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From the Ascension to the Throne | Group Bible Study
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From the Ascension to the Throne | Group Bible Study
Acts 1:9-11
What really happened when Jesus ascended into heaven?
In this Bible study, we look at Book of Acts 1:9–11 and connect it to Book of Daniel 7 to see the ascension not as Christ’s departure, but as His coronation.
From the perspective of earth, Jesus goes up.
From the perspective of heaven, the Son of Man comes before the Father and is given all authority, glory, and an everlasting kingdom.
We also explore:
How Jesus fulfills God’s promise to David
What it means that “all authority” has been given to Christ
Why Satan is still active even though Christ reigns
The reality of two kingdoms and two humanities: in Adam and in Christ
How the Church participates in Christ’s present reign through the power of the Holy Spirit
This study helps us understand not just what happened at the ascension, but what is happening right now in the world—and what it means for our lives.
Jesus is not absent.
He is reigning.
And His kingdom is advancing.
Well, um, we are still in Acts, and this morning um I was gonna go a different direction, but I just had a thought, you know. Last Sunday we talked about Jesus and how he had given final instructions to the apostles, and then you know, he ascended um to the Father, and it said that a cloud took him up. Um now I printed all these, I made all these in color, but um our printers are down today with no internet, and so um I had to print them at home, and our printer's black and white, so first world problem for sure. Right. So, anyway, um the we we watched as Jesus was taken up, and it says in the Bible, in um that that verse, it says, those verses, it says, 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. While they were gazing into heaven, and 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 taking up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go. And so we talked about how the disciples watched him, you know, go, and they just kind of gazed up and they kept watching, and a cloud took him up. And I just wanted to talk about um I was thinking through this and I'm thinking, okay, so we see him lifted, we see a cloud receive him, the disciples are watching, and the questions I put down here were, you know, it just looks like Jesus is leaving them. But the question is, why? Why did Jesus leave in this moment? Where was he going? What was he doing? Why did he need to leave? And why has he been gone so long? Those seem like fair questions? You ever wondered those kind of questions? So, what I wanted to try to answer this morning is what was happening in that moment, and the Bible actually tells us that. So, in the book of Daniel, chapter 7, it says, verse 13 and 14. It says, I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man. And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. So, this passage is used sometimes to describe the second coming of Jesus. Okay, so when he comes back for his church, for the judgment, all that kind of stuff, it's used in that way. But the question is in this passage that we just read, which direction is Jesus traveling? What does it say he was going? Yeah. Well, yeah, up. I mean, what part of this passage tells us that? Rob and Jenny, you have a copy there with you, I think, so you can participate here too. I'll try to watch for your comment. Well, it says he came to something. Where did he come to? He came to the ancient of days. I want to go to that section because there's a little more, I don't think I got the full section, and it gives a little more clarity. Okay. In verse 9 it starts this way As I looked, thrones were placed, and the ancient of days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, the hair of his head like pure wool, his throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire, a stream of fire issued and came out from before him, a thousand thousands served him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. And I looked, and then the sound of the great words of the Lord was the horn was speaking, and as I looked, the beast was killed, its body destroyed, given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominions, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season at a time. Now this section here is talking about the judgment of kingdoms. This is not the great throne judgment at the end of time where he's judging all the this is these are specific kingdoms and it names them in this chapter. Okay? So it not names them, but it talks about these kingdoms. And these kingdoms, by pretty much, it's all agreed by most theologians that these would be, you know, Babylon, Middle Persia, Greece, and Rome. Okay, so these kingdoms that it's talking about. So what it's talking about here is his judgment on the kingdoms. Okay? So they sat in judgment, and I noticed that the word thrones, not throne, was placed. Thrones were placed, okay? Then it says, and I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him, and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Okay, and so we see Jesus traveling to the ancient of days. So this is not Jesus coming