The Ascension of Our Lord

and it has been a blast getting to be with all of you guys in this capacity over the last three weeks.

You know, I don't know if dad knew exactly what he was getting himself into because, you know, now

I have the fever and it's going to be hard not to do this next week. But at the same time,

I am excited for him to be back, obviously, and to get back into Colossians, but it is, you know, something special to be able to to fill this pulpit and to get to share messages with this church family.

And so it has been a tremendous blessing for me. I hope it has been for you guys as well the past few weeks. And I'm looking forward to today's message.

So since time is of the essence, once again, let's hop right into it. Turn with me to begin this morning to Luke, the gospel of Luke chapter 24.

And we're going to start reading in verse 36. We'll read all the way to the end of this chapter.

It says, And as they spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them,

Peace be unto you. This is after the resurrection. But they were terrified and afraid and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

And he said to them, Why are you? Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?

Behold, my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto them,

Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb, and he took it, and he did eat before them.

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the

Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.

And he said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in the name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.

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 they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing

God. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this wonderful day, for bringing us together, for allowing this fellowship, and for just the absolute wonderful edification that it brings, getting to be with each other and getting to talk about your word.

We ask you to be with us today, be with this service, that it may be edifying to all of us, that it may give us a mind toward you and an understanding as well as an appreciation for your glory and the very place where you stand at this moment as an intercessor between God and man.

And we ask you that, again, you just be with us, give us your words and understanding of the scriptures, just as you did for your disciples here.

We ask all these things in your name. Amen. So quickly, I want to remind everyone of a few things that took place after Jesus's resurrection, which was the topic of last week's discussion, and before his ascension, which will be the topic of today's discussion.

So some things transpired between those two events over the course of a number of days. Number one, he was seen of Mary Magdalene in the garden and later by the other devout women of God.

Of course, we saw that in the resurrection narrative that we looked at last week and there in the other gospel accounts.

We have a little bit more information about what those appearances were like for the women. He walked the road of Emmaus, teaching himself is found throughout the

Old Testament. If you recall in Luke, if you go back just one chapter, there's the wonderful story of him on the road with a couple of his disciples.

Actually, I take it back. It's in the same chapter earlier on, prior to where we began this morning. And he's on the road with a couple of his disciples and they don't recognize him.

He has the ability to in his glorified body, he has the ability to make himself known or not known, depending on what he wants, even though he is in a physical body.

And they didn't recognize him. And he tells them about himself, starting with Moses all the way throughout the prophets.

And then a second ago, if you notice that he referenced it once again when he was talking with the rest of his disciples, saying that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, the prophets and the

Psalms concerning me. That is quite a staggering reality when you think about it.

And so he did that. He had the most epic Bible study on the dusty road to Emmaus with a couple of his disciples.

He appeared before his apostles on many different occasions. There were three specific occasions that were given throughout the

Gospels where he appeared to his disciples and they believed on him. Some doubted, but eventually they all realized he was who he said he was.

He performed more miracles, such as the catch of the fish that were so much that Peter's boat couldn't even carry it.

So he was still performing miracles on earth, even after his resurrection, a few prior to him going to heaven.

Importantly, he was seen by more than 500 eyewitnesses to testify of his bodily resurrection.

Of course, that's one of the greatest proofs that we have in regard to the historical argument for not only

Jesus, it's undisputed that he was a man and that he was crucified. Of course, skeptics for the last however many millennia, as they are moved along by the devil himself, have challenged the validity of the resurrection, even though there is evidence upon evidence that says otherwise, not including the inspired word itself.

But having 500 eyewitnesses after the resurrection, of course, was very noteworthy.

And finally, he gave his great commission to teach them and to baptize them in the name, singular.

If you want to really quick, I'm going to read just a couple of verses, but the very end of Matthew, which of course Matthew chapter 28, we were in Matthew 27 for the crucifixion.

We were in Matthew 28 last week for the resurrection. And the way that whole narrative ends, leading into the next phase of Jesus's ministry, was him imparting his great commission to his disciples at that time.

Matthew 28, starting at verse 18, says, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth.

That is going to be key for today's topic as we get into it. So keep that in mind. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Ghost. The fact that the name is singular here, and yet it lays out all three persons, is yet another wonderful proof of the

Trinity. They all share the divine name. We refer to it as Jehovah often. Yahweh is another way that you could pronounce, at least with the information that we have.

They all share the same name, and yet they are baptizing in the name singular of the three persons, the

Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Verse 20, 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. Amen. So Christ ended his earthly ministry post -resurrection by giving us this great commission.

