Ascending Above All Heavens

Growth in Godliness

Afflictions are best compared with future glory because then they become very light.

Carried to Paradise Before Ascending Above All Heavens

Before considering our Lord's ascension, let us first muse on the paradise that came before.

Luke 16:19-31

“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.” 

* One man enjoyed A life of plenty every day.

20 “And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores,” 

* Another man laid just outside the rich man’s property and lived a life of poverty and pain.

21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. 

* Lazarus lived a life of longing for the rich man’s crumbs. Dogs instinctively lick open wounds to heal them. A dog’s licking can help, but it can also make them worse. What the dogs did for Lazarus by instinct, incapable of thought, sympathy, or compassion, the rich man with a soul and a conscience did not do for another human being  in extreme need. 

Carried to Abraham's Bosom Before Ascending Above All Heavens

22 “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.” 

* From the moment of death, the poor man was cared for by loving angels sent by God, who took him to the heart of Abraham, a man of faith. His life did not end in the grave when Lazarus died but expanded to a life of safety and security. The rich man’s death is reported as the reality it becomes—he was buried. Death is the actual reality of the spiritually faithless on earth; afterward, death is extended to the abode of Hades.

23 “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 

* The fact that the rich man knew Abraham’s identity was a gift from God and it was not appreciated. 

24 “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’” 

* Even in death and Hades, the unseen world of the departed dead, the rich man remained blind to his own spiritual state. He continued to live in his mind as a rich man, showing no remorse for his treatment of Lazarus. This spiritual blindness is a characteristic of the wicked, who fail to see their own faults. However, torment had become his new reality.

25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony."

26 ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’

* Firstly, to Abraham, the rich man was a child. His wealth and age meant nothing; he was without understanding. Secondly, Abraham gave the rich man a memory boost. He told him how things were and how they are now. In effect, he tells him, there has been a role reversal. Thirdly, no one can do anything about it; God is in control, and you'll have to deal with it.

Descending to Hades Never to Ascend Above All Heavens

27 “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—

28 For I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 

* This time, the rich man calls Father Abraham father, maybe not getting what he asked the first time; Abraham is losing respect in the rich man's estimation. He begs him to send Lazarus to his father's house. He is concerned that his brothers will suffer the same fate as him. Think about this carefully, if you have not done so before. In Hades, this rich man has sympathy for his brothers. His suffering has not kept him from worrying for them. Some might think such feelings in a person to be too moral to send one to hell. Then comes the clincher. 

Belief in God's Word Before Ascending Above All Heavens

29 “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’”

*Abraham completely understood that what matters most and makes the difference between heaven and hell for all eternity is believing God by trusting His Word to be true. However, the rich man never got that message because he immediately contradicts Abraham. 

30 “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 

*When Jesus sent out the seventy in Luke 10, we are told in verse 8, "Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'" However, Jesus added this warning in verses 10-12.

"But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off [in protest] against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' "I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city."

*As always there is consistency in the Word of God. Jesus and Abraham understood fully that salvation is dependent upon the grace of God for sinners that transforms them from proud and unwilling to hear God’s truth to people of peace willing to receive God’s people and hear God’s Word. 

31 “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

*As in the story of Lazarus and the rich man, salvation is never dependent upon miracles, healings, or casting out demons but upon hearing God's word. In the Luke 10 account, reception is essential. There must be a person of peace, and if the believing Christian is not received, they are still to be told that the kingdom of God has come near.

Ascending Above All Heavens

The account given above by our Lord Jesus Christ was a reality, true in every part, and became God's Holy Word. The reality of Hades and Paradise remained in effect for four thousand years. After sin brought death into the world, though lifespans were much longer in Adam's day, men began to die. The first recorded death was Abel, who died a martyr for his belief in God's Word. God's Word was the blood sacrifice God placed upon Adam and Eve by His grace. Caine is the first murderer in what would become a very violent earth.

Four thousand years later, Christ would reveal Himself as the long-awaited Messiah, first recorded in Genesis 4. All the saints recorded in the Bible and many more that were not were present with Christ in Paradise as Hades looked on.

With all the guilt they carried for committing the first sin, Adam and Eve were cleansed under the blood spilled on Calvary's cross.

Abel, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, and all those who called upon the name of the Lord being in Paradise the longest, for as much as four thousand years would leave in forty-three days.

Abraham, of course, was there. Having sought another city, he was so close to entering Heaven to await that city, but now he was not alone; he was with Jesus Christ, his now visible Savior.

All those previously mentioned sought and desired in Greek (epouranios: of Heaven) or heavenly, referring to the impact of Heaven's influence on the particular situation or person, Hebrews 11:16. A new beginning was in sight.

Moses was there, never having entered Canaan, the earthly promised land with all its idolatrous practices, wayward religion, self-exalting kings, and rebellious sons and daughters. Now he stood in the presence of the Law fulfilled; how good did that feel?

All the prophets were there. According to John MacArthur, Isaiah penned the first Gospel in chapters 52 and 53. Isaiah now had a visual of that Gospel for which he waited and was sawn in two.

John the Baptist was there, having walked away from a following to give way to the Messiah of Israel and the world. What loss did he experience having lost his head? As traumatic an experience as that must be, does it compare to seeing the Christ of God?

Forty days transpired, and Jesus Christ returned as He said He would. Not a single doubt nor a dry eye when He did, and the praise began and continued to Heaven.

Nevertheless, Hades was left behind. They would never see Heaven, maybe a glimpse. They will be raised for judgment and receive new bodies fitted for an eternal Lake of Fire. Are we weeping for them? Are we forsaking worldliness, the desires of the flesh, and resisting the devil not to be a stumbling block to them?