Let us turn again to God's Word
and directing you this morning to words that we find at the
end of the Gospel according to St. Luke. Reading then in the
final verses of Luke's Gospel, Luke chapter 24 and the verses
50 through 53. We read, And he led them out
as far as Tubeth, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them
and it came to pass while he blessed them he was parted from
them and carried up into heaven and they worshipped him and returned
to Jerusalem with great joy and we're continually in the temple
praising and blessing God Amen and the text that I want to send
to you thoughts on for a while this morning is that that we
find here at verse 51. He came to pass while he blessed
them. He was parted from them and carried
up into heaven. And the theme then is that of
the blessing of Christ's ascension. He came to pass while he blessed
them. He was parted from them and carried
up into Last week we were considering the previous verse to what I've
just read, those words in verse 49, the promise of my father
and power from on high. Verse 49, the Lord says, Behold,
I send the promise of my father upon you, but tarry ye in the
city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high. thinking then of that promise
of my father and of course it's the same that we were reading
of just now in the opening chapter of the Acts and there at verse 4 the Lord
says to them again that they should not depart from Jerusalem
but wait for the promise of the Father which says here you have
heard of me and then again at verse 8 he says but you shall
receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and
you shall be witnesses unto me and so forth and then of course
in the following chapter we're told how in the day of Pentecost
that great Jewish feast the Feast of Weeks seven weeks, 49 days,
after the Passover, and then on the 50th day, well, when that
day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord
in one place, we're told. And so, the exalted Christ sends
forth the promise of the Father. The promise of the Father clearly
is the Holy Ghost Himself, and He is the One. who comes to powerfully
apply the message of salvation. This is what they are to preach.
As we're told in verse 47 of this last chapter of Luke, repentance
and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all
nations beginning at Jerusalem. It is the Spirit who applies
that message We've looked at those words that
we have in verse 45, how he opened their understanding that they
might understand the Scriptures. I think we were looking at that
a couple of weeks ago and I remarked on that occasion how Calvin in
his commentary on the Gospels makes the observation that what
we have there at verse 45 is really equivalent to the words
of John 20, 22 when he breathed on them and said, receive ye
the Holy Ghost. It was as he breathed on them
that they were able to receive the Holy Ghost and so they would
understand the Scriptures. It is very much the ministry
of the Spirit of God. He who first gave the Word all
Scripture given by inspiration of God. Literally, all Scripture
is the breathing of God. And it is the Spirit who must
breathe that Word of God into the souls of sinners, who must
make the application of the great truths of the Gospel to the souls
of men. The Lord Jesus Christ, that One
who is the Saviour, that One who is indeed exalted, the Prince
and the Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness
of sins. This message then, that is to
be proclaimed, preached in Christ's name among all nations, will
be applied by the Holy Spirit. These are some of the things
then that we were seeking to say over the last couple of weeks. But coming now to these words
that I said would serve as our text in verse 51 the ascension
of Christ and the blessings associated with that ascension he came to
pass while he blessed them he was parted from them and carried
up into heaven and this was something that the disciples witnessed
they are to be Witnesses, as well as those who would be proclaiming
the message. Remember how he says at verse
48, "...ye are witnesses of these things." He's referring clearly
to what has been said previously. They witnessed the reality of
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. that that body
was still the selfsame body but now a glorified body that they
were so familiar with during the days of his ministry amongst
them. How he had appeared in the upper
room, how he had spoken unto them and showed them his hands
and his feet, he'd inquired if they had any meat, they'd given
him a piece of royal fish and even honeycomb it says and he
had taken it and it's he'd eaten it before them before their very
eyes they had seen him partaking of that of that meat that food
this is a a real body if a glorified body that can come through doors
that are barred and and bolted the wonder of his resurrection
but that also those who will bear witness to the truth of
his ascension and again we we saw that in that portion that
we read there in the opening chapter of the Acts they beheld him as he ascended
into heaven their eyes were fixed upon him as they saw him go up
into the heavenly places. All that they are witnesses in
of so much that the Lord is intent upon them beholding that they
might bear their own testimony and proclaim this message. We read again there in that opening
chapter how it was over 40 days that He had proved the reality
of His resurrection by so many infallible proofs. But now will
they see Him no more. After His ascension they see
Him no more in the flesh. As the Apostle says there, writing
in 2 Corinthians 5.16, Yea, though we have known Christ after the
flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. no more to be
seen. He has proved the reality of
his resurrection and they've actually seen that glorified
body as it has ascended now into the heavenly places. And so as
we come to consider these words this morning I want to say something
with regards to the place where they see him ascending and then
in the second place to say something with regards to their praises,
the manner in which they worship him. First of all, the place
of the ascension and the place itself is of some significance. we're told in verse 50 and we
let them out as far as to Bethany as far as to literally it says
until or towards Bethany they're near to Bethany and Bethany is
a place of some importance we saw it in our first reading you
remember that passage that we read at the end of chapter 19 and there we see him bringing the
