NT Framework - Ascension, Securing The High Ground

What changes when Jesus ascends and takes his seat at the right hand of the Father? Everything. The ascension and session of Jesus, a physical departure from Bethany to the right hand of the Father shows why that position shapes our mission, courage, and hope. 

More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com 

This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).

Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner. 

Transcript

Ascension And Session Introduced

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Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament framework. Today, the full lesson from Jeremy Thomas. Here's a hint of what's to come.

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So when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven. And he sat down at the right hand of God. There is this ascension in the words, he was received up. And notice the passive voice. He's just, he was received up. Someone was taking him up such that he was received up into this place called heaven, which we'll say in a moment is the third heaven. We'll discuss that. And then when he was received there, he sat down. That's the session. The session of Christ. So we have the ascension and the session, and his session is at the right hand of God, and that position is extremely important.

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You might ask, if the victory has already been won, then why are we still fighting? Well, the answer is that others still need to hear about Christ. They need to understand the price paid to assure their freedom in Christ if they will only believe. So although the end of this world is known, the time is fixed in the Father's mind, the process of evicting the interlopers on earth is set, and the ultimate victory is won, we are still fighting for those around us, seeking for them to come to the same faith that we have in Christ Jesus. So although the victory is assured, there is nothing that can prevent it. It's the work that Christ has for us to go and tell the world about him.

