McLean Bible Church April 17, 2011 Lon Solomon >> LON SOLOMON: Well, good morning everybody. We are so glad that you're with us on our Internet campus this palm Sunday. Today we're going to be continuing in our series people Jesus met. We're going to be talking about the ascension of the Lord Jesus from the top of the Mount of Olives back into heaven. Lot of really powerful lessons for our life today. So I hope the word of God will encourage your heart today and our service will bring joy to your soul. And we're just glad you're here. So thanks for being with us. And we appreciate you so as part of our Internet campus. God bless. >> Would you welcome those who you see before you, Creative Arts Club, Kids Quest and Access Ministries. Are you all ready to sing shout Hosanna? >> Kids Quest and Access Ministries. Thank you. Great job. >> Yes, Lord, we praise you for conquering the grave. For conquering sin and death. Help us, Lord, to believe that you can move mountains. And that you can do anything necessary in our own lives to make us into your likeness. >> LON SOLOMON: In a couple moments when we take our offering or you can drop it off in the welcome center in the lobby. Don't forget right after our service we have a 10-minute newcomer reception to the left as you walk out of the auditorium. Don't get your children first, just go right on over. We'll watch your children for an extra ten minutes. After our service down front to my left and your right will be two members of our staff team, Jane Daniel and Denny Harris. If you need anything at all, just come on down and they'll be happy to assist you. Now, next week is Easter. Yeah? We know that. Yeah? (Applause.) >> LON SOLOMON: Okay. All of our Easter activities and services and events are listed on the front of your bulletin. So check it out. But I need some help from you guys. Okay? Here's with an I need from all of you in the 10:45 service, I need your help to get out of the 10:45 service. Because -- not that we don't like you, but -- we love you. But there are a lot of other people that are going to be showing up for this service that are not here today. And if you look around today, you'll notice we don't have any room for. And these are people who are going to be coming for their semiannual visit, you know what I'm saying. And so we need room to be able to fit them in. And talk to them about the Lord. And for this one Sunday I'm asking you to please help and create room in this service for them. Okay? Now, if you have a guest that's coming and the guest wants to come at 10:45, by all means, you bring your guest and you come at 10:45. If you have a child, like a junior higher that needs to be here at 10:45, by all means, you come at 10:45. But if you don't, I really need you, please, to get out of this service. You say what are my options?
Well, your options are Saturday night. That's a great option. It's 6:30. Your options are 12:30, the service after this, and for Easter only, your option is 7:30 in the morning. Which is as close as we get to a sunrise service at McLean Bible Church. So how many of you -- that's the one I really would love to see you move to. How many of you will move to the 7:30 service? Uh-huh. (Laughter.) >> LON SOLOMON: All right. Well maybe I won't come either. (Laughter.) >> LON SOLOMON: No, come on, now, we need some you guys to do this. I'm serious. I know I'm laughing, but I'm serious, now. We really need your help with this. So can I count on your help with this? All right? Can I? (Applause.) >> LON SOLOMON: All right. Saturday night, 7:30 Sunday morning, 12:30 Sunday afternoon. Those are our options in this service unless we must come to this service. Fair enough? And then we're going to pray lots and lots of people come and give their life to Christ. Yeah? All right. That's what it's all about. (Applause.) >> LON SOLOMON: Thank you. I appreciate your help with that. Two other quick things. The House, our ministry down in Anacostia, at the high school, our annual banquet is Tuesday, May the 3rd. At the McLean Hilton. I'm planning to be there and I hope to see you there. Our men's breakfast is coming up the Saturday after. Our speaker is Jerry Leachman, chaplain of the Washington Redskins. Gentlemen, I hope you'll come. Bring your sons. If you have any questions, we have people at a booth in the lobby that you can ask. We are going to pray for our offering now, and we're going to pray also that this week God use us as a church family in a mighty way here in Washington, D.C. to bring hundreds and hundreds of people to a life-altering decision for Christ. Okay? So let's do that. Heavenly Father, thanks for the privilege of giving to you. We want to pray this Easter week that you would use the activities of this church, the services, that you would use us as members of this church family in our own personal witness. And that as a church family we might be able to have a mighty impact on this city for the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, literally may hundreds and hundreds of people come to a life-changing commitment to Christ because of the ministry of this church family this week in this city. Use us, I pray, Lord, for your glory in Jesus' name we pray, amen. >> LON SOLOMON: Well, we want to say a big good morning to all our friends at Prince William campus and our Loudoun campus and Bethesda campus who are watching live by satellite and all our friends in the Edge Community and around the world on our Internet campus. When I say 3, all of you guys are going to yell good morning to us wherever you are and we're going to all yell good morning to them. Ready? 1, 2, 3.
