John 20. Paul, did you know I
was preaching from there? Brian, wouldn't it be something
if the Lord said to you in the preaching of the gospel, Brian,
and you'd say, Braboney. That's what I pray happens this
morning. that the Lord will call my name,
that the Lord will call your name. And your response will
be, Rabboni, my great master, my great Lord. Now, in verse 17, that verse
of Scripture I just read, the Lord said, Go to my brethren. Now, before this, he called them
his disciples. But here he says, my brethren. No mention is made about them
all forsaking him. He calls every believer. My brother. My sister. In answer to Psalm
22, verse 2, the psalm of the cross, I will declare thy name
to my brethren. Don't you find that attractive,
the thought of being the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, where
he will call you brother? For whom he did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. I want to be in
that crowd, don't you? Those he calls his brethren. You know, I never had a brother
in the flesh. I'm thinking about this. I had
three sisters. I still have three sisters. Never had a brother
in the flesh. I always wondered what it would
be like to have a brother in the flesh. But while I was thinking
about that, I thought, I do have a brother in the flesh. The Lord
Jesus Christ is my brother. He's my husband. He's my Lord.
He's my God. He's my Savior. He's my friend. He is my brother. He's truly that brother born
for adversity. He's that friend that loveth
at all times and sticks closer than a brother. And truly, I
have many brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter 20, verse 11. But Mary, Mary Magdalene, the
one out of whom the Lord cast seven demons, she stood without
at the sepulchre weeping. Now, Peter and John had gone
into the tomb and left. Mary did not leave, and she wept. She couldn't bring herself to
leave the sepulchre. She knew the Lord was no longer in the
tomb, but she didn't understand at this time that he was raised
from the dead. She just stayed at the tomb and wept. Now, she should have been rejoicing,
shouldn't she? She should have been rejoicing. But there she
is weeping. And we will find out one day
that many things that brought us tears are things if we had
better understanding. We would have been rejoicing. You know, the Lord first appeared
to Mary. Why? Why did he first appear
to her, he appeared to her before he did any of the disciples. I don't know if I know the answer
to that question, but I think it might be because she loved
him better than anybody else. Mary Magdalene. But Mary stood
without the sepulcher weeping. And as soon as I say that, somebody's
thinking, I wish I loved her, him like she did. Well, I know
you ought to feel that way. We ought to want to love him
more, shouldn't we? That she loved the Lord Jesus Christ.
Didn't have a lot of understanding about what was going on right
now, but she stood without the sepulcher weeping. And as she
wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher. And seeth two angels in white,
sitting the one at the head and the other at the feet, where
the body of Jesus had lain. These two angels ready to bring
good news. He's not here. He is risen. And they said unto her, verse
13, Woman, why weepest thou? She said unto them, because they've
taken away my Lord. And I know not where they have
lain him." Now, here's what causes a believer grief. When they can't
find Christ. When they can't see Him. And
they don't know how to get to Him. And they're grieved. This
is the way the Lord chastens. The Lord chastens His people
by withdrawing the sensible joy of His presence, and you feel
alone. You feel isolated. You feel by
yourself and to a believer, hell would be being separated from
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we long for his presence. And she was greatly distressed,
not feeling, not knowing where the Lord was. She said, they've
taken away the body of my Lord and I know not where they have
laying him. Verse 14, And when she had thus
said, speaking to these angels, she turned herself back. Now,
maybe as she was speaking to the angels, they quit looking
at her and started looking at him behind her. She turned herself
back and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus. She didn't recognize him. Now,
how could that be? I've read several different people
trying to find out what people thought was the reason for her
inability to recognize him. Some said because it was still
dim, wasn't enough light to see. Others have said because her
eyes were so filled with tears. Some have said because the Lord's
glorified body was different and she didn't recognize him.
I don't believe it's any of those. I believe it's the same thing
as those disciples on the road to Emmaus. Remember how the scripture
says their eyes were withholding? They were holding so that they
couldn't see Him. You see, we can't see Christ until He makes
Himself known, not before then. And when He makes Himself known,
you'll see Him. And if He doesn't, you won't.
You know that, don't you? You know the only time that you
see Him is when He shows Himself to you. when he makes himself
known to you through the gospel. And when he does that, you know,
and until he does it, you can't see him. This is above your ability. Verse 14, And when she had thus
said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing and knew
not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She supposing
him to be the gardener. You know every supposition we
make is wrong. Just write it down. Everything you suppose.
Well, I suppose it's wrong. She supposed him to be the gardener. Saith unto him, Sir, if thou
hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and
I'll take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. And as soon as he did that, she
knew who he was. And if he calls your name by
the preaching of the gospel, I don't mean you're going to
hear your name audibly called. Actually, it's more powerful
than that. You'll hear the voice of God in the gospel when he
calls your name. You'll know it's him. Jesus saith
unto her, Mary, she turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni,
which is to say, Master, my great Master. Verse 17. Jesus saith unto her. Touch me
not. And no doubt she was overcome
with emotion and she fell at his feet and held on to him.
There would be time for that later. He's not saying you can't
touch me now. You're not allowed to touch me. What he's saying
is you've got I've got something else for you to do. There'll
be time to hold my feet later. As a matter of fact, when he
appears to all the disciples, it says they came and helped
him by the feet. He wasn't saying you're not allowed to touch me.
He was saying, I got something else for you to do. You go to
my brethren. You go to my brethren. Verse
17, Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not, for I'm not yet ascended
to my father. We're going to get to that in a moment. But
go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my father
and your father and to my God and your God. I dare say they didn't feel like
brethren. They felt like cowards. They
felt like deserters. How do you reckon Peter felt
at this time? The Lord hadn't appeared to him yet. He probably
thought he wasn't a brother. He probably thought he wasn't
a disciple. He thought he'd already blown. As a matter of fact, if
you read Mark's account, I love this. When the angels are speaking
to Mary, They also say, you go to my brethren, tell them I go
before them, and Peter. Make sure you tell Peter, because
I guarantee you Peter would have figured when he said, go to my
brethren, he would have thought, I'm not one of them. You make
sure you tell Peter. You go to my brethren. Now, how
in the world can I be his brother? That's a powerful relationship,
isn't it? How can the God of Glory, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe,
how in the world can He look at somebody like me or you and
say, my brother, my sister? How can He do that? Would you
turn with me to Hebrews Chapter 2? Hebrews, the second chapter. Verse 11, For both he that sanctifyeth,
and they who are sanctified, are all of one, for the which
cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will
declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church while
I sing praise unto thee." Now here's how he can call somebody
like me, brother. Both he that sanctifyeth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. And because of that,
he's unshamed to call them brethren. Now let's talk about this thing
of he that sanctifyeth. What does sanctify mean? To sanctify
means to take something common and ordinary and set it apart
for holy purposes. The vessels in the tabernacle,
they were just vessels. In and of themselves, they were
not more holy than other vessels. They were not more special than
other vessels. They were just vessels. But when God set them apart for
the tabernacle, they were holy. They were holy vessels. You remember
Belshazzar in Daniel chapter 5. This is after the children
of Israel have been carried into captivity. And Belshazzar is
having a party. They're having a good time. They're
drinking and showing off and all this kind of just a debauch
party. And the Lord leads them to themselves.
But all of a sudden, Belshazzar has an idea. Let's get the vessels
of the Lord, of Jehovah, and let's drink out of them. So,
he sent some people and they bring these vessels back from
the Lord, the Jehovah's vessels. He said, let's drink in them
and we'll praise our gods of gold and gods of silver with
these vessels. And as soon as they drank that
same hour, what took place? A hand appeared with writing
on the wall. You're weighed in the balances
and you're found wanting. You see, these were holy vessels. They were set apart. for the
Lord's use. That's what sanctification means.
As a matter of fact, if you would look for one word in the Bible
that most completely describes God's salvation, it would be
the word sanctification. And what does sanctification
mean? Both he that sanctified and they who are sanctified are
all of one. Take something common and ordinary and set it apart
for holy purposes. Now, in eternal election, God took
somebody who was common and ordinary, and he set that person apart
for holy purposes. And that one lection is, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy. Holy. Other. Separate. Separate from the world. Their
sanctification. Sanctification means to declare
one to be holy. Now, in Hebrews chapter 10, verse
9, by which will we are sanctified, talking about every believer,
by God's will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Now, when Christ Jesus died,
When he shed his precious blood, God said regarding everybody
he died for, even all of the elect, they're holy. God declared
that. God said regarding me, I'm holy. He's holy. That's God's declaration. And if God says I'm holy, I'm
holy. It's hard to say that. It's hard to say I'm holy. But
listen, the cross died for me. I'm holy. God says, I am. And God says things as they really
are. Sanctification means to make someone holy, and that's
exactly what God does in the new birth when he gives a new
nature, a holy nature. You see, sanctification encompasses
the work of the father, the work of the son and the work of the
spirit. The father chooses us to be holy. The son declares
we are holy through his blood. God the Holy Spirit makes us
holy. Both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified. Is everybody sanctified? No. Only those that he sanctified. That's the elect. That's every
believer. Both he that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of Now what does that mean? All
of one. This is talking about the believer's
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. He became one with me. I'm flesh. He became flesh. He became what
I am. I'm a sinful man. He was made
sin. That's what took place on the
cross. He was made sin. He became one with, he became
totally identified with what I am. And just as truly as he
became one with me, I made one with him so that I become what
he is. 1 John 4, 17 says, as he is,
so are we in this world. I am one with him, whatever he
is, and this is true regarding every believer, whatever he is,
I am. Is he holy? I am. Is he righteous?
