The Ascended Christ - Luke 24 Vs 36-53

All right, good morning everyone. Glad to see everyone here. Old faces, but we're all here for the same reason, to praise God here today. So it's another glorious day. We'll start off today with a bit of announcements.

First one being there's a prayer meeting today, tonight, at 6 p .m. Meet in the Fellowship Hall. Secondly, we'll continue the Bible study, which will be actually happening this coming Wednesday, starting at 530, where a pastor will be going through the book of 1st Peter.

Once again, this Wednesday, 530 p .m., we'll be meeting also back in the Fellowship Hall. And then we also have a woman's Bible study, which will be happening this coming Saturday at 10 a .m. So women, mark your calendars for that.

Then we have Missionary of the Month with Penny Hardin, who serves with BMW Death Ministries, also in the Bay Area, which is Vallejo. So just pray for her work there, and also that her ministry efforts there are fruitful, and that they ultimately bring people to Christ.

And then lastly, we have the annual business meeting, which will be the last Sunday of this month, the January 26th. Other than that, that'll do it for announcements. If you guys would just join me in a word of prayer.

Dear Lord, thank you for this day given us. Thank you for allowing us to be here and celebrate and worship your name, Lord. Prepare our hearts today, Lord, as we enter into worship and sermon, Lord, so that we can better understand your character as it's preached and worship here, Lord, today, Lord.

In your name we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.

In Sunday school, we discuss the fact of resting in Jesus. And you know the verse in Matthew that says, or Jesus says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So sing with me.

This reading is going to be on 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 3 through 8. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 3 through 8. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also.

This is the word of the Lord.

The music ministry here, that every song we sing is proper and God-honoring, and we're.

Grateful for all the musicians and the singers who participate and whose hearts are devoted to the Lord. Let us turn to Luke chapter 24, verses 36 through 53. Luke chapter 24, verses 36 to 53. Now, as they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, Peace to you.

But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And he said to them, Why are you troubled? And why do you, why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold, my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, handle me and see.

For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while they still did not believe for joy and marveled, he said to them, Have you any food here?

So they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me.

And he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. Then he said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.

And he led them out as far as Bethany. He lifted up his hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass while he blessed them that 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. This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we're grateful that we get to hear the word, the gospel according to Luke, the word that you have given us. And father, we pray and we praise you that Jesus is risen and he is reigning from above.

There is not a square inch on this planet of which Christ doesn't cry mine, as Kuyper once said. And we're grateful that he is reigning from above. And we're grateful that he is our risen Lord. And we're grateful that he has fulfilled every promise of scripture.

Help us to honor him and worship him this morning. Transform our hearts. Help us to hear what the Spirit says to the church. In Jesus name. Amen. This is the last section on from the gospel according to Luke.

And if you've been here, this took two years and that is a blessing. Now all of you can know what Luke is saying and how it points to Christ. Jesus here spends his last moment with his disciples. No, he did not sail to America.

He stayed around Jerusalem and he spent his time, his last moments with the ones he loves the most, his very followers. And what is really fitting is that the gospel according to Luke started in the temple in Jerusalem as Zechariah prayed.

And it ends with a worship of Christ by the disciples in Jerusalem. In fact, in the temple. When Christ entered this world, the shepherds and angels worshipped. And when Christ ascended, his disciples worshipped.

Luke is a master author really to make those themes come alive from the beginning to the end. And the reason why Luke places so much emphasis on the physical resurrection of Christ is because that is a central doctrine of Christianity.

Not all Christians may agree on baptism. Not all Christians may agree on communion. But all Christians must agree on the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. And there's nowhere that's even clearer, more clear than Luke, where Jesus shows them his pierced hands and feet.

And Jesus eats before them. Luke wants to make sure that the resurrection was not some psychotic visionary experience among the masses. Luke wants to make sure that the resurrection was not just a spiritual ideology or theology, but rather the resurrection was a physical historical event.

And the one who ascended above is physically ruling in heaven. Jesus Christ is the only one with the resurrected body unaffected by death or sin or even effects of sin. And he is worshipped by hundred millions of angels.

