Returned Home

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 16th of May, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Family, today is Ascension Sunday.  “Ascension” is the day our Lord Jesus returned home to heaven, to be with His Father God again.  This occurred 40 days after His resurrection on Easter morning, which would have made it a Thursday.  So we celebrate the Ascension on the first Sunday after Ascension Thursday.

The original Ascension itself was recorded in the Gospel accounts of the Apostles Luke and Mark, and also in Luke’s Book of the Acts of the Apostles.  Now this is an important event to us for three reasons.  The first is obvious.  Jesus returned home, He went back to where He came from in the first place.  The second reason the Ascension is important to us is because Jesus walked among us, in the flesh, alive once again after being known dead, after being buried in a tomb.  For 40 days Jesus walked among us, showing Himself to over 500 people, before going home.  And the third reason is that He went back to heaven after promising that where He goes, we would also go.  By this we who believe are assured we will join our Lord in heaven when it is our time to go home.

So let’s see how the Apostle Luke recorded the ascension event.  Please listen and follow along to what Luke saved for us in chapter 24 of his Gospel account, verses 44 through 53, and I’ll be reading this from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

--Luke 24:44-53 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You sent Your Son Jesus to earth to suffer and die for us that we might be redeemed of our sins.  And then You brought Him home again, to reign with You in heaven.  Thank You, Father, for giving us the chance to be saved and join You in paradise.  Father, please help us remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us.  Help us be worthy of that sacrifice by obeying You and serving our Lord.  And Father, please keep us free from Satan’s clutches, clear of his traps, safe from those who do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and our service to Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these times that still try men’s souls.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Reassure us that we too will join You in heaven when it is our time to come home.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

James Packer penned these words in his book Your Father Loves You:

We know very little about heaven, but I once heard a theologian describe it as "an unknown region with a well-known inhabitant," and there is not a better way to think of it than that.

What shall we do in heaven? Not lounge around, but worship, work, think, and communicate, enjoying activity, beauty, people, and God. First and foremost, however, we shall see and love Jesus, our Savior, Master, and Friend.

To those who have learned to love and trust Jesus, the prospect of meeting Him face to face and being with Him forever is the hope that keeps us going, no matter what life may throw at us.

Throughout the ages, many artists and poets and writers and movie makers have tried to describe heaven for us, in words and pictures and songs.  We’re told it’s a land of milk and honey.  We’ve seen people with little wings standing on clouds playing harps.

Truth is, we know nothing of what heaven looks like, and only a little more than that of what it will be like.  Our Bible only gives us a glimpse of the throne room.  That’s why the description Packer provides is so appropriate: an unknown region with a very well-known inhabitant.

And the activities he suggests we’ll be engaged in make sense, too.  After all, God created us to be together, to work and think and talk with one another, to enjoy beauty around us.  Most of all, God created us to worship Him.  And those of us who follow Jesus can barely wait to see Him face to face.  It’s what keeps us going.

In our scripture reading, Jesus starts out by reminding His disciples of what He had already told them before.  He opened their eyes, gave clarity to their understanding of the writings of the Law, of the Prophets, and in the Psalms, that everything contained in them had been fulfilled in Him.  Not only was it necessary for Him to suffer and die, but that He should also rise again from the dead on the third day.

And so it is necessary for us, His followers, to preach repentance for the remission of sins, in the blessed name of Jesus, to all peoples.  We have read the accounts and the activities of His Apostles who witnessed these things, who received the Holy Spirit just as promised.  We too have received God’s Spirit, we who believe and obey, and we have been commanded to go into the world sharing the Good News of salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord.  So when Jesus returned home to heaven after blessing His followers, we partake not only of that blessing but also the assurance that we too will join Him in heaven some sweet day.

I mentioned that the Ascension was also recorded in Luke’s Book of the Acts of the Apostles.  This “book” was actually a letter, a letter sent to his friend Theophilus, who loved God.  That very name, Theophilus, means one who loves God.  The Book of Acts was the second letter Luke wrote to Theophilus.  The first was what we know as the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke.

Let me read to you how Luke again described the Ascension to Theophilus, this time from the opening of the Book of Acts, chapter 1 verses 1 through 11, and this will be from the Living Bible…

1-2 Dear friend who loves God:

In my first letter I told you about Jesus’ life and teachings and how He returned to heaven after giving His chosen apostles further instructions from the Holy Spirit. 3 During the forty days after His crucifixion He appeared to the apostles from time to time, actually alive, and proved to them in many ways that it was really He Himself they were seeing. And on these occasions He talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

4 In one of these meetings He told them not to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them in fulfillment of the Father’s promise, a matter He had previously discussed with them.

5 “John baptized you with water,” He reminded them, “but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit in just a few days.”

6 And another time when He appeared to them, they asked Him, “Lord, are You going to free Israel from Rome now and restore us as an independent nation?”

7 “The Father sets those dates,” He replied, “and they are not for you to know. 8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about Me with great effect, to the people in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, about My death and resurrection.”

9 It was not long afterwards that He rose into the sky and disappeared into a cloud, leaving them staring after Him. 10 As they were straining their eyes for another glimpse, suddenly two white-robed men were standing there among them, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has gone away to heaven, and some day, just as He went, He will return!”

--Acts 1:1-11 (TLB)

In both retellings, Luke recalls Jesus informing His disciples that the Holy Spirit will soon come to them.  They will be endued with the Spirit, baptized by Him.  We know that this occurred for them on the day of Pentecost, and for us on the day we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master.

But in this instance the disciples asked if Jesus would free the people from Roman rule now that He was risen from the dead.  After all, this is what the Jewish people thought the Messiah was going to do for them.  Jesus simply replies that only God knows what will happen when, and all according to His plan.  And then He shifts again to His command for His followers to testify about Him to all the ends of the earth, to tell them of His death and His resurrection.

The very visible resurrection of Jesus in the flesh and His ascension into heaven are both God’s signs to us that we too will share in the victory over death and the great reunion in heaven.  Jesus made all this happen for us.

And, as those two white-robed men said, some day He will return.  Just as He went, He will return.  Jesus returned home to heaven as His followers watched, and some day He will return once again to the earth.  He’ll come back for us, His followers.  He’ll come back to take us home, that where He is, there we will be also.  And then He’ll judge the earth, and set all things right.  Some sweet, beautiful day.

For now, Jesus has returned home.  He’s back in heaven alongside His Father God.  And He left us here to carry on His work, to tell all the world about Him.  But some day He’ll come back for us.  He made that promise, and God sealed it, as we were shown by Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.

Just as He went, He will return.  And He’ll take us home to be with Him.  Believe and be saved.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord!  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for the signs You give us through the resurrection and ascension of Your Son Jesus.  These assure us that we too will be raised from the dead to live forever with You in paradise, we who believe in Your Son and follow His voice.  Thank You, Father, for forgiving us our sins.  But Father, sometimes we falter in our service to You.  Sometimes we hesitate out of fear to do as Jesus commands us.  Please help us be better servants.  Help us obey Your commands.  Help us to love as You love.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You promised us, Your followers, that You would someday come back to take us home with You, so that we could always be with You.  You defeated death and rose from the grave to show that we too share in that great victory.  We too will be granted eternal life.  And by Your ascension and return home, You showed we will also rise to heaven to live with You and our Father God.  Lord, we ask You to help us stay true to You.  Fortify us and strengthen our will to do God’s will.  Remind us of Your love, and of the great mission You gave us before You returned home.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter.  And please stand by our side as we try to show Your love to a world that so desperately needs it.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.