disciples as he travels up to Jerusalem to the place called
Bethany he comes near to the city and
he is weeping over the city there in chapter 19 and verse 41 this is his last earthly journey
that he's making and he begins that journey back in chapter
9 and there from verse 51 right through we're being told the
events that took place as he's making that final journey up
to Jerusalem the time was set and he knew that the hour was
come that he must be received up and he steadfastly sets his
face to go towards Jerusalem we read there in chapter 9 and
verse 51 And so, in that passage that
we were reading, he's ever nearer now to the city. We began at
verse 28, and we went before them, ascending, it says, up
to Jerusalem. And it came to pass when it was
come night of Bethage and Bethany, that the man called the Mount
of Olives. this is where he is and it's from this particular
place, it's from the Mount of Olives of course that he subsequently
looks over the city of Jerusalem and utters those words that we
read in verse 42 of that chapter weeping over the city saying
if thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the
things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from
thine own eyes And then he goes on to speak of what will come
upon Jerusalem. And it did come, of course, in
the year 70. The Roman legionaries laying
siege to the city. The days will come upon thee
that thine enemy shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round
and keep thee on every side and lay thee even with the ground. And so it came to pass under
the Roman general Titus that Jerusalem was destroyed. and
the city, or the temple I should say, raised to the ground there
in the 70 AD. That was his last journey then
that he was making. And it's from Bethany that he
beholds the city and makes that prophecy. But what we have now, of course,
is his last journey of all. as he is about to leave this
world it is again from that same place Bethany Bethany near the
Mount of Olives and are we not told in the portion we were reading
in Acts chapter 1 and there at verse 12 after they had beheld
him ascending into heaven they returned to Jerusalem from the
mount called Olivet. It's clearly, it's evidently
the same place. And it's at Mount of Olives,
of course, where also we find the garden of Gethsemane at the
foot of the mount. And it was very much a favorite
place with the Lord Jesus Christ. He would often resort to that
place we're told in the opening verses of John chapter 18 and
it's where the Lord goes with his disciples after he has instituted
the Holy Supper, the Lord's Supper, his last Passover that he had
observed with the disciples, where he had changed really the
Passover, the Jewish Passover, into a different feast, a feast
of remembrance, in which he speaks of himself and the shedding of
his precious blood, the cup of blessing, which we bless the
communion of the blood of Christ, the bread which we break, the
communion of the body of Christ, and then after he has instituted
that supper he goes into the garden of Gethsemane and we're
aware of all that takes place there his great struggling in
prayer to his father in heaven as he's contemplating the crucifixion
all that is before him he knew it, he knew it back in chapter
9 and verse 51 that the hour was come and he has set his face
to go to Jerusalem and now how he is in an agony as he prays
and his sweat is like drops of blood falling to the ground all
Gethsemane there at the foot of the Mount of Olives there
near to Bethany Gethsemane the olive press and why so called
a Christian's guest knowing fit place where vengeance
strove and griped and grappled hard with love. That was Gethsemane,
the place of the tremendous sufferings in the soul of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The olive press, that's what
Gethsemane means. But Bethany, Bethany was very
near at hand as we see. and the name Bethany means the
house of sorrow Bethany is a place of sorrow associated with Gethsemane
associated with all the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ but
the amazing thing here of course in the words that we have before
us this morning is that Bethany is also a place of blessing it's
a place of sorrow to the Lord Jesus Christ but it's a place
of a blessing to his people it's a significant place again he
leads them out as far as Bethany and he lifted up his hands and
blessed them and he came to pass while he blessed them he was
parted from them and carried up into heaven how remarkable
He is taken up from them, He parts from them as He is in the
act of blessing them. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And of course this is the great comfort really that we can find
in the truth of His ascension. As He's about now to enter into
the holy place made without hands. Entering into heaven Himself. And there, after His ascension,
we will have His session at the Father's right hand. All power is now given unto Him. He has all authority in heaven
and in earth. And so He charges His disciples
to go forth and to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. and the promise that He is with
them. Oh, He is with them by that gracious ministry of the
Spirit of whom He has spoken though He Himself now His very
presence is there in heaven and there as one who is both God's
and man and the one to whom all power is given far above all
principalities, 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 thou, God, hath made him
the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the
fullness of him that filleth all in all. This is what the
Lord is about and he has accomplished the work that was given to him
in the eternal covenant, he has finished the transgression, he
has made an end of sin, he's made reconciliation for iniquity,
he's brought in everlasting righteousness, he's sealed the vision and the
prophecy. God's great purpose in this world
has been accomplished once and for all and now he blesses his
disciples as He ascends to the Father's right hand. Oh, what
a comfort is that then of the doctrine of the ascension of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And so He is able to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing ever liveth,
to make intercession for them. And this one, you see, is there
now as God-man. He was ever there as the Eternal
Son of the Eternal Father, the Son of the Father in truth and
love, the Only Begotten, the Only Begotten of the Father.
