Go with me back to John chapter
20. The last time we were in John,
we ended with verse 18. And as I was studying on down
this week, verses 19 and 20, something was opened up to me
that caused me to go back to verse 17. So this is how the message is
going to go. We're going to start at verse
17 and we're going to go down to verse 20. We're going to see
what the Lord has to say. And then we're going back to
verse 17 and we're going to see something glorious. I mean, we're
going to see something. If the Lord will let us. We're
going to do exactly what the disciples did in Bethany when
our Lord ascended up and they all stood there gazing into heaven. If He'll let us, that's what
we're about to do. Just glorious. I titled this
message, Glorying in His Ascension. And that's all I want us to do
here for 28 minutes. That's my number, 28 minutes.
I want us to stand here looking up, glorying in his ascension. All right? At this moment right
here, Mary Magdalene is standing at the tomb and she's crying
and she's so sad because she believes that they have stolen
the Lord's body away. But our Lord appeared to her
in verse 16. He revealed himself. Jesus saith
unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith
unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. And then Matthew's
account tells us that she held him by the feet and worshipped
him as soon as she realized He's alive. He's risen. She fell at his feet like sinners
do, like I can't wait to do. And she latched hold of his feet
and she worshiped him. But the Lord said to her in verse
17, Jesus saith unto her, touch me not for I am not yet ascended
to my father. But go to my brethren. I want you to go to my brethren.
He told her, I know you would love to stay right there. Who
wouldn't? Who wouldn't love to stay right
there? But he said, our brethren are hurting. They're hurting
right now. Mark's account says that all
the brethren mourned and wept. They were all, they went back
to this house, they're all together in this house now. Three days,
they heard his last word three days ago. And for three days,
they'd just been crying and, you know, we weep and we mourn,
but we don't know what it's like to have him. They had him. I mean, they had him. They heard
him. They held him. Can you imagine
that being ripped away from you? And they're hurting, and they're
mourning, and they're crying. So our Lord said, you go to my
brethren, in verse 17, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father
and your Father, and to my God and your God. And what he's saying
in that is, I've risen. You go tell them I've risen.
And God is satisfied. I'm going to my Father and your
Father, my God and your God. He's satisfied. Go to my brethren
and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father and
to my God and your God. Mary, you go tell them that they
have all been officially adopted. That's what you go tell them. Tis done, the great transaction's
done. He is now just as much your Father
as He is my Father. He is now just as much your God
as He is my God. Turn with me over to Galatians
4. This right here is a wonderful
passage. Galatians 4. Verse 1 says, Now I say that
the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant,
though he be Lord of all, but is under tutors and governors
until the time appointed of the father. Even so, we, when we
were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his
son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God
hath sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Wherefore, thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ." Isn't that glorious? God sent the Spirit
of His Son in here. I'm so thankful. You know, I'm dead. I'm cold,
I'm dark, I'm sinful, but God sent his spirit right into here.
And God's own spirit starts crying, Abba, Father. And then he answers
his spirit. And it's all through Christ.
He said, Mary, you go tell them that right there. Redeemed, sons,
adopted, finished, go tell them that right there. Go back over
to John 20. Verse 17 says, Jesus saith unto
her, touch me not, for I'm not yet ascended to my father, but
go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my father
and your father and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene
came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that
he had spoken these things unto her. But Mark's account says
he didn't believe her. She came and told him everything
he told her to say, but they didn't believe her. So verse
19, then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week,
when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled
for fear of the Jews, they had the doors locked. They had them
bolted, barred. The Jews just killed their Lord.
What's to stop them from killing them? You know, they're hiding
now. They're afraid. And verse 19, the same day at evening being
the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus
and stood in the midst and said unto them, peace be unto you. The Lord appeared. The doors were shut, they were
barred, bolted, and all of a sudden there's the Lord right in the
middle of them. Luke's account says the disciples were terrified
and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit, because
he just appeared. But the Lord said, Peace be unto
you. Peace be unto you. Verse 20,
And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side,
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. For three
days, they'd been mourning, crying, they were terrified and affrighted. Can you at all imagine how glad
they were when they saw the Lord? I mean, you can't even describe
it. You can't even describe it. He showed them his hands. He
showed them his side. They saw him. He said, Peace
be unto you. He held his hands up and he said, Do you see this
right here? Do you see this right here? Feel that. Do you see what
was done to me? Oh, we saw it, Lord. Do you realize what this means?
