INTRODUCTION
• EASTER WORSHIP INTRO VIDEO
• SLIDE #1
• I want to welcome you to FCC today, we are so glad all of you decided to join us as we worship our Lord together today!
• Jerry and I have been taking you on a journey through a series we entitled, “It Matters.”
• The point of the series has been to help us to see the events in the life of Jesus, from His birth, to His ascension into heaven actually matter.
• As a matter of fact, what we have been studying matters so much that God revealed the details we have been studying 100’s of years BEFORE they happened through the prophets of the Old Testament.
• The details of the life of Jesus and the details of our faith do matter, and they matter in a BIG way!
• If we do not know why we believe what we believe, our faith will not stand the test of the trials of life, and we will not be able to help lead others to salvation in Jesus.
• Today, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord; however, we are not going to do a typical resurrection Sunday message, instead we are going to examine an event that took place forty days after the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 1:3).
• This event is the ascension of Jesus; this important event would not have been possible had Jesus rotted in the tomb after His death.
• Today we are going to examine four issues surrounding the ascension of Jesus that will show us that the ascension matters.
• Now in this series Jerry and I have been taking you to the Old Testament so you can see the prophecy, and then we move you to the New Testament so you can see the fulfillment of what God shared in the Old Testament.
• Today we will begin in Daniel 7:13-14 and then we will shift to Acts 1:9-12
• SLIDE #2
• Daniel 7:13–14 (HCSB) — 13 I continued watching in the night visions, and I saw One like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before Him. 14 He was given authority to rule, and glory, and a kingdom; so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.
• SLIDE #3
• Acts 1:9–11 (HCSB) — 9 After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. 10 While He was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
The ascension of Jesus mattered enough that…
I. The ascension was prophesied in the Old Testament by God.
• As a reminder, in order to be able to appreciate what Daniel was led to write, Daniel wrote the Book of Daniel somewhere between 600 and his death on 536 BC.
• That would have been over five to six hundred years BEFORE Jesus was born in 6 BC and before His death and resurrection in 30 AD.
• Do you remember when the National Enquirer used to trot out the annual Jeane Dixon Psychic predictions for the year. A blind squirrel finds a nut once and a while, well, Daniel was writing over 500 years before Jesus began His earthly ministry.
• Daniel has accurately prophesied about the rise and fall of the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greece, and Roman empires. He also spoke of the rise of the Church, which was not even a thought in 553 BD when Daniel had his visions in Daniel 7.
• The ascension mattered so much that God made sure the Prophet Daniel wrote about it in Daniel 7:13-ff!
• “The goal of all history is presented. This is the victory of the kingdom of the Christ over all other kingdoms that aspire to universal rule.” Leupold, H. C. (1949). Exposition of Daniel (p. 308). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
• The language of Daniel makes it clear that he has seen a vision of the ascension of the Lord!
• “There are many passages in which clouds regularly accompany Him who is the heavenly King. They are His carpet, His mark of identification. The clouds which are seen in the heavens so regularly are reminders of Him who comes from heaven.” Leupold, H. C. (1949). Exposition of Daniel (p. 308). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
• Something else to consider when examining the ascension of Jesus.
• The Bible does not record anyone seeing Jesus leave the tomb; however, His appearances over the 40 days leading up to His ascension would provide proof that He did rise from the dead.
• The Apostles did witness the ascension of Jesus; it was done during broad daylight leaving no doubt as to why Jesus was no longer appearing.
• Had Jesus ascended with no witnesses, no one would know why He quit appearing.
• When you look at the fulfillment of the prophecy from Daniel in Acts 1:11, look at what we would have to believe are angels said to the Apostles concerning Jesus’ second coming.
• SLIDE #5
• They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”
• When they say Jesus will come in the same way, they mean that His return will not be a secret, that He will come in a public way, so that the world will view His coming.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:2 says the coming of the Lord will be like a thief in the night; however, when you read the context of 1 Thessalonians 5, the thief in the night reference speaks of the TIMING of His coming, not the nature of it.
• In other words, this is an encouragement to be prepared!
• Now over the next three points we will look at how the ascension of Jesus not only matters, but is beneficial to mankind.
• SLIDE #6
The ascension of Jesus matters because…
II. The ascension marked the completion of His work of redemption on earth.
• When Jesus ascended into heaven, it marked the completion of His part in the work of redemption, or the ability for a sinner to be saved so they can have eternal life with God!
• SLIDE #7
• John 17:4–5 (HCSB) — 4 I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with that glory I had with You before the world existed.
