Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:05] My name is Dean Annan and I'm the discipleship pastor here. I'd love to meet you afterwards if we've never talked. I'd love to see. I'll be right down here.
[00:00:15] You know, maybe you've had something important to say in the past, or you've. You've seen something and you want to tell somebody. And maybe it was a, you know, a car accident or maybe it was a beautiful sunrise or whatever, but maybe you didn't get the chance to do that and you wanted to. Or better yet, maybe you have. Today in the passage we're gonna be in, Luke chapter 24, we're gonna see the apostles are being told by Jesus. Jesus tells the apostles this. We're gonna see that in a minute, that he says, you are witnesses of these things.
[00:00:48] We'll have to get to that. What are these things? And then Jesus says about these things that he. He says, you are to proclaim these things.
[00:00:58] When we get to our passages, to proclaim or preach, some of your Bibles might say, mean this. It means to announce publicly important news. And so when we proclaim what we preach, there's something important to be said. And it's not something to be held in. It's not something private. We'll see that when we get there. Well, the apostles witness something great, something difficult, something great again in the life, the death, of course, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also the ascension. And we're gonna talk about the ascension today. The Ascension, as it is known. It's an event when Jesus goes back to heaven. It's 40 days after his resurrection. It's the rising of Jesus from the earth into heaven. Forty days after his resurrection. We're going to look at the before, we're going to look at the during, and we're going to look at the after. And we'll be in Luke chapter 24. We're going to start in verse 44.
[00:01:55] We'll also be in Acts, chapter one, both in the New Testament. Acts is just two books later into the New Testament. And so our big idea today is this. With the Ascension, our witness, our testimony continues Jesus mission. All right, let me begin with a little bit of context to refresh where we've been the last few weeks with Pastor Michael's teaching.
[00:02:19] Okay, I want to catch us up. Okay, spoiler alert. You ready? He's alive.
[00:02:24] Okay. He's alive. He's no longer dead. Isn't that good? In Luke chapter 24, we're going to continue on then. Jesus is post resurrection Body. He's human by the way and fully God and he's. He had met with the the two disciples on the seven mile walk road trip to Emmaus. That was last week. Luke moved from the being with Luke moves with Jesus being with those two disciples on the road to Emmaus and then to Jerusalem which is where we are today with the 11 disciples. And Jesus proves to them that he's not a ghost. At first they weren't quite sure, but that he's alive and he has a body. And all of this is leading to today Jesus's ascension. Jesus is about the truth. Last week we saw that he opens up eyes for people to believe here we're going to see today that he opens up minds to the truth to show what the Scriptures said and say about him. They're in Jerusalem. It's Sunday night. It's the the day of the resurrection. It's later in the day and they're gathered, the eleven apostles are gathered in fear in what's called the upper room. Traditionally Luke chapter 24, verse 44 says this and he said to them, Jesus talking to the disciples, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
[00:03:52] Well that's the three divisions in other words of the Sometimes they would break down the three divisions of the Old Testament Scriptures, the Hebrew Bible in those ways. And so last week road to Emmaus, the two disciples, they were unbelieving last week and Jesus opened their eyes to the resurrected Christ so they could recognize him and they could believe in him and worship him. And Luke shows us parallels because moving from the road to Emmaus to Jerusalem, today we're going to get to verse 45 here in a second. What we're going to see is Jesus cares about the truth. He wants them to understand that he has risen from the grave, that he died on the cross for their sins. And because of that they can choose instead of them being in fear, which is what they're in right now because they don't know what's coming next. He tells them to choose faith and they will. So I'm going to call it the purpose to proclaim. This is verse 45 through 48. The purpose to proclaim. To proclaim the good news, the great commission, the Gospel.
[00:04:54] This is all Remember before the ascension, this is the context here. Jesus goes back to his rightful place. He's telling his followers before he goes what this mission's going to be verse 45, Jesus says this.
[00:05:11] Then he opened their minds. He's talking to the eleven apostles in the upper room. He opened their minds to understand the scriptures. You know, wouldn't it be great if we could have the same thing where our minds could be open to Scriptures?
