Acts 1:6-26

Which we started in the book of Acts last week.

Let's bow our heads in prayer.

We come today to the part where Jesus ascends.

Where he goes on up.

He ascends from earth to heaven.

Last week we looked at the first six verses of the Acts of the Apostle.

And they're completely dominated by the resurrection of Jesus.

In one way, the whole of the book of Acts is working out the implications of the resurrection of Jesus.

In lots of ways, that's what the Christian life is like.

In fact, the life and death and resurrection of Jesus are incomplete without the ascension.

And we celebrate Easter.

We give it a whole weekend.

But very often the ascension just drops off the radar and gets forgotten about.

One of the joys of living in this part of London in the next couple of weeks is Diwali.

It's coming, isn't it?

Your pets, I'm sure, love Diwali.

The fireworks.

The celebration of light.

And where we live, we can hear the fireworks.

But actually, as you look out, you can go into the attic.

And you can see the top half, the top quarter.

The top tenth of the fireworks.

From the skylight in the attic.

And what you see is you hear the sound.

The rocket goes up.

And as it rises to the sky, it reaches the pinnacle and then the explosion.

It explodes.

And you can see the pyrotechnics and all the lights flying out, flowing out from that.

And I think the resurrection is a little bit like the rocket going up.

And the ascension of the Lord Jesus is the explosion.

It is the explosion where all his blessing and all his goodness and all his grace and his greatness suddenly become available for the whole world.

And the ascension, it is key.

It is really key.

So I want to divide the passage in two.

I want us first of all to look at what the ascension means.

And then I kind of want to deal with the second half quickly of the chapter.

The ascension of Jesus means three things.

The first is this, that Jesus is accessible to all of us everywhere.

And for 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead, he has appeared.

He's appeared to individuals, to small groups, to churches.

He even appeared to one group of 500 at one time.

The problem is this.

Verse 8, can you see what Jesus said?

He said to his apostles that you are going to go out and you are going to be witnesses to the ends of the earth.

But how can Jesus support the mission to the ends of the earth if he can only appear to one person at a time or a few people at a time?

How can he support the mission to the ends of the earth if his presence is located in a little part of the Middle East?

And the answer is this, he first has to ascend into heaven.

Verse 9, when he said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up.

And a cloud took him out of their sight.

And while they were gazing into heaven, that's the first reference.

While they were gazing into heaven, behold, two men stood by him in white robes.

And they said,

Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?

Second reference.

And they said and continued,

Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?

This Jesus, who was taken away up from you into heaven, third reference,

will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

It's deliberately repeated and emphasised.

Four times.

I can't remember, I can't think of any other place where Luke beats the drum four times.

Heaven, heaven, heaven, heaven.

Heaven, heaven.

You want you to understand that Jesus has gone to heaven.

And we need to get rid of that really spatial, really silly spatial idea of heaven.

As though heaven is a kind of place.

A thousand metres up in the air, above the surface of the earth.

We need to get rid of that idea.

From the very first verse of the Bible, the Bible takes a very sophisticated view of heaven.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Heaven is something that God has created for him to dwell in.

And heaven and earth interlock and intersect.

Genesis 3, sin comes into our world and the two are not so connected anymore.

There's a difference between the relationship between the heavens and the earth.

There's a separation.

Here's the thing that I want you to grasp this morning.

Heaven is not just up there.

That if I could just get the right kind of jet propulsion, I could make it to where God is.

Or if I could get onto a spiritual elevator, like Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, and I could press H,

it would somehow zip me up and the doors would open and I would meet with God and all the saints.

There is still a parallel.

There is still an interlockingness about heaven and earth in our world now.

We do not live in a two-decker universe.

And although they are still separated, heaven and earth,

heaven still permeates and still invades the earth.

I want you to think about it like a Venetian blind.

Do you know those Venetian blinds with the slots?

And so the light shines through?

Heaven is a little bit like that.

At the end of the Bible, we're told when Christ comes again,

heaven will come down and earth and heaven will become one.

It's not a physical place.

Going to heaven does not make Jesus a spiritual space traveler,

zooming to another situation.

Heaven is to be in the presence and the dwelling of God.

And here's the point.

On the day that Jesus ascended into God's presence,

the relationship between heaven and earth changed.

For the first time,

there is a human being,

clothed in flesh,

being raised from the dead.