And they're worshipping a human who has risen. They're worshipping the God-man. And this is significant because dead people are not worthy of worship. I don't know about you, if you've studied history, Julius Caesar was worshipped.

But it would be hard to find anyone who's worshipping Julius Caesar or Caesar Augustus. When Napoleon was alive, people feared him. Now, he's just the butt end of a joke for a complex of someone who's short.

But the people feared him when he was alive. He almost conquered the world. He got really close. That's because dead people can't leave an eternal impact. And dead people can't save others because they couldn't save themselves.

However, when we take a look at the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who's enthroned above, seated at the right hand of God, he saves the dead. He saves sinners. He rules over every part of this world. And today's text, the main point of today's text is, how does Christ's resurrection impact Christian ministry?

After all, this whole chapter of 24 was based upon the fact that Christ is risen. This portion asks the question, now so what? Yes, Christ is risen. It's undeniable. He showed up to multiple people in different settings.

But how does his resurrection impact Christian ministry? First, after Christ rose from the dead, according to scripture, he globally commissions his disciples to proclaim the gospel, relying on the spirit.

After Christ rose from the dead, according to scripture, he globally commissions his disciples to proclaim the gospel, relying on the spirit. In the gospel, according to Luke, the last group to enjoy Christ's presence is his disciples.

Now, as they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, peace to you. He appears among them and cordially greets them, peace to you. It's a Jewish greeting, peace to you.

And it is a fitting greeting for the apostles who must have experienced a roller coaster of emotions during these days. Unfortunately, peace is the last thing they experience upon seeing the resurrected Christ.

Verse 37, but they were terrified and frightened and supposed they had seen a ghost. Despite the news of the resurrection, they are in disbelief when Jesus actually appears to them. Seeing a spirit means they do not first believe that Jesus rose from the dead physically.

They think that Jesus is some sort of an apparition, a ghost, right? Doesn't have a physical substance. And I think this adds historical veracity to the gospel account. After all, these are the apostles.

They are the first leaders of the church. They're the ones commissioning other Christians to set up churches all over the world. But what's their first response to the most important event in history?

They're scared. They can't believe it. Now, why would they write that unless that's true, right? If you were going to make up a religion, wouldn't you want the apostles to be the first on the train of the resurrection?

Ah, yes, we believe from the beginning. Not so. They were actually scared even when Jesus appeared. So Jesus rebukes them. Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Jesus doesn't pull back punches.

He gets to the core of the problem. They're frightened because they do not yet believe, right? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? Graciously, Jesus dispels their doubts in two ways. First, Jesus shows and offers them to touch his hands and feet.

Behold my hands and my feet. That is, I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. In Greek, hands can be also the wrist region too. It's just this area. So, you know, people might say historically you can't, you know, physically be pierced here and hold the way.

Well, this counts as hands too. So that argument doesn't bode well. Now, what Christ is saying is ghosts do not have bodies. Spirits don't have bodies, right? Spirits that appear rarely appear, right?

Demons appeared. Angels appeared. They don't have bodies. The resurrected Christ does. Angels and visions, right? Angels do sometimes did occur, appear in visions. They don't have bodies. But the resurrected Christ, he does.

And they would have seen his nail-pierced wrists and feet. The marks once denoted humiliation are now scars of victory. The wounds of shame have become the medal of honor. And that only occurs post-resurrection.

Second, when they're still in doubt, he demonstrates further. But while they still did not believe for joy and marvels, he said to them, have you any food here? And when they give Jesus some fish and honey, he eats in their presence.

And this is because spirits in visions do not eat because they don't need to eat. They don't have to eat. They don't want to eat. The resurrected Christ eats. He's able to digest. He is of a physical substance.

The resurrection of Christ is not a spiritual vision, but a physical historical reality. And after the disciples believe in the resurrection, Jesus then instructs them in scripture. These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me.

Jesus chooses actually every part of the Old Testament to show why his death and resurrection were necessary. God promised salvation through Jesus' death on the cross in the whole Old Testament. In Christ, every promise of God finds its yes and amen.