[00:05:26] Actually, we already do. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you might already know that at the time of your salvation, the Holy Spirit lives in you. But there's something else that happens too. There's this doctrine of illumination, which simply means that the Holy Spirit of God will give you the ability to understand Scripture perfectly all the time, in every way, and every single question you want to know. Probably not, but with help, certainly from the Holy Spirit and with others. Yeah, we have the ability to understand, to understand the Scripture, but we need the Holy Spirit's help because this book is different than other books. It is the direction, divine revelation of God himself. And so it takes the Spirit of God to help us understand. And that's really good news. All right, what did the Scripture say in verse 46? Let's go there. This is the Old Testament. Jesus is just kind of reminding them because he's already said some of this. Verse 46 says this. And he said to them, thus it is written. He means in the Scriptures that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. And that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. In other words, he showed him from the Old Testament that he is actually the Messiah, that he was to suffer and he was to die and he was to rise again. And he'd already told him this. But why was this necessary? That he died and that he rose again from the grave? Verse 47 says, for the forgiveness of sins, which is offered to anyone who. It says in verse 47, repents.
[00:07:07] You know, we don't use the word repent all the time, but we talk about it every Sunday. We talk about it all the time. That the person who repents is given forgiveness by Jesus from hell to heaven. Repentance is so important. We should never stop talking about repentance when it comes to salvation. It needs to be there. So let me slow down a lot and no slide for right now. But what is important, and I want to be blunt, because Jesus is very blunt here. I want to be super clear, because I think Jesus is super clear here. He's not using parables, he's not using metaphors. He's not using the famous rabbinic type teaching methodologies that they would use in that day.
[00:07:50] We don't have to think too much for a moment about historical context. What's happening here? I just want to be clear. In verse 46, when it says the Christ should suffer, he mentions that back in verse 26, on the road to Emmaus too, that the Christ should suffer. He's saying that biblical prophecy has all been fulfilled in him. And if you're keeping notes, you might know the famous Isaiah hundreds of years before a proph. Chapter 53, verses 4 through 6. I'm going to read some of that. This is about Jesus, by the way. It says, surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten and afflicted by God. He was pierced for our transgressions, meaning sins. And he was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds were healed. And then it goes on at the end, it says, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He has taken our sin. In other words, he took the hit. He took the hit for every one of us. He was smitten and afflicted and pierced. It says, he was tortured, bled, and died, taking the full penalty for sins. The Christ must suffer. That's verse 46. So in verse 47, we get to the first part of verse 47, we talked about it, where it says repentance. Our only response and hope is the repentance for forgiveness of sins. Verse 47. Let me stop there, because again, repentance. We don't use that word all the time, but it's so important. And we talk about what it is. We talk about playing it out, we talk about understanding it. We talk about putting it into action all the time. It's simply humbling yourself to the point of changing your mind and your life to the point where you ask Jesus to forgive your sins. You're changing who's on the throne. It's now Jesus. We change our minds about who we are. We are a sinner before a holy God. In repentance, we ask him to forgive our sins for sure. We trust in him no longer in ourselves, and we follow him, not ourselves anymore. That's the change. And you might say, if you've never done that, you might say, but, but I just need to. And I might say, wait, no, friend, no. He calls you to repentance. You might say, but if I just need to kind of clean up that, I'd say, no, he cleans it up. He'll take care of it.
[00:10:20] Our Lord calls us to faith, which is trusting in him. Repentance is the only proper response to the gospel and the only hope that we have.
[00:10:34] And so Jesus is really busy before going back to heaven with his final words, enlightening the. The disciples, getting them on track with his message for the mission. That's what he's doing here. All right, the rest of verse 47, because I've skipped it so far. The rest of verse 47. Let's talk about this mission. Remember, the repentance in verse 47 for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed. There's that word in his name, the authority of Jesus to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. And then he says, you are witnesses talking to the apostles of these things.
[00:11:15] Not just the apostles. This is ours as well. Verse 47, telling the important news, what are these things? These things was Simply the verse 46 and 47. We just talked about it. That the Christians should suffer for repentance of sins and that we are to repent to receive forgiveness. It says in verse 48 that they were witnesses, they were eyewitnesses. It also says to them that they are and to us to bring this news, the good news of Jesus to all nations. And it's interesting because if you're an apostle in the first century and a Jewish apostle with they were. When they heard all nations, they're thinking, oh, my goodness.
