St Theodore's Wattle Park

	Sermon of the Week	Look up the passage
	11/7/04
	Ascended and Seated - by Danny Saunders	Rom 8:31-39 John 16:4-15

	Since we announced that Ali is pregnant a number of our friends have lent us various baby & pregnancy books. We've got baby name books, the girlfriend's guide to pregnancy, pregnancy journals & magazines & even a book written by a male especially for new Dads. These books are meant to answer all our questions & tell us what to expect & prepare us for the labour & birth.
	But when it comes to labour, I'm starting to think that nothing can prepare us for what's in store. All the books talk about the pain of labour in matter of fact & extreme terms. Labour, as many of you know, is painful. It's gonna hurt. & of course the only motivation to go through such a thing is that when it's all over you meet your new baby boy or girl, & your pain turns to joy.
	This is one of the magazines you can get on pregnancy, it's called "Practical Pregnancy". Let me read one of "inspiring birth stories" that are featured.
	- I could tell it was going to be a good story after reading that line.
	- all the pain of labour is totally forgotten when you hold that little life in your arms – all the worry, pain, and feeling alone simply vanished when I saw my baby girl.
	This is a real life story of the pain of labour & yet the great joy of bringing a child into the world. And surprising as it may seem, this story provides an insight into the thoughts & feelings of the disciples as they mourn the loss of Jesus.
	Jesus uses this very illustration. He tells the disciples that: 16:21 When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.
	So it is with the disciples, Jesus says they have pain now, but he will see them again, and then their hearts will rejoice, and no one will take their joy from them.
	Let's imagine for a moment what it must have been like for the disciples, Jesus their great leader had asked them to drop everything & follow him. From that day they had lived with him, traveled with him, prayed with him. They had been taught by him & they witnessed all his miracles & teaching & they enjoyed an intimate & close relationship with him. They lived like this for around 3 years. It's no wonder then that the thought of losing Jesus meant anguish & sorrow for the disciples.
	But although the disciples didn't understand his death and they mourn the loss of Christ they then rejoice at his resurrection & this joy becomes overwhelming when the disciples receive the Holy Spirit.
	Jesus knows that it's better for him to leave because it means he could pour out the Holy Sprit throughout the world. As strange as it may seem, Jesus leaving the earth was more beneficial to the disciples & to us than if Jesus had stayed. This is so dramatic & significant that Jesus compares the event to child birth. There will be pain & sorrow, but this sorrow will turn to joy & no-one will take that joy from them. And as we'll see this morning the reason for this joy is not only the coming Holy Spirit but the fact that Jesus our Lord & Saviour is our firm foundation. Jesus is our anchor & this anchor is well and truly secured in heaven. [repeat/pause]
	A few weeks ago I asked the question: If Jesus is given all this authority and power as God's Son & as the promised Davidic King, why does he suffer and dies on a cross? – And over the last few weeks we've seen that Jesus first had to suffer and die so that he could carry our sin as God's perfect sacrifice for sin. Jesus had to die as a ransom & substitute for us. This is the good news, in dying in our place Jesus pays the price for our sin, he takes the judgment for our sin that we deserve & this allows us to go free.
	And so last week we saw that in the resurrection death is defeated and has no power over Jesus. So when a Christian is united with Christ they are freed from slavery to sin and they are freed from God's judgement. In Jesus we have new life, new life here and now and a future eternal life in heaven to come.
	But this is not some pie in the sky when you die. Eternal life begins now, it is living a new life with God here and now. And we can be sure of this because our life is united with Christ. The pain & suffering of this life is turned to joy. Christ is our anchor and this anchor has been well and truly secured in heaven. These ideas are expressed in today's statement from the Apostles' Creed: I believe … He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
	1. Now of course the ascension into heaven is a miraculous event and so it must be received by faith. But this is not a blind leap in the dark, there's no need to be surprised by this amazing event. If we have a good grasp of the whole story of the Bible, then we will know that this event is predicted and shows again that Jesus is God's Son.
	We have the eyewitness accounts of the disciples themselves. The actual ascension is recorded in Luke's gospel & in Acts, but the theological understanding & summary of the event is given to us later in Peter's address to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost. Peter says
	Acts 2:29-36 - 29 "Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, 'He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.' 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool." ' 36 Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."
	Peter is referring here to Psalm 110, where David says: "The Lord says to my lord, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool."
	In our Bibles the Hebrew words Yahweh and Adonai are sometimes both translated Lord. But keep in mind the distinction that Yahweh is the "name" of God; while Adonai is a "title" of God. We see this distinction in Psalm 110 - the word "LORD" in small capital letters is a translation of Yahweh, the name of God. But then the normal font shows that the title Adonai is being translated.
	So because the title "Lord" is now given to Jesus, Psalm 110 talks about God the Father speaking to Jesus and telling him to be seated at his right hand. Psalm 110 is fulfilled in the ascension of Jesus.
	So the ascension of Jesus doesn't happen by chance as a good way to end the story. If Jesus is the Christ, God's Son our Lord then this is the only way the story could end because this event fulfils Psalm 110 which is clearly a Psalm about the Messiah.
