Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 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.” Acts 1:9-11 (Read 1-11)

This Word of God, which was spoken by angels to the disciples who had just witnessed Jesus’ ascension into heaven, teaches us that Jesus Christ will return visibly in the clouds of glory on the Last Day. The Bible says: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Rev. 1:7).

As Jesus ascended into heaven, so He shall also return on the Last Day, the Day of Judgment. He will come again in clouds of glory. Every eye will see Him! His return will be no secret rapture — both the believer and the unbeliever will see Him coming in glory!

But, are you ready for His return and judgment? Are you prepared to meet Him?

Those who do not trust in Him for salvation will wail in sorrow at His return because they stand condemned for not trusting in the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18; 2 Thess. 1:6-10). But those who do trust in Him as their Savior — believing that they have pardon for their sins and peace with God for the sake of Christ’s innocent sufferings and death in their stead — will rejoice at His return because He comes to take them to be with Him forever in the mansions of heaven (cf. Luke 21:27-28; Heb. 9:27-28; John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).

Do you acknowledge your sins and look to Christ and His cross for mercy and forgiveness? If not, the day of His return will be a day of sorrow and mourning as you face His eternal judgment and condemnation!

If you agree with God about your sins and trust in Christ and the atonement He made for the sins of the world when He died on the cross, that day will be a day of joy and gladness as you receive His mercy, pardon, and life eternal in His glorious kingdom!

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, as You have ascended up into heaven to the right hand of God the Father, so come again and take us to be with You forever. Graciously keep us in the true faith so that, on that Day, we may greet You with joy and not with sorrow. Grant this unto us for the sake of Your holy life and bitter sufferings and death upon the cross in our stead. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

Read Luke 24:46-53 and Acts 1:1-12

• When did Jesus ascend?
• Where did the ascension take place?
• What did Jesus’ disciples do after Jesus’ ascension?

What benefits do we as believers derive through Jesus’ ascension?

Read John 16:7-16; cf. John 14:15-18, 23-26. Why does Jesus say it is to our advantage that He ascends to the Father? How important is this?

Read Ephesians 1:15-23; Cf. Matthew 28:18-20; Philippians 2:5-11. What does it mean when we say Jesus ascended to the right hand of God the Father in heaven? Over what does He rule? Where is He present? Why is that important to us? How is Jesus’ ascension connected to our fulfillment of His great commission?

Read Hebrews 9:24-28; cf. 9:11ff.; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2. What is Jesus doing for us now before God the Father? How long will He continue to do this for us who look to Him and His cross for pardon and life eternal?

Read Hebrews 10:19-25; cf. 1 John 5:14-15. What privilege do we have because Christ died for our sins, rose again and ascended to the right hand of God the Father?

Read Acts 1:11; cf. Rev. 1:7; Matt. 24:29-31; 1 Cor. 15:20-24, 50-58; 1 Thess. 4:13-18. How will Jesus come back on the Last Day? Who will see Him on that Day? What will take place on that Day?

O crucified, risen and ascended Savior, we praise Your name for accomplishing our salvation through Your death, resurrection and glorious ascension. Graciously keep us in the true and saving faith until that day when You return, as your disciples saw You ascend, to take us to dwell with You forever. Amen.

“The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.” Psalm 147:6

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5).

Though it would seem today as if those who are proud, self-sufficient and outgoing will inherit the earth, Jesus says the opposite. It is the meek and humble who will inherit the earth and all its blessings.

The psalm says the same thing: “The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.”

Those who fail to take note of God’s power and glory and exalt themselves, living for self and seeking to fulfill their own will and desires, will be thrown down to the ground. All their work and efforts will pass away and return to dust. They and their works will not be established and take root in the earth (cf. Isa. 40:21ff.).

But, on the other hand, those who are meek – who humble themselves before the LORD and His Word and acknowledge their sinfulness and justly deserved condemnation and look to Christ and His cross in faith – will be lifted up of the LORD. He will have mercy upon them, forgive their sins for Jesus’ sake and receive them into His everlasting kingdom.

