Here is one account of the ascension
of our Lord from Luke in his Gospel chapter 50 and following. Now, the Lord has been resurrected. He has spent a few days, made
a few appearances among the disciples here and there. And then we read
after that, verse 50, And he led them out as far as Bethany,
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 were continually in the temple
praising and blessing God. Amen. Now, we look at verse 51
again. While He blessed them, He was
parted from them and was carried up into heaven. Now, it is true
that in a very recent sermon from John chapter 17, we brush
indeed very close to this particular subject of the glorification
of the Lord this morning. This spoke of the glorification
of the Lord, and then it was extended into His ascension. There is more truth to be considered,
and we will do that this morning. In light of the ascension, there
are many great things to be said. Not only that, but there is great
and wonderful doctrine. that is to be had in connection
with the ascension of our Lord. For He did not simply go and
disappear and retire, but carries on a mighty, mighty work. So now we consider it more extensively. As the Lord neared His death,
He began speaking to His disciples and apostles, preparing them
for that time when He would go to Jerusalem, be delivered into
the hands of the Gentiles, and would be crucified. He emphasized
to them a couple of things. Number one, He emphasized to
them that He would be betrayed, that He would be killed, that
He would be crucified after the Roman manor, and that it would
occur at Jerusalem. Again, that He would return to
the Father, and that He would send them another Comforter who
would abide with Him forever. In John 14, 15, and 16, you see
that teaching of our Lord. Now, it is true that in both
of these things, the disciples were very slow in their understanding. They heard Him speak of His death,
and yet in Mark 9 and 32, they understood not the saying, and were afraid
to ask Him. Again in John 16, when in the
close of the upper room discourse and nearing the end of that,
the Lord told them that He would go away, but that He would send
unto them another Comforter who would abide with them forever. He would take the things of God
and He would show it unto them or reveal it unto them. But they could not again grasp
the meaning or the significance of this teaching or the Word
of our Lord as seen in John 16 and verse 16 through verse 21. Thus it was to accommodate their
lack of understanding, the Lord Jesus graciously managed his
departure for their understanding and their spiritual insight.
He did it in such a way that it would be an eyewitness to
them and that they might believe it. Number one, he did not ascend
directly from the grave to the right hand of God and take his
mediatorial seat directly from the grave. He did not go to heaven
as soon as He arose out of the grave. He appeared to them on
occasion and confirmed to them that it was He and that He lived
again. Secondly, He granted them the
privilege of being eyewitnesses to the actual ascension of Himself
to heaven. Now, two gospels, Mark and Luke,
close their accounts of their gospel with a short but brief
account of the ascension of the Lord. Mark in chapter 16 and
verse 19, and Luke in the chapter and verses that we have read
this morning. Again, there is a fuller account
in the book of Acts chapter 1 and verses 8 through 11. So ere our Lord ascended, the
Lord blessed them. He comforted them before He went
away. He promised them the Holy Spirit
in Acts 1 and verse 8. And then was taken up in a cloud,
and that cloud received Him out of their sight. They watched
Him go up until He was out of sight in the cloud. Then in Acts
1 verse 10 and verse 11, there came two men, angels, that tell
them, This same Jesus, whom you have seen go into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven. Now the message is twice repeated. He has gone into heaven. In other words, He has not whisked
off to another location or another town upon the earth. He is not
simply taken here and transferred to some other place upon the
earth. That put me in the mind of a
passage in 2 Kings 2, verse 16 and verse 18. You remember when
Elijah the great prophet was taken up in a whirlwind and went
up And the sons of the prophets who saw or knew about it urged
Elisha, who was his successor, to send out a search party. And they said this, quote, Last
peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, cast
him on some mountain or into some valley, unquote. And the
fools ran around for three days. a search party for the prophet
Elijah. And you remember that Enoch,
the seventh from Adam, was translated and did not see death. Genesis
5 and 24, Hebrews 11 and verse 5. That such a translation almost
defies our ability to believe. And here they stand, their eyes
fixed upon Him, perhaps their mouth gaped open in amazement,
seeing the Lord go up, leaving the earth, going up, up, up,
up, until finally the clouds hid Him out of their sight. And the disciples confirmed then
the ascension of the Lord, for they had been eyewitnesses of
this great thing. Concerning the ascension, what
are the implications that our Lord has gone up or returned
to heaven? What are the related doctrines
that stand connected unto this and must not be disconnected? We ask the question, has Christ,
number one, gone to heaven again, having finished His work forever,
and there to do nothing but repose in His glory? Or secondly, has
He returned to work the salvation of the people of God? And thirdly,
