Open your Bibles, if you would,
to the book of Acts chapter 1. We're continuing our study in
the book of Acts. The name of the message is this
same Jesus. This same Jesus. My, what a Savior. Our God reigns, beloved. He reigns
right now. And we're going to see where
He is. He ascended up to heaven. We're
going to see that today. This same Jesus, now what's he
doing? He's ruling and reigning right now. Supreme. God over all. My oh my. Now as pertaining to the flesh,
there's no difference between the apostles of our Lord Jesus
Christ and any other man that walked upon this earth. We're
all just flesh. were all just flesh. All the
men and women of the scriptures were all just flesh. Just flesh. Sinners who desperately need
to be saved. It wasn't their wisdom. It wasn't
their riches. It wasn't their bloodline. It
wasn't their free will or anything about them that recommended them
to God. It was because God had chose
them in Christ from before the foundation of the world. And
that's true for every one of us here who's born again. Blood
washed, saint of God. Isn't that wonderful? We're all
saved by the same grace, the same grace that saved Paul, same
grace that saved Peter, John, Matthew, same grace that saved
us, beloved. Same Spirit that was in them,
same Spirit that's in us. Same Savior that they had, they
looked to, same Savior we look to. Ain't that wonderful? Same
Father who sent the Spirit into our hearts, whereby we now cry,
I have a Father, same Father. Oh my, same Holy Spirit that
regenerated us. My, oh my. Like us, they were
held as ervant sinners. They were spiritually dead when
they were born into this world, but they were saved by the perfect,
complete, finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and their
salvation is based upon His merit and none of their own. Same thing
we believe, right? Same thing. My, isn't that wonderful? And the Lord Jesus Christ called
his disciples by his sovereign, irresistible, efficacious power. My, oh my. And he used that same
power to call us out of the darkness that we were in into the marvelous
light of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Same Jesus. Same Jesus. And this all occurs how? According
to God's eternal purpose. If you're saved, if you're here
today and you're born again, you're a blood-washed saint of
God, it's all according to God's eternal purpose. Oh my. Isn't that wonderful? I'll tell
you what. And the only one who made us
to differ, scripture says, for who made you to differ and what
do you have that you didn't receive? The only one who made us to differ,
just like he made the apostles to differ from those folks around
them, is God. And God alone. And we're called again out of
darkness. Oh, what darkness we were in. Into the marvelous light
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this, again, all occurs according
to God's eternal purpose. But just like every one of them,
we would be quick to confess this blessed truth that salvation
is of the Lord from beginning to end. And we would be quick
to confess, just like them, that our risen Savior is in glory
right now, ruling and reigning over all things. This same Jesus
who came into this world as a little babe lived, lived for 33 years upon
this earth, the very earth he created. And he was despised
and rejected by men. My oh my. And then he went to
that cross to save us from our sins. The same Jesus. He's a
risen, exalted king. He's king. He was born king. He was king before he came. He
was born king, and he's king right now, beloved. Isn't it
wonderful? That's our Savior. That's our
Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what do we confess? We confess
along with Paul, by the grace of God, I am what I am, right?
I am what I am. Let's read the book of Acts here,
chapter one, verses six to 11 now. When they therefore were come
together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this
time restore again the kingdom of Israel? So again, they were
looking to earthly kingdom. But Christ said, my kingdom's
not of this world, right? And he said unto them, it is
not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father
hath put in his own power. If you ever hear anyone say,
well, I know when the Lord's coming back, I know the season.
See, people say times, but they say, I've heard this, well, I
know the season. No, you're lying. No man knows
the time of the season. That's what the scripture says,
right? No man knows. We have no clue when he's coming
back. We can't even speculate. People say, well, it says it's
the days of no one. It's so wicked today. It was
wicked back then, too, wasn't it? This is what the scripture says.