Though in this life, they may be penniless, they have an eternal inheritance in the new heavens and earth for the sake of Jesus’ blood shed for them upon the cross when He suffered and died for the sins of the world and rose again.

God takes no pleasure in the strength and accomplishments of man. Rather, “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy” (v. 11).

God says: “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isa. 66:2).

God desires that we humble ourselves before Him and give Him the honor and respect due unto His name as the almighty and all-wise Creator of all (cf. Psalm 96). He desires that we hear His Word and humbly repent of our sinful and rebellious ways and place our trust in Him who created all things and gave His Son to suffer and die to redeem us.

And, we have the promises of God’s Word: “The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.”

Consider what God says to you and to me. Don’t harden your heart against Him and reject His Word. Rather, repent in dust and ashes and look to Him for mercy for the sake of Christ Jesus, our Savior.

O gracious and merciful God, grant that we humble ourselves before You, acknowledge our sinfulness and the just punishment we so deserve and look to You for mercy, forgiveness and a place in the new heavens and earth which have no end. Amen.

Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:14-17

In Number 21:4-9 is the account of the children of Israel and the bronze serpent which Moses lifted up on a pole. The people became discouraged along the way in the wilderness and spoke against both God and Moses, questioning why God and His servant Moses brought them out into such a desolate land where they had neither food nor water. Because of their lack of faith and their evil words, the LORD God sent fiery serpents among the people to bite them, and many of the people died.

The people then acknowledged their sin and asked Moses to pray to the LORD that He remove the serpents from them. Instead, God commanded Moses to make a serpent and lift it up on a pole so that anyone bitten by the serpents could look at the serpent on the pole and live rather than die. As God commanded, Moses made a serpent of bronze and mounted it on a pole, and anyone who was bitten by one of the fiery serpents, if he looked in faith at the bronze serpent, he lived.

In the same way, because of our sinful and unbelieving hearts, we do not follow after the LORD God and walk in His ways. We grumble and complain of His commandments and of the things which God permits to arise in our lives. Like Adam and Eve, who failed to trust in the Word of the LORD and ate of the tree of which God had commanded them not to eat, so we fail to trust in the Word of the LORD and so often think we know better than God what is good for us.

Thus, when God says, “You shall not,” we question His goodness and wisdom and do those things He says not to do. When He tells us what He would have us do, again we think we know better and do our own thing instead.

In the same way as God did not immediately remove the fiery serpents from among His people, so He has not removed from us all the consequences of our sin. Like Adam and Eve, we must suffer sorrow and hardship in this life and finally die.

But God has provided a way for us to live and not suffer eternal death and damnation. As He promised Adam and Eve that Seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness that all who, in faith, looked to it could live, so God sent His only begotten Son into the world, the Seed of the woman.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so also Jesus, Son of God and Son of man, was lifted up when He was crucified and condemned upon the cross for the sins of the whole world. Though we are still bitten by the old evil serpent and have the poison of sin flowing through our hearts and veins, God in His great love for all mankind sent His only begotten Son into the world, not to condemn us for our sin, but to bear our punishment and save us from eternal death and damnation.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness and those who looked upon it in faith lived, so also sinners today can look to Christ Jesus, who was crucified for our sins and has risen again in victory; and those who look to Jesus in faith will not die eternally but live!

Jesus, when He was lifted up upon the cross, paid in full the just penalty for the sins of all people. His resurrection is proof. Those who look to Jesus in faith will not be condemned to hell for their sins; for in Jesus, God graciously forgives their sins and gives them everlasting life instead. In Jesus, we who should die for our sins are given the everlasting glories of heaven. O how great God’s love toward us is in Christ Jesus!

Dear Jesus, I have sinned and turned aside from loving, trusting and honoring You with my life. Do not deal with me as I deserve on account of my sin. I look to You and Your cross for salvation. Forgive my sin, cleanse my heart and grant me life eternal with You in Your everlasting kingdom. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.” John 21:15-17

Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” And three times Peter affirmed his love for Jesus and was commissioned by Jesus to feed and tend to His sheep.