But now, having descended to this earth and having taken to
Himself that human nature, that holy thing that was conceived
by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary the union
between the divine nature and the human nature in the person
of the Lord Jesus he has ascended now as God man and even there
in heaven he is one touch touch with the feeling of all our infirmities
he was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin he feels for his people here
upon the earth though he is now ascended and exalted to the very
heavens and how our confidence is in him we can have boldness
we can have access with confidence when we come by the faith of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We have His blessing. He blesses
His disciples. And thou blessest, O Lord, and
it shall be blessed for ever, it says. It is an eternal and
everlasting blessing. And what is the outcome with
regards to the disciples? Well, if the place from whence
he has ascended, Bethany, is a significant place, not only
a house of sorrow, but also a house of blessing,
what is the response of these disciples? Well, we're told they
worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. Two things then we notice, they
worshipped. They worshipped the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now it's interesting, sad really,
that in several of the modern versions, or rather perversions,
that expression is often omitted. Not all of them, but some of
them completely omit that clause. So you don't find it in those
perversions of the Word of God. But it's here. And it's part
of the inspired text of Scripture. They worshipped it. And the word
that's used is a significant word because Luke uses it on
just one other occasion throughout his Gospel. It's used in other
parts of the New Testament but this particular word, they worshipped
him is just used twice by Luke the evangelist and the other
occasion is much earlier where we read in chapter 4 of the temptations
of the Lord Jesus Christ and how the Lord addresses that great
adversary there in chapter 4 and verse 8 he says get thee behind
me Satan for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God
and him only shalt thou serve that's the only other occasion
that we have it the words that the Lord himself speaks to the
great adversary, the tempter, the accuser he says thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God and so what are they doing here these
disciples are worshipping him as the Lord their God worship
simply belongs to the Lord God himself and none other he is
that one who is to be recognized as the living and true God again
think of the the language of the angel there in in Revelation
19 when John would fall at his feet to worship the angel and
the angel says see thou do it not worship God worship God oh
God is that one who is to be worshipped and of course we see
it in the psalm that we sang in the metrical version we read
of the man who ascends into the hill of the Lord he that hath
clean hands and a pure heart who hath not lifted up his soul
unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive the blessing
of the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Who is this man that's being spoken of? Clean hands, a pure
heart, has never lifted up his soul to vanity, the sinless man.