No man, no man, knows the hour of the day. Look at that. We
just wait, don't we? We're waiting, though. We're
waiting. Oh, my. No man knows the hour of the
day. No one knows the times or the seasons which the Father
put in his own power. But ye shall receive after that
the Holy Ghost has come upon you. Ye shall be witnesses unto
me, both in Jerusalem and in Judea, and in Samaria, and in
the outermost parts of the earth. Now here we go. Here's our verses
for today. And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received
him out of their sight. While he looked steadfastly toward
heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by in white apparel. Here's two angels. Which also
said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall
so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. These three verses that we'll
look at today, verses 9 to 11, speak of our Lord's ascension
up into heaven. Let's read verses 9 to 11 again.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he
was taken up. So they saw him taken up, and
a cloud received him out of their sight. So they were like this. Imagine that. You ever see a
rocket take off, they show on TV? You watch that rocket? And
then it gets into the clouds and it's gone. Our Lord just went, shoop. Some
people say, yeah, it can't be. Yes, it can. He's God. He's God. He can do anything.
He can walk through walls, can't he? Remember he just appeared
in the room with the disciples? My, oh, my. Oh, my. 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, there it is,
this same Jesus, there's our text, 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. Look at that. How delightful
these verses are for the believer. Our Lord's in glory. And where
He is, we're gonna be. We're gonna be in glory one day
with Him. Scripture says we're already seated in the heavenlies
with Him. As far as, He knows the end from
the beginning, so we're, in His economy, we're already seated,
but here we are locked in time and space, aren't we? My oh my. These verses speak of our Lord's
glorious ascension up into glory after he'd risen from the grave.
And they also speak of the second advent of Christ, too, as well.
Because they say, 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. He's going to come back. So not just do we see testimony
of his ascension, but we also see here a promise of his second
coming. He's finished the work on earth,
and so our Lord Jesus, the God-man, he ascended up into heaven. And
what's he doing? Well, he takes his rightful place,
doesn't he? At the right hand of the Father. And what's he
doing? As our dear sister is saying, he's growing right now.
He's reigning right now, beloved. He's king. The scepter is in
his hand. I love that song we sang too.
Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. He reigns, beloved. He's sovereign. My, what joy that will fill our
hearts. Well, turn if you would to John
chapter 17. Well, he's finished the work. Look at there in John chapter
17, we'll read verses 1 to 5. Our Lord, He completed the work
and He ascended up into glory. And what's He doing right now?
Oh my! And here we see in John 17, He's
ruling right now. And here we see in John 17, verses
1 to 5, while He's on this earth, He's talking about going back
to be with the Father. Look at this, verses 1 to 5. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou has given
him power over all flesh. Who has all power? Christ. Over
what? Over all flesh, right? Look at this, that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. Think
upon this, beloved of God, if you have eternal life in Christ
right now, Christ gave that to you. Oh, amen. Thank you, thank you, thank you,
my King. Thank you, thank you, thank you, my Lord. My, he gave
it to us. And this is life eternal, so
he's going to define it, that they might know thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Whom thou hast
sent, sent by the Father to save his people from their sins. He
says, I've glorified thee on the earth. Look at this. He's
the sinless, spotless lamb of God. He says, I've glorified
thee on the earth. I've finished the work which thou gavest me
to do. He's going to go to the cross and he's going to cry,
it is finished. He's finished. He's totally fulfilled
righteousness, hasn't he? He's lived the perfect life as
our substitute. My. And now, O Father, glorify
Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with
Thee before the world was. Now let's go back to Acts chapter
1 and read verse 11 with this. When he says, see this prayer
is being answered. He says, and now, O Father, glorify Thou me
with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before
the world was. Let's read verse 11 with that in mind. Look at
this. Which also said the man of Galilee, why stand you gazing
up into heaven? The same Jesus which has taken up from you into
heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go
into heaven. That prayer has been fulfilled,
hasn't it? Father took him up to heaven. Oh my. And note something here, take
note of something here. You ever get people around you,
they start scoffing and say, well, when's Christ coming back?
