King of Glory: The King's Victory | Easter Sunday Service | Josiah Smith

A message by Pastor Josiah Smith on Psalm 24

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Transcript

What Do You Mean By Gospel

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What comes into your mind when you think about the gospel? Let me ask it this way: if someone was to come to you and ask you, what is the gospel, what would be the first things that you would say? Or maybe here's another question. What needs to be included in the gospel for it to be the gospel? Of course, the gospel is just a word that means good news. That's the translation of the word. So we're talking about news that is good. And so we need to understand, okay, what qualifies as that good news? What qualifies as something that truly is the gospel? Now, as a pastor, I have the great privilege actually of asking that question uh to people all the time. And I had the great privilege of walking with people to help them understand what the gospel is and to get clarity on what the gospel is. But think about that question. If I was to ask you, what is the gospel? What would be the first thing that would come to your mind? Again, as a pastor, I hear all kinds of answers to that question. Perhaps one of the most common answers I get is, Well, the gospel is the Bible. I've heard that before. The gospel is the Bible. Or some people often will say, Well, the gospel is is about Jesus. Okay. Yeah, that's true. We can affirm that. Or maybe, maybe you would say, Okay, I recognize that it's about the life of Jesus. It's about the life that he lived. So maybe you would think about the virgin birth, or you know, a more theological term, his incarnation. You would say the eternal Son of God took on flesh and dwelt among us, as John 1.14 says. You would you would think about the life of Jesus, that he lived a perfect, sinless life, that he fulfilled all righteousness and even was baptized by John the Baptist. He identified with sinners in that moment. So maybe you would think about the life of Jesus. Or perhaps in this season specifically, you would think about the death of Jesus as we reflected on on Friday, Good Friday. You would say, Well, Jesus had to die on the cross. That's that's the gospel. He had to die on the cross. Well, why did he have to die? Well, he had to die for your sins. Why did he have to die for my sins? Well, because your sins were against a holy God, and your sin, your offense was infinite. It was of infinite cosmic proportion. So he had to die. Well, he had to die for my sins. He has to pay for your sins so that you wouldn't have to. So you would say the gospel is about the death of Christ. Or perhaps maybe today on Easter Sunday, resurrection Sunday, you would say, Well, it's about the resurrection. It's about Jesus is alive. That yes, he did die on the cross. Yes, he did live a perfect life, but he did not stay in the grave. And so you would say the gospel is about the good news that Jesus is alive. And those three things, his life, his death, and his resurrection. You can kind of think of him as the big three in the gospel. Most often, if you ask someone, what is the gospel? You'll either get one of those or you'll get all three of them. He he lived a perfect life, he died on the cross, he rose again from the third day. And there's something in the scriptures when it comes to the gospel, and specifically how the gospel uh becomes good news for everyone. There's something that often gets left out of what you might consider the big three: his life, his death, and his resurrection. Now, of course, today is Easter Sunday. It's resurrection Sunday. We're thinking about the resurrection. We are rejoicing because he truly is alive. Death could not hold him. But in the scriptures, you're going to find that that's actually not the end of the gospel message in its entirety. Of course, it's included within the gospel. But there's a whole other element that comes 40 days later that is also important for the gospel. It's important for the gospel going out to the ends of the earth. And that thing, that event is called the ascension, the ascension of Christ. Now, the ascension of Christ, for whatever reason, is something that I've asked a lot of people, what is the gospel? And I don't know if I have ever heard one time someone say something about the ascension. It's something that we often don't think about. It's something that we know, of course, happened. Jesus ascended into the clouds. But what does that mean? And how does that connect to the gospel? And if it's included in the gospel, what about it? Makes it good news if it is good news. Now on Friday, we we are uh we talked about this three senses of glory in scripture. Of course, the series that we are in is the king of glory. That does come from Psalm 24, the king of glory. But there's three ways that the Bible talks about glory. The first is the presence of God. Think about the the tabernacle as we are reading in our lamp and light Bible reading plan in the book of Exodus. God gives all of these very specific instructions to Moses and by extension to the people of Israel. He even gives these two individuals, a Holiah and Bezalel, specific craftsmanship to be able to build very specific things that God gave very specific instructions to build. And his dwelling in that place, in the tabernacle, specifically in the back of the tent, the holy of holies, is also called the glory of the Lord, filled that place. And so the glory of the Lord represents the presence of God, that he is with his people. That's one sense of the glory of the Lord. The second is perhaps most common to us, is what we think of when we think of glory. It's the greatness of God. Think of the Psalms. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable. And so we, when we think about glory, that's often what we associate with glory is greatness, something that is grand and marvelous. And the scriptures have a category for that. That's certainly true. But the third sense of glory is the future destination that those who are in Christ, those who have believed in the gospel, they're headed to. Even Paul

