The Value of the Ascension- part 4

The reason I pulled out my old notes on the ascension is because last week I was studying on prayer. Here are excerpts from the sermon. As believers we need to realize that we can only pray because of the work of Christ.

While the Old Testament believers did not have Christ on the throne intercessing as mediator, their prayers, as with all of their worship, were in anticipation of Christ's great sacrifice and mediation.

IF I TRULY BELIEVE CHRIST IS ASCENDED TO THE THRONE OF GOD, MY PRAYER LIFE SHOULD BE EMBOLDENED. Christ is the one who brings my prayers into the presence of God. In Christ, God's throne is a throne of grace and not wrath against me. Prayer is a spiritual matter and thus it is grounded on Christ and rooted in the gospel. If the ascension of Christ really sinks deep into my heart and my affections, it will be evidenced by a deep seated confidence in my prayer life.

There is so much more we could say about prayer just from the perspective of considering the ascension. Here is the message:

MAIN POINT: PRAY BECAUSE OF CHRIST.

I. FIRST, PRAY BECAUSE CHRIST IS OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST.
A. Christ is our high priest.

Hebrews 4:14 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

1. What is a high priest? In the Old Testament, there were priests. They served in the tabernacle and later the temple. Many of them had odd jobs some would teach the Bible to the people in Israel. The tribe of Levi was the tribe of priests and they had various responsibilities outlined in the Old Testament. The high priest, in the Old Testament came from the tribe of Aaron. In the temple there was the holy place where the lampstand and the table for the showbread was placed. The priests ministered in here regularly. Once a year, however, on the day of atonement, the high priest, who was appointed over the people would go into the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies). The priest would sacrifice a lamb for his sins, he would then sacrifice a lamb for the people’s sin. He would burn incense and spread it through the temple so that the ark of the covenant was veiled by smoke. He would enter before the presence of God’s earthly throne and sprinkle the altar with blood as a symbol of the people’s forgiveness.

2. Why is Jesus a great high priest? Let me highlight several reasons within the book of Hebrews:
a. Jesus goes into a greater tabernacle; He goes into one that is in heaven and not the earthly symbol. In other words, the Old Testament was just a shadow but this one Jesus enters is “the real deal.”

NAU Hebrews 8:5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, "SEE," He says, "THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN."

NAU Hebrews 9:24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

b. Jesus Christ had no sin of his own like the Old Testament high priests.

NAU Hebrews 7:26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;

c. Jesus offers a superior sacrifice. This sacrifice cleanses since once and for all. It does not have to be repeated.

NAU Hebrews 9:11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

d. Thus, Jesus’ ministry is better than in the Old Testament:

NAU Hebrews 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

B. Christ is our high priest who has passed through the heavens.

Hebrews 4:14 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

As we have noted, the high priests of the Old Testament only walked through the earthly tabernacle. Jesus walks into a tabernacle in heaven. If the ark of the covenant was a symbol of God’s throne, Jesus walks into the throne room of heaven itself.

C. God’s throne is a throne of grace because of Christ’s work. Verse 16 tells us to approach the throne of grace. God’s throne is no longer a throne of wrath. Christ’s blood is brought before the throne, just like blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat in the Old Testament. For God’s people, God has no more wrath against us for our sins.

NAU Hebrews 10:17 "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE." 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

D. Do you understand the perfection of Christ’s work on the cross? It pays for sin. It exhausts the wrath of God. If you have received Jesus Christ by faith, you do not have to appease God. Christ has stopped God’s wrath against our sin. So long as we belong to Christ that wrath is gone. Thus, we have the privilege of prayer.

II. SECOND, PRAY BECAUSE CHRIST UNDERSTANDS.
A. Christ is able to sympathize with our weakness.

NAU Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

1. High priests have to be able to understand the weakness of their people. They have to represent the people as one of them:

Hebrews 5:1-2 NAU Hebrews 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness;

2. Christ understands what it is to suffer. Christ understands the peril and trouble of human life. Human life is frail and weak. It is subject to death and suffering. It can succumb to death. Christ’s humanity was exactly the same. Jesus understand what it is to cry out in agony through prayer:

Hebrews 5:7 7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.