>> ALL: Good morning! >> LON SOLOMON: It's great to be together as McLean Bible Church today. When I say the words unexpected event, I wonder what pops into your mind. Well, I can tell you for sure what pops into my wife Brenda's mind. It was April, 1973. And we had been dating for two months. We were in the car on our way to see the movie Camelot when I turned to Brenda, told her that I loved her and asked her to marry me. You talk about an unexpected event for poor Brenda. In fact that's an understatement. She was flabbergasted and she said no. (Laughter.) >> LON SOLOMON: Really. But that's okay. Don't worry about it. A month later I asked her again. And this time she said yes! Praise the Lord for that. Huh? (Applause.) >> LON SOLOMON: Yeah. Well, we're going to talk today about another unexpected event. This one occurring in the Bible. But it's an unexpected event that has enormous relevance to our lives today. Remember we're in a series entitled People Jesus Met. And today we're going to look as Jesus meets his 11 disciples on the top of the Mount of Olives. And after this meeting he ascends right in front of their eyes back into heaven. We want to go back 2,000 years and see what happened at this meeting. And then we want to wind all that forward to today and say, well, what difference does that make for you and for me? Our passage is Acts 1. And we begin at verse 1. So here we go. The Bible says: In my former book, O Theophilus -- we have no idea who Theophilus was, but the former book that Luke is talking about here, we know to be the Gospel of Luke in the -- my former book, I wrote about all the Jesus -- that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven. After giving instructions to the Holy Spirit, to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering -- the Bible says -- Jesus presented himself to these men, the disciples, and showed them many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days, teaching them about the Kingdom of God. So the Bible tells us that after Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday -- which we're celebrating today -- after he died on the cross, after he rose from the dead, that Jesus did not immediately turn to heaven. Actually, for 40 day, the Bible says, he stayed here on earth, he -- during that time he stayed in constant contact with his 11 disciple, whom he now commissions the as the apostles. He walked with them. He talked with them. He ate with them. But as verse 3 of Acts 1 tells us, most importantly of all, he taught them about the Kingdom of God. He taught them. All about fulfilled prophecy. And he taught them everything the Old Testament said about the life, the death, the ministry, the resurrection, the true identity of the Messiah of Israel. And then he showed them how all of this in the Old Testament had been perfectly fulfilled in himself. Lastly, he gave these men authority, apostolic authority, to write down in the New Testament everything that he had taught them. Hey, folks, when you read the New Testament, haven't you ever
wondered where these guys -- I'm talking Peter and Matthew and James, and John -- just ordinary fishermen, haven't you ever wondered where these guys got all the amazing theological insights they had into the person and the work of Christ? Haven't you ever wondered where they got all the understanding of Old Testament prophecy that they had? Haven't you wondered where they got all the deep theological insights and mastery that appears in the New Testament? The answer is how -- where did they get it from? They got it from the risen Christ himself. He taught to them for 40 straight days at the Jerusalem theological seminary where he was the only professor and they were the only graduating class in the history of the school. That's where they got all this from. Verse 4: And being assembled together with them -- remember, they're on the Mount of Olives -- Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which Jesus said, you have heard me speak about. For John, that is the Baptist -- baptized you with water, Jesus said. But you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. And of course this happened in the very next chapter, Acts chapter 2. At this meeting, verse 6, they asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel but Jesus said to them, it is not for you to know the times or the dates that the Father has fixed by his own authority. Jesus says to them, hey, fellows, you know what? This is above your pay grade. You know what fellows? You are on a need-to-know basis, and you don't need to know. But Jesus said, let me tell you one thing you do need to know, I'll tell you the thing you do need to know -- verse 8 -- you need to know that you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea, and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. You know, in his best-selling book "Built to Last", management guru James Collins says