I am. Is he lovely to the Father? I
am. I'm one with him. Oh, this is, this is not just
real close together. This is one. Now, this is mysterious. It really, it gets so frustrating
to try to explain something like this because it can't be explained.
It can only be believed. It's glorious. One with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one for the which cause. He's not ashamed to call me his
brother. And you know why he's not ashamed
to call me his brother? Because there's nothing for him
to be ashamed of. I am as he is. And that's true of every
believer. Believer, you're ashamed of yourself,
aren't you? You're ashamed of yourself. But
you know, he's not ashamed of you. Matter of fact, he's proud
of you. You're perfect. You are altogether
lovely. His glorious bride. He's not
ashamed to call you his brother because you're perfect in Christ
Jesus. That's how he can say, go tell
my brethren. My brethren. Isn't it wonderful
to be a brother and a sister of the Lord Jesus Christ? What
an elder brother we have. He's my God. He's my Savior. He's my Lord. He's my brother. And he's not ashamed to call
me his brother. Now, back to our text in John
chapter 20. Remember, at this time, he's
speaking to them on resurrection ground. But what I thought of
when I thought of that, I thought of when the Lord is speaking
to that woman in John chapter eight, who was caught in adultery.
And he said, I don't condemn you. He's speaking on resurrection
ground. There wasn't anything to condemn
her for. Her sin had been put away. And he's speaking to her
on resurrection ground. And he's speaking to his disciples
now, not deserters, not cowards. He says, you go to my brethren. Verse 17, Jesus saith unto her,
touch me not. I'm not yet ascended to my father,
but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my father
and your father. The ascension of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He talks about his ascension.
Now, this is something that probably is not talked about enough, but
it's a wonderful thing to think about. The ascension of Christ
when he ascended back to his father. Now, the first thing
that tells me is heaven is a real place. It's a real place where
he is seated at the right hand of the Father. It's a real place.
It's not just pie in the sky. It's a real place where he's
at. And you know, that gives us much joy to know where he's
at. He's with his Father. At thy
right hand are pleasures evermore. There's fullness of joy. And
that's the place he is. And if you love him, you're glad
about that, aren't you? He ascends to his Father. Now turn with me for a moment
to Ephesians chapter 4. the ascension of Christ. Now,
you go to my brethren, my dear brothers, and you tell them,
I'm ascending. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 8. Wherefore, he saith, when he
ascended up on high, he led captivity captive. He led captivity captive. This is what he did when he ascended.
He led captivity. He captured captivity. Somebody says, now I've got a
free will and I can do what I want to. Well, then you're not captive.
I'm not talking to you. But somebody who's captive, that
means you can't get out. You can't get out. There's nothing
you can do to get out of this cell. You can't save yourself.
You know, if somebody's in a cell, but they can open the door whenever
they decide to, they're not really captive, are they? They can get
out when they want. But if you find somebody who's captive, captive,
captive to their sin, can't change themselves, can't make themselves
better, captive. What did he do when he ascended?
He led captivity captive. He captured captivity. And when
he ascended, he brought them into the very presence of God.
Look in chapter 2 of Ephesians. Even verse five, verse four,
but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, have quickened
us together. With Christ. By grace, you say
you were you were quickened when Christ was quickened, you know,
when Christ was raised from the dead, you know who else was everybody
he died for. You were quickened together with
Christ. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I can't. I can't. But I believe it. Verse 6, And hath raised us up
together. When Christ was raised, you know
who else was? Every one of the elect. That's
when I was raised. He had raised us up together
and made us sit together in heaven in Christ Jesus. Somebody says,
I'm for sure for heaven as if I'm already there. Better not
for me, buddy. I am already there. In the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm
already there because I'm one with Him. If He's there, I'm
there. That's my confidence that He ascended when He ascended.
He said, you go to my brethren and tell them I sent. Let's go to Psalm 24 for a moment.
I want to look at the Ascension Psalm. Psalm 24. Now, Psalm 22 is the Psalm of the
Cross. You read Psalm 22 and you read
the verses, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And all
those different things about how he was going to suffer on
the cross. In Psalm 23, somebody said he
quoted that on the cross. This is his faith. Even in utter
darkness, he was saying, the Lord is my shepherd. And Psalm
24 is the Ascension Psalm. Now, let's look at this together.
