Ascension of Christ

Introduction: The Extended Easter and the Question of Condemnation

0:03 Let's turn this morning to Romans chapter 8 and continue our studies in this verse, which originally was to have been just an Easter exposition, but has gone on into an extended Easter, and I certainly feel that's a little more biblical, since the early church did not celebrate the Lord's resurrection once a year, she lived in the climate and reality of His resurrection, life, and power, and to the extent that this extenuation and extension of an Easter sermon will make more real to us that fact that the church is the

0:48 community of those who live in the life of their risen Lord, then it will be, I'm sure, to our profit. Our attention has been focused upon this second of three lesser priests. Questions asked by the Apostle Paul, who is he that condemneth?

1:10 He throws, as it were, into the teeth of the whole moral universe this question, who in earth, in heaven, or in hell will ever lay a just condemnation at the feet of one, even the least, of the children of God? And he was led to ask that question, and these first few minutes are just a brief, brief review, in the light of what he had stated in verses 29 and 30, those wonderful verses in which Paul zeroes in upon two fundamental facts.

1:47 Fact number one is that God is committed to a salvation that envisions nothing less than the entire conformity of every Christian to the likeness of His Son. That's the goal of His salvation. And in verse 9, verse 30, Paul states the fact that God is so committed to attaining that goal that it cannot be frustrated. So all the way from His foreknowledge, His regarding His people with distinguishing love and affection, and His foreordination that they meet that goal, conformity to Christ,

2:28 that same God calls them, justifies them, and glorifies them. And with His mind filled, with that profound truth of the nature of God's salvation and God's irreversible commitment to attaining that goal, he cries out in verse 31, What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? If God is thus committed, both in purpose and in performance, who will frustrate Him?

3:03 Who will change His purpose? And make us to end up with a salvation that finds us only half saved? Who will change the purpose that we be completely saved? That is, the last remnants of sin be rooted from us, and we be made like Christ.

3:20 If that's God's purpose, if He is for us, who will change it? And then if God is committed to the attainment of that purpose, who will frustrate Him? If God be for us, who is against us? And all of that commitment of God, God has been born witness to, in the concrete realities of redemption.

3:41 He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? And having made then that great statement, He asked the three lesser questions that follow in verses 33 through 35. Now our attention has been upon that second question. Who is He that condemneth?

The Four Pillars of No Condemnation

4:05 Who is He that condemneth? Who is He that condemneth? Who is He that condemneth? Who is He that condemneth?

4:05 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.

4:23 Some people go a brown brag and say, and I must be a Christian because I've had a vision or I've spoken in tongues or something else. Paul says, I was caught up into the third heaven and I heard things it's not even legitimate to utter amongst men. And yet his confidence that he'll never be condemned is not rooted in his great experiences as an apostle, but rather it rests down firmly upon the person and work of Jesus Christ, things that are available to all the people of God. And he names them in these four propositions, it is Christ Jesus that died, yea, rather that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also may...

5:06 taketh intercession for us. And so we have drawn the conclusion in the previous three studies that 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, Christ is at the right hand of God, Christ intercedes. We've studied that.

5:37 Thus far the first two, and seen the relationship of the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ to the state of no condemnation, and we cannot go back over that ground, but we must move today to the third pillar of Paul's confidence that none would condemn him found in these words, who is at the right hand of God. Now if an understanding of the first two, Christ died, Christ rose, if an understanding of those two redemptive facts and a faith in them makes us conquerors

6:18 over condemnation and fear of sin and death and hell, I submit that an understanding of these last two and a believing participation in them will do what Paul says in verse 37, it will make us more than conquerors. Through him that loved us. What's more than a conqueror? Well, I don't know, but whatever it is, this is what will make you that.

