Church Changing the World

You may be seated. If you’re pessimistic about what the Lord is accomplishing in the world, you have no right to sing that. It’s a message of great hope of what the Lord Jesus is doing, what the Lord is accomplishing in the world, given that He has come, He has lived, died, rose again, ascended, and there’s great joy in that truth and expectation that the Mustard seed will continue to grow. It will be a tree that the kingdom of God will advance. It will be like leaven. In this imperceptible, yet real way, it will continue to advance. We don’t always see it, and sometimes it appears to be receding, or certainly faced with tremendous challenges. But nonetheless, the leaven will spread, the positive leaven of the kingdom of God, and we should therefore pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,” in the sure certainty of that happening. It’s going to happen, and we better get on board and realize the Lord is fulfilling His purposes throughout the nations.

We come this evening now to the final verses of Luke’s gospel, so please turn to Luke 24. Our Lord has given commission to His disciples, encouraging them in the message they should bring, the assurance of the fulfillment of prophecy in verse 46. “The Messiah must suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.” And then there is this going forth to preach repentance and remission of sins in His name among all nations. I didn’t dwell on that last Lord’s Day, but it’s worth dwelling on that. It’s to be preached in His name. Again, we are distinct from the Jewish church in that sense, that even the believers of the Old Testament era, there’s a shift in that they always looked for and hoped in a coming Messiah, but where the Spirit of God is at work, there’s always then an acknowledgement that that Messiah is not just a coming Messiah, but that Messiah is Jesus. And if anyone did not get on board with that, then they proved that they had no real saving faith. Whereas there were those like Simeon, right from the infancy of Christ, who could see it. He understood. God told him he would see Him. He saw Him. He recognized it. Amazingly, only the Spirit of God could have revealed that to Simeon. It’s impossible by the understanding of men that he could have understood what he understood that day. And so the Spirit of God is always at work, not just that we believe that God has promised a Messiah, but He is in promising a Messiah that’s fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God made flesh, born of the Virgin Mary. And that then is what we go forward into the world to preach, not just that there’s a Messiah, but specifically in His name. We preach Jesus Christ. We elevate Jesus Christ. We exalt Him in His finished work. And it was right that we do so. So we pray in His name, we preach in His name, we sing in His name. Without that, we’re missing a significant part of the transition that happens from Old Covenant into New. So keep that in mind.

And then we come to verse 50, and we’ll just read from there, where we finish with verse 49, Luke 24, verse 50. He led them out as far as to Bethany, and lifted up His hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen and amen indeed. This, men and women, is the word of the living God that you are to receive and you are to believe.” And the people of God said, Amen.

Let’s pray. Lord bless us in Thy Word. Help us now. I acknowledge, surely all who know Thee tonight acknowledge that we cannot receive the blessing we need from these verses unless Thy Spirit is at work. So we pray, as we often do, on that occasion when they all gathered in Cornelius’ household, the Spirit fell on all them that heard the Word. We ask for that. Do that, Lord. May the Spirit fall upon all here assembled in this place. Help us, shut us in with Thyself and advance Thy cause in us and around us, we pray. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Messages I have brought on any one book of the Bible is that series I completed in Calgary when I preached through the Gospel of John, and it totaled, I think, 117 sermons. We are coming tonight to Sermon 164, and as I thought about that, I thought, I hope that this is the longest series I may ever do. When God willing, we may deal with some Old Testament books that are longer than Luke’s gospel. But as I preached through Leviticus, I took it one chapter at a time, almost entirely through that book. For the most part, deal with one chapter at a time. And if I ever get to Isaiah or Jeremiah or some of those long books, I’ll probably follow something similar, deal with a chapter at a time. And so it won’t end up as long as 164 sermons. But we have learned a lot. There have been some repetitive themes that have come up in this book. We see it as a gospel to the Gentiles, haven’t we? We’ve seen this over and over again, right? Back to the beginning when Simeon declared that Jesus is a light to lighten the Gentiles. We see it even in the genealogy. Contrasted with Matthew’s genealogy, Luke’s goes all the way back to Adam, showing the significance of Christ for all humanity, not just for the Jew. It has shown an emphasis on prayer with unique insights into our Lord Jesus praying at critical moments in His ministry, before His baptism, before choosing the Twelve, and at His transfiguration and other occasions besides. We’ve also seen an emphasis on the Holy Spirit, as Luke is no doubt planning ahead, and I imagine thinking about his sequel in the book of Acts, which will play a significant role in helping us understand the work of the Holy Spirit through the apostles. He is almost peppering us in the gospel with this emphasis on the Holy Spirit by showing little details that the other gospels do not. The Spirit of God being upon John the Baptist, Mary also being led and moved upon by the Spirit, Simeon also as well as our Lord Jesus at various junctures as His baptism and other times besides as well.

