We're in Mark chapter 16 and
verse 19. So then, after the Lord had spoken
unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right
hand of God. And they went forth and preached
everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the
word with signs following. Amen. And Mark ends his gospel
with the word, Amen. Here's a wonderful thing, a marvellous
finale, if you will, to our Saviour's earthly pilgrimage. The Lord
Jesus Christ is returning home to be with his Father, to be
in his Father's house, after 33 years of suffering, humiliation
and labour. But watch this, he returned not
by death, as all men with very few exceptions have to do, he
returned in full life. He returned into his Father's
presence, a living soul in a human body and was received into his
Father's presence with joy. As he went, it was said of him
that he will come again in the same way for his church and for
his people. and this is his unbreakable promise
to us. It is our glorious hope that
the living risen Christ has ascended into heaven and he is coming
back for us. And should he take us to be with
him via the medium of death, which he will for many of his
people, or should he come and take us to himself while we are
still alive, We shall, all who trust him, be made like him,
rise to be with him, and evermore be joined to him in eternal union. What a prospect we have, brothers
and sisters. What a prospect that the Lord
Jesus Christ, who has risen from the dead and ascended into glory,
is coming back for us. Mark, in these few verses that
he gives us here today, brings his gospel narrative to its end
with really just a bare recounting of the facts of the Lord's return
to heaven. Matthew and John, they don't
mention the actual event of the Lord's ascension to heaven at
all in their gospels, though both of them heavily trail its
certainty. What do I mean by that? Well,
for example, John says in John chapter 14, I go to prepare a
place for you and I will come again and receive you unto myself. But in the Gospels, it's left
to Luke to provide the fullest account, both in the Gospel and
then in the Acts, Acts chapter one. So if you want to know more
of the details of what actually happened when the Lord was ascending
into heaven, who was there, when it took place, where it took
place, you read the first 15 or 20 verses of the Acts of the
Apostles. And Luke there tells Theophilus,
the person to whom he is writing, and us by him, he there tells
about the events that happened at the Lord's Ascension. Here, Mark gives us just the
basic facts. And we're told that Christ was
received up into heaven, There he sat down at the right hand
of God and that his disciples were never forsaken of him. But rather they proved by the
spread of the gospel in the early church that his power, the power
of Christ was among them still. Just to think about other references
to the Ascension briefly, the apostles also in their own writings,
in their epistles, speak frequently about the Lord's Ascension because
it was very important to these men. It was extremely significant. They went to preach the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord had told them to. We thought
about that last week. And they preached the gospel
of the Lord's incarnation. They preached the gospel of his
life, his teachings, his doctrine. They preached the gospel of his
sufferings and crucifixion, his resurrection, and his ascension. And there was meaning and significance
in the ascension of the Lord within the context of the full
gospel. For example, the Apostle Paul
was keen to emphasise every believer's confidence in God. the work of
Christ and in the forgiveness that we have by the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. So he wrote in Romans chapter
8 and verse 34, who is he that condemneth It is Christ that
died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. So here
we can see the Apostle Paul picking up on the fact that Christ died
is risen and is ascended into heaven at the right hand of God,
where he still is working, making intercession for us, and therefore
there is no condemnation can come against us. Writing to Timothy,
another young preacher and evangelist, the Apostle Paul says, without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up
into glory. Peter, the apostle Peter, he
says in 1 Peter 3, verse 22, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God,
angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him. Remember we spoke last week about
the Lord Jesus Christ coming to his disciples and saying,
all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye into
all the world and preach the gospel. Now this is what Peter
is talking about, that here in the letter, in the epistle that
he writes, he reminds his readers that angels and authorities and
powers are subject unto him. Subject unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And John, as well, one of the
disciples that was there, he says, my little children, these
things I write unto you that ye sin not, and if any man sin,
we have an advocate. Where? With the Father. Jesus Christ the Righteous. He's there in heaven right now,
the Lord Jesus Christ. So the apostles spoke often about
the ascension of the Lord Jesus. But Hebrews is the book where
the real meaning of the ascension of Christ is worked out. for us. And we're not going to
say too much more on this but I do want to just give you a
few verses to give you the indication of how the book of Hebrews is
built upon the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into
heaven and there makes intercession for us. More is said in the book
of Hebrews concerning this work of Christ than anywhere else
in the New Testament. And great emphasis is laid on
the priestly office of the Lord Jesus Christ that he continues
to exercise in heaven as he intercedes for his people here upon earth. For example, in chapter one,
verse three, we're told that the Lord Jesus Christ is sat
down on the right hand of the majesty on high. In verse 14
of chapter four, we have a great high priest that is passed into
the heavens. Jesus the son of God. So he is passed into the heavens
that's speaking about the ascension and it's speaking about our great
high priest. who has entered into heaven on
our behalf. In chapter 9, verse 24, we read,
For Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands,
which are figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us. And in chapter 12, verse
2, and these are just a few verses that I've collected and culled
for the purpose of explaining this, we read, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. So the Apostles
in their epistles wrote often and much about the ascension
of Christ and particularly this mediatorial, this intercessory
office of the Lord as our great high priest that the ascension
most particularly directs to. So today, what I want to do is
take these final two verses from Mark and bring our series of
studies in this precious little gospel to a close by considering
the very points that Mark leaves us to dwell upon. Because although
it's just in a couple of verses, he basically gives us the facts,
one, two, three, four, about what the Lord Jesus Christ did.
