Thank you, Matt. Ephesians, this
evening, chapter four. Please turn with me to Ephesians,
chapter four. I'm going to read just two or
three verses of scripture from chapter four of Ephesians, beginning
at verse eight. Wherefore, he saith, when he
ascended up on the high, he laid captivity captive and gave gifts
unto men. And then the writer of the epistle,
the Spirit of God has him put these words in parentheses. Now
he that ascended, what is it? but that he also descended first
into the lowest parts of the earth. He that descended is the
same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might
fill all things. And he gave some apostles and
some disciples prophets and some evangelists and some pastors
and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we
all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ, and I'll stop our reading there
with that verse. I want to speak to you tonight
on Christ ascended. Let's talk about the ascension
of our Lord Jesus, but as I noted, especially in this reading, in
order to speak of our Lord being ascended, it would be necessary
at least to some degree to speak of his dissension that he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Now that humiliation, his dissension,
was absolutely necessary. It's necessary for several reasons. Number one, that he might satisfy
justice in the room instead of his people. You see, when When
man sinned against God, justice cried out loud for vengeance
against all offenders. Not just for some offenders,
but justice demanded vengeance against all offenders of God. We're all offenders, did you
know that? We've offended God by our sins. Well, the Lord Jesus came into
this world not on behalf of all offenders, but on the behalf
of a remnant according to the election of grace. A good portion
of the offenders Christ came as surety, as substitute, and
as sacrifice. And by His humiliation, by His
own dissension, He answered all the demands of justice for all
of His chosen people. We have a Savior. Thank God we
have a Savior, one who stood in our place One who answered
every demand of God's law and God's justice. One who took our
whipping for us. He said in nearly his last breath
from the cross of Calvary, he said, it is finished. The work
of redemption, the work of salvation, the work of reconciliation was
finished to the satisfaction of God himself. Nothing can ever
be taken away from that satisfaction. Nothing can ever be added to
that satisfaction. Our Lord finished the work that
the Father gave him to do, even as the Savior stated in his high
priestly prayer in John 17, and as he stated from the cross of
Calvary in John 19.30, it is finished. He satisfied justice. Secondly,
he humbled himself in order to confirm and seal his New Testament
with his own blood. Before the world was ever made,
God Almighty entered into a covenant, Father, Son, and Spirit, on behalf
of a chosen people that God loved with an everlasting love. Our
Lord Jesus in that testament was himself to be the testator. Having written his last will
in testament before the world began, he came into this world
to seal his will, his last will in testament, by his humiliation
and by the shedding of his own blood. He said in the Lord's
Supper and instituting the Lord's Supper, he said, this is the
New Testament in my blood. Most people don't know that there's
the New Testament in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Most
people don't understand that he laid down his life because
he had purposed in old eternity to do that. They lay the blame,
they lay the accusation for his death against others, but there
is usually no mention whatsoever of the fact that our Lord Jesus,
he came into this world to die. He came to save his people. This
was what he ordained before the world began. In his last will
and testament, he ordained those who would be the recipients of
the blessings of his death. He ordained who those would be
that would benefit from his death. He ordained what the benefits
of his death would be. And then he died and sealed,
he sealed his own New Testament with his own blood. Thirdly,
why was he humiliated that he might conquer and subdue the
devil? The malicious enemy of God and
of mankind used trickery, he used subtlety, he used deceit
when it came to our Mother Eve. Now Adam was not deceived. The
scripture says that. But Eve was. And Satan, as it
were, manipulated her into doing that which God had forbidden
for the man to do. She deliberately, she willfully
took that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
and so defied God. But nothing happened to Adam. because Eve was not his representative. Nothing happened to mankind because
Eve represented nobody. The representative of the human
race was Adam. He was what the theologians called
the federal head of mankind. He was the first Adam, and he
was the representative man. It fell to him, therefore, to
commit that treasonous act against God that fatally plunged all
of the human race into a state of death and depravity, and but
for the grace of God, a state of damnation for all of Adam's
race. Our Lord came to defeat the serpent. He came to crush his head. In
fact, our Lord Jesus, the son of God, in Genesis chapter three
and verse 15, he preached the first gospel sermon. And he referred
to himself as being the seed of the woman who would come. and crushed the serpent's head.
