You will turn with me to Luke
chapter 24. Much to my surprise, the Lord
has given me one last lesson in the book of Luke. And the
lesson is about the high priest's blessing. Let's read these verses
together. Luke chapter 24, beginning with
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 we're continually in the
temple praising and blessing God. Amen. That's the last words of the
Gospel according to Luke. Now once every year on the Day
of Atonement, this is a day practiced under the old ceremonial law,
practice all the way through the Old Testament. And once every
year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would lay aside
that glorious dress. You can read about it in Exodus
when he gives them instruction on how to make it. And it was
a glorious dress. I mean, it was something else. And the last piece to go on was
the mitre that went on top of his head. But once every year,
he would lay aside his glorious dress and put on a common white
robe and linen breeches, thus identifying himself with
the common people. He would then take the blood
of the slain lamb, the atoning blood, that which was ordained
of God, He'd take that blood by himself into the Holy of Holies
and sprinkle that sacrificial blood on the mercy seat, which
covered the Ark, the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of the Covenant. Having sprinkled the blood as
he was commanded, he would then come out of the tabernacle, put
on again his glorious dress, and raise up his hands and bless
the people of Israel for whom he just made the atonement. The blessing is tied inseparably
with the atonement. And this is what this blessing
is all about, which our Lord blessed them with before he ascended
into glory. Now according to what I read
in Hebrews 9, This elaborate ceremony was ordained of God
to typify or prefigure the work of Christ in redemption. You
carefully read Hebrews chapter 9 and he'll tell you under the
first covenant there was priests, there was a tabernacle, there
was an altar, there was a veil. He tells you all about it. And
he tells you that these were figures for the time then present,
which were offered all of these things. In the verses I just read, we
see this type beautifully fulfilled in Christ. He's fulfilled, he
said. He was the Lamb. Isn't that what
John the Baptist said? Behold the Lamb. The Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world. Not sins, but the
sin of the world. This is the Lamb. This is the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. This is the Lamb.
He was pictured in the garden. He was prefigured in all the
sacrifices that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob performed. And especially Abraham on the
mount, God will provide himself a sacrifice. That's what he told
Abraham. And for a short time, our great
high priest laid aside his robe of glory. He laid aside the glory
of his divinity. Nobody knew he was God except
those to whom God revealed him. That's what he told Peter. Flesh
and blood hadn't revealed that to you, Peter. You didn't go
off in a corner somewhere and sit and meditate, and boom, it
popped into your head. He said, God the Spirit hath
revealed this unto you. He laid aside. Think about that. He who thought
it not robbery to be equal of God, he condescended, was made in
the likeness of men, made as a servant, humbled himself, become
a servant. And this is what he was doing.
He laid aside the glory of his deity and identified himself
with men. took not on him the nature of
angels, but the seed of Abraham. And he become both priest and
sacrifice. And now before sending back to
the throne of glory and his seat of intercession there, he walks
with his disciples out to a place that God ordained, and there
lifted up his hands and bless them by virtue of a sacrifice
offered and accepted of God. There is no blessing apart from
this, Tom. And there is no blessing apart
from Christ. And having spoiled the grave,
death, hell, and the grave, and establishing his power over all
things, he then began his ascent up to glory, showing his victory
over the prince of the power of the air. He was standing there
with his hands and while he was still blessing, all of a sudden
he started to float upward. Defying gravity, defying... This
is to show his victory over the prince of the power of the air.
And then finally the Son of God entered into heaven itself and
took his rightful place on the throne of God, declaring his
absolute sovereignty over all things as the head of all principality
and power. There is no power but that of
God, and God's power is seated at his right hand in his Son. That's the power. There is no
power. You have no power with God except Christ. Now the blessing of this day
was preceded with a 40-day extinction after the resurrection of Christ.
Forty days he stayed in this world. Forty days he walked around
revealing himself to his people. Our Lord had the ability to ascend
into glory immediately after his resurrection, but he didn't.
He prolonged his ascension for forty days. Why? Why? You have to ask yourself why.
Here's a man who's been through suffering untold. Humility, there
is no humility like the humility of Christ who was God and become
man and then being a man he humbled himself as a man. The humility involved in the
person of Christ is just, you just can't, the human mind can't
comprehend it. So you'd think, having done all
these things, been accepted of God, you'd think he'd just ascend
right up into glory, but he didn't. And my question is, why? Why? Well, I see four reasons. The
first reason is that he has to fulfill all types and figures
that was made of him. That's the first reason. He wasn't
done yet. He prefigured the sacrifice,
he prefigured the priest, all of those things. Those had already
been accomplished. But there were yet figures to
be fulfilled. Now they come a day in the antediluvian
world, that is the world before the building of the ark and God
flooded the world and destroyed it. That's the antediluvian world.