It means you have peace with God. Peace with God Almighty. Absolute peace. I took his wrath
so you now have peace, total peace. There's an old song that
says, I'll be looking for scars up in heaven. I don't believe
I'll be looking long. I believe it will be the first
thing I see. I'll be looking for scars up in heaven, scars
that love held on the tree, scars that turned judgment to mercy
for a hell deserving sinner like me. Verse 20, when he had so
said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were
the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Now this whole
scene started by the Lord telling Mary, go to my brethren and say
unto them, I ascend. I ascend. Something about that
just I don't know. Got me. I ascend. There's something deep in that.
You go tell them I, myself, I ascend. Turn with me over to Luke 24.
This is what the Lord is trying to get his disciples to understand. We're going to glory for a minute
here in his ascension. Luke 24, look at verse 36. As they thus spake, Jesus himself
stood in the midst of them and said unto them, peace be unto
you. But they were terrified and affrighted
and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them,
why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in
your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Handle me and see. For a spirit hath not flesh and
bones, as you see me have. And when he had thus spoken,
he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet
believed not for joy, they literally thought this is too good to be
true. They believed not for joy and
wondered. He said unto them, have you any
meat? And they gave him a piece of
broiled fish and of a honeycomb and he took it and he ate it
right in front of them. He's proven to them. It is I
myself. It is I. Now here's the first
thing that struck me in all of this, what our Lord told Mary
to come tell His disciples, and we're His disciples. He said,
I ascend. I ascend. Go with me to Acts
chapter 1. Acts 1 verse 9 says, And when
he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up,
and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they
looked 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, this same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you
have seen him go into heaven. This same Jesus, he said, I,
I, the one who was born in a particular city on this earth, he was born
in Bethlehem. We were all born somewhere. We
were all born somewhere. I was born in Louisiana. As he is, so are we. This same
Gabe, The same one. That's just, that's
just amazing to me. This same one. That same Dwight
right there. Very same one. I'm sure we've all asked the
question, I wonder if we'll know each other in glory the way that
we knew each other down here. Have you ever asked that question?
I wonder if we'll know each other like we did down here. This same
Jesus, as He is, so are we. Whatever
He is, that's what we're going to be. This same disciple, the
same Lord, the same disciple. He said, it is I myself. It will be I myself. I'm a soul. I used to wonder what it was
like to be you. I used to wonder what would it
be like to be somebody else. Isn't that weird? Well, I can't. I'll never know what that is.
All I can be is I myself. And it's going to be I myself.
It is I myself. Turn with me to Job 19. Job 19 verse 25. He said, For I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself. And mine eyes
shall behold and not another, though my reins be consumed within
me. And that's my favorite sinner
reference right there. It says, My reins within me are
consumed with earnest desire for that day. Just consumed with
earnest desire for that day. He said, I'm going to see him
in my flesh. It's going to be my eyes and not another. Our Lord died bearing our sin
in His body. He took our sin and He put it
in His own body. But He arose with a glorified,
sinless body. He took it, He had it, He dealt
with it, He paid for it, He put it away, and then when He arose,
it was not there anymore. He changed. His body changed,
but it was still Him. It was still Him. It was a glorified,
sinless Him. He said, It is I. The same One
you've known all this time. The very same One. Right here
are the scars from three days ago. Everything that happened
three days ago. You see them right there? It
is I. It is I. He still has those scars
in his body. He still has them. Look at Revelation
1 with me. Revelation 1 verse 7 says, Behold,
he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also
which pierced him. Pierced his hands, pierced his
feet, pierced his side, pierced his head. Revelation 5 verse
6 says, And I beheld and lo in the midst of the throne, and
of the four beasts, And in the midst of the elders stood a lamb
as it had been slain. That's what he looks like. A
lamb that was slain. You can still see his scars.
