Ron Dunn Podcast - The Ascension of Jesus

Episode Date: February 15, 2017

Ron Dunn preaches a message on Luke 24:36-53 and Acts 1:9-10 about Jesus' last moments with the disciples before he ascended into Heaven.

You are listening to the Ron Dunn Podcast. Ron Dunn is a well-known author and was one of the most in-demand preachers during the latter part of the 20th century. He led Bible studies all over the United States, Europe, and South Africa. For more information and resources from Ron Dunn, please visit rondunn.com. All right, I want you to open your Bibles tonight to the book of Acts chapter 24. She just won't let me have any fun. The book of Acts chapter 24.

What's with the book of Acts chapter 24 what's with that book of Acts chapter 24 the book of Luke yeah the same author name one both excuse me the book of Luke chapter 24 and the book of Acts chapter 1 so I was somewhere in the ballpark there Luke chapter 24 want to begin reading with verse 36 Read through the end of the chapter Luke chapter 24 verses 36 through 53 While they were talking about this These two men on the road to Emmaus, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you.

They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, Why are you frightened and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet. See that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering he said to them have you anything here to eat they gave him a piece of broil fish and he took it and ate it in their presence then he said to them these are my words that i spoke to you while i was still with you

that everything written about me in the law of m, the prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, Thus it is written that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised. So stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem

with great joy, and they to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were continually in the temple blessing God. And then Luke records the ascension again in chapter 1 of Luke and verses 9 and following. What did I say? Did I say Luke again? Okay, folks, when I say chapter 1, I mean Acts. When I say chapter 4, I mean Luke. What?

What? What? What did I? I'm going to sit down over here and I just thought I was ready. Now Lord I'm doing this for you. You might give me a little help tonight. When I say chapter 24, I mean Luke.

What do I mean when I say chapter 1? Good. I appreciate you telling me that. Acts chapter 1, verse 9. When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going, and they were gazing toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them they said men of Galilee

why do you stand looking up toward heaven this same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven those are the only two accounts of the ascension in the Gospels and in the book of Acts. John mentions that he is ascending, but John does not describe it. Matthew and Mark end with a great commission. But Luke ends one book and begins another

book with a story of the ascension. The last thing Jesus ever did on earth was disappear. He was always doing the unexpected. He was always doing something that the disciples had no idea that he was about to do. As a matter of fact, his ascension was so far from their minds, in Acts 1 he says, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And suddenly he was taken up in clouds into heaven, and they gazed there watching him go. The last thing he did on earth was disappear. and they gazed there watching him go.

The last thing he did on earth was disappear. It must have been, I would have thought, it was a little bit confusing to the disciples because in Matthew he had just said, recorded, Lo, I am with you always to the ends of the earth. And he had said emphatically over and over again, I will be with you always. I will not leave you as helpless orphans. I will be with you forever.

And then suddenly he disappears. He disappears. He had prophesied that this was going to happen. He said, it is expedient for you that I go away oh that would be hard to believe Jesus is saying you'll be better off without me and I can think of people who are no longer with us that you know if they were still here

I think I'd be better off if they were still here. I think of Manly Beasley, who is such a dear friend and knew so much about walking with God and helped me so much. And so many times in these nine years that he's been gone, I've wanted to pick up the phone and call him and ask his advice about something. And I would say, Lord, it's more expedient for me that he remain here. And I would have thought the disciples

would have thought the same thing. Lord, it's more expedient. Know that you stay with us. We'll be better disciples with you here alongside us. We'll be much better Christians with you here. How can you say it is expedient for you that I go away? And so you almost find yourself surprised when you read their reaction to that ascension. Verse 52 of the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

Now, here is this Lord that they didn't want to leave and didn't want to let go of or lose sight of, and yet as he is carried into heaven on clouds, what does the Bible say? The Bible says that they worshiped him and they returned with great joy. Not with a downtrodden heart, not with a discouraged and depressed mind, they returned with joy. Why? Because it was a blessing. He was lifting his hands and blessing them, and that was the sign of the blessing.