6:44 It is Christ that died, yea, rather than is risen from the dead, understanding that Christ died as the surety of his people, that Christ bore the wrath of God, that Christ secured release from death by his death, understanding that his resurrection was the vindication of his personal claims, the confirmation of the experience, the acceptableness of his sacrifice, the prediction of the ultimate state of all the people of God. I say, an understanding of and belief in those things will make you a conqueror. But a penetration into the mind of God on these two things, it is Christ who is at the right hand of God

The Ascension and Session: Implicit and Explicit

7:26 who intercedeth will make you more than conqueror through him that loved you. Now when we consider this third redemptive fact, who is at the right hand of God? There is one aspect of Christ's redemptive work that is implicit in this statement and the other is explicit. Paul says who is at the right hand of God implying his heavenly or his ascension into heaven and then he states explicitly his actual session or his being seated at the right hand of the man of God.

8:08 His majesty on high. And so we are going to consider this morning the ascension and session of Christ Jesus and its relationship to the assurance of God's people. And we will only have time to deal with the ascension which is implicit or implied in the text and God willing next week we shall take his session, his being seated at the right hand of God which is explicitly stated in the text. So then the ascension of Christ and its relationship to the confident cry who is he that condemneth?

8:49 Child of God do you want that confidence? Then you have got to get it the way Paul did which means you have got to think. You don't sit back waiting for something to just tickle you and make you feel good and say oh I know I must never be condemned because I feel so wonderful. That's all well and good until your feeling goes and then what happens?

9:10 And unless you have your whole confidence anchored in an understanding of the ascension and heavenly session of Christ and its implications to you as a believer you can't have Paul's confidence. And so I make no apologies in asking you to think hard and think carefully with me on the ascension of Christ and its relationship to this confident cry who is he that condemneth? First of all then the fact of his ascension, as it is recorded, recorded in scripture and then secondly the meaning of the ascension as it is expounded in scripture along three lines. First of all the fact of Christ's ascension as recorded in scripture.

The Fact of Christ's Ascension in Scripture

9:52 Very quickly turn with me to several passages of the word of God. The first one in the gospel according to Mark. We accept the validity of the witness of the gospel writers to the life, ministry, work of Christ. Then the ascension becomes a very pivotal and fundamental issue.

10:18 For the gospel of Mark closes with these words. Verse 19 of chapter 16. So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven. That's ascension.

10:38 And sat down at the right hand of God. That is session. So you see why I say in Paul's statement, and I didn't say that arbitrarily, scripture warrants that distinction. Before he sat down in the right hand of God he had to get from earth to heaven.

10:55 That is ascension. His sitting is session. And you ought to know what those words mean. Ascension, the act of going.

11:03 Session, the act of sitting. So then the same Christ whom the apostles had seen crucified, the same one with whom they had had fellowship, the same one with whom they had had fellowship, the same one with whom they had had fellowship, the same one with whom they had had fellowship, off and on for forty days, that very same Lord Jesus, after speaking, was literally, physically, actually received up into heaven. He ascended into heaven. Now in Luke chapter 24 we have a similar statement from the witness of Luke.

11:36 Luke chapter 24 verses 50 and 51. And he led them out until they were over against Bethlehem, and he lifted up his hands and he blessed them. And it came to pass while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. A very simple, artless, unadorned, unimaginative, blunt statement.

12:05 He, the same Jesus who had stretched out his hands and said, look, look, the spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me, in Christ Jesus. Look, look, look, look, the Spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me, in Christ Jesus. me have, he is carried up from them into heaven. Only the ascension is mentioned here, and not his session. Now, Luke's record in the book of Acts, chapter 1 and verse 9. Acts

12:35 chapter 1 and verse 9. And when he had said these things as they were looking, that is with physical eyes, looking upon a physical person, he was taken up, ascension, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they were looking steadfastly into heaven, and you to look steadfastly too, as he went, you see, here is a word that speaks of a geographical, a spatial concept. As he went, he was here. Now he's not here.