	Peter confirms in his speech that Psalm 110 is about Jesus. It was Jesus, not David, that ascended to heaven. Peter says that he's confident that David died and was buried and his tomb is still with them, but Jesus was raised up and exalted to the right hand of God and in doing this God confirms that Jesus is Lord and Christ. Jesus is God the Son and Jesus is our Saviour King.
	So we can be confident in the actual historical event of the ascension because we have eye witness accounts and the event, while miraculous, is no surprise because it fulfils prophecy, it was part of the program, it was meant to happen. [p]
	2. Peter's speech in Acts gives us a great perspective on the ascension. In verse 33 he explains the day of Pentecost. He says that the pouring out of the Holy Spirit is a direct result of the ascension and exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God. Jesus received from the Father the Holy Spirit and he has poured the Spirit out on the Church - and this explains the things that the crowd sees and hears – the disciples are filled with the Spirit and speak in different languages.
	It's here that we see the disciples sorrow & anguish turning to joy - just as Jesus tried to explain in John 16. It was good that Jesus left. The disciples didn't understand his death and they mourn the loss of Christ but they then rejoice at his resurrection & this joy is made complete when the Holy Spirit is poured into their hearts.
	So this is the next great benefit of the ascension. The Holy Spirit is sent on believers. Jesus goes away physically but in doing so he sends the Holy Spirit so that Jesus is with his disciples for all time and so they receive strength and power to fulfill the mission of spreading the good news about Jesus throughout the world.. [Acts 1:8]
	The ongoing work of the Holy Spirit is made clear in John 16. He will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment. The Holy Spirit will remind the disciples of what Jesus has said to them [Jn 14:26], will guide them into the truth and will glorify Jesus. The Holy Spirit doesn't glorify himself or simply provide a spiritual experience. In John 16 the work of the Holy Spirit is to point to the truth about Jesus and to glorify Jesus.
	So if you believe that Jesus Christ is your substitute, that he died for your sins & you've asked Jesus to come into your life then he will come into your life by the Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian then you have received the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit should be at work in your life. The Holy Spirit points to the truth about Jesus, convicts you of sin and helps you to be transformed & renewed according to God's will.
	A really practical way of applying this is to be praying that the Holy Spirit will convict you of sin & transform you in these areas & that it would grow its fruit in your life. Galatians 5 lists the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
	Galatians 5 goes on to say that if we live by the Spirit we will be guided by the Spirit. When we're seeking to be guided by the Spirit there's no room for immorality, idolatry, jealousy, quarrels and factions. We won't become conceited, competing against one another and envying one another. This is how the world lives & behaves. Instead we should all be moving in the same direction as people that by the Holy Spirit love each other and are seeking to glorify Jesus in our lives and in our church, in our communities and in the world. [pause]
	Jesus has physically left the earth - but the grace, and love and power of Jesus is present in our lives through the Holy Spirit. This gives us God's power to change & be the people God wants us to be & the power to fulfil the mission of Jesus to be his witnesses & grow his church here on earth. By sending the Holy Spirit Jesus is with us for all time & he promises never to leave us. [pause]
	3. The next benefit of the ascension is that Jesus has now taken up his rightful place of power, authority and dominion. When Jesus sat down at the right hand of God this was like his heavenly coronation. If he was crowned King on earth he would only be an earthly ruler, but by being crowned in heaven Jesus shows that he is a heavenly King.
	Jesus suffered and died for us so that we could be redeemed and become God's children, but by completing his saving mission Jesus is finally glorified by His Father to the place of power, majesty & dominion that is rightfully his.
	The benefit for us is that Jesus sits at the right hand of God where he intercedes for us. We might say Jesus goes in to bat for us, he's on our side, he's our representative, our Advocate not just occasionally before God, but actually sitting next to God & sticking up for us in our times of need & to forgive us when we sin.
	I heard on the news recently one of David Hick's lawyers saying that the Australian Government should be trying to exert diplomatic pressure on the American Government simply so that the lawyer's have greater access to David Hicks, the Australian in Guantanamo Bay Prison suspected of terrorism. I also remember his Father talking on the radio about wanting John Howard to bring his case up directly with the US Administration. David Hick's faces huge difficulties in even getting represented let alone having a fair trial & a fair hearing. Sure he has some lawyers working for him but they're up against the whole American administration wanting to blame & punish suspected terrorists, whether the allegations are true or false. So there's no one in the ear of the President pleading his case, there's no one really going in to bat for him & so it's hard to know whether he'll ever get a fair trial.
	As Christians suffering in the world we don't have any problem with a lack of representation or an unfair trial. We have Jesus himself ion our side, pleading our case for us & we have direct access to the very throne of God.
	When Jesus died on the cross the curtain in the Jewish temple was torn in half. This symbolised that direct access to God was now open. Christians are made right with God, we are washed clean of sin so that, at any time, we can approach God's throne with confidence.
	If we go back to Psalm 110, verse 4 says: The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."