Yeah, y'all are saying Christ is gonna come back. When's he
coming back? How do you know? How do you know
that's true? One little word in verse 11. One little, what people would
think insignificant word in verse 11. You've heard me mention this
before. Four letters. Four letters. Which also said,
ye man of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This
name Jesus, which is taken, or five letters, sorry, five letters,
which is taken up to you from, into heaven. Shall. Shall. Shall what? Shall what? So come
in like manner. He's coming back. That's a shall. Big doors swing on little hinges,
right? He shall. Let scoffers scoff. Our king
is coming back. It might not be in our lifetime,
it might be. No man knows the hour of the day, right? But we
know with certainty he's coming back. shall so come in like manner
as ye have seen him go into heaven. He's coming back. He's coming
back, and them clouds are going to open up, and he's coming back,
and the armies of heaven are coming with him. And every man
and every woman shall see him whom they pierced. Oh my. And I'll tell you, I've said
this before, he came as a lamb last time. This time he's coming
back as a lion. Lion of the tribe of Judah. My
oh my. Turn if you would to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1. That small word shall, so come
in like manner. Not only do we hope for our Lord's
return in our lives as believers did in the past, but it shall
come to pass whether we die or not before he comes back. It's
going to happen. That little word, shall. Shall. My, isn't that wonderful, beloved? Oh, it warms our heart, doesn't
it? Look at this in 2 Thessalonians 1. 2 Thessalonians 1, verses
7 to 10. And to you who are troubled,
now the Thessalonians were going through severe persecution. They
had turned to God from idols to serve the living God. And
they're going through severe persecution. They're a Gentile
church and they're going through severe persecution for trust
in Christ. And he said, and to you who are
troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall, look at that,
look at that, there it is again. Shall, shall what? Shall be revealed
from heaven with his mighty angels. He's coming. It's gonna happen. It shall happen, beloved. In
flame and fire, what's he gonna do? Taking vengeance on them
that knew not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.
When he, look at this, when he shall come to be glorified. Again,
it's been emphasized again. He shall come to be glorified
in the saints and to be admired in all them that believe. Because
our testimony among you that believe in that day. Shall, our
king's coming back. He shall come back. He coming
back. We don't know the hour of the
day. He's either going to come for us at our death, but if we're
alive when he comes back the second coming, we're going to
see him. And we're going to rejoice. Because
he's not coming back for our destruction. And a twinkle of
eye, if we're alive at that time, would be changed. Oh my! What a King! What a Savior! There's
four things I'd like us to look at from this text today. Four
points. Number one, the Lord Jesus Christ
has ascended into heaven. He's ascended into heaven. Number
two, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. Number three, our
Lord's second advent will be the climactic consumption of
God's eternal purpose. It'll be all finished. And number
four, the one who's coming for us is this same Jesus. This same
Jesus. Oh my, the same Jesus, the same
Jesus who John wrote of, we've seen him, we heard him, we saw
him, right? Speak the words of life. We're gonna see him. Whether
it be at our death or whether it be at his second coming, we're
gonna see him. And He shall come back. There's
no doubt. That's scoffer, scoffer. I used
to be one of them and the Lord saved me. What John Newton said,
if the Lord saved me, He could save anybody, right? Is that
not true of all of us? Is that not true of all of us,
beloved? God saved me, He can save anyone who comes to Him.
Oh my. So the Spirit and the bride say,
come, come, flee to Christ. Oh, what a Savior. What a wonderful
Savior. What a merciful Savior is Jesus
Christ, our Lord. So let's consider our first point.
The Lord Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven. Look at verse nine.
And when he had spoken these things, well, they would be held,
he was taken up. Up he goes. Up he goes, straight
up. What? You really expect me to
believe that? Well, by God-given faith, I'll believe it. You won't
believe it if you don't have the faith that God gives you.
You look at that and go, what are you talking about? Well,
Scripture says it, we believe it, right? By faith, see? By God-given faith, we believe
this, don't we? Look at this, this is wonderful. Because where
our Savior is, we're going to be there too. Look at this, this
is cause for rejoicing. And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received
him out of their sight. Straight up. What's the meaning of his ascension?
Why was the Lord Jesus taken up into heaven? What happened
to the Son of God when He went to glory, clothed in human flesh?
And what is He doing in heaven right now? Well, our Lord Jesus
Christ ascended back into heaven to claim His rightful place as
King, sit upon the throne. My, turn if you would to Daniel
chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7, He's taking His place on the
throne, beloved. And the Father's reward for the
Son is His meditatorial obedience as our substitute is dominion
over all things. He has dominion over all things,
all power. All power, we saw in John 17.