Firstly, he was received up into heaven. Secondly, the Lord sat
down at the right hand of God. Thirdly, he continues to confirm
his word in the preaching of the gospel. And fourthly, the
Lord is working for our salvation. So these are the headings that
I want to take and we will just swiftly move through these points. The first one then is this, that
the Lord was received into heaven. The receiving of the Lord into
heaven. Now we often say that the Lord
ascended into heaven. And while that's not wrong, and
indeed the word is used in scripture, it's not wrong to say so, it
is perhaps useful for us to note that the Lord Jesus Christ was
received into glory. The Saviour didn't merely go
back to heaven, but he was received up into heaven. there was a reception
for the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a reception, party
if you like, for the Lord. They received him in heaven with
joy and gladness and celebration. The man Christ Jesus was returning
into his glory. And it's this emphasis on the
humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ returning to glory that I want
to just labour a little bit for us today. It's the man Christ
Jesus that entered into his glory and Christ's reception speaks
of his triumph the triumph, if you like, of a returning king
being lauded for the victories that he had won and the spoils
that he had recovered. And Mark's emphasis here on Christ
being taken up into heaven on Christ's return or reception
into heaven is upon success and victory and glory. The Lord Jesus
had been successful in his redemptive work. He had been successful
in purchasing with his blood all the elect that had been committed
into his care. He had assured their redemption
by the blood that he spilled. And I think that this is very
important and I'm going to make a point here that I want you
to note and maybe just store away and think about a little
bit on another occasion. But I think this is very important
in the context of understanding the nature of the true gospel
and what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished in his redemption.
There is a doctrine in our Christian circles today called Arminianism
and it's the doctrine of emphasising man's free will. in gaining their
salvation by trusting the Lord. And many preachers will preach
a free will gospel as if anyone and everyone is able to take
salvation from the Lord and claim the benefits of the Lord's death
if they simply choose to do so. Well, Arminianism gives Christ
no success or victory in his redemptive work. So it cannot
allow him any glory in his ascension. And yet the whole point of the
Lord's ascension and being received up into glory is that he was
glorified and welcomed as the returning victor. For the Arminian,
at best, the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross made salvation possible
and the true glory must go to the individuals who make Christ's
work effectual by a subsequent act of their will. So for an Arminian, verse 19
is totally premature. Because we don't know that there
has been any success. We don't know that there's been
any success in Christ's redemptive work or his atoning work until
sinners decide to be saved. And that's the only time that
Christ could have any glory. So that at the best they must
say that Christ returning to heaven in glory was premature. That's not scripture's take on
this event at all. Both the Old Testament and the
New Testament testify to Christ's victory over his enemies. We saw that yesterday in the
little introduction that I sent out to you. I do hope you take
the opportunity to read that because my intention is that
it will be foundational to the things that we say in this service. But we saw there how David and
Paul both tell us that the Lord in ascending into heaven led
captivity captive. He was returning victorious. He was returning as the one who
had taken captive that which had previously captivated and
enslaved and imprisoned his people. He was received into glory and
seated as a man in heaven in the place of prominence and preeminence
at the right hand of God because he had gained the victory. Christ
entered the strongman's house and he set the captives free
and he led captivity captive. Satan can never re-arrest, Satan
can never re-capture those whom Christ set at liberty. And this
is assured to us in Christ's ascension when he returned into
heaven and his reception into glory. It is our assurance and
why Paul can say in Romans 8, 1, who is he that condemneth? Because Satan has already been
bound by the Lord Jesus Christ and led captive. No one can condemn
those for whom Christ intercedes at the right hand of God. It
was when he had himself purged our sins, washed them away, actually
washed them away that the Lord Jesus Christ sat down on the
right hand of the majesty on high. And Christ's victory is
significant of the Lord Jesus Christ being received up into