13:13 Behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking up into heaven? This Jesus who was, here's ascension, received up from you. Words of space, spatial relationships. He was with you. He's received up from you, and he's received

13:32 into another territory, into the very heavens, and shall so come in like manner. So you see, if the scriptures are the word of God, and they are, then this event becomes part of that set of historical events in the life of the Lord, which has peculiar and necessary redemptive significance. You cannot choose to say, well, his crucifixion was actual and literal, and that has significance for my salvation, but ascension and session, that's a matter of indifference. No, no. God

14:08 says what events in the life of his Lord have saving significance. God records them, and God interprets them. God records them, and God interprets them. God records them, and God interprets them.

14:15 And it was not long in the history of the early church before one of its first hymns embodied as one of the pivotal redemptive acts of Christ, his ascension into glory. That hymn is recorded in 1 Timothy chapter 3. We had reason to look at it last week in connection with the justification of Christ. Notice how it concludes, 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16.

14:44 And without contradiction, great is the mystery of godliness, truth hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory. There you have a statement of his ascension, which becomes part of the irreducible mystery of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is a statement of the irreducible minimum of the saving acts of Christ. There is a sense

15:20 in which we could say, a sense in which we could say, had Christ never healed a certain leper at a certain place, our redemption would not be materially affected, had he chosen to heal a different leper. But we can't say that with regard to the fact that Christ died, Christ rose, Christ ascended. This is part of the irreducible minimum of the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that this, though mocked by men when they talk about, you mean Christ went on a spade and they use derisive language to describe those foolish people who actually believe

16:00 that a piece of sod somewhere on a Galilean hillside was vacated by the Son of God. And we say yes, we believe it because God says it is essential to our salvation. The ascension of Christ is a fact. Recorded in Holy Scripture, part of the mystery of godliness, and therefore essential to the faith of the Church. Now then, having looked at the fact, we move to the heart of the message

Significance 1: Christ's Ascension as a Promise of Our Destiny

16:33 this morning. What is the significance of that ascension with reference to the great question, who is he that condemned it? For I'm not giving a lecture on the ascension of Christ in abstraction this morning. I'm trying to expound Romans 8.34. Who is he that

16:49 condemneth? And what comfort does Paul derive for his confidence of no condemnation from the fact that the Son of God parted from them and was received up into heaven? May I suggest three parts to the answer. First of all, the significance of the ascension and its relationship to no condemnation is seen, one, in Christ's promise to his own with reference to Christ. That is to say, that the ascension of Christ is a sign of

17:20 his promise to his ascension. Christ promised to his own with reference to his ascension. Look at several passages with me, please, particularly in the Gospel of John. In John chapter 7 and verse 33, he says to the unbelieving Jews, Jesus therefore said, John 7.33,

17:47 Yet a little while I am with you, and I go unto him that sent me. I will ascend. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me. And where I am, that's a spatial word. When I ascend, where I am, ye cannot come. In other words, he says, you are not

18:14 going to heaven. But notice the contrast when he speaks to his own in chapter 12 and verse 26. John 12.26, If any man serve me, let him go. If any man serve me, let him go. If any

18:30 man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, that's a word of spatial relationships. Where I am, spatial relationship again. At that place shall also my servant be. See what

18:52 he's saying? He's saying, when I ascend, you have an intimation of where you're going to be someday. And what is spoken in rather veiled terms in John's Gospel, it's not a 12. Our Lord opens up in explicit terms in John 14 and in John 17. His familiar words

19:14 in John 14 and verse 3. We could back up to verse 2. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. For I go, ascension, to prepare a place

19:28 for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again and will receive you. Unto myself, that where, word of spatial relationship again, that where I am, there ye may be also. And John 17, verses 12 and 24. John 17, 12. While I was with them, I

19:56 kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me. And I guarded them, and none of them perished but the son of perdition, that the scriptures might be fulfilled. But now I come to thee. I come to thee. Well, is he going to come alone? Look at verse

20:15 24. Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me. Notice how the word where comes out again and again. Where is the Lord Jesus today? He ascended.

