Tonight, we consider, from our confessional reference to Heidelberg Catechism, we consider Lord's Day 18, which deals with the Ascension. Many of us just gathered together this past Thursday evening for our annual Ascension Day service, and I assure you that these are two different sermons. The topic is the same, a most glorious consideration tonight, a most glorious doctrine. We read together, first of all, Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. Hear now the Word of God. Hebrews chapter 4, beginning at verse 1. Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. for we also have had the gospel preached to us just as they did but the message they heard was of no value to them because those who heard it did not combine it with faith now we who have believed enter that rest just as God has said so I declared on oath in my anger they shall never enter my rest and yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world for somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words and on the seventh day God rested from all His work. And again in the passage above He says, They shall never enter My rest. It still remains that some will enter that rest and those who formerly had the Gospel preached to them did not go in because of their disobedience. And therefore God again set a certain day calling it today when a long time later He spoke through David as was said before, Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. And then our confessional reference, Lord's Day 18, page 24 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. Page 24 and 25, questions and answers 46 through 49. 46 through 49 as we profess what we believe. Question 46 asks us, What do you mean by saying He ascended into heaven? That Christ, while His disciples watched, was lifted up from the earth into heaven and will be there for our good until He comes again to judge the living and the dead. But isn't Christ with us until the end of the world as He promised us? Christ is true man and true God. In His human nature, Christ is not now on earth. But in His divinity, majesty, grace, and spirit, He is not absent from us for a moment. If His humanity is not present wherever His divinity is, then aren't the two natures of Christ separated from each other? Certainly not. Since divinity is not limited and is present everywhere, it is evident that Christ's divinity is surely beyond the bounds of the humanity he has taken on. But at the same time, his divinity is in and remains personally united to his humanity. How does Christ's ascension into heaven benefit us? First, he pleads our cause in heaven in the presence of his Father. Second, we have our own flesh in heaven, a guarantee that Christ, our head, will take us, his members, to himself in heaven. Third, he sends his Spirit to us on earth as a further guarantee. By the Spirit's power, we make the goal of our lives not earthly things, but the things above where Christ is sitting at God's right hand. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we did mention briefly Thursday evening, we're familiar with the saying, out of sight, out of mind. And of course that means when something is no longer before our eyes to remind us of itself, then it is also no longer in our mind. We forget about it. We don't think about it any longer. And it often works that way with small children, doesn't it? If a young child is playing with something they shouldn't play with, let's say, for example, a knife, and that knife is taken away from that young child, that child may fuss for a time. But because it has been taken out of the child's sight, sooner or later, it's not long before that small child forgets all about that knife completely because their attention is turned somewhere else. Boys and girls, maybe you've had the experience that you find a toy, a long lost toy under a bed or in the back of the garage or even in your closet somewhere and you say, well, I forgot all about that. I didn't even know that I had that. Out of sight and therefore out of mind. But of course, for many, that's what happens with Christ because of His ascension. The ascension has removed the Savior from this earth, from the presence of His people, He is no longer with us physically. And well, as some would say, since His crucifixion and death and resurrection were the really important things, and since those were the things through which He accomplished His work, through which it is finished, His ascension really wasn't that important. It doesn't mean that much. It's no big deal. But is that true? Not at all. Not at all. You see, this article of the Apostles' Creed, and also you notice it's included in the Nicene Creed, is one of the least understood doctrines of the Christian faith. It's one of the least appreciated truths of the Christian faith. Yet, it is a step on the Savior's path of exaltation that is every bit as important as every other step in God's redemptive plan. In fact, along with every other step in Christ's humiliation and exaltation, god's plan stands with the ascension it falls without the ascension jesus christ the only begotten son of god came down from heaven to accomplish this work and it was necessary for him to return to the place from which he came to return to heaven to demonstrate that his work was accepted and sufficient and complete and as god the father took jesus as the catechism