Mission Despite Assured Victory

Israel And Church Distinctions

New Truths From The Upper Room

Mark’s Brief Ascension Account

Luke’s Location: Bethany And Olives

Acts 1: Visible Departure And Return

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Those are his last words to Israel. And he said, You're not going to see me, Israel, until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And that's a quote from Psalm 118, 26, known among the Jews as the Messianic greeting. So until the nation Israel utters the messianic greeting, until they greet him and welcome him back into this world, he's not coming back. He's not coming back to earth. The first words to the church, though, are known as the upper room discourse in John 13 through 17. And this is where we learn a number of new truths. These are mystery truths, truths that had never been revealed before in the Old Testament. And these new truths, therefore, are hinting at and indicating there's going to be something new. Ephesians 2 calls it the one new man. It is Jew and Gentile in one body, which is the body of Christ, which is the church, right? So this is not Israel. And the church is not a new Israel, and the church is not spiritual Israel. Those are all other ideas that are prevalent in Christian circles, but those are views we are not endorsing. We are endorsing the idea that Jew and Gentile are co-equals in the body of church and what Paul calls the one new man. And so there's a lot of different things, and that's what John 13 through 17 is describing. New way to become great, serve one another, new commandment, that you love one another even as I love you. New truth about his return, that if I go away at the ascension, guess what? I'm going to come back for you and take you to my father's house. That wasn't the Old Testament teaching of the second coming. The Old Testament teaching of the second coming is coming to set up his kingdom on earth. This is talking about taking believers to heaven. That's a different uh type of coming, a different coming altogether. New content for the one way of salvation, meaning that up to this point, up to the cross, people weren't believing that Jesus died for them and rose again. They were believing that there was a Messiah who was going to come and who would provide salvation. But now that he has died and rose again, well, that becomes the content a person needs to believe in order to be saved. New way to pray, we pray in Jesus' name. Who prayed that in the Old Testament? Anybody pray in Jesus' name in the Old Testament? No. Why didn't they? Well, because Jesus hadn't come yet. So this is an indication of a new way to pray or the new thing, the new one, new man, the church. The new ministry of the Spirit, he'll indwell all believers. And there's just a whole series of new truths here that are going to relate to the church. So I gave you some distinctions. A couple of my daughters actually said this helped because I always talk about the distinction between Israel and the church, but just to have a list of things that show the differences was helpful. Israel was a nation, right? But the church is not a nation. It's composed of people from all nations. That seems easy enough to see, right? Israel had covenants, like the Abrahamic, the Davidic, the New, but the church has no covenants, but we do benefit from their covenants. Salvation is of the Jews, and so forth, so on. Israel was on a time calendar with Sabbaths, feast days, special years. The church is not on a time calendar, but we're on a people schedule. Who's the last person to become a part of the church in God's plan? That's the last person we're waiting on for the church to come to completion. But we don't have a particular day of the week we have to meet, do we? The early church met on Sunday because that's the day Christ rose, right? But what does it say in Romans? It says, one day cons one man considers one day above another, another man considers every day alike. Let every man do what he's convinced in his own mind. We could meet on Mondays. Still, we we could do that. It's not a big deal. Um we don't have particular feast days. We're not told, hey, you have to celebrate communion once a month, once a week, or once a year, or something like that. It's just, we just have to regularly partake of it. But we can set the schedule. So see, we're not on a calendar like them with specific uh feast days and so forth. Israel had a physical temple, always has a physical temple. Church is a spiritual temple. I mean, we are the temple. Israel had uh the spirit with them in that he indwelt prophets, priests, and kings. But guess what? In the church, the spirit indwells every single believer. That's definitely, these are definitely differences, right? Israel is composed of believers and unbelievers. I mean, it was a nation, right? You had the remnant of believers, you had the non-remnant. But the church is composed of believers only. There's no such thing as someone who's a member of the church who's an unbeliever. Even if they attend a local church, if they're not a believer, they're not a part of Christ's body, the church. Israel is the wife of Yahweh, who would look at them being the wife of the first member of the Trinity. The church is the bride of the Christ, which is the second member of the Trinity. So that's obviously a difference. We wouldn't want to blend Yahweh with Christ in the sense that they're the same, uh the Father and the Son are the same, or something like that. That would distort the Trinity. Uh lastly, Israel's mission was for the nations to come and see. They were placed at the center of the earth, but the church's mission is to go to nations all over the earth and to tell, to go and tell. So a come and see versus a go and tell mission. So these are just some of the distinctions. Now I want to start looking at the ascension and the significance of it, which is what I really wanted to do last week. But let's go to Mark 16. Mark 16. This is one of the most controversial sections of the Bible, not because of this verse, but just because whether these verses were actually original. Verses 9 through 20. There's actually four different endings of Mark in some in the ancient manuscripts. Every Bible contains them, although there'll be note that says makes a note about whether these verses were original or not. But you know, we can talk about that another day. There's nothing here which infringes on any doctrine or contradicts or conflicts with anything anywhere else in the Bible, so it's not that serious of an issue. Mark 16, 19, we have his ascension and session mentioned. Very briefly. So when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven. And he sat down at the right hand of God. There is this ascension in the words, he was received up. And notice the passive voice. He's just he was received up. Someone was taking him up such that he was received up into this place called heaven, which we'll say in a moment is the third heaven. We'll discuss that. And then when he was received there, he sat down. That's the session, the session of Christ. So we have the ascension and the session, and his session is at the right hand of God, and that position is extremely important. And we'll talk more about that exact position. But very brief here, the ascension and session. Let's turn over to the next book, Luke 24, 50. Luke 24, 50. There's a little more information here. And I'll show a map so you can have some kind and a picture so you have some kind of reference point for where some of these things transpired. Luke 24, verse 50. Presumably he was in Jerusalem, but verse 50 says he led them out as far as Bethany. I'll just show you a picture. You can see Jerusalem here at the time of Christ. The thing that's prominent, of course, is the temple. And then you see the squiggly maroon-colored, red-colored line that goes out toward Bethphage and then a little bit south toward Bethany. And the distance there in the bottom right corner, you can see that's one mile, is the in the legend there. So that's a little about 1.6 or 7 miles from the temple in Jerusalem out to Bethany. And so he led them out as far as Bethany. That's where Lazarus was, you know, Mary and Martha, they lived in Bethany. Every time Jesus would go down to Jerusalem, he would stay where? He'd stay in Bethany, which is, you can see, again, not very far from Jerusalem, but it's kind of out a little bit, just a little on the fringe outside of Jerusalem. So he takes them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. Again, he was taken, see? He was curious of imagery of being carried. And so there is a picture of the ascension. And now you have an idea of the location of it. Bethany's not that far. You can see the Mount of Olives there. Do you see the Mount of Olives just under uh Beth Phage? You see Mount of Olives there? That's significant. It overlooks the Temple Mount. Mount of Olives overlooks the Temple Mount. So here's a picture from the Mount of Olives. This is from the Mount of Olives, and of course, you can see from the Mount of Olives. You see a lot of tombs there, right? Just there on the side of the Mount. And then overlooking the Temple Mount with the current Dome of the Rock and the Alaksa Mosque on the south end. The Dome of the Rock is not a mosque. It's just a thing that just gets in the way. But anyway, um this is this gives you some perspective for distance. So Bethany is not too far, you know, basically east of where we're standing here on uh the Mount of Olives. Usually it's not green like that either. This is a nice spring time of year. Usually it's just that's just literally just dirt. I've walked down that that's very steep. You can go down that into the what's that? That's called the Kidron Valley down there in between the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount. There's some old ancient tombs there, like it's known as Absalom's Pillar and things like that. Very interesting. I tried to crawl deep into these like tombs. It was kind of fun. Anyway, um, this gives you some perspective, and this is the location just behind this, just east of this, where he ascended. Now let's go to Acts chapter 1, which is the most extensive description of the ascension.

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Acts chapter 1, verse 9 through 11.

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Just just just gives us uh some content to think about and to visualize. Verse 9. And after he had said these things, namely the things in verse 7 and 8 there about the coming of the Holy Spirit in a few days and so forth, and you will be my witnesses. After he said these things, he was lifted up. There it is again, up while they were looking on. Now, this gives a lot more detail. They were able to look on. It wasn't like real quick, right? It was it was slow enough that he was lifted up that they could just like watch him rise up. And so it was a slow process in the sense that you could visualize it. And then it says a cloud received him out of their sight. So then he's shrouded by a cloud. I don't think this is a normal cloud, by the way. I think this is a Shekinah glory, but that's another story. Remember in the Old Testament, you had the pillar of fire by night, the pillar of cloud by day. Anyway, I think he's received up uh into a cloud, a supernatural cloud, the Shekinah glory. Received out of their sight. So at this point, at this point, he is never ever seen again in the type of appearances that he made in his resurrection body. Like the appearances to Peter or to the twelve or to Mary, uh, right? Mary Magdalene. Not the never ever is there another type of appearance like that where he says, you know, look and see that I am flesh, you know, see that my hands and you know, my side. Here, let's take and eat together and drink. Never ever again. Not even to Paul on the Damascus Road. Paul saw him, right, but not in the senses of these appearances. This is the end of that. He's never appeared to anybody in any of those senses ever since the day of the ascension. So he goes on, verse 10, and as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was going through this process, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. This is the idea that you're standing there with all your buddies and you're all watching, like, I don't know, the space shuttle. We used to watch the space shuttle, you know, go up doing this, and then and you're just all alone there on the Mount of Olives, you know, near Bethany, and then all of a sudden you're like, you look over and there's these two guys standing there. Where'd you guys come from?

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Um, that's the sense.

Refuting Pentecost And Preterism

Three Heavens And Hebrews 4

Angelic Conflict And Daniel 10

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And of course they are angels. Um, but it says, you know, two men in white clothing stood beside them, and they also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven. So they just said something significant about the second coming. Just as the ascension was a visible thing, like you could see him taking off and departing, so when he comes at the second coming, it will be visible and he will come back to earth. Speaking of the second coming. Now, in other words, this verse is describing the manner of the second coming. How, or what what the way it will transpire, the way it will transpire, the manner. So, how will it transpire? Well, visibly, physically, bodily, right? The Lord Jesus Christ, in hypostatic union as undiminished deity, united with true humanity, will descend. Now, the liberals say, liberal Christians say that a few days from now in Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost, that's the second coming. Question, is that the second coming? Did he come in the same way on Pentecost that he departed at the ascension? No. And not at all. Not even close. Not even by a long shot, right? Then the preterists come along, preterists from the Latin preter, which means past. So these are people who believe most prophecies already been, or all in some cases, have been fulfilled in the past. In other words, we should not expect any more second coming than the second coming that they would say happened in 8070. That's the full preterist view. Full preterist view is the idea that the second coming of Jesus Christ occurred through the Roman armies, Titus and the Roman armies in AD 70 when they destroyed Jerusalem. In other words, the second coming was Christ coming back through the Roman armies to destroy the Jews. That's what their belief is about the second coming. My question to everyone here is: does that fit what the angels said would happen in Acts 1.11? Is Titus and the Roman armies really Jesus Christ coming back in the same manner that he departed? And the answer should be an obvious no. So we point out a couple things there about the ascension because they're essential for understanding what the second coming will also be like. Matthew 24, the last words to Israel, Jesus says in that discourse, he says, every eye will see him. So it's going to be a visible, physical, bodily coming, just as the ascension was literal, visible, physical. Alright, let's talk about the significance of it. What does it mean? This is where things get fun. First, there'll be three points, three main points. The first main point is that he has passed through the heavenlies. This is stated multiple times. Um I think that's Hebrews 4, but let me make sure. Yeah, Hebrews 4, 14. Let's turn to Hebrews 4 14 through 16. There's a significance to the concept of the heavens or the heavenlies. And of course, his passing through them. Okay. Because we're going to see, of course, there's three three heavens. The atmospheric heaven, the starry heavens, where the galaxies and so forth are. And then the third heaven, which is the highest heaven elsewhere. Described as the highest heaven, you know, where God is, his throne room, and so forth. So Hebrews 4.14. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, and that high priest is named for us, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. In other words, there's there's an application to this idea that he passed through the heavens and went to the third heaven, and it's that we should hold fast our confession. The reason, verse 15, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who's been tempted in all things as we, and yet without sin. See, we're all tempted to not hold fast our confession. And that's what he's talking about here. He's saying, Well, you should hold fast your confession of Christ. Why? Well, because he's passed through the heavenlies. This must have significance for that. And the reason and the significance is because he now sits at the highest position in the universe. And so why would you shrink back from your confession of him? He's at the helm of the universe. Who else is above him? See, he's already passed through the heavenlies. Well, what's the heavenlies anyway? Why does he keep saying this? Pass through the heavenlies, this is said in Ephesians, this is said in Colossians, he's far above. What is this signif signifying? Well, I mean, angels dwell essentially in the second heavens and have access to here to the first heavens. So they uh dwell in the atmospheric heaven. I mean, there's angels that you know, good angels that have access to the third heaven, of course. But he's passed through these heavens, signifying he has now gone above them, as Colossians 3 says, He's far above. So there are these three heavens, as we mentioned, the atmospheric. Um I'll mention a few things about this in Genesis when God creates, and boy, I just really kind of wish we were teaching Genesis. I've been wanting to teach it now for a long time. In Genesis, he creates the waters above, the heavens, and the waters below, and he calls the expanse heaven or sky. Right? That's the way it's phrased in our English Bible. Um without going into long details, I think these waters above were placed at the edge of the universe. I don't think they were around the earth. Well, yeah, around the earth, but I mean farther. Way out at the edge of the universe, separating the second heaven from the third heaven. That's what I would say. And there are reasons for that. But some people have seen them directly around the earth, and some uh explanation for the waters that fell at the flood and so forth, 40 days, 40 nights, and all that. I actually think most of the water came from within the earth. The earth itself burst open, and most of the water was underneath the crust of the earth, and then it burst forth, and now we have more than 70% of the earth is covered in water, right? But before the flood, uh the earth was very different, but most of the earth was probably land. So, anyway, uh to put all this discussion in context, you've got the expanse on the day two, and this expanse is called heaven. And then later, he created. The birds, right? On day four. He creates the birds. I'm sorry, day five. That's in the wrong way. Day five. And he says that they are to fly against the face of heaven. So, which is against the face of the second heaven, the starry heavens. I mean, birds don't fly out in space, do they? No, because there's no oxygen there and they won't be able to fly. So these, there's an atmospheric heavens that they fly in. That's their realm, the birds. And then you've got the starry heavens beyond that, where galaxies and so forth are. And then, of course, Paul talks about the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12.2. So we might as well look at that one because it's always interesting. 2 Corinthians 12.2. But the important thing we're seeing here is that Christ passed through all these heavens, right, into this heaven that Paul is describing, that a man he knew, right, was caught up to the third heaven. By the way, it's a word for rapture, but anyway. 2 Corinthians 12, 2, I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know. God knows such a man. Such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And we think he's talking about himself, but he's doing so in a manner to come across humbly rather than arrogantly. So he speaks of himself in the third person. So this is the third heaven, though, he says there in verse 2, and that's obviously the throne room of God, the highest heaven, what the Hebrew called Shamayim Shamayim, the highest heaven or heaven of heavens. Right? And what Christ did was he passed through these heavens at the ascension to the highest heaven and took his seat at the right hand of the Father. So this is the first major significance of the ascension. There's no angel that's above him. Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, right? For a little while in his incarnation.