to send down the Spirit of God upon His people? How do we know
that the Lord Jesus Christ has gone to heaven? How do we know
that the Lord has arrived in heaven? And how do we know that
the Lord has received that former glory. How do we know that He
is with the Father in the throne and at the right hand of God? Well, I submit to you that the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the blessed manner of Pentecost
is an indisputable confirmation that He not only has gone to
heaven and arrived, but is carrying on a mediatorial ministry there
at the right hand of the Father. Consider in that light Acts chapter
2 and verse 33. Peter is preaching on Pentecost
after the great outpouring of the Spirit, and he tells his
hearers in Acts 2 and verse 33 that what had just happened,
had been accomplished by the risen and exalted Christ, the
One that they had crucified and God had raised again from the
dead and set Him down at His own right hand in the heaven. And here's what Peter said, Him
being exalted by the right hand of God has received the promise
from God and has shed forth this which ye now see and hear." That
is, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the manner at Pentecost. First, let us remember the times
the Lord did promise to send the Blessed Spirit upon His people. John 14, 16 through verse 18. He said something like this,
I will pray the Father and He will give you another Comforter
that He may abide with you forever." The Spirit of Truth, he called
Him, to dwell in you, and He said, I will not leave you comfortless,
and the margin has the word orphans. I will not leave you as orphans. Again in John 14 and verse 26,
the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
my name, he will teach you all things. John 15 and verse 26,
he says to them, When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto
you from the Father, the Spirit of truth which proceeds from
the Father. John 16 and 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient,
that is, some render it profitable. It is to your advantage that
I go away. For if I do not go away, the
Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will
send Him unto you." Now, we had said back in verse 5, he had
said rather back in verse 5, I am going my way to Him that
sent me, and none of you are asking me where are you going. He says, I have spoken to you
that I am going away, and none of you ask me where it is that
I am going. It seems like this is a mild
rebuke unto the disciples of our Lord. He is constantly telling
them that he would leave them, that he would go away, and yet
they had not sought a fuller explanation of such an amazing
thing. Sure it is true that Peter had
asked in John 13 and verse 36, Lord, whither go thou? Where are you going? It is also
true that Thomas' response was in John 14, And verse 5, Lord,
we know not where you are going, and how can we know the way? The Jews in John 7 and verse
35 said, Where will he go that we cannot find him? He had said
to them, Whither I go you cannot come. And they wonder, Where
will he go that we cannot find him? Now the Lord must depart
the world not only by death, but by entering into heaven. And he must do that for and in
order for the Spirit of God to come and be poured out in the
fullness as it was at Pentecost. It was expedient and expedient
on several accounts that Jesus enter into heaven, that He dwell
there, on the right hand of God and His throne, which we will
consider some of them soon in our study, such as our Lord has
gone there to intercede. He has gone there to present
Himself and His offering unto the Father. He has gone there
within the Holy of Holies to be our great High Priest. He is there to be our Advocate
and to advocate in our behalf. He is there, in short, to administer
the covenant of grace and of salvation. There's also a very
close connection between the glorification of the Lord and
the effusion of the Spirit as on Pentecost, as well as a connection
between the atonement and the regeneration and indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. Now, let's look at a passage
in John chapter 7, and it will be verse 37 through verse 39,
if you choose to turn there. The words of Jesus, and these
were spoken toward or in the end of the Feast of Tabernacles,
when many Jews and visitors were in the city for the celebration
of the Feast of Tabernacle. And toward the end of that, our
Lord stood and He said this, He that believes on Me, out of
his belly, or out of his inner being, shall flow rivers of living
water. And how often John does this,
he gives us an expository or explanatory note. John says to
us, John 7, 37-39, he said Jesus spoke this of the Spirit. That when Jesus said, who is
thirsting, let him come unto me and be drinking and be leaving,
then a river flowing out of their innermost being shall come in. John says, This is a reference
to the Spirit. This, he said, concerning the
Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and the graces which the Spirit instills
and imparts, and to such as believe on Him, or would later believe
upon the Lord. Then John makes a statement that
is both amazing and perplexing and is done in explanatory fashion
for the benefit of the readers. John connects the giving of the
Spirit with the glorification of the God-man. He does that,
saying in John 7.39, the Spirit was not yet given. Given is in italics, I believe,
in some versions in the King James, I know. The Holy Spirit
was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Now you'll note in the King James,
as I said, the translation has added the word given as a supplement
