Dear congregation, goodbyes are often very hard to say, especially when we are expecting to be separated from someone we love for a long time. Even just thinking about that makes us miss a person and causes pain within. And often, goodbyes are tearful occasions, Today we are remembering Ascension Day, the day when the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and Christ was leaving his disciples behind. But this day was not a tearful occasion. We don't read of a single tear being shed, even though the disciples loved the Lord Jesus so very much and wanted to be with him. But in fact, we read in Luke chapter 24, verse 53, that after the ascension of the Lord, the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. What was the source of this mysterious and unusual joy? And can the remembrance of Christ's ascension into heaven afford us that same joy, no matter what our circumstances are just now today? Let us ask that question and seek to answer from God's Word, focusing this evening especially on Acts chapter 1 verse 9. These words, And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. We'll look at the ascension of Jesus Christ. We'll see first of all the teaching by Jesus Christ, the triumph of Jesus Christ, and thirdly the blessing from Jesus Christ. So the ascension of Jesus Christ, his teaching, his triumph, and his blessing. Well, imagine the scene with me here for a few moments. So much had happened. Forty days had passed. Days packed full of the risen Christ and evidences of life and immortality which he had brought to light. The Lord Jesus appeared to his people many times. And he came with infallible proofs. We saw some of them last Sunday. His nail pierced hands and feet. They could know this was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the while reports and rumors were swirling around. The air was electric. There was excitement. Jesus Christ had been reportedly raised from the dead and he was sighted here and there. And among his disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ was there with them, especially in the gatherings of two or three, as he had promised, I will be with you. And as he was with them during these 40 days, he did a lot of teaching as he had already before his crucifixion. Now again, he sits them down and he addresses their minds and their hearts and their wills with truth. And especially as it concerns the kingdom of God, the reign of God in grace through himself, the king of the kingdom. and he opened their understanding so that whereas before the crucifixion the minds of the disciples were cloudy And they saw men as trees walking, meaning they didn't see things clearly. Now Christ opened the Scriptures, and He opened their minds, and it was like the noonday sun shone upon their minds and hearts. They began to see things clearly. He deepened their understanding of the redemption He had accomplished. It was as if the dark night had passed. And it wasn't just dawn. It was full noonday. These disciples must have poured over the Old Testament. Now they had the key. Now they understood it like never before. They could look back at the prophecies and see how they were fulfilled or were being fulfilled. And they had so much to look forward to. Wait, Jesus said. for the promise of the Father, which I've told you about. John baptized with water, you remember that. These people would go under the water, and they would receive this baptism with water, but you shall be baptized by the Holy Ghost, and you shall be my witnesses. Wait for it. Go to Jerusalem, pray, and wait. It's gonna come in a few days. How excited the disciples must have been. And they knew that Jesus was going to ascend. Jesus had told Mary, I'm ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Did he tell them exactly when this would be? I'm inclined to think so, though we don't know it for sure. He had given them a timetable of his resurrection. He had told... He had told them... Excuse me. He had told them of his resurrection, that it would be after three days, and so we may believe that he also would have told them of the ascension after 40 days of preparation, which 40 signifies. At any rate, whether he told them this or not, they stuck close to him. Kind of like Elisha had stuck close to Elijah, knowing that at some point he would be taken from him into heaven. And these disciples wanted to be close to their dear Lord. And one of the most important things that Jesus had told them was that they were going to be his witnesses. Having defeated the devil on the cross, in whose hands the world lay bound, he was now going to send his disciples out into the world to witness about him, to bring the light of the gospel to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. But they wouldn't stay there. They would go to Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. What a grand commission this was. And Jesus said, I am with you. Lo, I am with you all your days, even to the end of the world. Day 38 came. Day 39. And then on the 40th day, Jesus is again talking to his disciples and he's leading them. He goes before them into Bethany. They follow behind him. He's the captain of their salvation. And he goes to Bethany, a place where he loved to go during his ministry. Who lived in Bethany? It was the village where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived. It's there where he spoke those words, Lazarus come forth and death could not hold Lazarus and the bands of death were broken. And he goes back