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But at the ascension, he's far above all the angels.

Christ Takes The Ultimate High Ground

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So this is significant. Hebrews, well, which we were just there, should have stayed. Hebrews chapter 2, verses 5 through 10. Hebrews chapter 2, verses 5 through 10. Which is quoting Psalm 8. Hebrews 2, 5 through 10. All this is practical. There's application to the ascension. It's not just, hey, let's know this stuff just to know it. No, there's a reason this is written. Hebrews 2, 5 through 10. For he did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking, but one has testified somewhere else, saying, What is man that you remember him, or the Son of Man that you are concerned about him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels. Speaking of the Messiah, right? In his incarnation. You have crowned him with glory and honor, and you have appointed him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under him. Now that's all coming out of Psalm 8. All coming out of Psalm 8, right? And then he says, For in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. So Psalm 8 is talking about a time in history when all things will be subjected to him. And the author is saying, now we don't yet see that. And that's because he's talking about the kingdom. And the kingdom's not here yet when he comes to rule on earth, right? So we don't see all things subjected to him yet. But verse 9, we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of his death, crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone, you know, every single person, every single individual that's ever been born, he tasted death for them on the cross. Verse 10, for it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sins to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation, which is the Messiah through sufferings, and so forth. But um the point is to see that he has been made a little lower than the angels, right? But that was only for a little while. Now he has passed through the heavens, as chapter Hebrews 4 tells us, and he's taken his seat at the right hand of the Father. Um there are angelic battles, this is another thing to mention, in the heavenlies that transpire. Daniel saw one in Daniel chapter 10, I believe it's verse 11 and 12, kind of specifically talk about this. Um, that Daniel was praying for 21 days in Daniel chapter 10 and fasting. And then finally, this angel comes to, and he has a vision and he's given the answer to his prayer, and then the angel says, I was held up by the prince of Persia for 21 days. He says, So don't think that I wasn't sent, you know, the moment you began to pray, he says to Daniel, he says, but I got hung up over the airspace over Persia, which is Iran.

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That's kind of important, right?

Gettysburg And Strategic Advantage

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It's kind of a central place in the world where a lot of issues are transpiring. This and he was in a combat with this other angel, this demon, who was the prince of Persia. That means the prince of Persia is not a human, it's the angelic or demonic power that was behind the king of Persia, who was influencing the king of Persia, who's the real power. It was the angel working through the human king of Persia at the time. And because this good angel is trying to come through that airspace to answer Daniel, well, they got in a scuffle for 21 days. So if you thought any of the heavyweight championship, you know, 15-round fights are long, nothing compared to a 21-day fight, right? And uh, in the story of Daniel 10, there's another angel that comes and assists, and then, you know, so they tag teamed him. WWF. And then he's able to make his way to Daniel. So the point in saying that is look, the world is much more complicated than just what the eyes see. Um we live in the times of the Gentiles, you know, when there's basically imperial power has been given to Gentile nations. Uh yet behind these nations, the rulers of these nations, are many demonic forces that are carrying out their purposes through humans that are essentially pawns in their hands, slaves to not only their sinful disposition, but also to Satan. Ephesians 2, 1 through 3. He's the prince of the power of the air. You know, that's not said without quite a bit of meaning. Uh so people really aren't free, you know, they're really enslaved to demonic powers. They just think they're free, they're under a deception. And um, but Christ has passed through, see, he has taken his seat far above them all. And at that point, on in Acts chapter 1, when he ascended, that's it. Nobody's ever seen him like that again, but he's going to come again in the same way, right? So that's the first thing. He has passed through the heavenlies where demonic powers uh persist. The second thing of significance about the ascension is that he has taken the high ground. This is a strategic military objective. Has been acquired by the second person of the Trinity in hypostatic union, right? I mean, he's an undiminished deity, we know that. Forever he's God. And he never ever gave up one of his attributes ever. But what he did give up was the independent use of his divine attributes during his incarnation. But this undiminished deity is united with his true humanity in one person, right? And this person sits right now far above all angelic powers and all powers that could be named in this age or in the age to come, right? So let's look at Ephesians chapter 1.

