Dr. M.J. du Plessis Gereformeerde Kerk Bellville Datum: 30 Maart 2003 (oggenddiens).

REFORMED CHURCH, BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 1 JUNE 2003: MORNING SERVICE

Our help is in the Name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

Psalm of praise: 8:1,4.

Apostle's Creed (Or Nicene Creed, below)

1.        I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
2.        And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord;
3.        Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary;
4.        Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; He suffered all the pains of hell, even unto death;
5.        The third day He rose again from the dead;
6.        He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
7.        From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
8.        I believe in the Holy Spirit.
9.        I believe a holy catholic Church, the communion of saints;
10.    The forgiveness of sins;
11.    The resurrection of the body;
12.    And the life everlasting. AMEN

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all the worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life; who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. AMEN

The Law : Ex. 20:1-17.

Psalm 40:4.

Prayer.

Hymn 7:5 (melody Psalm 147)

Scripture reading: Revelation 5

Scripture text: Revelation 5:12
                Catechism Sunday 18.

(...saying) "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and hono(u)r and glory and blessing."

On Patmos, John was in heaven in the Spirit. He saw and heard inexpressible things. He saw the Lord Jesus Who had departed from earth in all His glory. He also saw how the work of Jesus Christ became fulfilled.

Let us in this sermon consider the following two matters:

1.        The eternal King in heaven.
2.        The departure from earth of the eternal King.

1.        The eternal King in heaven.

John saw that at the right hand of God there was a remarkable scroll.

Ordinary scrolls were inscribed on the inside only,
but this scroll was filled with writing on both the inside and the back.
On this scroll was inscribed all of God's planning for the world and its history.
The significance of the scroll's being inscribed on both sides is to indicate that the Lord had planned everything so thoroughly that no time or space had been wasted.

This scroll then led to tension in heaven. A challenge was issued to anyone on earth or in heaven to break open the seals of this scroll. Nobody was able to do so. Not even one of the mightiest angels dared to attempt it.

John understood the importance of this.

If the seals of this scroll could not be broken, the history of the world would not have developed any further.
This meant that the glory of God could not have been revealed to us,
nor could the eternal existence after death, and with that the new heaven and the new earth, have come about.

One of the elders brought it to John's attention that the seals would nevertheless be broken.

There was a Lion who would accomplish it (v.5).
When John looked up, he saw that it was not a lion, but a Lamb, in their midst, a Lamb standing as though it had been slain.
This means that the Lamb bore signs on His body indicating that He had been done to death violently.
He had also other remarkable features:

He had seven horns.
These symbolize perfect and divine power.

The application of this is that Jesus Christ has the divine power to reign over everything that happens in time and eternity. For that reason everyone in heaven fell down before Him when He took the scroll in order to open it.

They then join in singing a hymn in which the excellence of the Lamb is extolled:

    "Worthy are You to take the book
    and to break its seals;
    for You were slain,
    and purchased for God
    with Your blood
    men from every tribe and tongue
    and people and nation."

Then a choir of all the angels and other living beings in heaven joined them, saying:

    "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
    to receive power and riches
    and wisdom and might
    and hono(u)r and glory and blessing.
    To Him who sits upon the throne,
    and to the lamb,
    be blessing and hono(u)r
    and glory and dominion
    forever and ever.
    Amen."

The nature of Jesus Christ's victory is summarized by all these events coming to pass in heaven:

Jesus Christ laid down His life, rose from the dead and then ascended to heaven.
The Lamb was slain on earth, but then went to heaven, there becoming the Lion who reigns with power and might.
From heaven He now determines and reigns over the course of history on earth.
His omnipotence is indicated clearly and unambiguously by that fact that everyone in heaven worships Him and honours Him as the God of all history.

2. The departure from earth of the eternal King.

There is much more in heaven than the people could see during Jesus' ascension, because that was such an apparently simple event.

He ascended before the eyes of His disciples.
A cloud moved in between Him and them.

We know that there were things which the people did not see, things which were terrible, namely that the devil and his forces attempted to attack and destroy Jesus after the cloud separated Him from the sight of His disciples, and that Michael and his angels assembled their forces against the devil and conquered him.

Psalm 47:6 (5, in some versions), prophesied that God ascended amid jubilation.

God has ascended with a shout,
The Lord, with the sound of a trumpet.

In the Old Testament a trumpet was sounded to announce the arrival of a king, but also to announce the commencement of battle and an attack by the enemy. Psalm 47 prophesied both.

The war was fought between the archangel Michael and the devil, while the supreme King ascended.
When the supreme King arrived in heaven, the angels and spiritual forces rejoiced at His victory.

The Bible thereby reveals how the suffering of Jesus was succeeded by His victory. From His being mocked on the cross His situation was transformed into His becoming the eternal Judge who would sit in judgement upon all and everything.

Before coming as Judge, He will first accomplish something else: He will prepare a place in His kingdom for those on whose behalf he won eternal life while on the cross. That is why we confess that Jesus is in heaven for our sakes.

In the kingdom of God Jesus Christ's blessing upon us will become completely fulfilled.

During His earthly life we saw various aspects of this everywhere.

He repeatedly pronounced His blessing upon believers - and thereby also upon His church.
Think of all His utterances: e.g.

"Blessed are those who believe",
"Your sins are forgiven you".

Luke closes his gospel with a description of the ascension including the following words:

... and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. (Luke 24:50,51).

Jesus' blessing entails that we will be resurrected from the dead as He was, so that we may enter His kingdom with body and soul at His second coming.

We live in a time in which people want to explain everything in terms of science. Even every miracle which the Lord performed needs to be explained. What cannot be explained in scientific terms, is usually rejected.

That is why various matters regarding Jesus are attacked, all of them matters which were attacked during His life and also immediately afterwards.

The virgin birth is attacked.
His resurrection from the dead is not accepted.
Science cannot explain Jesus' ascension and final destination. Consequently there is, in general, growing unbelief among people.

It is naturally true that one can accept and understand the bodily resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ only in faith.

Consequently these have meaning only for believers.
What will happen to one after death is of importance only to believers:

Their bodies will be resurrected after death just like that of Jesus.
They will enter the kingdom of God with body and soul, just like Jesus.

The ascension is proof of God's omnipotence.

Before the eyes of people He ascended from earth to heaven in His body.
That proves that He can enable all bodies - also our bodies - to ascend from earth to heaven.

That Jesus departed from earth in His body does not mean that He is thereby cut off from us.

We must always remember that Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit are one Being, one God.
Because He and the Holy Spirit are of one Being, Jesus is - through the Holy Spirit - still with us.
That is why it is stated in our confession:

"...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." (Question 49, Heidelberg Catechism, Sunday 18).

Let us go back for a moment to the passage in Revelation which we read together. What must we make of the image of the Lion and the Lamb?

The Lion comes to devour and destroy, because the time of grace is passing.
When Christ returns with the clouds, He will most certainly permit no resistance against Him.

He will then bring to pass the final judgement and the final separation between all powers in the heavens and on the earth.

The Lamb accomplished the atonement.
He bestowed grace upon all who believed.
He prays for us daily and prepares the place where He will receive us in the hereafter.

We no longer expect the Lamb. His work is done. We now await the Lion, Who will let the dawn of eternal life break upon us.
Amen.

Closing prayer.

Hymn 9:1,2 (melody Psalm 66).

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.

Rev. Dr. M.J. du Plessis
Reformed Church, Bellville.
1 June 2003.
Scripture quoted from NASB.