says while His disciples watched from earth to heaven, the Father proved to those called to bear witness to the rest of the world and those to follow, including you and me, that the Father was indeed well pleased with His beloved Son. The ascension was a visible demonstration by God of exalting and glorifying His Son for His perfect work. And that exaltation and glorification of Jesus Christ was necessary to begin a new and a decisive phase of His redeeming work in history. His ascension was necessary for the work He is doing until He comes again. Congregation, the work of our Lord is not yet finished, which I trust is comforting to you because we're still here. We're still here. He may be out of our sight physically, but He is surely not to be out of our minds and out of our hearts because His people are very much in His mind and in His heart. He ascended for our security. The believer's eternal life rests on Christ's ascension, far from being unimportant. The believer's eternal life rests on Christ's ascension. With the Savior's path of exaltation we consider together tonight, this Word of God, the ascension, securing the believer's eternal home. And it is secured with a sure defense. It is secured with a guaranteed destination. And it is secured with a present down payment. Now, first of all, by His ascension, our Savior, Jesus Christ, is a sure defense for us, His people. He is our defender. This is the first advantage or benefit for the believer, which the catechism speaks of in answer 49, that He pleads our cause in heaven in the presence of His Father. God the Father had been terribly offended by the sin of man. Our sin, our unholiness, was a terrible offense to the holiness, the perfectness of God. But His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, conquered and destroyed the power of sin. And as the victor at His ascension. Jesus Christ entered the throne room of heaven before the presence of God to present His victory, even Himself, and to bring the cause of those for whom He fought and won. I paid for them. I bought them back. They are mine. One who pleads our cause in heaven. The older version of the catechism says it this way, that Christ is our advocate before the presence of God in heaven. And an advocate is indeed one who pleads the cause of another, who fights for another, who argues on behalf of another for their good. An advocate is one who puts in a good word for another, who helps one in time of need, whether that one is in prison and desires to be free, or whether one is unemployed and keeps on applying for a job. An advocate works on behalf of one who needs help. Boys and girls, if someone is saying something bad about or is picking on your brother or sister, when you stand up for your brother or sister to defend them, you become an advocate for them. You become their defender. An advocate is like a defense attorney in a court of law working to get the charges dropped from one who has been charged with a terrible crime. And a good defense attorney is one who has influence and one who can get the job done. Jesus Christ is our advocate, our defense attorney in the highest court in heaven before the face of His Father. He is the only one who can get the job that we need done. And He will not lose. He does not lose. our lord is our advocate our our defense attorney as a part of his priestly work for us and on our behalf now you may recall that the two great tasks of a priest in scripture were that of offering the sacrifice and offering intercessory prayer on behalf of those for whom the sacrifice was given and in this way the priest stood as a mediator a mediator boys and girls is a go-between one who who goes between two people who are at odds, who might be fighting, for example. He goes between them to bring them together. And a priest stood as the mediator between a holy God and an unholy people. Using those terms clearly, they were separated. They need to be brought together. And unholy people needed this because their sins required this sacrifice and this intercession in order to have fellowship with God. And our Savior on the basis of His perfect, complete, once-for-all sacrifice earned by His perfect righteousness, holiness, and obedience is our only high priest who is able to make effective and continual intercession for us. The writer of Hebrews outlines this somewhat in Hebrews 7, verses 25 to 27. Therefore, He, that is Christ, is able to save completely those who come to God through Him because He always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need, one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself. Now, beloved, we may have the confidence as those who believe on Jesus Christ alone for salvation, we may have the confidence that all of our sins are forgiven. Not only because He was crucified, suffered hell, died, was buried, and rose again, but because He has ascended to heaven. And He stands before His Father with His saving sacrifice in His hands. He presents the blood He shed to His Father. he presents the sacrifice himself of himself as a payment for the sins of his people and he presents it to his Father. In congregation, we may be confident that the Father accepts that payment. Why may we be confident? Because the will of the Father and the will of the Son are one and the same will. They're not different. They don't contradict each other. They're