Ascension Day is the 40th day after the celebration of Easter. Through History, on this day, the Church recalls the ascension of Christ into Heaven and celebrates His triumphant rule over all Creation as the Victorious Priest King who has been invested with all authority on heaven and earth.

Interestingly the Ascension was celebrated for centuries in the early Church with Pentecost as one festival. During the end of the 4th century the Church eventually recognized them as dates to celebrate two festivals. One honoring the Ascension. One honoring Pentecost.

Of course we remember that the Ascension of the Lord Christ is a necessary aspect of the narrative of the Gospel. We confess the Ascension of the Lord Christ when we confess the Apostles Creed.

he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

Too often we so focus on the Cross of Christ that we forget the subsequent Redemptive acts following the Cross — the Resurrection, the Ascension, the co-Regency of the Lord Christ (Session) and the Kingly distribution of the Divine gift of the Holy Spirit upon His people (Pentecost). So, in no way diminishing the luster of the Cross work of the Lord Christ we spend some time on Ascension Sunday speaking to the importance of the Ascension of the Lord Christ, while at the same time seeing the relationship between Cross and Crown.

We first note that the Ascension of the Lord Christ was a enthronement reality. In the enthronement ceremony of the Ancient world what was being affirmed was the Sovereign and rightful rule of the King. We find included in that rightful rule of the King also the theme of judgment because the king was enthroned to judge over his people.

Psalm 96:10, 97:2, 8, 98:9, 99:4

So, when we celebrate Ascension Sunday we are celebrating that Christ is a sovereign King who rules over the affairs of the nations. Indeed, in the Gospel narrative the Ascension of the Lord Christ is the explanation of how God’s reign is incarnated on earth among men.

Luke’s Gospel, for example, very quickly brings us to the Baptism of Jesus, which Jesus describes as a royal anointing (Luke 4:18). In point of fact when, upon Baptism, the Lord Christ hears the Father’s words, “You are my Beloved Son,” there is a echo of the enthronement Psalm of Psalm 2 coming through.

“You are my Son, today I have begotten you …”

So, at the beginning of Christ’s ministry Jesus, as David’s greater Son, is recognized as King, but His enthronement does not come until after his Crucifixion and Resurrection in His Ascension. That there is such a delay between his anointing and His enthronement should not surprise us since there is precedent for that in the OT. David is chosen by God and anointed by Samuel years before he is finally enthroned as King.

Luke describes the Resurrection and Ascension as Jesus’ divine royal enthronement. In his sermon at Pentecost Peter uses the Psalms to show how the Resurrection and Ascension represent the fulfillment of the God’s Promise to David that His seed would forever rule.

Luke cites Psalm 16:8-11 and explains that the Lord has fulfilled David’s prayer for preservation from death not in himself, for he died, but in Jesus who is raised from the dead (Acts 2:24-31).

He then draws on Psalm 110:1 to show how the Lord establishes Jesus as King at his right hand in his Ascension (Acts 2:32-36); through the Ascension Jesus is enthroned at the right hand of God. Though Jesus was “anointed” as king in his baptism, it was only in his Resurrection and Ascension that he was elevated and installed as king.

This exaltation and enthronement becomes a theme again a few chapters later in the book of Acts when Peter says,

(Acts 5:29-32 NKJV) But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. {30} “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. {31} “Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. {32} “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

So, the Ascension of the Lord Christ — His enthronement — was to the end that the Nations would move in terms of His Sovereign rule and authority, and Peter speaks as one who is under the authority of a King who compels him to disobey lesser authorities who rule contrary to the Ascended King’s Law Word.

That the soon Enthroned and Ascended King intends to bring God’s rule to bear on earth is seen in Jesus last recorded words in Matthew 28,

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus, as the Ascended one, who has been given a name above every other name, now sits at the right Hand of the Father to the end of the fulfillment of all that the Gospel intended to accomplish which is the ongoing extension of His now established rule. In His Ascension God has set His steward King as regent over the nations until His enemy nations are made His footstool.