He says, ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine
inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
And they are the Lord Jesus Christ's possession, aren't they? They're
His. They're His. My. Look at this in Daniel chapter
7, verses 13 to 14. My, oh my, and I saw in the night
visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with 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 in a kingdom that all people, nations, languages should
serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion. Look at that. Our king's dominion
is an everlasting dominion. His people are people of every
tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation, which shall not pass away. There's
that shall word again, beloved. His kingdom shall not pass away. It's not of this world, is it?
This world's going to burn up. There'll be a new heaven and
a new earth. But His kingdom will never, never pass away.
And His kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed, it will never
be overtaken, beloved. He's the King of kings and the
Lord of lords. That's our Savior. That's our
Redeemer, beloved. Praise His mighty name. Oh my. Oh my, He is King over all. And right now in heaven, He's
carrying on the great intercessory work as our advocate and high
priest. He's our mediator, beloved. He's
advocating for us in heaven. That's so wonderful, isn't it?
I need an advocate, do you? I need an advocate. I'm a sinner,
saved by the grace of God. I need an advocate with the Father.
That's what Christ is for each one of us. God the Father's put
all things into his hands. All things, and under the rule
of Jesus Christ, He is all things. He's the God-man, the King of
kings and the Lord of lords. My, and He's carrying on His
intercessory work, entering into heaven with His own blood, with
His own blood. And He sat down on the right
hand of God, beloved. having obtained eternal redemption
for us. And by virtue of His blood, what
does He do? He offers continual intercession
for us. So the Father doesn't see our
sins, He sees the blood of Christ. Isn't that wonderful? He sees
the precious, precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. My,
what a Savior. What a redeemer. Turn, if you
would, to Hebrews chapter six. Got us turning a few places today,
but I think it's important to look at a few references here.
Hebrews chapter six. And this will be clearly bought
forth. He's the forerunner of his people. He's the forerunner
of his people, beloved. He's taken and claimed possession
of heaven as the forerunner of his people. Hebrews chapter six,
verses 16 to 20. Oh my, what a king. For men verily
swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them
an end of all strife. Wherein God willing more abundantly
show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation. That's comfort in the Greek.
Strong comfort. Beloved, we have a strong comfort
in Christ, don't we? Oh, what a comfort we have in
Christ. Oh, look at this. Who have fled for refuge. Have
you fled for refuge to Christ? He's the only Savior of sinners.
And He ain't turned away a sinner that fled to Him. He's never
turned one away. Look at this. Who have fled for
refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us. What a hope! Salvation in Christ, forgiveness
of all our sins, eternal life, which hope we have as an anchor
of our soul, both sure and steadfast. and which entereth into that
within the veil. Look at this, whether the forerunner
is for us entered. There he goes, ascending up to
heaven. He's entered heaven. He's the
forerunner. He is there before us. And he's
the mediator for us right now. His blood, his blood speaks for
us. Oh my. Whether the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus made a high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. The Lord Jesus Christ has claimed
all the inheritance of heaven's glory for all God's elect. The
only reason we're gonna be in heaven is because of what he's
done for us. And because where he is, there
we shall be. All who he's purchased with his
precious, precious blood. all who believe upon Him. So
rejoice, beloved of God. Our Savior took His place upon
the throne of glory to secure the everlasting salvation of
all His redeemed ones. And we're going to see Him. One
day. Saints that went before us are
seeing Him right now. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my! This same Jesus The very one
who went right up to heaven in front of those disciples. We're
going to see him, face to face, just like we see one another.
What a promise from our great God. And God has not told us
when Christ is coming. No man has any clue, as I said
earlier, when it's going to happen. Verse seven so clearly brings
that forth. And he said unto them, it's not for you to know
the times of the season, which the father put in his own power.
We don't know the time, we don't know the season. So we just wait
for His return. Are you eagerly waiting for His
return? Oh, yeah. Even so, come quickly, Lord. Even so, come quickly, please,
Lord. Oh, my. So God doesn't intend
for us to know the time of the Lord's appearing, but one thing's
certain, we see in verse 11, it's gonna happen, right? This
same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
come in like manner. It's gonna happen. It's gonna
happen. My oh my. Hebrews chapter nine,
the scripture says this, in verses 26 to 28, says, for then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. So Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that
look for him shall he appear. Shall, again, shall he appear.