	What is basically being said here is that Jesus fulfills the dual roles of being both a King and Priest, in the same way that Melchizedek was both a King and Priest in the time of Abraham. [Gen 14:17-24; Heb 7]
	Jesus is appointed by a direct promise of God. This promise has an everlasting nature. Jesus is not subject to death & so his priesthood is permanent, he is a priest forever. Jesus takes over the role of the OT priests. These priests had to offer sacrifices for their own sins as well as for the people day after day, year after year, but Jesus has no need for this, he is holy & sinless & so is the perfect sacrifice, Jesus offered himself for sin "once for all"
	So Jesus can intercede for us because he is our King and our great High Priest. The great implication of this is that we don't have to fear God & we have incredible access to God. When we pray in the name of Jesus we can come joyously and confidently into God's presence and because Jesus sits at the right hand of God he mediates for us & so we can be confident that God hears our prayers. Jesus tells us to ask in him name so that when God answers our prayers our joy is made complete.
	Jesus sits at the right hand of God. Our anchor is secured in heaven. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Paul summarises these great promises when he says:
	Romans 8:31-39- If God is for us, who is against us? …. Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Paul goes on to say that nothing, neither death nor life, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
	Jesus sits in power, authority & dominion as our Advocate at God's right hand. This gives us confidence to pray to God at all times & about all things & to live in joyous fellowship with God.
	4. The last great benefit of the ascension is that because we are united with Christ we have the promise of eternal life, not only when we die, but living with God here and now. Jesus is our anchor and that anchor is secure in heaven.
	Our security, our priorities & our true perspective on life should all focus on the fact that we're passing through this world, we're in the world but we're not of the world. The real home of a Christian is in heaven.
	John Bunyan uses the illustration of a Christian being like a boat not being anchored to any port or harbour but being set to drift trusting only in God. Our anchor is in heaven. This means that our focus, security, priorities & perspectives should all be influenced by the fact that our true destination and home, even here & now, is in heaven. Paul makes this point in Colossians 3:
	Colossians 3:1-3 - So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
	A Christian is someone that has been united with Christ [Rom. 6] and so because Jesus has ascended into heaven & sits at the right hand of God we must also seek the things that are above, we must set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth.
	Our lives must not be based around the aim of getting comfortable on this earth. If you are comfortable here & don't yearn for God's kingdom then you need to reassess where your treasure lies. You need to pick up your anchor & secure it again in heaven, trusting only in God & not on the fleeting security of this life.
	This is a great & comforting message because it transforms the way you look at life and the way you live. Knowing that you're destined for heaven and that you live now with Christ who is seated at the right hand of God - gives you a different perspective on life and on work and on the things we see going on in the world.
	This isn't some optimistic idea or vague philosophy - this is a real-time perspective. Jesus sits in heaven now and we live in a relationship with Him, we have access to the throne of God and the Holy Spirit lives in us. If we trust in this & rely on this it will transform all our fears and anxieties and worries and it will give us the freedom to live as Christ wants us to live – as people that love God and love our neighbours & who are living to fulfil the mission of Jesus, people who are living for the benefit of the kingdom of God, not for our own or some other benefit. All Christians are called to set their minds on God's kingdom & help to grow that kingdom in whatever way they can. [pause]
	Writer Frederick Langbridge once wrote:
	Two men look out through the same bars: One sees mud, and one the stars.
	Two people can be in the same situation, but see that situation very differently. One prisoner looks out through the bars, looks down and sees the mud; the other lifts his eyes to heaven, and sees the stars.
	Some people today will see nothing but the rut of everyday life while others will raise their eyes to heaven, knowing that their ultimate destiny lies with God. Their situation is much the same – but their perspective is totally different.
	We live in a world that usually sees the mud. If this life is all there is, then it's no wonder that the slogans and attitudes of the world are "I'm here for a good time, not a long time." "Whatever makes you happy." And "eat, drink & be merry, for tomorrow we die."
	If there's nothing more to life then let's party & enjoy it while we can. Let's not think about death or the restlessness of our souls, let's deny death & fill the void with whatever we can. People who are trapped by this world pursue the pleasures of this world thinking they're free and conquering the world when really these things capture and conquer them.
	But Christians see the world from a different perspective. This world is not the end, we're passing through the world on our way to a very different destination.
	It's easy for us to get trapped in the worries of life – work, family, finances, other responsibilities – all these can become burdens that make us tired and weary. All these things can bring us down into the mud of everyday life or a greater risk for us in Surrey Hills, we think we can build & live comfortably in the mud & so we can forget for a while that the mud exists.
	But this is where Paul's advice in Colossians is vital. This is where thinking about Jesus in heaven gets our perspective right. Look up, set your minds on things above. Realign with the only true & lasting security. Christ has ascended & sits at the right hand of God.
	As believers we're united with Christ. Our destiny does not lie on this earth, but with the ascended Christ who has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us. Our citizenship is in heaven. This puts our lives in perspective and allows us to be happy & satisfied regardless of our circumstances.
	Whatever is happening to us we're not caught floundering in the mud or attempting to build our lives on sinking foundations. The cross of Christ has defeated our sin & by the power of the Holy Spirit God has placed us on solid ground. We look up, we set our eyes on heaven where we see Jesus crowned as King, sitting at God's right hand and interceding for us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Christ is our anchor and this anchor is secure in heaven.

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