to the earth. This is Jesus after he ascends, coming before the Father. Okay? And then it says he receives a kingdom and dominion and glory. Now, he actually talks about this. Jesus prayed for this the night before he was to be arrested in John 17, 5. So that's the high priestly prayer where Jesus is praying right before he goes and praying for us, the disciples, and for us. But in this verse here, he said, And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. So Jesus knew who he was, didn't he? He knew where he had come from. And he knew where he was going. And so in this section in Daniel, Jesus is being, this is this is a picture of his coronation. This is the picture of Jesus arriving, having conquered sin and death and overthrown the kingdom of Satan, and arriving and receiving in his now glorified humanity. So Jesus has always been God, he's always been worthy of glory, and yet he came and clothed himself in humanity, conquered sin and death, and now he has arisen into glorified humanity. And so now Jesus is fully God, he's fully man, and he's arriving in this state now to be presented as the conquering king, as our Savior, kingdom and glory and dominion. Okay? Now in 2 Samuel, the Bible talks about this was a prophecy, I'm sorry, that God gave to David. He said, When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I'm going to raise up your offspring after you, and he shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Okay, so this moment's also an answer to God's promise to David. David, God told him, I'm going to establish one of your offspring on the throne. You're never going to cease to have an offspring on the throne. And they might have thought back then he's talking about generations and generations of his sons are always going to rule on the throne. Well, when Babylon was conquered, his sons didn't rule on the throne anymore. I mean, when Jerusalem was conquered by Babylon, David's sons no longer sat on the throne. They never did again. And so this is that fulfillment of the seed of David, the root and the branch of Jesse, the Bible calls them. He's both the root of Jesse, David's father, and he's also a branch that comes off of Jesse. But this was this moment. And so I'm saying all this, I'm sorry if I'm being confusing, but I'm saying all this to show where was Jesus going, what was happening during this time. So the disciples see him ascend, and a cloud carries him into heaven. Now from the other angle, the camera's pointed downward. And Jesus comes into the presence of the Father, and he's presented with glory and honor and dominion and a kingdom. Okay, so this is his coronation of him receiving the crown, of being seated upon the throne. Okay. And then I put Jesus told them this would happen. So in John 16, 7, what's funny is I've been in John for a long time. For years, God keeps bringing me back to this section between 13 and 17. And it's funny because now I'm when I'm studying Acts and I'm still kind of in those, and those are in my brain, I'm seeing how they align. But in John 16, Jesus told his disciples, I tell you the truth, it's to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. The Bible says that the that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, but it also says that Jesus sends the Holy Spirit. And so in this moment of receiving his glory, receiving his kingdom, receiving his dominion, seating on his throne, then from this position, now he pours out his spirit upon the church. Okay? And so this is this is what's happening. I'm just trying to give you a picture. This is what's happening. But remember what he told them in the Great Commission before he ascended? What was it? What's the Great Commission? Anybody remember? Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and Spirit, teaching them to obey all the things I've commanded you. And he says, Behold, I'm with you to the ends of the earth. I like that part. Because Jesus is seated upon his throne, and yet he has sent his spirit. And Paul says, the Christ in you, the hope of glory. And so, really, you know, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, they're one. They're one. Three persons, one God. But see, Jesus is saying, all authority, even when he was on earth, before he had ascended, he's saying, based on this, what I'm going to tell you right now, go. Okay? He says, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Now go. Make disciples of all nations. So even at this moment, Jesus had not received, he hadn't participated in the coronation, he had not yet, you know, officially gone to receive these things, and yet he had already purchased them by his blood. He had won them. He had already conquered sin and death. He had already, it's like it was his, right? And so, based on the fact that he's the king, that's the authority by which he sends us. That's the authority by which he sends his spirit to us. Another angle is in Hebrews chapter 1, where it says, of Jesus, he is the radiance of the glory of God. And it goes on. I don't know why this is abbreviated. He's the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. That's the full passage, okay? And then it says, after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of majesty on high. Okay? And so this is just walking through. Thursdays, I just figured we would slow down a little bit and start to try to understand the mechanics a little bit of what's happening, okay? And so Jesus ascends from them. He is presented before the Father. Okay? He is given dominion and glory in a kingdom. He's seated upon the throne. And it says in this passage, he is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature. He upholds the universe by the word of his power. This is Jesus reigning in his full power. Okay, if and it says, if Jesus is reigning now, this is where we get to the interesting part. If Jesus is reigning now, the question is, why does the world still feel broken? Why does Satan still seem active? Why do we Yeah, and so the qu this this is all kind of one question. How do we understand Christ's reign at a at the ground level, like where it actually impacts our life? Why does the world still seem messed up if Christ is reigning and on the throne now? So Jesus is leaving the decision to us. In the the sense in which Jesus reigns right now is through his church. So he reigns, you know. May your kingdom come, may your will be done. Your rule is your kingdom, right? And your reign is your will. Uh a king's rule and reign is that he says this and it happens. He has dominion over his territory, right? He rules it with an iron fist. His word is law, that's dominion, okay? And so the the the we pray that his kingdom come and his will be done. Well, where is that done? It's done in his church. Okay, so we're gonna get into why. Now, the the where I go from here is um this verse we read on Easter is this is what's happening in the world. There's there's really at this time in the world, there's two different humanities, there's two different kingdoms, there's two different uh realities that are going on here. Um Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. In Romans, Paul said, by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. Okay? So script what scripture's showing us, and we talked about this in this last month or month and a half or so, is what happened when Adam fell as our federal representative, as our head, as our biological father too, because there was no children before this. When he fell, all of us fell with him. And so we're born into this yeah, into this legal situation that Adam was in. When he fell, so God gave Adam dominion. Adam and Eve, he gave them dominion over the earth. He said, fill the earth and multiply it, subdue it, right? So have dominion over the earth. That's what he gave to Adam. Well, then in the garden, Satan deceived Adam and Eve. And they fell. They broke that relationship with God. And so when they fell into that disobedience, what they had done is instead of submitting to the will of the Father and the Word of the Father, they submitted to the will and the word of Satan. They in effect bowed the knee to Satan. And so it's not that Satan has a throne of his own. It's that humanity was given dominion, and they submitted themselves under Satan. And so by proxy, that's where Satan's dominion, that's where his authority comes from, that's where his kingdom comes from. Okay, but we're helpless to do anything about this because we don't have the power. And so what God did, all of humanity was under the wrath of God. We were due wrath for our sin. And so instead of leaving us in that and just pouring out his wrath on us and punishing us, he himself clothed himself in humanity and came and let the wrath be poured out upon himself. In doing this, he absorbed the full wrath of God on the sin of all who would ever believe. Right? So the full price was paid. Death has no ability to claim us anymore. Because the only reason for death is sin. When that's removed, there's no more death. Now our bodies are still corrupted by sin, and so there's there's a death that's going to happen in our bodies. But the Bible distinguishes two deaths. The first death and the second. The second death is the final one. Where if Christ didn't intervene, we would all be subject to that. Eternally lost, perdition, just gone. We would be punished forever. But he intervened to pay the price to purchase this way out. Basically, this is what the word redemption means. I lost a car one time because I couldn't keep up with the payment. Right? As I got the money together, they took it. And then I went, I had to go down to the place and pay that and the fees and all that stuff and redeem it. Right? I paid all the back stuff. I paid all the penalties and fees and the tow company to tow it. And I redeemed it by paying all of that. That's what Jesus did. He came and redeemed us. He paid all of it. And he redeemed us. Okay? So now what Colossians says is it says, He has, the Father has delivered us from the dominion, so the kingdom, the domain, the authority of darkness. And by doing that, he's transferred us to the kingdom of the beloved Son. I'm skipping some of this stuff.
SPEAKER_01How do you explain all this to a child?
SPEAKER_00We can we can do that. We can break it down. It's complicated, but the reason.
SPEAKER_01This is good stuff. Yeah. I mean, you're seeing the Old Testament talk about Jesus. And I like how you combine that. So I've never been where I had seen that.