that any healthy organization needs at least one BHAG. And he defines a BHAG as a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal. Did the Lord Jesus give us as the church a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal or not? He told us to go out and impact the entire world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this explains my friends, why we have the mission statement that we do here McLean Bible Church: to make an impact on secular Washington with the message of Jesus Christ. This is our mission. Because in carrying out this mission of ours, all we're doing is helping to fulfill the big, hairy, audacious goal that the Lord Jesus gave the church 2,000 years ago. Amen? All right. Now, verse 9. After all of this, something very unexpected occurred. And after Jesus had said all these things, while they were watching, he was lifted up before their eyes and a cloud received him out of their sight. You guys, everybody, we all seen a -- balloons filled with helium, when you let them go and they kind of drift up in the sky.
This is exactly what Jesus did. He just kind of drifted right up into the sky and into the clouds. Here's something you don't see every day, huh yeah. And you say, well, Lon, just out of curiosity, where did he go? Well, 1 Peter 23:32, says Jesus has gone into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God. In other words, when Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, he went back to heaven where he came from to begin with. But this is not the end of the story. And while they were looking intently into the sky as he was going, behold, two men in white clothing were suddenly standing beside them. This is exactly what happened on Easter Sunday morning at the garden tomb. Remember, John 20:11, ago Mary was standing at the empty tomb weeping, suddenly she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been. You say, hey, Lon, do you think these two guys on the Mount of Olives could have been the very same two angels that were in the garden tomb a few weeks before? Well, the Bible never really says. But I'll tell you what, I bet my retirement fund on it. I think they were the same fellows. And they say something to the disciples, Verse 11. And they said to them, men of Galilee, why do you stand here gazing into the sky? Are you serious? Are you serious? Why do we stand here gazing into the sky? Are you serious? We just saw somebody float like a helium balloon right off the top of the Mount of Olives and disappeared into the clouds. What do you mean why are we standing here staring into the sky? The angels went on to say, don't worry about that. We have something important to tell you. This same Jesus -- I love that -- this same Jesus who was taken up from you to heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. Wow. Now, let's stop for a moment and talk about what these two angels just said. Let's stop for a moment and talk about the second coming, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Folks, in the Old Testament, when the Bible talks about the Messiah, it seemed like the Old Testament was talking out of both sides of its mouth. Because in some passages, like Isaiah 53 and Psalm 52, Old Testament talks about a suffering Messiah. And like in other passages, like Zechariah, and -- a conquering Messiah. First Peter tells us that even the Old Testament prophets themselves were confused about what God was telling them to write down. The rabbi s who followed them had so much trouble fitting all this together that by the time of Christ they had come up with a theory to solve this, seeming contradiction. There theory was there were two Messiahs. The first one, a suffering Messiah who would come and die for the sins of the world and then a second different Messiah who would come and lead Israel in glorious triumph. Thanks to the revelation of the of New Testament we understand today the solution to all of this, don't we? Namely, that there are not two different Messiahs. Rather, there are two different comings, two different appearings of the very same
Messiah. In his first coming, Jesus fulfilled the role of the suffering Messiah. Ah, friends, but the Bible is clear. That the Lord Jesus is coming back one day to fulfill the second part of his Messiahship, namely the goal of being the conquering Messiah. Here in Acts 1, it's the second coming of Christ that these angels are announcing to the disciples. Let's see what they say. Let's go back and remind ourselves what the angel said. They said this same Jesus -- wow, I love that -- not some alias, not some substitute, not some intermediary, not some delegated representative -- this same Jesus, the living, risen, resurrected, eternal, divine Christ himself, this same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, this Jesus will come back. Uh-huh. Will come back. This is not an option. It's not a possibility. It's not a hope. It's not a