and probably is the correct thought. It would be an error here to
conclude that John is saying that the Holy Spirit was not
yet in existence. Not yet, the Spirit. It would
be an error to think that the Holy Spirit had not yet an existence. Not having been up until this
point. For the Spirit is called the
Eternal Spirit in Hebrews 9 and verse 14. For the Spirit it was. who breathed upon creation in
Genesis chapter 1 and verse 2. In the very beginning of the
Bible, we meet the blessed third person of the Trinity, the Holy
Spirit of God. Then let us not forget that it
was the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, that inspired holy men to write
the writings of the Scripture. Let us not forget, it was the
Holy Spirit that conceived the humanity of our Lord in the womb
of Mary. Luke 1 and verse 35. So, John is not saying that the
Spirit was not yet an existing entity. But he is establishing,
on the other hand, the connection between the effusion of the Spirit
and the glorification of Christ. Or let me turn them around. The
glorification of Christ and the effusion of the Spirit. Now, just as the Son, the Lord
Jesus, existed before His incarnation, but was not yet so fully manifested
on the earth until He came wearing the likeness of our flesh. Even
so, the Spirit existed from eternity, but was not so fully manifested
as on the day of Pentecost and thereafter." And what might John
have in mind as being the glorification of the God-man that would enable
the coming of the Spirit? How was Jesus glorified in the
sense of John. What does it consist of? It occurred
in connection with the ascension of our Lord and His removal from
the earth to the right hand of God. And how could it better
be summed up than I found done so by the prolific Puritan writer,
John Owen, in three things. Number one, the glorification
of His humanity, that the glorification of the humanity of the Lord occurred. His humanity, you know, was not
jettisoned when He went back to heaven to be in the presence
of the Father. He was not separated from it
in heaven. It was taken into perpetual subsistence
with Himself as the God-man mediator. And as long as he stands as the
mediator, he hath in subsistence with him that humanity, but glorified
humanity as he enters into heaven. Secondly, there was the mediatorial
exaltation of our Lord by which he is made Lord and Christ. Acts 2 verse 36, He is given
a name that is above every name, and at which every knee should
bow." Philippians 2, 9 through 11. He is highly exalted. John Eady called this, quote,
a supreme exaltation, unquote. The word exalted in Philippians
chapter 2 and verse 9 means to raise up or it means to elevate. It means to advance above and
beyond others. It means to give to one the highest
position that might be bestowed. Paul, as it were, doubles it. Not just exalted, he said, but
highly exalted. And this exaltation is not just
in height or in distance. The exaltation does not consist
simply in height or in distance. But honor and glory and power
and authority and sovereignty and lordship and might and dominion
is given Him over all of the creation of God. Now concerning
those words in John 7 and verse 39, making the connection between
the coming of the Spirit and the glorification of the Lord
Jesus Christ, One of the best commentaries on that is the passage
that we referred to in Acts chapter 2 and verse 33, that at the Feast
of Tabernacle, the Holy Spirit had not yet been diffused in
its fullness as He would be, because the Lord was not yet
glorified. But then at Pentecost, The Holy
Spirit came as a result of Jesus being exalted to the right hand
of God. Peter said, He has shed forth
this which ye now see and hear. Because He has gone up and is
exalted, He received from the Father the promise and has shed
forth this which we have experienced. Peter's points are Yes, he was
put to death and he saw no corruption. Yes, he was raised again. And where is he now? At the right
hand of God, exalted is our Lord. And consider, when our surety,
that is the Lord Jesus Christ, had died and been shut up in
a tomb, when our great surety was let out of prison, It was
proof that He had settled our debt and that God had accepted
it. And when the Spirit came in the
manner that it came upon Pentecost, it was proof that our Lord had
arrived in heaven, had been exalted and glorified, and had poured
out the Spirit. But we go to the other aspects
of the ascension of the Lord. Let's consider a puzzling text. At least, it is puzzling unto
me. It is found in John's Gospel,
and it is in the 20th chapter. And if we turn there, we find
a quick summation of the events immediately following the resurrection,
John chapter 20. In verse 1, Mary Magdalene, who
had been wondrously converted to our Lord. She came early to
the grave while it was yet dark, the Gospel said, and she found
the stone rolled away, and she found the tomb to be empty. Then in the second verse, she
runs all out of breath and excited as fast as she can in verse 2
that she might convey the message to Peter and to John, leading
apostles. Then in verse 3 through verse
10, they, Peter and John, hasten to the grave where our Lord had
been laid. And coming there, they find nothing
but the stone rolled away and nothing in the grave but the
grave clothes and the linen that had been put around our Lord
to prepare Him for death. And then for some reason, after
a while, the Scripture says they return home again. Then in v. 11-18, Mary has an encounter
with the Lord whom she did not recognize. At first she thought