20:35 And when the disciples see the Lord Jesus going up into heaven, and then when the Holy Ghost comes and brings to remembrance his words, where I am, there shall my servant be also. I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. Then the Lord's ascension is understood as a prophetic object lesson of the destiny of all the people of God. Our Lord's ascension is nothing less than a prophetic object lesson regarding the destiny of his people. Hence you come to passages like Hebrews chapter 2, and you find this

21:20 teaching laid out so clearly. Hebrews chapter 2, in which the writer to the Hebrews says in verse 10, It became him, speaking of Christ, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things. Not in going to glory himself, but in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For he that sanctifieth, and they are sanctified, are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, quoting then from the Psalms, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the congregation

22:00 will I sing thy praise, and again I will put my trust in him, and again. Behold, I and the children whom God hath given me. You see what he's saying? That because he has been a perfected Savior, he has committed himself to a course of action in which he'll never be satisfied until he stands as elder brother amidst the family of God, and together they sing the praises of Jehovah.

22:30 And so I say the significance of the ascension with reference to the great issue. Who is he that condemneth? Is to be found in this fact. Our Lord promised that his own ascension, though it had things peculiar to himself, was but the pattern of the ultimate ascension of all the people of God into the presence of the same God to whom he went. Hence the

22:55 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 would be taken into the harbor. And then when the tide came up and the winch would be tightened, the boat and

23:34 its cargo would come in, the forerunner had secured its entrance into the safety of the harbor. The Lord Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. His going up, I say it reverently, was tearing in the anchor which holds all the people of God. And so the apostle says, Who is he that shall condemn? For the fruit of condemnation is what? Everyone who is condemned

24:01 will hear the words, Depart from me. Isn't that the essence of the condemnation in the day of judgment? Depart from me. But who will condemn if Jesus Christ has gone into the presence of God for me? And I'm as certain as being there as he is. Who is he that condemneth? For the Lord Jesus

24:25 has promised that his ascension is the pledge of my ascension as a child. Of the living God. And so the confidence of no condemnation was rooted in the apostle's understanding of the promise of Christ with reference to his ascension. And then secondly, his confidence is rooted in an understanding of the posture of Christ towards his own as he ascended. You had his promise before he ascended, giving them to understand that his

Significance 2: Christ's Ascension as a Posture of Blessing

25:01 going was the pledge of theirs. But then he adds to this a significant posture towards his own even as he goes. Let me ask you, do you remember from the gospel record, what was the last sight the disciples had of their Lord? Well, you say, was that two men in white apparel? No, that was the two men in white apparel. But I

25:25 said their last sight of their Lord. Well, he was hidden from them in the clouds, yes. But just before he was enveloped, what did they see as they looked upon their Lord? Well, Luke is very careful to tell us what they saw. And the detail here has tremendous

25:42 theological and practical significance. Luke chapter 24. He's already promised that the Spirit is going to come. Verse 49, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city until you be clothed with power on high. In other words, you wait until I'm ready to fulfill

26:06 the promise. And after it was fulfilled, then you wait until I'm ready to fulfill the promise. There's no waiting. The 3,000 on the day of Pentecost, the moment there was belief, there was reception of the Holy Spirit, because Christ is gone and shed forth this which ye now see and hear. And there's not one exhortation in the whole New Testament to tarry for the Holy

26:25 Ghost. You're told to wait upon God. You're told to pray. You're never told to tarry with a view to coercing God to send the Holy Ghost. It's an utterly unscriptural doctrine, and it cuts at

26:38 the heart of the completion of the redemption. The work of Jesus Christ. So he's given the promise. The Holy Ghost is coming. But now what's

26:46 his posture as he leaves? Verse 50. And he led them out until they were over against Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and he blessed them. Now, just keeping that in mind, drop back to verse 39, 38. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? Wherefore do questionings arise in your heart?