He said, I ascend. I ascend. You go tell him, I'm going up.
I am ascending. Where did he go? Where did he go? He said in John
20, I'm going to my father. I'm going to my father. That's
what he said. I'm going to my God. Where is that? Turn to Ephesians
4. Ephesians 4 verse 8 says, wherefore
he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men. This right here is his ascension.
When he ascended up, he blessed them. He gave his apostles the
power of the Holy Ghost. He said, I'm going to give you
gifts. You're going to be able to perform miracles to prove
the word of God. This is his ascension. Verse
9 says, Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended
first into the lower parts of the earth? Meaning, he came from
somewhere. That's what it means. If he ascended,
that means he descended first. He came from somewhere. Where
did he come from? Verse 10, He that descended is
the same also that ascended up Far above all heavens that He
might fill all things. Far above all heavens. Everything we can see in the
heavens, God made it all from His throne, didn't He? One man said the stars and the
planets are the dust under His throne. Everything that we can see in
the heavens, He came from a place that's far above that, much higher,
much more glorious than that. The Apostle Paul said, I was
carried up into the third heaven. That's what he said, the third
heaven. Here's what I want us to get
a hold of. This is not about prophecy. This is about glorying
in our Lord. Here's what I want us to get a hold of. It's a real
place. Our minds can't fathom that. But it's a real place. Our Lord
told the thief, that thief on the cross, and Paul told us,
I just quoted it, 2 Corinthians 12, it's paradise. That's what they both told him
at the mouth of two or three witnesses. Paul said he was caught
up into the third heaven into paradise. That's what he said.
Genesis tells us that the firmament of the heavens, God made a firmament.
You know we have a ozone layer but he made a firmament and he
put the sun and the moon and the stars and everything in the
firmament. It says in Genesis that the firmament of the heavens
divides the waters from the waters. That's what it says. He divided
the waters from the waters. He put the firmament in the midst
and he separated waters from waters. Peter, John, and Isaiah all told
us that our God will or already has created a new heaven and
a new earth. Isn't that what they said? A new heaven and a new earth. Go with me to Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65, look at verse 17. For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come
into mind. When I was studying this, it
hit me. He didn't say the people. He didn't say the people. He
said, I'm creating a new heavens and I'm creating a new earth.
And the one I'm creating is so glorious. I mean, if God says
it's paradise, the Florida Keys have nothing on this place. It's
so glorious, you'll never even think about this other earth,
the one that is absolutely drenched in sin, in death and sorrow and
crime and hate. You won't miss that place one
moment. But he said right here, I create a new heaven, a new
earth. The former shall not be remembered nor come into mind.
But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create. For behold,
I create Jerusalem rejoicing, rejoicing in her people of joy.
I'm doing this for her. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and joy in my people. And the voice of weeping shall
be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall
be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath
not filled his days. For the child shall die a hundred
years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be
accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall
plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them." I don't really know
what all that means. I don't. I have no idea. The
only thing I know to say is the Lord told His disciples, give
me a piece of fish. They gave him a piece of fish and a honeycomb.
And he said, watch this. And he says, they're going to
plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build in
another inhabit. They shall not plant in another
eat. For as the days of a tree are the days of my people, mine
elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not
labor in vain nor bring forth for trouble. They are the seed
of the blessed of the Lord. They're offspring with them.
And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer.