glory. So that's the first point that
Mark is stressing here. By the fact that he was received
up into glory, Christ was victorious. The second point he makes is
that he sat down at the right hand of God. Now I've already
said many times that he sat down at the right hand of God. But
this is further proof of Christ's glory and pre-eminence. No angel,
we're told in Hebrews, was ever invited to sit where Christ sits. But today, a man sits at the
right hand of God. This is the God-man, but it is
still a man nevertheless, with our human nature and our human
body, though free from sin, a man who still carries the wounds
of his suffering and the marks of his love in his body. John saw the risen Christ before
his ascension. He was there in that room on
those two occasions when the Lord came and showed the disciples
his hands and his feet and his side and proved to them that
he was not an apparition, that he was a physical man who indeed
even asked and ate food, asked for and ate food. in order to
prove his humanity and his bodily reality. John saw the risen Christ
before his ascension and he saw the ascended Christ in glory
in heaven, seated at the right hand of God. And John tells us
it's the same man It's the same man who's there in heaven. And the phrase, at the right
hand of God, is itself important. The significance of that little
phrase, because that comes from a passage in the Old Testament
that speaks about Christ's priestly role in heaven. Why did Jesus
sit at the right hand of God? Well, the psalmist in Psalm 110
tells us why. In that little psalm, verse 1,
it says, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand. And he goes on to say, Thou art
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. That's verse
four. So the ascension of Christ and
the session or the sitting down of Christ at God's right hand
is reinforcing our view of Christ's humanity because it is from among
men that every high priest is taken. And it's Christ in his
humanity in his high priestly office as a representative of
men that we find the great meaning of Christ's intercessory work
in heaven at the right hand of God. The ascension therefore
underlines the glory of Jesus the man. It was to Jesus the
man that all power was given in heaven and earth. The sovereign
God, the eternal word, had no need for all power to be given
to him. He already possessed that, but
it's to the man Christ Jesus that all power was given. And
it is Jesus the man who is worshipped and served by angels. And Jesus
the man is not ashamed to call us his brethren. I'm not trying
to separate the divine and human nature of the God-man, but I
am saying this, that the ascension and session of the Lord Jesus
Christ is designed to reassure us of the glories that await
us in our human nature in heaven. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is there in his humanity. and he is looking after us in
our humanity in his intercessory work. Paul tells us, and in that
sense, just listen to the significance of these words. In Ephesians
2, verse 4 to 7, on the basis of what I've just said to you.
It says there, God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together with
Christ, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. You see the union that we have
with the Lord Jesus Christ in this? We're quickened. As Christ
was raised from the dead, so we are raised with him. We're raised up together. We
ascend with the Lord Jesus Christ into heavenly places and we're
made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Why? Why did God do that? Listen. that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards
us through Christ Jesus. Well might the word of God say
that I hath not seen or ear heard the things that the Lord has
prepared for them that love him. We, it's the exceeding riches
of his grace. He wants to show us the exceeding
riches of his grace and his kindness to men and women like us in our
human nature. These are wonderful things to
contemplate. These are glorious things to
have set before us. So Mark has told us here that
the Lord Jesus Christ was received up to glory, received into heaven,
which speaks of his victory. He sat down at the right hand
of Christ, which speaks of his intercessory work for us in his
humanity as our high priest on our behalf. And then he goes
on to say, and there the Lord continues to confirm his word. So this is the third point. He
confirms his word. When our Saviour ascended into
heaven, We're told that the disciples, or then, they become known as
the apostles after that, the ones that were sent out as the
messengers. They weren't just the trainees
after that, they were actually doing the job as the preachers
sent forth. So the apostles went forth and
they preached everywhere. They preached everywhere. They
began to fulfil the great commission that the Lord had given them.
And here we see another element of the Lord's Ascension. because we're told that he gives
gifts. The ascended Lord gives gifts. And again, we mentioned this
in yesterday's little introduction, how that David in Psalm 68 tells
us when the saviour ascended into heaven, he, David says,
received gifts for men. So he received gifts to give
to men. While in Ephesians, Paul tells
us that the Saviour in ascending gave gifts unto men. So it's a little bit like taking
in one hand and passing it on. So that what's happening here
is that David was looking forward to see what mercies lay in store
for the people of God when their king should be honoured and received
into glory. And Paul is looking back and
surveying the work of the Gospel and the work of the Apostles
and the spread of the Gospel and he's realising that those
gifts were now amongst men. in the form of God the Holy Spirit,
in the evidence of God's love dispensed, commended to His elect,
in the mercy that had been shown and the grace that had been given
to all believers. and the gifts of the Holy Spirit
variously given to the Apostles and the Church. So that one of
the key aspects of the Lord's Ascension was the giving of these
gifts to the Apostles and to the Church by the risen Christ
and ascended Christ. So that the power of the Gospel
is seen in the effectiveness of the gospel in the salvation
of sinners and the gathering of the church. Grace is God's
gift. So that the Lord Jesus Christ
gave gifts unto men and grace is God's gift. Salvation is God's
gift. Repentance and faith are gifts
from God. These are the gifts Christ ascended
gives to his people through the preaching of the gospel and they
are confirmation of Christ's continuing work in blessing and
gathering his elect people throughout the ages of the church, from
those earliest days when the apostles went forth preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ right up to our present time when the
gospel is preached, whether it's from a pulpit or in mediums like
this. When the gospel is preached,
the Lord Jesus Christ continues his work in giving gifts as the
ascended Lord, the salvation to his people and those things
which are needful for our welfare and well-being. And then we have
our fourth point, and that is Christ's ongoing work within
us. You know, I'm not sure that I
had ever noticed Mark's words before, which he quotes in this
little passage. It says there in verse 20, they
went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them. And I'm not sure that I'd ever
noticed that little phrase before, the Lord working with them. But I noticed it when we were
thinking about this passage today. As the gospel is preached in
the hearing of men and women, the Lord Jesus Christ is working
to bring his lost sheep home. It is God which worketh in you
both to will and to do His good pleasure. And we are His workmanship. And while our King is seated
at the Father's right hand, He is yet actively exercising His
power in heaven and earth, working with and for His people and confirming
the Word with signs following. Christ's work in us and gifts
to us is the essence of the gospel of grace. The gospel of God's
goodness and the gospel which speaks of the gifts and promises
of God which are without repentance. This is the good news. This is
the plentitude. This is the wealth, the common
wealth. that the Lord has given to his
people. And we see it pictured and prefigured
here in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God as a man and he is active
in the intercession and in the giving of gifts and in the working
of the gospel for the well-being of his people. What we cannot
do for ourselves, Christ is doing for us. Our sin, our poverty,
our emptiness, our need is all Christ requires to do us good. He delights to give good gifts
to his people and we should look for and expect these gifts in
our own experience. They're the spiritual gifts and
blessings experienced by the Lord's people of our forgiveness
of sin and our interest in the worth and glory and majesty of
our Saviour. And throughout all the ages of
the church, the people of God have understood these blessings
flow from Christ. We are saved to experience the
life of Christ. We are endowed with faith of
Christ, so that we might trust Him more and more. We are partakers
of the righteousness of Christ. We are heirs of the glory of
Christ, that we might be comforted in hope of eternal life. Brothers and sisters, you and
I have been blessed to have heard the gospel and we have been more
blessed to have been brought to faith in it. The last thing
that Mark says in this precious gospel of his, the last thing
is that he says, Amen. And I think that that's very
appropriate because Amen is a name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
time we say Amen, we should think that's a name of Christ. That's
a name that is applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just
a way to end a prayer or end a sentence or bring some idea
to a conclusion. It's actually the name of Christ.
Do you remember the first thing that, well, that's not fair to
ask if you remember, but let me tell you, the very first thing
that Mark says in his gospel is this. The beginning of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That's chapter one, verse
one. His final word is Amen. And later in the book of Revelation,
John, the apostle, John tells us that that is a name for the
Saviour. Christ is the Amen, the faithful
and true witness. And so Amen means the faithful
and true witness. Sometimes we say it means So
be it, let it be, as if it's a prayer to God that he gives
us those things that we have asked for. But another way of
looking at it is as the faithful and true witness, the great Amen. Now, certain it is that Mark
himself has been for us in writing this gospel a faithful and true
witness. And we thank him for his faithfulness
in setting out the truth of Jesus Christ in this gospel witness. But I think it would not be too
improper for us to see not just the Lord's name appended to this
gospel, but as it were the Lord's own signature and seal stamped
upon it. His personal verification and
guarantee that this is the truth. This is the faithful and true
witness. His mark on mark to authenticate
and validate all that Mark has written for us. As if to say,
I, the great Amen, do hereby testify this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptance. So thank you Mark for your faithful
testimony. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for inspiring
your servant to write this gospel for our blessing, for our comfort,
and for our edification. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all
that is written here of your wonderful work of redemption
and salvation accomplished for us. Let us, brothers and sisters,
never forget the one who is the great Amen, the faithful and
true witness, the beginning and end of all things, the Alpha
and Omega of our faith. Amen. May the Lord bless these
thoughts to us.