The difference is that Christ does not have sin not that Christ did not have weakness. Christ suffered, Christ was tempted, Christ faced pain and agony.

3. Consider the humanity of Christ: He was just like us, yet without sin.

Hebrews 2:14-18 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

4. When you pray to Christ, you are not praying to one who is distance but one who fully understands.

B. Christ was tempted in all things.

NAU Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

1. “All things” does not mean every exact sin, for example, Christ could not be tempted to speed in a car or look at dirty images on the internet. “All things” does refer to all types of temptation.
2. Consider the temptations that Satan brings to Christ:
a. Being told to turn stones into bread, He is tempted to meet his own needs rather than trusting God.
b. He is tempted to put God to the test by jumping off the temple.
c. He is tempted by false worship of Satan. He is tempted to give up the path of suffering and receive power and glory—it is exaltation without obedience to god.
d. In the garden, He is tempted to desire His own will more than God’s.
3. Christ was tempted but had no sin:
a. (1) He did not fall into sin.
b. (2) He did not have sinful flesh (i.e. a sin nature) that might lure him. There was no internal lust.
c. Christ understands the pressure to sin and that was a real pressure placed upon Him because of His circumstances.
C. Conclusion: Christ understands your prayers more than you can ever imagine.

III. THIRD, PRAY BECAUSE IN CHRIST WE FIND MERCY AND GRACE IN TIME OF NEED.
A. We must pray with confidence.

NAU Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

1. Knowing the work of Christ emboldens our prayer life. We must be a people who draw near to God. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST AND YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE CROSS OF CHRIST, YOU WILL NOT PRAY AS YOU SHOULD.
2. We should not sulk into the presence of God. We do come into God’s presence in prayer. We come before Christ who sits on the throne. A throne from which He gives grace.
3. The power for prayer comes not from the ‘pray-er’ but from the person to whom we pray.

B. The purpose of prayer is to find mercy and grace.

NAU Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

1. The purpose of prayer is to fin mercy and grace. Only God can give us mercy and grace.
a. Mercy- is pity and compassion to those who are in misery.
b. Grace- is favor extended where wrath is deserved.
2. WE NEED BOTH. Our times of need our real. Let us not pretend we are better than we really are.

IV. Applications:

A. We must rediscover prayer. We will only rediscover prayer if rediscover the person and work of Christ. Consider Him who was made like us in everyway but without sin. Consider him who suffered for us.

B. We must pray because we are in desperate need of mercy and grace. So often in prayer we fail to contemplate our greatness need.

***Our greatest need as a church is not people, filled pews, busy programs, or fun times together. Our greatest need is not even unity, as crucial as that is. OUR GREATEST NEED IS GRACE FROM GOD. Christ alone dispenses that grace.

C. Our prayer life needs boldness and confidence. You and I cannot by ourselves enter God’s presence. BUT CHRIST HAS. When I was a child I did not fear asking my Father for things. I knew that I could go into His presence and say “Dad, help me.”

Matthew 7:7-11 7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 "Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 "Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

D. We should seek to put aside our selfish motives in prayer and ask according to God’s will. To often in prayer we ask for worldly things for worldly motives.

James 4:2-4 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

E. What does our church need to do in prayer for the future?
1. We need to attend prayer together. For example, prayer meetings, or the men’s breakfast or meet in homes to pray.
2. We need to pray more in private. Do we consider our private times with God to be times of worship.
3. We need to pray for spiritual things: we should be praying that God will give us grace. That God would transform us into the image of Christ. We need to pray this for others as well.
4. We need to pray for things only if they are God’s will: We should not pray for a large church without adding if it is God’s will. We should pray for a healthy church: that we would look and act more like Jesus, we know this is God's will.
5. We should pray for physically weak and ill: we do this. But let us be careful that we do not demand God heal but we request it.
6. OUR GREATEST DESIRE IN PRAYER SHOULD BE TO SEE GOD GLORIFY HIS OWN NAME IN THIS CHURCH AND IN OUR PEOPLE.
7. Our prayer should be humble, we should look for God to work but not according to our demands or our timetable.
8. Our prayer should be an act of worship. Pray brings us into the presence of God because we have been united with Christ, the one who is in God's presence.
9. Our prayers should be confident in Christ because of who He is and what He has done.