Category Archives: Jesus Christ

Acts 1:1-11; 2:32-36 – Ascended and exalted (sermon notes)

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Jesus Christ ‘ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.’

Acts 1:1-11; 2:32-36

We have lots of ways of preparing for and celebrating Christmas and Easter.

But what about Christ’s ascension?  For many of us, May 21st 2020 (Ascension Day) probably passed virtually unnoticed.

And yet the ascension is of huge significance.  It is just as important, in its own way, as the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.…

Christ’s ascension and exaltation – key Bible passages

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(Each reference is given in the NET version and the NIV)

Psalm 68:18 You ascend on high, you have taken many captives. You receive tribute from men, including even sinful rebels. Indeed the LORD God lives there!

18 When you ascended on high,
you took many captives;
you received gifts from people,
even from the rebellious—
that you, LORD God, might dwell there.

Psa 110:1  Here is the LORD’s proclamation to my lord: “Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool!”…

MacLeod: The resurrection body

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‘What, we may ask, is the nature of the resurrection body? It is not a speculative or a useless question because the criterion of what is useless and speculative is that there is no teaching on it in scripture; and there is some clear teaching in the Bible with regard to the resurrection body. For example, we read in Philippians 3:21 that the Lord Jesus Christ ‘will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body’.…

Ascension and exaltation

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‘It is a pity that we call it ‘Ascension Day’, for the Bible speaks more of Christ’s exaltation than of his ascension. This is an interesting avenue to explore. The four great events in the saving career of Jesus are described in the Bible both actively and passively, as deeds done both by Jesus and to Jesus. Thus, we are told with reference to his birth both that he came and that he was sent; with reference to his death both that he gave himself and that he was offered; with reference to his resurrection both that he rose and that he was raised; with reference to his ascension both that he ascended and that he was exalted.…

Where is Jesus?

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This may seem rather a pointless question, until we consider that it admits of two (if not more) possible answers:

  • Jesus is in my heart!
  • Jesus is in heaven!

Certainly, the first of these reflects what many Christians believe and say.  They talk about ‘accepting Christ’, or ‘receiving Jesus into the heart’.

As the old chorus would have us sing:

You ask me how I know he lives –
He lives within my heart!

The idea that Jesus resides ‘in the heart’ of the believer is not without some plausibility.…

Christ’s exaltation

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A summary of chapter 41 of The Fountain of Life, by John Flavel.

“When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 1:3

Christ is described

  • By his essential and primeval glory and dignity, he is ‘the brightness at his Father’s glory’, the very splendor of glory, the very refulgency of that son of glory.
  • By the work he wrought here on earth, in his humbled state, ‘When he had by himself purged our sins.’
…

Ascension of Christ

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The ascension of Christ is the ‘transference of the resurrected body of Jesus from this world to heaven.’

It is described in Acts 1:9–11 (but see also Lk 24:50f), where Jesus is described as being “taken up” and disappearing into a cloud. This event took place near Bethany, on the Mt of Olives.

John’s Gospel records Jesus’ own comments regarding his ascension:

  • he has departed, but he will return (21:22);
  • he cannot be touched, for he must ascend (20:17);
  • many will believe without having seen him (20:29).
…

Flavel: the ascension of Christ

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A summary of chapter 40 of The Fountain of Life, by John Flavel.

John 20:17 – ‘Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.’

The persons to whom this message was sent: ‘My brethren’; a sweet term, and full of love.

The message itself: ‘Tell my brethren, I ascend to my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God.’…

Spurgeon: a bee-line to Christ?

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C.H. Spurgeon is often quoted as saying: “I take my text and make a beeline to the cross.”

Indeed, for Albert Mohler, this expression summarises Spurgeon’s entire preaching method.

For the record, I can find no evidence that Spurgeon ever said it (see here for corroboration).

But is it the sort of thing that the great preacher might have said?  Well, kind of.

Perhaps the nearest thing we can find comes in a story told (with obvious approval) by the 24-year-old Spurgeon:

A Welsh minister who was preaching last Sabbath at the chapel of my dear brother, Jonathan George, was saying, that Christ was the sum and substance of the gospel, and he broke out into this story:—

A young man had been preaching in the presence of a venerable divine, and after he had done he went to the old minister, and said, “What do you think of my sermon?”

…

Christ-centred preaching – some pitfalls

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Edmund Clowney, Sidney Greidanus, Graeme Goldsworthy, Bryan Chappell, Christopher Wright, David Murray, Christopher Ash and others have done the church a great service by their advocacy, in various ways, of a Christ-centred approach to preaching from the Old Testament.

What’s not to like?

Amid all the enthusiasm, Daniel Block sounds a note or two of caution.

Block agrees that Christ-centred preaching

  1. ‘has a long history, beginning with the apostles, the church fathers, the reformers (especially Luther), and extending to more a recent revival [of] Christ-centered preaching in some circles.
…