SPEAKER_00It's one story. It's one story of redemption all the way through.
SPEAKER_02All the way through.
SPEAKER_00Yep. And that's why the apostles, their Bible was the Old Testament. They were writing the New Testament. So they're preaching Christ from the Old Testament. That's what happened on the road to Emmaus. Is they didn't know it was Jesus. He was walking along with them, and he was showing them how the scriptures showed that the Messiah must suffer and die and be raised on the third day, and preaching the gospel to them out of the Old Testament. So it's all there. And it all points forward to Jesus. And so that's what Christ accomplished. In Hebrews 2, it says, Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, so in other words, because we're made of flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things that through death, dying himself, he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. So this is what Jesus was doing in conquering the devil. He was purchasing our freedom. He was redeeming us from that by paying our sin. If there's no, I I think about this way, I've explained it before this way. If you had a home and a mortgage payment, some of you may have already paid off your houses. You're lucky. I still got 25 years on mine. But if you got behind, so far behind on your mortgage payment, that you just couldn't pay it. You were so hopelessly behind, there was just no way in the world. And then the creditors start calling you, and they're bill collectors, they're harassing you, they're threatening you, and you can't do it. You're kind of just subject to it. You just have to deal with it because they have leverage on you. The leverage is that you didn't agree, pay your contract, you didn't hold up your end of the agreement. And so they have legal means to apply things to you. You know, and so now someone comes in from the outside and says, I'm paying the whole thing. And they take out whatever it is, the full amount of your mortgage, all the back fees, all of the penalties, and they just pay the whole thing. Okay? Now, that those bill collectors, they have no right to call you anymore. They have no right to harass you, they can't do anything to you, there's no legal means, they have no leverage over you because the contract has been fulfilled. It's been completed. All the terms and stipulations of it have been completely fulfilled. They have no More authority over you. That's what Jesus did. But then he said, This house is mine now, but come live in it for free. But what we do is we keep trying to pay the mortgage payment. We think we need to keep paying the mortgage. He's like, What are you doing? It's been paid. You can't earn it. Why are you still trying to live by the stipulations of the old contract? I paid it in full. And he says, by doing this in Colossians 2.15, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and he put them to open shame, triumphing over them in Christ. And so Jesus entered our humanity, he bore sin in his flesh, he broke the legal claim of death over his people, and in Christ the new humanity has begun. And so, see now, if you're still under the old contract, you're still subject to those bill collectors, all those debt collectors, and the mortgage company. If you're under the new contract, where it is become mine and you can live here for free, then you're not under that anymore. And so there's really two different, how would I say it? There's two different categories. I don't want to say classes because classes sets up better and worse. It's not classes. There's two categories of humanity now. There's those who are still in Adam, and there's those who are in Christ, and there's nothing outside of that. Everyone is only in Adam or in Christ. But this explains why there's still a domain of darkness today. Like Christ can rule from his throne, and he's ruling in and through his church, okay? But there's still a domain of darkness. Because there's still people that are still under the sin of Adam. They're still under the legal claim of the second death. Those in Christ have been transferred into a new kingdom with different rules and a different contract. Satan's still working, but he can no longer rule those who belong in Christ. That's clearer now, huh, because of the mortgage analogy. That analogy was one that God used to make it click in my brain. Oh, there's that passage again. He's the radiance of the glory of God. We don't need to read that one again. Hebrews 7 says, consequently, he's able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for us. Okay, so Jesus now, the picture is, if you want to picture Jesus now, seated upon his throne, ruling and reigning in and through his church, okay, and he is making intercession for