Ascension of Christ

Driving home: the measure of your confidence, if it's biblical, in the state of no condemnation will be in direct proportion to your understanding of and believing participation in those four great facts. Christ died, Christ rose, Chr…

Paul's confidence in no condemnation was not rooted in his unusual experiences (like being caught up to the third heaven) but in the person and work of Christ, which is available to all believers.

Who is He that condemneth? And we have seen that He has been born witness to the concrete realities of redemption. that Paul's confidence that he will never be condemned was not rooted in his unusual experiences as an apostle. He tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 that he was caught up into the third heaven and heard things unlawful to utter.

4:05 - 4:23 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Our Lord's ascension is nothing less than a prophetic object lesson regarding the destiny of his people.

The analogy of a forerunner boat carrying a ship's anchor into a safe harbor illustrates Christ's role as our Forerunner, securing our entrance into heaven by His ascension.

Lord Jesus is called in Hebrews 6 and verse 20, Whither our forerunner Jesus hath entered in for us. He has entered as a forerunner, and I think I've explained before what that concept is. When the ship was coming into the harbor, and the tide was out, and the ship could not go into the narrow inlet of the protected bay, they would take the anchor of the ship and place it into a smaller boat, and that boat would then make its way into the safety of the harbor. The anchor would be dropped in the harbor, and then when the tide came up and the winch would be tightened, the boat and all its cargo ...

22:55 - 23:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Stop all Christ-dishonoring doubting and unbelieving questions, and begin to rest in the Christ whose hands are stretched out to bless.

Martin asks how one would feel if they offered a gift to someone, especially their child, and the recipient cringed as if expecting a blow. This illustrates how doubting Christ's blessing dishonors Him.

Oh dear child of God, isn't it time that you stopped all of that Christ dishonoring, doubting, your unbelieving questions, those terribly hard things you think about God and speak towards Him in the secret counsels of your heart? And is it not time you began to rest in the Christ whose hands are stretched out to bless? How would you feel if you reached out your hand to bless someone with a gift and he cringed from the hand like you were going to strike him?

31:47 - 32:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Drawing from Psalm 68 and Ephesians 4, Martin describes Christ's ascension as a triumphant parade where He leads captivity captive (sin, death, hell, devil) and distributes gifts…

This vivid military figure describes a conqueror returning to his capital city, chaining key conquests to his chariot wheels, carrying spoils, and distributing gifts to the cheering populace. This illustrates Christ's ascension as a parade of triumph over His enemies.

He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. And what's the figure? Well, it's this. The conqueror leaves his capital city.

37:23 - 37:32 Read in full sermon

The point: If fettered by conscious guiltiness of sin, come in penitence and faith to Jesus, identifying your captivity with His to find relief and emancipation.

An extended quotation from Hugh Martin, a Scottish preacher-theologian, passionately expounds on the joy and liberty found in Christ's triumph over sin, bondage, the devil, and death, urging believers to identify their captivity with His.

I want to read a page and a half from A Servant of Christ of a Bygone Day. And Hugh Martin, the godly Scottish theologian, preacher, I should say preacher-theologian, for all his theology rings with preaching ethos and power and unction, commenting on this psalm, this is what he says, It is a scene, this captivity of our Lord, over which to grieve and mourn and weep the fact that he went down into death to deliver us. But the fruit of it, in our own most glorious liberty of the children of God thus achieved and in Satan's power, in his most confounding bafflement and retribution thus inflicted...

44:54 - 45:38 Read in full sermon