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Ephesians chapter 1.

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We're talking about a military objective that has been achieved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1, he's in the Paul's in the middle of a prayer here that it began back in verse 18. Um if you look at verse 18, the content of his prayer, he says, uh, your eyes having been enlightened, it's a perfect tense, they've already been enlightened. The moment you believe in Christ, your eyes were enlightened. Okay, that is to understood and understand spiritual truth. Then he gives the purpose for your eyes being enlightened the moment you believed in Christ. So that you will, and there's three things. So that you will, number none, number one, know what is the hope of his calling. What is the hope of his calling? Why did he call you to be a believer? The hope, which is something future, is the rapture.

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Okay?

Seated At The Right Hand Explained

Caesar Versus Christ: Allegiance

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What is the hope of his calling? That he'll come for us today. I mean, what more could you hope for? That he'll come for us today. That's the rapture, number one. Number two, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in you, in the saints? You are his inheritance, okay? And he wants you to know this. Why does he want you to know that you're his inheritance? Wouldn't you want to know what is your inheritance? No. He wants you to know that you are his inheritance. Why does he want you to know that? Because he wants you to know that you're valuable. If you are his inheritance, how first of all, how humbling, that we would be his inheritance. And number two, you must be very, very valuable. So he wants you to know that. Number three thing to know what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. He wants you to know that the same power that resurrected the Lord Jesus Christ out of all the tombs on earth just resurrected him on that wonderful Sunday morning, right, is the same exact power that you have access to to live the Christian life. That's what he wants us to know. Those three things. Hope of his calling, the resurrection, that you are valuable, here is inheritance. Number three, that his power, resurrection power is toward you to live the Christian life. Then he says it these are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might, which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead. And there it is, and seated him, that's the session, at his right hand in the heavenlies. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. See, who has the highest position in the universe? The Lord Jesus Christ. When it says things like all powers and dominions, it's talking about angelic powers. It's talking about human powers like presidents, prime ministers, czars. It's talking about anyone who holds any position of authority anywhere in the universe. Jesus Christ is seated not just above them, it says far above them all. Now, in military strategy and tactics, one of the keys to military victory is holding the high ground. We learned this, you know, military tacticians know this. This is the type of stuff they teach at West Point, right? You want to acquire the high ground because it's a lot easier to fight down than it is to try to fight up, right? We saw this at Gettysburg. You know, General Lee was one of the greatest generals ever in the United States of America. He was utterly brilliant, and the North was really going to have a hard time in the Civil War stopping General Lee. And yet, you know, when they come to Gettysburg, right, he's got a number of commanders underneath him, but um he went up against General Meade from the North. And General Meade was the problem was that General Lee had so many men and they'd been winning so many battles that they had, let's just say, wind in their sails. They had a good uh everything, good morale among the South the South, General Lee's army. I mean, they they felt like they were basically unstoppable. And uh now they come with a larger force than the North at Gettysburg, and Meade is forced out of town, and they take their position up on what became one famous area, at least became known as Cemetery Hill. Um now there's a number of things that could have happened, and some of us kind of wish they had happened, but anyway. Not to share too much, but um I mean if the South had just taken Colp Hill, for example, then Cemetery Ridge could not have been held by the North. But anyway, to make a long story endless, Lee uh Lee insisted on continuing to make attacks on the North, and of course it was the bloodiest battle in the history of the United States of America. Over 50,000 men were killed in three days. And the whole civil war, about six hundred thousand men. So um this was consider it's considered by many to be the turning point of the war. Especially, you know, the battle after that the next day's was at Vicksburg and the North again. But um after that, you know, you they still had two years of fighting wars. But that battle at Gettysburg was the turning point. It's when s the wind went out of the sails of the Southern Army. And they still won some battles and things like that, of course. But Grant eventually came in and you know, the North obviously we know they won, and we have the Union today. But um the significance of that that Gettysburg battle, you know, because they held the high ground, even though they were a smaller force, they were able to repel the Southern Army. And you know, they basically just shredded them to pieces. And because you want that high ground. Another example, of course, that we have in our in the 20th century would be the whole space race, which kind of began and centered around launching of the satellite Sputnik. You know, this is between Cold War between Russia and the U.S. And again, what's the what's the issue with satellites over the Earth? The issue is who has the high ground. So it was a major significant military statement when Russia launched Sputnik successfully and to beat the U.S. to space in this sense. Um, what do you think is going on with Ronald Reagan when he has his Star Wars program in the 80s? The whole idea with Star Wars was military prowess, military power and authority. It's about being number one in the world. Because why? Because we we hold the high ground. And so, what does it mean then that the Lord Jesus Christ has taken the ultimate high ground? See, it's significant military objective that's been achieved by him because he's coming again. And when he comes again from the high ground, he's going to take over the earth. He hasn't done that yet. But we see his descent in Revelation 19, riding on a white horse, right? With us, his armies with him, and then he defeats his enemies. He's coming from a strategically high ground position, and he will be victorious. So this is a tremendous significance that he has ascended to that position. All right, let's talk a little bit then about the third point, the last point, and that is that he sits. This is the session, but he sits at the right hand of God in the significance of this position. Colossians chapter 3, we're in Ephesians, so just turn to the right a couple books to Colossians chapter 3, verse 1, just to see more of this language.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

Chapter 3, Colossians 3, 1.

