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ASCENSION DAY
Several important events mark the life of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. Traditionally the Universal Church has been
very dutifully celebrating Christmas (day of birth), Good Friday (the day the atoning work was completed on the Cross) and Easter
(Resurrection day) the final event …however the Day of Ascension has not been given due importance. Why? Honestly,
I do not want to hazard a guess but for whatever reasons no serious attempt is made to glean valuable lessons from the Ascention day
which marked the end of Earthly mission of our Lord and Master . In this message, I intend to bring forth some of the lessons which have touched my heart…
Prophecy…
“Prophecy” remarked a wise soul “is nothing but history written in advance”. Quite true! Have we ever wondered, why there were plethora of
prophecies regarding Jesus’ I advent? He could have well taken been born to a virgin supernaturally, lived a sinless life, died an atoning death on the cross,
rose again providing the salvation to fallen mankind and ascended without a single prophecy foretelling all these events. But there was a prophecy
regarding every single landmark occurrence in His spotless life. If
Isaiah 7:14
foretold His miraculous birth then
Micah 5:2
blared about the place of His birth (i,e…Bethlehem). Ditto the same about the prophecy regarding His crucifixion in
Psalm 22:16
(penned by David at a time crucifixion as a mode of execution did not exist), resurrection in
Psalm 16:10.
So if there were Prophecies regarding those landmark events. Would not there be a Prophecy regarding ascension. Yes ,
we need to go no further than…
PSALM 68:18
which Apostle Paul also quotes in
Eph 4:8-11.
So why so many prophesies regarding His I advent? Remember on His single, singular life depended the very salvation of Mankind. So the Almighty God did not
want any rationalist to attribute His unique Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascention to a mere accident or coincidence. Let me illustrate.
I had a bosom buddy by name Anandeep in my school and Junior college days. After I accepted the Lord in my Junior college days,
I was particularly guilty of never having shared the Gospel “full-throttle” with him. After passing out of Junior college,
we pursued different fields in education as such we almost lost completely touch with each other. With passage of time, having grown more in the Lord there
was that ever-growing burning desire in my heart to share the Gospel with an old mate of my alma mater. Oh how I wanted to share about the NEW joys
(I was growing spiritually, you see) of the walking with the good Lord, with the chum, I had shared so many childhood joys! So
I prayed fervently about it. Some years later, when I was traveling in a train in the evening hours (Rayalaseema Express to be precise,
which plies between Hyderabad and Thirupathi in Andra Pradesh, India) I DID MEET my friend. That night, I shared the Gospel with all my heart,
soul and might. I profusely thanked the Lord for all the happy time I had in my journey with my friend and the opportunity to share the Gospel with him,
what with others in the compartment listening too! Look at the Lord’s providence! May be, if I had met good ole’ Anandeep in a busy bazaar, he may not have
listened to me so patiently. Boy, when the good Lord answers our prayers, He does it in the best way possible! Of course my rationalist friends would
doubtless attribute this fulfilling experience of mine to an accident or a coincidence. Not for them a belief that my “train encounter” was a result of
passionate prayers. Now consider for a moment…if everything about my travel on that particular day when I met my old pal had been foretold by way of a
writing in a certain book, would they still put it down to an accident or a coincidence? NO WAY! Ditto the same about Christ’s life…
IT WAS NOT BY CHANCE THAT EVERYTHING HAPPENED IN HIS FIRST COMING, THE WAY IT DID!
So it follows that if all Biblical prophecies have been fulfilled regarding His First advent, would not all the prophecies
(Matt 24:7)
regarding His Second advent be also fulfilled besides others like in
Psalm 2,
Matt 24,
Mark 13,
Luke 21?
SURELY YES!
Pentecost…
But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.- John 16:7
Ascention of our Lord also paved the way for the fulfillment of His promise of sending the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Divine Comforter did descend on
the 50th Day after the Atonement was completed. Plainly put, if not for Ascention of the Lord in bodily form 40 days after His Resurrection,
there would not have descent of The Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost 10 days later, paving the way for the Birth of the Church!!!
With the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Disciples, they were never the same again. In one moment, they were transformed from being timid,
cowardly (did they not desert the Lord on the night of betrayal –Mark 14:50) men into bold lions who would lay everything on the altar for the Lord.
Many of them would die as Martyrs….later on.
Most importantly, the Holy Spirit brings love into our lives
(Romans 5:5),
which is most important propelling force for preaching the Gospel.
While gifted Servants of God are especially empowered by the Holy Spirit to do Signs and wonders, every Christian need display the Fruit of the
Spirit…which begins with LOVE!!!
(Galatians 5:22-23).
On preaching power-packed messages remarked a wise saint “Preach the Gospel at all times, use words only when necessary”.
In everyday lives, It is display of Christ-like love which attracts the unbelievers to the Lord!!!
Palace…
My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?- John 14:2
The Lord is preparing unimaginable blessings for us in Heaven, after His ascension. Set your hearts and minds on things above…says
Paul in anticipation of the Heavenly riches in
Colossians 3:1-2.
Honestly no eye has seen, no ear has heard nor no mind ever imagined
the blessings the Lord has in store for those who love Him
(I Cor 2:9)
so much our hardships would pale into insignificance when compared to the Blessings, He is preparing for us.
What more here is the Lord’s promise…”being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the
day of Christ Jesus.” –
Phillipians 1:6.
Be that as it may,...more than all the Heavenly rewards, may our love for Him be the driving force to please Him at all times…even as the going gets
really tough at times. Even provision of requisite love in our hearts is being made by Him only
(Rom 5:3-5)
whereby we are able to take all our hardships aimed at our spiritual growth in our stride.
Priest…
Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,-Heb 8:1
It is only after the Ascension that the good Lord has begun His High Priestly Ministry. Praise God for our Saviour Christ the High Priest who is also sympathetic and
empathetic with us as He has undergone exactly the type of difficulties we all undergo
(Heb 2:17-18).
Down in the dumps? Nagged down by feelings of
guilt…remember we have the High Priest who is interceding on our behalf
(John 1:7-1 -John 2:1-2).
Partition...
Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”. In saying, “He ascended,” what does
it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?-
Eph 4:8-9
If the birth of the Saviour divided Human History/Calendar into 2 halves...BC and AD, then Ascension Day divided the "History of the Righteous
into 2 halves". Before Ascention and After Ascention!!! Now, what do I mean by this??? Confused??? Let me clarify...
Dear Friends, to understand this Concept, we need to know the difference between Heaven and Paradise and likewise the difference between Hades and Heaven.
Let it be told now, that Paradise and Hades are BENEATH the Earth and Heaven and Hell are ABOVE the Earth. Before the Ascention Day, all the righteous ones'
(barring Enoch and Elijah) like Abraham, Issac, poor and righteous Lazarus and even the repentant criminal on The Cross went not to Heaven but to
Paradise (a joyous place but not as fulfilling as Heaven) at the end of their physical lives. But on the Day of Ascention as
Ephesians 4:8-10
so clearly describes the good Lord "after descending down into the depths of the Earth" carried all the righteous ones' with Him to Heaven so much so now
Paradise is empty, with the Righteous Ones' after their physical sojourn on Earth going not to Paradise but directly to Heaven!!!
Then what about Hades (it is also a terrifying place...ask the Rich man in the Poor Lazarus story...he would vouch for it)??? It is still getting filled
with the hard-core, blasphemous unrighteous lot to be confined there before being shifted to a more horrifying Hell (Lake of Fire) at the time of
Great White Throne Judgment
(Rev 20:14).
I hope in the readers' mind a clearer picture is emerging as regards Paradise- Hades vis-a-vis Heaven- Hell. Now let me sum it up thus:
After Ascention, Paradise beneath the Earth is empty and Heaven above the Earth is getting filled up with the Righteous Ones' whereas Hades underneath the
Earth is still getting filled up with the unrighteous lot only to be transferred to an now empty but more horrific (above the Earth) Hell on the Day of
Great White Throne Judgment Day. By the same token, after the Great White Throne Judgement, all the Righteous Lot would enter into New Heavens and New Earth
(Rev 21:1-4).
Parallel...
Now there are 4 Bs' to describe the intimate relationship between Christ and His Church comprising of us...Christians. Now what are they...
A) If we are the BODY, Jesus is the HEAD (Col 1:18)
B) If we are BRANCHES, He is the TRUE VINE (John 15:1-4)
C) If we are the BUILDING, our Lord is the CORNERSTONE (Eph 2:19-20)
D) If we are the BRIDE, He is the BRIDEGROOM (Rev 19:6-9),
so much so that our Lord confronts the persecuting Saul of Tarsus with these words on the Road to Damascus "Saul, Saul why are you persecuting ME"
(Acts 9:4-6/
Note: the word used is ME so as to say that Christ and His Church are inseparable. The words like my Disciples or my Followers were not used
by our Lord...oh...by the way, the word "Christians" had not yet taken birth, it would do so subsequently in Antioch-
Acts 11:26).
Therefore, it follows like day follows night and night follows day that what happened in our Lord's Life would happen in our lives too.
A) If His birth was supernatural, then our born-again experience is also supernatural (John 1:11-13, 1 John 3:9).
B) If our Lord bore The Cross (Read...becoming a victim of injustice and lies without retaliation- Luke 23:23, 1 Peter 2:21-23),
then we too would bear The Cross (Luke 9:23).
C) If Death had no power over Him, then death would have no power over us also (1 Cor 15:55-57)
D) NOW IF HE ASCENDED, THEN HALLELUJAH (say more loudly please) WE TOO WOULD ASCEND one day, when the Last Trumpet is blown signalling the Rapture of The Church
(1 Thess 4:13-18). Boy, our Lord's Ascention cements the truth of Blessed Hope in all Christians'
(Titus 2:13).
Portend...