And there came a day in the antediluvian world when everything God intended
to save was put into a vessel that he called the ark. Everything. Nothing going to survive outside
the ark. Nothing. And the last to enter into the
ark was Noah, and scripture said God shut him in. He shut the
door. This door was first, second,
and third stories on that ark. That ark was three stories high.
This door went from the bottom to the top. It had access, full
access, into this vessel through this door. Huge door, big door. They couldn't shut it. All eight
of them couldn't shut that door. God shut the door. He shut them
in. The vessel was sealed with pitch.
Now I challenge you, if you've got a study book, a concordance
or something where you can look up the original language, I challenge
you to look up the word pitch and then look up the word atonement
and look at the numbers that they give you out beside them.
They're the same. The pitch was called copper. Copper. It means atonement. Everything God put in the ark
was sealed with the atonement. Sealed with the atonement. God
sealed them in this vessel and sealed them with the atonement.
And even under the wrath of God, that vessel remained afloat.
And also, after the rain was abated and the sun began to shine,
it still was afloat. Forty days this vessel was raised
and seen in the world under the wrath of God. And after that,
it was never seen again, except by way of the Scriptures.
Now, our Lord fulfilled even this blessed type as he lingered
here in this world forty days. And these 40 days were sufficient
to prove beyond all doubt that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the
dead. Nearly every writer I read said
that he proved his resurrection to the world. And I kept looking
at that. And I got some problems with
it. I got some problems. If I look at his resurrection
and the light prefigured in Noah and the ark, there surely must
have been some who saw that great vessel lift up from the earth.
But if there were, the account's not mentioned in the scriptures.
And if they saw it, the only time they saw it was under the
wrath of God, when the storms came Earth opened up the springs
and the water began to gush. They saw it under the wrath of
God. When did men see Christ? They
saw him nailed to a cross under the wrath of God, didn't they? The ark was seen after its resurrection
and after its rising by only those within. Is that right? Everything else did. Everything
else dead. They're all gone. This world's
gone. In Matthew's Gospel, he spoke
concerning the watch that was set at the tomb. And having seen
and heard the angel of the Lord, they become as dead men. It never
says that they saw the Lord being raised. Only the angel. They heard him and seen him It
fell down and did me. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15,
5 and 6 that he was seen, that I'm talking about after his resurrection.
He was seen of Cephas and then of the twelve and after that
above five hundred brethren all at one time. Matthew speaks of
the first to see him as Mary Magdalene. She saw him first. And then the disciples on the
road to Emmaus. But you'll never find in the
account of all four Gospels any time that a natural man, a fallen
man, ever saw the resurrected Christ. I'm not saying that they
didn't, but if they did, it's not accounted for in the Scriptures.
It's not accounted for in the type, and it's not accounted
for in he who fulfilled the type. The truth is, our Lord did not
come to save this world. He came to save His own. He came
to save His people. That's what He said, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, Joshua, for He shall save His people
from their sins. Salvation as is illustrated in
the nation of Israel all through the Old Testament never had any
consideration for this world, only for Israel. He came into this world as a
representative man, a substitute for chosen sinners. And he had
no interest in the world, no love for the world, and he said,
I pray not for the world. That's what he said. He had nothing
to prove to the world except to warn them of the wrath to
come. And of a sure and certain judgment
that awaits all those who do not believe. Care to read it this afternoon?
You can go to the book of Acts, chapter 17. That's where Paul
was invited to speak on Mars Hill. All those philosophers
got together and they heard this. They called him a babbler because
he said there, but he told of new things, things they'd never
heard of, things they'd never thought about. And they wanted
to hear him because that's what it was all about. And so they
invited him to speak. And here's what he said, God
commandeth all men everywhere to repent. But he don't stop
there. It says, because he hath appointed
a day in which he will judge this world in righteousness,
now listen, by that man whom he hath ordained. Now listen
to this. whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Now he's not talking about assurance
of salvation here, but assurance of the resurrected Lord who shall
be their righteous judge. This one in whom God hath appointed
a day which he'll judge the world in righteousness by that man.
And he gave us assurance of that in that he raised that righteous
man from the dead and seated him at his own right hand. If
the Lord is to prove anything to this world, it's to prove
to them that there's a day of judgment. There's a day of judgment. And only those in the ark were
raised up with the ark and saw the ark in every way it was purposed
in their salvation. They saw it before it was put
together, they saw it after it was put together, and they saw
it under the wrath of God, and they saw it when the storm ended.
