of confused about this.
They think, oh, the Holy Spirit's supposed to speak to me like that?
And then it doesn't happen.
And then the Holy Spirit doesn't, because that's not how it works.
But they think, oh, that is how it's supposed to work.
The Holy Spirit's supposed to speak to me like that.
And then when that doesn't happen, that person feels like dirt.
They go, well, I must not be that spiritual.
I just must not be that important, because God doesn't talk to me like that guy says
he talks to him.
No, it's just that that guy is up on a high horse.
That guy has got it wrong, and it's nothing wrong with you, okay?
That's how that works.
That's worth bringing up, because it is out there.
But we see here that because of the significant of the ascension is the fact that because
Christ left, we've received the ministry of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
And just from these few passages, these two passages here, we see that we benefit a great
deal from this ministry.
Now whether or not we take advantage of it, that's up to us.
But there is a huge benefit to the New Testament believer that is available to the New Testament
believer.
This benefit is there waiting for us in the Holy Ghost if we want to take advantage of
it.
I mean, he's going to guide and lead us into all truth.
He's not going to not let our hearts be troubled.
He's going to bring to remembrance those things which he has spoken to us, so on and so forth.
Great ministry.
So let's talk a little bit more about the ascension.
We talked about the time leading up to it, the 40 days.
We talked about the actual ascension itself, how it physically happened, right?
The significance of that.
We saw the significance of the ascension and the fact that it showed the atonement was
complete and we see that because Christ left, the ministry of the Holy Ghost began.
But let's talk about right after the ascension.
What happened?
When Jesus went up into a cloud, then what?
What did Jesus do after that?
Well, he is, where is he presently?
Go over to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10 and stay in Hebrews 10.
We're going to flip around Hebrews 10 a little bit here towards the end.
But in Hebrews chapter 10, we see first of all that Jesus took a seat and he went up
there and sat down in heaven.
You see that Hebrews chapter 10, if you're there, I'll let you get over there, Hebrews
chapter 10.
In verse 12 it says, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
there's a great verse for your Catholic friends, right?
One sacrifice forever, not a sacrifice every time you go and take communion or Eucharist.
It's one sacrifice.
He sat down.
What happened after he made that sacrifice, descended into heaven?
He sat down on the right hand of God.
And again, this is a great picture of the fact that he sat down.
We all understand that after a hard day's work, there's nothing better than sitting
down, right?
Maybe even going full horizontal.
We might even go a little bit further than sitting, go right to lay.
But he sat down, right?
After you finish a hard day work, you go and you sit down at the dinner table.
You enjoy a meal.
You sit down on the couch.
That's a showing, and I believe that's what the Bible is kind of showing us here.
The fact that it's mentioning that not only did he go to the Father, but that he sat
down.
He took a seat showing that, what, the redemption was finished.
The work was complete.
He made one sacrifice for sins and then sat down because everything he needed to do was
done.
He sat down showing the redemption had been finished.
But notice where he sat.
It says there that he sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth expecting his
enemies till his enemies be made his footstool.
So it says he's seated at the right hand of the Father.
It doesn't say he was seated by himself.
He sat down next to himself, okay?
For anyone in there who's struggling with oneness.
Hopefully I suspect nobody, right?
But that's significant.
A lot of scripture makes sense when you come to it from the understanding of the Trinity.
What do you mean he sat down next to the right hand of God?
I thought he was God.
Yeah, but God is a Trinity.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, and he's three or one.
So he sat at the right hand of the Father.
And he doesn't just take a seat to enjoy the view.
This goes back to the ascension again.
He shall come as he went, he shall come in like manner to the same physical location
in the same way.
He's going to descend upon the earth.
He sat down at the right hand of God doing what?
From henceforth, verse 13, from that time forward expecting until his enemies be made
his footstool.
So Jesus isn't just up there wondering what's going to happen next.
He's biding his time at the right hand of the throne of the Father, his Father's throne.