Now none of this truth denigrates the message of the Cross. In order to come underneath the rule of the King one must understand their rebellion against and alienation from the Ascended King. Only the atoning death of Christ can answer that rebellion and alienation. However, once that rebellion is forgiven because of the finished work of Christ and the alienation set aside so that we are now adopted as co-heirs with Christ we now are part of the Kingdom of God and walk in terms of His law Word — a law word that will hold sway over everything once His enemies are made His footstool.

We should say a few words here to elaborate.

There are those in the Church who want to talk about Christ’s Kingship as if the Kingdom of God is going to be reflected absent the proclamation of the Cross of Christ. It is as if they believe that the current Kingdom of God will be participated in by men who never understood God’s just wrath against sin yet were brought into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross. This will never do. The Cross is the center of our proclamation because it constantly reminds us of our only solution for sin and our only standing before God. We can not participate in God’s building up of His Kingdom apart from the Cross.

However, on the other hand, there are those who never want to move beyond the Cross to the resurrection and the ascension. Christ is King NOW and just as His humiliation was seen in space and time History, so His exaltation will be embodied in space and time History as He triumphs by His Gospel over the nations until His enemies are made His footstool. There are those who warn against the dangers of a over-realized eschatology and in doing so they are warning against a theology of glory where the humility of the Cross is ignored. This is a profitable warning.

But we might also warn against a eschatology that is under-realized and one that diminishes the Ascension of Christ. We might warn against a theology that requires defeat and insists that the victories gained by the ascended Christ are only “spiritual” in nature. We might warn against forgetting the enthronement and Ascension of our Lord Christ and His intent on making his very real enemies into very real footstools. We might warn against a theology that closes the door to God’s reign on earth being made manifest so that all the Nations flow into the Mountain of the Lord’s house (Isaiah 2).

What might we say next of this Ascension we affirm and celebrate?

The Ascension belies an objective state of affairs.

Listen to this morning’s text again,

Acts 2:29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,[e] 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’[f]

36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

What we seen here is that the Ascension gives ontological objectivity to our Preaching and our message

We’ve tried to teach from this pulpit, many times, the the Christian faith is capital T transcendent TRUTH. This flies in the face of the post-modern age which deceptively tries to suggest that truth is person or community variable. In other words, we live in times that desires to suggest that if truth exists it only exists consistent with the narrative or story that any individual or group determines to spin.

Peter’s Sermon, in appealing to the Ascension of Christ puts an end to that nonsense.

Peter insists (and the book of Acts everywhere breathes) that this is an objective state of affairs that obtains and that objective state of affairs (Christ ascended and enthroned at the Right hand of the Father) requires all men everywhere to repent (Acts 2:38).

This objective state of affairs is a Universal reality. Christ ascended and so ruling is the way things are. When proclaiming the Gospel we are not primarily speaking of people entering into a personal relationship with Jesus the way that one might decide to go steady with a boyfriend or girlfriend. When we proclaim the Gospel we are primarily speaking of the Ascended one who rules over the affairs of the Universe to the end of restoring all things so that His enemies are made His footstool. Listen to the way St. Paul characterizes that Dominion in Ephesians 1. St. Paul can speak of

the exceeding greatness of God’s power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

So when we herald Christ we are heralding a objective ontological Cosmic reality. In the death of Christ, Christ defeated all enemies and implemented the Reign of God by brining in a new creational age wherein He intends to set all things aright so as to establish God’s New World Order — God’s Kingdom. This is what the Ascension of Christ bespeaks. Because of Christ’s ascension the age to come has invaded this present wicked age under the instrumentation of the obedient Church, which has been filled with the Spirit of Christ, as gifted by the Ascended King, so that the Church is eager to do good works, unto to the end of being the aroma of Christ unto a world that will be converted by the presently established reign of the ascended Christ.