guess. And it's not wishful thinking. It is a guaranteed certainty these angels say. He's returning. And the angels say when he comes back, he will do it in the same way that you have seen him go into heaven. What does that mean? Well, it means that Jesus is going to come back five ways. The very same way he went into heaven. He went into heaven five ways and he's coming back five ways. Let me tell you what they are. Number one, Jesus is coming back bodily. He's coming back tangibly. He's coming back physically, just like he left. Number two, Jesus is coming back visibly. People saw him leave and in the same way people are going to see him come back again. Number three, Jesus is coming back supernaturally. I mean under normal circumstances, people just don't float up like helium balloons off the earth. This was a supernatural event, the ascension was. And therefore the return of Christ is also going to be a supernatural event. Number four, he's going to come back literally. Jesus' return will be a literal, historical, chronological event. Just like his leaving was. And finally, Jesus is going to come back to the same spot that he left from. Zechariah 14:4. On that day -- talking about the Messiah's return, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. Where did Jesus leave from? Hello, class? Y all all right out there? Where did he leave from? The Mount of Olives. He's coming back to the same spot the angels say. And the Mount of Olives will split in two from east to west. Hey, in Acts 1 on the Mount of Olives, when Jesus ended his first coming, he did it quietly. Oh, but my friends, in Zechariah 14 on the Mount of Olives, when Jesus inaugurates his second coming, he's going to do it with such power and such glory and such majesty that he's going to shape the whole world which includes splitting the mount of olives right down the middle. Praise the Lord. That will be something to look forward to. As a matter of fact, let's summarize and say for we who are followers of Christ, this is the great news of the Bible, that one day we're going to see, Titus 2:13, the glorious appearance. Not the suffering
appearing. That's over. The glorious appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ. Right there in the same verse, the Bible calls this the blessed hope of the church. It is the blessed hope of every single true believer in the church. And the best part of all is that it's not a hope-so hope. It is a know-so hope. The angels said it. And you and I can take it to the bank, my friends. Now, that's as far as we want to go in this passage. You all still with me, yes? Okay. Because now it's time for us to ask our most important question. And all of you at Loudoun and all of you at prince William and Bethesda and the edge, and Internet campus, and here at Tysons, are we ready? You don't inspire me with great confidence. But I know you're going to surprise me with how good this is. So here we go. Deep breath, one, two, three. >> ALL: So what!? >> LON SOLOMON: That was good. You say, Lon, so what? Say all right, Jesus is coming back visibly, supernaturally, literally, whatever. But if he doesn't do it today, what difference does any of this make to me he doesn't do it tomorrow when I go out to run the carpool or get on the metro or go to work, what difference does this make to me tomorrow? It makes a lot of difference. Listen. I was reading an article in time magazine not long ago about funeral homes. And about the predatory practices of a number of funeral homes here in the United States. The article told about how for example some funeral homes mark up vaults 300 percent over cost. How some funeral homes deliberately try to steer grieving people into buying caskets that have the greatest price markup. And how these funeral homes, many of them, run each year with enormous profit numbers. Time magazine said, and I quote, these people -- that is funeral home directors -- know full well that family members make funeral arrangements in a daze. Which leads them to jettison the consumer instincts they would most certainly employ when shopping for a car. End of quote. And you know, reading the article made me angry. But friends, our whole world is full of this kind of stuff. Huh? Evil people who are working evil schemes on powerless individuals, and they seem to get away with it scot-free. And as followers of Christ, we see this. And we turn to the Lord and we say, Lord, what is going on here? How -- how do -- how are you letting these people get away with in? Why don't you do something? Oh, friend, not to worry. No, no. Listen to the Bible. 21 Thessalonians, 4. We speak proudly about your appearance, and your faith in the midst of all the persecutions and inflictions you are enduring, God is just, Paul says, he will pay back trouble to those who are troubling you. Watch. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. Now, what's that event we just read about?