The Big Three And The Missing Piece

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talks about this in Romans 8. If we suffer with him, we will be glorified with him. We will enter into glory in the same way that Jesus did. We will have the same kind of body that Jesus has, a glorified body. It's a destination, it's a future promise. So three specific ways of talking about glory: the presence of the Lord, the greatness of the Lord, and the future promised by the Lord. Now, specifically today, as it connects to the resurrection and the ascension, perhaps most appropriate is the second category of glory, the greatness of Jesus. He's so great, in fact, that death could not hold him. He's so great that even though he was laid to rest in a tomb, three days later, he rose again from the dead, and he lives to make intercession. So the greatness of God, but the glory of King Jesus is not just connected to his life, as essential as that is, his perfect life is essential. Even John, the Gospel of John chapter one, he says, Behold the Lamb of God, the perfect Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And so his life is certainly connected to his glory, but it's not just that. It's not just connected to his death on the cross, as important as that is. It's not even just connected to his resurrection. As we will see today in Psalm 24, Jesus is the King of glory because he rose from the dead and because he ascended into heaven. That's why Jesus is called the King of Glory. And I want you to see that today. I want you to see the importance of the ascension and how it connects to the resurrection and why it truly is good news today on Resurrection Sunday. So if you got your Bible, go to Psalm 24. And I hope you do have a copy of God's word. If you don't, we have some in the back that we could give to you. But Psalm 24 is where we will be. I want to read it for us. And then we're going to do something different. We're actually going to read it one through ten, and then we're going to actually work backwards from 10 back to 1, and that's how we will go through the text today. But let's look at it together. Psalm 24, let me read it, verse 1. The earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the King of Glory. Let's start with the background of Psalm 24. What's the occasion for writing this song? Well, many scholars believe that this is connected to the event where David, King David, goes and takes back the Ark of the Covenant that had been stolen by the Philistines. And so they were, they were being mocked. The nation of Israel were being mocked. They uh were being ridiculed and humiliated because their ark, this very precious piece of furniture that God commanded them to make that held very important things like the Ten Commandments and represented very important things. It's called the footstool of the Lord and has these two cherubim on the top, and it's also called the mercy seat. It's very important. And the Philistines had taken it. And so the nation of Israel was sort of in disarray. And David had had enough. And he said, I'm gonna gather an army and we're gonna head back to the Philistines, and we're gonna take back the Ark of the Covenant. And he, as you if you know the story, he is successful in that military venture, and he takes the Ark of the Covenant and he brings it with this grand procession up to Jerusalem, through the gates in Jerusalem, and places it in its proper place, in the Holy of Holies, in the back of the tent in the tabernacle. So in 1 Chronicles 15, it's talking a little bit about this. 1 Chronicles 15, 15, and 16, it says, And the Levites, the Levites were uh the tribe of Levi, they were whom the Aaronic priesthood came through. They were also sort of the worship leaders uh that were instrumental in orchestrating the events within the tabernacle and the sacrifices. That's what it says. And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord. Now that was again in the book of Exodus. David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals to raise sounds of joy. So, with that context, if we look again at Psalm 24, verse 7, it makes sense. Lift up your heads, O gates. They're on their way up to Jerusalem. And of course, they are personifying gates. Gates don't do not have heads, but this is such a joyous occasion. This is such a reason for celebration that even the gates are commanded to cry out. Open up, lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in. Again, the glory of the Lord was one of the ways of talking about the presence of the Lord, and that was connected to the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies. So they're saying, Lift up your heads, O gates, that the King of glory may come in to his rightful place in the tabernacle. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is this King of Glory? He is the Lord of hosts. He is the King of Glory. I want you to notice the Exodus imagery that is woven and stitched into Psalm 24. Look again at verse 8. This question, who is the king of glory? Well, the answer that they give, it's it's Yahweh. The Lord. That's the all-caps Lord there. It's Yahweh. This is the one true God of Israel. The one God that says in Exodus 3 that he is who he is. I am who I am. This is who it is. The Lord, he is strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. And of course, that's connected to their conquests that they just were successful in and taking back the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines. But even more specifically than that, it's calling back to, it's an allusion to the Exodus event where God was mighty in battle to save and deliver the nation of Israel from the nation of Egypt. You remember that story? They were enslaved to the Egyptians, and God, in this grand and decisive way, rescues them from that slavery. It's calling back to that. And we see that if we read it specifically in Exodus chapter 15, it talks about

