Resurrection Sunday 2021 Apr 04, 2021 by: John Herbert | Series: Misc Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T046_20210404.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Mt 16:21 ¶ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. We will today look at events surrounding the Lord's resurrection. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday April 4th 2021 Resurrection Sunday After the Resurrection 1). Mt 16:21 ¶ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. It is in Matthew Chapter 16 that the Lord makes the first mention of His Church, a Church that is to be built on the revelation from above that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God – Mt 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And because the Church being brought into being would require a Divine act, seen in the type of Adam being put into a deep sleep, Jesus began to focus the disciples’ attention on His suffering at the hands of Israel’s religious leaders, His death that would follow, and His resurrection on the third day. a). The religious leaders of Israel’s constant rejection of their King and His Kingdom finally resulted in them crossing a line from which there was no return, recorded in Matthew Chapter 12, when they rejected the sign of the Sabbath and attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to the power of Satan. But the statement concerning the Kingdom of the Heavens being taken from them and given to a new nation was not made until the final week of the Lord’s earthly ministry - Mt 21:43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And this statement is not made until this time to allow for the events that unfolded on the day we know as ‘Palm Sunday’. b). The Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem on that day formed a parallel with the coronation day of David’s son, Solomon – the 3rd king of Israel, whose kingdom was a picture of the splendor and majesty of the Millennial Kingdom which is to come – 1Ki 1:32 ¶ And King David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." So they came before the king. 33 The king also said to them, "Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. 34 "There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, 'Long live King Solomon!' 35 "Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah." Christ, the greater Son of David, we will remember entered Jerusalem on a donkey, just as Solomon had been on David’s own mule, to the cries of – Mt 21:9….."Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!" Mr 11:10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Lu 19:38…'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Joh 12:13 …."Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" The echo of the promises made to David in 2 Samuel 7 and the words of the Messianic Psalm 118 would have been resounding in Jewish ears – Ps 118:25 Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. There was the potential on this day for national repentance, for the High Priest to have then anointed Jesus King over Israel – for the horn to be blown and the declaration made, ‘Long live King Jesus’. c). This, however, did not happen, but the events that did fulfilled the prophecy given in - Zec 9:9 ¶ "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. The word ‘lowly’ used here means to be poor and afflicted. Jesus, although born King of the Jews, did not enter Jerusalem that day with the attributes of regality, but with the attributes of the suffering servant. d). He had not come to Jerusalem to be crowned King, He came as the Passover Lamb, to be tested and slain as the sinless sacrifice. In accordance with that recorded in Isaiah Chapter 53. 2). The events as they unfolded over that last week of the Lord’s physical life were not tragic in the sense that God’s plans were being thwarted – rather, this was God’s plan and it was being fulfilled to the letter - Lu 24:26 "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. That which was about to happen on the third day following the Lord’s crucifixion was the most marvelous sign that could have been given to Israel. A sign that they have not yet understood but will understand in that day at the end of the Tribulation, when they look upon the One whom they pierced - Mt 12:39 In reply Jesus told them: "An evil and faithless generation seeks a sign, and no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Jonah we will remember, had refused to take the Word of the Lord to Nineveh and was cast into the raging sea and swallowed by a great fish because of it - Jon 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. The type of Jonah provides a picture of Israel, who over the centuries has refused to take God’s Word to the Gentile nations, thereby preventing the promised blessings from flowing to all of the families of the earth, through them, in fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham - Ge 22:18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." Jonah then, is Israel cast into the sea, cast into the Gentile nations, during the Great Tribulation, who will then cry out to the Lord from the place of death as Jonah did. God will hear and deliver them, and they will ultimately be placed back in the land. And from there they will then take the Word of God to the Gentile nations during the Millennial Kingdom, as God had always intended. All of this will take place on the 3rd Day - Jon 2:1 ¶ Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish's belly. 