We’ve noted also the honor that is given to women, which again is somewhat distinct in terms of the revelation God has given, showcasing their faith, Mary’s faith, her significance, Anna, again the woman who supported our Lord’s ministry in Luke 8, as well as the woman who played a significant role in heralding the resurrection. These things again are little details that are different from the other gospels that we have. We’ve also been given an extensive exploration of the incarnation as Luke feels led to go into all the details that he can find that are significant for Theophilus to know, looking into that whole, exploring that whole event of God becoming flesh. He’s given to us unique parables not found in any other Gospels, ones that you know well, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Pharisee and the Publican, again, and others as well. Ones that we remember, ones that stand out when we think of the parables of our Lord Jesus. These ones take a significant role in our minds. We think about them often and look as the one that shares them with us under inspiration.

But his book closes somewhat abruptly, crying out for a sequel, I would suggest. I mean, you can’t end with a command, verse 47, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and then end with them returning to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Immediately in your mind, and? Surely they didn’t stop in the temple, they had to go on into the nations. And Luke says, yes, we’ll get to that. Come back for the sequel, round two, which of course explores all of that, how the gospel goes from Jerusalem into all Judea and Samaria and onto the uttermost parts of the earth.

So as we reflect on this final scene, I want us to see it under what I’ve titled, How the Church Changes the World. How the Church Changes the World. And I would suggest that really what we looked at last week, along with this week, is significant that we keep both in mind as we see what the Lord is leaving before His church. The truths that we are to carry out, to continue on fulfilling, in order that we do His will until He comes again. So as we look at these verses, verses 50 through 53, how the church changes the world, I have three words that will encapsulate the idea, though I have some detail, of course, to add in addition to this. But we have first benediction, then we have ascension, then we have adoration. Benediction, ascension, adoration.

If you were to keep those words in mind in terms of the church and her hope, in terms of her influence into the world, it would tell you a lot. That our whole hope of fulfilling what the Lord desires must be under or in the understanding of heaven’s benediction, the benediction of our Lord Jesus and functioning under that and not without it. It is also in recognition of His ascension that He ascends into heaven and occupies the throne, and from there He extends His power and influence into the nations through His people, but it’s from that place having ascended to heaven. An adoration. The greatest need of the world is to see the adoration that men should have toward our Lord Jesus Christ and the triune God. This is to be reflected, as I indicated even in prayer, that the biggest problem in this world is the worship problem. The gospel addresses the worship problem that exists in the hearts of men. If men are to love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, that reflects worship, doesn’t it? And it’s the gospel then that corrects that problem in the heart and addresses the need we all have.

So let’s think about this. First of all, benediction. As we think of the church, how the church changes the world, benediction. They are a people, or we are to be a people, we might say, enjoying divine favor. A people enjoying divine favor. Verse 50, and He led them out as far as to Bethany. He’s taking them out of the city or into an area near, an area where they had gone many times near the Garden of Gethsemane, moving out in that direction, heading out in that way. And then He ascends from there, lifting up His hands and blessing them. Now, this is interesting. As I read this, I thought about how there’s a sense of contrast here because much of the language of Luke’s gospel has been focused upon judgment upon Israel over and over again, especially in that section between chapter 9 or from chapter 9 through chapter 19, where it focuses upon the journey of our Lord Jesus to Jerusalem. Over and over again. I know we’ve taken a long time to go through it all, but if you go back and read that section, there are parables, there’s explicit language that the Lord Jesus continually, especially as He gets closer to Jerusalem, is reflecting judgment upon Israel. Judgment is coming. Judgment is near. But here we have an expression of blessing. The Lord Jesus Christ is showing the reality of where His blessing will be bestowed. It will be bestowed upon His people. Judgment’s coming upon the city, but blessing upon those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ and give their lives to Him and to His cause. We need to keep this in mind. Just think about it. Think about how some people think in terms of political endeavor, in terms of even eschatology and things of that nature. Jesus, in His ministry, has been constantly saying, judgment upon Israel, judgment upon Jerusalem. And then when He goes to bless, it’s very specific. It’s upon those who believe in Him and trust in Him. God’s favor then is upon an Israel who are identified by faith alone in the Messiah. I don’t have time to work out the theology of that, but I can recommend a careful study of Galatians 3, for example, to see that we are the children of Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ. This is key then. That’s where the blessing of God is bestowed. That’s where the Lord Jesus is given command to issue blessing upon these people who by faith alone trust in the Messiah. Resting in Him, they are under blessing.

He also reflects here His position as the priest of His people, lifting up His hands. It’s a priestly action for the most part. It’s not given in Melchizedek, the account of Melchizedek with Abraham and Melchizedek blessing Abraham. It doesn’t say he raised his hands, but I think we could see it there. But certainly in passages such as Leviticus 9, number 6, we see how Aaron and his sons are given this responsibility of raising their hands to bless the people of God. But here, the Lord Jesus Christ raises His hands, not in the name of another God or in the name of God, but by His own authority, He can raise up His hands and bless those before Him. He stands as the priest of His people. He stands as the one after the order of Melchizedek. Again, this is not a theme that Luke mines out in the detail that we find, for example, in Hebrews. But you see it here, the lifting up of His hands to bless. You see a priest after the order, not of Levi, but of Melchizedek, living in the power of an endless life to bless the people of God forevermore.

Divine favor is upon such a people. Such a people who look to a priest who will never die, who has conquered death. Again, think of the theme of Hebrews where we are seeing the contrast between those priests of Levi who live and die and live and die and live and die with the Lord Jesus Christ who dies, conquers death, and lives forevermore, putting an end to the need for someone to come in His place. We have a high priest who’s now fixed in that position, and we can confidently turn to and know His authority to bless His people. And the raising of His hands is not just symbolic, it’s significant. Again, I raise my hands in benediction upon you. It is my desire that the benediction pronounced is your experience. But our Lord Jesus, as we’ve suggested in other occasions, when He says something, He has the authority to bring it to pass. And so He’s raising His hands as He ascends, showing how the church is to function, not just there, not just with a visual of the raised hands of a blessing high priest, but He is going into heaven where His hands will continually be raised. Run like Moses where His arms are weary and need to be held up by others. Here we have an omnipotent high priest holding up His hands forevermore to bless His church. So we live under that. That is the sight that He wants to leave in the minds of His people. He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He blessed them, He was parted from them. While He blessed them, as He’s in the midst of blessing, what’s that saying? Is it interrupting the blessing? No. It’s showing the continuity of the blessing. That that blessing is the way that they are going to live. It’s what they are going to enjoy even though He is parted out of their sight. Beloved, it’s the blessing we are to live under now, that we are to be assured of today, that Jesus Christ raises His arms and His hands upon those who believe on Him to bless them, so that we live not simply seeking after blessing, though there’s a right way to do that, but never to seek after blessing imagining we are not, that we’re living without it. We are a blessed people. You are blessed. If your sins are forgiven, if you’re adopted into the family of God, if you’re a child of God by faith alone, you are blessed. You cannot but be blessed. You live under the blessing of the Lord Jesus stretching out His arms over you, desiring favor upon you. He has secured blessing by His atoning sacrifice, by His finished work, by His resurrection, united to Christ by faith, does not stand or live or continue under its own name, by its own authority, by its own favor. She exists under a banner. Jehovah said, “Can you, the Lord, our righteousness.” We know that heaven’s blessing is upon us because the one who has ascended to heaven, who has completed the work, has credited it to us, we receive it by faith alone, and so we live under this banner, as I say, the Lord our righteousness, and we move then in the favor of God because of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. We are not living out worthiness by ourselves. Our worth before God is received by faith alone. Never forget it. If you want to be accepted before God, you must be accepted in the Beloved. You must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. You must turn from your sin and believe on Him, and you then will be in this privileged position, an irrevocable position in which those who are in Christ can never be severed, never plucked from the Father’s hand, never removed from His favor, ever.

As Christ stands here about to part from His disciples, it is the culmination of all that He has accomplished for them. It adds to the significance of it is finished, doesn’t it? My work here is done. I move on. What I came here to do, I have accomplished. I have a right now to part. The same is true for you. When the day comes that you leave, that will signal your work is done. And your work will follow you, Scripture says. But when the Lord calls, your work is done. Not until then. So keep that in mind should ill health lay you aside. And you think because in some way your physical frame is tied to your worth in the kingdom of God. Don’t do that. Even in sickness you can serve. Perhaps in sickness we may do more good than we ever did with our health. Those who lie on beds of sickness, imagining they cannot do something for God, place themselves, try to place themselves beyond the reach of these lifted up hands to bless. Now think about it. You’re so tying your physical health to blessing, don’t do it. So while you are on this earth, you have something the Lord intends for you to do, keep it in mind. While Christ was on the earth, He had something that He was called and commissioned to do, and He still has a work to do, as you will and as I will, but He moves away. His work here now is done, and so He is gone. He must part to continue a work in another place, which will greatly benefit us. So keep that in mind. If there’s nothing else, you remember, keep this in mind that the Lord Jesus ascends away out of the vision and appearance of His people, but He does so as He’s blessing. I think that’s tied then to when you get to verse 53, they were continually in the temple. How were they continually in the temple praising and blessing God? Because Christ had ascended blessing. Their continuance in praising and blessing God was under His continuance of blessing them. It’s real now. You are blessed. Live under it. Embrace it. Pray for eyes to see it.