They saw it on the outside, and they saw it on the inside. They
knew something of this vessel. And they were raised up with
it. And only those in the ark survived the wrath of God. and
were granted citizenship in the new world. That's the first reason
why Christ delayed His ascension for 40 days. Secondly, our Lord
delayed His ascension 40 days to remove all doubt that He Himself
was raised from the dead. When He appeared to them... Now,
He appeared to Mary Magdalene. She'd come running back and told
them the good news and they laughed her to scorn. Then he revealed
himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And they
came back and told him, and they laughed them to scorn. And then
the Lord appeared to them. And it said they were terrified.
And what did he do? He held up his hand. Look at
my hands, he said. Does the Spirit have hands? Does
the Spirit consist of flesh and bone? Look at my feet. The nail
holes are still there in my hands and my feet, the hole in my side.
He told Thomas, he said, take your hand and run it into my
side. He sat down and ate with the two that were on the road
to Emmaus. And he sat down and ate with
the twelve when he revealed himself to them. He lingered here forty
days to prove beyond all doubt that Jesus was the Christ and
that that Christ being put to death was actually raised from
the dead. Because that resurrection is
their justification. Paul uses this fact over in Romans
8. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Thirdly, he lingered here for 40 days to assure them not only
of his resurrection, but also of his love and will to be among
them. Now it would be one thing to
have known the Lord and walked with Him, see Him die and know
that He raised. But it's another thing to see
this resurrected Lord in His glory, want to be in your presence. It would be another thing, William,
for Him to knock on your door and say, I'm here. Boy, you can't compare that with
the other, see, because there ain't no comparison. When a person never comes around,
it means he has no reason to, he has no interest to, and he
has no affection. That's what that means. That's
why it's the same as murder for you to cut off a man and not
speak to him. It's the same as murder. You
murdered him, you killed him. And those we truly love, we want
to be around, don't we? Paul uses this fact over in Romans
8 verses 35 through 39. He said, nothing can separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing! He said, I'll never leave you.
But he ascended into heaven. Yeah, but he didn't leave. His
spirit's still here. That spirit's the spirit of Christ.
That's what Scripture's called. He won't speak of himself. He
takes the things of mine and shows them unto you. Listen to this. This is his prayer
over in John 17. Before going to the cross, he
said, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am. You recognize his will? For he
said, I will, I will, that they may behold my glory which thou
hast given me before the foundation of the world. And oh, to know
his love and to have that love enforced by his presence. I pray often that the Lord would
grant us his presence. Oh, my soul. And then, fortunately,
he lingered here 40 days to issue the commission which
his church is going to follow to the end of the world. Now
if you carefully read over in the beginning of Acts, he talks
about that after his resurrection, how he talked to them and instructed
them on many things. In Matthew's gospel, he said
to them, all power is given to me in heaven and earth. Now you
go preach. You go preach. You go teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And, lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. His resurrection is a declaration
of His power over death, hell, and the grave. He is the victor,
and His resurrection also declares power in heaven. where he of
no influence in heaven, he'd still be in the tomb. Would he
not? Thousands have died, they're
still in the tomb. David was a man after God's own
heart, he's still in the tomb. That's what it says. He saw corruption. David said,
he that is our God, and here's what I'm saying, he has influence
in heaven, And this influence is concerning
the issues of death. The issues of death. David said,
He that is our God is the God of salvation, and unto God the
Lord belong the issues from death. His power in heaven is that of
a victorious Savior, a Mediator, and a King. He has power to save. Righteous power. Holy power. Satisfying power. God said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. You talk about power. He said
in Psalm chapter 2, ask of me. This is God the Father talking
to his son. He said, ask of me. He said,
I'll give you the heathens for your inheritance. Huh? I say to the uttermost, to the
guttermost, I'll take one that's so far from me, no calculating
the distance, and I'll make him your inheritance. Ask of me,
I'll give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession. Actually, the scripture said
if he be not risen, our preaching is vain. We're just false prophets.
We're up there stating our opinions. And so all faith of those who
hear you and receive what you're saying, they're lost too. If Christ be not risen, no sinner
is risen, nor ever can be from the darkness and deadness of
his nature. If Christ be not risen, then
where is the hope of them who died in faith, were martyred
expecting to live. And if Christ be not risen, then
we're all yet in our sins and without remedy or hope. But there's
more. Jesus Christ, after his resurrection,
the disciples, they went fishing. They threw in the towel. What's
the point? And they had a point. If Christ
be not with us, boy, I don't want to preach. I don't want
any part of it. I'd rather go fishing. Let's
go fishing. Go work. Go build a house. Go
do this. Go do that. Go do something.
And they left. But then he appeared on the shore.