Again, the same little word, shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation. So we as God's people, we look
for his return, don't we? With gladness, with gladness. Four things here are revealed
in scriptures about our Lord's coming. Christ's second coming
will be a personal bodily advent. Revelation 1, 7, Behold, he cometh
with the clouds, and every eye shall see him. And they also
which pierced him, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall wail
because of him. Even so, amen. He's going to come personally. Number two, it'll be a glorious
appearance. 1 Thessalonians 1, 7 to 10 says this. speaking of those Thessalonian
believers who were being persecuted for their faith, so that ye were
examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For
from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia
and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God's word
is spread abroad, that we need not speak anything. For they
themselves show us of what manner of entering in we head unto you,
and how ye turn to God from idols to serve the living true God.
and to wait for his son from heaven. We're waiting, aren't
we? See, the saints all were waiting to wait for a son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered
us from the wrath to come. See, we've been delivered from
the wrath to come, beloved. Isn't that wonderful? Another thing revealed in scripture
about our Lord's second coming is the consummation of our salvation.
Romans 13 11 and that knowing the time that now is high time
to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed and in Ephesians 1 14 says this which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of our purchased possession
under the praise of his glory when our Lord comes back in the
second coming our bodies will be raised if we're dead there
be raised from the dead Oh my. And if we're alive, we'll
be translated just like that. Even faster than that. Twinkle
of an eye. Can't even milliseconds or I
don't even know how to measure it. Says a twinkle of an eye. Oh my, oh my. And then the other
thing about our Lord's second coming is he's going to appear
Like a thief in the night. Turn, if you would, to 1 Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians, you know? He's going to come when no one
expects it. You got a lot of scoffers, eh?
Scoffers always been around. Oh my. But look at this. He is going to come as a thief
in the night. What does a thief do? He breaks
into your home, comes when you're not expecting him to come. Probably
sleeping. My oh my, look at this. First Thessalonians 5, 1 to 5. Here he's going to tell us again.
But the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that
I write unto you. He's like, I'm not even going
to write to you about when it's going to happen, because there's no
need. Because he knows, like Luke,
who's writing in Acts chapter 1 there, that And we don't even
know the season of when he's coming back. So he says, I don't
even need to write to you on that. For yourselves know perfectly
that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For
when they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction
shall come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and
they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness. that the day should overtake
you as a thief. Look at this, you're all children
of light and the children of the day. See, we've been taken
out of the darkness of our sins, the prison house, prison house
of sin we were in, we're taken out of that. Now we're basking
in the marvelous light of the son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
You're all children of light and the children of the day.
We are not of the night nor of darkness. Oh, what a savior. What a Savior is Jesus Christ
our Lord. What a Savior He is. My oh my. So He's coming again, right?
We clearly saw that. He's coming again. The third
point is, the second advent will be the climactic conclusion of
God's eternal purpose. It'll all be wrapped up. Turn over to Acts chapter 3.
Acts chapter 3 and look at verses 19 to 21. Acts chapter 3 verses 19 to 21. Look at this. Repent. Repent ye therefore and
be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of the refreshing
shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send
Jesus Christ, look at that, another word, shall, again. Who's gonna
send Christ? The Father, he's coming back.
Only the Father knows when he's coming back, so he got to be
sent, right, look at that. And he shall send him. He shall
send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you. Now he's
coming. whom the heaven must receive
until the times of the restitution of all things, which God has
spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world
began." Shel, here it is again. Could
have named the message Shel. He's coming. This same Jesus
is coming again. He's coming. Oh my. And it appears from the scriptures
that at the second advent, everything will happen with great speed.
With great swiftness, God will wrap up his work among men. The
resurrection of the dead will occur. The judgment will occur. The great white throne judgment
will occur. The infernal of burning up this world and rolling it
up like a scroll to heavens. And then a new creation wherein
dwells righteousness. No sin. A world without sin! My! And then the final separation
of the righteous and the wicked all seem to take place in a matter
of moments as you read them in scripture. There'll be a general
resurrection, right, where all will be raised. The dead shall
be raised, the living saints will be translated in a moment
and gathered out of the earth and all men and women will stand
before God. Just what Brother Neil read.
Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. I'll tell
you what, the enemies of God are going to say Jesus Christ
is Lord. And we say, He's Lord! Oh my, won't we be so full of
joy? Oh my. He's Lord. He's Lord. My. And then all men and women
will stand before God and be judged by Him according to the
strict standards of His inflexible justice. See, people get away
with things on this earth, right? Some of the things going on,
I have to admit, some of the people getting released for things,
just such atrocious things, and they're being released. Where's
the justice in that, right? I know it's all happened according
to God's plan, I just got arrested and that, but there's no justice
in that, is there? A just judge will uphold the
law, right? God's a just judge. His justice
is inflexible. Ain't no one getting away with
nothing. Those who die in their sins,
oh my. Everyone will receive exactly
his due. See, we're deserving of wrath. We're
deserving of hellfire, aren't we? But we're not gonna get what
we deserve. All because of the grace and
the mercy of God in Christ. That's why I always say we don't
get what we deserve. We receive mercy, beloved. grace
upon grace upon grace. It's wonderful. My, no wonder
our hearts are filled with joy at this wondrous salvation in
Christ. And who's our Savior? Well, the
one our sisters sang of, the one both of our sisters sang
of, the Lord of Glory. He's our King. He's our Savior.
He's our Lord. And you know the righteous are
made righteous by grace. That's all. The only reason we'll
be on the right side is by the grace of God. The only reason
we'll be clothed in the righteousness of Christ is by the grace of
God. Right? That's it. He made us to differ. And we'll inherit glory, beloved.
Enter into the joy of my rest, he says. We don't even know what rest
is. We get to rest at night when we sleep, or sometimes for a
long time, sometimes for a little bit. Depends on how restless
we are, right? Or we get to rest and sit down
on a chair and have a good meal. But imagine total rest. Imagine God's rest. Oh my, what a rest that is. It's
in Christ. It's in Christ. Enter into the
joy of my rest. Prepared for you, right? Prepared
for us from before the foundation of the world, beloved. My. And then the wicked shall be
cast into hell and there'll be a new heaven and a new earth
where dwells nothing but righteousness. No more, no more sin, beloved.
Nothing but righteousness. Isn't that glorious? Glorious, glorious rest. What
a rest. And all the elect of God and
God himself will enter into an eternal Sabbath, an eternal rest. Amen. An eternal rest. In heaven's glory, we will rest
from all our troubles, all our sorrows, all our labors, anything
that bears us down here. And we will worship God perfectly,
beloved, without sin. And we will serve him without
labor. And we will love him completely. See, we love Him right now by
the love that's put in us by the grace of God, but there we're
going to love Him fully, beloved, without sin. Can you imagine
what we feel inside here? You know, we preachers always
talk about how we wish we could speak how we feel. It's just
so wonderful. It's just so glorious. And how
we feel now, it'll magnify. That love we have will be so
magnified. And I'll tell you what, we'll
be saying hallelujah. Oh my, we'll be praising his
name. We'll be praising him forever.
All because of the grace and mercy of God. The fourth and
last point I'd like us to consider is, the one who's coming for
us, is this same Jesus. The same Jesus who the leper
came up to and said, Lord, if thou will, thou can make me whole.
And he said, I will be thou whole. The same Jesus who the lady had
spent all her money on the doctors, all her money, and just touched
but the hem of his garment and was healed. The same Jesus who
blind Bartimaeus cried out, Lord, Thou Son of David, have mercy
upon me! And he said, Bring him here.
And he healed him. The same Jesus that when they
lowered that man down through the roof they had broken, remember?
And they lowered that man down there, and the Lord said, Oh,
what faith! Be thou whole! Right? The guy got up, walked
out the door. The same Jesus who At the pool of Bethsaida, there's
that mailman. He just wanted to dip his foot
in there. Oh, he couldn't get there fast
enough. The first one in there, remember, when that pool was
stirred, was healed. And the Lord said, pick up your bed and
walk. The same Jesus that prayed and
the bread and the fishes was multiplied and fed over 5,000. The same Jesus who said before
Abraham was, I am. Proclaiming his deity, the same
Jesus. Look at verses 10 and 11. The
Lord will not forget his people. No, he'll never forget his people.