his saints. And so just picture him on throne, father, son, and spirits enthroned in us as people, right? And so he's interceding for his people. He's reigning upon his throne, interceding for the saints. He's not absent, really, because he's present in us through his spirit. And in this time, Jesus is plundering the kingdom of darkness. And this is a verse that I love in Matthew 12, 29, Jesus was telling his disciples, so in this scene, Jesus has been casting demons out of people. So he's delivering people from darkness. And it says, he says, How can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? And I always thought, like, what's he talking about there? Who's the strongman? Whose house is he talking about? What's he mean? Well, the Bible describes Satan as the God of this world. Describes him as prowling around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And so, this is the beauty of the incarnation, is before Christ came into the world in John chapter 1, and light came into darkness and pierced the darkness, it's like we were all under the contract of Adam. We were all legally bound under our sin. And so, really, we were submitted to him. We were under his dominion and his domain. It was his house. And Christ came into his house and he bound him, legally bound him, from being able to even touch anyone who's in Christ. This is why I take issue with anyone saying that a Christian can also be possessed by a demon. How can that happen? You're not under the dominion of darkness, you're not under the dominion of Satan. He has no legal right to touch you if you're in Christ, and his spirit is in you. And how could a demon try to enter a dwelling where the actual spirit of God himself is? And so I wrote down here, Satan may be the God of this world, but Jesus has already defeated him. He's a defeated and bound foe, and Jesus is plundering his goods, the souls of those who formerly belonged to him, and there's nothing Satan can do about it. And so this present age is the age of Christ's kingdom, plundering the kingdom of darkness, and every person who is saved by Christ is one more person rescued from that kingdom. So the question is then why is it taken so long? Why is Jesus not returned yet?
SPEAKER_01Because he need more people than he wants to.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Amen. So he told his disciples that the reason they were going to receive power was why? Yeah, amen. To be his witnesses to the ends of the whole earth. Okay. And it seemed like Paul the Apostle suggested that the whole earth, at least that they knew at that time, had been reached. So what's up? Why didn't you come back? It wasn't done. And why is that? Because the very next day another baby was born. All over the world. And another degeneration came into being. The question is, how can the gospel still be spreading to the whole ends of the earth after two thousand years of spreading to the ends of the earth? How is that happening? But why is it not done? That's my point.
SPEAKER_01Why is it not done?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah, I gave you the answer. Because every generation is a new mission field of people. It's a new field that's white for the harvest. It's a new people, a new generation that's born under the dominion of darkness, enslaved under Adam. And that generation needs to be delivered. They need to be redeemed. The gospel needs to go to them so that they can be redeemed and transferred to the kingdom of the beloved Son. And that's why his mission continues. And so in 2 Peter 3.9, the Bible talks about how there's going to be scoffers in the last days that'll say, Where's been the promise of his coming? Because from the beginning it's been the same as it is today. You've been saying Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming any day now, and he's still not here. 2,000 years have passed. What's up? Where's your God? Where's your Jesus? And Peter's response is the Lord's not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but he's patient toward us, long-suffering, not wishing that any would perish, but that all should come to repentance. And so there is a sense in which we want Christ to return and we're longing for his coming. Maranatha, Lord, come, Lord Jesus, come. And yet there's also a sense in which his delay is mercy, because if he had come when the apostles thought he did, was going to, we wouldn't exist. We wouldn't get to participate in the kingdom. Our children and our grandchildren wouldn't be able to be a part of his kingdom and know him and be redeemed and live in the eternal kingdom. But isn't that kind of beautiful?
SPEAKER_01He has allowed maybe it's never going to end. Maybe. Except that he's what I'm thinking now.
SPEAKER_00Well, maybe that is what it makes you think, but if you keep reading that passage, it does tell tell. Am I still on? Okay, good. Okay, now listen. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Or the other way to say that is will be burned up. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. So Peter says, His delay is mercy. His delay is kindness. I mean deep kindness. Because you think, well, why does God not, you know, this is, it gets into, you know, we can go on forever, but he gets into those deeper questions like why do bad things happen? Why does he keep allowing the world to go on like this? Why doesn't he just redeem it? Well, because all of his are not gathered yet, all of his are not redeemed. And some of his are not even born yet, but their names are already written in the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of the world. And he's waiting patiently with long suffering of the sin of men that's affecting the earth and hurting people as he awaits the coming of his body, of his family. His children will be adopted in him. And then it's gonna come. And so hi Ryan. And so it talks about the end coming. Talks about the creation that exists now, basically being transformed by fire, but that at the end of that, the purpose of it is that there's a new creation, a new heavens and a new actual earth. This is not we go float around in the clouds playing harps on, you know. That's not heaven. Heaven is a new earth, a new creation, a new existence as it was meant to be. There's no sun and moon because the Lord is our light. You know, I mean, he is our temple. And so there's this beautiful picture that's that's painted for us at the end of Revelation. But maybe part of the reason Jesus has delayed his return was because he wanted to include you and the people that you love in his kingdom. He waited for your existence and your redemption. And so, what this means for humanity right now is whoever believes in the sun has eternal life. Whoever will not obey the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him. And so, you know, this is something that the world does not like, this concept of the wrath of God, that God would actually punish people. What kind of God would punish people, you know, and what kind of God would allow wrath? And yet his wrath actually reveals his love. Because God doesn't just wink at our sin. God doesn't just say, oh, I'm just gonna let you off the hook because he's holy. God's holy and he demands perfection and he demands perfect righteousness and perfect holiness, and it's not a little deal when we tell a little white lie. It's a big deal. It's an eternal deal, okay, when we sin. Our sin is major and it costs the Savior's life. But that his love is revealed in that he didn't just let the wrath be poured out on us, he stepped in the way of it himself. He sent his own son, Jesus, to put on human flesh and pay the debt for human sin in his own flesh, and then say, Here, I've paid the debt, come in through me. Be reconciled to the Father, be adopted into the family of God. So John chapter 1, oh, what manner of love the Father has given unto us that we should be called the children of God. And so that word remains in there. Whoever will not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. What it means is that the wrath of God is already on us in Adam. But he shows his love for us not by compromising his holiness and denying his wrath. He shows his love for us by giving his son to absorb the wrath for our own sin. And so we are either in Adam or we're in Christ. And that's why he says, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Stop trying to pay your own mortgage. I already paid it for you. Come live in my house for free. And so the final questions, which we can answer on our own or later, or whatever you want to do, do we do we live like Jesus is reigning right now? And which kingdom am I living under? How does the reign of Christ change the way I see the world around me? Like the people around us that disagree with us see the world differently than us, that are still under Adam, but that are still in their sin, is that they're not our enemies. Those are the ones he sent us into the world to save with the gospel. Filled with his Holy Spirit to save with the gospel. Where is God calling me to participate in his mission? And that's the final thought. I think the sort of the heart of this whole Bible study. Jesus has taken the throne, and now he is reclaiming the world. That's what he's doing right now. Is that the kingdom of light, this is what I picture. When I pray that, sometimes I'll pray, I pray that your kingdom would just push back the darkness, that your light would push back the darkness, is that there are two kingdoms. One of them is defeated, but it's like at the end of World War II, you know, there were still people that actually died and the war was over. But the word hadn't reached all the battlefields, and they're still in the battlefields, and they're still living and dying and fighting, and they didn't even know the war was over. The enemy's been defeated. He's still fighting, though. He's still deceiving, he's still trying to drag as many as he can with him to judgment. But the war's been won. And so now the kingdom of Christ is just pillaging the darkness. And we get to participate in that. So let's pray. Father, thank you for this word. I pray that it wasn't overly complicated. I pray that it was received and understood. I pray, God, that you would cause these truths to sink deeply into our hearts and help them to really just synthesize them into our understanding of you and the gospel. I pray that you'd help us, God, to grasp the depth of your love and your mercy and your kindness in the fact that you've delayed your coming. I pray, Lord, that you would come, though. I pray that before that happens, that you would gather the people that we love, our children, our grandchildren, that you would call them to yourself, that you would redeem them and cause them to become spiritually alive, that you would save them. I pray that their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world, even if they don't know it yet. But I pray that when the fullness of your church has been gathered, that you would come. In Jesus' name. Amen.