Glory In Scripture And Psalm 24

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this song of Moses, where the nation of Israel is responding to their deliverance from Egypt that God secured for them. So in Exodus 14, we have the parting of the Red Sea. God made a highway through the sea. He made the Israelites walk on dry ground. And of course, the nation of Egypt and all of their chariots, they come racing after them. And what happens? Their chariots are heavy, and the walls of the sea come crashing down, and the enemies of God are decisively defeated. That's Exodus 14. In Exodus 15, here's how they respond. Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. That's the Egyptians. The Lord is my strength and my song, he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him. My father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. Did you catch that? The Lord is a man of war. And according to Psalm 24, the Lord is strong and mighty. He is the Lord mighty in battle. He is a man of war who causes victory for his people. This is a calling back to the deliverance of the nation of Israel from their oppressors, from the Egyptians. Well, you're saying, how does this connect to the ascension? Well, do you look there in Psalm 24, 7 through 10? There's this language of ascending, ascending the hill of the Lord, lifting up your heads. They're making this journey upward to Jerusalem to place the glory of the Lord or the ark of the covenant back into the Holy of Holies. There's this sense of an ascent happening. And historically, Psalm 24 has been connected to the ascension day. And it's often read and it's often taught on Ascension Day. Why? Because Jesus, just like God in the Old Testament, delivers the nation of Israel out of this bondage and slavery to the Egyptians, this Exodus event, Jesus leads a new Exodus. In the New Testament, specifically Hebrews, in no uncertain terms, says that Jesus is the new and better Moses. Jesus leads a new and better Exodus. Jesus leads a new people out of bondage and slavery, not to the Egyptians, but to sin. Jesus himself makes an allusion to this in the Gospel of John, John chapter 8, verse 34. It says, Jesus answered them, Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. Does that sound familiar? The Israelites were enslaves to the Egyptians. They were oppressed day and night by the Egyptians. And Jesus says, Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. And he goes on in verse 36 and says, So if the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed. If the sun delivers you out of your bondage, out of your slavery, you will be free. And in that sense, again, Jesus leads this new exodus of a new people to a new promised land. That's glory that we're headed to, where we will be with Christ in eternity. If you want to think about it by way of illustration, Jesus parted the sea of suffering and death so that you could walk through it on dry ground. That's what we said on Friday, that Jesus entered into the muck and the mire so that you and I could have a foothold on which we can stand. This is what the resurrection is all about. He parted the sea of suffering and death so that you could walk through it. How? And why? Because the grave could not hold him. Death could not hold him. That's what Easter is all about. That's what today is all about. The resurrection of our Savior who lives. He lives and he reigns. Now remember, Psalm 24 has historically been tethered to ascension day. There is this ascent that they are making up the hill of the Lord with the Ark of the Covenant, the glory of the Lord. And does that sound familiar to a different ascent that a different king made up to heaven? Jesus made this ascent into heaven, and he's welcomed with a very similar sort of procession and chorus of praise and joy. In Psalm 24, there's singing, there is songs, there is harps and lyres being played, there is shouts of joy. And in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 6, it speaks of the heavenly processional and the presentation of Jesus after his successful ministry on earth. God speaking of his son, it says, and again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, Let all God's angels worship him. There's this parading of King Jesus after his successful victory over the cross, over sin, over death, over Satan, and he ascends to heaven. He sits down at the right hand of the majesty on high, a position of authority and honor and power, and he is welcomed with a chorus of angels worshiping him. That's what Psalm 24 points us to. Who is this king of glory? He is the one who is mighty in battle. He is the one who has accomplished our salvation, who is leading us out of a new exodus. And the ascension, in a lot of ways, takes what Christ accomplished through his life, his death, his burial, and his resurrection, and applies it directly to your life. The ascension takes what Jesus did accomplish through the cross, through the grave, through his resurrection, and applies it to your life. If we're thinking about this in storytelling terms, just for illustration, if the resurrection is the plot twist, he didn't stay dead, the ascension is the finale. That's what the scriptures say. And in that sense, point number one, I want you to view the ascension as the exclamation point of the resurrection. View the ascension as the exclamation point of the resurrection. Here's another sort of analogy to help you think about this. Think of the resurrection as a meal that has been prepared. It has all of the ingredients, it's been properly cooked, the work is done. Jesus Himself on the cross, John 19, it is finished. And he drew his last last breath and gave up his spirit. So the resurrection is a meal that has been prepared. It has all the ingredients, it's been properly cooked, the work is done. And think of the ascension as that same meal. Now being served. What the Son prepared through his life, death, resurrection is now being served to those who believe. That's what the ascension marks. That's why it's essential to the gospel message. Because upon his ascension, he says, It's better that I leave. He tells his disciples that. Why?