But also ascension. We have benediction and we have ascension. There are people enjoying divine access, not just the people enjoying divine favor, but enjoying divine access. Verse 51, it came to pass while He blessed them, He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. So He, as we’ve already said, is ascending here. The role of the high priest of the people of God is His to occupy. And His ascension is rooted in history. It’s not myth. It’s not legend. It’s not symbolic. It’s actually happened. Again, Luke takes more time to detail this when he picks up in a sequel, this same Jesus shall so come in like manner as you’ve seen Him go. He is the link between heaven and earth. Right? We’re to see here’s a man ascending into heaven. Therefore, in order for man to go to heaven, they must understand the significance of that one we call the mediator between God and man. If I want to ascend, as it were, into the presence of God as He did, I must do it through Him. He is the ladder between heaven and earth. He is a mediator between God and men. He is the forerunner of the people of God. And He is the one who goes to grant irrevocable access to God. This is what we are assured of. Christ has entered heaven to appear in the presence of God for us, Hebrews 9:24. Why is He going there? To appear in the presence of God. Two words that follow that. For us. For us. You for me. So don’t see it just as something that was a privilege of those that were there. The disciples gathered on that occasion, led as far as to Bethany to see all this. He is ascending not just for them but for you, for us, going into the presence of God for us, appearing in the presence of God for you.

Now, as I say, He’s going to pick up on this in Acts 1. He’s going to expand on it. Some have wondered, are these two different occasions or what? Of course, that’s not the case at all. You just have an expanded version in Acts 1. You have a compressed, condensed, précised version right here at the end of the gospel. He’s going to move into that. It’s not His theme to develop the significance or what followed the ascension here in the gospel. What He’s dealing with here, He tells us at the beginning of a sequel is what Jesus began both to do and to teach until He ascended. He picks us up then on that and continues to explore that and God willing at some point we’ll get to the book of Acts and we’ll look at it together.

But His priestly work didn’t end on the cross. It didn’t end with Him as a sacrifice for sin. That continues in heaven. He is now seated in the right hand of the Father, a minister of the true sanctuary, Hebrews 8:2. He intercedes for His people. The earthly sacrifice now is presented. It’s given. It’s offered. It’s shown. It’s visibly presented in heaven. The success of His atonement is carried into heaven’s courts, ever to be there and ever to argue a cause. So it lifts our gaze, doesn’t it, to see that our standing before God is not by looking inwardly, but by looking upwardly, where we have a high priest occupying heaven with our nature. He loves us, died for us, and is praying for us.

So a few things here to consider here in this ascension aspect, the people enjoying divine access. It’s access through Christ’s perfection. It’s access through Christ’s perfection. He ascends. He’s carried up into heaven. He is parted from them, carried up into heaven, presenting there before the Father in heaven itself what we need in order for us to be presented and acceptable before God. He’s going there, again, to argue the case. An ongoing intercession for you and for me, sanctifying the prayers and the service of believers, making them acceptable to God so that our work isn’t presented purely through what we have accomplished and what we do, but is seen through the atoning, sanctifying work of the blood of Jesus Christ. Everything we do is stained by sin. Nothing can be presented without the atoning work of Jesus Christ, so continually He is taking your best efforts and offering them cleansed and washed, made right and acceptable. He takes all of our imperfection, purifies them, gives us a standing before the Father, interceding continually on our behalf. He’s carrying the worth of His atonement into heaven for you and for me to be our mediator.

And so He ascends. His hands stretched to bless. And He still, as I’ve said already, holds them up, advocating for you, interceding for you, being a high priest for you. And this is what we need for divine access. We need a high priest. There’s no way of getting to God ourselves. If you are here thinking you can do enough yourself to come before God, you believe a false religion. You’ve made it up. You’re running to a refuge of lies that will be exposed on the day of judgment because you have repudiated the simplicity of the gospel, denied your need for the saving work of Jesus Christ. You’re living in an argument where the only person you’ve convinced is yourself, that you’re good enough to come before God. You’re not going to convince God of that. Your need is for Jesus Christ. The access for men before God is through Jesus Christ. If it’s possible, and this is argued by the Apostle in Galatians 2, if it’s possible that by the deeds of the law, if I can rephrase that, if it’s possible by man’s individual effort to obey God, to be justified, then Christ is dead in vain. The whole story is a sham. It’s needless. The message that should be being heralded to the world is try harder, do better, obey more. But that’s not good news. The good news is not of a work to do, but a work that is done. And you’re to believe it. You’re to set aside your pride and believe that Jesus is sufficient.

Imagine you have Peter standing there watching Jesus Christ ascend and constantly reminded, feeling the weight of your own betrayal, as it were, your own denial of Him with oaths and cursing, and even despite our Lord’s best effort to recommission and assure Him that He has a purpose for Him, still this haunting feeling of what you have done, the disappointment you have brought to the Lord Jesus. Imagine how most people think about this. The humble soul is going to say, It will take a long time before I could minister or tell anyone else what they need to hear. And in a certain context, that’s true. When Peter weeps, cries out for mercy, the Lord Jesus shows him mercy, and his confidence is not in whether or not he can turn over a new leaf. His confidence is that the place of authority upon which he stands and the confidence he has to preach the gospel to others is because what he is heralding is a message designed for sinners. It’s a message for the fallen Peter, not for the perfect Peter.

And so our access then is through Christ’s perfection. We’re seeing the perfect one ascending into heaven. Where do you want to be when you die? You want to be in heaven. And here’s the only perfect man carried up into heaven. And you’re meant to make the theological connection. You’re meant to see the need. If I am to be carried, as it were, into the presence of God, I must be joined to Him. This is why the Apostle Paul so often in his epistles keeps talking about, keeps referencing the doctrine of union with Christ, being in Him. If you’re not in Him, you don’t have access. You’re not seated in heavenly places, Ephesians 1. You need to be in Him.

Access through Christ’s perfection. Access as Christ’s people. The Spirit of God records here that He blessed them. He blessed His people, emphasizes what we’ve indicated already. This is not for all, it’s for them. It’s not generic, it’s specific. Remember what He prayed in John 17, “I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given me.” Before Him right now are those that the Father had given to Him. He’s praying for them, but He prays for you as well, if you’re part of that multitude who trust and believe in Him. His prayers then are not just to the world, but specific for His people. He’s praying now, as we gather here, He is praying for His church. He’s praying for you, if you’re part of this body known as the church or the bride of Christ.

This is why this is the most privileged place on the planet to be. Among God’s people, believing the gospel. I know we’re far from perfect. There’s no perfect church and there are many reasons in any given church to say to yourself, I’m done with those people. I’m going somewhere else. But we have to see, we’ll take an imperfect assembly of Christ’s people over any other body on the planet. That’s how He looks at it. Look at all the things that are done. Look at all the gatherings and assemblies of the high and the low in this world. And His particular focus and attention is not on great political summits that may take place on the Lord’s day. He is looking where His people gather, with His arms stretched out, commanding blessings upon them. Where brethren dwell together, we trust in unity. He is the one who has gone into heaven bearing, as it were, the names of His people upon His breast, like the high priest. Those stones, those names, carrying them into the presence of God in the old Levitical system, entering into the most holy place as the one who represents them, as the one day by day who bears them upon himself in those priestly garments. And here we have one who enters into heaven bearing your name and mine.

It’s access as Christ’s people. These are the ones who will follow Him, who will go into heaven where He is. That’s the ones He prays for. That’s how He prays in John 17. “I pray that they be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory.” Not the world, but for those the Father has given to Him out of the world. Is that you? Are you in that number?

Also, access to Christ’s power. There’s access to Christ’s power. Christ’s ascension is showing the authority that He possesses. This comes out in a number of passages. We’ll look at them in just a moment for different reasons, but when He’s giving His commission and sending His people into the world, Matthew 28 especially, “All power is given unto Me both in heaven and on earth.” So if you want access to power, it is through Him. He is the one who possesses all power, interceding in a position of power. All power, no limitation. He is the omnipotent Christ. He looks upon you and whatever need you have, He can help, He can aid, He can deliver, He can sustain. And so He prays with power. There’s no sense of limitation. When we pray, we feel our limitation. When He prays, all He knows is absolute confidence. And so His intercession is perfect. Now you sometimes pray and you ask amiss. He never asks amiss, ever. Sometimes you have not because you ask not. Never true of Jesus Christ. He has because He asks. So the Lord ascends, as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, directing all things for the good of His people.

Again, I encourage you to read Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1, just to see the emphasis the apostle gives. We don’t have time tonight, but you read those opening chapters and think upon the authority of Jesus Christ as revealed in those passages of Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1, and get them into your soul because they play a part in the thrust of the confidence of the church. That’s why the apostle did not fear anyone. Why he would go anywhere. Because he lived in this consciousness of the one who had all power. It was overseeing him and blessing him. Encouraging him and supporting him. Helping us then to fulfill our ministry and our mission.