Him to be the gardener and said to Him, Have You taken Him away? Where have You laid Him? Show
me where You have laid Him. V. 16, Jesus is there, calls
her by name, And she recognizes the Lord and turns and calls
Him in the Hebrew, Rabboni, or Master, Teacher, the gill thought
that signified Lord and Master as she spoke to Him, Lord of
the world. And some are of the opinion from
what is said in this text that she may have fallen down at the
feet of our Lord and grasped the Lord's feet as she had done
when He was yet alive. She may have done that. Some
demonstration of her joy or her enthusiasm with a showing of
grasping or something of that nature. Because some versions
of the Scripture, such as the New Geneva Study Bible, King
James Version, Render the first words of verse 17 like this,
Do not cling to me. Others you will find it, Stop
clinging to me. Do not touch me. We have it here. And the reason he gives is not
easy for us to explain at all. And that's proven by the fact
that so many expositors have so little to say upon this verse
17. I wanted them to tell me and
to help me. Some of them had so little to
say. Spend so little time upon the
words of our Lord. He says to her, don't cling to
me, or stop clinging to me. Don't touch me, for I have not
yet ascended to my Father. And it says, I ascend to my God
and your God my Father and your Father. Don't touch me. Don't
cling to me. But go and tell my brethren that
I ascend to my Father, because a short time later, our Lord
allowed Thomas to touch him in the wounds of his hand and of
his side. Some have concluded because of
that, don't touch me to Mary, touch me to Thomas, They concluded
that our Lord ascended to heaven in that interval as if to present
Himself in the sacrifice and the blood before the God of all
of our salvation, and then returned again unto the earth. This does
not suit most Calvinistic expositor as the footnote in the New Geneva
Bible on John 20 and 17 has this to say, quote, there is no reason
to suppose that Jesus ascended to the Father between His encounters
with Mary and with Thomas, unquote. Now the question is, can we somehow
get inside of the mind of this disciple Mary? Whether we are
helped then by the words that our Lord speaks unto her. Her fault was not that she would
honor Him, or worship the risen Lord, or even that she touched
Him, or that there was anything inappropriate or unseemly in
her action, or toward the touching of Him. For shortly after, in
Matthew 28 and verse 9, He allowed women women in the plural, to hold
him by the feet and to worship him. And John 20 and verse 27,
he had Thomas to thrust his finger or his hand into the wounds in
his hands and in his side. The words of Jesus in this occasion
are a strong hint as to the mind of Mary. And I think it is her
that we need to look into if we possibly can. And for what
it is worth, methinks that those expositors are near the mark
who think that Mary saw no further than the resurrection, the return
to life of our Lord. I'll say it again. Perhaps Mary
saw no further. Perhaps that's all the light
that she had at the time and saw no further than the resurrection. And Jesus knew her mind. Graciously, tenderly, He corrects
her, as if she thought her Lord and Master, now raised from the
dead, would remain on earth and dwell among them and simply pick
up where He had left off, as if before. He would never be
taken away again. As if His resurrection was the
fullness of His exaltation that He spoke to them over and over
about. After all, He said, I will die
and after three days I will rise again. Now that He had gotten
up out of the grave, out of the tomb, perhaps it was As Richard
Sibbes, an old-time writer, said, quote, Mary was too much addicted
to the bodily presence of Jesus, unquote. She and also His brethren
must come to the knowledge that Jesus, by dying and by living
again, had entered into the next or the new state of his mediatorial
work in behalf of his people. For after his resurrection and
after his ascension to the right hand of the Father, he is entered
into, and shall we call it, the second half of his priestly work. He is now engaged in that, in
the holy of holies, in the very presence of God. This twofold
aspect of the priest's work is typified by the high priest Aaron
under the Old Covenant, or the First Testament. Remember what
Aaron did? First, he made an offering for
sin at the altar he slew the sacrifice. Then he entered with
that blood into the Most Holy Place to sprinkle it upon the
mercy seat, and there with the tribes of Israel upon his breast,
his priestly garment, he made intercession, sprinkling the
blood upon the mercy seat. And as the priest went into the
tabernacle, he went out of the presence or the sight of the
people. He could not be seen anymore
as he entered in behind the veil to engage in their behalf before
God as our great High Priest, our Lord entered into the veil,
or behind the veil, into heaven itself. Thus the Lord sent the
message, He would ascend. Where He would ascend is clearly
stated, to My Father and Your Father, to My God and Your God. Indeed, He was received up into
glory. 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16, received
up into glory, but not to be idle, not to just sit, but to
make intercession for us. Romans 8 and verse 34, this verse
is part of Paul's declaration that there is no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. For the premise in verse 32 of
Romans chapter 8 that God giving His own Son the greatest gift
will also give all other things commensurate with salvation.