In the language of the Theologians this is part and parcel of the Christus Victor motif (Col. 2:15). Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension is God’s testimony that He has triumphed over all enemies — foreign and domestic. When you combine this Christus Victor motif with the current reign of Christ over all nations and spheres you get the Gospel. Because of the active obedience of Christ in resisting the Devil and because of the passive obedience of Christ in the work of the Cross, the pretender to the throne of this world (the Devil) has been defeated — the Strong man has been bound — and because of the 2nd Adam’s work, Adam’s seed has had paradise restored — in principle.

You see then that the Ascension compels us to speak of a Gospel that has global implications. In St. John’s language (12:30f) Christ has been lifted up (a double entendre referring both to the crucifixion and the Ascension) and the consequence is that the ruler of this world is cast out. All men everywhere are now commanded to repent for Christ’s new creational age to come has come. This is the Gospel.

One last word on this Ascension Sunday.

Consistent w/ Federal Theology what is predicated of the Covenant head is predicated of His people.

Christ has ascended and so Federally and Covenantally speaking we have as well.

Compare Ephesians 1:20 w/ 2:6

20 which the Father worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

2:6 — Speaking of believers

6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

The good news for Christians is that we died with him, were resurrected with him (Romans 6:4f, Col. 2:13) and have ascended with him (Eph. 2:6) so we are Kings and Priests unto Sovereign God under Christ (I Pt. 2:4f).

On this Ascension Sunday we are thus to be reminded to increasingly become what we have been freely declared to be because of our identity with Christ. We are a people who are now part of the new Creational Kingdom and as denizens of that new Creational Kingdom we are to become what we have been freely declared to be — Preists and Kings unto the Nations.

Conclusion

After this rousing of a Ascension Sermon we have need to be reminded that there is a “not yet” that must be spoken in the context of all this “now.” We are not what we once were but we also are not yet what we shall be. But even here there is great hope. Yes we continue to struggle against sin, and with the remnants of the Adamic nature that clings to all of us, but because Christ has Ascended and sent forth His Spirit we have great hope that we might mortify the old man while vivifying the new man so that we walking increasingly consistent with God’s royal Law Word.

But beyond all of our personal need to grow in the Grace and Knowledge of the Lord Christ the Ascension of our Lord Christ reminds us also of a King whose rule is Cosmic (Romans 8:21). The Ascension of our Lord Christ reminds us of His intent to subjugate His enemies via the Gospel proclamation that includes both their opportunity to appeal for peace and reconciliation based on the finished work of Christ AND the fact that the finished work of Christ is good news of a Victory that covers the world and so will convert the nations.

By the means of a series of contrasts the Preacher makes clear in Ecclesiastes 7:1f that there is a better and worse way and that God’s people should choose the better way. At the same time the Preacher says some things here that seem counter-intuitive. We will examine those as we proceed.

Ecclesiastes 7:1

A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of birth.

Proverbs

22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.

Of course our first concern is that our name should be good before God. His assessment is the only assessment that counts. Immediately we are mindful that the only way we can have a good name before God is by having our name hid in Christ. Our names will never have any value or be considered “good” in any sense if our names are not breathed out as a echo of His name for us, and in our place.

So our first concern is to have a good name before God and that can only be the case as we are anchored and resting in Christ. However, taking that as a given it is still important to have a good name among men.

And yet we must hear that counsel for a good name in light of what our Lord Christ said,

Luke 6:26

“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”

From this we could say that to have all men speak well of us would be to have a bad name before God.

Our seeking to keep a good name must be vertically oriented and anchored in God’s revealed Word. Which is to say that we can not adjudicate what a “good name” is by those who are outside the covenant and by those who hate Christ.

There are those who so concentrate on the cash and carry value of their name that they will compromise truth at every turn in order to advance their name and be seen as a fine fellow. They will seldom risk their reputation for Christ with the precise purpose of making sure that they keep their “good” name.

The word “good” here therefore must have a transcendent standard. A “good” name must be counted “good” as God counts “good.”