to Bethany, which means house of the afflicted. And it would be the last place his feet would stand on the earth. And from there he would go to the house of the father. where there are many mansions, a glorious house. No doubt at one level he couldn't wait. And yet as he prepares his disciples for that moment, he gives them everything that they need to know. Our text says in verse 9, and when he had spoken these things, Grace was poured upon his lips and forth from his mouth came the one thing after the other until he had told them everything they needed to know. No wonder they had joy when it was all said and done. The Lord had prepared them for what it was that they would face. Just think of this example. A young child might be afraid or panic and even cry if he knows his parents are leaving for the evening and he doesn't know where they're going to be or who's going to stay with him. But if they sit him down and speak to him or her and quietly and reassuringly tell him or her everything that's going to happen, the fears fly away and confidence comes into his or her soul. And so to hear Jesus as a prophet is teaching his people and he's calming them and he's preparing them for everything. No, they're not gonna know every single bend in the road. They're not gonna know every twist and turn in God's providence, but they'll know enough, enough to do what the Lord called them to do and what the Lord was asking them to do. And this then is what gave them so much comfort. No doubt He told them also what He was going to do in heaven. He had already said to them, I go to prepare a place for you. And when I have done that, I will come and take you to Myself. And all the while, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. I'll send my Holy Spirit, the Comforter, that other Comforter. He will remain with you forever. He will help you. He will assist you. He will go before you. No matter what comes your way, He will be there. If you're brought before the magistrates, don't even think about what you will say because the Spirit will tell you what you need to speak. He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment to come. You don't need to do that. He'll do that. Just be faithful. Give the world the message that I'm telling you to give them. And so the Lord Jesus Christ, as a prophet, gives them everything they need to know. No wonder when he actually left them here in the ascension, they were joyful. They were fully prepared. And I ask you tonight, have you heard what the Lord has said in his word about himself? Have your ears been opened to what he wants you to know? Have you sat at his feet and listened? Because when you do that, then fears will go and confidence will come in. Do you believe what he has said in his word? The Lord is asking for faith and his spirit works faith in our hearts. And if we but bend our ear to his word, we too will experience joy no matter what comes our way. Indeed, he doesn't tell us every twist and turn in providence. But he tells us enough in his word. Are you glued to his word? Do you enjoy his prophetic ministry even now? Not just his word, but through his spirit, opening your mind, enlightening your mind and filling it with the truths of his word. Truths which comfort you, truths which impel you, truths which challenge you. Things you need to know for life and godliness. for life and affliction and for death. The Lord Jesus tells everything. And because he does, we can have joy. But the second thing that gave the disciples no doubt joy is the triumph. that they witnessed of the Lord. It says in our text that He was taken up. This is a passive phrase in the original. He was taken up. In other words, what they witnessed there with their own eyes was the Lord Jesus Christ all of a sudden just being lifted up. It's as if heaven opened for Him not only, but heaven lifted Him up. The father was so eager and so, so eager to see the son again that heaven could no longer wait. The father's appointed time, the son must enter heaven. But it's not just happening to the Lord Jesus. He's also active in it. He was active in all the events of redemption. He laid down His life. He descended into hell. He arose again. And so, too, He ascended into heaven. It wasn't just acted out upon Him. He ascended. And so, for example, in verse 10 of Acts 1, it says, that while they look steadfastly toward heaven as He went up. See, He's going up. He's consciously choosing to ascend, to leave the world. And just like He had defied every other force in His death on the cross, so even now gravity cannot keep Jesus down. He defies gravity. And there he rises in plain sight, in full view. His feet loosen themselves from the earth, and there he goes, steadily up into heaven. Elijah went in a whirlwind up into heaven, but Jesus needed no whirlwind. He simply arose. He ascended sublimely, calmly, there, majestically into heaven. and a cloud received him. We shouldn't imagine that it was kind of a cloudy day and so at some point he rose to a height where the clouds just covered him. No, there was a cloud that came and as a symbol of God's power, it took him there and hid him from the eyes of his disciples. The Old Testament says he makes the clouds his chariot. And here the cloud is a chariot for this conquering king. And the Old Testament in Daniel 7 gives a prophecy of this. The Son of Man comes with the clouds of heaven. and is brought there before the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7, and the clouds transport