one and the same will. Only Jesus Christ can intercede for us perfectly because He has entered into our human life and He knows all of our weaknesses and temptations and it's only through Him that we may find confidence and comfort to approach God's throne of grace. Again, as the writer of Hebrews says in verses 14 through 16 of chapter 4, Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. You see, congregation, God's people continue to experience times of need, but our comfort and our assurance is that Christ is not only our advocate for our past sins, but also for the present and the future. Christ's intercession is ongoing. It's not like a punch card that expires once there are no more punches left. Well, then you're simply out of luck. It's not like a coupon book that once all the coupons are gone, well, then you've got to pay full price. Not at all. It's ongoing. It never ends. Our need for Him as our advocate continues in this life because of the sin that still remains in us against our will and because of the accusations of the devil against us. 1 John 2 verse 1 says, My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. When my sin continues to cause me to stumble, when I have continued to offend and anger God, when I continue to give Satan the evidence he needs to stand before God and say, look, he's still a sinner. He doesn't deserve to be saved. Then my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, my advocate, my defense attorney, stands before God and stakes His claim. Boys and girls, in the days of the gold miners, when a miner had been searching long and hard for gold and found a little bit of gold, He would stake His claim. He would put His name in that place. This is mine. I found it. Jesus Christ stakes His claim. As He points to me with His nail-scarred hands, He says, Father, do not be angry with Him. For Your anger was directed at me And by that, His sins are forgiven. And He has been reconciled to you. And He belongs to me, body and soul. Our comfort, beloved, is that we are never out of Christ's sight and out of His mind. Even in heaven, He does not forget about us like the butler forgot about Joseph in the Egyptian prison. Verse 46, answer 46 says again to the question, what do you mean by saying He ascended into heaven? That Christ, while His disciples watched, was lifted up from the earth into heaven and will be there for our good until He comes again to judge the living and the dead. For our good. That's a beautiful phrase. That's a beautiful description. He is not there because His work failed. He is not there because we were not savable. He is not there for our misfortune or our failure, but He is in heaven for our good. When we waver and we are in danger of sinking, He prays that our faith may not fail. And in times of trouble and sickness and difficulty, He prays that the Father would draw us closer and that we would glory in the Father's providential care over us. And congregation, because He works for our good, His intercession includes the fact that Jesus asks that God not give us everything we ask for. You say, how can that be? How could He do that to us? He asks that the Father not give to us things that are foolish or dangerous. Sometimes we complain about unanswered prayer when we didn't get what we asked for. But when God says no, That is a great demonstration of His mercy. Because Christ is there for our good. At other times, isn't it true that we receive unexpected blessings that we could have never imagined? What a shame on us if they're unexpected, huh? You see, we stopped asking. We stopped praying. But not Jesus. Our advocate and Savior also continues to pray as he did in John 17, verse 24. For Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me. Now what an amazing thing that Jesus desires that you and I who believe that we be with Him. And where is that? That's in Heaven. In the presence of His Father. As He stands in His glorified flesh before the Father on our behalf to plead our cause. Our comfort is that Christ's ascension has secured for His people in the second place a guaranteed destination. The second advantage that answer 49 mentions is that we have our own flesh in heaven, a guarantee that Christ, our head, will take us, His members, to Himself in heaven. Now often when people think of going to heaven, they only think of the soul going to heaven upon physical death. And indeed, what a blessed comfort for you you and me as believers. There are many who struggle with the truth that our bodies will also be raised and believers will live forever, body and soul, in the presence of God. But unbelievers will die forever, body and soul, in hell. And many have a hard time imagining this because of things like the practice of cremation or those whose bodies have been blown up or eaten by wild animals. But ours is not to question how. That's not the question we are to ask. But you see, the truth is God created man perfect, body and soul. It was very good, he said, all that he had created. And unlike what the Gnostics and some others say, the body, that which is material, is not evil and only the spiritual good, the soul good. But God created man very good, body and soul. And Jesus Christ redeems the whole man, body and soul. He proves that. He demonstrates that as well by His resurrection. He took on human flesh and blood, and when He rose