GRACE BIBLE CHURCH

03-23-2022

PASTOR ROBERT R. MCLAUGHLIN

GBIBLE.ORG

PDF:GBC03132022NOTES

CHRISTIAN SOLDIER 58, SECRETS BEHIND: ASCENSION & SESSION, PART 3

 

 

This morning, we will complete:

 

The Doctrine of the Ascension and Session.

 

So far, we have covered the first four points.

 

 Point 1. Introduction.

 

The ascension and session are vital doctrines because they speak of our Lord's victory in the angelic conflict and the calling out of the Royal Family of God, the Church.

 

There is one important question that the introduction answers.

 

What are the reasons we are told that the Lord is sitting at God's right hand?

 

I will only repeat the answer to that question by giving you the references to the principles and the passages.

 

So. here are 15 doctrinal principles that we noted concerning the ascension and session:

 

 

  1. His power and authority; MAT 26:64.
  2. His kingship; REV 4:2
  3. His fulfillment of Messianic prophecies; MAT 22:44.

 

  1. His ascension into heaven; ACT 2:34.
  2. His victory in the angelic conflict; HEB 1:13.
  3. His eternal rewards; REV 3:21.

 

  1. His power to every Church-age believer; EPH 1:20.
  2. Our position and security in Christ; EPH 2:6.
  3. His intercessory ministry; ROM 8:34.

 

  1. His power to save and forgive; ACT 5:31.
  2. His Hypostatic Union; HEB 1:3.
  3. His priesthood; HEB 8:1.

 

  1. The efficacy of His work on the cross; HEB 10:12.
  2. Occupation with TLJC; HEB 12:2.
  3. His trip to Hades; 1PE 3:22.

 

 Point 2. Definition. 

 

 

 

The definition is based upon the fact that the ascension and the session are based upon the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and the great power demonstrations given to man.

 

And there are two unique power demonstrations

 

  1. The great power demonstration of the Hypostatic Union, from B.C. 4 - 30 A.D.

 

  1. The great power demonstration of the Church-age, 30 A.D. to the Rapture, an indefinite period of time.

 

Under definition:

 

The ascension is that doctrine of Christology pertaining to the transfer of our Lord's true humanity from planet earth to the third heaven in a resurrection body.

 

Next:

 

The session is that doctrine of Christology pertaining to the glorification of our Lord's humanity at the right hand of the Father.

 

 Point 3. The Historical Account of the Ascension and Session, ACT 1:9 11.

 

ACT 1:9 "And after He had said these things

 

These things refer to our Lord’s announcement of Church-age and the baptism of the Spirit.

 

ACT 1:9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up [ascension] while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

 

ACT 1:10  And as they were gazing intently up into the sky while He was departing, behold two men [angels] dressed in white stood beside them.

 

ACT 1:11 And they also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, Who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

 

 Point 4. The Significance of the Session.

 

First of all:

 

After our Lord's ascension, His session fulfilled the prophecy of PSA 110:1.

 

PSA 110:1  "The Lord [God the Father] said to my Lord [God the Son], `Sit down at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'"

 

TLJC had to be seated to resolve the angelic conflict.

 

It was a part of the strategic victory of the angelic conflict.

 

This is why the session or the seating of TLJC is mentioned in:

 

HEB 1:13 But to which of the angels has He ever said, "Sit at My right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet"?

 

TLJC had to be seated to resolve the angelic conflict.

 

It was a part of the strategic victory of the angelic conflict.

 

 

 

 Point 5. The Session and the Strategic Victory of the Angelic Conflict.

 

The ascension and session are related to the angelic conflict.

 

The fact that the resurrection, ascension and session is based on the strategic victory of our Lord in the angelic conflict is the subject of HEB 1-2.

 

HEB 1:4  Having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

 

Prin-The session means that the humanity of Christ inherited a greater title than any angelic creature including any seraphim or cherubim.

 

HEB 1:5  For to which of the angels did He [God the Father] ever say, "Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee"? And again, "I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me"?

 

HEB 1:6  And when He again brings the first born into the world [Second coming], He says, "And let all the angels of God worship Him."

HEB 1:7  And of the angels He says, "Who makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire."

 

HEB 1:8  But of the Son He says, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.

 

Skip down to HEB 1:13  But to which of the angels has He ever said, "Sit at my right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet"?

 

HEB 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

 

Note that the entire chapter deals with angels.

 

God the Father never said these things to any angelic creature, He only said it to a member of the human race, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

And, it is very significant that God the Father said this to the humanity of Christ in a resurrection body.

