Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to the Gospel according to John. John chapter 6, and we'll read
for our text, verse 62. What, and if ye shall see the
Son of Man, ascender where he was, before. We could change this instead
of a question to read, ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up
where he was before. And we read of that in Acts chapter
1, where the disciples did see the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of Man, ascend up where he was before. In this passage, we read
of the Jews and those that were following our Lord, finding fault
with him, that he insisted that except they ate the flesh and
drink the blood of the Son of Man, that they had no life in
them. and that whoso eateth my flesh
and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I'll raise him up at
the last day. Later on, the Lord makes it very
clear what He meant, and that is the words after our text. It is the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit, and they are life. And of course, it is those
words that we are to eat, to be the manna for us. We have
in the earlier part of this chapter, labor not, in verse 27, labor
not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed. In many of these chapters in
John, we have John chapter three, Nicodemus is struggling with
natural birth and the Lord's teaching him spiritual birth.
We have John four, when the woman at the well of Samaria struggling
with the idea of the Lord who had nothing to draw with, the
well was deep to give her living water, but he was speaking of
that spiritual water and those words of life which he then gave
her. And there we have the bread of
life and the Lord Jesus Christ setting him forth in this way
that they found hard to hear. Who can hear it? This is a hard
saying. And so they are looking at the
Lord as but a mere man, the son of man. They said, is not this
Jesus, the son of Joseph, the carpenter's son? They are murmuring. at him they are stumbling at
his being a man and there's other occasions the same when our lord
said that before abraham was i am and they said that there
are not yet 50 years of age and how canst thou be older than
abraham and here the lord is pointing to the same same truth
What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he
was before? What a thought! They were struggling
that this man could not give his flesh to eat, and then the
Lord propounds something even greater, that he should ascend
up into heaven, setting before them his eternal Godhead, that
he was with the Father before the world was, that He was and
is the everlasting God, and He is God manifest in the flesh,
Immanuel God with us. And so, our Lord here is setting
this before them here, and before us, He is speaking of His ascending
up where He was before. We have this picture before ever
the world was, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
and He speaks of that glory that He had with His Father before
the world was. I come forth from the Father,
I go and ascend back unto my Father. Well, this evening we
remember that time when the Lord did ascend up on high and whereas
our text it sets forth what he was before onto this evening
look at the other way what he is now in heaven and where he
is in heaven the positions that he holds, and I want to look
at seven points, one by one, that we might really meditate
and understand the importance and the blessing of having our
Lord, not in some place here below, not in some city, but
ascended up above. Forty days, Since his rising
from the dead, he showed himself, proved 40 days is always testing
in the Word of God. You have it with before David
was called forth to fight with the Philistine, before that 40
years in the wilderness, 40 days before Nineveh was to be destroyed. There's always a time of testing. Forty days, our Lord tempted
by the devil in the wilderness. And so the Lord, after 40 days,
then he ascends back into heaven. And the disciples did see him. They saw him taken up and so
was performed that greater deeds should they do because I go to
the Father and as Elijah was seen by Elisha taken up into
heaven, and that was the token that he would have a double portion
of Elijah's spirit. So he did, and were double the
amount of miracles that Elijah did. And so the apostles, they
knew what it was to have the power, the gift of the Holy Spirit,
and the very evidence that our Lord had ascended. So I want
to look at these points, briefly perhaps, but may our thoughts
be heavenward and realize what a blessing we have in a not only
risen but ascended saviour. Firstly, he is where it was prophesied
he should ascend to. We read together in Psalm 24 And we have this beautiful picture
of lifting up your heads, O ye gates, and lift up ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. And when we look
at these words, how clear we have it that our Lord Jesus Christ
is one with the Father, He is Jehovah, He is the Eternal God,
We have the question in verse 8 in Psalm 24, who is this King
of Glory? The Lord, that is Jehovah, capital
letters in our Authorised Version Bible. Strong and mighty, the
Lord, again emphasised, mighty in battle. Who is this King of
Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the
King of Glory. emphasised again and again, this
is the Eternal God, this is He whom He said, I am my Father,
one. If you have seen me, you've seen
my Father also, equal in power and in glory and dominion. Yes,
the order of the Trinity is according to God's counsel, but each one,
the Father is God, the Son is God, and The Holy Spirit is God. And so it was prophesied here. Also, if we go a few psalms further
on to Psalm 47 and verse 5, God. Again, we have the emphasis of
who the Lord is. God is gone up with a shout. The Lord Jehovah, the Lord with
the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises,
sing praises unto our King. Sing praises for God is the King
of all the earth. Sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen,
God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is prophesied as ascending and as truly God. We go further
on to Psalm 68 and verse 18. Thou hast ascended on high. Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for
men. Yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. And this was referred to by the
apostles. They pointed out where these