[00:11:59] Not just the scope of this, they're thinking, these are Gentiles, the non Jews of the day. These are people that worship demonic gods. These. These are people that are different from us. These are people who are idolaters, pagans. That's what they would be thinking. They make me uncomfortable. I really don't want to go by them.
[00:12:17] And Jesus says yes, even to them. Even to them. This is the main mission of the church, to proclaim the gospel to neighbors and nations alike. Mission is simply the purpose, goal, task. And what's great about this mission is that Jesus commissioned this great mission. You know, when we talk about commissioning Jesus commissions this mission, that simply means that he grants. Jesus grants the authority in his name, but also the responsibility to us at the same time. We call it the Great Commission. Even today. This is great, by the way, even today, at the end of this service, you're gonna see our church in the name of Jesus, commissioning some of our youth and commissioning some leaders to go do the work of Jesus Christ this summer through service, but also through proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.
[00:13:18] That's at the end of service. We'll have to wait for that. All right. Just before returning to heaven, then, Jesus, we see that he talks in the post resurrection body about the Great Commission in different ways. And the different authors in the New Testament record it for us. So let me just put that list on the screen if you want to write them down. I'm going to read them though, for you. I'll read these for you. John, chapter 20. Jesus said to them, again, this is the commissioning, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. In the mark, chapter 16, it says. And he said to them, go into all the world and proclaim the gospel. Here it is. Proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes in is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not will be condemned. And then Matthew, chapter 28, 19, 20. We often think of this one as the Great Commission, don't we? We usually think of that. Verse 19 in Matthew, chapter 28 says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, he's saying, look, I am with you always to the end of the age. And I'll read this later. But in Acts, chapter one, verse eight, Jesus says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses. Or you will be testifying about me in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Sumeria and to the ends of the earth. This is the Great Commission. These are the Great Commission. And this is what Jesus is all about. As a matter of fact, if Jesus is talking about priorities, this would be a big rock. This is a big rock of priorities. To bring the gospel to neighbors and nations as well.
[00:14:59] You might say, that's hard. A little unnerving, a little daunting, a little crazy. Maybe you have an adjective for it, right? Impossible. Well, Jesus would say, you're right.
[00:15:11] And maybe you think you need Matcha powder. I don't know what you use. Or caffeine or monster drinks. Don't drink monster drinks or whatever it is, caffeine. And Jesus would say, yeah, you need something, but I got something much better for you. Much better. And so I want to move from the purpose we talked about to proclaim the good news to the promise of power. Let's talk about the promise of power. It starts at verse 49. I'm gonna read verse 49 here. Cause Jesus is continuing. Here's this promise of power. And behold, he says, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. The promise of my Father is the promised Holy Spirit. He had mentioned this before. This is the power from on high. Jesus is talking about the third person of the Trinity, the true God of the universe, the third part of the Trinity. He's will be personally living inside of them soon. To accomplish the mission that Jesus is promising, the promise of power for the mission is to proclaim the gospel to the neighbor and to the nations. All right, from Luke to Acts, I said, we're going to be in Acts chapter one a little bit too. All right, chapter 24 of Luke, when he writes, he writes a condensed version of it. He kind of squishes the timeline together. So when you get to the book of Acts, Luke continues to write, It's a couple years later, like I said. And what you're going to see is Acts is a historical narrative and Acts is expanding on what happens. But this basic same event is still happening. But here's what Luke records later. Acts 1, verses 4 through 5. And while they were staying with them, and while staying with them, Jesus ordered them to not depart from Jerusalem, but to wait. Here it is, for the promise of the Father, which he said, you heard from me. And then he goes on in verse 5 and says, For John baptized, this is John the Baptist. John baptized with water. But then Jesus says, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Promise of the Father. We know what that is. That's the Holy Spirit John baptized with water. In other words, this was an immersion water into water to. It was a baptism of repentance so that Israel would get their hearts ready for the coming Messiah. But when we look at the baptism that Jesus is talking about, when he says baptism of the Holy Spirit or baptized with the Holy Spirit, he's talking here about being united or being joined to Jesus by the Holy Spirit. This wasn't an immersion. This was being united with. And so in verse 5, Jesus says to the apostles, you know, this is coming. Wait for him. He's coming. He's going to send him. And so you might know the rest of the story. In Acts chapter two, this actually happens, right? They receive a Pentecost, the Holy Spirit. These apostles did. But we also know in the New Testament, we see when the apostle Paul teaches, we see that actually believers, other believers, from this point forward, believers who believe in Jesus Christ are given the Holy Spirit at the moment of Their conversion we see In Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 13 through 14. I'll just read it. It says, the apostle Paul says, having believed, in other words, believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ for salvation, you were marked in him with a seal. And what's that seal? It's the promised Holy Spirit who is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.