 

Because this means that although we are now inferior to angels in our human bodies on earth, in the future, in our  resurrection bodies, we will be totally superior to angels.

 

This was established with our Lord's session.

 

You are going to be in a body far far greater than any body of any angel.

 

Including the most beautiful creature that ever had a body who is Satan himself, the devil, Lucifer, the Son of the morning, Helel, all referring to Satan and you will have a far greater body than Him or any other angel.

 

And boy does that just tick him off.

 

So, With the resurrection of Jesus Christ followed by the ascension and session, all angelic creatures, including fallen angels, are subordinated to Him "in His humanity”!

 

That fact is very important.

 

In His deity, Jesus Christ is the creator of angels, PSA 148:5 For He commanded and they were created.

 

But…..

 

In His humanity, He was made lower than angels;

HEB 2:7.

 

HEB 2:7 "Thou hast made Him for a little while lower than the angels; thou hast crowned Him with glory and honor, and hast appointed Him over the works of thy hands;

 

But, now:

 

In His resurrection, He is higher than angels in His humanity.

 

And some day in our resurrection body, we will share that same privilege experientially.

 

Being in union with Christ, we are already positionally higher than angels.

 

But……

 

In resurrection bodies, we will be experientially and physically higher than angels.

EPH 1:22 "And He [God the Father] has subordinated all [angelic creatures] under His feet. Furthermore, He appointed Him [Jesus Christ] ruler over all things to the church."

 

When our Lord received His third royal title, He did not have a Royal Family.

 

Therefore, the Church-age was inserted into history.

 

The Church-age was a mystery age because we have almost infinitely more than any Old Testament, Tribulation or Millennial saints.

 

Through doctrine, we discover that more has been given to us as Church-age believers than to anyone else before us and even after us.

 

ROM 16:25   Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,

 

 

ROM 16:26  but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, {leading} to obedience of faith;

 

One of my personal beliefs is that:

 

One of the reasons why mystery doctrine was kept secret for long ages past is because many of the O.T. saints would have been jealous.

 

We have unique things which are unbelievably fantastic, which have never existed before and will never exist again after the rapture of the Church.

 

Prin-A second Christocentric dispensation had to be instituted to provide a Royal Family for our Lord's third royal title.

 

Furthermore,  Israel had rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah and King; JOH 1:11.

 

 

 

 

Consequently:

 

The Messianic kingdom is postponed until the Second Advent of Christ.

 

In the meantime, through doctrines like the Ascension and Session;

 

The great power demonstration of the Hypostatic union has been parlayed into the great power demonstration of the Church-age.

 

Remember that during the Church-age, there are no Jewish

client nations to God.

 

In fact:

 

The next Jewish client nation will not exist until the Second Advent of Christ.

 

We live in the times of the Gentiles, which means only a

Gentile nation can be a client nation to God.

 

At the present time, though there are a lot of unnecessary problems, the United States of America is still a Gentile client nation to God.

 

There have been other Gentile nations who served as s client nation to God.

 

No Gentile client nation exists in the Old Testament, only Jewish client nations.

 

During the Church-age, there are only Gentile client nations.

 

The first was SPQR, "the city and people of Rome."

 

The abbreviation SPQR stands for ‘senatus populusque Romanus‘ meaning ‘the senate and the people of Rome’.

 

When the Roman Empire fell in 476 A.D., God had already used the Goths as His client nation during the fourth century.

 

Scotland and Ireland were client nations during the fifth and sixth centuries.

 

The Franks were a client nation during the eighth and ninth centuries.

 

The Vikings were during the tenth century.

 

Germany under Luther, and Switzerland under Calvin were client nations during the sixteenth century.

 

Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus, and the Huguenots during the seventeenth century were client nations.

 

Brandenberg-Prussia were a client nation during the eighteenth century.

 

England was the same during the reign of Victoria in the nineteenth century.

 

The United States of America has been a client nation from 1776 until the present.

 

The point is that:

 

We are still a client nation to God in spite of all the garbage that we all must deal with including the socialism that our nation has now embraced.

So, The session means that our Lord became the victor of the angelic conflict as an inferior creature to angels.

 

Therefore, this verse establishes the fact that the humanity of Christ is greater than all angelic beings.

 

This is what the Doctrine of the Ascension and Session actually states.

 

So back in HEB 1:4 Having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name or title than they.

 

"having become" is the aor-mid-part of ginomai which means to become something you were not before.

 

In His humanity, not His deity, but in His humanity our Lord was originally made lower than angels.

 

This is what HEB 2:7 states:

 

HEB 2:7 “Thou hast made Him for a little while lower than the angels;

 

The aorist tense of ginomai points to the time of the cross when TLJC broke the back of Satan and all fallen angels through His victory.