And he put some fish on the fire. I like the fellowship around
fish, don't you? And then when they come in, he
fed them. And then he got toe-to-toe with Peter. Peter was a huge
man. He drew in that big drought of
fishes in that net by himself. I can't imagine. So much it almost
sunk the boat. That's a lot of fish. Peter was
able to drag all that. He was a big man. And the Lord
was average in his size. But he stood toe to toe, eyeball
to eyeball with Peter, and he said, Peter, do you love me? Huh? Do you love me? Not mine. Not my religion, not my this
and my that. Do you love me? Peter said, Lord,
you know all things. You know I love you. What'd he
say? Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. Three times he
asked him. Finally he said feed my lambs.
Feed my little ones. Christ is all the reason we need
to preach. I don't need another reason.
People always try to come up with reasons to preach. You don't.
Christ is reason and he's reason enough. He gave the commission, He Himself
as the reason. And to whom? All the world? Yes. Yes. Go into all the world. Preach
my gospel. Why? Because He has a people
out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven. That's why. And I don't know
who they are. All I can do is invite them in
and preach to them. A bunch of them will go out the
door, but every now and then, one will stay. Huh? One will
stay. Every now and then, God will
say, he's mine. Come to me. And he will. He will. God has a people, and they're
all over the world. And our Lord prayed before His
death on the cross for them who shall believe on Him through
the word of His ministers. How much more shall the resurrected
Christ make intercession for? Listen to this. Paul said in
Romans 5.10, for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to
God. We're still spitting out obscenities
at God. We hated God. We didn't want
any part of his troop. While he was enemies, he was
reconciled to God. He was reconciled by the death
of his son. Now watch this. Much more being
reconciled will be saved by his life. Not that life back there,
but that life, that eternal life. And that eternal life seated
next to God. Peter preached the living hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the crowning discovery
of every believer is that salvation is altogether in a person. He'd
been arguing over ways and facts and this and that his whole life.
All of a sudden he discovers salvation is in a person. What
I need to do is believe in this person. I need to see in him
everything God requires, everything God purposed. It's all in Him. You see that and you lay hold
of Him. You trust Him. You rest your soul in His hands. Sink or swim, live or die, it's
all in this person called Jesus. And all that He was, and all
that He did, and all that He claimed was pinned to Him. and pinned to his resurrection,
delivered for our offenses, raised again for our justification.
And as the ark of God rose up out of the wrath of God, and
floated under the wrath of God, existed under the wrath of God,
and carried those chosen of God into a new world. Even so, that's
our hope in Christ in him. Can you picture this in your
mind? What's taking place on this day? I can't imagine. What
a full range of emotions must have been experienced over those
last two weeks. Can you? But now the risen Savior appears
to them and He walks with them and He tells them things that
nobody else in the world will ever know. No wonder their hearts burnt
within them as they walked with Him in the way. And then just
as suddenly as he appeared to them, he stopped, and he turned
to them, and he raised up his hands. Nail-scarred hands. Hands by
which he created the world. No man shall pluck you out of
my hands, that's what he told them. And he raised up those
hands, those blessed hands. God hands. I, my Father, No man's
going to pluck you out of his hands, and no man's going to
pluck you out of my hands, because I had no father. Hands by which he healed the
sick, took the clay, molded it, put it on the eyes of the blind. He raised up his hands. That's
the point I'm trying to make. His hands. The high priest been
raising up his hands from the beginning. That was just typical. This is the priest and he raises
up his hands and he blessed them. He blessed them. And while he
was yet blessing, while he yet was speaking, his body began
to float up. He defied gravity as he rose
higher and higher and then in the book of Acts chapter 1 verse
9 it said while they beheld They were mesmerized watching this
one who appeared to them begin to rise. And they watched him
spellbound. They watched him and he got higher
and higher and higher. And finally it said, as they
beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight.
He went right through the clouds. Have no further witness of his
ascension but one. One writer said this. It could
be that as earthly eyes no longer beheld him, heavenly eyes did. Can you imagine? Up in glory,
countless numbers of angels, the whole heavenly host, as they
sang about his birth, and they watched all that he did, and
here they are waiting, and he comes up through the glass. Can
you imagine the glory? One man said they must have sung
the words of Psalm 24. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. One cried, who is the King of
glory? Oh, it's the Lord strong and
mighty. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts. He's the King
of Glory. Earthly eyes could see Him no
more. Now only spiritual eyes behold Him. And these apostles
who saw Him, touched Him, walked with Him, heard Him, and to whom
He revealed Himself after the resurrection. This is their witness
to us. And those with spiritual eyes
see it as though they were standing there watching it in the beginning. We see Him. And that reality
sits in, and I tell you, you don't have to beg people to come
down the aisle no more. If they see Him, they'll follow
Him. They'll believe on Him. The only
reason why a man won't, because he'd never seen Him. Never seen
Him. Be gracious to all that are here
today, and as many as the Lord will allow me to preach to, might
He give them eyes to see and a heart to believe. Thank you.