[00:18:52] Again, in summary, the Holy Spirit is the power from on high that they will need for the mission by Christ's authority. This is by Christ's authority in his name. It's our responsibility today. It's like a race. It's like a baton race. It's like, I don't know if you've ever been in a relay race. Usually there's four people, right? You pass it from one to the next to the next. This is Jesus reaching out, passing the baton to the apostles. They pass it to us and it keeps going from generation to generation.
[00:19:24] My point is it's a team and God has created a team. You know what that team's called? It's a church.
[00:19:33] That's village church of Bartlett, among other churches. We're part of a big team. This passage that we're reading today, what we're in right now is this handoff passage leading to the Ascension of Jesus Christ. Big idea again today is with the Ascension, our witness continues Jesus mission.
[00:19:53] All right, that was the promise of power idea. But I want to move to next section where Jesus goes to heaven. This is the perfect place, isn't it? The perfect place, Jesus, perfect place which is at the right hand of the Father. Let me set this up because I'm going to be in Luke chapter 24, verse 50 again. So back to Luke, verse 50. This is the Ascension, but I need to set it up a little bit because again, Luke, he telescopes events. This is really over a 40 day period, but he telescopes them. And so what's happening here is Jesus leads the apostles from Jerusalem to the town of Bethany, which is on the Mount of Olives. Remember the town of Bethany, where his friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus were. Lazarus, who he raised from the dead. He's going there and Jesus, it says, blesses them. And then Jesus was taken up into heaven. The Ascension. And then the disciples worshiped him and they returned to Jerusalem and they waited for the promised Holy Spirit. Let me read the Ascension out of Luke, chapter 24, verse 50. Here it is.
[00:21:00] And he led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God.
[00:21:20] But like I said, Acts, Acts chapter one. There's more information here. I love what it says here. This is Jesus talking. This is the ascension event also. Look what happens. Acts chapter 1, verse 8. Jesus says, but you talking to them again. But you will receive power just before he goes up to heaven. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. That's their job in verse nine. And when he had said these things, they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sights. Clouds in scripture oftentimes are theophanies or God appearances. So that's what we see here. But, but also you wonder, how did he get up there? You know, did he just think it? I mean, how did he. He didn't do that, did he? What did he do? I would love to see that. You know, I have no idea how that works. You know, back in the pre modern times, in the ancient church, they thought more of the Ascension as Jesus simply going from earth to heaven. A physical place change, a geographic place change, a spatial change. In our modern era, we know that there's more involved here. Of course, obviously there is a spiritual change as well.
[00:22:40] We don't understand the spirit world, very little about it. Frankly. We don't even see the spirit world unless God opens our eyes to see it.
[00:22:51] Regardless of all that, Jesus is fully God.
[00:22:57] Jesus is fully human. Jesus is flesh and he's in heaven. If you understand that, please see me down here afterwards. It's amazing, absolutely amazing. But don't miss the connection. The reason I want verse 8 and 9 up there is this. When we look at 8 and 9, this is critical. There's a link and a direct link between the Great Commission, you see it right there, and the Ascension. This is the baton handoff. The Ascension matters.
