Both the Gospels of Mark and
Luke and the book of Acts all tell us, reveal to us, that on
a certain day the Lord Jesus Christ ascended bodily into heaven. If you will, let's look at these
three places, beginning with Mark chapter 16. 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. Now if you will
in Luke chapter 24 And we will read here verse 50,
Luke chapter 24 and verse 50. And he led them out as far as
to 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 now if you will, let's look
in Acts chapter 1. beginning with verse 9, Acts
chapter 1 and verse 9. And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received
him out of their sight. 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 you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken
from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have
seen him go into heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ, as the
surety of the new covenant, was crucified to satisfy the justice
of God for his people, those who had been given unto him in
that covenant of grace. And he died according to the
scriptures. That's what the Apostle Paul
tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 1. He died according
to the scriptures. And then we know he was buried
that same day. And three days later, he was
declared to be the son of God by the resurrection. This is
what Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1. He was declared, He
was manifested to be the Son of God. He confessed to be the
Son of God. Was He really the Son of God?
He was declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection. His
coming back from the dead, declared, manifested, yes, He is the Son
of God. And then we are told that 40
days later, now during this 40 day period, Luke tells us in
Acts that he appeared unto the apostles by many infallible,
he showed himself alive by many infallible proofs. And he taught
them. But then this day that we've
just read about, that Mark tells us about, Luke tells us in the
gospel and also in the book of Acts, that on this particular
day, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, mediator, that he ascended
into heaven. He is there tonight. He is there sitting on the right
hand of God. Now the scriptures reveal that
he is there for you and I, for those of us who trust in him
as our forerunner, our advocate, and as our high priest. And I want us tonight to look
at each one of these and consider the Lord Jesus Christ as our
forerunner, as our advocate, and as our high priest. He entered into heaven. Christ,
he entered into heaven as our forerunner, he entered into heaven
as our advocate, and he entered into heaven as our high priest. First, Christ is the believer's
forerunner in heaven. Look with me again in Hebrews
chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. Someone might
say, well, we only are told this in one place. I'm reminded of
what an older pastor told a man who is a friend of mine. He's about my age, maybe a little
bit younger. We were both young at the time.
But this friend told this older preacher, he said, well, God
only says that one time. He said, how many times, the
older preacher said, how many times does God have to say something
for it to be true? Hebrews chapter six and verse
20. Whether, well let's read verse
19, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, whether
the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made in high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now when we read that the Lord
Jesus Christ, the believer's forerunner, has entered into
heaven, what does this mean? A forerunner. A forerunner speaks
to us of a race. That term is used concerning
a race. And we know that each one of
us, those of us who are believers, we have a race set before us. The apostle Paul, the writer
of Hebrews, said, let us therefore run with patience the race that
is set before us. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he
too, had a race to run when he came into this world. He had a race to run, he had
a work to finish, and now he has finished that work and he
has entered into heaven. And in Hebrews chapter 9, we're
told that he has entered into heaven now to appear in the presence
of God for us. He is there as our forerunner. The forerunner is the one who
crosses the finish line first, the forerunner. And this, of
course, I believe, pictures to us those offerings in the Old
Testament, the law of the first fruits. When a man planted his
field and the fruit was just beginning to come in, he would
go out and harvest just a very small portion and take that and
offered that as a wave offering unto the Lord. But that first
fruit offering was a pledge that there was more in the field.
There was more to come. And the Lord Jesus Christ, when
we think of Him as our forerunner, as He who has entered into the
presence of God for us as our forerunner, it tells us that
He is there as a pledge A pledge that there's going to be many
others who will come. And this pledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ speaks to us of four things. It assures us of these four things. Our forerunner, the fact that
He has entered into heaven there for us in the presence of God,
it assures us of these four things. Number one, When a believer dies,
immediately we are in the presence of God. When a believer closes
his eyes here in death, he immediately opens them in the presence of
the Lord Jesus Christ, his Savior and God. Paul said to be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord. He is there as
our forerunner, as a pledge that when we die, and if the Lord
doesn't come, all of us will go through this experience, we
will leave this world. And what a comfort it is to know
that when we breathe our last breath here, we open our eyes
in the presence of our Savior. We look upon Him who loved us
and gave Himself for us. And number two, He, there as
our forerunner, is a pledge that one day... Now, He's there, body
and soul. The body, the flesh, the Word
was made flesh. And that doesn't mean He just
had a body. It means whatever constitutes
a man, that's what He assumed. Body and soul. And He is there
in the presence of God as the God-man, and he is there as a
pledge that yes, we too one day will be there, both soul and
body. If he were to come tonight, and
our spirit, our soul goes immediately into the presence of God, our
body would be buried in the grave and would turn back to the dust,
but we have this pledge that one day He's going to come again,
and He's going to call that dust back into existence. And we, body and soul, will be
forever with the Lord. And number three, He is there
as a forerunner, as a pledge, that believers shall be where
Christ is, that is, heaven. I don't know if you've ever had
the experience, I have. time or two with people who try
to tell you that the Bible never tells us that we're going to
be in heaven. I don't know if you've ever run
into someone like that. Well, the scriptures tell us
that we are going to be with Christ. He said that where I
am, there you may be also. Well, where is Christ? He's at
the Father's right hand. We just read that, didn't we,
in all those verses. He ascended into If we're going
to be with Him, we're going to be in heaven. And Christ is heaven. Wherever He is for the believer,
that is heaven. But we know where He is. Heaven
is a place, isn't it? It's not just some thought or
something like that. He said, I go to prepare a place
Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. And number
four, He is there as a pledge that we shall be like Him. Not
only will we be with Him where He is, but we shall be like Him. Remember the verse in 1 John
chapter 3, where the apostle tells us, Brethren, it doth not
yet appear what we shall be. Let me read it to us. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. For we shall
see him as he is. So, first of all, Christ has
entered into heaven as our forerunner. Second, Christ is the believer's
advocate in heaven. The believers advocate in heaven. Look over in 1st John chapter
2. 1st John chapter 2 and verse
1. My little children, these things
write unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Christ
is the believer's advocate in heaven. Now I want to point several
truths out to us from that one verse tonight. My little children,
these things write unto you that you sin not, And if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. The first thing I point out to
us is that pronoun we. If any man sin, we. Now when John writes we, he includes
himself, doesn't he? He was an apostle. He was an
apostle who was loved Beloved of the Lord, like all of God's
children, but especially he speaks about the fact that the Son loved
him. And yet he says, we, if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father. If you look back
into chapter one in verse eight, he wrote, if we say that we have
no sin, again, we say the word we. If we say that we, apostles,
believers, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. We. In the new birth, when a
person is born again, and that's a mysterious thing. I don't know
that any of us can explain it. The scripture says the wind bloweth
where it listeth Thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell from whence it comes, nor where it's going. So is everyone
born of the Spirit. It's a miraculous thing. Mysterious,
powerful, no doubt about it. A new birth. But in the new birth,
we are given a new nature or new man, which is created by
the Spirit of God. And therefore, it is referred
to as spirit. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. We have a new man, a new nature,
a new principle. I've heard it called all of these
terms. The old man, the old Adam. All
referring to the fact that when a person is born again, there
is a new man. That which is born of the spirit,
a new principle. And that new principle is called
the Spirit, because it is born of the Spirit. And the Apostle
tells us that from that moment on, there is a struggle that
is always going on in a believer, in a child of God. Because while
the Spirit of God gives us a new nature, He does not eradicate,
erase, take away that old nature. And Paul in Galatians chapter
5, you know, he says, flesh lusteth against the spirit, the old man
against the new man, flesh against the spirit, spirit against the
flesh, so that you cannot do the things that you would. Now,
because we have that old nature, if any man say he has no sin,
he deceives himself and the truth is not in him. John includes
himself in this group. We don't desire to sin. The Spirit cannot sin. That which
is born of the Spirit, that noose, that seed, that seed of God that
is placed in us, John says, cannot sin. But that old nature can. And therefore, we do. When it
says, if any man sin, maybe we could say, when any man sins. Because we do. And we're not
proud of it. And we would desire not to commit any sin. Absolutely, the Spirit does.
But we follow. And I know everyone here tonight.