And while he was blessing them, he was carried up into heaven. In other words, the ascension was a part of the blessing, and the greatest blessing that the church has ever received has been the fact that Jesus left us and went away from us. And if we understood the blessing of the ascension, we would, like the disciples, go away filled with joy. And so when we come to talk about the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to understand it is a blessing. It is the great

blessing that God gave to the church, and it's something that ought to fill us with all so that we worship, and ought to fill us with joy so that we are continually blessing God everywhere we go. So what is the blessing of the ascension? In which way, in what ways did the Lord bless us? How is it to be a source of joy? Well, there are three things that the ascension signaled. Three blessings. Number one, the ascension signaled a work completed. A work completed. You remember over in Hebrews chapter 1, he says that after he had done these things by himself, purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.

He sat down. What is that? That's a symbol of a work finished, of work done. And when Jesus ascended up into heaven, that was a signal that a work had been completed. What work was that? Well, it was the work of redemption, the work of salvation for mankind. He had already cried on the cross, it is finished. But this is an exclamation point when he rises into heaven. It signals my work here on earth is done.

I have done everything that is necessary for the salvation of man. Nothing needs to be added. I have made the full and final and complete sacrifice. And so now it's done and I'm going. You know, he stayed just long enough to do a couple of things. He hung around long enough, first of all, to prove that he was not a ghost or a phantom. And all those two men on the road to Emmaus,

they thought they were seeing a ghost. They couldn't understand that this was Jesus because they had seen him crucified. And they had known that he had been buried and had been in a tomb. And so when they saw him and he revealed himself to them on the road to Damascus, they were startled and they thought, this is a ghost. This is a ghost. This is a ghost. And Jesus said, no, no, I'm not a ghost because look, a ghost doesn't have flesh and blood as I have. And to prove it further, because I can still see disbelief on your face, to prove it further, have you got anything here to eat? And they had some old broiled fish, not exactly what I would have chosen, but they had

some broil fish and they gave it to Jesus and he ate it in their presence. Why? Because a ghost doesn't eat. Ghost doesn't have flesh and blood. Jesus stayed around long enough to make certain his disciples knew that he was real, that this was no phantom, this was no figment of man's imagination, as others later on would say, that this was not some psychological phenomenon. They wanted to see him, and so they thought they saw him. They didn't really see him because he's dead,

but they thought they saw him. And for a thousand years after that, there were the, and still today, there are those who deny the physical resurrection of Jesus. They say, oh, the disciples just imagined that they saw him. He's not real, except in their minds. There is no reality to Jesus today. He is not real. He is not alive. And Jesus said, I'm going to hang around long enough to prove to you that I'm not a ghost,

that I'm not a phantom, that I'm real, I'm alive. And it's good for us to remember that today, isn't it? Jesus Christ, not just a figment of our imagination, He's not just a dim memory of some Jewish zealot that lived 2,000 years ago, but He was alive, He is ago, but he was alive. He is real, and he has substance. He hung around long enough to let them know he was real. He hung around long enough also to open their understanding of the Scripture.

In verse 31, I mean, excuse me, in verse 45 of Luke 24, then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. It says the same thing, verse 31, then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Then he opened their minds to understand the scripture. Now this is one of the things that the risen Lord does. I want to tell you something, folks. You cannot understand this scripture without the revelation of Jesus Christ to your hearts, which is done by the Holy Spirit. You just cannot do it.

Now, you can read it, and you can even become a scholar in theology and textual criticism and all of that and still not know what it means. You know, there are some commentators that you'll read and the pastor will read and we know of, maybe some of you know of them too, that just, I mean, they just choke at the miracles and they choke when it comes to the virgin birth. Now, you take William Barclay, who's a very popular fellow,

wrote the Daily Study Bible. He'd do all right until he got to a miracle. Boy, he'd just kind of choke on that. And he'd do all right until it came to the second coming, and he just couldn't see that. And he was pretty wishy-washy on the virgin birth. Rudolph Bultman that we studied in seminary, he demythophilology, I never can say that word.

Anyway, you know what he did to the New Testament. Took out all of the stuff that was just a myth and came up with nothing. Adolph Harnack was one of the great modernists and liberals of his day. You know, the reason that our... You see, it all started over there in Europe. It all started in Germany and France. Liberalism reached this shore.

It did not originate here. It came here from Germany, France, and other parts of Europe. You know why? Because in Europe, especially in Germany and France men took up theology not as a calling from God but as a vocation it's like some men said I'm gonna read after medicine they said I'm gonna read after theology others said I'm gonna study law others said I'm gonna study theology and half of them weren't saved to begin with it wasn't a matter of being. It wasn't a matter of being saved. It wasn't a matter of believing in Christ or believing in

the Bible. They had a profession to take up. And one of the best professions in the ancient days and even in the latter days has been that of a theologian. And many of these men became a theologian. They are Greek and Hebrew specialists and scholars, and they can tell you all about the history of the Bible and the text and everything else, but they've never been saved. And so when they get to a miracle, the virgin birth or the atonement

or the resurrection of Christ, they don't know how to handle it. And so they demytholage. I've tried that again. I'm going to quit that. Or I'm going to learn to say it in my own time. He opened up their minds to the Scripture. And I want to tell you something.

If I had to choose between one of these great German theologians who might not even be saved and between sweet little old lady sitting over here who's known the Lord all of her life if I had to choose between which one of those to tell me what this scripture means I'd choose this little old lady over here the highest light doesn't come from chairs of theology. The highest light comes from the lowest Christian who knows Jesus. And there's never any

understanding of the Word of God unless Jesus opens your mind. Unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to you. Well, he stayed around long enough in the third place to give him the great commission. Notice he says in verse 47, And that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

Now we're not going to say anything about that because that's self-evident, but we could say a lot about that. That what God has commanded us to preach and proclaim and be witnesses of is what? Repentance and forgiveness of sins. You don't hear a whole lot about repentance today, but that's what He's commissioned us to preach, repentance and forgiveness of sins. So first of all, the ascension signals a work completed. Secondly, it signals a work continued, a work continued. Now, the position of these two

references to the ascension are critical. One comes at the end of Luke's book, and the other comes at the beginning of Luke's other book. One signals an end, the other signals a beginning. For instance, if you look in chapter 1, we talk about Acts, in verse 1, he says, In the first book, Theopolis, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach from the beginning until the day when he was taken up from heaven. I told you about all that Jesus what? Began to do. Began to do.

He didn't stop working when he ascended to heaven. That was just the end of one phase. And now it's not only a work completed but it is a work continuing jesus continuing to work and uh well what is that work first of all when jesus ascended the first thing he did was to send the holy spirit he had promised them he said is expedient for you that I go away. Why? Because if I go not away, the Holy Spirit will not come.

And he sent the Holy Spirit. That was the first thing he did when he got to heaven. He sent the Holy Spirit. Now, I want you to notice in Acts chapter 2, let's read Peter's sermon for just a moment. Verse 32, this Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses, 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. And then he says in verse 36, Therefore let the entire house of

Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now, listen to what Peter is saying. Do you know why they had all the phenomena on the day of Pentecost? Why the speaking in tongues? Why the rushing of a mighty wind? And why the earthquake sounded? Why? You don't have that today. Pentecost in that sense will never be repeated. Why did they have all of that today?

That's the only way people would know the Holy Spirit had descended, see? That's the only way. They didn't have any Bible to tell them that. And so the only way they could know something phenomenal had happened was if these men began speaking in other tongues. And they said, hey, look at this. Here we are from all over the earth, and we're hearing every man speak in our own tongue.

What meaneth this? And Peter said, this is that which was spoken of by Joel, talking about fulfilling the Holy Spirit. And he says, what you see today is the fulfillment of the promise. Jesus promised that when he ascended on high, he would send the Holy Spirit. Now, if the Holy Spirit had never descended, you and I would have no reason to believe

that Jesus Christ was Lord and exalted. What if he just disappeared into heaven? All right, now he said that the sign of his exaltation at the right hand of the Father would be he would send the Holy Spirit upon us. Here we are waiting, waiting for 2,000 years. The Holy Spirit hasn't come yet. I'm about to think that Jesus may not be exalted and may not be Lord.

Are you following me? Do you know what I'm saying? It was the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those disciples that proved to the house of Israel that Jesus was both Lord and Christ. And that's why all the attending phenomena were necessary. Now, folks, I want to tell you something.

The only thing that convinces the world that Jesus is alive and Lord is when they see the Holy Spirit manifested in our lives. Listen, if our lives have not been changed and if our lives display nothing of the character of Jesus Christ through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, why should people believe us that Jesus is Lord and that Jesus is a Savior? If I'm living the same old defeated life, the same old worldly life, the same old carnal life that you're living,

why should you believe me when I say Jesus can make a difference? Why, these men could have stood up there all day and preached the greatest sermons that's ever been preached, but if the Holy Spirit had not come down in an obvious manifestation, they would never have believed that Jesus was who they said He was. See, that's why He said, when the Holy Spirit has come, he shall testify of me. I tell you, years ago, when I first started out preaching, well, I was brought up in hellfire brimstone preaching, rip-roaring, windmill-type preaching. And I remember when I was in seminary preaching a revival