Our Savior had to humiliate himself. He had to descend from his high
and glorious throne. He had to take upon himself the
form of a servant and be obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross, in order to crush the head of the serpent. He had to die. because the death
of our Lord Jesus was that fatal blow to the enemy of our souls,
even the devil. I know the devil entered into
the heart of Judas, leading that man to betray the Lord Jesus
Christ. I know the devil worked through
the hearts of the Sanhedrin But all along, it wasn't merely the
devil working, but over and above all things was the purpose of
God, which is always at work, and certainly was at work in
the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. And you see, Satan,
in devising all of these things that would bring about the death
of Jesus of Nazareth, he was scheming in his own mind and
in his own evil heart to defy God himself. But in his defiance
was his own defeat. It's like Haman. who wound up
being hanged on his own gallows. For that which Satan desired
and designed in the death of Jesus of Nazareth was in fact
the death of Satan himself. And our Lord took him captive.
He put a chain around his neck and the God-man rules over him. But in order to rule over him
as the God-man, he had to humble himself and become obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Why did our Lord humble
himself? That he might finish transgressions
and put an end to sin and take away all the terrible effects
of sin. A glorious verse in Romans chapter
8 and verse 3, for what the law could not do in that it was weak
through the flesh, God, listen, God sending his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, and for sin. Well, what did he do about sin? He condemned it. The scripture
says, in his flesh. Our Lord humbled himself to die
the death of the cross in order to rescue you and me. Nothing
else would satisfy God. Nothing else could put away our
sins. No other offering could ever
do the job. In Hebrews chapter 10, Paul says
the blood of bulls and goats could never put away sin. Rivers
of of blood flowed from the brazen altar in the Old Testament, first
at the tabernacle and then in the temple. Over and over, animals
were sacrificed to God, but all of them together could never
remove even one sin from the mind and memory of God. That sin was always present. It had not been erased. It had
not been washed away. Therefore, the Savior had to
descend. Because no other sacrifice would
do. No other blood could wash away
sins. Just the blood of the Son of
God. Therefore, he had to humble himself
and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Why did he humble himself? that he might deliver us from
the curse of the law that we had broken and from the wrath
of God. Thank God we read in Galatians
chapter three that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law by being made a curse for us. Paul says in First Thessalonians
chapter one in verse 10, Jesus delivered us from the wrath to
come. there can be no wrath to any
of the people of God. The full storm of God's vengeance,
of God's wrath fell upon our substitute. Not one drop of wrath
can ever fall upon any of the people of God. Our Lord absorbed
it all. He took it all. As He said to
those who came to arrest Him, He said, if you seek me, let
these go their way. And the law of God came seeking
us. And Christ said, let them go.
Take me. Take me. I'll bear the vengeance
of a broken law. I'll bear the vengeance of the
curse of the law. all of the fiery darts of God's
wrath, let them aim at my soul, my holy soul, but let these go
their way. That is the doctrine of substitution. That's why he had to humble himself. Why did he have to humble himself?