They’ve been given a great task. Again, verse 47. They’re to go to all nations. All nations. How do you fulfill such a task? It’s not by looking to yourself. It’s not by man’s organization. It is by looking and seeing the One who is all power and seeking from Him that power, the wisdom that we need, the help that we need, the empowerment that He grants to His church. He is there enthroned with all authority to commission, bless, to help. They don’t need to tremble anymore. This is how He had found them, wasn’t it? John 20 records that day of resurrection, and they’re all assembled together. Why? For fear of the Jews. They’re living in fear. Now they’re not. This ends in their confidence. We’re continually in the temple. They’re continually in the presence of the ones they feared. What has changed? Their awareness that Jesus, who had all power, who with a word could still the storm, who gives sight to the blind, cleansed the leper without becoming unclean Himself. This One is working for them and with them. He is the Sovereign One. He has all power.

So these are the things to think about as you see Him ascending in this posture of blessing, parting from them, carried up into heaven, doing so. They’re living then in the knowledge of His perfection, that it’s for His people, and that He is doing so with power, and they have access to that same power through Him. This brings us thirdly then to adoration. Adoration. They are a people enjoying divine worship. Not only a people enjoying divine favor, divine access, but divine worship. Verse 52 and 53, they worshiped Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

Let me think of this adoration. Note a few things. First, a critical insight. There is here a critical insight. They worshipped Him. They worshipped Him. The word for worship is only found three times in this gospel. This, of course, is the third occasion, but the other two occasions are together. When Luke records for us the temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness. When there, Satan says, “If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” Jesus answered and said unto him, “Get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” So He has dealt on one other occasion with the whole idea of worship using this word. And then He brings us to see it again, right at the end of His gospel. Our Lord Jesus testified, Luke uses the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ that only God should be worshipped. And He ends His gospel with this vivid scene of His people worshipping Him. Now either the disciples are in sin or He is God. They had been taught, they had been instructed, they had seen, they had witnessed, they are now left to carry on the work. And their immediate response with His departure and the final assurance that He is the Messiah ascending passages like Daniel 7 where Messiah is identified as being in the clouds. Here is one who is in the clouds, those clouds receiving Him out of their sight. It’s a clear indication this is Messiah. This is the one who is to be worshipped. He’s not simply a human deliverer. He is the God-man to deliver men.

So, look, as established in the Gospel, God alone must be worshipped. Now the disciples are found worshipping Him. Can we imagine that they had immediately, with the departure of our Lord Jesus, aligned with Satan? No. They are doing what must be done, worshipping Jesus as God. He is worthy of worship. Many will say things like, the only gospel that places any emphasis upon the deity of Jesus Christ, or teaches the deity of Jesus Christ, is the gospel of John. And they begin to argue, skeptics argue, liberals argue, the gospel of John was written later, and John decides, in hindsight, to place this emphasis because the theology of the Christ develops over time, and by the time he’s writing his gospel, there’s now an understanding that He is God. But before that, that didn’t exist. That’s utter nonsense. Go to Matthew, go to Matthew 28, just to see that this is how, though John’s gospel is certainly the gospel that places emphasis upon it, don’t miss how each of the gospels end in some way by some explicit statement or by clear implication that the one before them is God. So Matthew 28. Verse 16, “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him.”

Now what happens in the book of Acts whenever some are found worshipping the apostles? They’re immediately rebuked. But Jesus does not rebuke them. “Some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Now you’re dealing with omnipotence. It is His. Power is His. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Now you can’t put anyone beside God without taking away from God, unless the one you’re putting beside, as it were, one who is God, is God Himself. The formula of baptism, the Trinitarian formula, shows the co-equality of the persons of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To baptize in one who is divine and then others that are lesser would be blasphemous and nonsensical because we would be giving honor to one that is not worthy of such honor. And so again, by implication, you’re seeing here that both the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, they are coequal.

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.” Now you have omnipresence. Wherever you go, I’m there, even though I’m ascended. You can’t escape it. Go to Mark, Mark 16. Jesus Christ is God, men and women. It’s not just for John’s gospel. Mark 16, verse 19, so then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God. Even that understood from a Jewish perspective as an indication of divinity. And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them. So then after that the Lord had spoken unto them, He’s received up into heaven, they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them.” How? How is the same Lord working with them? Except He be God. As God, He can work with them, ascended into heaven, yet able to work with them as they go out preaching the Word of God. So it’s not just in John’s Gospel. It’s in all of the Gospels, the closing indication that this is who we’re dealing with. It’s calling all men to acknowledge the one who is God in flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. Again, not symbolically, but really, God with us.