him there, and we read that unto him are given dominion, and honor, and glory, and power, and that's indeed what happened. And so that cloud was not by chance. It's not just a fact of nature that happened to be true. It was an emblem of God. God was fulfilling his prophecy. God was making the natural elements to be a chariot for this conquering king to ride forth there into the throne room of God. Oh, dear friends, we can only imagine what joy there must have been in heaven in that moment. There the Son of God in our nature came to the throne of God, to the Father there, represented in heaven. No doubt heaven rang with the shouts of joy from the angels. He is ascended with a shout we sang earlier. And the angels here see their Lord. their captain, their conquering king. And the whole heavens are ablaze with joy at the might and the victory of this conquering king. And if the ascension was such an occasion of joy for heaven, for the Father and the Son himself and the Spirit and the whole heavenly world, Should it not be a source of joy for Christ's church here on the earth? Should we weep while heaven rejoices? No. Our conquering king goes before us into heaven. Heaven must receive him. And this is where he is going to prepare a place for his people. Notice how our text says here in verse 9 and 10, that while they beheld, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel. which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? The same Jesus which is taken from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. Four references there to heaven. There's no doubt at all as to where Jesus is. He didn't simply go into oblivion, into the clouds, somewhere between here and there. He's in heaven. He's in the presence of his father with all the angels. He's there in the throne room of God. And he is there, our catechism says, for our interest as the head of his church and people. And because he is there, dear believers, you have your flesh in heaven. You have your head in heaven. And where the head is, the body has to follow. What a comfort it is if we know that our loved ones who have passed from us are in heaven. And shouldn't it fill us with joy that the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven? Samuel Rutherford said of Christ that he is the heaven of heaven. There is no heaven really, certainly not for Christ's church, without Christ. He is the center of it all. Now everything is right, also in heaven. Up till this point, Satan could even still enter into the throne room of God. You can read of that in Job chapter 1 and other places as well. But if you compare Revelation 12, you might want to look at that later, at the ascension of Jesus Christ, something happens to Satan. Whereas before, the accuser of the brethren could enter into the throne room of God and accuse the brethren. With the ascension of Christ, Satan must leave heaven forever. What a glorious fact that is. Dear believer, Satan has no more passage to the throne room of God. Yes, he accuses you in your mind, in your conscience. He can trouble you, he can bother you, and he often does. but he can't reach your Lord, and he can't reach the throne room of God, and your head is there. Your Savior is there entirely and completely, and should we then be sad? Should we mourn and grieve? No, he has conquered all, and he is preparing a place for me and all his people, his bride. and He will come and receive us, that we might be with Him in heaven, in that place where glory dwells, that place where joy is evermore. Dear believers, don't you long for that sometimes? No more sorrow, no more sighing, no more sin to be ever with our Lord, seeing Him face to face, being like Him, we read, for we shall see Him as He is. Why are some of you not headed there? With all that heaven is and represents, how is it that some are not heading there? The compass of their life is not registering heaven. They're not aiming for heaven. You are not setting your affection on things above. You have, you think you're heaven now, at least that's how you live, that's the story your life is telling you. The fact of the matter is, there is no heaven apart from where Christ is. This evening on Ascension Day, He's focusing all of our attention, all of us, no matter who we are. And there in the gospel, By His ascent into heaven, does your gaze go up after Him? Do you look for Him? Don't you need Him? Can you manage your struggles on your own? Can you manage your sin on your own? You will never conquer in your own strength. Defeat will be yours forever. But this conquering King, He can conquer your heart. He can conquer what you can never conquer. He has conquered sin and death in the gospel, on the cross, and he can hand out these things, as we wish to see in our third and final point. We've seen Jesus as teacher, we've seen Jesus as king, and now we see the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ, or Jesus as priest. Acts 1 doesn't tell us this in detail, but Luke 24 verse 53 does, and we may want to turn there because this is very encouraging. Luke 24 verse 53. Excuse me, verse 50. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. So at one point, when he had told them everything they needed to know, he reached out his hands, much like the Old Testament priests in the temple would do after they had been into the holy place, and they would come out, and they would raise their hands, and they would pronounce the blessing on the people. But here is not a human priest only who blesses his people, and it's not based on the sacrifice of animals. No, look at his hands, their nail pierced hands, those hands which speak that he was the sacrifice as well as the priest. It's the very final words that he speaks even before his feet lift off from the earth. It's blessing, his last words, blessing. The Old Testament, Malachi, the last words is a curse. Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. But here, the Lord Jesus Christ, last words are blessing. The high priest who has offered himself up, he ascends now into heaven. And before he does so, he blesses his church, his people. He is blessed, as Paul says, with all heavenly blessings. Every imaginable blessing comes through those nail-pierced hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, stretched out. He stretches them out, reminiscent of the cross when he had stretched out his hands of love. There he had suffered the curse in order that now he might pour out blessing. And as he finishes his blessing, and his hands still outstretched, continuing to bless them, this is what it says in 51, while he blessed them. He was parted from them. The last glimpse they have of the Lord Jesus Christ is with His arms stretched out. And with every foot that He rises, every mile that He ascends, those blessing hands are still there. And the reach of those blessing hands expands. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth. Well, my friend, no wonder these disciples went back to Jerusalem with great joy. How could they mourn and weep under the blessing hands of the Savior? Their last glimpse of him was of him blessing them. And what are these blessings that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to his disciples, both then as well as now? We read in Psalm 68 that he has ascended up on high. He has received gifts for men, for the rebellious also. My friend, if you're here tonight and you think, well, these things are true for the people of God, you're right. But they're true for sinners. They can be true for you. If in these moments your eyes look away from yourself and look to the one. Who can bless also you, the one who has taken the curse, the curse that you deserve to take and the curse that you will forever bear if you don't come under his blessed reign. Or what blessings come forth from his nail-pierced hands, chief of which is his spirit. He sent forth his spirit to do a great work of salvation in his people, a spirit of comfort, a spirit of blessing, a spirit of love, a spirit of light. And the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ include forgiveness of sins. Maybe there's someone here today and the Spirit of God has convicted you of sin. Well, forth from these blessing hands of Christ is the exact thing you need, my friend. Forgiveness of sin. Someone else says, but I need repentance, don't I? Ah, forth from those hands of Christ, He is exalted for to give repentance and remission of sins. Oh, countless blessings come from Him. The intercession of Christ, He ever lives to make intercession for His people. He pours heavenly graces out upon His members, our Catechism says. He fulfills all His promises. Everything you need for life and godliness comes from Him. He'll defend you from the attacks of Satan. That also is included in His blessing. He'll preserve you till the very end. Sometimes you wonder if you can go on. Look to those blessing hands. You're kept in the hands of Christ. No wonder these disciples went to Jerusalem with great joy. I ask you tonight as we close, who are you focused on? Isn't the word of God lifting up the eyes of your heart to see Christ, the conquering king, the teaching prophet, the blessing high priest that you and I need? He enters here, the throne room of God. He has all power in heaven and on earth. He is the rightful heir to every throne, also the throne in your heart, my friend. You know, we come into this world and we have a throne in our heart, and you know who sits on that throne? It's ourselves. We will not have this man to rule over us, we say, with every action and every thought, though we might be oblivious to it. But he is the rightful king, and in his ascension, The question is, ye gates lift your heads, the glad summons obey. Is the conquering king not only on the throne of heaven, which he is, but is he on the throne of your heart? Don't you need someone who takes away the curse and gives you blessing? You know, his blessing changes everything, everything bad in your life. can be changed by His blessing hands. Everything miserable in your life can be changed by His blessing hands. These hands reach into our sadness and turn it to joy. These blessing hands reach into our mourning and turn it to comfort. What is it you need right now? These blessing hands can do it all. even at times when we have to say goodbye. As I said at the beginning, taking leave is so very hard. Many in our congregation and in our families have had to say goodbye to loved ones recently. That brings sadness and tears. But these blessing hands of Christ, they can turn everything. If we look at Him, we see not all things under His feet. But can you say by faith, we see Jesus. May God focus our minds and our heart on Him. Because when that happens, we have confidence. When that happens, we have joy. When that happens, we have perspective. Now and forever, whatever comes our way. When that happens, we have a message. When that happens, we will be witnesses of Him throughout this world. All glory to our heavenly King. Amen.