That he might bring all of his people into a full possession
of immortal glory. He saw us wallowing in sin and
in misery. And he knew we could do nothing
to stop our fatal plunge toward hell. And he so pitied us. He so loved us. He had so much
compassion for us. He said, Take me. Take me. Take my life. I lay it down. I lay it down
voluntarily. I will give myself a ransom for
these whom I love. And by my death, they will be
saved. And he satisfied divine justice. He subdued our enemies. He abolished
all of our sins and He abolished death for us. He rescued us from
hell itself and made us fit. Listen to this, He made us fit
and worthy to sit with Him in glory. And even though we still
acknowledge and feel and are miserable about our own sins
and we confess our sins. We confess our sins and God's
faithful and just forgive us our sins because the sacrifices
died for us. But we know that by his death,
he not only put away something, but he brought in something for
us. He put away our sins. They're
gone. They're not in the record books
of God. There is nothing negative beside
your name in the Lamb's Book of Life. Rather, you are made
the righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you will
be rewarded for that righteousness, which is not of your own doing,
but was graciously imputed to you. by your kind and compassionate
and loving Savior. Our Lord humbled himself for
you, for me. And I, as I was preparing this
message, I thought, Lord, would you impress upon my heart and
upon the hearts of those who will hear me of how much our
Savior gave, how low he had to stoop, how much he had to humble
himself, how low he had to descend in order to take us up to glory. It is a marvelous salvation and
a glorious Savior by whom we're saved. Now, he who descended for us,
descended all the way to the grave, he died. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures, is what the book of God says. But he was
raised again because of our justification. And that was the first step of
his exaltation. His resurrection, you see, was
the reuniting of his soul to his body. When our Lord Jesus
died, his body was buried in a borrowed tomb. But his soul
never lost consciousness as the souls of his people never lose
consciousness when we leave this world. It would be said, it could be
said about our Savior, which is true of all of His people,
He was absent from the body, present in paradise. And at His resurrection, His
soul was joined back to a glorified body. that don't make the mistake
that some people have made. They think that at His death,
His divinity and His humanity were divided, and then at His
resurrection, His divinity and His humanity came back together. That is not right. Our Lord cannot
be divided. He is forever the God-man. Make sure you understand this.
When our Lord Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary, when that
body that God had prepared for Him, according to Hebrews 10,
when that body was formed and fashioned in her womb by the
very power of the Holy Ghost, it was then that God and man
were forever joined together. And when He died, there was no
division of Himself. That is, there was no division
of His divine nature from His human nature. The God-man lived,
the God-man died, and the God-man arose, and the God-man ever lives
to make intercession for us. There is in heaven a man, a real
man, In fact, he's the only man that has ever gone to heaven
by the power of his own work. All who preceded him in going
to heaven were sons of God. And then he laid down his life
willingly and voluntarily on the behalf of his people. He
suffered all of the hell that all of His people would have
suffered forever. He suffered it in His own soul. His own soul. And when His soul
was joined back to His body and He arose, there's never going
to be any division of that God-man. The Scripture says He ever lives.
to make intercession for us. You see, the resurrection of
our Lord Jesus is a key truth of the scriptures. I challenge
you, as you read through the book of Acts, I challenge you
to find the words, the love of God in the book of Acts. Now, it's evident but it's not
stated. But I'll tell you what is stated
over and over and over again, the resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The whole book of Acts, the entirety
of the book, all 28 chapters, records the acts of the resurrected
Savior by the very power of His Holy Spirit using earthen vessels
to accomplish his purpose. The effects of his resurrection
are just this. It shows that he made complete
satisfaction for our sins. Our Lord Jesus, when he arose
from the grave, he could have pulverized that
stone that they rolled in front of his tomb, that stone that
was sealed with the signet of Pilate and of the Roman emperor. Our Lord, by His mighty power,
He who laid down His life, He says, I have the power to lay
it down, I have the power to take it again. He could have
crushed that stone into smithereens, but He didn't. Rather, God rolled
the stone away as though stating this, the prisoner has served
his time. He has paid his debt, not to
society, but to divine justice. Let the prison door open. He's
not going to break out. He's going to be released. Because
the full indebtedness of his people had been paid, he paid
to the last farthing everything we owed to divine justice. And his resurrection in such
a glorious way proved that. And the God-man came out of the
tomb. And his resurrection declared
that as his body was raised a glorified body, so ours will be raised
a glorified body. As I say, he's the only man who's
ever gone to glory upon the basis of that which he did. We go to
glory, but it's on the basis of what he did, what he did. Well, having risen from the dead,
40 days later, he ascended back to heaven. And when he ascended back to