had been fulfilled. We think of Psalm 110. And, of course, many of these
psalms, they are written a thousand years before our Lord came. It's one of the ways that we
know so clearly the inspiration of the Word of God, the reliability
of the Word of God, prophecy and fulfilment. And so the first
verse of Psalm 110, a Psalm of David. The Lord said unto my
Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy
footstool. Here is then our Lord spoken
of, spoken of in the scripture, set forth as to what he should
do. to come to this earth, take on
him a body and a soul like unto his brethren, and in that body
suffer, bleed, and die. Thou shalt see the travail of
his soul and be satisfied, and lay down his life and take it
again, and then ascend up into heaven. The second thing I want to bring
before you is where he sits at the right hand of God. The position of the Lord is spoken
of right through the Gospels, where the Lord shall sit on the
right hand. We read of it prophesied in Psalm
110 verse 1, But when we come to, if you just
use one example with the gospel according to Mark in verse 16,
we read in verse 19, sorry, chapter 16, verse 19, so then after the
Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and
sat on the right hand of God. And the day of Pentecost, when
the Holy Spirit, what the Lord had promised, should come, then
Peter preaches and he sets forth the same fulfilment of these
things in Acts 2 and verse 34. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ. The Apostle Peter, in his epistles,
and you would remember that his epistles were to strengthen the
brethren, and in this doctrine, this teaching, it is so important
that we have it set before us as a strength. Of course, it
was Peter preaching there in Acts, and so when he writes to
the brethren in the churches in his first epistle, in chapter
three, he says in verse 22, who is gone? The Lord is speaking
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ who is gone into heaven
and is on the right hand of God. Angels and authorities and powers
be made subject unto him. And so is set forth what that
right hand means, that he is in authority. We have those types
in scripture where Joseph is made right next to Pharaoh, we
have Mordecai right next to Ahasuerus, brought to the throne, but our
Lord in a much greater, greater way. Paul, when he writes to
the churches in the Ephesus, he says to them in his first,
in his epistle, the first chapter, verse 22, and hath put all things, where he set him
at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all
principality and power and might and dominion, and every name
that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which
is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave
him to be the head over all things to the church." As a church,
as churches, maybe we remember that. The Lord is our head and
his head over all things. No greater position, superior
to all angels. And this, the apostle, when he
writes to the Hebrews, emphasizes not just once, but again and
again. In the first chapter, he says
concerning angels, how superior to them in verse 13. But to each
of the angels said he at any time, sit on my right hand until
I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord Jesus Christ is higher
and greater than all the angels. Then we have it later on in chapter
eight, the first verse. Now of the things which we have
spoken, this is the sum. We have such an high priest.
What a beautiful thing for the church of God to say we have. We have an high priest who is
set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the
heavens. You know, in the Old Testament,
they had the cities of refuge. Those that killed a man unawares
could flee to that city. They then had to stay in that
city until the death of the high priest, and then they were allowed
to go out. But with our great high priest,
he has already died. But he lives, and so he lets
free, let go his captives. He is a refuge, he is the refuge. And there he is, as the ever-living
high priest above. And even if that is not sufficient,
then the apostle comes in the 10th chapter, and he says, but
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down in the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till
his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctifying. And then in the 12th chapter
as well, he says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God. And again and again we're pointed
up, we're pointed to see where he is, see his authority, see
his power, see his crown, see all the authority that he has,
and this, This is our God. This is the God of salvation.
This is the head of the church. This is our Savior, our Redeemer,
who suffered here below, who as a lamb as it had been slain,
is in heaven. It's a wonderful thing when we
think of when Stephen was dying, and he looked up and he testified
that he saw the Lord not sitting, but standing. standing to receive
Him. To think that the Lord, in His
position of such authority and power, when His people come to
lie down their lives, when they're yielding up their spirit, their
breath, that He permits Himself to be seen and He stands to receive
them. They don't come in unwelcome. They don't come in and the Lord
knows nothing of it. He knows when they are to come
to Him. He knows when to receive them. These are settled things, and
it should be a great comfort and help to us to think and to
meditate upon them, that one with such power and such authority
will condescend so low. What would we think? Our king? or those that are in great authority,
that they would get the meanness of their subjects and they'd
stand up off their throne and they'd come and they'd meet them
at the door and welcome them in. No footman, none other to
welcome them but the Lord himself. And this is a picture that we
have with Stephen. The third thing I bring before
you is where He is the victor over death. The victor over death. You might say, well, was not
that so when he rose from the dead? Wasn't he a victor over
death then? You might say, well, the Lord
raised Lazarus from the dead and the widow of Nain's son and
others. Of course, they didn't rise by
their own power, and again they died again the second time. And they, like others, must be
raised again at the last day, their spirit ascended to God.