again from the dead, His flesh was glorified never again to suffer the effects of sin upon that human flesh, as we consider that He did before He died, as He suffered His whole life long. And when He ascended, He took that human flesh, though in that glorified state, He took it to heaven in the presence of God. And that was necessary and also for our comfort. The Lord's Days, or questions and answers 47 and 48, point this out somewhat. And especially as question and answer 48 say, but isn't Christ with us until the end of the world as He promised us? Christ is true man and true God. In His human nature, Christ is not now on earth, but in His divinity, majesty, grace, and spirit, He is not absent from us for a moment. Now, the Lutherans had trouble with this. And they thought that this separates the two natures of Christ. You know, Christ is one person, two natures, human and divine. They thought this separates the two natures, which is inconceivable, really. Hard for us to understand. and therefore they teach that the ascension was not a change in location for our Lord as we believe but a change in condition. And therefore when Jesus ascended His body changed so that it is also omnipresent able to be present everywhere. And this is reflected in their view of Christ's presence in the Lord's Supper. They don't go as far as transubstantiation like the Roma Catholics but consubstantiation that the body of Christ is present in, with, and under the elements. The bread still is bread, but somehow the body of Christ is included there. But the catechism rightly explains that Christ's deity, this is in question and answer 48, His deity is not limited by His humanity. His divinity is not stuck by the boundaries of His flesh. That would make His human nature greater and stronger than His divine nature. But His divinity is beyond the boundaries of His human nature. In His humanity, He is present locally in heaven, but in His deity as God, He is present everywhere. You see, the Lutheran view teaches that Christ's human nature was changed in His ascension into something different and unlike our human nature. But that would be of no comfort to you and me. He would no longer be the first fruits. If that were the case, the head would be different than the body. But it is also against Christ's own teaching. He clearly taught His disciples that He would and He must go away from them. You recall that when the woman put the expensive perfume on Him, Jesus said that the poor are with Him always, but He would not be. And in that familiar John 14 passage, Jesus said, In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. But He also said, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. But there's no contradiction there between those two sayings of Christ. He taught physically that He would not be on this earth any longer, but spiritually He would always be with His people as long as this earth remained. And it is clearly, beloved, our benefit that He has taken our flesh to heaven. And what does that benefit? Very simply, He has opened the way for us. Our human nature is in heaven. He is the head. He is the firstfruits. And by taking our body of flesh to heaven, He has given His people a sure pledge, a guarantee that one day, not only our souls, but our resurrected and glorified bodies will be there with Him. Again, He says in John 14, Let not your heart be troubled. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am there you may be also. And we know that especially in this congregation, many of you immigrated here from the Netherlands, and maybe some of you from other places. And I read some time ago that a long time ago when immigration took place, At times, the head of the family, the father, would go ahead of the family. He would go ahead to find work and save money and prepare for the rest of the family to come. And when everything was ready, when everything was in place, then he would go back and say, everything is ready, now you come too. Now you come too. Jesus Christ is busy preparing a place for each and every one of his people. And one day he will come for each one of us and say, it's ready. Now you come too. But it goes even beyond that. Our comfort. Our guarantee. For the believer, Paul makes it clear as well that this destination is guaranteed because we are already there. Ephesians 2 says that God made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You see, that connection is so intimate and so real between Christ the Head and His body, the church, That the Christian can say, I'm already there. Yes, my feet walk this earth, but only for a short time. I'm only passing through. My citizenship is in heaven. And beloved, what kind of hope is to be ours from this? Think of a prisoner, boys and girls. When a prisoner is still in the prison cell, uncertain about his future, not knowing really what's going to happen. He's restless. He has no peace. He's not calm. But when he knows that he has been pardoned, when the judge has said, you have paid your debt, you're finished, even while he is still waiting for someone to come to unlock the prison door, he has rest, peace. He's calm. Hebrews 4 talks about rest. Indeed, and of course we can make a case, Therefore, the Lord's day rests, but ultimately pointed to our eternal rest. The rest of heaven is the guaranteed destination for the believer. Guaranteed. Now, now, we've