heaven, as is stated here in Ephesians chapter 4, he led captivity
captive. Picture in your mind a public
triumphant parade of a Roman commander. He has defeated his
enemies. He has captured the generals
of the opposing army. He has taken those generals and
those lesser officers and soldiers. He has taken them into captivity
and put them all in chains. And as was typical back in those
days, the victor would parade the captives through the streets
in a very public manner. These are the ones that I've
conquered. Look at them now, humiliated
before me, humbled before me. See them in chains, the defeated
ones. I defeated them. That's what
our Lord has done. That's what's being stated here
in Ephesians chapter four. He's taking captivity captive. Those who had captured us, our enemies, the world, and sin,
and Satan, and death, and the grave. All of the enemies that
had captured us or would capture us, our Lord has captured them. And he exposed them as being
conquered by his own power and might. As he ascended up to heaven,
he led captivity captive. I'll tell you something else
about his ascension. He did not ascend until he had
spent 40 days with his disciples. He had an unparalleled love for
his own, and he spent a great deal of time preparing them for
his departure. The weakness of his disciples
required his presence a little longer. Though indescribable glory awaited
him, though the angelic praises were ready to sound out throughout
the heavens, the Savior said, not yet, not yet. These men need me. They need my instruction. they'd
need my comfort. He would not leave them until
he had prepared them for the things that awaited them. Yes,
his coronation was appointed for him when he would be crowned
the king, when he would take his seat at the right hand of
the majesty on high, when God would say, this is my son, Rule
the world. Tell them, make your enemies
your footstool. All of that awaited him, but he said, not yet. These men, they require my presence. And you read in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, he appeared over and over again. to people who
believed him and loved him. And one time, he appeared to
over 500 people at once. To reassure them, it is I. I'm the same one. He reassured them that he ever
lived to make intercession for them. And then he ascended in
his body to show the disciples the truth of his real humanity. Turn back to the book of Acts
with me. I made mention of the book of
Acts. Look at Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. Our Lord had been preaching to
them. And some of the very last words
that he said to his disciples in Acts chapter one in verse
eight are these, but ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto
me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and
in the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken
these things, While they beheld, he was taken up, and the 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, the same one
who was born in a manger, the same one who grew up in Galilee,
this same Jesus, who went about doing good. This same Jesus who
proved he was the servant of God and equal with God by all
the miracles that he did. This same Jesus who laid down
his life for his people. This same Jesus who redeemed
us by his blood. This same Jesus who gave up his life for those
he loved. 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 same Jesus. The scripture says, and if you
notice this word, he's received. It says in verse nine, a cloud
received him out of their sight. Look over at chapter three. Here's
a verse of scripture I was looking at this afternoon, and it's a
blessed verse, as they all are, in Acts chapter three. Speaking of our Lord Jesus, Acts
3, 21, whom the heaven must receive. Underline that word must. whom
the heaven must receive unto the times of restitution or restoration,
the restoration of all things which God hath spoken by the
mouth of all of his holy prophets since the world began, whom the
heaven must receive. The heaven must receive him.
The heaven must accept him. The heaven must welcome him back. Why must heaven receive him? Because he finished the work
that God gave him to do. Because he put away the sins
of all of his people. The heaven must receive him.
This is his reward. This is his exaltation. He ascends to become universal
Lord. Peter said back in Acts chapter
2, the people of Israel crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, but he
said, whom you crucified, God made Him Lord in Christ. The
heaven must receive Him because everything demanded of Him, He
had successfully accomplished, so heaven must receive Him. and
receive him the heaven did. That's his exaltation. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
10. Hebrews chapter 10. I'll just
give you a few verses on this. By the way, Mark says that he
was received Our Lord was received or accepted or welcomed. Paul
said the same thing in 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16. He was received
up into glory. In other words, and I'll read
this here in a minute, he did not ascend to take something,
take possession of something that he did not deserve. He was sent on a mission. That's
the reason He joined His deity to humanity. He came to do the
work the Father assigned to Him to do, assigned that work in
the covenant of grace before the world began. And having done
that work to the satisfaction of God, having fully accomplished the
work to the satisfaction of God, He was received. He had to be
received back to heaven. That's the reward for his faithfulness. That's his exaltation. Here in
Hebrews chapter 10, it says this, verse 11. And every priest standeth
daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices
which can never take away sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. He ascended and sat down. Turn