But the Lord, He rose from the dead and ascended to die no more. He hath, as the word says, abolished
death. Abolished death. He has gone
through death, tasted death for every man. He liveth with the
power of an endless life. We spoke of in Hebrew concerning
our Lord as the High Priest, but in Hebrew he is also set
forth as a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. And we read then, it is yet far
more evident, for that after the similitude of Melchizedek,
there riseth another priest. This is Hebrews 7 and verse 14. It is yet far more evident, for
that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there riseth another
priest, who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment,
but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth thou
art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord's triumphing over death,
when we think of the first sentence, in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die. A salvation that doesn't deal
with death, that doesn't overcome death, is no salvation. but a
salvation that goes through death and conquers death and delivers
his people from death and brings them to eternal life, gives them
eternal life. That is where our Lord is. It's
not just a rising like Lazarus or another. He is risen and ascended
into heaven. The same wounds, the lambs that
had been slain, ye hold my hands, my feet, it is I myself, this
body's not here below at all, it's glorified in heaven. The
fourth thing is, where he is, he is as the first fruits of
them that slept. This is what the apostle writes
to the Corinthians, that beautiful chapter, 15 Corinthians, and
emphasizing the rising from the dead. But he brings in this too,
that now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first
fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man also came came also the resurrection of the dead. And
in Leviticus, in the Old Testament, they had the institution of the
wave offering, the firstfruits, sheaf especially, waved toward
heaven as a token that those first sheaf was brought in as
the firstfruits the others would follow. The first was the best,
but it was the earnest, the token, the assurance, there would be
others that follow. They have the type of, if a seed
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die,
then it bringeth forth much fruit. And the Lord Jesus Christ, in
dying, in rising and ascending by his very prayer in John 17. Father, I will that they whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory. So before even he ascends up
on high, he is praying his high priestly prayer and that his
people might be with him. He the firstfruits. May we really
Meditate upon this, as sure as the Lord is in heaven, so surely
shall his people get there. He says to the dying thief, this
day shalt thou be with me in paradise. The Lord shall be there,
he shall be there. Then we have the fifth thing,
where the Lord is, where he makes intercession. for us. Or when he writes to the Romans,
in Romans chapter 8, he speaks of this office and
this work of our Lord. In verse 34, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather. that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. You know our text says, If ye
shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before, that
this is where he is now, and where he is making intercession
for us. And that beautiful prayer, John
17, is a beautiful type of that intercession. I pray not that
thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should
keep them from the evil, and then to pray that they would
be with him and see his glory. That intercession, a voice is
the hymn writer that speaks for me in heaven's high court for
good. or hear another scripture, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, a
voice in heaven, one that takes our part, one that speaks for
us, appearing in the presence of God for us, our poor minds
we cannot grasp, the eternal God, God that fills all things,
that is so great that he made the sun, the moon, and the stars,
the galaxies, and all this world, we cannot comprehend that. But
when we have God manifest in the flesh, we read, we see not
yet all things put unto him, but we see Jesus, made a little
lower than the angels by the suffering of death, and there
I send it, glory, power, The right hand of God. And there
he is. The Lord is not just ascended
up into heaven. There are those things that he
is doing there. Waiting till his enemies be made
his footstool. And we think of the children
of Israel. They couldn't go first into the promised land. The iniquity
of the Amorites was not yet full. The Lord knows why He delays,
why He left the children of Israel in Egypt as long as He did. Why He left the Amorites as long
as He did. There shall come the time when
the Lord will come again. But in the meantime, with His
people on earth, He doesn't forget them. He doesn't ignore them. He is there for them, and to
speak for them and to make intercession for them. May this be a real
comfort and help to us. When we pray, we might feel our
prayers to be very poor, but if we had someone at court, even
in a natural sense, and we just made known what we wanted, they
could put it forth in a right way. have it often illustrated
in the courts of our land. If there is a criminal, if there's
one that is coming before a court, they're greatly discouraged.
Don't represent yourself. You don't know how to present
your case. You don't know how best to set
it forth. But the one that has to go to
court, one whose case is being heard, The sinner, the transgressor,
he presents his case to his counsel and to his lawyers. And they
stand before the judge. They stand before the court.
They present his case. They speak on his behalf. They
have authority and their authority is acknowledged by the court.