And verse 33, that God's elect cannot have any charge of sin
brought against them. Then in verse 34, as John Murray
wrote, the apostle turns our thoughts to the security which
belongs to God's elect by reason of what Christ has done and continues
to do." Verse 34 contains four aspects of the saving work of
our Lord and Savior. A. He died for us. It is Christ that has died. B. He is risen again. He has broken the power and the
cords of death. C. He has ascended to the right
hand of God. And D. He also makes intercession
for us. He has done all of this and now
is making intercession. This confirms the fact that our
souls' interests are better served with Christ glorified and in
heaven than still upon the earth in His flesh. Consider Hebrews
7 and verse 25, having an unchangeable priesthood. Literally, I would
say an intransmissible priesthood. One that will never pass unto
another like Aaron's did. An intransmissible priesthood. On that ground, that He is a
priest forever and lives forever, He is able to save them to the
uttermost that come unto Him. He is able to save them entirely. He is able to save them completely. He is able to save them forever
that come unto God by Him. Why? Listen, seeing He ever lives
to make intercession in their behavior. Now to repeat something
said earlier, that being that the actual presence and intercession
of our high priest in heaven is, as Owens put it, is the second
act of a sacerdotal office, a fundamental article of our faith, a principle
and foundation of the church's consolation, unquote. That we have a great high priest. Jesus, the Son of God, that is
passed into the heaven. Actually, the saints of God have
two mighty and divine intercessors. Number one, the Holy Spirit of
God who dwells in them. Romans 8 and verse 26, who makes
intercession for us, for we know not what to pray for as we ought. And secondly, we have an intercessor
in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is even at the right hand of
God, who intercedes there on our behalf." Once a Puritan wrote
on the subject of the intercession of Christ, that the work of saving
the elect is so great and glorious, quote, that it is necessary that
Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, should lead a mediatory
life in heaven." So great is that work that we must have such
a one. Salvation cannot miscarry. As
sinners we are saved by the death and the resurrection and intercession
of our Lord. And He ever lives to make intercession. Yes, once He was dead, as He
bore our sins and satisfied the debt, now He ever lives to make
intercession for us. The sure and certain eternal
salvation is laid in, number one, the eternal purpose of God,
and number two, the death and the resurrection of Christ our
Savior, and is kept up and made successful by the intercession
of Christ in heaven. But you ask, what if we sin? And as Christians, we certainly
all do sin, sin much and frequently. What about those who are praying
for victory over sin in their life and find that sin dwells
within them? What if we sin? We should not,
but what if we sin? 1 John 2, verse 1 and 2. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is no less
than the righteous One and the very Son of God. The One and
the same who is the propitiation for our sin. Remember again,
the high priest made killed the beast at the altar, took its
blood, and went in to the holy place to present it in behalf
of the people. Now, in closing, the intercessory
life of Christ is a comfort to the saints of God in times of
temptation, in times of sin, and in times of weakness, that
we have one yonder, we have an advocate with the Father, one
in heaven who pleads our case, against any accuser who deflects
any charge that might be sought to lodge against us, represents
us and that well before the bar of God. The only intercessor
we have in heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. His only
ground or reason to intercede for any is His death, that He
had died in their behalf. He does not plead our personal
merit. He does not say what grand people
we are and what integrity and honor that we possess. He pleads
the merit of His atonement, the blood shed at the cross. God forbid that He should drag
us before and present us in our own self. No. He pleads the merit
of His atonement and of His death. Yes, my brother and sister, the
Lord has entered into heaven and He intercedes for us that
we might persevere and that the great salvation purposed in Him
might be realized. Thank you for your attention.