 

 Point 6. The Session and the Efficacy of Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross.

 

The very fact that TLJC was seated at the right hand of God the Father revealed that:

 

God the Father was totally propitiated or totally satisfied with the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

 

HEB 10:5 Therefore, when He [TLJC] comes into the world, He says [from His deity], "Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, but a body thou hast prepared for Me;

 

And notice that our Lord said that…..

 

His body was prepared for Him before He indwelt it and said a thing.

 

HEB 10:6  In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast taken no pleasure.

HEB 10:7  "Then I said, 'behold, I have come (in the roll of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God.'"  

 

HEB 10:8   After saying above, "Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast not desired, nor hast Thou taken pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the Law), 

 

HEB 10:9  Then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Thy will." He takes away the first [Mosaic law] in order to establish the second [the PPOG]. 

 

HEB 10:10  By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 

 

HEB 10:11  And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 

 

HEB 10:12  But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 

 

HEB 10:13  Waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. 

 

HEB 10:14  For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 

 

Now, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross is efficacious.

 

Efficacious means having the power to produce a desired effect.

 

This means that when TLJC received the imputation of our sins and God the Father judged them, and that settled the sin question for "all time".

 

And To indicate the efficacy of His sacrifice, our Lord sat down at the right hand of God.

 

In physical death, our Lord's work was already completed.

 

And this is why, just before His death He said in:

 

JOH 19:30, the perfect active indicative of teleo which is "Tetelestai," meaning "it is finished in the past with the result that it stands finished forever."

 

So, The resurrection, ascension, and session are the verification of the efficacy of our Lord's saving work on the cross.

 

Furthermore:

 

This efficacious saving work occurred while our Lord was physically alive.

 

He did not die for our sins in physical death;

 

He died as a substitute for us in a substitutionary spiritual death, wherein each and every sin of the human race was imputed to Christ and judged.

 

And as we have noted, Christ died twice on the cross.

 

  1. He died a substitutionary spiritual death for the sins of the world, which provided our salvation.

 

  1. He died a unique physical death in which there was the separation of His soul, spirit, and body.

 

So, the session is also related to the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

This is why the apostle Paul said;

 

ROM 8:34  Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather Who was raised, Who is at the right hand of God, Who also intercedes for us.

 

TLJC is seated at the right hand of God and He also prays and intervenes for us.

 

ACT 5:31 "He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

 

Note that forgiveness of sins is related to God exalting TLJC to His right hand.

 

HEB 1:3, When He had made purification of sins [paid the price], He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;

 

This brings us to:

 

 Point 7. The Session is related to the importance of the Church-age; EPH 1:18-23.

 

EPH 1:18  I pray that the eyes of your heart [right lobe] may be enlightened [PMA of BD], so that you may know what is the hope of His calling [his divine election], what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

 

And what are the riches of "the" glory?

 

Riches refer to the divine capitalization of every Church-age believer in eternity past through the provision of our invisible assets.

 

And by now you should understand that:

 

The distribution of those blessings upon the believer's execution of the PPOG and advance to spiritual maturity is the means of glorifying God.

 

EPH 1:19  and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.

 

This is the demonstration of maximum availability of divine power to every Church-age believer as a result of the extension of the Hypostatic union into the Church-age.

 

So, in EPH 1:19 (that you may know) what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. {These are} in accordance with the working of the strength of His might.

 

EPH 1:20  which [power and might] He brought about or put into operation in Christ, [when?] when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

 

Part of the mystery doctrine of the Church-age is the fact that……

 

Divine power is available to us as never before in history, i.e., the omnipotence of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

 

When Jesus Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father in the session after His ascension, that's when this plan was put into operation.

 

The PPOG and the availability of divine power to us is unique.

 

And  The uniqueness of the Church-age is reflected in the fact that this power was put into operation at the point of the session of Jesus Christ.

 

As a result of His resurrection, ascension, and session, our Lord Jesus Christ received His third royal patent without a royal family.

 

And the royal family is being formed today because of the ascension and session of Jesus Christ.

 

The ascension and session reveal the strategic victory of Jesus Christ in the great power demonstration of the Hypostatic union is related to the award of His third royal title.

 

His first royal title is related to His deity.

His title is "Son of God."

 

His royal family is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

 

His second royal title is related to His humanity.

His title is "Son of David."

 

His Royal Family is the Davidic dynasty or Israel.

 

His third royal title, King of kings and Lord of lords, is related to His resurrection and ascension.

 

His title is the "king of kings, Lord of Lords, the bright morning star" is related to His resurrection, ascension and session.