It's a second coming, yes? Yes? Okay. You say Lon, that's wonderful. I'm glad when the Lord Jesus comes back he's going to pay back everybody for their -- what about all the other things in the world people do that don't have anything to do with persecuting you for your faith. They're just bad things that people do? Not to worry. Jesus has already taken care of that as well. Matthew 16:27, Jesus says, for the son of man is going to return in the glory of his father and with his angels -- we're talking about the second coming, right? And what? And then say -- say the next three words with me. And then he will repay. Ooh. He will repay. Every person. He will repay unscrupulous funeral home directors. He will repay the people who blew up PANAM flight 103. The people who assassinated John F. Kennedy, heads of state who robbed their people and pile up huge bank accounts in Switzerland. He will repay the person who backed into your car and didn't leave a note. He will repay every person according to what they have done. Hey, the point my friend, is that Jesus is coming back to this earth. And when he does, he's going to right every wrong that has ever been done. He's going to bring to justice every wrong doer who's ever seemed like they got away with it. The Bible is crystal clear, my friends, that when Jesus Christ returns, every unrighteous chicken that has ever flown is coming home to roost. Praise the Lord. And this is why David said in Psalm 37, he said rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret when evil-doers succeed in their ways and carry out their wicked schemes. A little while longer and the wicked will be no more. Though you look carefully for them, they will not be found. The wicked draw the sword, and then the bow, to bring down the poor and the needy they plot against the righteous and they gnash their teeth at them. But the Lord laughs at them. Gosh, I love that. The Lord laughs at them. For he sees that their day is coming. Huh? What a picture that is. He laughs. And says go ahead, do whatever you want. But your day is coming. You say, well, Lon, okay. I just got one more question, then. And that is -- this is great to know that God is going to enforce justice on every one when Jesus comes back. But is all of this justice postponed until the second coming of Christ? I mean, is there no justice from the Lord in the world today? Before Christ returns, right now? Can we expect no justice from God? Oh, yes, we can. Oh, yeah. Listen to these verses. Psalm 7:14. Says he who conceives evil, will fall into the pit which he has dug, and the mischief he plans shall return on to his own head. Why is that? Because the Lord will see to it. That's why. Psalm 9:15, the nations have sunk down in the pit which they
themselves made in the net they hid their own feet have been caught. Why? Because God saw to it. Proverbs 5:22, his own evil deeds shall capture the wicked and he will be ensnared with the cords of his own sin. Proverbs 26:27, he who digs a pit will fall into it himself, and he who rolls a stone -- that is to roll it on somebody else -- the Bible says it will come back on him. Why? Because God will see to it. The bottom line is numbers 32:23, God says, be sure your sin will find you out. And friends, does God enforce justice here on this earth? Of course he does. This is why Bernie Madoff is in jail. While Blagojevich was impeached of -- why Richard Nixon was forced to resign from the presidency. The bottom line is true, Godly justice is going to prevail in this world. Listen, some of it is going to prevail now while the world is still going on. And the rest of it is going to happen when Jesus returns. But either way, friends, you can count on the fact it's going to happen. Now, let's conclude and say this: That there's not a one of us here who hasn't seen some really unrighteous things being done to other people. I mean, cruel things. Mean things. Unfair things. Unjust things. Underhanded things. Just plain wrong things. Elderly people being taken advantage of. And people with disabilities being mocked and ridiculed and embarrassed. Poor people being used and abused. Powerless people being run over. People of color being discriminated against. And then the people who do these things seem to get away with them. Closer to home, we've all had people treat us personally in really bad ways. Ways that are just plain wrong. Whether it's at work, or at school, or in our families, or in our neighborhoods. And they seem to get away with it. And you know what? Not only does it hurt, but it makes you mad. Makings you mad. And it makes you want to hurt the perpetrators back. I'm here on behalf of God today to say to all of us, don't do it. Don't do it. No, no. Don't lower yourself down to their level, my friends. Don't go down Ann and mud wrestle