got to be careful here, I think, because the word guarantee can be overdone. It seems like everything in this life comes with a guarantee, doesn't it? You purchase an appliance, it comes with a guarantee. Whatever you do is a guarantee. But all of those guarantees, you see, there are strings attached. It may only be for two years. Or it might only be if you didn't accidentally, if you didn't purposefully throw it on the ground or something like that. There are strings attached. They're limited. But not here. I think we must think of this in the same way that we think of that verse in Romans chapter 8, that we are more than conquerors. The word conqueror ought to be enough. But Paul says, more than conquerors, we overwhelmingly conquer. There's absolutely no doubt about our conquering. In the same way, this is more than a guarantee. This is an overwhelming guarantee. You can stake your life on it. Beloved, we have no need to be restless here in this life. Because our future is secure. And of course, this has not been a license for carelessness in our walk with the Lord. This is not a license for us to live any old way we wish in this life. In fact, for the believer, the child of God, one who is truly born again, we do not want to live any old way. But we want to live according to the rules of the Father's house. As children, we know that our parents have rules that must be abided by under their roof. And we want to live according as believers to the rules of the Father's house, even here. But this comfort, this guaranteed destination is only true for those who live and work today in God's kingdom longing and looking for Christ's return to lead us to that destination. And again, it's guaranteed for the child of God. Our eternal home is secure because Christ is in heaven. There is nothing in the world or nothing in hell that shall prevent the glorious entrance of His purchased ones into heaven. That's also the blessing, the benefit, the promise that we have from the Lord's table as it reminds us of that eternal wedding feast for His people. See, nothing can keep us back. No one snatches Christ's beloved from His hands. Hebrews 6, verses 19 and 20 say this, We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where Jesus, who went before us, has entered for us on our behalf. Boys and girls, you know what an anchor does. It keeps the ship in one place. The ship might float around in the waves and move a little bit, toss a little bit here and there, but it keeps the ship in one place. Christ is our anchor. dug forever in the presence of God and we are intimately connected to that anchor, never to be separated. And therefore we are secured to God's presence through Jesus Christ. And we have that assurance because we live today with a present down payment. The Catechism says third, our third benefit, He sends His Spirit to us on earth as a further guarantee. By the Spirit's power, we make the goal of our lives not earthly things, but the things above where Christ is sitting at God's right hand. Our Lord took our flesh to heaven, but left to us of Himself His Holy Spirit. The catechism calls the Spirit a further guarantee. Now again, the older version speaks of the Spirit as an earnest. An earnest is a down payment. And boys and girls, you may know that when you make a down payment on something, When you want to buy something and you don't have quite enough money, you might borrow from the bank and you make a down payment on that item. You borrow from the bank and you are able to get that possession into your hands. But that down payment through that, that means that you guarantee, for example, to buy that house, to pay the balance. When I got my paper out when I was 11 years old, I wanted to buy a new 10-speed, my first 10-speed bicycle, so that I could deliver my newspapers. And my dad was a banker, and I know that bankers don't make small little loans of $50 or $60, but I think he set it up to teach me a lesson. And I had to go sit with the loan officer. And he said, okay, what would you like to buy? How much is it going to cost? How much can you put down? Well, I can put down $50. How much can you pay every month? Well, I think I can manage $10 a month. And therefore, I was given the rest of the money. I could buy the bike, but I had to pay it off. I had to make those payments to pay the balance. That down payment is a promise that you will pay the balance. Now we know that in this life, of course, that so many break that promise to make the payments, to pay off the balance. But not so with Jesus Christ. He's given to us that down payment in His Holy Spirit. An overwhelming guarantee. That we will receive all that He has promised us. Christ has sent us His Spirit as an earnest, a down payment. Guaranteeing His people that He is with us still today on the one hand. And that He will bring us to Himself on the other hand. 2 Corinthians 1 verses 21 and 22 says, Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. Beloved, our flesh is in heaven, in Christ Jesus, as a pledge. In heaven, Jesus continually thinks of us because our flesh is there. He cannot look at Himself without thinking of His people. We are not out of His sight. And then with His Spirit, He has given to us a further pledge. Christ's Spirit is that engagement ring. It's like a young man gives a young woman promising to make her his bride, his wife. The