I will go over a few examples of each part, the law, the prophets, and the Psalms. Remember in the Jewish scripture, the prophets is more than just starting from Isaiah. They've considered Joshua to be prophet.

They've considered David to be prophet. They've considered Samuel, the historical books to be prophet. First and Second Kings are considered prophetic because there are prophets in them like Elijah, right?

The law, that's the first five books, Genesis through Deuteronomy, promised the end of sin all the way at the beginning of Genesis, Genesis 3, that Satan would not have his reign because there's a promised offspring who will crush his head.

And that promised offspring crushed his head at the cost of his life by bearing our sin on the cross. And he ended the tyranny of sin in humanity. And Christ is the promised prophet like Moses who leads God's people into a greater redemption, not just the tyranny of Egypt, but the tyranny of sin.

And Christ is the promised offspring through whom the global blessing of Abraham comes. Galatians 3 says it is the justification of the Gentiles that is the fulfillment of the blessing of Abraham. The fact that you not being Jewish, only a couple of you are Jewish, but most of us aren't, I'm not, that you can be made right with God, not because you were born Jews and you followed the law, but because you have been justified, declared righteous by God, because God looks at Christ's sacrifice on the cross rather than your accomplishment.

That is the fulfillment of Genesis 12, 1 through 3. Ultimately, Christ provides us with God's dwelling presence to his people. He is the ultimate tabernacle. He is the ultimate temple. Christ died so that you could be in God's presence at any time and anywhere, which was lost in Genesis 3.

The prophets promised the Messiah, the conquering King along the, in the lineage of David, King David, to restore God's kingdom. The prophets promised that God's spirit would restore our hearts from inside out because of our inability to obey God according to the law.

The new covenant and the promises of the new covenant are told in the old covenant, in the old Testament. And in Christ, we find the fulfillment of those. And the Psalms promised the reign of Messiah, Psalm 2 and Psalm 110, right?

Psalm 110, sit at my, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Psalm 2, kiss the sun lest he shatter you like a pottery. The Psalms even promised the death of the Messiah who is pierced and humiliated.

Psalms 22, 31, 69, and 118. And then Psalm 16 shows that God's anointed one, the true anointed one does not stay dead. He does not decay. Needless to say, if you're not reading the old test, if you're not finding Christ in the old Testament, you're not reading the old Testament correctly.

The promises of the old Testament find their intended fulfillment in Christ. Christ is promised thousands of years before his coming. Christ is not a random figure in history who assumes control, but he is the answer to God's promises.

And after revealing this, Christ commissions his disciples for his redemptive mission. Thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. The content of the commission is grounded in the gospel.

First, Christ's commission is the continuation of God's redemption from long ago. Jesus did not start a new cult when he sent his disciples out. His global mission is based upon what was already written.

Christ's death on the cross was not an accident, but a planned, purposeful, redemptive event on which he bore our sin and suffered the wrath that we all deserved. Hence, it was necessary for him to suffer and rise from the dead.

And this is the ground of the gospel. You do not have the gospel without the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is crucial. You don't have a gospel ministry if you're just serving the poor and Christ is not proclaimed.

You don't have a gospel ministry because the owner of a program is a Christian, but if Christ is never mentioned, it's not a gospel ministry. Might be a good business, but I don't believe in a backdoor Jesus where Jesus is sometimes briefly dropped like a coin.

He has to be the center and what he did on the cross and what he did on the third day rising from the dead have to be the center of the gospel ministry. Verse 47 tells us what entails the gospel ministry and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem.

The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ and this news requires a proper response and that's what repentance is. Repentance all throughout the Bible is the act of turning away from sin. At the first, first repentance means to turn away from sin and even ourselves.

We must reject the idea that we're even just pretty good. That we must repent from as well. It's not accept that you're really bad, but accept that you and your effort to be made right with God is at best garbage and worthless.

We must repent of seeing ourselves as good enough and we must abandon any idea that we can ever save ourselves and we must turn away from ourselves and then turn toward God who truly saves. Repentance and faith are basically the two sides of the same coin.