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Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, and I mean you have, the moment you believe in Christ, you are crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, and raised to live a new life. It's the spiritual resurrection this is referring to. There's still a physical one to come, but this is a spiritual resurrection. And you have been raised up with Christ, and you're seated in him in the heavenlies, he says, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. What's the right hand? The right hand in the Bible is depicting the privileged position, the position of privilege. Okay, and he's seated at the right hand of God the Father, on the Father's throne, awaiting his future return. So it is interesting that a human being a member of the human race, a genuine member of the human race, sits at the right hand of the Father in the most privileged position in the universe.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

Not an angel, a human is seated there. This is kind of an amazing thing. Now let's look at Acts chapter two. One of the verses that kind of troubled me at periods of my life.

Turning Point: Cross And Ongoing Battles

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But it makes makes more sense in light of the ascension, which just happened in chapter 1, right? Acts chapter 2, Paul uh Peter's uh sermon on the day of Pentecost to the men of Israel. And as he goes through that, he talks about his death, he talks about his resurrection and so forth, and he comes to verse 34. And he says, It was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says, David said, Psalm 110:1. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. That's where he's seated, right? Right now. And that's what Peter's saying. He's ascended and he's taking his seat there. Verse 36, therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah. This Jesus whom you crucified. You say made him Lord? I thought he already was Lord. Well, he was Lord in the sense that he was deity, but he's made him Lord in a different sense due to his resurrection and ascension. He's Lord in a different sense. And it's the sense that he is at the helm of the universe.

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He is they used to say master of the universe. He truly is. He's master of the universe.

SPEAKER_03 42:19

Master, Lord. So this is significant. And then the question becomes in our own personal lives, and those of the early Christians. The early Christians lived in Rome. They had Caesar, right? Who's in a position, in a higher position? Is it Caesar or is it Christ? Who sits in the higher position of authority? I mean, Caesar had power. Caesar was ultimately to be worshipped as God, right? Or a God. You could worship other gods, right? They had the gods and goddesses. As long as you worship Caesar, that's okay. The problem of the early Christians was they only worshipped one God. That's why they were ended up being persecuted. It's because they said, no, we we will not bow to Caesar. We only bow to Jesus Christ. Why? Well, because he's Lord of the universe. Caesar's Lord of the earth, yeah. But Jesus is Lord of the universe. See, there's no comparison. Same thing for us. You know, who who we're we're we have a president, we have branches of government, we have those in authority over us, but there's someone who's over them. And he is the one our ultimate allegiance goes to, right? And if people down here tell us in authority that you need to do something that's contrary to what God over the Bible teaches us to do, then guess what? Where are we? Where's our allegiance? We have to give allegiance to the one who's in the higher position of authority, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what they did in Acts chapter 4, right? Acts chapter 4, verse 18. Let's take a look at it. Here's Peter and John. They had been preaching in Jesus' name. They said, You can't do that. You can't do that. No, you you you should not preach in that name. So chapter 4, verse 18. And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it's right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge. For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. See, well, you can tell us all day long you can't preach Jesus, but guess what? We're going to because God is higher than you. So they they this put what I call steel in their bones, right? This is how the early Christians were able to stand up against Caesar's, you know, and so forth.

SPEAKER_02 44:44

They didn't care. I mean, what's Caesar gonna do?

Equipping: Spirit And Armor Of God

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I don't care. You can kill the body, but hey, fear him who can kill both body and soul in hell, right? More. That's the real issue, right? So we have something that that really makes the whole world as well as the political powers that be fearful of Christians. I mean, we are a people to be feared, not because we're fearful, but because the one in whom we believe in who has our ultimate loyalty and allegiance commands us to do things that may be contrary to the political powers that be.

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And we really don't have anything to be afraid of, do we? I mean, we fear him. We fear him, that's why we want to obey him more than we fear them.

SPEAKER_03 45:38

So this is do you understand now why we have we as Christians can have steel in our bones? See, we don't have to bow to what we would say is itty bitty Biden. Or whoever, it doesn't matter. Um the powers that be have always been afraid of Christians, okay, and this is the reason why, because the Christians' loyalty is to the ultimate person at the helm of the universe and not to them. The political powers want us to be afraid of them. They want to be able to tell us what to do, when to do, how to do it, and they want everybody to just bow and kiss their feet.

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And Christians say, no, we're not doing that. We only bow to one.