27:08 See my hands and my feet. It is I, myself. Handle me and see. For a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me having. And I believe

27:17 when our Lord said, See my hands, he didn't stick them in his pockets. See my hands. When he stretched them out, they could see those very marks that he had showed to Thomas. And now it says, he lifted up his hands upon them, pierced hands, that had been stretched this way upon a cross, that had sustained that body, when under the pillows of the wrath of the Almighty it hung between earth and heaven, and the heavens shrouded in blackness and the piercing cry, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Those same hands are lifted up, and now notice very carefully,

27:59 and it came to pass while, an adverb of time, while he blessed them, he parted from them. What was their last sight of the Lord? His hands were stretched out in blessing. And what is blessing? In blessing. And what is blessing? In blessing. And what is blessing? In blessing.

28:17 when it comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessing is something more than a cute little phrase that you use when someone sneezes and say bless you. Blessing means to call down with authority the grace and power of God upon an individual.

28:37 So Jesus leaves them in a posture of authoritatively calling down the blessing of God upon His people. No wonder verse 252, says, and they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising God. Why? Because our Lord was showing them in the very symbolism of His upraised hands the whole meaning of His death.

29:08 And it interpreted everything that preceded. And He's prophesying all that He's going to do when He goes out of sight behind the clouds. He's going to continue to send down blessing purchased by His death and His resurrection. So the posture of Christ to His own in His ascension is a posture of stretched out hands in blessing so that on the day of Pentecost, what does Peter say?

29:39 He said, we're not drunk like you think. Too early in the morning for that. If we were drunk, it wouldn't be till later on in the afternoon or evening. Too early for that.

29:46 No other reason. Just the time element. But he said, this is that which was prophesied by Joel. The Spirit will be poured out.

29:54 And then he describes from whence it came in verse 33, He, Christ, being by the right hand of God exalted, hath shed forth this which ye see and hear. He has shed it forth as the Christ of rich blessing who pronounces favor upon His people. Now do you see the relationship of this to the question, who is He? Who is He that condemneth?

30:21 Who is the appointed judge of the world? Who's the only one that can condemn a sinner to hell?

30:27 If you know your Bible, what is your answer? It's Jesus Christ. John 5 says, All judgment has been committed unto the Son. Isn't that the biblical teaching?

30:37 That in the day when God's throne of judgment is set, it is Christ that will sit upon that throne. Now listen. It is Christ who will point the finger to the sinner and say, Depart from me, ye cursed. I never knew you.

30:52 But can that finger from that hand that was stretched out in blessing ever be turned to point the finger of accusation? Impossible.

31:05 Our Lord's posture from the point of His ascension with reference to His people is only and always a posture of blessing even when He chastises. For 1 Corinthians 11.32 says, When we are chastened of the Lord, it is that we may not be, but condemned with the world. And so Christ's posture to His own is symbolic of and a pledge of His whole disposition to all of His people from that point on until He returns again.

31:47 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?

32:26 Let me ask the question in a more intimate, how would you feel if that person were your own child?

32:32 That would really make you happy as a parent, wouldn't it? Huh? Wouldn't that just make your heart sing? You reach out your hand to bless and he'd cringe.

32:41 Some of you are doing that with the Lord Jesus. He has mercifully broken the chains of your sin, set you in the way of holiness, justified you, and yet you continue to doubt, continue to wonder, will I come under condemnation? No, no, dear. Dear child of God, if you're in Christ by a living faith and there will be the other fruits and graces in some measure, I am not denying nor undercutting that whole block of biblical teaching, but your confidence of no condemnation is not based upon your performance, but upon Christ's stretched out hands.

33:26 Who is he that condemned? It is Christ that ascended and he gave promise that his ascension was pledge of praise. That's mine. His posture in his ascension was one of blessing and it continues to be that.

Significance 3: Christ's Ascension as a Parade of Triumph

33:41 But then in the third place, that ascension was the parading of his triumph over all of his enemies. It was the parading of his triumph over all of his enemies. And when you understand that, you're able to say, who is he that condemneth? Will you look, please, to Ephesians chapter 4 and then we'll turn back to Ephesians chapter 4.