You can't repent without the object of faith, which is Jesus Christ, because you need to turn to him. Just, just acknowledging that you're pretty bad is not salvific. Most people know that they're pretty bad.

They just hide it well, but most people don't turn to Christ who can take away their sin and make them righteous. Second, the gospel provides remission of sin. Remission means forgiveness of sin. Sin is the biggest problem in our lives because we oppose the holy God.

There is nothing we can do to earn forgiveness of our sin and this is precisely what the crucifixion and the resurrection accomplished. We are reconciled to the holy God, not because we've done well, but because Christ took our place and died the death that we've earned.

Christ dealt with our sin and he has placed us in his righteousness and made us acceptable to God. That's why you can approach God only in Christ's name. Notice what it says, only in Christ's name. What does that mean?

In Christ's authority, in Christ's identity, and in Christ belonging to Christ, you cannot be forgiven of anything, a single sin without the authority of Christ, without belonging to Christ, without the mercy of Christ.

And now where are the disciples to preach the good news? All the nations beginning at Jerusalem. Although it starts at the city of the Jews, the gospel must not be gate kept there. The gospel must be proclaimed all throughout the world.

What that means is Jesus did not die to just save the Jews. He died to save every ethnic group. The gospel knows no borders. The gospel transcends skin colors. The gospel is offered freely to all. And we must proclaim to all.

And that must be our prayer even this morning. In the last century, God has shared the gospel with more Muslims than all the previous centuries combined. In the last century, God has shared the gospel with more people by population and also by proportion than all the centuries combined.

God is working. God is saving. And we get to, we have the privilege of witnessing God's work, and we have the privilege of joining in God's work. Now how will they carry on their mission? Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city.

Wait in the city of Jerusalem until you're endued with power from on high. Lest the disciples think the salvation of the world is upon their shoulders, Jesus assures them that it's not. I mean, what a weight to bear if the whole world's salvation depends on these 11 men.

First, he will send the promise of his Father. Jesus is actively involved in the sending of the Holy Spirit. Notice the active verb, I will send. I will send. This goes directly against the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches.

They believe only the God, only the Father. God the sends the Holy Spirit. Actually, the Western churches have it right. The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, that caused a split in the 1054 or something.

The Greek church and the Catholic church split over that. This time the Western church was right. It is Christ who sends the Spirit. He has the authority to send the Holy Spirit from heaven. The promise of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is important.

The disciples of Christ are not operating on their own power but on the very power that raised Jesus from the dead. That is the reason why the global mission is possible. Not only possible, it's being accomplished.

It's actually thriving. Billions of people have heard the gospel in our lifetime. As Jim said this morning, the Bible is the best-selling book. That could not have happened on human effort. It is the divine work of the Holy Spirit in the churches.

And their wait, they're supposed to wait because in the end God is still actively involved in the lives of the believers. The promise refers to the Old Testament verses that promise the sending of the Spirit.

And I will quote from one among many just to show that this is not a random event. This is not something that's made up by Jesus. Ezekiel 36 26, a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a good heart of flesh.

In the last days, God will not dwell in the temple but dwell in each believer. And in the last days, God will not give a new set of laws on a stone tablet just like he did to Moses but write it on their hearts.

What that means in the last days, true obedience is possible not because the law got nerfed, not because the law got easier, not because God just, you know, I can see that you're just fallen sinful people.

Let's just make one commandment instead of ten. But rather because what changes is not the law, what changes is the heart. The true obedience comes from the depth of the heart as the believers desire to obey rather than the cold stone that testifies against them.

It is the Spirit who regenerates the heart of each believer. There is no other way to obey other than to be born again. And that is what Christ gives us, the Holy Spirit. And this is in fact the only reason why the church's witnessing has been effective.

Do you know how to effectively preach to the dying world that Jesus saves? Preach the gospel. Preach the gospel of his crucifixion and his resurrection. How we need to repent and believe in Jesus to be forgiven of our sin and preach, proclaim it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We must rely not on our eloquence. We must not rely on our rhetoric, right? This is why I can preach just in my monotone. I am not gonna sing. I am not going to change up and down, jump up and down, and yell and scream because it's not about an act that I do that saves, but it is what the gospel does through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And we must rely on the Holy Spirit who regenerates even the deadest souls. First, it is the Holy Spirit who speaks through the believers. He gives us the right words to speak at the right time. He prepares us and equips us to defend the faith.