 

His royal family is in the process of being completed, made up of every Church-age believer.

 

This means that you are Royal Family to our Lord Jesus Christ as He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

 

Prin-God is perfect; therefore His pre-designed plan is perfect.

 

Second prin-A perfect plan from perfect God excludes human power for its execution.

 

Third prin-A perfect plan from perfect God demands the use of divine power or perfect power for its execution.

 

Fourth prin-There is no substitute for the utilization of divine power in the execution of the PPOG.

 

Divine power and human power are mutually exclusive.

 

Therefore, for the believer to utilize human dynamics and call it the Christian way of life is blasphemy.

 

To the extent that the Church-age believer relies on human power or gets involved in legalism, he has completely failed to fulfill God's purpose, plan, and objective for sustaining him in this life.

 

The perfect "PPOG" cannot accept or utilize any form of human power or human ability, or anything that we can do.

 

Anything we can do in our own power is not a part of the Christian life.

 

Therefore, only through cognition of Bible doctrine can divine power be understood and utilized in the execution of God's plan.

 

And this is why there is no substitute for perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.

 

This power is superior to every authority.

 

In His deity, Christ was always superior.

 

However,…..

 

This superiority refers to the humanity of Christ in a resurrection body, seated at the right hand of the Father.

 

So, the session becomes very important, because the power that raised Him from the dead is now delegated to the royal family.

 

In resurrection, the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit restored the human soul of our Lord to His body, and the omnipotence of God the Father restored His human spirit to His body.

 

And this same divine power that raised Christ from the dead is now available to you only because you are the body of Christ, Royal family of God.

 

Divine power was utilized, transferred, and delegated to every Church-age believer.

 

This power is utilized in our invisible assets,

provided by the omnipotence of God the Father; transferred and delegated inside the PPOG by the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit.

 

 Point 8. The Session has to do with the glorification of the humanity of Jesus Christ and operation footstool.

 

The first phase of operation footstool is the resurrection, ascension, and session of Christ.

 

The second phase of operation footstool is the second advent of Christ.

 

Now, what is operation footstool and how does it relate to the ascension and session?

 

Operation footstool is the final result of the prophecy concerning the session, "Sit down at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

 

  1. Operation footstool refers to the termination of the strategic victory of the angelic conflict, by which the Lord Jesus Christ returns to the earth to establish His kingdom and to remove Satan and all fallen angels.

 

  1. Operation footstool points to the fact that Satan loses the rulership of the world to the Lord, Psa 110:1; Heb 1:13; 10:13.

 

  1. Because of the session of Christ, the angelic conflict has intensified during the Church-age, Eph 6:11-13.

 

  1. Therefore, the body of Christ, the Church, is being prepared on earth by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, in which every believer is entered into union with Christ, 1CO 12:12-14; COL 2:10-12.

 

1CO 12:12   For even as the body is one and {yet} has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

 

1CO 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

 

1CO 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.

 

Look at COL 2:9 For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

 

COL 2:10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

 

COL 2:11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

 

COL 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

 

COL 2:13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

 

1CO 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.

 

  1. Then, when the body is completed, it is removed from the devil's world by means of the Rapture of the church, 1CO 15:51-57; 1TH 4:16-18.

 

1CO 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

 

1TH 4:16  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

 

1TH 4:17   Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

 

  1. After the rapture, the church becomes the bride of Christ, REV 19:7.

 

REV 19:6  And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,  "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

 

REV 19:7  "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His "bride" has made herself ready."

 

  1. Once in heaven, the Bride is prepared for the wedding supper which will occur at the second advent, REV 19:8- 9.

 

REV 19:8  And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

 

REV 19:9  And He said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And He said to me, "These are true words of God."

 

  1. The bride enters into ultimate sanctification by receiving a resurrection body like Christ's, 1CO 15:51-57; PHI 3:21; 1JO 3:1-2.

 

  1. The bride, in receiving a body like Christ's, no longer possesses an old sin nature, PHI 3:21; 1TH 5:23.

 

  1. The bride is also cleansed from all human good, 1CO 3:12-15.

 

  1. The Bride returns with Christ at the Second advent, 1TH 3:13; REV 19:11-16.

 

REV 19:11   And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war.

 

REV 19:12  And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself.

 

REV 19:13  And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God.

 

REV 19:14  And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.

 

REV 19:15  And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

 

REV 19:16  And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "King of kings, and Lord of lords."-does that title sound familiar?

 

I hope by now you realize why I said, I love this doctrine, the Doctrine of the Ascension and Session.

Scroll to Top
Scroll to Top