And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the
lamb shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like
the bullock. The dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall
not hurt nor destroy. And all my holy mountain saith
the Lord." I don't have anything to say about it. All I'm going
to do is read it, declare it. I don't see why if our Lord did
something this glorious from us, I don't see why if he took
us from all the way down there to all the way up there, he would
totally wipe our minds from the memory of what he's done for
us. I believe we'll glory in it forever. I just believe we'll
glory in it. It's glorious. It's a real place. It's a new
earth. And God has chosen to set up His kingdom on this earth. Really. Turn to Mark 16. Mark 16, look at verse 19. So then after the Lord had spoken
unto them, he was received up into heaven. Now really pay attention
to these words. He was received up into heaven
and sat on the right hand of God, sat down on his throne. As soon as he was received up
into heaven, he sat down on his throne. Go with me to John six. John 6 verse 62 says, Our Lord
said, What and if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where
He was before? What if you see me ascend up
right back to the place I was before? The Son of Man. What if you see
the Son of Man do that? That's Christ. This is a real
place. Christ did not ascend to a state
of mind. He did not ascend to a transparent
spirituality. He ascended up to the place where
he's established his kingdom. It's a place full of flesh and
bone like we see him have. As he is, so are they. Now this
was amazing to me. I'm not going to make my 28 minutes
tonight, but here's the part I was excited to tell you about. We know that he ascended up. We know that he did. Do you want
to see what happened at the exact moment that he ascended up from
the other side? Well, we know about Bethany.
We know about, you know, they all stood there doing that. What
happened at that exact moment on Glory's side? Go back over
to Acts chapter 1. Verse 2 says, until the day in
which he was taken up after that he through the Holy Ghost had
given commandments unto the apostles whom he'd chosen, to whom also
he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible
proofs being seen to them forty days, speaking of the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God, telling them about the kingdom
of God. and being assembled together
with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem,
but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have
heard from me." Now look at verse 9. And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud, a
cloud received him out of their sight, a cloud. The Lord was
lifted up from them, and a cloud came in and engulfed him, and
that cloud received him out of their sight. Okay, that's what
they saw from Bethany. Now turn with me to Daniel chapter
7. It's after Ezekiel. Daniel 7, this is Daniel's vision
of God's kingdom. The Lord told, you remember that
Gabriel came to Daniel and told him exactly when the Messiah
would be born. Messiah's coming to put away
iniquity and the Lord showed Daniel His kingdom. Verse 9,
Daniel said, I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the
ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and
the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was like a fiery
flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and
came forth from before him. Thousands, thousands ministered
unto him, and 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. The judgment
was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then, because of the
voice of the great words which the horn spake, I beheld even
till the beast was slain and his body destroyed and given
to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the
beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were
prolonged for a season and a time." Now watch this, verse 13. I saw in the night visions, and
behold, one like the Son of Man, came with clouds, the clouds
of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him
near before Him, and there was given Him dominion and glory
and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should
serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed. That's what happened. That's what happened. He left
Bethany, Israel, or Bethany, Jerusalem, wherever that is.
And the clouds carried Him far above the heavens, straight to
the throne of His Father. And he was immediately awarded
all the glory and honor and inheritance that he earned. Every bit of
it that he earned. Dominion, glory, and a kingdom. Immediately. As soon as he was
carried back up to where he was before. Now watch this, okay?
I'll close with this. Here is the announcement. Here
is the announcement of the event from glory as it was happening.
Turn with me to Psalm 24. Here is the announcement from
glory of the event as it was happening. Psalm 24 verse 3 says,
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand
in his holy place. 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 from the Lord and
righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation
of them that seek him. that seek thy face, O Jacob."
And the center reference says, O God of Jacob. Now watch this,
verse 7, the announcement goes forth. Lift up your heads, O
ye gates, and 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. 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. Isn't that wonderful? The announcement
went out, the gates opened wide. The Son of Man came riding in
the clouds. Went straight up to the throne
of his father and he immediately received all the glory due to
his name. Everything said, get ready, the
king is coming. Lift up your heads. Who ascended?
He said, I ascend. Where did he go? He went to his
father where he was before. What happened when he ascended,
he was immediately awarded all glory and honor. He was despised
and rejected down here, but soon as crowned him with many crowns. And I'm going to close with this.
What's his promise to us? This is what he said. He said,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. He said, in my father's house are many mansions that
were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go, I will come again
and receive you unto myself. That where I am, it's a real
place. There you may be also. And that makes me just want to
go, that's amazing to me. Come quickly, Lord. Amen. All right, let's stand together.