In fact, he is the author of scripture that pierces the soul of the listener. Second, it is the Holy Spirit who regenerates the hearts. Salvation is not my job. I cannot change a single heart. My sermons cannot save a single person.

Salvation is the work of the triune God. It is the Son who fulfills salvation according to the promise of the Father. And by the power of the Spirit, the gospel transforms the unbelieving soul. God alone is in the business of redeeming souls.

It is the business of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And we get to join hands. We get to participate. He invites us to be a part of that. And you get to proclaim the gospel with the unbelieving family members and friends and neighbors.

But if they don't respond, that is not your business. Surrender the outcome to God. Third, it is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies the believers to testify of the power of the gospel. What is the power of the gospel?

It is the salvation of souls. That's important. The power of the gospel is not you're healed from a deadly disease, although God can totally heal whenever he wants. The power of the gospel is not getting a lot of people to fill this room, although God could totally bring people.

The power of the gospel is the power to save dead people. It's the power to save dead souls. And how will the world know the veracity of the gospel? How will the world understand that the gospel is actually true?

How can the world tell that Jesus truly conquered sin and rose from the dead? When the world witnesses the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the very believers. When the world sees that sin has no power over Christians.

When the world acknowledges that Christian men are more self-controlled, more patient, and gentler than the men of this world. That's only the work of the Holy Spirit. No amount of therapy or medication can change someone to become more like Christ.

It is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. When the world can no longer ignore that Christian women are more respectful, never gossiping, and more humbly caring than any of their own women. That's a testimony.

That's when they start to get curious. My professor once said, the only advertisement that the church needs is the transformed lives of the believers. You don't need a placard outside. You don't need it on the highway.

That's huge. You don't need a commercial on the radio. Advertisement is the transformed lives of believers. They're gentler. They're less worried. They're at peace. They're joyful. They suffer well. Man, they love that Jesus guy.

They just won't shut up about Jesus. That's the advertisement the church needs. Negatively, the unchanged lives of the church are ineffective at best and harmful at worst for the global mission of the gospel.

If you've been a Christian and you're not walking with the Lord, and I'm not even questioning your salvation. I'm not even questioning your belief, but you're not walking with the Lord. You're not being regenerated.

You're just satisfied with where you are. You're just content with your own sins. There's no burning desire to follow Jesus even one step closer every day. You know what? You're affecting the global mission negatively.

We're not being great witnesses. Everything we do, say and think, everything we desire, everything we participate in, we must ask ourselves, how are we honoring Christ? The global mission's at stake. Now, God will do it fine just without us, but we just don't get to partake in it if we're satisfied with just ourselves.

Second, the fitting response to the risen Lord's ascension is worship. The fitting response to the risen Lord's ascension is worship. After commissioning his disciples to proclaim Christ all over the world, he takes them to Bethany, and he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

And Bethany is the eastern part of the Mount of Olives, and that's the mountain in which he's going to ascend in Acts 1 as well. Luke will pick up at ascension for his second book. And Jesus places his disciples under God's care.

At no point his disciples are left alone. At no point God's watchful care stops for his disciples. And as he's about to ascend, Jesus' last moment is spent with his beloved disciples. Even when Jesus will not be physically present with them, his disciples will never be away from God's presence.

And it is during this blessing Jesus has taken up, now it came to pass while he blessed them, that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And this is the cliffhanger for Luke, which we will pick up in Acts.

How will the disciples follow Christ without the physical presence of Christ? After all this time Christ has been with them, except for the couple of days when he was in the grave. And Jesus ascends to the heavenly realm, both body and soul.

It's not just the soul. Don't expect to find Jesus' body anywhere in Jerusalem and anyone who claims that they're lying. Jesus' body is up there. There is a man in heaven who is worshipped. Hundreds of millions of angels bow down to a human man who is also God.

Imagine that. And he represents you. Now what is the response of the disciples? And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.

Amen. This is important. The fitting response to Christ's heavenly reign is worship. You will meet liberal theologians and Jehovah's Witnesses who claim that Jesus is not fully God. And they'll say, well, nowhere in the Bible.

Actually, there are many places in the Bible where it says Jesus is divine, but that's besides the point. They'll specifically say, well, you know, how come the gospel according to Luke doesn't specifically say Jesus is God?

Well, take a look here. Do you think the Jewish disciples, they grow up learning the Ten Commandments, you shall not worship any other gods besides me. Do you think that would have been a natural response to worship Jesus as he's being ascended?

Unless he were God, Jews are not supposed to worship anything or anyone other than God. And we see here, right as Jesus is ascending, his very followers are worshiping the Lord Jesus. You cannot interpret this any other way.

He is divine. Jesus is God. He is worthy of worship. And not only that, we can rejoice that the risen Lord reigns above even now. And I would like to go over why his ascension is important. We often, I think rightly so, we focus on the crucifixion and the resurrection.

But the ascension often gets forgotten. But we do need to actually celebrate and rejoice that Jesus is ascended, right? First, Jesus' ascension proves that his words to the religious leaders that he will sit at the right hand of God is true.

Because without Jesus' ascension, you cannot, he cannot sit at the right hand of God. Because of Jesus' ascension, Jesus' words are vindicated. Jesus was innocent all along. Not only that, there is no one who can sit next to God except for God the Son.

Second, Jesus' ascension allows more people to experience his presence through the Holy Spirit. As I mentioned previously, Jesus sent the Spirit of God after he left earth so that the Spirit would empower his believers for the global mission.

And through the Spirit, we can all experience God's presence anywhere and anytime as long as you are in Christ. You don't need to go to the temple. You don't need to be with the priest. You have direct access to God the Spirit through Christ.

Remember even in the gospel account, there were crowds following Jesus when he was physically ministering on earth. There were some people who never got to really talk to him. Only the bold ones just swam through the crowd to even touch his garment, right?

But now, this morning, close to a billion people, if we have that many Christians, can experience Christ's presence through the Spirit because Jesus ascended. Third, Jesus' ascension ends his earthly ministry but begins his heavenly ministry.

Let's not misunderstand the fact that he's seated at the right hand of God means he's doing nothing. Jesus rules from his heavenly throne even to this day. There is nothing that can happen without permission from the heavenly Son.

Also, his intercessions for our souls continue from the heavenly throne. This is why we're never condemned in Christ, right? That promise, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Why? It's not because we stop sinning, as we certainly do. We keep sinning. This is why we don't immediately end up in hell after sinning. This is because there's an advocate sitting next to the Father who speaks favorably on your behalf.

There is a defense attorney on your behalf who does not charge you a dime but works tirelessly so that your justification is always in effect. Whether you sin at midnight or early in the morning, Jesus sits at the right hand making intercession on your behalf.

He does not miss a second of it. This Jesus watches over you, cares for you, prays for you. Charles Spurgeon once said, if he could hear Jesus' prayer for him in the other room, I would have no doubt.

I would not feel anxious. That's what the ascended Lord Jesus is doing. He prays for this church. He prays for you. You're never alone. He communes with you. Even when you're alone in the room, the ascended Christ is with you in the Spirit.

You can never run away from his unchanging, compassionate presence. You don't have to go to Jerusalem. You may never have gone to Jerusalem, but you get to enter the throne room of grace at any time in the Spirit because Christ ascended.

Let us pray. Gracious Father, we thank you that our King, our Brother, our God, Jesus, even this morning, is seated at the right hand of God, and there's nothing that's beyond his control. There is no sin that escaped his watchful eyes, and he is with us through the Spirit.

Help us to experience his presence. Help us to appreciate his intercession, and help us to eagerly wait for his second coming. Help us to know the one who ascended will come back just as he ascended in the same manner.

Help us to long for him. Help us to delight in him. Help us to talk to him. Help us to approach him, not because we're good, but because he is gracious. In Jesus' name, amen.