Sunday’s Sermons

Text: Various                                                                    8/3/08 p.m.

Thesis: Jesus’ ascension and return are displays of his supremacy.

 

Intro: Tonight we look at this phrase from the Apostles’ Creed, I believe Jesus “ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”

We’ll tackle these three truths. First, after Jesus’ resurrection and 40 days of teaching he went to be in the very presence of God.

Second, Jesus sits in the seat of honor and authority in the presence of God. He sits at the Father’s right hand.

And third, Jesus is coming back to judge the living and the dead.

That is admittedly a great deal of soul satisfying truth so what I intend to do for each of these is give the biblical testimony and personal application for each.

 

Read the Apostles’ Creed

 

I) Jesus ascended into heaven

a)      The biblical testimony is that heaven is a place

i)        Here’s a little trivia. Who is Yuri Gagarin?

ii)      Gagarin is the first man to enter space. Yuri Gagarin was a Russian cosmonaut. It is reported that he said to ground control, “I don’t see God up here.”

iii)    But it appears this is not the case. The statement seems to have come from a speech by Nikita Khrushchev concerning anti-religious propaganda in which Khrushchev said, “Gagarin flew into space, but didn’t see any God there.”[1]

iv)    Is heaven a place where we could go if we flew far enough and fast enough in a rocket ship?

v)      Luke 24:50-51 (Acts 1:9-11)

vi)    From this passage and Acts 1:9-11 it is right to affirm heaven as a place and it is appropriate to talk about heaven being above us.

vii)  Revelation 21:2 tells us that the New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven from God.

viii)            Since heaven is a place where is it?

b)      The bible tells us that there is an unseen spiritual world or realm all around us

i)        Read 2 Kings 6:15-17

ii)      Angels and demons are potentially all around us yet we cannot see them unless they are revealed to us.

iii)    They influence this physical world while being themselves spiritual.

iv)    Scripture testifies that the physical and the spiritual are related to each other and influence each other. These are not two disconnected or incompatible realms.

v)      Before Stephen died Acts 7:55&56 tell us,

But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

vi)    Was Stephen transported to heaven? I think it is better to say that Stephen was allowed to see what was there all the time.

vii)  Heaven is certainly a spiritual place but it is definitely a place.

viii)            Jesus said in John 14:2-3

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

ix)    There is work being done on this place, Jesus is currently working in this place, and one day Jesus will return and take us to this place.

x)      After the resurrection of Christ and his 40 day ministry on this earth he ascended into heaven.

xi)    His real person in a real body went to a real place. Is the God-man different from us in his humanity; in his person?

xii)  Yes, he is no longer subject to pain, temptation, sadness, or decay.

xiii)            Is Jesus’ body different from our bodies?

xiv)            Yes, he’s able to stand among a group of men who were inside a locked room (John 20:26). Yet he ate bread and fish (John 21:13-15).

xv)  His body is different from ours but his body being different from ours’ doesn’t make it not real.

xvi)            Is heaven a real place? Absolutely. We’ve already read about eye witness accounts of heaven as well as the biblical testimony that heaven is where Jesus is right now.

c)      The personal application of the ascension is hope

i)        Our church-wide memory verse, Colossians 1:13-20, tells us in verse 17 that Jesus “is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.”

ii)      1 Corinthians 15:20 says

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

iii)    What happened to Christ, what he has become, and where he has gone is true for every believer.

iv)    1 John 3:2-3 says

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. ³ And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

v)      Jesus’ ascension, the testimony that he has a different body free from pain, temptation, sadness, or decay is true also for everyone who is in Christ.

vi)    We will be like him and we will be with him and this is true for all of eternity.

vii)  What is different about Christ’s ascension and our state at his return is Christ’s seat of honor in heaven.

II) Jesus sits at the Father’s right hand

a)      The bible testifies that Jesus’ seat is a seat of honor and authority

i)        Jesus prayed in John 17:5,

Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed

ii)      Jesus was longing for the honor and authority that are rightfully is as creator of all things.

iii)    You see when Jesus came to this earth, when the incarnation happened, there was a humbling that happened as well.

iv)    Not that Jesus was prideful and needed to be knocked down a notch or two.

v)      The great God willing took on human flesh. This was a humbling thing to do for the creator of all human flesh.

vi)    This was a humbling thing to do for the One who didn’t need to take on flesh (Philippians 2:6&7).

vii)  Jesus longed for, prayed for, died for, and ascended to the glorious position which he rightfully held from eternity past.