34:06 We'll turn back to the Psalms for the passage from which this is taken in the Old Testament. And this has been a tremendously blessed discovery for me in recent weeks as I've been meditating upon it. In Ephesians chapter 4 in verse 7 we read, But unto each one of us, that is, each one in the body of Christ, was grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended on high, he led captivity, and gave gifts unto men.

34:42 Get the picture. Christ has given gifts to every member of the body of Christ because when he ascended on high, he did so parading his triumph and laden with gifts for his people. Now, what's the reference here? Well, turn back to Psalm 68 and I will attempt very briefly to give a summary of the Psalm and then open up to you.

35:06 Open up the oriental imagery that is in the mind of the psalmist and is transferred by the apostle to the ascension of Christ.

35:17 In the 68th Psalm there is celebration of the mighty triumphs of God over all the enemies of his people.

35:28 God came down in humiliation to Israel when she was in Egypt and where did he announce his intention to deliver her?

35:38 In a burning bush. Aham. In a humble, insignificant bush that burned with fire until Moses turned aside to see and God spoke out of the bush and said, I am come down to deliver my people. Having humbled himself to come down to deliver them, God brings them out.

35:58 He triumphs over the host of the Egyptians and the horse and chariot are drowned in the sea and God takes the people into covenant relationship with him. Where? At Mount Sinai where God goes up to the top of the mount in fiery majesty and glory and calls Moses up into that mount to speak with him. And then he comes down and gives the terms of the covenant.

36:25 So the God who came in humiliation to deliver them goes up in exaltation upon Mount Sinai and pronounces blessing upon them. And that humiliation, exaltation concept is transferred from, from Jehovah in his dealings with Israel into Jehovah Jesus and his dealings with his people. And Paul enlarges on it in Ephesians 4. He says, Who is he that ascendeth but he that first of all descended?

36:56 He came down to the confines of a virgin's womb.

37:01 And as man he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore what? God has highly exalted him, giving him a name above every name. And it was in that period from moving out of the state of humiliation to exaltation that you have this vivid military figure.

37:23 He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. And what's the figure? Well, it's this. The conqueror leaves his capital city.

37:33 He goes out to the battlefield with his chariots and his horsemen. And he conquers the enemies of his kingdom. And when he returns in triumph, he would chain some of his key conquests to his chariot wheels. Perhaps there was the opposing general or king who would slain and his dead body would be chained to the chariot wheels and dragged back with the conqueror.

37:59 And in his chariot, the king, the general, would have a sample of the spoils of the city he had conquered. And as he came back into the city, the capital of his own kingdom, there would be the visible manifestation of his triumph over the enemies. But not only that, he would take the fruits of the spoils and throw them out to the people who shouted upon his return and who welcomed the conquering victor home. He leads captivity captive and he gives gifts unto men.

38:35 Now do you see the application to Christ? And it's beautiful. I hardly could wait to preach this one. I came down to the breakfast table and told my wife, and I said, I just hope it doesn't go dead by the time I have to preach.

38:47 I wanted to just jump out of the study this morning early and come and preach to you. Because here's the picture of the Lord Jesus who had been in humiliation. Now he has, through death, destroyed him that had the power of death. Colossians 2.15,

39:07 he triumphed over principalities and powers. It is death. And what is his ascension? It is the parade.

39:14 It is the meeting of his triumph before all the angelic host and all the spirit world. He goes back with the devil, with sin, with hell and with death, chained to his chariot wheels. And in his chariots are all the gifts he purchased. Forgiveness and peace and life and deliverance from bondage.

39:41 And so as he goes back into heaven, he not only leaves, captivity captive, but he gives gifts unto men. And the day of Pentecost was the first big arm load that he threw out. And he's been throwing them out ever since. Throwing them out ever since.

39:59 And he's going to keep right on throwing them upon his people until every last soul comes into that accomplished perfect. Made into the image of his Son.

The King of Glory's Triumphant Return (Psalm 24)

40:15 Is he that condemneth? Christ in his ascension has paraded us. All his enemies according to Psalm 68. And then see that confirmed by the 24th Psalm.