And he goes to the place of God

so that all the glory and all the forgiveness

and all the goodness of the Lord Jesus

becomes available and acceptable to all of us.

It is wonderful.

And so the mission of the church

is not this grim work of obedience,

you must, you must, you must.

The work of mission demands the living,

joyful presence of Jesus with us.

And the only way that that is going to happen

is for him to be with God.

The only way that that will happen

is for him to ascend from earth to heaven

and pour out his Holy Spirit upon us.

It's why we cannot expect

any more resurrection appearances of Jesus.

During the 40 days

that he was risen from the dead,

Jesus appeared to all sorts of people

in all sorts of places.

But now the cloud comes down.

And again, that should stir memories

and deja vus for us

because do you remember in the book of Exodus

when God rescues his people out of Egypt,

he brought them to the mountain

and he says the presence of God

came down on the mountain

and the cloud came down.

And God called Moses up on the mountain

and for 40 days, 40 days,

Moses is there meeting face to face with God.

The cloud of God comes down

and Jesus goes up.

And all his grace and all his forgiveness

is now available to us all everywhere.

And that's the first thing the ascension means,

that Jesus is accessible to us this morning.

The second thing the ascension means

is that Jesus is now God's king.

The ascension is Jesus' enthronement,

his coronation,

that's how we use the word today.

On the 6th of May, 2023,

King Charles was crowned.

King Charles III

ascended the throne of England.

What does that mean?

That he physically climbed up the steps?

It doesn't mean that.

It means that he took power.

It means that he was installed,

that King Charles was publicly recognized

as sovereign.

We say in the Apostles' Creed, don't we?

The third day,

Jesus rose again from the dead,

he ascended into heaven,

and he sits at the right hand

of God the Father Almighty.

And so do you remember in Luke's gospel,

in chapter 20,

the Sadducees,

they want to make rubbish of the resurrection.

And at the end of that discussion,

Jesus says,

actually go and read your Psalms.

Go and read Psalm 110,

which says,

God says to his sons,

sit at my right hand

until I put all my enemies under your feet.

It's really important.

The resurrection is not just Jesus,

not just God the Father

giving Jesus another chance at life.

It is the beginning of the restoration of everything.

It is the start of a new age.

And in the end,

in the ascension,

it's not just that Jesus becomes accessible to us,

but he takes up his rule

at the right hand of the throne of God.

If you've got your Bible,

just flick over to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

It's 10 days later,

after Pentecost,

and the Holy Spirit is falling upon the apostles.

Peter is preaching,

and he's proclaiming the significance of what's happened.

Look down at verse 32 of Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

This Jesus God raised up.

And of that we are all 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 yourselves are seeing and hearing.

For David did not ascend into the heavens,

and then he quotes Psalm 110,

the Lord said to my Lord,

sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies your footstool.

Here's the conclusion to the sermon.

Let all the house of Israel know

for certain that God has made him,

that is Jesus,

both Lord and Christ,

this Jesus whom you crucified.

Nobody else has been raised from the dead.

Yes, there have been a number of people

who have been resuscitated

back into this life,

but they've all died again.

But nobody else has been raised from the dead

and has ascended

and sits in the glory of his majesty.

And as Jesus ascends,

there is a massive change

because now for the first time,

a human being

ascends into heaven

and sits at God's right hand.

When Jesus came into our world

that first Christmas,

he became

what he eternally was not.

He took on

human flesh.

And now he goes to be with God.

He remains

both fully God

and fully man.

Jesus Christ,

I take it,

that's why a couple of laters

chapters later,

as Simon is being stoned to death,

he looks up to heaven

and heaven is opened

and he sees the glory of God

and Jesus is standing

at the right hand of the Father.

And I think Jesus is standing

at that point

because this is the first Christian

who dies for his faith.

And Jesus wants to take him by the hand

and lead him into heaven

and welcome him.

This is the Christian faith.

This is what Jesus meant

when he said,

all authority

in heaven and earth

has been given to me.

The ascension means

that Jesus is not just accessible

but that he rules.

To quote Rabbi Duncan,

the dust of the earth

now sits on the throne

of the universe.

And thirdly,

the ascension means

that Jesus is appointed

judge of all.

If you look down

at verse 11

of chapter 1.

The angels say,

Man of Galilee,

why do you stand

looking into heaven?

This Jesus

who was taken up

from you into heaven

will come in the same way

as you saw him

go into heaven.

In other words,

it's telling you and I

that the return

of the Lord Jesus,

when he comes again,

it will be visible

and it will be public.

But the coming one comes

because he is the judge

of the living and the dead.

Keep your finger

in Acts chapter 1

Acts 1 · chapter mention

and turn to Acts chapter 10

Acts 10 · chapter mention

for a moment

and I'd like to show you

how this works itself out.

Acts chapter 10.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

It's the apostle Peter

and he is speaking

to a house

that is absolutely

crammed full with people

and he is explaining

to them the wonder

of who Jesus is.

And if in Acts chapter 10

Acts 10:38

verse 38,

can you see it?

We're told that Jesus

went about doing good

and healing people.

And he speaks

about his crucifixion

on a tree in verse 39

and in verse 40

that God raised him up

and verse 41

we ate and drank with him.

Now here's the question.

Peter,

what is the core

of the message?

What is the one thing

that Jesus told the apostles

to teach us

and to tell us about?

What's the one

most important thing

that Jesus has commanded

you to say?

Verse 42 of Acts 10

and he commanded us.

He told us to preach

to the people

and to testify

that he is the one

appointed by God

to be judge of the living

and the dead.

What did Jesus say

is at the heart

of the message?

Because he is ascended,

he is the judge

of the living

and the dead

right now.

And I don't know

if you think

that's good news or not.

We don't like

to talk about judgment

do we?

But it is good news

because of who it is

that is our judge.

I don't want to be judged

by someone

that doesn't know me

very well.

I don't want to be judged

by someone

who only looks

on the outside

but actually

I don't want

to be judged either

by someone

who looks

on the inside.

I don't want

to be judged

by you

and I don't even

want to judge myself.

But the one

who left heaven

to come

and seek

and save me

when I was lost.

The one

who came

not for the righteous

but for sinners.

The one

who died

on the cross

bearing sins

for my forgiveness.

He's the one

I want to be judged by.

And that is what

Peter says

in the next verse.

He says to him

all the prophets

bear witness

that everyone

who believes in him

receives forgiveness

of sins

through his name.

And that is why

the ascension

is like the top

of that firework

exploding.

The forgiveness

of God

the saving

grace

of Jesus Christ.

Yes he is

judge.

Yes he is

Lord.

Yes he is

ours.

Salvation

comes

through him.

Well let's

get back

to chapter

one

and finish

it off.

I don't know

how you respond

to the Bible

readings.

I hope you don't

just think they're

the filler

in the service.

I hope you're

asking the question

when I read

Acts chapter

one.

Why does

Luke spend

all this

space

on finding

a replacement

for Judas?

If you've

got any

sensitivities

so far

you will know

that there's

been pyrotechnics,

there's been

resurrection

from the dead,

there's been

an ascension

into heaven.

You've got

the promise

of the Holy

Spirit.

In chapter

two verse

one the Holy

Spirit comes.

but in

between that

you've got

verses 12

to 26.

Let me

ask you

this question

in a different

way.

What would

the difference

be?

What would

happen if

we just

skipped it

today?

Would it

make any

difference?

I'm not

talking about

taking scissors

out and

cutting it

out.

I mean

why don't

we just

get on

with the

good

stuff?

Why bore

!

us with

these

details?

Administrative

details?

Why don't

we just

get to

where the

Holy Spirit

comes down?

Why is it

that Luke

is really

careful in

his writing?

He gives

two verses

to the

ascension.

He gives

four verses

to the

coming of

the Holy

Spirit.

He gives

14 verses

to the

choosing of

another

apostle.

Why?

I think

the answer

is something

like this.

that what

we're being

taught here

is that

when Jesus

ascended

into

heaven

he gave

the

world

two

gifts

not

one.

Two

gifts

not

one.