I don't have to labor this point. We all recognize this truth,
don't we? Well, the second thing is, there's
one advocate. If any man sin, we have an advocate,
Jesus Christ the righteous. The point I'm making is, there's
one advocate. There's not two. The angels,
there's thousands, millions of angels, but angels are not advocates. The Virgin Mary is not an advocate,
nor a redemption, redemptrix. There's one Redeemer, and there's
one advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. The one mediator,
the one mediator, I think I, would remind us of something
I read years ago. But in a rest home, someone moved
into a rest home. And this home was run by a religious
organization that believed in praying to the saints and the
virgin and all of that, you know. And they put a plaque up on the
wall quoting that verse of scripture. Well, there's one mediator between
God and me and the man Christ Jesus. One of their priests came
in and he looked at that and he said, take that down. Take that down. That one verse
destroys our whole religion. And it does. And yet it's the
truth. It's the word of God. There's
one mediator between God and man. There's one savior. There's
no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. The name of Jesus. There's one
advocate. If any man sin, we have an advocate,
Jesus Christ, the righteous. Number three, the term advocate
When we read that, and we see this term, it suggests to us
a courtroom, a courtroom. Now, in every courtroom, I imagine,
there is usually a prosecutor. There's one who accuses. That's
his job. That's her job, a prosecutor,
to accuse. And then there's an advocate.
There's a counselor for the one who is being accused. I know that the devil, he is
called the accuser of the brethren. And some people believe that's
the picture that we have here. But think of this, Christ's work
as an advocate. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. His work, when
a believer sins, the advocate, our advocate, Jesus Christ, He
doesn't deny the charge. If we've sinned and we are accused,
the advocate does not deny the charge. The charge is legitimate. But He pleads. And just when
I say He pleads, just His presence there. pleads for us. He pleads
for us that that sin or those sins were laid upon Him. When we sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. He's there to plead just by His
presence there. Yes, He doesn't deny the fact
that we're guilty of sin, but that sin or those sins were laid
upon Me. This is Jesus Christ the righteous
who is there as our advocate. Those sins were laid upon me. I shed my blood for the remission
of them, and I satisfied God's justice for that sin or for those
sins. He's continually there. Therefore,
in justice, the sin or the sins ought not to be laid to their
charge. This is his advocacy. Whatever
the sin is, it should not be laid to their charge because
I bore that sin in my own body on the tree. Forgiveness should
be applied unto them. You know the psalmist said, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord doth not impute iniquity. The advocate
is there. Don't impute that sin to him. That sin was imputed to me. It's paid. It's paid. Here's a fourth thing from this
text. Believers should know that our advocate is always there. We have. It's not like we've
got to go and find an advocate or we've got to dig up an advocate. No. or wake up an advocate, he
is always there. And number two, he is always
successful. He never loses a case. He never
has lost a case. Because you see, he's the son
of the judge. The father's pictured here as
the judge, his son. Wouldn't that be a good way if
you were going to court here in our country, in the city or
something, and you hired the lawyer who is the son of the
judge, the man sitting up there on the bench? I think you'd have a pretty good
case, don't you? Well, I know this is true in
this case. His blood and righteousness and sacrifice are always in sight. and always plead for peace and
pardon for his people. Now, here's the third. Christ
is entered into heaven as our forerunner. Christ is entered
into heaven as our advocate. Christ is entered into heaven
as our high priest. Look in Hebrews chapter eight. Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 1. Now of the things which we have
spoken, this is the psalm, we have a high priest who is set
on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. The book of Hebrews, I know all
of us enjoy reading this book for many reasons, but in this
book, and I believe it was originally written to Christians who were
Hebrews, that is, Jews. And so much of it is an explanation
showing how the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the sacrifices,
all of that Old Testament law which was given through Moses
to the nation of Israel, how it all found its fulfillment
in Christ. Aaron was a high priest, a picture
of our great high priest. All of those sacrifices which
were offered, animals, the blood of bulls and goats can never
take away sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ, by
his one sacrifice, hath perfected forever them that are sanctified."
That tabernacle, with all of its furniture, was just a picture
of the true tabernacle, that is, heaven itself. With that
in mind, and we read here tonight that Christ is the believer's
high priest in heaven. I want us to think of two things
about Aaron. Now, when I say about Aaron,
this was true of all the high priests, but he was the first
high priest, so I mention him. Two things that were true about
Aaron, the high priest, which pictured our high priest in heaven. Two things. Number one, Aaron,
the high priest, had garments. Now God told Moses, to make his
brother Aaron garments, who was the high priest that would be
garments of glory and beauty. Glory and beauty. Exodus chapter
28, verse 2. And thou shalt make holy garments
for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. Now there was
much gold involved. But when I think about the dress,
the garments that they made for Aaron, the one thing that especially
stands out for beauty and for glory were those stones, those
precious stones. There was 14 of those stones,
12 in the breastplate and two, one on each shoulder. for glory
and for beauty. Now, our high priest, when he
came into this world, he came in as a man and he was as a root
out of dry ground. There was no beauty in him that
we should desire him when we saw him. That's what Isaiah 53
begins saying, isn't it? But he's left that body of humiliation. That body in which he was crucified
through weakness. And now he is in heaven. He doesn't need any clothes,
any garments for glory and for beauty. He in his person is glorious,
all glorious and beautiful to God's people. But think about
these stones. these stones. I said there was
14. On the breastplate, there were 12. And on the two above,
on his shoulders, there's one on each shoulder. Now what was
that to picture? Well, it was to picture that
when the high priest, Aaron, when he had on that garment,
he carried the people of God on his heart. Twelve tribes. Twelve stones. And when he had
that garment on, he carried the twelve tribes, six tribes on
each stone on his shoulder, picturing to us that our high priest in
heaven, he has you, and he has me, and he has every one of his
children on his heart. He has us on his heart. And he
carries each and every one of us on his shoulders so that not
one will be lost. You remember in the parable of
the hundred sheep and one was lost and the shepherd left the
ninety and nine, didn't he? And he went out into the wilderness
and he searched until he found that one lost sheep. And then
you know what our Lord said he did. He put that on his shoulder. He put that sheep on his shoulder
and carried that sheep all the way home. When I think about
the fact that these names were engraven on these stones, I'm
reminded that our high priest, your high priest, he has your
person engraven on his hands. Think about that. Look back with
me to Isaiah 49. This is a scripture I know you're
familiar with, the first scripture at least. 49. And verses 15 and 16. Can a woman, verse 15, and this
is in response to what the people of God had said in verse 14. But Zion said, the Lord hath
forgotten me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Have you ever felt
like that? Have you ever felt like God just
forgot you? You know David did, the psalmist
did, didn't he? When he wrote Psalm 73, the Lord
is good to Israel, but as for me? And so here we have Zion, the
church, the people of God, making that statement. The Lord, the
Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. And so
the response is, can a woman forget her sucking child that
she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes,
God says that's possible. That could happen, yay. Not very
likely. Thank God, not very likely, but
yes, it could happen. They may forget, yet will I not
forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee on
the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before
thee. When we think about our names
or our persons, not our names, our persons graven on the hands
of the Savior. I wonder if that refers to the
marks in His hands, the nails, the nail prints in His hands.
Because in heaven, the only remembrance you and I will have of sin will
be those marks. Those marks will always remind
us Our Savior had to bleed and die to pay our sin debt. The second thing, and with this
I'll stop. Aaron the high priest, not only
did he have that garment for beauty and for glory, but Aaron
the high priest made intercession for all those he represented.
Hebrews chapter 7 and verses 25 through 28 Hebrews 7 verse 25, Wherefore
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him. You know that a marginal reading
there is, Wherefore he is able also to save them evermore. Evermore. His salvation is an
eternal salvation, isn't it? Everlasting life He gives unto
us. For such a high priest became
us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily as those high
priests to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then
for the people's. For this he did once when he
offered up himself. For the law maketh high priests
which have infirmities, but the word of the oath which was since
the law maketh the son who is consecrated forevermore. He was made our high priest by
an oath. Thou art a priest forever. after
the order of Melchizedek. Aaron made intercession for his
people. To make intercession or to intercede
means to pray or to present petitions for those who come to God by
him. He is in heaven. We saw that,
didn't we? Those three verses told us that
he ascended into heaven and he is there in heaven tonight, interceding
for all of his, all of those who come to God by him. Doesn't this encourage us? Doesn't
it encourage you tonight to know that you have a high priest who
is there and he's always making intercession for you? You know,
he prayed for Peter, didn't he? He said, Peter, Satan hath desired
to have thee, that he might tempt thee, but I have prayed for thee,
that thy faith fail not. His faith didn't fail, did it?
He did deny the Lord, he did fall, but his faith did not fail. He was restored and used of the
Lord in preaching the gospel. Well, I pray the Lord