2 And he said: "I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, And He answered me. "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice. ………9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD." 10 ¶ So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. We should note though that Jonah is a dual type – Jonah’s three days in the fish’s belly also pictures Christ’s three days in the belly of the earth, with resurrection taking place on the third day. a). And so, in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten first born Son, on the third day, we have the fulfillment of the sign given through Jonah concerning Jesus, and the certainty of the fulfillment of the same sign pointing to the resurrection of God’s adopted first born son, Israel, on the 3rd Day, following the two days, the two thousand years, allotted to their dispensation, just as the Scripture says - Ho 5:15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me." 6:1 ¶ Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. Jesus had told the nation - Mt 23:39 "for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" And on the Day when Israel speaks these words again, Christ will not enter Jerusalem as the suffering servant, but as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. b). In that Day Israel will be placed back in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, at the head of the nations and those nations will then receive God’s blessing through Israel – Zec 8:23 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'" For Israel this has to do exclusively with the earthly portion of the Kingdom, because the Heavenly portion, as we know, was taken from them to be given to the new creation in Christ – those who are the seed of Abraham through faith. c). Although the resurrection of Christ is not a sign for us, the reality of the resurrection makes absolutely certain the coming of the Kingdom Age. And during the two days, the 2000 years allotted to the Church, God is doing that recorded here – Ac 15:14 "Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And when this is complete, those comprising the one new man in Christ will be raised up either by resurrection or rapture into the Lord’s Day and those found worthy from this group at the Judgment Seat, will be adopted as firstborn sons to be co-heirs with Christ, to rule with Him for the 1000 years of the Millennial Kingdom. 3). It was 40 days after the Lord’s resurrection that His ascension took place. At this time, He was taken up into the Heavens to sit at the right hand of His Father, and to receive for Himself a Kingdom – Ac 1:9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." We can also find commentary on this event in – Heb 1:1 ¶ God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 ¶ having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Christ is described as sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the place of power, and taken in conjunction with His final words on the cross – ‘It is finished’ – points to the fact that all of God’s work which was finished from the foundation of the world, work to bring fulfillment to His plans and purposes with respect to the rulership of the earth, now exist in a completed state, within the boundaries of time. All that remains is for us to wait for the completion of the 6000 years of Man’s Day, and then the 7th Day will come. a). Continuing in Hebrews Chapter 1 - Heb 1:5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"? 6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." 7 And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire." It is for this Day, the Day of the Lord, the Age to Come, the Millennial Kingdom that Christ was begotten – His birth was not when Christ came into existence as He has always existed, but the time when God, in the person of Son, experienced the process of being born through the womb of His creation for the purpose of ruling with His redeemed companions during the 7th Day, when all the angels will worship Him. b). Continuing again in Hebrews - Heb 1:8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions." 10 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail." 13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Of the many things we could note in these verses, let’s identify two in particular. Following the Lord’s ascension, He is to sit at the Father’s right hand ‘Till’ – again we see a specific termination point to the time He must sit - Ac 3:21 "whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. And the angels are sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation, a salvation beyond eternal salvation, that can only be inherited, made possible because of the Lord’s resurrection – 1Pe 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. All we see here will come to pass because of Christ’s resurrection and ascension to the right hand of power. 4). And in connection with receiving our inheritance, let us look at what the Lord said concerning events that would follow His resurrection – Joh 16:7 ¶ "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you……..12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. Now please notice this – unless the Lord had gone to be at the right hand of the Father, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, could not have been sent and if He was not sent, there could be no present ministry of the Holy Spirit in searching out a Bride for the Son. a). Also notice what the function of the Helper is, to guide the eternally saved into all truth, to speak what He hears, to tell of things to come, to take what is Christ’s and declare it to us. b). And then in Christ’s post resurrection ministry, prior to His ascension, He again speaks of this same thing – Ac 1:4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; And that which the Lord had promised, took place on the Day of Pentecost 10 days after His ascension – Ac 2:1 ¶ When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. What might we conclude then from the record of this event? Simply, that Christ did indeed ascend to the Father in Heaven, following His resurrection, fulfilling His promise to send the Helper. The Helper could not come apart from His ascension and His ascension could not happen apart from His resurrection. And His resurrection could not happen apart from His death. All is confirmed. c). And the role of the Helper, amongst those who are already redeemed, is the same as that of Abraham’s oldest servant – to seek out a Bride for the Son from among the family; revealing to the prospective bride what would be her inheritance if she chose to go with the servant on the journey into the 3rd Day - Ge 24:53 Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. And this of course is exactly our experience. The Holy Spirit continues to do this on our behalf through the written Word, by taking that Word and guiding us into all truth with respect to the Word of the Kingdom; showing the inheritance set before us. 5). Now we have seen before that signs are only for the Jews, not the Gentiles - 1Co 