40:30 That's why we sang it this morning.

40:34 Speaking of the righteous man who receives blessing from God in the first half of the Psalm. Who is that righteous man in perfection? It is the Lord Jesus. And who will ever enter into the blessings of the righteous man?

40:48 Those who enter into the triumphs of Christ. And here his triumph is again vividly set forth in a military figure. Look at it. Lift up your heads, O ye gates.

41:00 And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors. That's the doors of the city. The returning conquerors coming back.

41:08 And so the announcement is made by those who run before him. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Open up the city gates. The conquerors coming.

41:16 And the watchmen upon the gates answer and say, Who is the King of glory? You say the King of glory is coming and we should open the gates. The gatekeepers say, Who is your King of glory? And the answer comes back, The Lord strong and mighty.

41:33 The Lord mighty in battle. And so they continue with the exhortation to the gatekeepers again. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Lift them up, ye everlasting doors.

41:44 And the King of glory will come in. And the gatekeepers answer back and say, Who is the King of glory? As much as say, Look, we have no second answer. The first one was the right.

41:56 The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. And that's the same military figure. The triumphant captain comes back having won the victory on the fields of battle.

42:09 And he says, Open up the gates. The Lord of glory comes in. How strong and mighty. In what?

42:17 In battle. What battle? Did he come forth from heaven to do? For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested.

42:25 1 John 3. 9. To destroy the works of the devil. Hebrews chapter 2.

42:32 That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death. That is the devil. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. That's what he came out of the gates to do.

42:46 To destroy sin. To destroy the devil. To destroy hell. And so as he comes back, he says, Mighty in battle every purpose.

42:57 Of my battle is accomplished. Let the King of glory come back. And so he paraded in his ascension. His mighty triumph over all his enemy.

No Condemnation in Christ's Triumph

43:12 Child of God, do you see the relationship between this and no condemnation? When sin says, Have you not been my servant? Have you not served me faithfully? Have you not served me diligently?

43:25 Have you not served me for a lengthy period of time? And you say to sin, Yes. But Jehovah the Lord of hosts has come forth. And he has broken your power over me.

43:38 He has swallowed up all the demands of the law against my sin. Who is he that condemneth? Can sin condemn when it has been led captive? What about the devil?

43:50 When he comes and says, You've been my servant. And you say with shame, Yes, I have been. I have claims over you. You say, Change your tenses.

43:59 Please, you had claims over me.

44:03 But you've been chained to the chariot wheels of the Son of God. And you're nothing but a defeated usurper. I've been delivered from the power of the devil. Isn't that what God says to Paul in his commission?

44:15 To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God. And you say, No, I'm his purchased fruit of his own triumph and his own redemptive work. And death would come and put on its ugliest of faces and try to scare us and jump out of the woods at us. And we may face death and say you're nothing but a Halloween spook.

Quotation: Hugh Martin on Captivity Captive

44:41 Christ has destroyed you. He has destroyed death in his death. Who is he that condemneth? I want to do something this morning I don't often do.

44:54 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, it is a scene over which to smile

45:38 and sing and sing and smile again. Oh, to be clothed with the beauties of holiness that as the chariots of a willing people we too may grace the triumph of the fettered substitute of sinners. Sound the loud timbrel. Go forth with thy maidens, O Miriam, with timbrels and with dances and answer them saying, Sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.

46:04 The horse and his rider he hath cast into the deep. He hath done it by his bonds. By means of his bonds the captive Christ hath carried captivity captive. And now if we had faith in the captive Christ carrying captivity captive, might we not in his name compel all manner of captivities to go into captivity?

46:28 Who among us then is fettered by the conscious guiltiness of sin and the haunting spirit of bondage? Your hearts condemn you and God is greater than your hearts. Conscience tells you that an unsettled account stands against you in the book of the Lord's remembrance. Countless offenses are between you and your God hiding his face from you for they are not forgiven nor forgotten in reconciliation.