And what follows these words of our Lord is an event that we're all familiar with. We all know that it happened, but perhaps don't necessarily contemplate it quite as often as we would for events like the crucifixion and the resurrection, as we've been discussing the past couple of weeks.

Now, this could be simply by virtue of the fact that there's a relatively small amount of scripture regarding this particular event relative to the resurrection, relative to the crucifixion.

The apostles referenced both of those many times throughout the New Testament. But when it comes to our topic of discussion for today, we're left with only a few scriptures that speak directly to it, and yet the scriptures we are going to look at are enough to give us a very clear peek into the glory of the ascension and the enthronement of our

Lord. And so that's where we're going to begin now, taking a look at Acts chapter 1. Now, everything we just read, these parting words of Jesus at the end of Matthew, the parting words of Jesus at the end of Luke, these are all really important for us to remember and understand the significance of what is about to take place when he leaves this earth, interestingly enough.

Let's go ahead and read the first nine verses of the book of Acts. And speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the

Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the

Holy Ghost not many days hence. And when they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying,

Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? I want to pause there for just a quick second and just note that it's interesting that the apostles at this time interpreted the

Old Testament prophecies of a kingdom to be a literal earthly kingdom. Isn't that interesting? A lot of people spiritualize that today.

One of the reasons we believe the way that we do in regard to the end times is because we do believe there are unfulfilled prophecies to the physical ethnic tribes of Israel, as well as the geographical land of that.

We do believe Jesus will rule there on a physical throne someday. And so it's interesting that the apostles are kind of referencing that.

Is this going to be when you usher in the kingdom, when you restore Israel? And he said unto them in verse seven, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the

Father hath put in his own power, but ye shall receive power after that the

Holy Ghost, excuse me, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you.

And ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and into the uttermost part of the earth.

And verse nine here, and when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Now, considering that this is the primary source text, if you will, regarding the event of the ascension of our

Lord into heaven, we're not really left with a whole lot of particular detail with regard to him moving through space, moving into the next dimension in his glorified body, entering into heaven.

We're not given any of the specifics there, nor do we need them. It's interesting. Just one more quick point.

And this wasn't even something I noticed in planning for the sermons over the past few weeks, but I noticed it here preparing for this one.

In the crucifixion, we're given no detail regarding the crucifixion itself.

I mentioned that several times at this point. During the resurrection, we're given no detail about the resurrection. It just says he has raised, as he said, he's been raised, as he said.

Here, we're given no detail. It's just he was taken up into the clouds. So three very specific events regarding Jesus's finished work as well as the gospel itself.

We're not given any detail as far as the visuals, what we picture in our minds. We're just given the bare minimum facts, and that's, of course, all that we need here.

But for that reason, because we're not given a lot of detail, because the ascension ends there and then it flows right into them trying to replace

Judas to get the 12th apostle, sometimes we might typically just breeze past this portion and then put our focus, again, perhaps maybe on his return and move beyond that point.

But when you think about it, there's so much more to this great event, the reality that the

God -man, having risen from the dead in a true physical body, but an incorruptible one, having conquered death and becoming the first fruits of our resurrection, as we talked about in detail last week, and was taken up to become our king priest at the right hand of power, this is a very significant reality that we need to dig into the best that we can, given the scriptures that we are given, to learn more about it.

But as short as this recording of the event is, I want to take a couple of important notes here, specifically in verse 9, and then we'll move on to some other passages that I think will give us a little bit more light on this tremendous event that we otherwise may or may not think a whole lot about, typically speaking.

Verse 9, one more time, and when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Remember the cloud, as minor of a detail as that may seem, or maybe just, you know, perhaps it's just you think it's there just because we know clouds are in the sky, and so it gives us this nice visual of Jesus going up in the sky.

Remember the cloud, because that's actually an important detail. A cloud received him. Now there's an interesting phrase, this will seem like a little bit of a diversion for a second, but it's actually really important.

There's an interesting phrase or name that Jesus claimed for himself more often than any other in the gospels, and that was the

Son of Man. So in reference to himself, that is the name of choice that Jesus gives in reference to himself all throughout the gospels.

For example, in the gospel of Matthew alone, he uses it 30 times in reference to himself, and of course you'll see that throughout

Mark, Luke, and John as well. And you might think that's an interesting choice, given that he could have just been calling himself the

Son of God the whole time, rather than the Son of Man. But there was a very significant reason why he chose to use this designation for himself, and in fact, it was using it that caused the high priest, when he was before the

Sanhedrin, to tear his clothes to accuse him of blasphemy, and use that as the proof of his blasphemy, that then led to his alleged guilt, and the road to Pilate, and eventually the road to the cross.

Isn't that bizarre? You know, you say that I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds.