What is not so obvious in English translations are the different words behind the words “love” and “feed” or “tend.” Two times Jesus asked Peter if he loved (agapao, or selfless love) Him and Peter replied with the Greek word indicating that he had brotherly or reciprocal (phileo) love for Jesus. And the third time, Jesus also used the word for reciprocal love in His question to Peter.

And, in Jesus’ commission to Peter, He used two different words in regard to caring for the sheep. Peter was commanded to feed (bosko) Jesus’ lambs, to tend or shepherd (poimaino) His sheep and to feed (bosko) His sheep.

Peter was grieved that Jesus would ask him three times of his love for Him, for Peter had three times denied knowing Jesus or being His disciple (John 18:15ff.). Peter, in the strength of his own flesh, had before assured Jesus that He was ready to die with Him (Luke 22:31-34). But, of course, that dependence upon himself failed Peter — three times!

And Peter was now being called and commissioned by Jesus to bear witness of Him and testify of His person and work before the world — He was to tell all that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16), and that Jesus suffered and died for the sins of all and rose again on the third day (cf. Luke 24:44-49). In fact, Peter would be called upon to suffer greatly for his testimony as a disciple of the Lord Jesus (John 21:18f.). He would need to love Jesus enough to die for Him, as Jesus had loved His sheep enough to die for them and redeem them (cf. John 10:11; Rom. 5:8).

What about us? I sometimes wonder how many times Jesus would have to ask me if I love Him for, even though I may not have denied Jesus in the same way as Peter, I have often denied Him by failing to speak up in His name, by failing to follow Him and by going my own way instead of His.

And, without love for Jesus, how can we begin to fully trust in Him for our salvation, deny ourselves and follow Him, obey Him and live in accord with His commandments or be faithful to Him unto death? The Bible tells us that “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10; 1 Cor. 13:1ff.; 1 John 2:5; 5:2-3; Matt. 22:35-40; Rev. 2:10).

Indeed, Jesus’ love for me is selfless, undeserved love. My love for Him falls so far short of His love for me. It is reciprocal love at best — I love Him because He first loved me and gave Himself for me (cf. 1 John 4:9-10,19).

As a pastor, I am called “to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2-4). But every believer and disciple of Jesus is called to love the Lord Jesus and to love those for whom He died and rose again (1 John 5:1; Eph. 4:1ff.; 4:11ff.). Every believer is called to follow Christ, bear witness to Christ and to suffer with Christ.

It takes love for Christ to have love for those for whom He died. It takes love for Christ to be willing to give up ourselves and serve the needs of others. It takes love for Christ to be willing to suffer and possibly even die as His followers.

Jesus asks you, and He asks me, “Do you love Me?” He knows all things. He knows our hearts. Do we merely pay lip service? Or do we truly love Him enough to follow Him and serve him? Do we call upon Him who knows all to search and test our hearts, as did Peter (cf. Psalm 139:23-24)?

And, if we find ourselves short in the love department, if our lives reveal a lack of love for Christ, what’s the answer? We can’t generate love by our own efforts or determination. Self-generated love will fail. True love for God is generated by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit through the Word (cf. Gal. 5:22-23; 1 Cor. 13:1ff.). “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

When the Holy Spirit reveals our utter sinfulness and unworthiness before God and then shows us the great love of God for us in Christ Jesus — sending His own Son into the world to suffer and die for our sins and rise again — the Spirit works faith in our hearts and love for Christ Jesus as a fruit of His great love for us sinners.

Therefore, if we desire to grow in our love for Jesus, the first step is considering His love for us. As John writes: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10; cf. John 3:16; Rom. 5:5-9; 8:28-39).

Grant us to know Your love for us, dear Savior, that we may love You, trust in You and bear witness to You and the salvation You won for all. Grant us an ever-growing love for You. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]