Is he not the Lord Jesus Christ? Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, made higher than the heavens. And so, when we
come to the end of that psalm in each messianic, it's speaking
clearly of the Lord Jesus. Now at the end he is addressed
as that one who is himself the Lord, the King of Kings, the
King of Glory. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
be ye lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory
shall come in. Who is this King of Glory, the
Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle? And then
the repetition, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift
them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come
in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory, Selah. And it's fulfilled. The Psalm is fulfilled here at
the end of this Gospel of Luke. This is the man who is ascended
on high. this is the one who is being
received in the highest heavens it is the Lord God himself that
one who humbled himself even to the death of the cross but
God has highly exalted him and given him that name which is
above every name and so it is appropriate, it is right, it
is proper that they worship him but what is their worship and
what is so essential a part so necessary in their worship what
they believe is gospel they believe is gospel we're told, aren't
we, that they were continually in the temple praising and blessing
God Amen! Oh, he has ascended and what is the consequence of
his ascension? I think again of the language
of another psalm, Psalm 68, again clearly messianic. And there
at verse 18 we have that statement, "...that was ascended on high,
that was led captivity captive, that was received gifts from
men, yea, for the rebellious all, so that the Lord God might
dwell among them." He has ascended on high. He has received gifts
for men, and those words of the Psalmist are clearly applied
to the Lord Jesus by the Apostle in Ephesians 4.8. There's no
disputing the truth of that Psalm, Psalm 68, being a prophecy of
the Lord Jesus. We have the authority of the
New Testament. And, as I've said many a time,
we must always, of course, read our our Bibles from the New Testament
back into the Old Testament. It is the New Testament that
enables us to understand what is being said in the Old Testament.
And where we have a specific reference to a passage in the
Old Testament, here in the New Testament Scriptures, we can
rest assured of the truth of what is being said Psalm 68 speaks
of Christ the one who has received gifts even for rebellious sinners
that the Lord God might dwell amongst them and so here they
are worshipping and worshipping with great joy continually in
the temple praising and blessing God and then the last word of
this gospel, Amen and how appropriate it is that the whole of the gospel
should close with the Amen you know the force of the word you
choose isn't it repeatedly in John's gospel where of course
it's it's rendered by the word verily or truly The word Amen
literally means so be it. But we have that expression in
our authorised version throughout John and many times the Lord
prefixes His ministry, His teaching by saying Verily or Amen. And there are occasions where
we have the double Verily, Verily I say unto you. It indicates to us the trustworthiness
of the words that he is speaking. He is declaring the truth. He
is the faithful and true witness, the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
And these men also are witnesses. Verse 48, "...ye are witnesses
of these things." As we said, they were witnesses of the reality,
the truth of his resurrection. He had shown himself to them
over 40 days. Many infallible proofs they'd
seen these things and they witnessed his ascension. These men knew
what they were about. They knew who it was that they
worshipped. And so, the very last word of the book,
Amen, it concludes the gospel and indicates to us the trustworthiness
of the record that we have throughout the gospel and the one that is
being spoken of it is the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ and we can trust in this gospel we can trust in the one
of whom the gospel speaks we can trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
himself Remember how Luke opens this Gospel. He is addressing a certain individual
called Theophilus. For as much as many have taken
in hand to set forth in order, he says, a declaration of those
things which are most surely believed among us. even as they
deliver them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses
and ministers of the word. It seemed good to me also, having
had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,
to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that
thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou
hast been instructed. And the force of the language
that he employs here it's a declaration of those things which are most
surely believed most surely believed and he says there at verse 4
that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou
hast been instructed Amen or so be it There's a ring of truth
with regards to all of these things. And is it not the same
also when we come to the closing chapters and verses of John's
Gospel? There at the end of chapter 20,
John says these are written that he might believe that Jesus is
the Christ. the Son of God, and that believing
ye might have life through his name." This is why these men
have written these accounts, in order that sinners might come
to believe the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus. And again
we see it in the language of the Apostle, when he writes there
at the beginning of the 15th chapter, the great 15th chapter
in 1 Corinthians. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have
received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if
ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain. Oh, we do not believe in vain.
when we come to hear this blessed message concerning the Lord Jesus
and all that he began to do and to teach and so we come to the
closing passage of the gospel and we see here the worship of
these disciples and we see the certainty of their
faith Oh, I trust that as we come and as we hear the message
again and again and again and again, we're those who would
say, our army, or we would submit to the authority of this Word,
the Word of the Gospel, of the grace of God, and we would be
those who would indeed worship the Lord Jesus Christ. and recognize
Him as that One who is the only Savior of sinners, none other
than I, on the heaven given amongst men, whereby we must, we must
be saved. He led them out as far as the
Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them, and He
came to pass while He blessed them. He was parted from them
and carried up into heaven. and they worshipped Him and returned
to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple
praising and blessing God. Amen. Ought to know then that
blessing that the Lord bestows even as He departs this world,
enters heaven itself where He now ever lives to make intercession
for all that would come unto God by him, or that we might
be those then who would come and come and come again. Oh, the Lord then bless his word
to us. Amen.