Kingdom Timeline And Final Justice

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And he's the one that's permitted you to be in power. So you should be bowing to him too. And this is why we're not afraid of them, and this is why they are afraid of us. Okay, and they should be. And here's the reason why. The ultimate reason why is the decisive battle has already been won. It's already over for human empires and kingdoms and governments. It's over. The Lord Jesus Christ won the decisive battle on the cross. It's finished. Then he took his seat, right, at the right hand of the Father at the helm of the universe. And this is so now a little bit, let's go back up a little bit more to the Civil War just for illustration, so we can understand what we're doing then. What are we supposed to be doing? The Battle of Gettysburg and subsequent Vicksburg were the turning point of the Civil War. Generally was defeated, but there were still two more years of battles to fight till the war finally ended. This is very similar to our situation. Okay. The cross was the turning point of the war. Satan was defeated at the cross, right? But he's still prowling around like a lion seeking someone to devour. He acts fierce, right? But he's ultimately already defeated by the ascended, seated Lord Jesus Christ, who's far above. So we still have battles to fight. Just like the Confederacy still had two more years of fighting after the turning point. But, you know, these are called spiritual battles. Ephesians 6, right? We put on the armor of God for these battles. They're daily battles, daily skirmishes. But they're smaller in scale than the one that was already fought by the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes it bothers people in Colossians 1, it says that we would fill up the sufferings of Christ. What does that mean? This is part of the story. Here in the ascension and session, in our subsequent battles, he suffered and was victorious in the main battle on the cross. But guess what? There's still sufferings to come, and that's what we're involved in, the smaller skirmishes that will take place until he returns and sets up his kingdom at his final defeat of these wicked people. Significance of the and demonic forces behind him. So significance of the ascension, then, summarizing, okay, there can be no church, first of all, body of Christ, Jew, Gentile, one new man. There can be none of that. That cannot exist unless you have the death, the four things. The death, the resurrection, the ascension, and the session of Christ. You have to have those four things. So can there be a church in the Old Testament? No. I mean, this is not possible. The church is built upon these. It's built upon Christ's death and resurrection, and as we've seen, the Spirit could not be sent until Christ ascended and took his session at the right hand of the Father to pour forth the Spirit, which they heard on the day of Pentecost, right? So that's the first thing. There can be no church if there's no death, resurrection, ascension, and session. Now, now that we're in the church, we are equipped by the indwelling spirit, right, as well as the spiritual gifts that He's given us for the battles we fight. In other words, why do we have the Holy Spirit indwelling in us? And why do we have certain spiritual gifts? To fight the battles. That's why. We're in a war. Okay. Spiritual gifts are like war booty that was won by the Lord Jesus Christ's victory on the cross. That's the way it's viewed in Ephesians 4, 7 through 11. He took captivity captive, he gave gifts to men. It's this idea that he won this on the cross, and now he's dispensed to us a spiritual gift or gifts. And so whenever we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, what? We win a decisive battle, right? I mean, that's one of the greatest messages in the world. The moment you believe you won a decisive battle, right? The heaven-hell question is settled for you. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Amen. I mean, you've won the decisive battle. You're placed in Christ, you're seated in the heavenlies in Christ, Ephesians 1:3. But guess what? The war continues. It sometimes doesn't feel like you're victorious, right? You're still fighting battles. It continues, but we have the high ground because we're seated in Christ in the heavenlies, and we put on, or we're supposed to put on, the armor of God every single day. Just like a Roman soldier, right? They take it off at night. I mean, it's heavy. You're not going to sleep in that stuff. They take all that stuff off, breastplate, you know, belt, shoes, whatever. Lay down on the ground, sleep all night, get ready to pack up the next morning and hike another 20 miles, right? But the next morning, what do you got to do? You got to put on all that armor. What are we supposed to do every day we wake up in the Christian life? Put on the armor of God. You don't know what all that is, we got lessons on Ephesians 6. I can explain it in five minutes. Okay? We do that every day. That's in the basics, book two. Go through the get the book. If you don't have the book, it's free. It just sits out there. Just get one. And there's a passage or section on the armor of God. And so daily we are fighting skirmishes with Satan and demonic forces. But as we live by the Spirit and we put on the armor, we have victory after victory. See, as we march ever closer to Christ's ultimate victory when he returns from heaven at the second coming. To take over the earth and establish his kingdom from sea to sea. All this, this is just more, just backing up, summarizing, I want you to catch what we're trying to do, what the purpose of your life is. Okay? That's why I'm saying all these things. All this opens the door for the church and what the church is doing. We are in spiritual battle, right? Which is now being waged in the heavenly places, but will eventually descend to earth at the second coming when Christ comes. The earth is what Christ is ultimately coming back to take. Thank God. The idea that you have five kingdoms that Daniel outlines, right? Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and then the fifth kingdom is the kingdom of the Son of Man, the Messiah's kingdom. And we're still waiting on that, you see. In the meanwhile, there's a conflict. What did Jesus say? The wheat and the tares are going to grow up alongside one another? Sons of God, the sons of the sons of the kingdom, and the sons of Satan? It's a battle. I mean, we live in this world, it's a mess. We're not in a battle, technically, with the unbelievers themselves, but the prince and the principalities of darkness that are behind unbelievers and who perpetually attempt to destroy our lives. Unbelievers are ultimately pawns and slaves to the forces of darkness who are the real power behind them. Any surprises there?