and I was trying to whip it up, whoop it up, you know, and, oh, you have to preach against something, even if it's buttermilk, you know, you preach against something. Come down on sin, boy. I mean, you really get down there and i had it just flat boy i practiced this you know how you could stomp your foot slap your hand

that looked pretty good that's the way that's the way the real preacher did it and one day i had a sermon right this didn't call for any of that. This was in Mariana, Florida. And I remember the Lord saying, why don't you just trust the Word and the Spirit to do its job? Why do you think that it's your ranting and raving that brings illumination why do you think it's your shouting why don't you just sit back and trust the Holy Spirit and the word one of the most liberating days of my life and I hadn't done much shouting since that day. I mean, you know, you know what I'm talking about,

that kind of preaching. I've shouted a few times. Folks, it is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church that draws sinners to this place. And you can have all the hot dog suppers and pony rides you want to, but until this community sees the Holy Spirit manifesting itself,

displaying itself through this membership, they will not come. But when they see the Holy Spirit manifesting himself, they have no choice. Jesus, there is something to this Jesus. And so he sent the Holy Spirit. But he not only sent the Holy Spirit, he also gave gifts to the church. When he ascended, he gave gifts to the church to energize the church, to equip the church. The church is his body, and now it is up to the church to carry on, carry out the commission in the gospel,

and so he has made provision. For instance, let me just read in Ephesians chapter 4 a little of this, in verse 7 of Ephesians chapter 4. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it is said when he ascended on high, he made captivity itself captive. He gave gifts to his people. Boy, I wish we had time to really go into this. When it says he ascended, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all heavens so that he might

fill all things, fill all things. Now, verse 11, the gifts he gave were that some would be apostles and some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry so that they would build up the body of christ now god gave jesus gave two kinds of gifts there are the personal gifts the gifts to the individual that he gives to all of us every one of us who is saved has a spiritual gift every one of us who is saved has a spiritual gift that is a supernatural gift it is a supernatural ability to do something for God. Now, he's not talking about your natural talent, your natural ability. He's talking about a supernatural ability, one that comes from God that enables you to somehow fill a place in the body of Christ.

They are salvation gifts. Everyone who's saved has one. You don't pray for one. God doesn't give you a gift to reward you for your spirituality. They come at a moment of salvation. They are sovereign gifts. You don't choose it. God gives it to you the way he sees it to be fit, and they are service gifts. They're not to be used for our own edification, but they're to be used for the body of Christ to edify each other. Now listen, God has made provision within the church for everything church is going to need. He certainly has. The church does not need to look outside itself to the world

to meet its needs if everybody is operating in their gift sure they remember this church tied faithfully you wouldn't have to borrow penny build this building you wouldn't you'd have enough to build another one. There'd be no lack for preschool workers or Sunday school teachers or hospital visitors. There wouldn't be a lack for anything in this church if everybody exercised their gift.

You say, well, I don't know what my gift is. We don't have to. We don't have to. Paul never tells us how to recognize our gift. Well, how do I know what my gift is? Well, see this? This is a hand. And I don't know if this hand knows it's a hand or not.

We've really never discussed it. But it doesn't have to know it's a hand to operate as a hand, does it? All it has to do is to obey the head. And it's operating. You say, I don't know what my gift is. Doesn't matter. All you have to do is obey the head, the Lord Jesus Christ,

and do what he tells you to do and go where he leads you and you'll be exercising your spiritual gift, whatever it is. And everybody has one. At least one. Maybe some of us have more I don't want to tell you something God has not left Sherwood Baptist Church unequipped you got everything in this church you need be everything God wants you to be but

not only does he give personal gifts, he gives gifts to the churches, corporate gifts. He gives gifts to the churches, men to the churches. Some apostles, some prophets, some teachers, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. Now again, this is a supernatural gift to do something that God enables a person to do. They all have the same purpose, you understand. Even the evangelists that we often think of

as just as a harvest to reach lost people, the purpose of all of them is to build up the body to edify the saints so that they'll do the work of the ministry, unto the work of the ministry. God gives apostles, gave apostles when he ascended, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. Your pastor here has a supernatural gift for pastoring this church. And I'm not saying he has a right to be dictatorial and a tyrant. What I am saying is that there's nobody in this church

that knows as well as he does what this church ought to do. If you think that you know and are just as able to pastor this church as he is, then God would have called you to be pastor. It's a divine gift. It has to be because he's not smart enough to do it on his own.

And every church that I have known anything about throughout my ministry that has ever become a great church in the sight of God has recognized that in their pastor.

Doesn't mean he doesn't take advice or counsel, but it does mean that brother, he knows better than anybody else in this church what this church ought to be doing, because he is the pastor, and God has placed him here. Well, got an amen or two out of that. Well, let's move on. He's gone to make a home for us. Gone to make a home for us. What does it say in John 14? In my Father's house are many

mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. What's Jesus doing right now? He is preparing a home for me. That's the blessing. That ought to fill us with joy that right now our Lord, our carpenter God is building us a home. By the way, the King James says mansion. That's not so. The word is a home, a dwelling place, you know, where you can kick your shoes off and relax. I'm never very, I'm never very comfortable in a mansion. I've been in one or two as visitors, you know. They're always kind of cold to me walking on that marble floor and marble pillars.

And don't touch the vase. It's a vase in our house, but here it's a vase. Oh, you know, you have to be careful. Don't touch anything. We don't want to look like anybody lives here. Make sure you don't leave your fingerprints on the coffee table.

You know what I'm talking about? Now, listen, I wouldn't be comfortable in a place like that, especially for all eternity. I need to kind of slop up a little bit to feel at home. And he's making us a home up there. Now, I don't know if we'll sleep or not up there, but I tell you this much, fellas, if we do, we won't have to throw 18 pillows off the bed

before we can get in it. It's going to be a dwelling place. Amen. Amen. The work continued. It began His work of intercession. It began His work of intercession. Would you read with me, please, in Hebrews chapter 4? Or just listen as I read it. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed to the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast to our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, tempted in all points such as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now, he says, listen, we have a high priest. Now, he said, I want you to go boldly to him, with confidence to him, and you'll find the help that you need.

Why does he say that? Therefore, therefore, he says in verse 16, therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with confidence and boldness. What does that therefore point back to? The fact that Jesus Christ was tempted in all points such as we are yet without sin, that he is not a high priest who does not know how to sympathize with our needs.

You see, you have a broken heart. If you've made a mistake and you go to somebody that's never made a mistake, somebody that's never been where you are, they can't help you. They can't sympathize with you. You don't have confidence that they're going to give you the grace and mercy to help. But if you go to somebody who's been there, somebody who's had that same experience, who knows what it means, then you have confidence that they'll understand how you feel, you see. And that's the same way it is with Jesus. I have confidence tonight that I can go to Jesus and I can lament to him about every

need in my life and every problem in my life. And I know, I have confidence that he's going to be able to help and understand why he's been there. He was tempted in all points such as we are. The only difference is he didn't sin. That's the only difference. And the Lord intercedes for us. He intercedes for us. And the Bible says again in Hebrews, wherefore he is able to save us to the uttermost

because he lives to make intercession for us. You see, the reason I'm eternally secure in Jesus Christ is because he's eternally present in the presence of God interceding for me, interceding for me, interceding for me, interceding for me, interceding for me, praying for me. I like for people to pray for me, but it's great to know

that Jesus himself is praying for me. Praying for me. Well, the ascension signals a work completed and it signals a work continued and then finally it signals a work coming. A work coming. Let's go back to Acts chapter 1. When he said this,

as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight while he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven. Suddenly two men in white robes stood by him. watching he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going, and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by him. They said,

Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will so come in the same manner as you have seen him go into heaven. There's a work coming. Hey, the world has not seen the last of Jesus. Are they in for a surprise?

Nobody in the world believes that Jesus is coming again. Remember what we said the other night? They finished with him. They've done with him. He is dismissed now. You go out in the world talking about Jesus coming again, they laugh at you. That's good stuff, fiction, making the bestseller list now. That's stuff that these religious fanatics believe, but we intellectuals, we the elite of the intellectuals, know better.

Not coming again. Oh, yes, he is. One of these days, Gabriel's going to give a shout. Trumpet's going to sound, and the father's going to say, Son, it's time to go get our family, bring them home. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him. He's coming again. He went away, but he went away so that he might come again.

And he is coming again. The world has not seen the last of Jesus. Would you bow your heads with me now for a moment as we pray? Ron Dunn's podcast is available only for personal edification. Would you bow your heads with me now for a moment as we pray?