46:54 This sense of guilt is itself a spirit of bondage for it compresses your heart and seals your lip in prayer. It keeps you cold and distant and formal in your worship. In short, it keeps you alienated and an enemy in your heart. Ah, there will be no relief from this bondage till you come in penitence and faith unto Jesus.

47:16 Identify your captivity with his and you will issue and end it in his also. You will find that his captivity imputed to you relieves you from your captivity, emancipates you from bondage in the very midst of your life. In the virtue of his own bonds he was in bonds for bond slaves and they might be free and there is neither condemnation nor captivity to those who are in Christ Jesus who among us is fettered by sin. For he that committeth sin is the slave of sin.

47:49 Am I speaking to some this morning chained by lust? You are a monument of the devil's power to make men slaves.

48:01 What's your hope? Listen to Mr. Martin. He goes on.

48:05 Who groans as an unwilling captive under the bondage of corruption? Fain would you break loose from lusts that are too strong for you, evil passions that have become your tyrants, but you're helpless in their hands. You make a truce with them now and again, but they break all terms with you and are not satisfied until you are once again their slave. For know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey his servants, are whom you obey?

48:34 Ah, it is Christ and the grace of Christ at once free and omnipotent that alone can meet your case. If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Then he goes on to say, Who among you is caught in the snare of the devil? Who among you is caught in the fear of death?

48:54 And for every area he cries out in this impassioned plea, cast yourself upon Christ, who died, who rose, who ascended and displayed in that ascension openly his triumph over all the powers of darkness and says to all who come to him, share in the fruit of my sufferings and my death and my triumph. And he commands you to repent and to believe in himself. And oh, dear child of God, with some little, some little measure of hope, some little measure of confidence,

Conclusion: Embrace the Conquering Christ

49:39 may the Lord shine upon the face of a conquering Christ this morning and make you more than conqueror through him. Who is he that condemneth? Christ died as substitute and surety of his people. Christ rose.

49:55 Christ is at the right hand of God and he got there by his ascension, an ascension in which he, he promised that where he would be, all his people would come, an ascension in which he left with his hands raised in blessing and they're raised still in blessing upon his own, an ascension in which he had chained to his chariot wheels, sin and death and hell and his hands laid in with the fruits of his victory. Oh, what a Christ. What a salvation. What a Savior.

50:34 Who is he? Who is he that condemneth? Do you think you honor God by going around groveling in your unbelief? Have you come to believe that little assurance is a mark of spirituality?

50:48 God have mercy upon you. It's an insult to the might and power of the Savior. Now, if you're dabbling in sin and got a controversy with God as to who's going to hold the reins of your life, don't you try to suck sweetness from this. You better hear the command of the psalmist, in Psalm 2, kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way.

51:12 And I close with that sober exhortation.

51:16 Those hands are stretched forth in blessing upon all who are at his feet in faith and in submission.

51:26 But for all of you who stand proud and unbent and say, I'll run my own life, those hands will break you in judgment unless you repent. They are the hands that will point to every other person the impenitent sinner and say, depart from me, ye curse.

51:47 They're only stretched out in blessing upon the heads of those who are bent at his feet. Are you bent at his feet? Your mind subject to him? Your will subject to him?

52:00 Your only confidence in time and eternity in him? Then, my friend, you better tremble because everything will condemn you. Your own conscience, God's law, angels, devils, and Christ himself. And there's no middle ground.

52:16 It's either no condemnation in Christ Jesus or all the fury of his condemnation out of Christ. Are you in Christ? You dear young people, one thing in life you need is to be in Christ. In Christ.

52:33 In Christ. And don't stop short of that. And if you're in him, then say with Paul, who is he that can condemn him? Christ has risen.

52:44 Where are you going to be? Where he is? Because he said so. Where are you now before him?

52:51 Under those hands of blessing. What about all your enemies? They're chained to his chariot. And there's nothing but gifts that he pours upon his people.

53:03 May God grant that we with Paul shall say and understand who is he that condemneth.