with these people. Why because you don't need to. We don't have to. Listen to what Jesus said again. Matthew 16:27: He said for the son of man is going to return. In the glory of his Father and with his angels. And then he will repay every person according to what they've done. Jesus is telling us here in this verse, hey, the wrongs that people have done to you, the wrongs that people have done to others you love and care about, Jesus says, look, if I haven't already taken care of those things before I come back, you have my solemn promise I'm going to take care of them when I do come back. Nobody is getting away with anything. And friends, either way, whether Jesus handles it here or whether he handles it when he comes back, the big so what for us today is he does
not need our help. He doesn't need our help. In order for true Godly justice to be done, the Lord doesn't need our assistance, folks. He doesn't need us to lower ourselves to these people's levels. And he doesn't need us to sully ourselves by engaging in cheap, ugly, personal revenge. Now, let me clarify one thing just before we close. We are not talking here -- make sure you understand this -- about exercising our legal rights as citizens of the United States, in response to criminal behavior done to us or illegal behavior. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about taking personal revenge against another person who has done us personal hurt. And the Bible says don't do it. Leave it with the Lord. This is why in Romans 12, Paul said never take your own revenge, my friends, but leave room for the wrath, for the justice of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I love this. I will repay. You don't have to worry about that. I will repay. And I got to tell you -- I don't know about you, but this gives me great comfort. It does. To know that I don't need to lift a finger for justice to be done in this universe. God's going to take care of that. And you know what else it does? It enables me to take the high road. When people do me wrong. It enables me to just smile on the inside and say, you know, just like the Lord, your day is coming. Just like the Lord, I'm going to smile at you and say your day is coming. I'm not going to lift a finger to bring it, God's going to take care of it. But you know what? Friends, we need to remember, every one of us are going to get rewarded or paid back for what we do. So that verse not only means that the people who do bad things to us have to worry about the return of Christ, it also means we have to live in such a way that we don't have to worry about the return of Christ. Right? That we try to live honorable lives and we try to take the high road, that we try to live biblically obedient lives. Because that verse cuts both ways, huh? And let's close today by saying some of you here have been hurt this week by people who have done things to you this week that were wrong, unjust, unfair, unscrupulous. Hey, you know what? Give it to the Lord, my friend. Give it to the Lord. He saw it. He knows what happened. He's aware. Let him have it. And you know what? Whenever God takes justice or whatever does done with you, you're clean, because you're not going to have a thing to do with it. Just let the Lord have it. You have his solemn promise. Nobody is getting away with anything. Let's pray. Lord, Jesus, you know that when we are hurt by other people, when people do unrighteous, unfair, unscrupulous things to us or to someone
we love and care about, that our normal human, sinful response is to want revenge. But I pray today that you would speak deeply to our hearts and remind us that we don't need to go there. That you don't want us to go there. That you've seen everything we've seen and more. And that you are going to take care of it, either now or later. But it will be taken care of. And so, Lord Jesus, with that secure knowledge in our heart from your word, help us to take the high road. Help us return a good for evil. Lord, help us to love in return for hate. Not because we don't think justice ought to be done -- no, no -- but because we're going to leave that to you to do and not us. And so, Lord Jesus, change the very way we live and the way we react to people. Because we were here today. And we sat under the teaching of the word of God. Liberate some of us here today who are in prison to bitterness, hatred, and retaliation. Liberate us today, help us turn it loose, Lord, and give it to you. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. And what did God's people say? >> ALL: Amen. >> LON SOLOMON: Amen. Have a great day. God bless you guys. (Music.) * * * This transcript is being provided in a rough-draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) or captioning are provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. * * *