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,”
they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, WILL COME BACK in the same
way you have seen him go into Heaven.”-
Acts 1:10-12
Hey, if all Prophecies written by our truthful Heavenly Father
(Joshua 21:43-45)
as regards our Saviour's FIRST COMING came to pass,
then will not all the Divine Prophecies regarding His SECOND COMING preceded by RAPTURE of The Church, 7 years before that Supernal moment be also fulfilled? YES!!!
So what are the Signs portending the imminent Rapture of the Church? Amongst many, let me enlist some using the following Sub- headings
A) International
Re-birth of the Fig Tree (read
Israel- Matt 24:32-35)
in 1948 which was dry for almost 2000 years, which in turn has triggered West Asian Crisis (Jewish- Arab conflict) which consequently gives scope
for Antichrist who would emerge after The Church Rapture to become Global Peacemaker (carrying a bow but no arrows- so as to imply his rise to Global
leadership without shedding of blood-
Rev 6:1-2)
to attract people to him. About 200 years ago, Israel was not "re-born" nor was was any Jewish-Arab conflict in West Asia (which is now capturing Global
attention) as such, there was no scope for Antichrist to come and play the role of Global Peacemaker
(Dan 9:27)
but now there is ample scope for the
Scriptural Villain to come and occupy the Global Centrestage. So if advent of Anti-Christ appears near, then ponder how much nearer is the Rapture!!!
B) Technological
After Church Rapture, for the subsequent 7 year Tribulation events (prophesied in the Book of Revelation) to occur, the requisite technological advances have taken place.
Eg ...when 2 Holy Witnesses are killed by Antichrist , it is prophesied that his wicked followers from all over the World would not only see the dead bodies
lying in the streets of Jerusalem but they would also celebrate sadistically their demise by sending gifts from one part of the World to other
(Rev 11:7-10).
Now about 200 years back, this was not possible but courtesy Satellite TV now, events happening in one place of the World can be seen by the rest of the World
simultaneously and gifts can be sent from one corner of the World to yet another corner courtesy the advent of E- Commerce, Amazon etc.
Likewise in the technological front, Microchip implantation which
Rev 13:16
is talking about has already started in some Countries selectively like Sweden and
Australia...reminding us of the words in
Jeremiah 5:21
that those with eyes, need to use them now to discern what is in store.
C) Natural (Luke 21:11)...
Now should I need to herald that the increase in the frequency of Earthquakes and the Covid-19 Pandemic which rocked The World recently are an ample proof
of the imminent Rapture of the Church!!!
So what ought to be our responsibility at this time??? To be Alert and Alert others lovingly.
What would convince us that we really "alert" and would be in the Raptured Group??? Let's introspect honestly
as to whether words of
Acts 9:31 apply to us...if we are walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit (needs to be experienced personally)...Yes
that means we are having RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR LORD and we would be part of the Raptured Group (for comfort of the Holy Spirit would be
only in the hearts of those who are having right relationship with the Lord), if the last Trumpet were to be blown even today
In the exercise of alerting others like Noah before The Flood, let's point lovingly at the above signs in our communication with our unsaved friends and relatives,
in order that they too accept Christ and be part of the "Ascention Group" without having to endure a 7 year "Mini- Hell" on Earth.
If COVID 19 itself was unbearable to some, then just ponder how horrific 7 year Tribulation Period would be for those "left behind".
If we truly love our unsaved acquaintances, would we want them to endure those terrifying times??? Let's not get discouraged, even if they do not repent now,
for many of that ilk would indeed repent and accept Christ in the 7 year Tribulation Period on seeing the events (especially insistence on universal Micro chip
implantation by Antichrist and his Second in Command the False Prophet-
Rev 13:16
- during The Tribulation) which we warned them about, getting fulfilled right
in front of their eyes much like initially unrepentant Noah's acquaintances who did not repent before The Flood but repented subsequently before physically
dying in seeing Noah's warnings about the imminent Flood coming to pass, right in front of their eyes!!! Hey, it is to them our Lord after the First
Good Friday went and preached the Gospel in order they accept the same and become fully eligible to ascend, yes ascend along with other Righteous Ones' on the
Day Ascention which took place 2000 years back
(1 Peter 3:18-19/1 Peter 4:6 TLB).
Oh yes, are we not dwelling on the Significance of the Ascention Day!!!
So Dear Friends, let’s praise and thank Our Heavenly Father for the Ascention Day for it fulfilled the Prophecies, paved the way for the Pentecost, set in motion the
building of Heavenly Mansions for us, marked the beginning of our Saviour's High Priestly Ministry besides cementing the Blessed Hope in us and making us ready
for our own imminent ethereal Ascention.
MARANATHA!!! HALLELUJAH!!!
Pastor Suresh Manoharan
(A Lowly Servant)
C/o Rehoboth Prayer House,
413, 3/RT Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar,
Hyderabad -India
(Address till The Rapture...Sic)
Yours in His service,
(Suresh Manoharan)
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