1:22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks (Gentiles) seek after wisdom; For the Gentiles it is wisdom they seek. So, let’s look at just a few things the Scripture says about wisdom – Pr 24:3 ¶ Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; Pr 24:14 So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; If you have found it, there is a prospect, And your hope will not be cut off. Pr 3:18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her. 1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory…..13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Col 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom The sign is for the Jew, pointing to that which remains yet future, and that future event is guaranteed through the demonstration of the sign itself. a). Wisdom on the other hand is for the Gentile, the group from which the majority of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is taken – not wisdom in a general sense, but the hidden wisdom of God, that comes from above, ordained before the ages for our glory. b). Wisdom that is imparted by the Spirit of Truth as He guides us into all truth. And the revealing of this hidden wisdom by the Spirit is our absolute guarantee of the fulfillment of that which is revealed to us - 2Co 1:21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 2Co 5:4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. Eph 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. As a result of Christ’s ascension to the Father we have, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit who indwells each one of us, the absolute guarantee that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That He, as the Second Man, the Last Adam, has proved Himself worthy to redeem that which was forfeited by the first Adam in the Garden - Re 5:5 But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." 6 ¶ And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, We have received the heavenly calling and we have been given the choice to become part of the Bride of Christ. c). We have the guarantee that Satan’s head will be crushed, that the present system of rulership will be overthrown, and that Christ and His coheirs will rule from the heavens and Christ and Israel from the earth - Ps 2:1 ¶ Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us." 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion." 7 ¶ "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'" 10 ¶ Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." 27 Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. All this we know and are absolutely certain of and even now the Holy Spirit within us testifies to the veracity of this Word of the Kingdom causing our hearts to burn within us. d). Surely, we could not turn away from Him who speaks from heaven. If, we have truly heard all that the Spirit of God has testified to us, there can be no other choice on our part but to do all that God requires of us in order that we may be found worthy. e). Christ is risen indeed, and has ascended to the Father, according to the Scriptures, and all things now await the soon coming Day of His power. Are you Ready? Resurrection Sunday 2021 Apr 04, 2021 Speaker: John Herbert Series: Misc Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T046_20210404.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Mt 16:21 ¶ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. We will today look at events surrounding the Lord's resurrection. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday April 4th 2021 Resurrection Sunday After the Resurrection 1). Mt 16:21 ¶ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. It is in Matthew Chapter 16 that the Lord makes the first mention of His Church, a Church that is to be built on the revelation from above that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God – Mt 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And because the Church being brought into being would require a Divine act, seen in the type of Adam being put into a deep sleep, Jesus began to focus the disciples’ attention on His suffering at the hands of Israel’s religious leaders, His death that would follow, and His resurrection on the third day. a). The religious leaders of Israel’s constant rejection of their King and His Kingdom finally resulted in them crossing a line from which there was no return, recorded in Matthew Chapter 12, when they rejected the sign of the Sabbath and attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to the power of Satan. But the statement concerning the Kingdom of the Heavens being taken from them and given to a new nation was not made until the final week of the Lord’s earthly ministry - Mt 21:43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And this statement is not made until this time to allow for the events that unfolded on the day we know as ‘Palm Sunday’. b). The Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem on that day formed a parallel with the coronation day of David’s son, Solomon – the 3rd king of Israel, whose kingdom was a picture of the splendor and majesty of the Millennial Kingdom which is to come – 1Ki 1:32 ¶ And King David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." So they came before the king. 33 The king also said to them, "Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. 34 "There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, 'Long live King Solomon!' 35 "Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah." Christ, the greater Son of David, we will remember entered Jerusalem on a donkey, just as Solomon had been on David’s own mule, to the cries of – Mt 21:9….."Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!" Mr 11:10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Lu 19:38…'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Joh 12:13 …."Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" The echo of the promises made to David in 2 Samuel 7 and the words of the Messianic Psalm 118 would have been resounding in Jewish ears – Ps 118:25 Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. There was the potential on this day for national repentance, for the High Priest to have then anointed Jesus King over Israel – for the horn to be blown and the declaration made, ‘Long live King Jesus’. c). This, however, did not happen, but the events that did fulfilled the prophecy given in - Zec 9:9 ¶ "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. The word ‘lowly’ used here means to be poor and afflicted. Jesus, although born King of the Jews, did not enter Jerusalem that day with the attributes of regality, but with the attributes of the suffering servant. d). He had not come to Jerusalem to be crowned King, He came as the Passover Lamb, to be tested and slain as the sinless sacrifice. In accordance with that recorded in Isaiah Chapter 53. 2). The events as they unfolded over that last week of the Lord’s physical life were not tragic in the sense that God’s plans were being thwarted – rather, this was God’s plan and it was being fulfilled to the letter - Lu 24:26 "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. That which was about to happen on the third day following the Lord’s crucifixion was the most marvelous sign that could have been given to Israel. A sign that they have not yet understood but will understand in that day at the end of the Tribulation, when they look upon the One whom they pierced - Mt 12:39 In reply Jesus told them: "An evil and faithless generation seeks a sign, and no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Jonah we will remember, had refused to take the Word of the Lord to Nineveh and was cast into the raging sea and swallowed by a great fish because of it - Jon 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. The type of Jonah provides a picture of Israel, who over the centuries has refused to take God’s Word to the Gentile nations, thereby preventing the promised blessings from flowing to all of the families of the earth, through them, in fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham - Ge 22:18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." Jonah then, is Israel cast into the sea, cast into the Gentile nations, during the Great Tribulation, who will then cry out to the Lord from the place of death as Jonah did. God will hear and deliver them, and they will ultimately be placed back in the land. And from there they will then take the Word of God to the Gentile nations during the Millennial Kingdom, as God had always intended. All of this will take place on the 3rd Day - Jon 2:1 ¶ Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish's belly. 2 And he said: "I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, And He answered me. "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice. ………9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD." 10 ¶ So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. We should note though that Jonah is a dual type – Jonah’s three days in the fish’s belly also pictures Christ’s three days in the belly of the earth, with resurrection taking place on the third day. a). And so, in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten first born Son, on the third day, we have the fulfillment of the sign given through Jonah concerning Jesus, and the certainty of the fulfillment of the same sign pointing to the resurrection of God’s adopted first born son, Israel, on the 3rd Day, following the two days, the two thousand years, allotted to their dispensation, just as the Scripture says - Ho 5:15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me." 6:1 ¶ Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. Jesus had told the nation - Mt 23:39 "for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" And on the Day when Israel speaks these words again, Christ will not enter Jerusalem as the suffering servant, but as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. b). In that Day Israel will be placed back in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, at the head of the nations and those nations will then receive God’s blessing through Israel – Zec 8:23 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'" For Israel this has to do exclusively with the earthly portion of the Kingdom, because the Heavenly portion, as we know, was taken from them to be given to the new creation in Christ – those who are the seed of Abraham through faith. c). Although the resurrection of Christ is not a sign for us, the reality of the resurrection makes absolutely certain the coming of the Kingdom Age. And during the two days, the 2000 years allotted to the Church, God is doing that recorded here – Ac 15:14 "Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And when this is complete, those comprising the one new man in Christ will be raised up either by resurrection or rapture into the Lord’s Day and those found worthy from this group at the Judgment Seat, will be adopted as firstborn sons to be co-heirs with Christ, to rule with Him for the 1000 years of the Millennial Kingdom. 3). It was 40 days after the Lord’s resurrection that His ascension took place. At this time, He was taken up into the Heavens to sit at the right hand of His Father, and to receive for Himself a Kingdom – Ac 1:9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." We can also find commentary on this event in – Heb 1:1 ¶ God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 ¶ having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Christ is described as sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the place of power, and taken in conjunction with His final words on the cross – ‘It is finished’ – points to the fact that all of God’s work which was finished from the foundation of the world, work to bring fulfillment to His plans and purposes with respect to the rulership of the earth, now exist in a completed state, within the boundaries of time. All that remains is for us to wait for the completion of the 6000 years of Man’s Day, and then the 7th Day will come. a). Continuing in Hebrews Chapter 1 - Heb 1:5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"? 6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." 