He has sat down waiting until his enemies become his footstool, until he comes back
and touches down once again upon the Mount of Olives and begins to rule and reign upon
the earth.
That's what he's expecting, right?
To rule as king of the earth, the millennial reign, which is a literal something that's
actually going to happen.
It's coming.
He's expecting to rule as king of the earth upon the throne of David.
Notice he didn't go sit at his own throne.
That throne, he hasn't gotten that throne yet.
He sat down at the right hand of the Father, and we'll see why he's there next to the Father
in a minute, but the other point to make here where what's worth pointing out is the fact
that he's not yet going to rule and reign.
He's expecting to rule and reign.
He's going to get his own throne eventually.
And I'll read to you just a few passages.
Go to Hebrews chapter 7.
So Jesus has sat down at the right hand of the Father expecting his enemies to be made
as footstool, waiting to rule and reign upon the earth.
And that's what we saw at his birth.
Luke chapter 1 verse 31, he says, And behold, thou shalt conceive in thine womb, and bring
forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus, and he shall be great, and shall be called
son of the highest.
And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
So Jesus was promised, it was prophesied that one day he would take the throne of David
his father.
That hasn't happened yet.
Yes, he sat down on a throne, but it's not his own throne.
He sat down at the throne of the Father.
That's why he said in Revelation 3, To him that overcometh will I grant him to sit with
me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my father in his throne.
So currently Jesus is set down with his father in his throne, but we that overcome, and who
is he that overcometh but he that believeth, right?
That's how we overcome the world, our faith, right?
Jesus is set down with his father in his throne, but we that overcome one day will sit down
with Jesus in his throne.
There's two thrones, okay?
One is not occupied right now.
It's coming.
Because that purpose of that throne is for Jesus to rule and reign on the earth, okay?
That's why it's called the throne of his father David, and that's why the promise that was
made to David that there would be, he would have an heir always upon the throne.
That was the promise that was made to him, and that's going to be fulfilled in Christ.
And again, this is showing us the fact that he sat down at the right hand of the father.
This is showing us that it is a physical action to sit down, right?
It is in a physical place.
Again, showing us he is in a physical body, and that that body is different from his pre-incarnate
body.
When he was born of the virgin, that body was different than the one that he has now.
His body is not like our body, nevertheless it is a body.
And we know that when we shall see him, we shall be as he is.
That is something we also will inherit.
That's another point we can learn from this.
But the significance of the fact that he is sat down at the right hand of the father,
because again, we're talking about after the resurrection, the ascension.
What is so significant about it besides all the things that we've talked about?
The fact that we received the Holy Ghost, the ministry of the Holy Ghost.
And what's significant is that where he went and what he did when he ascended, he went
to the father and sat down at his right hand.
Is that just because that was the only seat available?
Or is there something significant behind that?
There's something very significant about that.
You see, Jesus is not in heaven, you know, twiddling his thumbs.
He's not passive in heaven.
We see several things that Jesus does for us from that seat.
That's a very good spot to have somebody.
You want to talk about having somebody, a friend in high places, that's a good one.
You can't do any better than Jesus at the right hand of the father.
The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 7, look at verse 25.
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
that he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Why is he able to save us to the uttermost?
Not just through salvation, but to save us from temptations and trials and so on and
so forth.
Why is he able to do that?
Because he ever liveth to make intercession for us.
That is something that is granted to us because of the fact that Jesus is sat down at the
right hand of the father.
That's the purpose behind it.
I mean, he could have sat anywhere, but he sat at the right hand of the father for that
purpose to ever live, to make intercession for us.
That's one of the things that Jesus is doing in heaven.
So now we can start to see the significance of the ascension.
This last week, people talk a lot about his death and burial, very significant obviously.
People want to talk a lot about his resurrection, also very significant, but let's not forget
about his ascension either because there's a lot of significance behind it.
One of those things is the fact that Jesus is not up there passive in heaven, but that
he is making intercession for us.
By us, I mean every single one of us.
If you're born again, if you're saved, if you're a child of God, Jesus is sitting at
the right hand of the father willing to make intercession for you.
I don't know about you, but that's a pretty big deal.
He's making intercession for us and you say, well, why do I need that?
Because he's our advocate.
We need him there, folks.
We need him there.
Because we have an accuser.
We understand in Revelation chapter 12, if you want to go over to Hebrews chapter 12,
go to Hebrews 12, the Bible says in Revelation 12, and I heard a loud voice saying in heaven
now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, talking about Satan, which accused them before
our God day and night.
The Bible tells us that we have an accuser that accuses the brethren before the throne
of God day and night.
That's why we need Jesus where he is.
That's why he said it is expedient that I go.
You need me in heaven.
You need me at the right hand of the throne of the father for several reasons.
And one of them is because of the fact that we have an accuser.
Because when you got saved, you didn't stop sinning.
Now you might have through the power of the Holy Ghost and through godly living managed
to clean up your life, but you're not perfect and you never will be this side of heaven.
And the devil's going to love to just remind, try to remind God of that.
Oh, that child of God of yours, you see what they did, what they said, so on and so forth.
He's accusing us, but we have an advocate.
Jesus defends us, right?
He said in 1 John 2, my little children, these things write I unto you that you sin not.
So is it God's will that we don't sin?
Yeah.
And if any man sin, meaning I'd rather you didn't, but I know you're going to because
you still have the old man.
And if any man sin, it's all over for him.
That's too bad.
He's going to have to, he's got it coming, right?
Now I'm not saying there aren't consequences.
There's always consequences, right?
We understand that.
But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
You know, that's the significance of the ascension.
Not just how it was done, when it was done, but where Jesus went.
And where he went was the right hand of the father and the purpose behind that is so that
you and I can have an advocate with the father.
So that when Satan, when the accuser of the brethren came before, comes before God's throne
and says, oh, your child down there did this, this and that, Jesus can just say, he's under
the blood.
Yeah, that one he believes.
And God looks over and says, all I see is the blood.
I don't know what you're talking about, devil.
All I see is the blood of my precious son on him.
All I see is another child of God.
All I see is somebody whose sins I've separated as far as the east is from the west.
I don't know what you're talking about.
That's a very significant aspect of the ascension of Christ, that he is there advocating for
us.
What is an advocate?
It's a lawyer.
He's up there saying, not guilty.
The devil's saying, guilty, guilty, guilty.
And from this side of things, we would say, yeah, he's right, guilty.
But the advocate is there saying, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty.
I died for that sin.
I died for that.
Everything the devil tries to throw and make stick, died for it.
It's all under the blood.
Jesus is there defending us.
We have an advocate.
You're there in Hebrews chapter 12, look at verse 22.
But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels.
And I can't wait to go.
I'm just like, let's get it going, right?
To the general assembly and the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things
than that of Abel.
That's what we have in heaven, Jesus, and the sprinkling of his blood that speaks better
things than that of Abel.
That blood up there, that is our advocate.
It is what cleanses us completely.
And you know, I understand we're still gonna make mistakes, we're still gonna sin, and
there's still sins that, you know, there's sonship, right?
There's being a son or a daughter, a child of God, that's something that can never be
broken.
Once we believe on Christ, we're born again, right?
That's eternal, just as that's why he uses that analogy of a new birth, it's a permanent
thing one time.
We understand that, but the fellowship can get broken, can't it?
Just like here on earth.
I mean, can't a human relationship between a parent and a child become strained on earth?
Happens all the time.
Parents and children stop talking to each other, you know?
And the relationships go bad, right?
Because of sin or somebody does something wrong, you know, and in the same way that
could still happen to us with the Father.
You know, he is our Father, we'll always be his child, but he might not always be pleased
with us.
And maybe he isn't going to do the things that we want him to do or help us in the way
that we need to help us or so on and so forth.
Maybe the Holy Spirit isn't going to come and bring to remembrance those things.
Maybe we, you know, the Bible does say we can quench the Spirit, that we can grieve
him in our lives.
We'll always be sealed, but we won't always have the filling of it, if that makes sense.
So the significance of that is that we have an advocate there, Jesus Christ, and his blood,
the cleansing, the new covenant, the blood of sprinkling, is there to offer what?
A continual cleansing, a continual cleansing.
It's always there, it's available.
It says in 1 John 1, go to Hebrews 4, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
You know, we need to take advantage of that.
You know, if we've gotten sin in our life, you know, we need to take advantage of this.
We need to confess our sins, because why?
Because he is faithful and just to do what?
To forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
You know, Jesus is still there, an advocate at the right hand of the Father, and when
we get our source with God, he's there to make things right again, right?
So these are the things that Jesus does while he's in heaven.
This is what makes the ascension so significant, that's why we're talking about it tonight.
He makes intercession, he's our advocate, he offers continual cleansing.
Not only that, but he fellowships with us.
The Bible says in 1 John 1, that which we have seen and heard declare unto you, that
ye also may have fellowship with us.
And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
So John is saying that we write these things so that you can have fellowship with us, and
our fellowship is with the Father, and with Jesus Christ.
So we also have that opportunity to have that fellowship even now.
Now obviously you can't physically be there, but I don't care where you are.
If a person, a saved believer gets down and prays to God in heaven, God hears them.
When he opens up, when one of God's children opens up the Bible and reads it, God speaks
to them.
That's what fellowship is.
It's communicating, isn't it?
It's communing, spending time with one another, that's fellowship.
You know we still have that, every one of us has that if we're saved, we have the opportunity
to pray God and to be heard of God, to be heard of the Father and to have him speak
to us through the ministry of the Holy Ghost, through the ministry of his word.
We have that fellowship, why?
Because Jesus ascended and is at the right hand of the Father.
You say, well I don't know, I mean the throne of, God's throne, you're telling me I can
go there?
That's exactly what the Bible says.
In fact, the Bible tells us to go there.
Jesus said in John 16, and in that day ye shall ask me nothing, verily, verily I say
unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you, hitherto
have ye asked nothing in my name, ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
I mean there's no, you want to talk about some joy in the Christian life is watching
God answer prayers.
Having a need, having something that you need God to do for you, you pray that, you bring
it to his throne and you ask him about it and then God answers and God moves.
And then you go, God's on my side.
That's some joy.
I mean that's something we should get excited about folks.
That's something that we should take advantage of.
Jesus is there at the right hand of the Father, he ascended there to provide us access to
the throne of the Father.
Look at Hebrews chapter 4 where you are.
Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed
into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
What's he saying?
He's saying Jesus knows what we go through and he knows what it's like to be in this
body.
He was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin the Bible says.
He knows what it's like to be weary.
I mean when he talked to the woman in the well, you know, it says he was wearied and
he sat down on the well being wearied.
He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, he's gone through the things
that we go through.
I mean Jesus wept, right?
He's not somebody who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
But as with all points, tempted like as we are yet without sin.
So you know, what does that mean to us?
What does it mean to us that we have a high priest in heaven, Jesus the Son of God, who
can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities?
What is the significance of that to me and you?
Verse 16, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need.
I mean that's significant, that's the significance of the ascension.
And I love verse 16, it says let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.
Come boldly.
I mean you want, I mean you couldn't just burst into any throne room back in the day.
I mean not everybody just got to walk right in and have access to the king.
Just throw the doors open, hey, I got to talk to you.
Got a minute king?
Some things I need.
But that's what he's telling us here.
Come boldly into the throne because we're his child, because we have a high priest in
Jesus Christ, we have an advocate with the Father, we have a way to the throne.
We can go there boldly and we can do what?
Obtain mercy.
I don't know about you but I sure need that every day.
Forgive me Lord, I'm sorry God, I don't know why I said that, I don't know why I did that,
I don't know why I thought that, forgive me.