• Jesus completed His work and He was longing to return home.
• The job of the Priests on the Old Testament was never done; however, Jesus completed the work!
• SLIDE #8
• Hebrews 10:11–12 (HCSB) — 11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.
• The blessing of knowing this helps one to understand that you do not have to earn your ticket to heaven, the ticket has been punched for you and is waiting for you to accept.
• Jesus is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE, no one comes to the Father except through HIM! John 14:6!
• Jesus prepared the gift of salvation for you while you were yet a sinner! Romans 5:8!
• You no longer have to think there has to be something else for you to do, when Jesus said IT IS FINISHED on the cross, He was letting us know the means for one to possess and experience eternal life was COMPLETED!
• None of us are worthy of God’s gift; it is not about being worthy, it is about knowing there is a God in heaven who loved you so much, His son died on the cross so you could have eternal life!
• The religion tells you that you have to earn salvation, and if you are a good enough at earning it, you MIGHT get it.
• A relationship with Jesus built on His love for you says, come follow Me and you will receive eternal life. With the other religions it is all about DO, with a relationship with Jesus, it is about IT IS DONE!
• Living for Jesus is much more satisfying if you it because you love Him versus doing it because you are trying to earn something.
• Next we see…
• SLIDE #9
The ascension of Jesus matters because….
III. The ascension allowed the Holy Spirit to perform His part concerning redemption.
• This is important to us because as long as Jesus was confined to the earthly body, He could only be in one place at a time, but since He ascended into heaven to be at the right hand of the Father, God unleashed the Holy Spirit to do His work pertaining to salvation!
• The Holy Spirit is not confined to one location at a time, He can dwell all Christians, and when you are baptized into Christ put of the blessing is that the Holy Spirit is in you! Acts 2:38.
• SLIDE #10
• John 16:7–10 (HCSB) — 7 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. 8 When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: 9 About sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me;
• The Holy Spirit will empower you to live for Jesus. The Holy Spirit living in you can help transform you into the image of Jesus!
• The Spirit will help you win people to Jesus as well as helping you grow.
• Sometimes we try to take too much credit in evangelism and too much responsibility for it, we plant the seeds, other water and God gives the increase.
• The church is empowered to do the work we were called to do because Jesus is the head of the church!
• SLIDE #11
• Ephesians 1:22–23 (HCSB) — 22 And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.
• Because Jesus is seated next to the Father, the church is called to reach the world with the help of the holy Spirit!
• The last reason we will examine concerning the ascension is…
• SLIDE #12
The ascension of Jesus matters because…
IV. The ascension allows Jesus to perform the work of intercession on our behalf.
• Jesus is not sitting in heaven watching baseball or reading books, Jesus is busy interceding on our behalf!
• SLIDE #13
• Hebrews 7:25 (HCSB) Therefore, He is always able to save those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
• The word intercede is used here in a very comprehensive sense, to denote all that Christ is now doing for the justification, sanctification, and redemption of his people.
• Seated, as he is, on the right hand of the Father, and clothed with omnipotent power and authority, he is ever ready to plead for those who have been cleansed by his blood, ever ready to defend them against all the assaults of their enemies, and, in a word, ever ready to make all things work together for their good. Gospel Advocate Commentaries - New Testament Commentary – A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews.
• SLIDE #14
• 1 John 2:1 (HCSB) My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One.
• When you fail, you are not a failure, when you lose a battle, you are not a loser, when stumble, you are not alone, you have a advocate in Jesus!
• Jesus is our advocate before God, a sort of defense attorney who defends us before God! An advocate pleads another’s cause before a tribunal or judicial court.
• As a Christian, Jesus is ALWAYS in your corner, you can ALWAYS turn to Him!
• Jesus always with the Father!
• SLIDE #15
• Romans 8:33–35 (HCSB) — 33 Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the One who justifies. 34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the One who died, but even more, has been raised; He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. 35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
CONCLUSION
• NOTHING and separate you from God’s love, the who story of Jesus, from His birth, to His ascension matter, and you need to understand why it matters!
• The ascension of Jesus matters!
• If you heard nothing else I have shared this morning, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT GOD DOES LOVE YOU, THAT NO MATTER WHAT PATH YOU HAVE TRAVELED OR ARE TRAVELING, YOU ARE NOT BEYOND GOD’S LOVE AND GRACE.
• JESUS DIES SO YOU CAN BE REDEEMED FROM THE CURSE OF SIN!
• Easter is about new life, how about you, are you ready for new life in Christ today?