David’s Procession And The Ark

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Well, because there was a spirit, a helper coming, the spirit of God, that was going to lead them into all truth. It was going to convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. And upon his ascension, the meal that was prepared is then served globally to the world. Because I'll tell you this: if Jesus truly is the king of glory, he needs to be alive. And this is obvious, but a king who is dead is a king who does not reign. But the resurrection tells us, and the ascension tells us, that Jesus, in fact, is reigning. That right now, after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is much more better than theirs. That's what Hebrews 1 tells us. A king who is dead is a king who does not reign. But Jesus, Jesus is the King of Glory because he rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, where he lives to make intercession for you. He is the King of Gory who is mighty in battle. He is the King of glory who defeated sin, death, and Satan. He defeated death so that you might have life and have it more abundantly. That's what the resurrection is all about. And the resurrection is about him preparing this meal. The ascension is all about him serving this meal by sending his spirit to apply the work of salvation that he accomplished on the cross. That's why he is the king of glory. But it still begs the question: why is it important that Jesus ascended after his death? I mean, if you're the disciples and you're listening to Jesus say, It's better that I leave, you're going, probably not. I mean, it doesn't feel that way. Why wouldn't you stay here with us, Jesus? How is it better? Well, it's better because of the work that it accomplishes. The work of his threefold office of being a prophet, a priest, and a king really is sort of one pastor said it detonates upon his ascension. Think of it that way. There is a detonation upon his ascension, where things are now going off and being spread to the corners of the world, to Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And then this threefold office, it's important that Jesus ascended because he ascended as this prophet. He ascended as the prophet who by his spirit continues to speak through his word. In his current state of reigning and ruling and sitting at the right hand of the majesty on high, he continues to be a prophet, a prophet that speaks by his spirit through his word. That's why the New Testament, Paul, as an example, calls the Spirit of God the Spirit of Christ. Of course, the Trinity, that's one God, eternally existing in three persons, but the Spirit of Christ is speaking through his word. And this is all connected to the ascension. Jesus, in a in a sense, when he was on earth, when he was in Galilee, when he was in Jerusalem, he could only speak to those who were right in front of him in a very locale kind of way. Of course, that's he was in flesh and blood. He was speaking to his disciples who were there face to face. But he could speak to great crowds, but they'd have to gather. There was even times where it says they were thronging about, they were pushing and shoving. But when he ascends and sits at the right hand, he sends his spirit that now speaks more broadly and across the entire world. Not in just the region in the Middle East, but through any person who is teaching correctly the word of God, or you who are submitting to the word of God, the Spirit of God illuminates the Word of God in your heart so that you can hear the words of Christ. And in that sense, that's why Jesus can say, My sheep hear my voice and they know me. Was that just when he was here on earth, speaking audibly? Well, no. Upon his ascension, he is the prophet by whom his spirit continues to speak through his word. And as he speaks through his word, his sheep will hear, and his sheep will follow. That's connected to the ascension. It's the serving of the meal that Jesus accomplished, that he prepared for those who would believe. That's why it is essential. It's also essential because he is the ascended priest. Remember that threefold office: prophet, priest, and king. He's the prophet who continues to speak by his spirit through his word. He's the priest who's able to save to the uttermost because of his once-for all sacrifice. That's what Hebrew says. It says that Christ lives to make intercession for you, if you are his, if you've trusted in Christ. He is the ascended priest. And even in Hebrews, it gives this idea that his priestly work didn't fully begin until his ascension. Of course, he offered himself as a sacrifice. There's kind of an already not yet aspect to that. But in Hebrews, it locates his priestly work being after his ascension, where he is your advocate. He is your intercessor. He lives to make intercession for you because he has made an eternal once-for-all sacrifice. His ascension marks his priestly work. The meal that he prepared on the cross is being served now by his spirit. And the spirit is applying the benefits of salvation to those who would believe, to those who would trust in Christ and His priestly work, that his sacrifice was sufficient. So it's important. The ascension is important because he is the ascended prophet who by his spirit speaks through his word. He is the ascended priest who's able to save to the uttermost because of his once-for-all sacrifice. And he is the ascended king of glory who governs the universe with just the word of his power. I mean, that's what it says in Hebrews 1, doesn't it? He upholds the universe by the word of his power. And after making purification for sins, he sat down. That's after the ascension. He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, where he speaks by his spirit through his word, where he continues to be an intercessor, interceding for you, your advocate, his priestly work being applied to you. He lives to make intercession, he's able to save to the uttermost, and he rules and he reigns. He governs the universe with just the word of his power. The ascension is the exclamation point of the resurrection. And that's why so often in church history, Psalm 24 has been connected to the day of ascension. This holy processional of Jesus. Think of it, imagine it. After his resurrection, after he has conquered sin and death, he has sins, and there is a host of angels there to greet him and welcome him back into heaven. It marks the finality of his earthly ministry. He accomplished what he was there to do. And they, with great joy, with great rejoicing, at God's instructions, let all of God's angels worship him. He is paraded through the streets of heaven as the victorious king of glory who sits down at the right