He died for us. Look at this. And while they
looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men
stood by them in white apparel. which also said, you men of Galilee,
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you
have seen him go into heaven. This same Jesus, this same Jesus
who's full of love and sympathy, this same Jesus who brought in
everlasting righteousness, this same Jesus who's gone into heaven
for us, who now appears in the presence of God, who now sits
at the right hand of the Father, who now has universal dominion
in all power, the same Jesus, shall come again. Marvel at these
truths. Every believer is dressed in
the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there
a better righteousness than that? No. No. And every believer receives perfect
forgiveness, perfect forgiveness from God the Father through the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there a better forgiveness
than that? See, we say we forgive people,
then we get mad at them again, don't we? Or we really don't
forgive them, but we say, oh yeah, I forgive you, and then
you bring it up again. We're all guilty, but this forgiveness,
this forgiveness of all our sins, God doesn't say, well, I remember
what you did over here, Wayne. No. All trespasses and sins are
covered in the precious, precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. For all who look to Christ as
their Lord and Savior. My, what a Savior. What a Redeemer. Perfect forgiveness. Perfect
forgiveness in Christ. And every believer is loved by
God with the same perfect love that he has for his darling son. Scripture says in John 17 that
he loves his people. God the Father loves his people
as he loves Christ. Is there a better love than that? No. There is no better love than
that. So let we who are the redeemed
of the Lord, let us rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us
rejoice in him. And let every believer, let every
believer live in this truth that even though we're sinners in
Christ, we stand perfect before God. We just marvel over that, but
it's truth, isn't it? And one day, we're gonna stand
in the presence of God, perfect without sin, right? At the consummation of our salvation,
right? When it's all finished. We're saved right now, but we're
gonna have a glorified body. We're gonna stand in front of
the Lord, perfect without sin. Oh my. It's wonderful. But right now, the believer is
clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. My. God the Father found in His
Son a fit person to be our Redeemer, right? A fit person. And He's put in His hands the
whole affair of redemption. It's all in His hands. We saw
in John 17 too, He gives eternal life to as many as the Father's
given Him, right? He's got the power to do that. He's got the
power to do that. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only one who could, think of this, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the only one who could honor and magnify the law of God. The
only one who could glorify the triune God and save guilty sinners
by the sacrifice of himself. And praise God, he did it by
the shedding of his precious, precious blood. This same Jesus,
this same Jesus, this same Jesus, has done that, and he shall come
again. He's coming again. This same
Jesus, our sovereign creator, who spoke the worlds into existence. This same Jesus, who is born
of a virgin, who clothed himself with human flesh, so that he
could redeem his people from their sins. with his own precious
blood. The same Jesus who called those
apostles to himself and walked with him for over three years
during his public ministry. The same Jesus who was spit upon
and mocked, who was hated without a cause by the very ones he had
given physical life to. The same Jesus who was nailed
to the cruel cross by wicked hands, all according to the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. The same Jesus who endured
the total wrath of God in the room and place of his people. enabling our holy majestic God
to be both just and a justifier of all who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. The same Jesus who by his substitutionary
death perfectly satisfied God's holy justice for all his chosen
people. The same Jesus who has regenerated
us, sent the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit by his power
regenerate us, give us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. The same Jesus, the same Jesus, delivered us from the
power of darkness, from the power of the devil, from the power
of sin. The same Jesus His apostles saw as He ascended up to glory
like we saw today. The same Jesus is coming again,
beloved, in like manner. He's coming again. The same Jesus
is coming again as the glorified God-man, and every eye shall
see Him, every eye shall see Him, as the only blessed potentate
King of kings and Lord of lords. He is a vesture dipped in blood,
King of kings and Lord of lords. Then all will know that Jesus
Christ is Jehovah God. At that time, that he's a sovereign monarch
ruling and reigning over all things. And what do we who are
the redeemed say? We say, praise God, he's coming
again. He's coming again. This same
Jesus is coming again. Praise his mighty, mighty name.
Brother Brian, can you close us in prayer?