I mean folks it's happened so much it's just natural.
It just flows.
Forgive me, I need mercy and I need grace, Lord I know I don't deserve it.
But I need, I feel like I need this.
And it's there and we can have it.
Why?
Because Christ ascended.
That's the significance.
I want to look at one last passage tonight if you go to John 14, John 14.
You see all these things that we've been talking about here at the end is that these are things
that are available to us right now.
You know we can go, right now Jesus is making intercession for us, right now he's defending
us against the accuser of the brethren.
Right now he offers us continual cleansing, we can get our hearts right right now.
Right now he fellowships with us, it's available, we can read, we can pray, we can commune with
Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Right now he provides us access to the throne of the Father, we can go boldly before the
throne of grace and find help and mercy and time and need.
But last, those are things that happen now, but there's one thing that Jesus does for
us that is yet to come, and that is the fact that he is preparing a place for us.
I mean I like what we got now, but what's to come, this last bit, is just icing on the
cake.
I mean don't you think it's pretty good, everything that we've got so far in Jesus, all these
things that are available to us because of the fact that he ascended and sat down on
the right hand of the throne of God?
I mean if that was it, that's more than any of us deserve and I'm happy with that.
So then Jesus says, well let me just put some icing on the cake for you, right, in
John chapter 14 verse 1.
He says, let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you.
See I'm not pulling your leg, I'm not yanking your chain, there's literal mansions up there
in his Father's house.
I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself
that where I am, there ye may be also.
Look, we've got a lot of, we benefit a great deal from the fact that Jesus ascended, you
know the significance of the ascension, it means a lot to us.
And this last little bit here is just icing on the cake, it's just the gravy, right.
Not only do we get all this now, but then we get to have a literal mansion in heaven?
How else do you interpret that?
He's being figurative.
If it were not so, I would have told you.
He's saying, no, there are many mansions, right, and we read in Revelation about the
New Jerusalem, it gives the dimensions, you know, I think it's been a while, but I believe
it's about 1300 miles square on each side.
It's huge.
It's almost from here to Michigan, where I'm from.
That's one side, and it's four square.
It's as tall as it is wide as it is long, right, 1300 miles approximately.
Like I said, it's been a minute, I might be wrong about that.
Point being, it's big.
I mean, think about all the people that have gotten saved throughout all the ages, and
every single one of them gets a mansion.
I mean, I'm feeling pretty blessed to just be in the home we just got, but I mean, it's
a doghouse up there compared to what's up there.
It's just wood, stucco, and it's not a mansion, folks.
To us it is.
It might as well be the Taj Mahal, because it's just, you know, compared to what we've
been in the past, we're really loving it.
But up there, I mean, we can't even begin to comprehend what it's going to be like that
every one of us is going to have one of these mansions.
It's really something.
You know, the significance of the ascension is that we benefit a lot from it.
We benefit from the fact that Jesus Christ ascended to heaven.
We benefit because it shows us that the atonement is complete.
Everything that needed to be done is done.
It shows us that, you know, we have the ministry of the Holy Ghost.
Because of the fact that He is gone, the ministry of the Holy Ghost and all the benefits that
come with that is available to us now.
And it shows us all the things that we have there, the cleansing, the intercession, the
advocate, the fellowship, the things that are yet to come.
We benefit a great deal from the fact that Jesus ascended, don't we?
The question tonight is this, are we taking advantage of it?
Are you taking advantage of it as a Christian?
Or are we just leaving it in the corner, is it gathering dust, is it something that we
just go through life and ignore?
You know, we'd say, well who would do that?
It would probably surprise us how often that happens in the Christian's life.
That we don't take advantage of the advocate in heaven.
We don't take advantage of the intercession.
We don't take advantage of the fellowship.
All these things that are available to us, are we taking advantage to them?
That's why He ascended.
That's why He went up there.
That's the significance of it.
Let's do something with it.
Let's take advantage of it.
Let's pray.