7 And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire." It is for this Day, the Day of the Lord, the Age to Come, the Millennial Kingdom that Christ was begotten – His birth was not when Christ came into existence as He has always existed, but the time when God, in the person of Son, experienced the process of being born through the womb of His creation for the purpose of ruling with His redeemed companions during the 7th Day, when all the angels will worship Him. b). Continuing again in Hebrews - Heb 1:8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions." 10 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail." 13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Of the many things we could note in these verses, let’s identify two in particular. Following the Lord’s ascension, He is to sit at the Father’s right hand ‘Till’ – again we see a specific termination point to the time He must sit - Ac 3:21 "whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. And the angels are sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation, a salvation beyond eternal salvation, that can only be inherited, made possible because of the Lord’s resurrection – 1Pe 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. All we see here will come to pass because of Christ’s resurrection and ascension to the right hand of power. 4). And in connection with receiving our inheritance, let us look at what the Lord said concerning events that would follow His resurrection – Joh 16:7 ¶ "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you……..12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. Now please notice this – unless the Lord had gone to be at the right hand of the Father, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, could not have been sent and if He was not sent, there could be no present ministry of the Holy Spirit in searching out a Bride for the Son. a). Also notice what the function of the Helper is, to guide the eternally saved into all truth, to speak what He hears, to tell of things to come, to take what is Christ’s and declare it to us. b). And then in Christ’s post resurrection ministry, prior to His ascension, He again speaks of this same thing – Ac 1:4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; And that which the Lord had promised, took place on the Day of Pentecost 10 days after His ascension – Ac 2:1 ¶ When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. What might we conclude then from the record of this event? Simply, that Christ did indeed ascend to the Father in Heaven, following His resurrection, fulfilling His promise to send the Helper. The Helper could not come apart from His ascension and His ascension could not happen apart from His resurrection. And His resurrection could not happen apart from His death. All is confirmed. c). And the role of the Helper, amongst those who are already redeemed, is the same as that of Abraham’s oldest servant – to seek out a Bride for the Son from among the family; revealing to the prospective bride what would be her inheritance if she chose to go with the servant on the journey into the 3rd Day - Ge 24:53 Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. And this of course is exactly our experience. The Holy Spirit continues to do this on our behalf through the written Word, by taking that Word and guiding us into all truth with respect to the Word of the Kingdom; showing the inheritance set before us. 5). Now we have seen before that signs are only for the Jews, not the Gentiles - 1Co 1:22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks (Gentiles) seek after wisdom; For the Gentiles it is wisdom they seek. So, let’s look at just a few things the Scripture says about wisdom – Pr 24:3 ¶ Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; Pr 24:14 So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; If you have found it, there is a prospect, And your hope will not be cut off. Pr 3:18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her. 1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory…..13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Col 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom The sign is for the Jew, pointing to that which remains yet future, and that future event is guaranteed through the demonstration of the sign itself. a). Wisdom on the other hand is for the Gentile, the group from which the majority of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is taken – not wisdom in a general sense, but the hidden wisdom of God, that comes from above, ordained before the ages for our glory. b). Wisdom that is imparted by the Spirit of Truth as He guides us into all truth. And the revealing of this hidden wisdom by the Spirit is our absolute guarantee of the fulfillment of that which is revealed to us - 2Co 1:21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 2Co 5:4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. Eph 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. As a result of Christ’s ascension to the Father we have, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit who indwells each one of us, the absolute guarantee that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That He, as the Second Man, the Last Adam, has proved Himself worthy to redeem that which was forfeited by the first Adam in the Garden - Re 5:5 But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." 6 ¶ And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, We have received the heavenly calling and we have been given the choice to become part of the Bride of Christ. c). We have the guarantee that Satan’s head will be crushed, that the present system of rulership will be overthrown, and that Christ and His coheirs will rule from the heavens and Christ and Israel from the earth - Ps 2:1 ¶ Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us." 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion." 7 ¶ "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'" 10 ¶ Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." 27 Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. All this we know and are absolutely certain of and even now the Holy Spirit within us testifies to the veracity of this Word of the Kingdom causing our hearts to burn within us. d). Surely, we could not turn away from Him who speaks from heaven. If, we have truly heard all that the Spirit of God has testified to us, there can be no other choice on our part but to do all that God requires of us in order that we may be found worthy. e). Christ is risen indeed, and has ascended to the Father, according to the Scriptures, and all things now await the soon coming Day of His power. Are you Ready?