SPEAKER_04 53:12

No, no surprises.

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The good news is we've already won the key battle the moment we believed in Christ. At that moment we we followed in his footsteps. Romans 6 says we were crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, and raised to live a new life. Ephesians 1 says we've been ascended and seated in Christ in the heavenly places for the purpose of living a new life.

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And there's nobody to fear, is there? Not at least on earth.

Perseverance, Grace, And Closing

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There is in heaven. Yeah, we fear him. Our lives are now to be a working out of our position in him. We are victors. Romans says, you are more than conquerors in him who gave himself for you. More than conquerors. Uses whooper and Kao. We get from Nikao, we get Nike. Brilliant marketing strategy. From the ancient Greek goddess was also called Nike. That's her name. The goddess of victory. But we are more than who pair, above, beyond, like Uber, Uber? Huh? Hooper? It's from the same exact word. More than or over conquerors in him who loved us and gave himself for us. But we still have to continue fighting little skirmishes along the way to our ultimate destiny when we're caught up to heaven at the rapture. At that point, what will happen? Our experience will conform to who we are in Christ, our position. And then guess what?

SPEAKER_02 54:42

Then we'll come back with him. And uh we'll watch him take the earth.

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1 Thessalonians 1 says at that day when he comes back and takes the earth, it says everyone will marvel.

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Everyone will marvel. Have you ever watched a movie where I like I one week I kind of like to watch this called The Count of Monte Cristo.

SPEAKER_03 55:09

Don't judge me, whatever. Uh this movie, this you know, Edmond, right, he's unjustly foot in the Chateau d'Yves, this prison that's basically out on an island. And he didn't do anything wrong. Right? That's it's totally unjust. I can't remember how many years he spends there, but finally, you know, he gets out of he gets out, right? Well while he was in there, it was an old man who taught him a lot of disciplines warfare, math, economics, politics, taught him all sorts of stuff. He wasn't an educated man, but he came out educated out of the prison. And um the old man told him, Don't use this money. There was a treasure that he had a map to that he gave Edmond. Edmond was going to use the treasure and cut if he got out and become rich. He says, Don't use the money for evil. Let vengeance be by God. But Edmond uses it for evil.

unknown 56:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 56:07

And he gets revenge, right? And for some reason I like this movie. I'm like, get him! I mean, they deserve it, right? That's that's what you're thinking. You know, but of course, um the Bible says, hey, it's not for us to repay. God will take care of that. Um the reason we like, or I like that movie, I don't know about you. The reason I like that movie so much is because they deserve it and they're getting what they deserve. And we are longing for a time when those who are so evil and unjust in our world get what is coming to them, right? I mean, you get so tired of it because they just won't quit, and it seems like they're getting away with it all. And it's like, how can this be? This is such an unjust world. Psalm 73, the Psalm of Asaph, goes into this, you know. It's like, judge them, God, you know, smash their teeth, you know. And there's a sense of us that wants this second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, because like James 5 says, I mean, every wrong is going to be made right. And that that's hard for us to conceive that it could ever, all the evil could finally be dealt with. Um, but that's why I think 1 Thessalonians 1 says, on that day we will marvel.

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It's like your innermost desires as a Christian will be met by him. There's nobody else who can do this. There's nobody who can fix this world other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He's coming back.

SPEAKER_03 57:42

Until then, what do we do? We fight the skirmishes, right? I mean, the decisive blow has been made on the cross. That's done. So all we have to do is put on the armor of God every day, fight the skirmishes, win battles. Sometimes we lose, I get it. Just like the Norse still lost some battles after Lee's army was defeated at Gettysburg. But, you know, for the most part, what do we want to do? Just keep winning battles, keep going, getting up, putting on the armor, keep walking. Don't give up. Don't give up. Paul said it's not a given that you're gonna just make it to the end. He he asked the congregations in the letters he sent to, he said, pray for me. I've got this stuff I've got to face. I have all the hardships. I have my hardships in my life, physical life, almost I've been a shipwrecked, I've been beaten, you know, all these things. He says, on top of that, he says, I have all that my concern for the churches. You know, like, and he didn't know if he was gonna make it to the end and keep living the Christian life. But he does, right? 2 Timothy 4, he says, I have fought the good fight, I have run the race, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. See, and I don't want you to give up. It's a long journey. I think of it like an Iron Man or something. I'll stop here, but I think of it like an Iron Man. Um, we actually watched a video where a guy did what was it like 50 days of Iron Man? Every day he did an Iron Man or something. That was unbelievable. Uh every single day he did an Iron Man. But I think of the Christian life is is is is like that. I mean, it's a grueling, long race.

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But we have his strength towards to help us finish the race.

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That's why every every epistle, go read them this afternoon. Every epistle that Paul wrote ends with these with words that to the effect of grace be with you. In fact, the last words of the Bible in the book of Revelation, Grace be with you. Uh the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. Why do we need the grace? Because we need it because it's enablement to keep going. We can't live the Christian life on our own. It's not our armor, it's the armor of God. And that comes out of the book of Isaiah. So this is an ancient idea that we need his strength to fight and to win. Is it possible? 100%. 100%. With God, all things are possible. There's no reason to give up. Just stay the course.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:03

Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spoke and Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.