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The Ascension of Christ part 3
May 3, 2019
The Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ contains many great lessons for us. I want to tell you, several weeks ago as I began to prepare this lesson on the Ascension, out of all of the teaching today, this is what God has impressed on my heart. I appreciate everything we have learned, everything we are learning about Christ, but I want to talk to you how Jesus had 40 days to prepare His followers to walk by faith. It is essential that we as a church know that we must walk by faith, not by sight. If we are going to do anything for the Lord Jesus Christ, it is going to be because we walk by faith.
The Bible says in Luke 24:52, “And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” Now, when I see that, I become amused. They worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. I wonder when I leave if people throw a party? Jesus ascends, and they leave and go back to Jerusalem with great joy. I hope that when I leave, they are not happy because I left. But when I look at the Ascension, there is great joy. The Ascension is a marked event because the apostles know that Jesus is going to sit at the Father’s right hand.
Let us look at how they acted before the crucifixion and look at how they acted before the Ascension. In John Chapter 16, Jesus said, “But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.” So when He began to tell His apostles, His followers, they are going to kill me, I am going to die, sorrow filled their hearts. Even at His death and as He was in the tomb, the disciples were hiding for fear of the Jews. Even the day of the Resurrection when Mary ran and came to them and said, “We have seen the Lord.” They said to her, “Your words to us are idle tales, like an idle tale told.” They could not believe in the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But something must have happened in those forty days after Jesus' resurrection. They worshipped Him on the day of Ascension and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, so in those forty days, something powerful must have happened in the hearts of the apostles and the followers. The Bible says in Acts 1:3, “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
Now, I wonder what happened in these forty days that was so powerful to change them. Before Christ's death and before the knowledge of the Resurrection, they were sorrowful. Their hopes were gone. The disciples could not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. Within forty days, something must have happened in the heart of these apostles.
What is the importance of those forty days? I really cannot find much, but I just got a little thought about these forty days in the life of Christ. I know that when Jesus was baptized, the Spirit drove Him in the wilderness to be tempted of the devil for forty days. In those forty days, He was bothered by the devil. In those forty days, He was tempted by the devil. In those forty days, the devil would come to Him, “Turn these stones into bread.” The Bible said that Jesus would say, “It is written, it is written,” and after that, Jesus defeated the devil in temptation through the Word of God. The Bible says that Satan, the devil, left Him for a season, but in those forty days, the devil bothered Him. I do not know all the specifics of the forty days, but I know this. The Scripture says in Verse 3 that after His Resurrection, He showed himself alive forty days with many infallible proofs, and I cannot help but think that in those forty days as much as the devil bothered Jesus in the temptation, I believe that Jesus bothered the devil in those forty days.
The Bible said, “He that committeth sin is of the devil for the devil sins from the beginning.” For this purpose, the Son of God was manifest that He might destroy the works of the devil. I cannot help but think that in those forty days Jesus bothered the devil. The Bible says in Revelation 1:17-18, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” I cannot help but think in those forty days as much as the devil bothered Him, oh, after His Resurrection and before His Ascension, I believe that Jesus bothered the devil. “I am He that was dead, but I am alive forevermore! I have conquered! I am the conqueror! I have conquered death, hell, and the grave! I’ve got the victory, and because I’ve got the victory, I’m going to give that victory to every one of my followers!” Hallelujah! Praise God! I believe there is victory for the child of God. Hallelujah.
Now, Jesus would appear, and He would disappear. In those forty days, He had to prepare His followers to walk by faith. In Mark 16:9: “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.” He appeared. Then the Bible talks about the two on the road to Emmaus. After that He appeared in another form unto two of them as they walked and went into the country, He appeared, but then the Bible said, their eyes were open, and they knew Him, and He vanished out of their sight. He would appear; He would vanish. He would appear; He would disappear. Why? He’s got to prepare them to walk by faith.
I want to talk to you. God wants to speak with us here today. In Mark 16:14, “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” Then the Bible said after that He appeared in another form unto the two of them as they walked. He went into the country, and the Bible tells us that He would appear and disappear.
When Jesus would appear to His followers, He would do one of four things every time:
(1) He would show himself alive by many infallible proofs. How would He prove himself alive? He would talk to them. He would allow them to touch Him. He would eat with them. He would walk with them. He would speak with them. He would allow himself to be touched. He ate with them, and He showed himself alive by many infallible proofs.
(2) He talked about the kingdom of God. In Acts 1:3: “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” So when He would appear to them, He would talk about the kingdom of God.
(3) He repeated the commission at least three times. The Bible says in Matthew 28:18-20: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” So when He would appear, Jesus would commission them. He would re-commission them, each time that He would appear to them.
(4) He would say this, in Acts 1:4, “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.” So He was telling them, I’m going to send another Comforter. He wanted them to remain in Jerusalem and wait on the promise of the Father, which is the Holy Ghost.
So every time that He would appear, He would do one of four things, and sometimes all four. Tarry in Jerusalem and wait for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. He would show himself alive with many infallible proofs. He would re-commission them about what to do after He ascended back to the Father. He would talk to them about the kingdom of God.
Jesus had forty days to prepare them to walk by faith. He was weaning them from Him to the point that they could rely on the Holy Ghost. He was weaning them from walking by sight where they could have faith, and they could operate and minister through the Holy Ghost.
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