Delivered Forever

Introduction

Acts 1:6–11 ESV

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in 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, 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.”

40 Days. A significant number in the Bible. Jesus spent 40 Days in the Wilderness as Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness. We traversed the 40 days of Lent together, increasing our devotion to the Lord, our giving, our Lenten Disciplines in order that we might focus more clearly on Jesus’ life, death and resurrection for us. On Thursday of this week, 40 days passed from Easter. On the 40th Day, after Jesus had shown Himself risen from the dead to the disciples and to over 500 others, He ascends into heaven.

The Ascension is when Jesus is bodily lifted up from earth into Heaven, to sit at God the Father’s right hand. We heard that there are at least three reasons Jesus ascended: First, so that He could send the Holy Spirit so that the Church could be brought alive. Second, so that He can live and reign in power at God’s right hand on behalf of the Church, interceding for His Bride, delivering the prayers of the Saints to the Father, and being the head of the Church; and Third, so that He could descend in the clouds of glory on the Last Day when He will come to be our Judge, in order that He might carry His Bride, the Church, over the threshold of heaven, where we will live and reign with Him forever.

Today’s First Lesson shows us what happened at the time He ascended on High. We will use the word “LIFT” to outline our text today:

L- Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

I- It is not for you to know

F Lifted up FROM the earth

T- This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven....

LORD, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?

From the time that Jesus ascended into heaven, some in the Church have continued to ask this question: Is it now? As we search the generations of Christianity, we see that each and every generation has interpreted the “signs of the times” to mean that the Day of the Lord will occur during their lives. This started in the first century- the early Church expected not to die before the Lord’s return, as we can see from Paul’s two letters to the Church at Thessolanica.

We, too, are tempted to think this way. Actually, it is not a bad way to think, but for a different reason than to satisfy our prophetic appetites or to escape the fiery trials that Peter speaks of in our Epistle today. Jesus always wants us to be READY for His return. And so the Church stays on her toes, like a bride waiting for her husband to come back from battle. We are called to always be waiting. Always be watching. Always be anticipating the return of Jesus in the true restoration of the Kingdom of Israel, which is heaven. Even after we die, our bodies lay in wait to be risen from the dead to be caught up in the sky with our Bridegroom.

It is not for you to know the times or seasons…

Jesus does not want us to interpret the signs from the headlines in newspapers, or from current world events, as is the temptation. In the disciples first ask this question:

Matthew 24:3 ESV

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

IT is not for you to know the times or seasons....

Lifted From the Earth into Heaven

The fact is this: All of the signs of Jesus’ return have always been on earth for all generations:

Deception, Many will claim to be the Christ

Wars and rumors of wars

Nation against Nation

Famines

Earthquakes

Christians being delivered up for their faith, persecution

Betrayal

Hatred

False prophets

Love will grow cold

Against Jesus’ plain word, some have even attempted to set dates for Christ’s return. Each one has failed and the faith of some has been hurt because of it. Not only is the date and time of Jesus return set by the Father’s authority; Jesus also tells us that no one— including Himself— knows when that day will be, only the Father.

Jesus gives us the signs of the times so that we trust totally in Him, and so that we are prepared, in faith, to meet Him when He comes in glory.

Jesus is Lifted FROM Earth to Heaven

Jesus was lifted up twice from the earth for you. The first time it was in humiliation, when He “humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a Cross”. Lifted up as a Sacrifice. Bridging the distance between your sin and God’s Holiness. Standing in between Heaven and Earth so that you and I, humiliated and dead in sin could be exalted as God’s redeemed Children through faith.

The Second Time He was lifted up was in this passage. He is lifted up as King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s, with Cries of triumph in His Ears. Having set all of His enemies under His feet He ascends to the right hand of God.

The Ascension means that Jesus is lifted up, bodily into heaven. The Endless Ranks of Angels are there; they receive their exalted King Jesus as He takes His position at God’s Right Hand for the Church. They will also usher us when we ascend on that Last Day as well, when the Son of Man comes with all of His angels with Him.

This Jesus Will Come Back in the Same Way

The disciples, at that moment, were dumbfounded. There they stood, gazing up into the sky. They heeded the words of Jesus to stay in Jerusalem until the promised Spirit would be poured out on them. The angels give them great hope:

Acts 1:11 ESV

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.”

Hope is what it is all about. In the Gospel of Saint Luke, when Jesus talks about all of the evil things that will happen preceding His coming, He tells His Bride, the Church, those washed in His blood, those baptized with the Fire of His Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, those whose sins are as white as snow, “

Luke 21:28 ESV

Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

The disciples leave Mount Olive. They go back to their upper room where they choose Matthias to replace Judas. The Twelve are restored. And there they waited until the Holy Spirit came upon them in Pentecost. But come, He did! With great power. Even as He comes to us today when we hear God’s Word, when we receive the Sacraments. There faith is born and fed. There love increases for God and for Neighbor. There Joy is ours eternally. Understanding this is to know what it means to stand up and lift up our heads. Indeed, our redemption is drawing near. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen.