And we pray this in His name. Amen.
And we're going to read together a couple of short passages, both from the New Testament.
First, the book of Acts, chapter 1, page 1092, if you're using a church Bible.
Acts, chapter 1, we're going to read the first 11 verses, and then after that we'll go to Philippians, chapter 2.
So this is Acts, chapter 1, and this is God's Word.
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.
After His suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive.
He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command,
Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about.
For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Then they gathered round Him and asked Him, Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?
He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority,
but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
After He had said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
Men of Galilee, they said, Why do you stand here looking into the sky?
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.
And then in Philippians chapter 2, it's wonderfully rich theology to address a really practical need within the church in all times and places.
So Philippians 2, it's on page 1179.
We're going to read from verse 5 to 11.
Listen,
Amen.
So we're going to return to the ideas within those texts.
in just a few moments.
But first, we're going to sing a hymn that we've learned in the last few months,
Hail to the Lord's Anointed, which again reminds us of the position Jesus has in heaven.
So again, let's stand together to sing.
Hail to the Lord's Anointed,
His reign on earth begun
He comes to break oppression
To set the captives free
To take away transgressions
And rule in equity
He comes and succors speedy
To those who suffer wrong
To help the poor and leading
And build the weakly strong
To give them songs for sight
Their darkness turned to light
Her soul's condemned and lying
Were precious in His sight
We shall come down like showers
Upon the fruitful earth
Of joy and hope like flowers
Spring in His path to birth
Before Him on the mountains
Shall peace the herald come
And righteousness in fountains
From hill to valley flow
Kings shall fall down before Him
And gold and incense spring
All nations shall adore Him
His praise all people sing
To Him shall prayer unceasing
And daily vows ascend
His kingdom still increasing
A kingdom without end
For every foe victorious
He on His throne shall rest
From age to age for glorious
A blessing and a bless
The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove
His name shall stand forever
The name to us is life
And now we're going to turn to
Psalm 24 on page 555
If you're using the church Bible
As we're working our way through
The Apostles' Creed
We get to consider this evening
Jesus as the exalted King of glory
The one spoken of in anticipation here
Psalm 24
The earth is the Lord's and everything in it
The world and all who live in it
For He founded it on the seas
And established it on the waters
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord
Who may stand in His holy place
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart
Who does not trust in an idol
Or swear by a false God
They will receive blessing from the Lord
And vindication from God their Saviour
Such is the generation of those who seek Him
Who seek your face, God of Jacob
Lift up your heads, you gates
Be lifted up, you 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, you gates
Lift them up, you ancient doors
That the King of glory may come in
Who is He?
This King of glory
The Lord Almighty
He is the King of glory
Amen
Let's begin with the crowning of the King
I don't know how many of us watched King Charles' coronation
But if you can cast your mind back a little
You might remember that in Westminster
Abbey, at a certain point in the coronation ceremony
A question is asked
It goes something like this
I present to you your undoubted King
Will you do him homage?
You give him homage
You give him honour
And the response of the Abbey at that point
Triumphant cheers of a saint
Well the great theme of the Bible
Is that the Old Testament and the New Testament
Are presenting to us
Jesus as God's Messiah King
And so the key question then for our lives
Is if this is God's King
And that's undoubted
Do we honour Him?
To use the language of Psalm 2
We are called to kiss the Son
To use the language of Philippians 2
To gladly bow
And for our tongues to confess that Jesus is Lord
So we're working through the ideas of the Apostles' Creed
And this one deals with Christ ascending and taking the throne of heaven as the exalted King
We believe He ascended into heaven
And is seated at the right hand of God the Father
Jesus is King of heaven
Today Jesus is King of heaven
Why does that matter?
Why is this truth important?
How does it help faith?
Why does it matter that in the Psalms
We have this reality of God's King being praised
And everyone being called and commanded to honour Him?
Why does it matter that in the book of Revelation
We have the songs of heaven praising the Lamb who sits upon the throne, our King Jesus?
How can it be, think of it slightly differently, that Jesus in John chapter 16 will say to His anxious disciples
Knowing He's about to leave, to die, to rise, to ascend to heaven
How can He say it's for your good that I am going away?
How can separation from the Lord Jesus be good news?
Well, only if He ascends the throne of heaven
So two simple questions as we think about this
One, where is Jesus now?
Secondly, what is Jesus doing now?
Simple questions with profound answers
Where is Jesus now then?
First question
If we were to ask the New Testament, ask Jesus Himself
The answer is clear
If we read when He was on trial
You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the mighty one
Matthew chapter 26 verse 64
In Acts chapter 1, what did we just read of?
We read of the disciples witnessing the ascension
Jesus being taken up
And Peter is one of those eyewitnesses
In Acts chapter 2, as he preaches at Pentecost
Will declare, Jesus is now exalted to the right hand of God
And so the clear testimony of the New Testament is
Jesus ascended, exalted to the right hand of God
He's ascended to heaven
The place where God dwells
The place where God's will is always done
The control center of the universe
Jesus goes up
To sit upon the throne
To take the right hand of the Father
The place of power and authority
So that tonight we can understand
And begin to marvel at the fact that
The physical, risen, glorified Jesus
A man of a certain height
A man of a certain weight
Physically sits on the throne of the universe
The kingdom of the universe
Is king over this world
Is king over his church
Is lord and king over us all
I want us to think about Psalm 24
To think about how it speaks to us of Jesus
The king of glory
And to think about how that fits into the story of the Bible
Psalm 24
When it was originally composed and used
Was likely sung when the ark of God
Representing God's throne, God's rule
When the ark was taken up to Jerusalem
To be seated in the tabernacle
And also it seems most likely that Psalm 24
Would be sung whenever the ark of God
Returned to Jerusalem after God and his armies
Had won a victory in battle
So the ark would be carried up the hill to Jerusalem
The ark symbolizing God the king of glory
Returning home and he is welcomed
And he is worshipped by his people
That's the picture we have in Psalm 24
When we sing it, and we'll sing it
And as we close, we'll sing
And we do sing, New Testament believers
Sing to Jesus, the ascended, the exalted king of glory
And so what we're going to do is
We're going to think about it briefly
In its original setting
And then we're going to see how it applies to Christ
So if you have your Bible, Psalm 24
Look at the first two verses there
The earth is the Lord's and everything in it
The world and all who live in it
So there's where we begin
God is creator, God is owner of everything
He founded it on the seas
The seas, pictures of chaos and trouble
He brings order out of chaos
When he creates this world that he now owns
God is the creator
Then there's this interesting turn
In the next few verses
That follow logically
God is the goal
God is the goal of life
And that's introduced by way of tension
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord
Who may stand in his holy place
Entering into God's presence
Was the great hope and the promise
That God offered to his people
How might we enjoy life with him?
It's the great promise
The great goal of the covenant
God with his people
That's why he redeemed Israel from Egypt
That's why he calls his people out
To be a holy people
That we might enjoy life and fellowship with him
That's the great promise
But then there's also that great tension
Well, who may ascend?
Did we hear the answer in verse 4?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart
Who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god
Who is clean?
Who has that pure heart?
Who has that undivided and true worship?
And of course an honest look at ourselves
A look through the Bible reveals
Well, that wasn't true of Adam
The first man though
He was given this wonderful garden to live in
And he enjoyed life with God
And he was made sinless and perfect
He didn't stay clean and pure
It wasn't true for the nation of Israel
They often turned away from God into impurity
And very much divided worship
It wasn't true of David
The great king
The king after God's own heart
He certainly wasn't always clean and pure and true
Nor is it true of us
But there's a wonderful
As much as there's great tension
There's also great grace
Introduced
When we remember in the storyline of the Bible
That God provided a way
For sinful people to be made clean
To be washed from sin
And in particular
God established the priesthood
The priests
So we can think for example
About the Day of Atonement
If you want to read about the Day of Atonement
Leviticus chapter 16
Well on that day
In that chapter we discover lots of things
That there was one day per year
Where the high priest could enter into God's presence
Into the Holy of Holies
And we'll think about why that mattered
But before that happened
Before he entered
There were a certain number of things that happened
First of all we see the high priest standing before the people
Because the job of the high priest was to represent God's people before the Holy God
So he is the representative of his people
But he's also the mediator
Standing between a Holy God and sinful people
And to enter into God's presence
The priest couldn't just wander in as he was
There were certain things that needed to be done
He needed to cleanse himself
Even the most holy person in Israel was not in and of themselves clean
So he needed to cleanse himself
He needed to put on his special clothing
The high priest's garments
Which included that wonderful imagery of the breastplate containing the names of the twelve people
The priest would bear the names of the people on his heart
As he went into God's presence
Sacrifice would have to be offered for himself and for the people
Blood must be sprinkled
And then and only then could he go in and intercede for mercy and for forgiveness
And so the point of the priesthood, the point of the tension of our psalm is clear
That to reach the goal, the goal of life with God, we need to be washed
We need to be cleansed
And that from the inside out
It's not just about our hands, our actions
We need a pure heart also
Well having said that, verse 7 to 10 says to us
Not only is God created and goal, God is also the king
So we've been following in Luke chapter 19 in the mornings
Jesus on this procession up to Jerusalem
And we've been getting that sense of excitement that goes with that
Well imagine a different scene
Imagine the ark of God being carried in joyful procession
The priests and the Levites leading the way
Nearing the city of Jerusalem
Great victory has been won
Worship breaks out
As the ark approaches, there's this call and response
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord is
The Lord strong and mighty
There's joy
There's joy in Jerusalem
Why?
Because it's another evidence for them that the Lord is for us
The God who created is the God who has entered into covenant
The covenant is the God who has been fighting for his people
Who's been protecting his people
And not just the Lord is for us, the Lord is with us
Ruling from the ark
Ruling in the tabernacle and the temple
God with his people
The goal of the covenant
The goal of life
The king who goes up
To be the centre of authority and worship
Is the Lord God
Now let's think about how we sing this about Jesus
Another psalm that we sang, Psalm 110
Anticipated the truth that the Messiah king
Would be a priest king
In the order of Melchizedek
The only person we meet in the Bible who is both priest and king
The book of Hebrews says that's fulfilled in Jesus
We have this need of a priest who will wash us
And a king who will rule for us
Jesus is first of all our great high priest
He represents us
That's the significance of him becoming fully and truly human
That's the significance of the incarnation
If Jesus didn't become truly human
He couldn't truly represent us before God
So he represents us perfectly
He's also the perfect mediator
The perfect person to represent God to man and man to God
Because he is truly God and truly human
When we think about the clothing that the high priest put on
Jesus our great high priest
The clothing he put on
Bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh
Becoming one of us
Making his dwelling among us
And this great high priest he too wears his people on his heart
He loves his people, he loves his church
The sacrifice that Jesus offered
Not an animal for cleansing
He offers himself
The great high priest offers himself
As the great once and for all sacrifice
So that we are washed by his blood
And Jesus our great high priest
He too intercedes
Not just for a time
But as Hebrews 7.25 tells us
He always lives
To make intercession for us
He is always pleading our case
On the basis of his merits
On the basis of his completed sacrifice
That question
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord
Who may enter his holy place
There is one
It's Jesus
Son of God
And because he is pure
Because he is clean
And because he has acted for us
We can come
Enter in
He is our great high priest
But Jesus is also
Represented to us in the Bible
As our great king
He has ascended
And taken the throne of heaven
And just as here
There is praise offered
To the Lord strong and mighty
The Lord mighty in battle
Praise belongs to Jesus
Because he has gone
To take the throne of heaven
Having won a decisive victory
In a great spiritual battle
We read in Philippians 2
That Jesus humbled himself
To become one of us
He humbled himself
To the point of dying on the cross for us
And then did you notice
Philippians 2 said
Therefore
Because Jesus was obedient to death
Because Jesus went into and won
The decisive spiritual battle
Therefore he is exalted
He is exalted
He is exalted because he was victorious
Victorious over Satan
And sin
And death
For the sake of his church
He is exalted
He is exalted having completed
His atoning work on the cross
So that moment of Jesus' life
Where he knew humiliation
Leaving the glory of heaven
Becoming truly human
Knowing humiliation
Going to the point of death
On the cross
Now there is that upward curve
Now ascended
And exalted
Now they sing of him in heaven
Revelation 5 verses 9 and 10
There is loads of songs in Revelation
Whenever there is a new era of salvation
God's people sing
Well here is a song from heaven
Revelation 5 verse 9
You are worthy
To take the scroll
And to open its seals
Because you were slain
And with your blood
You purchased for God
Persons from every tribe
And language
And people and nation
You have made them to be a kingdom
And priests
To serve our God
And they will reign on the earth
This exalted king
The exalted king
Is welcomed with joy
Into heaven
Acknowledged as the one
Who has won the decisive victory
So that now the goal of your life and mine
Is to worship this exalted king
To worship Jesus
The exalted king of glory
To enter into and to enjoy
Life with God
Just like a royal procession
Where we are to enter into the presence of God
Just like a royal procession
Where we are to enter into the presence of God
Because we follow after and we are united to Jesus
Our great priest king
So that is our first question
Where is Jesus now?
He is the king on the throne of heaven
Our second question
What is Jesus doing now?
It is also a very important question
In Matthew 28
We have what is known as the great commission
So this is just before Jesus ascends to heaven
And there is many things
But there is two truths to think about
Jesus said
At the very end
I am with you always
To the very end of the age
That wonderful promise
That great truth
For his people
So that we know
In reality
As Christians
Jesus is with us
That is always a precious truth
For the church
In every age
In every place
But there is one thing
That we might
Be more likely to overlook
Jesus begins the great commission
Recognizing
I have all authority
He speaks to us
As one who has authority
As king
Jesus is with us
God with us
Jesus is king
For us
Something sometimes we overlook
That right now
The same Jesus
That the women and the disciples saw
On Easter Sunday
Is the Jesus who sits physically
On the throne of heaven
As king
So that our risen saviour
Our physical glorified saviour
Is our physically risen glorified exalted king
And our faith actually needs that connection
I think
Let me suggest four reasons why
The first reason is
It reminds us
Right basically
That Jesus our king
Is ruling
Remember Philippians 2
King Jesus is seated in glory
Every knee should bow
And every tongue should confess
That Jesus is Lord
Because
His atoning work is finished
Because
The penalty has been paid
Because the price has been paid in full
And that matters for us
When we think about Jesus
Seated on the throne of heaven
Our king and our saviour
If our faith is in him
We don't need to fear the future
Because Jesus reigns
Having won the victory
Over sin and death
We see the connection
We sing of it sometimes
In Christ alone
No power of hell
No scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from his hand
For yet not I
But through Christ in me
No fear I dread
I know I am forgiven
The future sure
Why?
Because the price that has been paid
So we can live with hope
Because a king seated on a throne
Is a sign that his work has been accomplished
We can also live with hope for the future
As we recognise Jesus the light of the world has come
The light has broken in
The light of Jesus glory has shone
Sometimes it can seem like
Just a crack of light under the door
You know when you are in your room at night
And maybe the hall light is on
And you see that little strip of light
But you know
You open the door
And the light is going to break in
We understand that in this world
There is still so much darkness
Sometimes it can seem hard to recognise
And comprehend the rule of Christ
But to read the New Testament
We understand that the writers were confident
Because Jesus has risen from the dead
Because he has ascended to heaven
Because he is seated on the throne
One day the light will fully dawn
And we are invited to live with that same confidence
Even as life can seem hard and dark
The glory of King Jesus will shine fully and brightly
His kingdom will come
His eternal kingdom will come
And because Jesus our King is ruling
We can also live with security
As we serve
Remember Colossians chapter 3
Colossians chapter 3
We have that invitation
To set our hearts
On things above
Where Christ is
To set our minds on the earth
To set our minds on things above
To recognise that we have died to sin
And we now have a life that is hidden with Christ in God
So we have eternal security
Our life is hidden with Christ in God
And that changes the way we approach life
Or it can and it should
It's going to help us to be ready to surrender our plans and priorities
It's going to help us to be ready to suffer for Him
Because we know He reigns
And we know He is worthy
And we know He's got us
The King of kings and the King of glory
So there's the first, what is Jesus doing now?
He is ruling
Second thing we can say about what Jesus is doing right now
Jesus our priest king is interceding
Back to Hebrews 7 verse 25
He is able to save completely
Those who come to Him
Because
He ever lives to intercede for them
See the connection there?
Our confidence of future salvation
Rests in our confidence that Jesus is never going to stop
Being the high priest that we need
Our confidence to enter and to enjoy God's presence
Never rests in ourselves
It always rests in Jesus and His finished work
And His ongoing work
His ongoing work of praying for us and pleading our cause
So that we understand that His is the hand that opens the door
His is the hand that welcomes us in
Our security, our assurance rests entirely
In Christ alone
Christ our priest king who is interceding
If our security was to be found in our circumstances
Be very fragile
We'd have despair
If we don't get the job
Or if our health fails us
Or if everything seems to fall apart
If our security was found in our obedience
We'll be on that rollercoaster ride of pride when things go well
And utter despair when things go badly
But when our assurance rests
In Jesus
When we look up and we see Jesus on the throne
Praying for us
Present Himself to the Father as the basis for our acceptance
That's unshakable confidence
That's humble, unshakable confidence and joy
That rests entirely in the truth
About Jesus, the exalted king interceding for us
What else is Jesus doing now?
Jesus, our priest king, is also sending help
In Hebrews chapter 4 verses 15 and 16
We're introduced to Jesus, our sympathetic high priest
We do not have a high priest who's unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses
But we have one who's been tempted in every way
Just as we are, yet he did not sin
Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence
So that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need
Jesus has been tempted in every way
But never gave in
And never sinned
And the wonderful thing is that Jesus wasn't
A superman
Whose life is entirely different to ours
How does Jesus do His ministry?
What does the Bible say?
How does Jesus do His ministry?
He does His ministry in the power of the Spirit
How does Jesus live to the Father's glory?
He lives to the Father's glory in the power of the Spirit
How does Jesus resist temptation?
Not because He floats above the ground and is separate from temptation
No, He resists real and fierce temptation by the Word of God
And the wonderful thing
Is that those same resources, the Spirit and the Word
Are the resources our ruling King sends to us
Our ruling King
He rules over us by His Word
By His Spirit
Our gracious King supplies His Word
Supplies the Spirit
So we can say no to sin
And we can say yes
To living obedient, faith-filled lives
Our King supplies from heaven
From the throne of heaven
What we need to live lives of worship
We're not left to our own resources
To our own grit and determination
We're given His presence, His Word
And His Spirit
There's another thing Jesus is doing now
What else is Jesus doing now?
Jesus our King
Is preparing a home for us
I love John 14
Again, Jesus wanting to comfort and minister to
troubled disciples
Knowing He was about to depart for the cross
And there in verse 2
He says,
My Father's house has many rooms
If that were not so
Would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you
And if I go and prepare a place for you
I'll come back
And take you to be with me
And I also be where I am
The preparation of Jesus
Included His going to the cross
To pay the penalty for our sin
Included His resurrection
Included His ascension
Includes His ruling from the throne of heaven
And having secured this victory over sin and death
We have this wonderful promise
That our victorious and glorious King
He's preparing a home
He's preparing an eternal Sabbath rest
He's preparing for us to be with Him forever
He is preparing to return to make everything new
Including His people
That's where we're going to be next week
But think about that
Right now, Jesus, our King who sits on the throne
He's preparing a home for us
Jesus is the King of glory
The Bible records Him ascending to heaven
Taking the throne of glory
The coronation moment has taken place
And God is asking a question of us in His word
Jesus Christ is the undoubted King of heaven
Will you and I pay Him homage?
Do we welcome Him?
Will you and I pay Him homage?
Do we welcome Him as our King?
The one who has gained for us a welcome into life with God
The promise of welcome into God's presence
Do we serve Him as our King?
This one who has served us by His sacrifice
This one who serves us by His prayers