Psalm 24. The earth is the Lord's. and the fullness thereof, the
world, and they that dwell therein. Truly everything belongs to our
God. For he hath founded it upon the
seas, and established it on the floods. Who shall ascend into
the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy
place? Well, here that one is described.
He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. He's never done
anything wrong. He's never had anything wrong
with his heart. Perfectly pure. That's the only
person who's going to sin. Who hath not lifted up his soul
unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing
from the Lord and the righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Now the only person that's going to ascend into God's presence
is that person who has clean hands, never sinned, and a pure
heart. I know one person that fits that
description. You know who that is? The Lord
Jesus Christ. And everybody in Him. If you want To give a true description
of me. I'm somebody with clean hands. And a pure heart. And I've never
lifted up my soul to vanity. And I've never sworn unto God
deceitfully. Now, how can that be? Well, here's
how. Let's go on reading. Verse six. This is the generation
of them that seek Him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Now here the Lord Himself is
called what? Jacob. He so identified with
me that He is called, the Lord Himself is called Jacob. Jacob. And because He is called
Jacob, I am someone who has clean hands and a pure heart and have
never lifted up my soul to vanity. He became what I am, that I might
become who he is. Now, that is the ascension song.
That's the person who's going to ascend the Lord and everybody
with him. Verse six, this is the generation
of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob, Selah. Think about that. Chew on that.
Meditate on that. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is the King of glory? The
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. This is a reference to His
ascension. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He
is the King of Glory. Now why is He the Lord of Hosts
in this ascension psalm? Because when He ascended to the
Father, He didn't do so alone. Hosts came with Him. Even all
of God's elect. Every single believer. Now He ascended. Now back to our text in John
17. Driving John's way. And Jesus saith unto her, Touch
me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren,
and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father,
unto my God and your God. Now, the Father of the Lord Jesus
Christ is my father. He's my daddy. Abba father. The father of the
Lord Jesus Christ is my father. Our Lord told us in John chapter
17, thou has loved them as thou has loved me. Man, however the father loved
Christ, that's how he loves me. He's my father. He's my father. And all that that means, fear
not little flock, it is your father's good pleasure to give
to you the kingdom. Turn them back to Psalm 103. Here's what it means to have
God as your Father. Verse 1, Bless the Lord, O my
soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities,
who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction,
who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies
thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like
the eagle's. The Lord executeth righteousness
and judgment for all that are oppressed." I'm one of them,
oppressed by my sin. He made known His ways unto Moses,
His acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He will not
always chide, neither will He keep His anger forever. He has
not dealt with us after our sins. nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities, for as the heaven is high above the earth, so great
is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east
is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us, like as a father pitieth his children. So the Lord pitieth
them that fear him, for he knoweth our frame. He remembers that
we're dust. He does. And he pities. What a father. He said, now,
you go tell my brethren, I sinned to my father, and that one who's
my father is your father. And tell them I sinned to my
God, and you're God. Because of the Lord Jesus Christ,
God says, I will be to them a God, and they'll be to me a people.
Now, to have you as my God, you know what that means? That means
He's for me. If God be for us, who can be
against us? God's for me. He's for me in
all things. He was for me before I was ever
around. He was for me in predestination. He was for me in calling. He
was for me in justification. He was for me in glorification.
Now, if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? I go to my God
and to your God. Now, you go to my brethren. And you bring them this message.
I sinned. And when I sinned, all my people
are gone with me. I go to my Father and your Father. And my God and your God. Isn't that wonderful? To have
Him as my Father. To have Him as my God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now because of this, this is
the thought that came to my mind. Because of this. There's a man by the name of
Saul of Tarsus. He's a wicked man. He's a cruel
persecutor. He wants to wipe out the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is an enemy of God. He is out to kill every Christian
he can find. He is a cruel, wicked, evil man. And God sends a man by the name
of Ananias to this man. And Ananias comes and says, Brother
Saul. Brother Saul. This man is made a brother. Brother Saul receives thy sight."
Because of the gospel, somebody like Saul of Tarsus, somebody
like me can be brother taught, brother to the Lord Jesus Christ. What a gospel we have. Verse
18, And Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had
seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things unto her.
Do you all know what? He said he's ascending back to
his father and our father. He's our father, too. He's his
God, but he's coming back to our God, too. Oh, she came back
with these glad tidings. Isn't it wonderful to be a brother?
Let's pray.