And it's a good thing when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ
who suffered bled and died for his people, whose wounds still
bear that evidence of what he did here below, and that he then
speaks for his people on their behalf. The sixth thing to consider,
where he is. He is preparing a place for his
people. And this is specifically told
by the Lord for the comfort of his people, so they are not troubled. In John 14, let not your heart
be troubled. Ye 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. I go to prepare a place for you. The Ascended Savior has gone
to prepare a place for His people. He is there. We do not know what
is involved in that. We know what is involved here
below in preparing us for that place. God's people are a prepared
people for a prepared place. The call by grace, the teaching
of the Spirit, the sanctifying, cleansing, making me to be partakers
with the saints in glory, This is the Lord's work as well, here
below. But as the Lord is working here
below, and we are conscious and mindful of that, we are mindful
that He is also preparing that place above. He's not just working
in one area, but in the other area. And this is specifically
said by our Lord, so that the hearts of His people are not
troubled. so that they have an aiming view,
a place to go. How often Paul speaks of this,
he says that we that are in this body be grown, being burdened. And then he says, not that we
would be unclothed, but clothed upon. In other words, not that
we have our soul leave our body and disembodied soul just return
to God, but our burden is that There's the resurrection, we're
looking forward to that, where we actually have a glorified
body, a celestial body, and the soul joined to the body again. And that is what we're looking
for. And so in a similar way, the
Lord is saying here, you're not just going to heaven, but to
not have any place. You're going to heaven to have
a place. Now, if we would have said, well,
we're gonna send you to a different part of the country. You say,
well, that's all very well, but is there a home there for me?
Is there a place for me to go there? What a difference it makes
if we know that there is a place for us, and not just heaven,
but a place for you. 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. And I often think of Stephen
in that context, coming again so that in the hour of death
he sees the Lord, and the type as well. When the ark is going
through, the children of Israel going through the Jordan, which
is a type of death, when they first started to go through,
There was a great distance between the Ark and the Children of Israel,
so they'd know where to go. There would have been just a
speck in the distance. They would have hardly seen it.
But when each one went through Jordan, they would have gone
right next to the Ark. Yes, it was covered with the
veil, but they would have seen it clear as clear. And there
it was, staying in the midst of Jordan until they were safe
over. They had to put the stones on
the other side, too. What mean ye these stones? The ark was in Jordan. It remained
there. They went over on dry land. And they had a place, a place
prepared, a promised land. And here, this is what the Lord
says to his people, so they're not troubled, not distressed.
He is preparing a place. The last one, is not so much where he is and
what he is doing there, but it's with this thought, from whence
he will come with power and great glory. In the portion that we
read in Acts 1, we read of that in verse 11, the angels that
were standing Next to them, the two men in white apparel, as
they were standing, looking up into heaven. 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. The coming of the Lord, from
that glory, from heaven, where he is, with power, and great
glory. And the apostles, they speak
of this, of the Lord coming. They record what our Lord has
said in Matthew 24 and verse 30. The Lord is speaking of the last
days, immediately after the tribulation of those days. Shall the sun
be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in
heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels
with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other. And not surprising, we have this
also set forth in the book of the Revelation. And as the book
opens, we read in verse 7, Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every
eye shall see him, they also which pierced him, and all the
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am the Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which
was and which is to come, the Almighty. And so we have this
set before us so beautifully of where the Lord is. And may
we remember, He is there after He has been upon this earth,
after He was made flesh and dwelt among us. Not the same as He
was before, a great work was done upon this earth. No other
work could do what the Lord Jesus Christ did. in redeeming and
saving his people. He testified on the cross, it
is finished. He finished the work the Father
gave him to do. He ascends up. Behold, I and
the children whom thou hast given me. And this should be our great
comfort. The rising is a great seal. The ascension is a great seal.
and He directs us where we are to look, where we are to expect
that we shall be brought at last, and where the Lord shall come
from, when He shall appear that second time without sin unto
salvation. So may we remember the Ascension
Day, the day when the Lord led the disciples out as far as to
Bethany, when he lifted up his hands and he blessed them, and
while he blessed them, separated from them and carried up into
heaven. May as we meditate and think
upon these things, desire that we might truly have an interest
in them, be comforted and blessed with every token for good, and
especially where the Spirit draws our affections away from this
poor dying world, and sets our affection on things above. Like the dear man at Pilgrim
Home, one time I went there, hadn't seen him before, took
the service, he's paying much attention to the Word. And after
I asked him, are you in here just for convalescence or to
stay? He said, no, to stay. And then
his face changed and he lit up with a wonderful smile and he
looked up He says, but my home is in heaven. That is where I
am going. This is not my eternal home.
Within a few months, the Lord had taken him home. But Otah
had that blessed prospect, and when it, like it did with him,
just swept over him the realization of that heavenly home, and it
just affected his whole countenance. It meant so much to him. How
much does it mean to us, how real is it to us, that we have
this dear Jesus, our Saviour, Redeemer, who suffered here,
trod this world as we do, that He is in heaven and He is our
Advocate with the Father. He is there to come again and
to receive us unto Himself. What and if you shall see the
Son of Man, ascend up where he was before, for that is where
he is now, at the right hand of the Father, but not as he
was before, but in a body like our own, and with the seal of
all his work done, finished and completed, a righteousness to
give to his people, the payment paid, and with a work now in
heaven, interceding for his people, and with the prospect of having
them to be with him.