It was when he used that particular name that they accused him of blasphemy.

So why is that particular detail significant? Why bring up that that is what

Jesus' favorite name for himself was? What does it have to do with the ascension in Acts?

This is where it gets really cool. So turn to Daniel chapter 7, when

Ashton and I moved into our house a little over a year ago at this point, almost right at it.

Of course, one of the things that I was looking most forward to in moving to Mahaea was to be closer to Dad, and of course we moved in parallel with Katie and Dave, so by nature, by virtue of that, we were all close together.

We had countless coffee talks and Bible studies and things at Denny's, but I was like, well, you know, living next to Dad, we'll have even more conversation and things like that.

And so Ashton and I were anticipating that, very excited about all of the times getting to host Dad as well as the whole family at our house for Bible study and things of that sort.

And this passage was the first thing, the first question that I had for Dad after we moved, asked him to come over,

Ashton brewed the coffee and all that good stuff, and we talked about this as a parallel passage with Acts chapter 1 verse 9.

Look at verse 13 of Daniel chapter 7. This is

Daniel, and I'll say it again probably in a second because it's important for us to remember exactly what's going on in this prophecy, but this is

Daniel in the middle of receiving like a cluster of prophecies, of visions from God, about varying things, different events, different important things that are connected but different.

In other words, they are connected. There's continuity in his visions here and the significance in them, and there is some important ways in which they relate, but they are different scenes is kind of what

I'm getting at. And so in verse 13, the scene shifts for Daniel, and he sees something, a prophetic vision that differs from what he was seeing before and slightly different from where he's going after around verse 14 or maybe a little bit after that, and we see this scene in heaven.

Look at verse 13. I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven.

There is the phrase. There's the name that Jesus was claiming for himself. This is why the high priest and the

Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes accused him of blasphemy because they were very aware of this passage and what this title meant.

This, the Son of man, is a reference to their Messiah that sits at the right hand of the

Ancient of Days, as we'll see in just a second. And Jesus, in calling himself the Son of man, was claiming this to be him.

I saw in the night visions, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds. Remember, the cloud? With the clouds of heaven and came to the

Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion. Recall the end of Matthew chapter 28. All power is given to me, both in heaven and on earth.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away in his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed.

So what we have here is we have an ancient prophecy, a parenthetical of a very specific scene that Daniel sees again, kind of within this cluster, this array of different visions that he's having as he is writing all of this, writing down all of these visions and things like that.

And it's a prophecy of the finish line that Jesus crosses at the end of his ascension that we looked at in Acts 1 .9.

This is an ancient prophecy of the risen Lord in a glorified version of the same body that had been crucified and that had been resurrected, entering the throne room of heaven to take his seat at the right hand of the

Ancient of Days. The disciples from earth, they could only see the Lord disappear into the clouds and they were told that he would return in like manner, but they didn't get to see the other side of it.

They saw him disappear and they were promised his return. And then they went all fired up to go do their job and to fulfill the great commission.

But on the other side of it, this is what we have. And in Daniel, we're given a brief but very vivid description of the moments that Jesus entered heaven after the ascension began.

One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the

Ancient of Days. The word came there is in when he came to the Ancient of Days. It's an

Aramaic word, metah, and it means to reach, to come upon, to extend. And some translations will actually add the word up in there.

So some translations will read it, he came up to the Ancient of Days. And that's helpful. And it's an appropriate translation.

It's helpful for picturing kind of in your mind what is going on, the fact that this is an ascension, not some kind of, not anything else.

But it's not necessary to have that word either, because where is the Ancient of Days? Well, at least the representation of him is in heaven.

So we know that in order to approach the Ancient of Days, in order to come upon him, you have to be going up.

This is Jesus during the ascension, or rather at the very end of it. You have the Son of Man ascending up to this place from the earth.

And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom. Kind of skip it around a little bit. His dominion is an everlasting dominion.

This sounds very similar, like I said a second ago, to the very end of Matthew. And it's because of this dominion that we are given the authority to go into every place on earth and spread the gospel.

What gives us the right to do that, to go to someone else's land, to trespass by human standards, and even in a place where perhaps they are a zealous people for whatever their religion is?

What gives us the right to go in there and interject the truth from the Bible, to interject the truth from Scripture, and to proclaim

Christ as Lord? Well, from the human viewpoint, and from the viewpoint of even the governments of the world, and even our own culture today, is we don't have that right.

And you know, I'm not going to get into that. That'll take up too much time. But we're told we don't have the right.

However, we do have the right. And it comes from the fact, we have the right and the power, by the way.

And it comes from the fact that actually, it's all the Lord's dominion. Actually, it is his kingdom.

It is his earth. And he has the authority in heaven and on earth. We know he has the authority in heaven.

Sometimes a lot of our brothers and sisters will forget the earth part. I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

And it's because of that, he said, therefore, go. You know, Dad always says, what's the therefore, therefore? Well, at the end of Matthew, it's there to remind us that we are going not just in a blind obedience, because he said to we're going because of the therefore.

And the therefore is because he has all power, dominion and glory in heaven and on earth.

We have that power. It is imparted to us when we go out and proclaim his word. And so that is a very, very important thing to remember.

It's because of that dominion that he is given in Daniel, chapter seven, verse 14, that we have the power ourselves to go out into every place and spread that gospel.

This is the enthronement of the risen son. Again, the disciples saw the cloud from below.

Daniel had seen it from above in a prophetic vision 500 years before it happened.

And as we look at this scene unfold in Daniel, it's the ultimate success of the son of man, the son of man specifically.

We know the eternal son has been here before, but this is a little bit different. This is the consummation of his ministry because he knew that this is what his life was leading up to as Dave was talking about in Sunday school.

And you mentioned, Dave, and I actually do kind of like it. You said in your mind for a long time, perhaps the greatest sacrifice he made was just the life because he had to condescend.

He had to give up the presence of the angels in heaven and all of the glory there.

He didn't necessarily give up his glory, but he certainly veiled his glory and many of his other attributes as well.

Willingly, by the way, it's a very important detail. He did it by his own will, his own volition.

He veiled these things at the Mount of Transfiguration. He unveiled it by his own will for a little bit.

So he had that power. But Dave's point was in the past in his mind, it was taking on human flesh that perhaps was the greatest sacrifice.

And then you mentioned, well, maybe it was really the cross. And I do agree that that was probably the at least pinnacle of the sacrifice.

But certainly taking on human flesh was a big sacrifice for him. And so the eternal son, while he had been in similar glory before, this is the end, again, the consummation of the incarnate son, now glorified as well, having risen from the dead, entering into this place.

This is the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ going into the presence of the

Father, where, again, he is now enthroned and where he sits as we speak this very day.

But now we might ask, what happened after this enthronement? So there's the ascension.

He was taken up in the clouds and those clouds delivered him up to the ancient days. So now what?

What happens after verse 14 in Daniel, after he's given that dominion glory and a kingdom and all the people, nations, and tongues, that they should serve him?

That's an interesting thing worth noting, that his dominion is an everlasting dominion. What happened after all of that?

What is Jesus doing right now in heaven? Well, for starters, he is actively interceding for us.

We know that. And that's certainly something that we can't forget because the accuser brings his accusations against us every moment of every day, presumably.

So everything that we do, everything in our mind, every sin that we commit, every shortcoming that we experience, the devil sees it and he's not going to let

Jesus forget about it or not know about it. And so he's up there pestering our Lord, trying to get him to basically kind of repent a little bit, perhaps, of ever forgiving such dreadful creatures.

And so we have the accuser up there and we have him. Think of your worst sin habit, the worst thing you've ever done.

You've confessed it to God, but it's still something that is with you forever because in these earthen vessels we carry that sadness with us until we're glorified ourselves.

And that is being proclaimed loudly and boldly by the devil in heaven.

That's not a very pretty picture. And if it weren't for the finished work of Christ, it would be devastating.

But because of the finished work of Christ, because he is up there actively interceding for us, he shuts it down.

There's no worry. There's no embarrassment even because it was paid for, because it was crucified. The worst thing you can think of that you've ever done, or perhaps will do in the future, that has already been crucified.

And so it's a non -issue, but it's still something that's happening. We have the accuser up there.

And so we know that's one thing Jesus is doing actively right now, is being that intercessor, that mediator for us.

It's something we can't forget, but there is more. And I'd like you guys to flip over to Revelation chapter one for a second.

We're going to be in Revelation quite a bit in the early chapters. Okay, well, my watch is working.

We're making great time. You don't have to worry about that at all. Revelation chapter one.

I may even slow down a little bit. You don't have to feel so rushed. And let's start in verse 10.

And this kind of starts laying the groundwork for where we're going to end today. So just keep in mind, what are we asking?

What is Jesus doing in heaven right now? And we're about to be given some scenes to clear that up for us a little bit.

This first passage we're going to read, though, is intended to give us some context and some foundation for all of this.

Chapter one, verse 10 of Revelation. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet.

This is John in his old age on the Isle of Patmos about to receive the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Excuse me. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Verse 11 says, I am

Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest, write in a book and send unto the seven churches which are in Asia, unto

Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, unto Sardis, unto

Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned,

I saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like the son of man, familiar phrase, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle, and his head and his hairs were white like wool.

We're getting now a physical description of Jesus's physical body, but as it stands glorified in heaven at this moment, his head, the hairs are white like wool, white as snow, his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like into fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice is the sound of many waters.

And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two -edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

The seven stars, of course, there's a lot of very interesting, you know, symbology and things like that.

We're going to see kind of in a second as you, well, actually, I don't think I'm reading that far, but as you get down to like verse 20, it clarifies what some of these things represent.

Of course, you have the spirit represented as the seven spirits and things like that. Let's see here.

Where was I? I think it was verse 16. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet dead, verse 17 again, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me,

Fear not. I am the first and the last. And listen to this in the context of everything we've been talking about the last three weeks.

The crucifixion, the resurrection, now the ascension. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold,

I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of Hades and of death.

So this is the risen Lord. This is the God man. This is the son of man. This is still Jesus incarnate because he still has a body.

It is glorified now, but he still has that body even in this scene and revelation.

So following that particular portion of scripture there, we then have the letters written and sent to the seven churches, which covers chapters two through roughly chapter, most of chapter three as well,

I believe. And what do we find in those letters? Again, what are we asking?

What is Jesus doing in heaven right now? What information do we have with regard to his direct relationship to us?

We know his spirit lives within us, but what about Jesus the man? What we see when we look at all the letters, and this is very cool,

Jesus is actively participating in the well -being of his churches. That's what we find out when we read these letters.

Now there's some variations in the letters. There's some rebuke. There's some praise. There's some commendations.

There's some exhortations. There's all kinds of things which make sense because you're dealing with seven churches full of humans.

And so they're all over the place and he is addressing them accordingly. But the one common denominator is that Jesus sees all of it and that he's actively participating in it.

And he's giving them his words to sharpen them up a little bit in some cases or just to praise in a couple of cases.

And so what we find is that Jesus, as he sits on the throne post ascension, after everything we just read in Daniel, the glory, the dominion, the kingdom, all of these wonderful things, after all that, he is still actively engaged with his people via the local churches that are established throughout time.

And so you have seven local churches in Revelation and he is actively participating in the well -being of those churches.

He knows how healthy or how sickly they are. He knows their successes. He knows their failures, their challenges, the persecutions, the pain they're going through.

You look at the letter to Ephesus and you get an idea of a lot of what they were going through and they were just trying their hardest.

They were doing everything that they could to stay loyal to his word and to refute false religion and to refute legalism and refute all these bad things, but they forgot their first love.

So again, the Lord, he knew every part of it and they forgot their first love presumably because they had all these battles they were fighting and they were so encapsulated within the battlefield that they forgot, oh wait a minute, we need to get back to just our pure worship of Jesus himself.

So you have all these very intimate letters that Jesus writes to these churches.

And I feel that a lot of our, I think I alluded to this already this morning, but I feel that a lot of our brothers and sisters today around the world get this idea that Jesus is sitting on his throne in heaven, being serenaded by the singing and the praise, which is true by the way, he certainly is, and is somehow this passive recipient of our prayers and he's observing things as they happen.

He's seeing things as they go on down here and is perhaps even if you go so far as to say,

I wonder what's going to happen next. Don't get me into it. Don't get me started there, but there are some that would take it that far.

And it's as if he's not actively engaged while it is true that he's on his throne.

But that's not the case in any form or fashion. It's not the case at all. His body is literally down here in a sense.

First Corinthians 12, 27 says, now ye, that's us, are the body of Christ and members in particular.

That is on the back side of him talking about all the spiritual gifts and how they vary in a church, how the head can't say something about the foot.

Like I'm more important than you because you need the whole body for the body to function. You need every member of the body in order for the body to function.

You have all of that context going into that verse. And we learned that we are the body of Christ. His body is down here.

That is not the kind of analogy that is used to describe a passive relationship. Jesus is not in heaven right now enjoying a spiritual millennium like so many believe in regard to the end times.

Y 'all are familiar with the amillennialist phrase at least. But the amillennialist, that is a different end times view to what we would have.

We would be premillennialists. And they believe that the millennial kingdom that we talk about often in this church, the glory that we will someday have here on earth with Jesus on the cross, the blood of Israel saved, as Paul says in Romans 11, all these wonderful things.

The amillennialist believes that all of that is happening right now in heaven. And so it's not like Jesus is up there enjoying the millennial kingdom with all the saints that are in heaven while we're all down on earth just toughing it out until we get to go there ourselves someday.

That is not at all what's going on. It's interesting to point out that a lot of religions will put their

God in this totally transcendent place, if you could even call it a place.

In other words, with Muslims, you have Allah that is removed. He gave his revelation, quote unquote, but is removed from that.

And you don't have any kind of personal relationship with him because he's God. He can't be in the presence of humanity.

You have the deists that, of course, believe that God created everything. He was kind of the source of the big bang, but then removed himself.

That's a dreadful view. Most religions have a God that is removed from the creation of that God.

But that's not our God. Our God isn't passive. He's not removed. In fact, that's one of the greatest proofs of the

Trinity as well, is because of the way that he works throughout time and in space with his creation, the way he interacts with his creation, of course, including us.

So rather than all of that, rather than any kind of weird spiritualized millennial kingdom in heaven, and Jesus is up there enjoying that while we're all down here, rather than that, he knows what's taking place, and he exhorts his churches.

He encourages his churches. He judges them sometimes. He warns them sometimes, but he is walking among them, which is a fulfillment of some of his own prophecies.

Well, they are prophecies, but promises that he gave while he was still walking on earth as the man

Jesus prior to the crucifixion and resurrection. He gave promises in John 14 and in John 16 and at the end of Matthew, I will be with you always.

And there are some specific promises laid out in those passages in John that are fulfilled when we read these letters in Revelation and see that he is actively working with his churches, through his churches, walking among them.

But after the reading of the letters to the churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, the scene shifts, and we're given a vision of God upon his throne.

So now turn over to, stay in Revelation, but turn over to chapter 4. And there's so many connections here, it's absolutely mind -blowing.

And while this may end up surprisingly being the shortest of the three sermons that I've done over the course of this time, it could easily be the longest and could be drug out many, many weeks.

When you start making the Old Testament connections with what we're about to read in Revelation 4 and in the second,

Revelation 5, it's too many to touch on. But just know that this, what we're about to read is just absolutely pivotal and unbelievable with regard to how amazing it is and how amazing

God is and the way he works. Revelation chapter 4, start verse 1. After this,

I looked and behold, a door was open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was as it were a trumpet talking with me, which said, come up hither, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.

And immediately I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and like a sardine stone. And there was a rainbow around about the throne in sight like into an emerald.

And round about the throne were four and twenty seats. And upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

And out of the throne proceeding lightnings and thunderings and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.

That is a representation of the Holy Spirit. Of course, seven being the number of perfection is just to put in our minds this idea of perfection in the work of the

Spirit himself. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like into crystal.

And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

Skip on down to verse eight now, and it says, and the four beasts had each of them six wings about them, and they were full of eyes within the rest.

I'm sorry, they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying,

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. And when these beasts give the glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

So first, this is just a scene in heaven to showcase the absolute glory and absolute holiness of God, the thrice holiness of God.

In fact, I don't know who picked the hymn for today, but it was perfect. And so I appreciate that. And I want you guys to recognize something with me here.

John, in the book of Revelation, is very intentional using the similar language that's used throughout the prophets of the

Old Testament. The book of Revelation has so many Old Testament references in it, it's crazy. They're all over the place.

So John is very, very intentional with what he uses and when. And again, a lot of the language describing the worship that is in heaven right now, it's familiar, and it's familiar because it was there in the

Old Testament prophets as well in describing the worship and glory of Jehovah or Yahweh.

For example, you don't have to go here, but just listen to the similarities for a second. In Isaiah chapter 6, verse 3, listen to this for a second.

And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the

Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. That's Isaiah chapter 6.

Really fascinating side note really quick. That is a description of Yahweh sitting on his throne.

The glory of his train filled the room is the way the Old Testament puts it. Later on in John, John talks about the glory of Jesus that Isaiah saw, and he references this scene, meaning that when

Isaiah saw Yahweh, he was seeing Jesus pre -incarnate. Absolutely beautiful.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Now listen to Revelation 4 .8

one more time. And the four beasts and each of them had six wings, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night saying, holy, holy, holy,

Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. Absolutely wonderful parallel there.

What this should tell us is that everything that's happened on earth, the entire course of human history, conflict, empires being built, empires being destroyed, empires falling, you have all of this stuff happening, not just the last 2 ,000 years since Jesus, but for the entirety of human history prior to the cross as well.

All of this stuff happens, but there is one thing that goes absolutely uninterrupted, and that is the worship of God in heaven.

It was the same in Isaiah's day as it is right now for us. Holy, holy, holy, the

Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. It has not been disturbed.

It has not been ended by any of the turmoil, any of the calamity that has happened on earth throughout all of human history.

Okay, then we get to chapter 5. Let's read this really quick together, and we are nearing the end, but stick with me because we have some important detail to flesh out here.

Revelation chapter 5, and I saw in the right hand of him that set on the throne a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?

And no man in heaven nor on earth, neither under the earth was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof.

And I beheld in low in the midst of the throne, in the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

And he came and he took the book out of the right hand of him that set upon the throne. Notice something really quick.

What we read in chapter four was a description of the worship of the one on the throne, that being the father.

So in chapter four, that was a description of the father and the worship of him.

But listen to the parallels or the similarities between the worship in chapter four and the worship of chapter five, which is directed toward the lamb standing as if slain.

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts in the four and twenty elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials of odors and which which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sung a new song saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and has made us into our

God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. Think about what's being said there.

They're throwing the worship to the lamb because they're saying because of what you did, we get to be priests, we get to be priests and kings and to reign on earth.

So there is the co. I'm sorry. There's a nod at the joint heirs of Christ, us being joint heirs with Christ.

We inherit everything he inherits. But it's also a very clear passage on the way in which

God works with his people. And that is that he works with his people. Well, that's the foundation of it anyway.

The fact that he works with his people, they will reign, we will reign too. And they are throwing glory and praise and honor at the lamb because of the reality that they will get to reign themselves.

It's because of his power that they will get to do that. Verse 11, And beheld, I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders.

And the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.

This is exhaustive worship. This is this is covers all of the bases. Absolutely nothing left out.

And this is toward the lamb. And every creature, verse 13, which is in the heaven and on the earth, which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, heard

I saying, Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb forever and ever.

So you have the father and the lamb both referenced there. They both get equal worship. And the four beasts said,

Amen, and the four and twenty elders fell down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever. This is the one place where I kind of wish there was a more literal translation.

And some versions have a more literal translation. It literally means age unto age. It's never ending time.

But we also get this very dynamic scene with regard to how with regard to God's plans for the future, because it's not just some nebulous, eternal state that never changes.

And we're all just kind of floating around. This is age unto age, implying there are changes, dispensations in time, even in the future after the

Lord's return. That's a really cool thought. Again, there's a dynamic to our future beyond even the millennial kingdom.

It's not going to be just some steady state. It's going to be changing. There's going to be some history.

It's there. Age unto age, honor and glory will be given to the lamb. So what we see here is while the worship of God hasn't changed at any point since the creation of the angels in heaven, there has been a change in the temporal space -time dimension that God's creation resides within.

And that's the incarnation. That is John 1 14, when the Word became flesh.

That was significant. And so what we have here is it comes full circle.

It comes back to the glorious point in history when God entered into His own creation. You have the virgin birth.

You have the ministry, the death, burial, resurrection, the ascension of Jesus. It's all taken place at this point in Revelation 5.

It's all taken place. And now in heaven stands a lamb as if slain.

He still bears the scars of the cross, of His death, even in heaven, even in His glorified body.

When He stands, you can see it, even in His glorified body. Now let me ask you guys this.

Do you think that the sight of a slain lamb in the temple was a very pleasant thing to look at?

It was pretty gruesome. The lamb would be cut, and it would bleed out, and it was a very long process, and it would be covered in His own blood.

Very, very, very striking scene, no doubt.

But with that, given that, given the nature of that kind of death, do you think that little lamb was standing at any point?

He wasn't. When the sacrifices that pictured the ultimate sacrifice took place, that little lamb was not standing.

He was sacrificed as a picture of Jesus' sacrifice, but also as a temporary atonement for God's people.

However, this lamb that is talking about in Revelation 5 is not like any other lamb.

This is a lamb that is to be feared, which, if you think about it, sounds like an oxymoron, because there is not much else in the world that's not scary than a little lamb.

And yet, this is a lamb, as it said in Revelation 5, that is to be feared. And actually, we're going to look at another verse in just a second to demonstrate what that fear looks like.

It's really something else. This is a lamb to be feared, which, of course, sounds crazy, but it's true.

And why is He going to be feared? He's going to be feared because He is standing, like it said.

This is a lamb that is standing as if slain. The forces of evil thought that they were killing

Him, but what they were doing is they were actually killing themselves, and Him standing is the proof of that.

The fact that the thing, the person, the sacrifice, the lamb that they slew, the fact that He is now standing is the death blow to themselves, and there's no going back.

You can't kill Him again. He is resurrected. He's glorified. They had their shot, quote -unquote, from the human viewpoint, and they sure took it, but this is what happened.

Look at the next chapter. This is literally three verses. Revelation 6, starting at verse 15, "...and

the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man," that again is exhaustive, this is everybody, "...they

hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb.

For the great day of His wrath has come, who shall be able to stand?" You remember our discussion about Malachi 3 .2?

Who can abide the day of His coming? This is a lamb that everyone is afraid of, and in fact, is quite literally the most frightening thing they have ever seen in all of human history, any human had ever seen, at least those that didn't previously put their faith in that lamb.

I've said it before, but the day of the apocalypse, the day of Christ's return and judgment, but also the rapture and the first resurrection, it's going to be the most glorious day for those that put their faith in Christ.

It'll be the most devastating day for those who hadn't. So it's going to be quite the emotional roller coaster with regard to the human race, because you have two polar opposite ends of a spectrum, and there's no middle ground for that.

It's going to be totally black and white, there's no gray area. It's either the best day in all of human history, in all of redemptive history, arguably, or the worst day in all of human history.

No middle ground whatsoever. But again, the wrath of the lamb, it sounds very strange, it sounds oxymoronic, but this is exactly what was intended to be conveyed.

Remember, this lamb is standing as if slain. This lamb gave his own life. So he had supernatural power to give his own life and to bring his own life back.

This lamb purchased a people for God. He brought grace and mercy and peace. And there will come a time in our future, as we all know, when the lamb who has given his life becomes the judge.

He becomes the judge who brings the just wrath of God against those who have hated him, rejected him, martyred his people, and murdered him.

Hide us, they say, from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb.

After Christ's ascension to power, he now stands as our high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews chapter 6 and 7 are actually very applicable to this topic. He stands as our priest king, interceding, receiving praise and worship, guiding his churches.

He stands prepared to show his wrath at the time that the Father has appointed. The time hasn't come yet, but he's standing ready to show that wrath and to show the fear of the lamb standing as if slain.

But what will that wrath look like? We're given many examples of it, including the book of Revelation, where we just were.

But I'd like to end today's message with one of the most poetic descriptions of everything we've talked about today.

The enthronement, after the ascension, the dominion of our Lord, his work as our high priest, and the wrath of the lamb, all wrapped up into a very succinct, very beautiful, very poetic description.

And this is where we'll end today. You have my word. Psalm 110.

Let's read this together. The Lord said unto my Lord, by the way, this first verse of Psalm 110, the most quoted verse in all of the

New Testament. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

There's the enthronement after the ascension that we learned about in Daniel chapter 7,

Acts 1. The Lord shall send the rod of my strength, of thy strength, excuse me, out of Zion.

Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies, and thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning hast thou the due of thy youth.

Thou hast the due of thy youth. Think about what is the events that are being talked about as we read through this.

The Lord hath sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through the kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen.

He shall fill the places with the dead bodies. He shall wound the heads over many countries.

He shall drink of the brook in the way. Therefore shall he lift up the head.

So one of the greatest proofs of our faith and the very source of the power that we receive when spreading the good news of Christ's gospel is that our

Lord did ascend and He ascended to the right hand of power and that He is sitting there right now as we speak that all power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him and that He stands.

He lives. He has been resurrected. He stands. He still bears the scars of that death, but that is yet another proof of His conquering of death.

He's not a corpse. He's not the corpse of a dead sacrifice, but He is a wrathful lamb that will rescue

His people, that will avenge the blood of the saints, all while bearing the scars of His crucifixion as a perpetual reminder of the sacrifice that He made 2 ,000 years ago.

All of this comes together. It all wraps up, kind of culminates, if you will, in some of these scenes that were given in Revelation, but we will get to witness that, of course, with our own eyes someday, and what a glorious day that'll be.

I'm very, very much looking forward to that. Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for this time we have together.

Thank You for bringing us together once again and for the opportunity to talk about Your Word and to take as brief as it was, as quick as it was, a look at Your redemption history, the various ways in which

You work, the multiple dynamics and aspects and components, the variables that all equate to Your finished work,

Your singular finished work, which is, of course, how we can have peace with God to this very day and so that we can be in His presence someday as well.

Lord, we ask You to please remind us of these things throughout the week and as we just continue trucking along throughout this year, that we are reminded of the fact that our

King Priest lives, that He sits at the right hand of power, that He is our intercessor, our mediator, and just as importantly as anything else, that He has dominion on heaven and on earth.

And that is where we get the power to go out and spread Your truth, to take part and work as the instruments of Your hand, to share the gospel and to perhaps even bring some of Your people to a saving knowledge of You as their

Savior. And we ask You to continue to work in our lives so that we can be that instrument, so that we can have the honor of taking part in Your plan and so that, more importantly, we can throw that honor right back to You when we see

You face to face for the first time someday. Lord, we ask You to continue to be with us the rest of today. Be with us as we fellowship with each other.

We thank You for that very much. We ask You to bless our time together and we ask all these things in Your name. Amen. You are dismissed.