Ascension As Finale And Good News

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hand of the majesty on high, because a savior who sits is a savior whose work is complete. View the ascension as the exclamation point of the resurrection. Now the question then becomes if we're working backwards through Psalm 24, is if Jesus is the King of glory, who leads a new and better Exodus, who provides victory over sin and death, who is a mighty man of war, as it says in Exodus, how can you share in the King of Glory's victory? How can you share in the spoils, so to speak, of Christ's secured victory, of the meal he prepared and the meal that he served? So look at it with me in verse three. Here's the question: Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who's gonna make it to the place where Jesus now rules and reigns? And who shall stand in his holy place? That again again connects back to the idea of having a foothold on which you can stand. That is Christ. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? Well, here's the answer in verse 4. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully, he will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. And that's the question. How can you share in the king's victory? How can you ascend the hill of the Lord? Well, it's by trusting in the King of Glory. It's by trusting in the one who secured the victory. Point number two, trust in Christ to receive what you need to share in victory. Trust in Christ to receive what you need to share in victory. Again, the question is: who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Just the mere presence of the question implies that not everyone will ascend, and not everyone will stand. Otherwise, the question would be somewhat meaningless. If it's everyone all the time, everywhere, there'd be no need to ask the question. It would just say, everyone all the time, everywhere will stand and will ascend. But it doesn't say that. It says, Who? Who shall ascend? Who shall stand in his holy place? Not everyone can share in the victory, but there are some who can. And who are those people? What kind of people are they? Well, that's the answer in verse 4. Look at it again. To those who would stand, to those who would ascend, it is those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. It's that kind of person that will ascend the hill of the Lord, that will share in the victory of the king of glory. That person, according to Psalm 24. Well, let's look at this. What do these things mean? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. It's talking about your inner life and your outer life. You can say your inner self and your outer self, the things inside that maybe no one sees, or very few people see, apart from the Lord, of course, who sees all, and those things outside that people do see. He has clean hands and a pure heart. So clean hands are your outer actions, your outer work, the things that you do, the things that you pursue, clean hands, pure hearts. That's your inward attitude, an inward life of holiness. So God says in his word that those who will ascend the hill of the Lord, those who will share in the victory of Christ, they are those who have clean hands and pure hearts, those who are clean outwardly and inwardly, those who do right and who have been made right. That's the kind of person that ascends the hill of the Lord. Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, verse 8. He says, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. A pure heart, think of it as like a key fob that gets you into a specific door. A pure heart is the key fob that you need to ascend the hill of the Lord. That's what Jesus says. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. It's those who have the key fob that can get in. And it's those who are pure in heart, he says, they will be the ones that shall see God. And even in our text, in Psalm 24, verse 6, it says, Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob, who will see the Lord, because they have a pure heart and clean hands. As if that wasn't enough, he continues and says, Who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully. This idea mirrors the great command to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Do you see that there? Who does not lift up his soul to what is false? Let's talk about worship. Lifting up your soul to what is false, to false idols, to things that are not God, the one true God, that's a violation of that command, to love the Lord your God with all of your heart. And does not swear deceitfully. See how that connects to how you are to love your neighbor, you are to be honest in your dealings, you are to respect others and speak honestly to others. This is the great command who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. So we have those who have clean hands, pure hearts, those who love the Lord their God with all their hearts, those who love their neighbor as themselves. That's the kind of person that makes it, that ascends the hill, that stands in God's holy place. And I hope you're feeling a sense of man, that's a high bar. That's an impossible bar. And apart from Christ, all of this is impossible. Which one of us can say with absolute 100% honesty and integrity, my hands are clean, my heart is pure, I always love the Lord, I always treat my neighbor the way that I should. Never. We could never say that. But Christ can. Christ is the one who has clean hands. Christ is the one that has a pure heart. Christ is the one who has fulfilled the law. That's what he says in Matthew 5. I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. We can't do this. We can't create this. We can't seek to earn this. We can't try to work toward this. Trying to ascend the hill of the Lord on your own, in your own strength, according to your own work, by your own might, is like trying to uh climb Mount Everest with no experience, no money, no supplies, no guide, and no directions. It only leads to death. It's impossible. And this is what Paul says in Romans 3:20 for by the works of the law, no human will be justified in his sight. It's impossible. The law does not justify us, the law condemns us. The law shows us like a mirror that we do not have clean hands, that we do not have pure hearts, that we do in fact lift up our souls to what is false, and we do, in fact, swear deceitfully. And because the law shows us that, that should bring us to this place of recognizing that I'm not gonna make it. I'm not going to ascend the hill. I'm not gonna stand in the holy place. I am not going to share in the victory on my own, in my own strength. I need something else. I need someone else. And that's what Easter Sunday really is all about. It's about the something, the someone else that made it so that you could ascend the hill of the Lord. Made it so that you could stand in his holy place, and that you could, as Paul says in Ephesians 1, be made holy and blameless before him. You can because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is all about Christ's perfection. It's all about his righteousness, not ours. It's all about his work that he accomplished, his work that he says is finished, not your work. This is what Paul says in Romans 4:5. And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Did you hear that? The one who does not work is the one who ascends. Think about that. How twisted that feels from our perspective. The one who does not work is the one who makes it. The one who cannot earn is the one who makes it. The one who recognizes that it's not our work, but it's someone else's. It's Christ. The