[00:23:26] It's a critical step, even in God's plan. You know, it's not like, you know, we talk about the gospel, we. Including the Ascension, including the Second coming is also important. God's plan is this. The life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the second coming, the millennial kingdom, the final judgment, the eternal punishment, and then the new heavens and the new earth and the eternal state with him reigning as our king forever. It's all one thing. We live in time. God created time. He's outside of time, but he works in Time. It's amazing. The Ascension is an essential part to all of this in this final kingdom to come. Revelation 22:3, says this. The Lamb, meaning Jesus will be in it, and his servants shall worship him. The Ascension matters, all right? That's the connectedness between this Great Commission and the Ascension and how this matters. It's part of God's big narrative where our stories fit into his story. Bringing people into his family is the goal. It's what it's all driving towards. And there's a ton more reasons why the Ascension matters.
[00:24:35] Out of a ton, I'll pick six. Okay. They all start with a letter H. I got crazy on alliteration. Forgive me. You know, for those of you who love alliterations, you're welcome.
[00:24:45] Those of you who hate alliterations, I'm sorry, but they're on the screen. Here we go. Here's the six. The first is home. Why does the Ascension matter? Home? Because Jesus is home. This is where he belongs. It is finished. Success.
[00:25:00] Complete success.
[00:25:02] He has conquered sin. He has conquered death. God wins the substitutionary atonement, meaning he substituted. He took care of the sin, which we couldn't. He did all of that. The Old Testament fully. He's fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies about himself. He's done it. Success. He wins. He gets to go where he belongs.
[00:25:24] He's home. Second, another H. Host. He's our host. He's going to prepare a place. You might remember John 14:2 said this. In my Father's house are many rooms. Now he's saying this when the disciples early on were troubled about something. I won't go into that right now, but here's what Jesus said. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? So he goes to heaven. He prepares a place and is preparing a place for you.
[00:25:52] Third, our help. We've talked a lot about that already. The. The Holy Spirit is the helper. Jesus said, I will send him to you. That's in John 16:7. I will send him, the Holy Spirit to you. The Holy Spirit, by the way, is everywhere. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent. This is important why? Because he can give the power to all believers. He lives in you to proclaim the gospel message. But the Holy Spirit also is the one who brings salvation. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts hearts to repentance. The Holy Spirit brings salvation and the Holy Spirit. That again, Jesus sent Holy Spirit. Here we have. The Holy Spirit sanctifies believers, meaning he makes in us. He changes us. He shapes us to a point where we become even more like our Savior. And I mentioned before, he illuminates the Holy Spirit, does the word of God, so we can understand it. This is why the Ascension matters. I'll do three more. Fourth one. He's our head. He's at the place of authority. Matthew, chapter 28, verse 18 says that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. The Apostle Paul In Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians 1, starting in verse 20 says that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. And right hand. You may not know what sitting at the right hand means and meant. And what it means is that, that Jesus is in the position of power and favor and honor.
[00:27:25] The Apostle Paul says it this way. He says Jesus is seated at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and far above all authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named not only in this age, but also in the one to come. But now there's another verse in Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 22. It is where Paul says this.
[00:27:48] And he the Father put all things under his feet under Jesus and gave him as head over all things. The church. Jesus rules the church. Did you know that Jesus rules the church.
[00:28:05] Fifth, Jesus is our high priest. He's our high priest. He intercedes for us. There's so many places in Hebrews I'd love to go. Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 14 through 16. Let me read. Verse 16 says, Let us. Then the Hebrew writer says with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. He is such a good God. He understands us. But it also says, and I love. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 15, it says that Jesus is our mediator.
[00:28:41] In other words, Jesus says as our High Priest in heaven says, I got this one. I got this one. I got this boy. I got this girl. I got this man. I got this woman. I covered them with my blood. They're mine. He's our High priest. In Hebrews 9:15, the mediator. It says Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant, which is in his blood, not under the law of Moses anymore, but under the blood of Jesus. He is the mediator so that those who are called may receive the promise. Eternal inheritance. Jesus is the High priest from heaven right now. And he has you covered.
[00:29:21] Finally. Six Our hope. Jesus is our hope. The Second coming. Another H hope for you now because post ascension, when Jesus is in heaven. This is launching point. Our hope is him from heaven, launching, coming back here. The apostle Paul calls that event the Second Coming. He refers to it in Titus chapter 2, verse 13. Our blessed hope. That's what the apostle Paul calls this event when he comes back in his glory to reign as king.