back a page or two to chapter nine. Look at chapter nine, verse
24. Why did he ascend? Watch this.
For Christ, chapter nine, verse 24, for Christ is not entered
into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures
of the true, but into heaven itself. This is a real ascension
into a real place by a real man. This was not a mystic thing. He didn't become invisible. The
disciples saw their Savior, they saw Him flesh and bones, and
He ascended back to heaven where He was received. He was received,
He entered into the holy places. not made with hands. He's not
entered into the holy place made with hands, which are the figures
of the true, but into heaven itself. Now to appear in the
presence of God for us. Why did he ascend? He ascended
for us, for us, to be our advocate, to be our lawyer, And our advocate,
our lawyer, has many clients, and I'm one of them. And he represents
my interest and your interest before the throne of God. And
he rules over all things, this ascended Lord, he rules over
all things so that he is working everything together for our good
as our advocate. and as our sovereign king. Yes, we have a representative
in heaven. We have an advocate with the
Father, 1 John 2, even Jesus Christ the righteous. He's gone home to glory. And
let me show you a verse over here that Matt read to us in
Psalm 47. In Psalm 47, I won't keep you
much longer, but look at Psalm 47 and verse five. Psalm 47 and verse five. God has gone up with a shout. Who has gone up? Who ascended? God did. Oh, I thought you said
he was a man, Christ Jesus. He's the God-man. He's the God-man
and he's gone up amidst the shouts of heaven and the Lord, the Lord
with the sound of the trumpet. And isn't it interesting that
the shouts that welcomed the Savior home to glory, were the
same voices, no doubt, the voice of the angels who shouted and
sang when he came to the earth in the first place. In Luke chapter
2, the angels filled the skies and sang his praises, all the
shouts of glory, when the Son of God condescended and took
upon himself human flesh. all the songs of joy among the
angels as they praise God. And these same voices are heard
when the Savior ascended back to heaven, when he went up with
a shout, the Lord with the sound of the trumpet. And that's gonna
happen when he comes again too. There'll be the shout of the
archangel and the trumpet of God shall sound when the Son
of God comes back to this earth. Our Savior, you see, was triumphant
in the battle. He won the victory. I'll tell
you what the Ascension means real quick. He is the victorious
king. He's been crowned with glory
and honor. Heaven is his throne. The earth
is his footstool. And our Lord Jesus rules over
all things with absolute authority. The whole world is under the
authority of his kingship. The curse of the law has been
consumed by our conquering king. The sin that once had enslaved
us has been drowned in the Savior's blood. And Satan, who once held
us captive, is himself being held captive by the perfect man,
the God-man, Christ Jesus. And death, which once had power
over all flesh, has been defeated by our savior. I can almost hear
him crying out as he came forth from the grave. O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? And I'll tell you what his ascension
means. God has accepted him. God has accepted the head of
the church, the head of the body, and if God has accepted the head,
he has likewise accepted the body. The scripture says we're
accepted in the beloved. Doesn't say that he made us acceptable,
and it doesn't say anything about us accepting him. You see, all
of our acceptance with God is dependent upon this. Has God
accepted our Savior? And His ascension is a strong,
a powerful, and an everlasting declaration by God Himself. I have accepted Him. I have received
Him. And I'll tell you, if He's received
our Savior, He's received us too. And someday we shall leave this
world, and we shall be with him, face to face with Christ our
Savior. He who descended has ascended,
for he finished the work that God gave him to do, and we rest
our souls in him. And I say to all of us, I say
to you who are watching, cease from your labors trying to please
God and make yourself acceptable to God. Cease from your labor
and rest. Can you rest in the Lord Jesus
Christ who has himself entered into his rest in glory?