Who Can Ascend God’s Holy Hill

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one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly. His faith is counted as righteousness. If you're gonna share in the victory of Christ this resurrection Sunday, you need to trust in Christ for the victory. And then the question becomes in Psalm 24: has anyone ever ascended the holy hill of the Lord? Has a man ever ascended the hill of the Lord? Well, that's what the ascension is all about. The man, Christ Jesus, who ascended the hill of the Lord, who lives to make intercession for you. Trust in Christ to have this security and being able to ascend the hill of the Lord, to stand in his holy place. Now, what do we do in light of this? What do we do in light of the resurrection and the ascension? If the resurrection is the meal prepared, and the ascension is the meal served. What do we do? How do we respond to this? Well, look at verses 1 and 2 in Psalm 24. This is how David begins, kind of reflecting on all of the events of going and securing the Ark of the Covenant, bringing it back through the gates of Jerusalem, setting it back in its proper place. He begins by just acknowledging and worshiping the Lord. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. That's how David begins. He begins by just saying, Here's who God is. Here's who this king of glory is. Everything belongs to him. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The world and those who dwell therein belong to the Lord. And there's this sense of which David wanted to tell others about who God was. He wanted to just remember and recount the faithfulness of the Lord, the greatness of the Lord, the glory of the Lord. And our response to the resurrection and the ascension should be the same. Point number three, I want you to give yourself to the work of telling others of the King of Glory. Give yourself to the work of telling others who is this King of Glory? And what did he do? What did he accomplish on the cross? Give yourself to that work. Now, if you noticed on your note sheet, I think it's probably small, but you can see that it says Psalm 24 slash Acts 1. Okay, because we're connecting it there to the ascension. That's the ascension passage where he's standing before his disciples and he goes up in a cloud. But let me read it for you. Acts chapter 1, verses 8 through 11. Right before his ascension, this is the last thing that Jesus says. Acts 1, verse 8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit, when the promised helper, has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. And to all and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up. Lift up your heads, O gates. Lift up your heads, O ancient doors, the King of glory is coming. And when he had 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 as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, Men 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. The resurrection and the ascension should motivate us to go and make disciples. See how Jesus connected those two things? You will be my witnesses. You're going to go and tell others of my work. You're going to show them from the word that he is the king of glory. You will be my witnesses, Jesus says. His final words, and then he makes his ascent up to heaven. Like a king would ascend the steps to their throne. He ascends and sits down to the right hand of the majesty on high. The resurrection and ascension should motivate us to go and make disciples, to reach, to teach, and to train. And we've been given a mission by the king of glory himself. You guys ever get emails from people that are like your boss, but they're not from your boss? Has that ever happened to you before? These scam emails where your boss says, I'm in a meeting right now, but could you go get me some gift cards from the corner street? Um I thought about that this week. Uh a lot of scams going on out there. Uh it happens a lot actually in in churches. You might get an email from me that says uh you need to go get some gift cards. If you get an email like that, please don't buy any gift cards. Unless it's to a restaurant for my wife and I. Then you know, then maybe I am in a meeting and would. But the whole point is these these scammers, what are they trying to do? They're trying to pick someone that you would consider important to try to persuade you to do something on their behalf. And I remember one person kind of got uh swindled by this scam. And I remember his exact words were my pastor needs me. My pastor wants something from me. And so he he gladly went to the store and he he unfortunately fell to the scam. But then that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to trying

Witness Mission And Final Prayer

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to motivate you by someone in your life that you have some esteem for, some respect, some sense of uh reverence for. And listen, as silly as that is, if we are motivated by men and women we deem important, how much more should we be motivated by the king of glory, the king of kings and lord of lords, the one through whom all things were made. He is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature. If we're motivated by men and women who we deem important, and maybe they are important, maybe they are respectable, maybe they are worthy of your esteem. But if we deem men and women as important and therefore are motivated to work on their behalf, how much more should we be motivated to work on behalf of our king? The king of glory. Again, the psalm goes, Who is this king of glory? Well, it's the Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the king of glory. We serve a risen Savior who sits right now as the ascended prophet who speaks by his spirit through his word. He's the ascended priest who lives to make intercession. He is the ascended king who upholds the universe by the word of his power. And what he says to his disciples right before he ascends is go, go and be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. You will receive the power to do it by the spirit. Even as Paul says in Romans 1, that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Our response to Easter Sunday, to resurrection Sunday to be should be to go, to be motivated to work on behalf of our King. Who is this King of glory? He's the Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. Let's pray together. God, thank you for the reality that Jesus ascended and now sits at your right hand. God, we're grateful for his victory over death, his victory over sin, his victory over Satan. And God, I pray that if there are those who are not currently sharing in that victory, God, would you open their eyes to the truthfulness of the gospel? It's by no work of their own. In fact, you say in your word that to the one who does not work but believes, to him is the one who will be saved. God, I pray that there will be those in this room that are saved because they recognize who this King of Glory is. And just like the gates of heaven, just like the gates of Jerusalem, that we would open up the gates and that we would let the King of Glory in, that we would sing shouts of praise, and that we would honor him by seeking to be his witnesses and to do his work, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.