So this is a critical insight. They worshipped Him. Also a converse response. There’s also here a converse response. They worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Go to John 13 for a moment. Just to remind you of a few things that happened not that long before the ascension and certainly not very long before the cross. John 13. Very quickly, we’ll try to go quickly here, but our Lord is dealing with His disciples, teaching them, instructing them, and telling them that He must go away. Verse 33 of John 13, “Little children, yet a little while I am with you, you shall seek Me.” And as I said unto the Jews, whether I go you cannot come, so now I say to you.” And if you go to verse 36, Simon Peter said unto Him, “Lord, whither goest Thou?” Jesus answered him, “Whether I go, thou canst not follow Me now, but thou shalt follow Me afterwards.” Peter said unto Him, “Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now?” And this, it seems, bothered the disciples, this idea that Jesus is going away and they can’t follow Him. In so much that verse 1 of chapter 14, “Let not your heart be troubled.” He’s exhorting them, stop. Stop feeling that. Stop now. I can see it in your eyes, the anxiety, the worry, the concern. I’m not taking this out of context. Jesus doesn’t move away from the problem because you can see verse 4, “Whether I go ye know, and the way ye know.” Thomas said unto Him, “Lord, we know not whether Thou goest, and how can we know the way?” So this is still the same problem. He’s going away and they can’t go with Him. Their hearts are troubled by that idea. They’re concerned. Now, the issue isn’t the fact that they had the feeling of being troubled, it’s what troubled them that was the problem. Being troubled is not always wrong. Our Lord Jesus, right here in this very portion, look at verse 21 of chapter 13, just so you know that the feeling of being troubled isn’t always sinful. John 13, 21, when Jesus had thus said He was troubled in spirit, it’s the same word. The troubling that He rebukes in His disciples is found in Him. Now is He a hypocrite? No. There are things that legitimately may trouble us without sin. But the troubling of the disciples was wrong. It was sinful. And so a couple of things just to keep in mind. To be anxious or troubled about the things God doesn’t have planned for us is foolish. We get worried and concerned about things that the Lord hasn’t even planned. We look forward and say, “What might be?” and we worry about what might be, but what might be may never come to pass. And so we have exhausted energy on something needlessly, worried about what God never intended to do. This is foolish. On the flip side, to be anxious about the things God has planned for us is unbelief. To be anxious about the things God has planned for us often is unbelief. He’s planned it for you. Therefore, He’ll be with you. He will help you. He will support you.

Now there’s a form of troubling in which you’re dealing with the reality of a fallen world and the curse, and you’re troubled about what’s before you. Our Lord Jesus is dealing with the sinful man, sinful nature, the betrayal of Judas and all that’s involved in that, and that troubled Him. So you can be troubled about others. You can be troubled about their wayward state. You can be troubled about their spiritual standing. You can be troubled about things of that nature. But many things we are troubled about, have no real reason, have no real purpose. And so when we come to Luke, what is surprising to me is that the return to Jerusalem with great joy. He just fulfilled what He said. He was going to do what He’d been telling them, “I must go away.” And they’re anxious and they’re concerned. Now when He actually departs, they’re joyful. What happened? They understood. He realized that what He had said beforehand was important and true and necessary for the furtherance of His kingdom. He submitted it to His plan and embraced it with all of their hearts. And that’s what you need to do sometimes. Stop fighting against what He’s doing. Embrace it. And joyfully realize that He is doing it for your good, for His glory, that it’s an answer to your prayer, that you might live for His glory and see His will accomplished on earth. You go and read John 14, 15, 16, especially I think there’s a portion in John 15 as well as John 16 where there’s a focus on joy, about His joy being left with them, their joy being full, language of that nature. They didn’t quite get it as He was teaching it, but now they do. They understand. So they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. This is converse to what they had felt when He said, “I’m going away.” They were troubled. When He actually goes away, they return to the city with joy. Yes, it must be. As will be done.

Finally, a continual privilege. A continual privilege. Here in their adoration, there is this continual privilege of verse 53. They were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. As I noted already, the continuity of them in the temple praising and blessing God is upheld, supported in light of the continuity of Jesus Christ blessing them and ascending to heaven in that posture of blessing. That’s why they can continually go about this kind of activity. And they were now worshiping and truly praising and blessing God, surrounded by people who with their lips sought to praise and bless God, but they were in their hearts truly denying Him. The church then is given this standing. As Luke will pick up in Acts, he will focus upon the mission. He will focus upon the great commission, the going out, the heralding of the Word, the spreading of it into the corners of the globe. He will focus on that. But the platform, the foundation for fulfilling the great commission is worship. Do not underestimate the radiance of a people who worship the triune God. Don’t underestimate the leavening or rather I should say the positive leavening influence of a people who gather and congregate to worship. The common grace that is extended and maintained in a place where people worship God.