[00:29:57] John 14:3 says this. Jesus said, this is Jesus talking. Jesus says, and if I go, meaning if I go to heaven, when I leave the earth, he's saying, and prepare a place for you. We know he's going to prepare a place for us. We already talked about that. He says, I will come again and I will take you to myself so that where I am, you may also be.
[00:30:20] You see that sign over there?
[00:30:22] I love that sign.
[00:30:24] That sign says hope over there.
[00:30:28] You might come in, you might see that, and you might feel like, yes, this is my hope. You know, I have hope for the day. Those are good things. I hope for you that it would mean the Second coming. Because we have faith in Jesus Christ and that faith is based on history. That faith is based on something that's already happened. But hope, because of his faithfulness, because of his keeping his promises, we know we have hope in something of the future. The blessed hope that he will return. The second Coming. The Ascension is necessary for the second coming to happen.
[00:31:01] Of course, you know so many reasons that the Ascension matters. You remember, with the Ascension, our witness continues Jesus mission and the Holy Spirit guides us. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to proclaim the Gospel.
[00:31:17] Well, I only have two. So what's. And if you're new to village, church or listening at home. So what's are kind of how we conclude. We pray that God's Spirit has been kind of working in you and giving you what you need today. But let me end with these two things. So what can we do? First would be to be part of the program, not my program, not some program we made up. Be part of the program to proclaim the good news. Because as a Christian on earth, we are here to worship God and to bring others into the family. To worship God, to know the Savior. This fulfills the Great Commission. This is our point for existence. Yes, we have important things to do. You do, right. Don't you have important things to do? I have important things to do. There's a lot of important things to do. Some of us are going through great things. Some of us have great things going on. Work, whatever it is, other things, family, relationships. Some of us are going through mourning right now and have experienced grief recently. All these things. But let's take all of those things and let's filter them through this mission that God can grow us in this mission, even through our experience that sustain us, even use those hard things for the mission.
[00:32:34] So ask God, through prayer, for divine appointments, pray, ask God to give you the ability to love people well, to serve people around you, and even for conversations, conversations about faith and hope and spirituality and especially Jesus.
[00:32:59] Second well, first, let me just say one other thing. When we talk about this program, proclaim the good news, this program. Remember, we have the Holy Spirit because of the Ascension. We have the Holy Spirit who gives us the power, and we have Jesus as the high priest in heaven. But let me give you another so what? And then we'll be done. The last so what is if you haven't today, take time. I just pray that you will repent and you will come to Christ and be ready for his return. You know, the time that we have to repent on this earth is between the time of this moment and to the time that either we die or the time he comes back. After that, there's no other options.
[00:33:48] So repent. We've talked about what repent is. It's simply humbling yourself and coming to Jesus, asking him to forgive your sins, believing what he has said about himself because he is God. And frankly, we are not. I'm so glad I'm not God, aren't you? So I'd make a bad God. You know, Jesus, he left and launched from the Mount of Olives.
[00:34:11] His next launch point is from heaven, back to back, the Mount of Olives. He is coming back, so trust him today. Trust him for your salvation.
[00:34:22] You know, in Acts, chapter one, I want to put this on the screen. I want to end with this. Acts chapter 1, verses 10 and 11. Now Jesus has already gone up. A cloud has taken Jesus away from the sight, into heaven, from the sight of the apostles. And then in Acts, chapter 1, verse 10, it says this Luke records this.
[00:34:44] And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, meaning Jesus going up, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, likely angels, and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Let's pray.
[00:35:12] Lord, we love you and we thank you for the opportunity to hear about this amazing event, the Ascension, which is all part of your plan. It is beautiful, God, because you have sent the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to live in us, to move, to give us power and conviction and to love people well through your power.
[00:35:33] Thank you. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who ties us to you. Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, that you are our high priest in heaven. You sympathize with us. The scriptures say you love us and you are intercessor and our mediator. And so we thank you. God. Teach us to not think of you as just up there and uninvolved. You are present, you are with us, you are the one who leads us. And you are our good and holy God. And for that we say thank you and we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you.