And we

are used

in the

Christian

church

talking

about

the

gift

of

the

Holy

Spirit

when

he

ascended

in

heaven

and

that

is

true

wonderfully

true

and

we'll

deal

with

that

next

week

but

there

is

a

prior

gift

a

first

gift

the

coming

of

the

Holy

Spirit

that's

the

second

gift

but

the

first

gift

is

this

where

is

the

church

that

is

the

gift

it

is

an

apostolic

church

that

has

been

ordered

and

has

been

given

by

Jesus

in

a

particular

form

here

is

the

creation

of

a

new

Israel

a

new

people

of

God

it's

why

there

need

to

be

12

apostles

and I'd

encourage you

this afternoon

to

take this

passage

and read

it

again

there's

some

gory

bits

to

it

but

there

are

two

main

themes

that

Luke

wants

us

to

hold

in

mind

as

we

look

at

it

the

first

theme

is

this

that

the

church

belongs

to

Jesus

it

is

Jesus

church

I

remember

last

week

in

the

very

first

verse

that

in

the

gospel

of

Luke

Luke

says

I

dealt

with

all

that

Jesus

began

to

do

and

teach

and

now

in

the

start

of

Acts

he

says

I'm

dealing

with

what

Jesus

continues

to

do

and

teach

after

his

resurrection

and

in

verse

two

he

refers

to

the

fact

that

he

chose

12

disciples

I'm

sure

you

know

that

there's

a

difference

isn't

there

between

disciple

and

apostle

disciple

is

a word

that

refers

to

all

who

follow

Jesus

there

are

120

of

them

gathered

in

Jerusalem

in

verse

15

but

there

is

a

little

group

within

the

disciples

that

Jesus

deliberately

chose

for a

special

responsibility

in

ministry

in

the

gospels

Jesus

spends

a

whole

night

in

prayer

before

he

chooses

them

because

you

cannot

self

appoint

yourself

as

an

apostle

you

can't

choose

to

be

an

apostle

Jesus

chooses

you

and

it's

important

that

their

names

are

listed

in

Luke

6

but

the

fellowship

is

broken

isn't

it

Judas

betrayed

Jesus

for

30

pieces

of

silver

and

in

his

despair

he

did

not

come

back

to

Christ

he

came

in

suicide

!