viii)            Peter testified to the right hand of the Father being a place of honor when he said in Acts 2:32&33

This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. ³³ Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

ix)    The right hand of God is a place of exaltation. It is the highest honor to sit at the right hand of God.

x)      James and John knew this so they asked Jesus to sit at his right and left hands in his coming glory and all the disciples got ticked off because they didn’t ask first (Mark 10:37).

xi)    That Jesus has a name that is above every name is displayed by the fact that he has a seat of honor that is above every seat of honor (Philippians 2:9)

xii)  Read Ephesians 1:16-23

xiii)            Jesus’ seat is a seat of honor over every name and Jesus’ seat is a seat of authority or power.

xiv)            At the right hand of God Jesus is above all rule and authority and dominion and power.

xv)  Jesus is the unstoppable unbeatable King of kings and Lord of Lords. His position at the right hand of God proves his power (1 Peter 3:22).

b)      The personal application of Christ’s seat at the Father’s right hand is purification and authority

i)        Hebrews 1:3& 4 says

[The Son] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

ii)      After making purification for sins, Jesus sat down at the right and of the Majesty on high.

iii)    Jesus is done purifying your sins. It’s not that now you have to do your part. The purification for your sins is finished (John 19:30).

iv)    How do you know your sins are forgiven? It is neither first nor foremost because you feel forgiven.

v)      We know we are forgiven of the most grievous or respectable of sins because Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.

vi)    I am completely and eternally forgiven. How do I know? Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father.

vii)  I am also now in a position of authority.

viii)            Ephesians 2:4-5 says

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

ix)    We have joined to Christ so we share in his honor and authority.

x)      2 Corinthians 10:4-6 says

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, ⁶ being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

xi)    Because we have been given power and authority in Christ we stand up for what is true.

xii)  We battle “against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12)

xiii)            Those Christians who are going after souls and standing against what is false are those Christians who are enjoying the blessings of Christ’s seat of authority at God’s right hand.

xiv)            This is for all of us right now.

xv)  And in the age to come, Revelation 2:26-27 says

The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, ²⁷ and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.

xvi)            This pushes us into the realm of Jesus’ 2^nd coming

III) Jesus will return to this earth to judge

a)      The biblical testimony is that Jesus is coming again

i)        We saw that in John 14:3 where Jesus said if I go prepare a place for you I will come back again.

ii)      Jesus said in Matthew 25:31&32

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

iii)    Jesus will come and he will come in glory

iv)    At the ascension in Acts 1:11 the angel said,

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

v)      Jesus went up in glory and he will return in glory. I believe the cloud that Jesus was taken up into was the cloud of God’s glory.

vi)    It wasn’t just a grouping of water vapor but the shining of God’s eternal and glorious perfection.

vii)  Concerning his 2^nd coming Jesus said in Matthew 24:30&31

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

b)      The personal application of Jesus’ second coming is hope

i)        Read 1^st Peter 1:3-7

ii)      Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ God causes us to be born again to a living hope.

iii)    Where Jesus has now ascended, the place of the inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, is the very presence of God.

iv)    He is in heaven. This inheritance, being made like Christ and being with Christ, is the promise of God kept in heaven. Jesus is now kept in heaven.

v)      Through the gift of faith we are being guarded for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

vi)    God gives us faith in Christ to keep us in Christ while we wait for the coming of Christ which is our salvation.

vii)  This is our hope. In this we rejoice even when life stinks, even when we are grieved by various trials.

viii)            The craving to see and be with Christ. The desire for eternal salvation drives us to endure even the testing of our faith.

ix)    At the coming of Christ there will be praise and glory and honor not to us but to Christ.

x)      Hope in God.  He who neither slumbers nor sleeps watches over you.

xi)    In his love God sent his Son. The son was kept by God through the requirements of the law, the temptations to sin, the pain of torture, the agony of separation, and even death.

xii)  The Son was raised to new life, ascended to heaven, he sits at God’s right hand, and he will return to judge.

xiii)            The work of salvation is done and complete. The firstfruits of righteousness and new life are real.

xiv)            The first fruit is Jesus.

xv)  Hope in God. He will formed you in your mother’s womb. Has lovingly chosen and called you.  You are his child and he will keep you through the temptations of life and he will give you the perfect righteousness of Christ.

xvi)            He will see you through death and bring you into his glorious presence.

xvii)          Even in trial we have reason to hope. Even in death we will not despair. We will hope in God and truth in Christ.