We don’t sometimes, I don’t think we reflect on this, but I’ve noted this on a number of occasions. I’ve said to you that according to reading the Gospels, understanding the Gospels, studying the Gospels, it would appear that very little in terms of demonic activity and demonic possession and things of that nature that Christ dealt with. Very little of that, if any of that, took place in Jerusalem and Judea. The vast bulk of it was in Galilee. And I may be reading a little too into it, but it would appear that the place where there was more of the means of grace, more of the reading of the Word, more of the public attention to the truth, more of a congregating around the things of God’s truth, that that had a positive, common grace influence upon the area, preventing demonic possession, preventing demonic activity, maintaining more of a semblance of civilization.

So your very presence in Greenville is a positive influence just by living for Christ. Your love for Christ is, maybe in a mystical way, in an imperceptible way, having an influence in preserving, pushing, keeping away the full onslaught of the enemy. And you gather here to receive strength, you gather here to publicly own Christ and worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and you go into your community as someone set apart, blessing, praising God, and influencing the people around you. Even keeping a sense of sanity within our area. And maybe if we’ve never traveled, if we’ve never gone to places where there is no gospel, it may be harder for us to understand this. When you start going around the world and visiting places where there is nothing of Christianity, you will find untold wickedness. So our first work is doxological, and from there it is missional. Our missional work flows out of our worship. As I say, Luke’s going to deal with the mission going out, but he ends with the praise. He ends with the worship. This is our calling. Don’t underestimate it. Don’t sit and think coming on a Sunday contributes nothing to the mission. Gathering on a Sunday, there is no lawful, meaningful, God-favored blessing upon the mission unless there is a priority given to worshiping him. Always set aside time for worship. Providence permits always gather to worship.

Luke had opened up his gospel with scenes in the temple, didn’t he? Opened up with Simeon and Anna rejoicing over the infant Christ. Now it ends in the same place, the people in the temple praising and blessing God. What they hoped to see fulfilled has come to pass. In large part in everyone’s rejoicing. What a glorious thing it is. Christ has secured salvation. What a place to be in continually praising and blessing God. And what a witness it was. And that’s where the church will grow as they stand there in the temple and opportunities are given to Peter and John and the rest of them to herald the gospel.

This is how the church changes the world. This is what we are to understand and live under and exercise ourselves in. It’s benediction, ascension, adoration. If you take one of those out, there’s no fulfillment of the mission that we looked at last week. If Christ does not command blessing upon our labor, we cannot command that blessing ourselves. If He does not send His Spirit to bless His Word, no one will be saved. If He has not ascended, then what confidence do we have that there is any power, any authority, His commission to His people to go into all nations? No, He’s not saying, look up to see whether it’s legal for a Christian to enter the nation. Don’t look up to see if it’s right for a Christian to enter the nation and just obey the law. He said, no, the nations are mine. I send you to the world, whatever the laws say. And you go and you teach what I’ve commanded. There are things that are superfluous, things you don’t need to deal with, things that are irrelevant. But on this you go into any part of the world and you command what I have declared and you call men to repentance and faith without fear of what man may say or do. And it’s the ascended Christ that gives us that impetus and encouragement to go. He has all power.

But we’re not just going out of some boring, dead, cold, sense of obedience because the Pharisees did that. They crossed land and sea to make people twofold the children of the devil. But we go as a people with this spirit of praising and blessing God. Oh Christian, gather in God’s house, communicate the sense of joy that’s here. They returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Let that be reflective of your engagement in worshiping God. Whatever the week has held, whatever life is doing, whatever God is permitting, whatever is unfolding in your life, there is always a reason, there is always a call to joyful worship and praising of His name. We need grace to stay there so that the world looks on and they’re amazed. Amidst all they’re going through, they still worship and praise their God. That’s the testimony the world needs to see in you and in me. May the Lord help us.

Let’s bow together in prayer. There may be some here, maybe one here tonight, and you’ve heard the vast majority of the sermons through the gospel of Luke. We come now to the close of this study, and I want to ask you, are you saved? Have you known the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ? Have you looked on to Him and trusted in Him? Or do you keep walking out of here in unbelief, rejection? I encourage you, the opportunity is here this very night to seek Him. He is in heaven where He hears the cry of the penitent and pronounces forgiveness for their sin. Seek Him for it. Go to this priest. Go to this Jesus. He will cleanse you of all your spiritual leprosy and make you clean.

Lord, bless Thy Word. Please favor it, let it run, let it enter every heart, and let these truths support and shape and form the mission of every believer in this church. May we live conscious of the benediction of Christ, and may we constantly be in the business of remembering that He has ascended, that we may adore Him. Hear us now. Bless us. Please, please help us and go with us this week, empowering Thy church. May the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be the portion of all the people of God now and evermore. Amen. Amen.