As Christians we desire then to have a “good” name

1.) First before God
2.) Second before His Saints
3.) Third before those outside the covenant community

The first two should be our priority and the third one as we can, knowing that if they hated Christ that they will hate us as well.

John 15:18

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

So, while a good name is to be valued it must not be wrongly valued.

On this score we would also note that because of the importance of a good name it is proper, when possible, to challenge those who rake our reputation and good name. Many times, I have found it is not possible to do so, but when it is possible we ought to undertake to defend our name, not out of Pride, so much as out of defense of God’s truth. Just so, it ought to be doubly incumbent upon us to protect the names of the saints, dead or living, from false calumny and needless denigration. When we protect the names of God’s people from being dragged through the mud we are at that point defending God’s Church. Such a defense ought to inspire us. To often we don’t want to “get involved,” but if the matter is clear and the good name of a saint is on the line we must involve ourself for the sake of God’s honor and the honor of our brother or sister.

Pray for a good name, and live in such a way that your name will be good as God counts good, despite what men may or may not say of you.

The Teacher then says that the day of death is better than the day of birth and with that he begins a treatment on issues surrounding death. At first blush this sounds like one of those counter-intuitive statements.

Why might it be the case that the day of death is better than the day of one’s birth? (cmp. vs. 8)

Well, if we were to read this passage through the lens of Redemption we would say that such a thing is true because in our day of death, unlike our day of birth, we hear the “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” In the day of death we know that to be absent from the Body is to be present with the Lord. In the day of death we know that to die is gain in the words of St. Paul. We know that the end aimed at from the day of our birth has been answered, while at the day of our birth the end is uncertain. So, I think in that sense the day of death is better than the day of one’s birth.

Vs. 2 we find the second contrast of “Better this … than that.”

I believe what is said from this point on through the next few verses is especially pointed at the fool. Between vs. 4-9 the “fool” is mentioned 4 times. In Scripture “the Fool” is the one who lives life apart from an apprehension of the reality of God.

If we read vs. 2 in light of vs. 4 we might conclude that if is the fool that is being spoken of. It is better for a fool to go into the house of Mourning than go to the house of feasting.

The thrust here is fairly obvious. When men are frivolous and full of drink and partying their end is seldom before them. Ashes to ashes …. dust to dust.

However when men are in the house of mourning they sober up and hopefully begin to consider their own end.

There is nothing like a funeral to possibly catch people’s attention. Scripture elsewhere says God’s people take the end to heart.

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.

There seems to be a correlation then in God’s Word between an understanding of our own mortality and end and the gaining of wisdom. The fool … the party girl … the carefree who spend all their time in the house of feasting never become a wise people.

In vs. 3 the contrasts continues. Sorrow is said to be better than laughter and by a sad countenance the heart is made better.

That the Teacher isn’t intending that the house of mourning should be our constant residence and occupation can be seen by what he says elsewhere in this book,

2:24f, 5:18f, 11:9-10

Because of this other counsel in this same book, I believe that the Preacher is especially talking to the fool. The fool, has especial need to occupy the house of the dead and consider his end. The fool, who knows only the escape of merriment has need to learn that sorrow is better than laughter.

We must say here that the West, including our country, and too often the Church, lives in the house of the feasting fools. We have taken the fools approach by thinking we can live in defiance of God’s reality and keep up our fiat life of mirth and merriment without taking God into account. The Church in the West needs to hear these words ringing from pulpits all across our land because we have become the fools to which the Teacher spoke to in Ecclesiastes. We have not learned the Wisdom of knowing our end. We have refused the sad countenance that could have, by God’s grace, made us wise.

In vs. 5-6 we hear another wisdom contrast, still in the context of fools and wise men.

The setting for the fool here is still the house of mindless mirth and merriment given the fact that we hear mentioned the “song of fools” and the “laughter of the fool.”