and

we're

given

some

of

the

lurid

details

in

verses

18

and

19

I

don't

want to

pause

too

long

on

this

but

don't

you

think

that

Judas

is a

remarkable

picture

of

sin

Judas

had

Jesus

the

son

of

God

face

to

face

in

person

he

saw

him

raise

people

from

the

dead

he

saw

him

walk

on

water

he

saw

his

miracles

he

heard

his

teaching

but

Judas

would

rather

have

30

pieces

of

silver

so

that

he

could

have

a

field

with

it

instead

of

the

son

of

God

it's

a

great

picture

isn't

it

of

how

our

hearts

my

heart

and

your

heart

continually

want

the

good

things

that

God

gives

us

but

don't

want

God

himself

and

the

tragedy

is

he

was

willing

to

betray

God

for

his

own

selfish

purposes

and

when

we

do

that

everything

in

our

life

turns

to

dust

in

our

hands

and

our

life

is

taken

away

from

us

on

all

the

fields

that

we

buy

all

the

things

that

we

accumulate

end

up

becoming

our

cemeteries

and

being

buried

with

us

if

Jesus

had

chosen

the

first

twelve

who

is

going

to

choose

the

replacement

here's

the

first

test

to

see

if

the

risen

ascended

Jesus

is

present

and

so

what

do

they

do

down

in

the

last

verses

of the

chapter

they

find

two

guys

who

meet

the

qualifications

and

in

verse

24

they

pray

and

who

do

they

pray

to

they

pray

in

verse

24

to

the

Lord

Lord

they

say

you

know

the

hearts

of

all

men

show

us

which

one

of

these

two

you've

chosen

to

take

the

place

in

this

ministry

and

apostleship

and

then

they

roll

the

dice

odds

it's

Matthias

evens

it's

the

other

one

and

Matthias

gets

the

job

and

you

might

think

that

rolling

the

dice

after

a

short

prayer

meeting

might

give

us

a

much

better

chance

with

church

leaders

than

we've

had

historically

and

you may

well

be

right

but

unfortunately

this is

a

one

off

and

the

way

that

we

choose

elders

in

this

church

when

we

have

an

election

it's

not

odds

for

Ollie

Mallet

tails

for

Paul

Felix

and

then

a

best

of

three

best

of

five

that

doesn't

happen

anymore

and

this

is

the

last

time

there's

a

rolling

of

dice

in

scripture

in

the

next

chapter

the

Holy

Spirit

comes

they

never

do

it

is

Jesus

who

is

choosing

the

12th

apostle

it

is

Jesus

church

it

belongs

to

him

and

if

you

are

reading

the

text

sensitively

it

is

very

surprising

that

it

is

Peter

that's

leading

this

group

how

can

Peter

be

the

one

leading

them

to

replace

Judas

yes

Judas

betrayed

Jesus

but

Peter

betrayed

Jesus

three

times

the

point

is

this

it

is

Jesus

church

it

is

not

the

church

of

Peter

and

membership

in

the

church

comes

about

by

belonging

to

Jesus

it

does

not

come

about

by

having

a

spiritual

life

together

you

don't

become

a

member

of

the

church

because

you've

got

spiritual

achievements

or

spiritual

sensitivities

or a

great

track

record

we

all

belong

to

this

church

because

of

the

forgiveness

of our

sins

through

Jesus

Christ

and

some

of

us

came

to

church

this

morning

feeling

an

utter

failure

maybe

you

came

here

feeling

such

a

sense

of

failure

that

you

shouldn't

be

here

well

this

is

exactly

where

you

ought

to

be

and

some

of

us

maybe

came

here

today

actually

thinking

we're

a

bit

of

a

success

and

we

forget

that

we're

a

failure

and

this

is

exactly

the

place

that

you

ought

to

be

because

this

church

is

made up

of

moral

and

spiritual

failures

as a

church

we

know

that

the

only

place

we

can

go

for

freedom

and

restoration

and

forgiveness

is

to

the

risen

and

ascended

Lord

Jesus

and

so

you

see

the

only

difference

between

Peter

and

Judas

is

that

Peter

turned

back

to

the

Lord

Jesus

and

received

the

forgiveness

that

he

offered

while

Judas

refused

to

the

most

basic

sense

of

this

dependence

on

Jesus

is

shown

in

prayer

prayer

this

is

a bit

of an

aside

but

while I

was on

sabbatical

I

went

to

lots

of

gather

to

pray

I

think

the

fact

that

it's

not

such

a

priority

for

us

shows

that

we're

far

more

confident

in

our

own

spiritual

abilities

than

Jesus

is

we

are

very

shy

in

London

and

maybe

the

church

here

we're

failing

in

this

area

and

we

need

to

ask

for

his

forgiveness

and

seek

his

face

because

this

church

like

every

true

church

is

Christ

church

and

it

belongs

to him

and

without

him

we

can

do

nothing

it's

not

mine

it's

not

yours

it's

his

secondly

and

finally

it's

Jesus

church

and

it's

an

apostolic

church

church

it's

really

easy

to

miss

this

and

there

are

twelve

apostles

this

is

the

restoration

of

the

true

Israel

and

the

way

that

Jesus

has

constructed

his

church

is

that

we

are

built

on

the

foundation

of

the

apostles

this

has

all

sorts

of

implications

it

means

this

that

this

church

is

not

a

democracy

the

church

of

Jesus

Christ

is

not

one

vote

one

voice

we

are

the

body

of

Jesus

Christ

we

are

the

bride

of

Jesus

Christ

we

are

the

building

of

God

and

if

you

choose

a

democratic

model

for

your

church

the

church

will

be

choose

a

democratic

model

for

your

church

the

church

will

become

a

model

of

its

people's

desires

or the

desires

of its

culture

the

democratic

church

gives

the

illusion

that

the

church

well

is

about

me

and

my

needs

and

my

agenda

but

it

is

not

it

is

Christ

church

I

don't

know

whether

you

know

but

democracy

voting

has a

very

bad

track

record

in

the

Bible

think

of

the

world

in

Noah's

day

think

of

the

Tower

of

Babel

think

of

the

golden

calf

think

of

the

choice

of

Barabbas

we

don't

elect

Jesus

Jesus

is

Lord

the

church

is not

ours

it is

his

and

he

has

chosen

to

form

it

and

he

has

chosen

to

create

it

on

the

foundation

of the

apostles

why

what makes

them so

unique

verse 21

the

and

one of

the

one of

the

men

who

have

accompanied

us

during

all

the

time

that

the

Lord

Jesus

went

in

and

out

amongst

!

us

beginning

from

the

baptism

of

John

until

the

day

when

he

is

taken

up

for

us

one

of

these

must

become

a

witness

of

the

resurrection

they're

not

just

witnesses

of

the

resurrection

what

qualified

them

to

be

an