The Lord's Ascension

taken out of two texts right at the end of Luke chapter 24 and the beginning of Acts chapter 1.

So I suppose we can start with Luke chapter 24 then we'll move to Acts chapter 1.

Once again let us ask the Lord's blessing upon our time. Our Grace Heavenly Father we do thank you for this opportunity we have once again to look into your word.

We ask that during these brief moments we have together we would once again be drawn to your truth by your spirit you would open our hearts and our minds to understand that you would write upon our hearts your truth all to your honor and glory we pray in Christ's name.

A number of years ago I was asked to speak at a church I am fairly certain it was on Long Island but I'll be honest with you

I have traveled so much now that I would not want to testify to that in court anyway and I was asked to preach on the subject of the ascension.

Now I must confess that I had never preached on the subject of the ascension before and as I thought back

I couldn't remember too many sermons on the subject of the ascension and as I sort of thought about it

I said you know we don't talk a whole lot about the ascension I mean it's it's sort of a given it's sort of something that we we know took place we we know the story but it doesn't seem to play a really central role in too much of our thinking and our thought

I mean we know that that Christ Jesus didn't stay on earth he he went back to heaven and we don't agree with the

Mormons that actually he started to ascend and then hung a left and came over to the

Americas and set up a church over here with 12 apostles and the whole nine yards and the book of Mormon and things like that but it's just sort of like yeah

Jesus went back to heaven we don't really think too much about it and of course liturgically minded churches won't be talking about the ascension for another 40 days because as we are told in while the text will read this evening that it was 40 days that's more than 40 days that Jesus met with his disciples and taught them about things and so at the same time in talking about the resurrection this morning and looking at one of the resurrection narratives at least

Jesus's encounter with the disciples on the road to Emmaus I thought to balance things out to be complete it would be good to look at the ascension because it seems to me most discussions are focused upon that initial action and then it's just sort of well and then

Jesus talked to disciples and went back to heaven there's not really much of a discussion as to what the bible tells us about this particular event and most of what is told to us is found in Luke's narrative both in Luke and in Acts at the end of Luke 24 excuse me beginning at verse 50 and he led them out as far as Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them while he was blessing them he parted from them and was carried up into heaven and they after worshiping him returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising

God so here is Luke's final discussion of the subject it is not overly full and it's of course we we need to be reminded that Luke didn't intend his story to end there that was just sort of the end of the the gospel portion if you just turn on over to part two the book of acts which is somewhat unnaturally separated from Luke in our scriptures in the canon as at least the order that we have we find that Jesus is described in verse well let's just start verse one the first account

I composed Theophilus about all Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had by the

Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen to these he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proves appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God gathering them together he commanded them not to leave

Jerusalem but to wait for what the father had promised which he said you heard of from me for John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the

Holy Spirit not many days from now so when they had come together they were asking him saying

Lord is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel he said to them it is not for you to know the times or epochs which the father has fixed by his own authority but you will receive power when the

Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth and after he had said these things he was lifted up while they were looking on and a cloud received him out of their sight as they were gazing intently into the sky sky while he was going behold two men in white clothing stood beside them they also said men of Galilee why do you stand looking into the sky this

Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called

Olivet which is near Jerusalem a Sabbath day journey away and then they entered into the upper room etc etc so here you have sort of in two parts uh the story of the ascension summarized briefly initially at the end of Luke and then with a fuller accounting providing the beginning of the book of Acts and we are given some

I think rather important information uh about the uh ministry of the

Lord after his resurrection at the beginning of Acts notice uh we're given the information that after he had by the

Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen now that's rather interesting that uh this would be said in this way because it emphasizes again the uniqueness of what we're going to be seeing in the book of Acts um you've often heard it said well we just we just want to get back to the book of Acts we want to have things like they were in the book of Acts and a lot of people miss the reality that the book of Acts records for us a unique beginning period where where things were not yet normative as they would be through the rest of the church age and I think you see an example right here uh they are to stay in Jerusalem until their clothe of power from on high by the

Holy Spirit right but then what does it say right there after he had by the

Holy Spirit given orders the apostles now some people might want to say oh see that's contradiction no it's not a contradiction um as it says in the gospel of of John uh the

Holy Spirit had not yet been given that doesn't mean the Holy Spirit did not yet exist or the

Holy Spirit was not yet active in the world there is a special way in which the Spirit came with signs upon the apostles that fulfilled the prophecies and it also indicated that God the

Father and the Son were fulfilling the promise that Jesus had made that he would come and make his abode with them by the presence of the

Holy Spirit so it's not that the Holy Spirit hadn't been active in the ministry of Jesus the whole point is that Jesus did what he did by the power of the

Holy Spirit but that there would be a special coming a special empowering of the disciples uh that we call that Pentecost day that was yet in the future but he also uh gives orders to the apostles and so these apostles are are given instruction they are given orders uh they are given orders from the ascended

Lord Jesus but by the power of the Holy Spirit and to these he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs many convincing proofs appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God once again we would really like to know exactly what those discussions were all about we'd like to hear about which texts of scripture were discussed and the prophecies and things like that but the reality is that the scriptures do not record these things for us directly instead we learn about what

Jesus said primarily through the preaching and teaching of uh the apostles there in the book of acts and we can get a good idea from the texts that they cite and how they explain them what was given to them during that period of time and then we're told gathering them together he commanded them not to leave

Jerusalem but to wait for what the father had promised which he said you heard from me for John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the

Holy Spirit not many days from now so it is this baptism in the spirit this this special indwelling of the spirit that is being promised by the

Lord Jesus and the disciples are to stay together until this has taken place now we know from looking at Matthew we know from looking at John that during these 40 days they hadn't just been holed up in one room someplace uh but that now right before the ascension the command is stay here uh because this is going to be taking place in your experience so when they had come together they were asking him lord is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel now once again as we mentioned this morning there were certain traditions that were deeply uh written upon the hearts of any