The rebuke of the wise is brought forth as being superior to the song of fools. It is far easier to be comforted by silly songs then to be corrected by the wise. Far easier to absorb the pleasures of Top 40 radio (the very definition of the song of fools) than to listen to a lecture or read a book from the wise that forces us to look at ourselves in a mirror that doesn’t reflect well upon us.

Here it is brought to mind the idea of short term vs. long term benefit. In the short term it is more comforting for us to play the fool and avoid the rebuke of the wise. But in the long term it is the rebuke of the wise that makes for our own wisdom and in the long term the song and laughter of the fool is to our harm.

vs. 7 I read as a reflection by the Teacher of living in an age that is characterized by the fool.

Such an age of oppression destroys a wise man’s reason. The threat of destruction is found in the Wise man’s ability to see the folly of his age and to be able to do little about it except lament. The threat of destruction of a wise man’s reason is present because of the temptation of the wise man to embrace cynicism about everything and so be of no aid to those few who desire to escape the age of oppression and be wise themselves.

The Teacher offers that oppression and bribe are common experiences that threaten to destabilize an otherwise good spiritual condition (cmp. 4:1-3)

There is another matter besides oppression that can bite the wise and that is the bribe.

Prov. 17:23 The wicked accepts a bribe in secret
to pervert the ways of justice.

Here the danger is that the wise will give up God’s law word that requires even justice in order to be blind to justice to give favor to the one who is offering the bribe. We are to entrust ourselves to God and to do justice and to not be swayed by the bribe from the wicked. Certainly, it is easier, when living in an age of fools, to take the bribe thinking, “what does it matter anyway? I am surrounded by injustice and fools. What matters it if I profit as well when it won’t matter anyway if I decide what if right by God’s standard.” This is why a bribe can destroy a man’s heart.

We might say here, if we want to connect some earlier matters to this, that the bribe here might be other than money. The bribe could be a good reputation. People could come to the righteous and say … “If you speak this way … or vote this way … your reputation will be ruined.”

In such a case then, he bribe is the promise of a polished reputation for turning a blind eye to wickedness or to becoming mute in the face of injustice.

Whether it is oppression, or whether it is the matter of the bribe we are called to entrust ourselves to God and turn from these wicked temptations.

In vs. 8 we come to another “better” contrast

7:8a I think corresponds to 7:1b. The end is better than the beginning, like the day of death better than the day of birth because at the end one knows if one arrived at what one aimed at.

In 8b – 9 the teacher turns to the dangers of being quick to anger and again juxtaposes the wise man with the fool.

The advice he gives is consistent with what we find elsewhere in Scripture,

James 1:19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

And again in

Ephesians 4:26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,”

If we connect these warnings against anger with what has gone before we might observe that anger can arise in the wise when living in the age of folly, and if unquenched the anger can lead to the fools folly.

We are called by the teacher to be patient in spirit. This patience is consistent with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians which teaches that Christians are characterized by patience. By contrasting the patient spirit with the proud spirit what seems to be implied is that the patient spirit is a humble spirit.

Vs. 10 moves the wise towards a particular mindset regarding the times God has give us.

What has been described in Ecclesiastes is an especial age of folly. The temptation is to hearken for “the good old days.” The Teacher says that such an approach is not a wise inquiry.

God’s people are to be future oriented. Even in days of decline. We are to look forward to God’s future that He has for us and not to stuck in some imagined or real past.

Conclusion

Now, this pointed and practical wisdom having been given we would note again that it is impossible for anyone outside of Christ to take up this Wisdom. If it is our goal to be a Wise people we must look to Christ whom Scripture teaches is our “Wisdom from God.”

Also, we must realize that the learning and conforming of this kind of Wisdom is at the same time a matter of being conformed to Christ. Only as we walk in sanctification can we hope to increase in wisdom and knowledge. Scripture teaches that in Christ alone is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So, if we would be wise and heed the Teacher we must look to Christ alone and then be conformed to Christ who was the incarnation of God’s Law and Grace.