Jesus told Mary, “I am Not Yet Ascended” — Didn’t He Already Go to Heaven?
Jesus makes two ascents. Take a moment to think this through. There are two events when Jesus ascends into Heaven.
First, after His death on the Cross Jesus immediately ascends into the congregation of the saints in heaven. Jesus told the thief hanging next to Him that they were both going to heaven.
This answers the question, “Where was Jesus during the three days His body was in the grave?”
The second ascent is recorded in the Bible in Acts 1:3-11. This is called the Ascension.
The difference is that in the first ascending of Jesus in Heaven He does so as a Man. He joins with the saints for three days without a resurrected body. He then goes back and forth to heaven for 40 days with a resurrected body.
The Ascension is different entirely. In the Ascension God answers Jesus prayer in John 20:5 “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”
This is why Mary couldn’t cling to Jesus and keep Him for herself. He wasn’t yet fully ascended.
Read MoreIs the National Debt a Sin?
Every time Christians elect politicians willing to spend more in taxes than we collect, we cosign our good names to the generational theft from future generations. This is a great sin.
What is the role of the Church? We need to preach against stealing.
Is our national debt really stealing? It is no different than taking a credit card out in our child’s name. If we borrow for our own comforts, and borrow more than we can every hope to pay back, then we are shifting the responsibility for that debt to them. Regardless of our good intentions, that’s white collar crime.
The Greatest Generation will be known, by future generations, as the Morally Bankrupt Generation. We are borrowing money to give charity (Welfare, Medicaid and Food Stamps) on the backs of our grand-children. It will be known as the Greatest Crime in a Thousand Years.
Nehemiah tells us how to fix it if we are willing to get involved.
Read MoreDid Jesus Really Descend into Hell?
Confessing that Jesus descended into Hell tells us what really happened in the darkness. It is the real story told from God’s perspective. Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of the Christ” tells the story from Man’s perspective, but Jesus descended further. Jesus descended into Hell.
We all learned this in grade school. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It’s like saying, “step back from the trees and see the forest.”
The Apostle’s Creed provides the visible pieces to the puzzle. Jesus was crucified, died and was buried.
Not step back and get the big picture from God’s perspective — Jesus Descended into Hell.
This sermon also explains John Calvin’s position
Read MoreFather and Son Together Again
June 20th, 2010 Apostle’s Creed Series 09 (Father’s Day) Hebrews 1:1-12 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created…
Read MorePsalm 119 — The Mount Everest of Bible Memory
February 12th, 2017 Psalm 119:1-8 1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! 2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! 4 You have commanded your precepts to be…
Read MoreIf Jesus Worked Miracles by His Divine Power, then He Cheated and I Can’t Follow His Example
Apostle’s Creed Series John 3:34 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.[1] My parents raised us 3 boys in a very conservative Baptist church where all the pastoral staff had graduated from Bob Jones University. My parents were very impressed by the faith and…
Read MoreGod Never Leaves a Job Half Done — 1 Thessalonians 5:24
September 25th, 2016 at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker 1 Thessalonians 5:24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.[1]English Standard Version There are no greater promises in the Bible regarding our salvation than a verse like this. That He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. I…
Read MoreDespise NOT Prophesying — 1 Thessalonians 5:20
August 21st, 2016 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Everybody on this planet hears the voice of God speaking to them about His glory. Psalm 19:1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor…
Read MoreIs The Bible History Reliable?
When the early church pieced together the Apostle’s Creed, they were using the baptismal formulas previously in use by the actual Apostles. We don’t know which Apostle coined each phrase of the Apostle’s Creed, but one of the twelve was baptizing converts in the name of Jesus Christ who suffered under Pontius Pilate.
Which begs the question, “why are we confessing anything about a secular Roman governor?” This morning I am going to explain why Pilate’s name is in the creed, and I am going to suggest that it is necessary for a sound faith.
During this time period in Rome there were mystical religions that taught a variety of strange ideas. These false religions didn’t claim their teachings were real in a historic or scientific sense, but their teachings were spiritually real.
Lots of Christians understand their own faith within this context. My sermon will try to convince you otherwise.
Read MoreWhy Does the Apostle’s Creed Profess Faith in Pontius Pilate? — Luke 1:1-4
Reverend Anthony R. Locke June 27th, 2010 at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker Luke 1:1-4 Apostle’s Creed Series 10 English Standard Version 1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of…
Read MoreWhy a Trinitarian Benediction? — 2 Corinthians 13:14
Reverend Anthony R. Locke May 30th, 2010 (Trinity Sunday) at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker 2 Corinthians 13:14 English Standard Version The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. The Trinity is one of those distinctively Christian doctrines that separate us from…
Read MoreEach According to the Measure — Romans 12:3-8
Reverend Anthony R. Locke September 5th, 2010 www.FirstPresTucker.org at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker. Romans 12:3-8 Spiritual Gifts English Standard Version 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the…
Read MoreIs My Bible Reliable?
Reverend Anthony R. Locke March 20th, 2011 www.FirstPresTucker.org at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker Are English Bible’s the Word of God? Psalm 119:89-96 Do I hold in my hand the Word of God? English Standard Version 89 Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. 90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you…
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