Spirit is Christ's engagement ring given to His bride, the church. And Christ has sent His Spirit so that His church might possess His Word, His comfort, and His power in a more rich measure than even before Pentecost. Through His Spirit, beloved, we know His Word, we know His truth, and we do His works. The Spirit is a deposit or a guarantee that all of God's promises will be fulfilled. Now, of course, the Catechism deals more fully with the Holy Spirit in Lord's Day 20, but Answer 49 draws our attention to one very important aspect of the Spirit's work or activity. By the Spirit's power, by the Spirit's power, let me emphasize that, we make the goal of our lives, not earthly things, but the things above where Christ is sitting at God's right hand. By His power, not our own power. But the Spirit works to keep Christ in our sight. To keep our focus upon Him. And as we walk this earth and labor for the Lord in this world, the Spirit causes us to seek the things above, the glory and praise and honor of God and His will. And we are called to carry into this world and into all of our relations and relationships the things which are above. And beloved, whenever we enter the throne room of God in prayer, in true prayer, we are not to return from that throne room empty-handed. But we are to return with the peace of God that passes understanding. We are to return with the holiness of God with which the Spirit transforms our lives of unrest and unholiness. And we are to return with confidence in the power of the Spirit to indeed go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every nation. How do we know that the Spirit is with us? Where do you set your heart? On things above where Christ is? Or on the things that are upon earth? Consider the church. Not necessarily local churches, those places that call themselves churches, church but are not, but the universal church. indeed made visible by the local church, such as we are. In confidence, we can say we are a true church. But she is proof that Christ is still with us. Throughout history, the church has been hated and persecuted and threatened. And if not for His divine presence, she would have died a long time ago. But that bond between the bridegroom and his bride is so strong through His Spirit that the bridegroom prays, Father, I will, that they whose flesh and blood I bear, it is my desire that they be with me. And the bride prays with and by the Spirit, Come, Lord Jesus, yea, come quickly. And beloved, as Christ claims us as His own before the Father in heaven, at the very same time, the Spirit testifies to our spirits that we are children of God right here and right now. Our Advocate in Heaven says to His Father, They are Mine. And the Comforter on Earth says to you and me as believers, You are His. And our comfort is that we have a Mediator. One who intercedes for us before the Father's throne of grace. One who shares our flesh and blood and who is not ashamed to call us brothers, as Hebrews 2 verse 11 says. Sometimes we are ashamed to call each other brother and sister for whatever reason. Or worse, sometimes depending on the situation, we are ashamed to call our Lord brother. But in His grace, He claims us as His own. And He prepares for us a place in His Father's home. This one pleads our cause before the Father and our comfort is that God will not refuse to hear Him whose sacrifice and death were accomplished by His perfect obedience and was perfect and complete to satisfy for our sins. The Father will not refuse His Son. What is the meaning of our Lord's ascension? Well, it's not out of sight and therefore out of mind. But it's security for eternity. Is this your comfort? Beloved, there is no other Savior. Oh, many would have us believe that there is. They would say that all roads lead to heaven. It's like a big wheel. And Christianity is just one spoke of that wheel. The center is heaven. And all roads lead to that center. Uh-uh. That's a bold-faced lie. All other roads lead to eternal destruction. Our ascended Lord Jesus Christ is the conqueror who freely gives His victory to all who believe on Him by grace through faith. Amen. Shall we pray? Dear Heavenly Father, once again You have allowed us to consider our Savior's path. As we have considered in the past our Savior's path of humiliation and all that He suffered and endured while on this earth. Now too to consider along with that his path of exaltation. Father, we praise you that Jesus Christ ascended into heaven that we might have a more intimate relationship with you through his Holy Spirit. We thank you for your Holy Spirit sent from heaven above, from our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in and with your people to care for us, to lead us and guide us, to bond us together with hearts of Christian love fulfilled for all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, even those we have never met and never will meet. And Father, may we consciously live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and desire to be led by Your Spirit. May we never take for granted the fact that our Savior is out of sight. May He never be out of our mind and out of our hearts. But may we consider Him who reigns above each and every day of our lives. We thank you again for this blessed assurance that you give to your people. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen.