Why do you think that the church does not give much attention to the Ascension? Brenda Johnson shares the benefits of the Ascension of Christ to every believer. A Classic ! Encouraging ! Inspirational.

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The Importance of the
Ascension of Christ
“We have a settled confidence”
Author Speaker
Brenda Johnson

2. 2
Copyright
All Rights Reserved
Not for commercial use

As the Day Approaches International
Brenda Johnson
Published by
Beyond the Veil Prophetic Ministries International

3. 3
The Importance of the
Ascension of Christ
“We have a settled confidence”
Author Speaker
Brenda Johnson

4. 4
Contact
Brenda Johnson
Face Book

5. 5
Table of Contents
The Importance of the Ascension of
Christ ..................................................... 1
“We have a settled confidence” ....... 1
Copyright............................................... 2
All Rights Reserved .......................... 2
The Importance of the Ascension of
Christ ..................................................... 3
“We have a settled confidence” ....... 3
Contact................................................... 4
Table of Contents.................................. 5
Chapter One.......................................... 6
“Jesus Left Them”....................... 6
Chapter Two.......................................... 9
“Filled With Joy”......................... 9
Chapter Three..................................... 14
Chapter Four....................................... 19
NOTES: ............................................... 22

6. 6
Chapter One
“Jesus Left Them”
Then He led them out as far as
Bethany, and lifting up His hands
He blessed them. And while He was
blessing them, He left them and was
carried up into heaven. After
worshiping Him, they returned to
Jerusalem with great joy; they were
continually in the temple complex
praising God.

7. 7
Jesus’ ascension does not receive as
much attention as other aspects of
His life. We celebrate His birth
because that is when God became
man. We celebrate His sacrificial
death because we receive
forgiveness of sin.
We celebrate His resurrection
because death is defeated and our
new life is won. In addition, for
most Christians and churches, that
is where it stops. Very little thought
is given to Christ’s ascension to the
right hand of God the Father.

8. 8
Why do you think that the church
does not give much attention to the
ascension?

9. 9
Chapter Two
“Filled With Joy”
For Luke, the Ascension was a
significant moment in the disciples’
personal transformation and the
advancement of the Gospel through
the church.
Luke emphasized the importance of
the ascension by ending his Gospel
with this event, and beginning his
second volume, Acts, with it.

10. 10
The Ascension had a profound
impact on the disciples. Up to the
moment that Jesus ascended to
heaven, the disciples seemed to be
puzzled, trying to figure it all out.
However, after the Ascension they
worshiped Him.
The disciples traveled back to
Jerusalem with great joy. As well,
the disciples maintained a regular
presence in the temple worshiping
God.

11. 11
At first, the disciples’ reaction to
Jesus’ Ascension may catch us off
guard. Jesus had just ―left them.‖
Yet they are happy—―filled with
joy.‖
Why this reaction? After all, when
Jesus told them at the end of John
13 that He would soon leave them,
they were deeply disturbed. Thus,
He encouraged them (John 14-17)
by teaching them about the ministry
of the Holy Spirit. Jesus kept them
from the brink of utter despair by

12. 12
saying, “You are not losing Me,
but I am going to be with you in a
different way through my Spirit.”
The ascension of Jesus produced
“joy” because the disciples realized
what amazing benefits would come
to them when Jesus returned to the
Father.
When Jesus ascended, all the
promises regarding the Spirit’s
ministry to the disciples were about
to be fulfilled. The disciples

13. 13
accepted His ascension, for they
had accepted Jesus’ Word about the
Promised One to come. Their
doubts and fears were gone. They
were convinced of whom He was.
The disciples knew that He died to
forgive them of their sins. The
disciples knew He was alive from
the dead. In His resurrection, the
disciples had hope in victory over
death, as the disciples trusted Him.
For these reasons, Jesus’ departure
gave the disciples joy.

14. 14
Chapter Three
“Benefits of the Ascension”
The benefits of the Ascension are
many:
When Jesus ascended and sat down
at the Father’s right hand, He
verified the accomplishment of the
life, death, and resurrection of
Jesus, and confirmed that the final
payment of sin had been made. Let
us read the Book of Hebrews 10:11-
14, together on the following page.

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I will be sharing from the King
James Version Bible our reading
together.
“And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins:
12
But this man, after he had
offered one sacrifice for sins for
ever, sat down on the right hand of
God;

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13
From henceforth expecting till
his enemies be made his footstool.
14
For by one offering he hath
perfected for ever them that are
sanctified.”
Another benefit of the ascension of
Jesus to the disciples, and those that
believe in Him is this thought,
“When Jesus ascended, the
intercessory work of Jesus on
behalf of His people began.”

17. 17
In this ministry, we are assured that
we will always have access to the
Father forever.
I John 2:1 reads, “My little
children, these things write I unto
you, that ye sin not. And if any
man sin, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous.”
As we consider more of the benefits
for the believer, and the joy of the
disciples we can also reflect upon
this thought.

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That is, “When Jesus ascended,
His eternal reign over all enemies
began.”
As Peter wrote, “Now that He has
gone into heaven, He is at God’s
right hand with angels, authorities,
and powers subject to Him.‖ (1
Peter 3:22)

19. 19
Chapter Four
“Settled Confidence”
Finally, when Jesus Ascended the
church and its ministry was
empowered to accomplish its
mission.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:20–23,
“[God the Father] put everything
under His feet and appointed Him
as head over everything for the
church, which is His body, the

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fullness of the One who fills all
things in every way.”
Jesus Christ is the King of the
universe, and there is nothing Satan
can do about it.
What Satan can do is tempt us to
forget about Jesus as King. He uses
a thousand tricks to do it, but he is
after one thing—to eclipse our
present awareness of who Jesus is
and where He is.

21. 21
In the book of Acts, Stephen, while
being stoned, looked up into the
heaven and saw Jesus sitting at the
right hand of the Father. The New
Testament points us to this picture,
so that we will have a settled
confidence that Jesus our Savior is
the King over all things.

22. 22
NOTES:

23. 23

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Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and
lifting up His hands He blessed them. And
while He was blessing them, He left them and
was carried up into heaven. After worshiping
Him, they returned to Jerusalem with great
joy. And they were continually in the temple
complex praising God.
Jesus’ ascension does not receive as much
attention as other aspects of His life. We
celebrate His birth because that is when God
became man. We celebrate His sacrificial
death because we receive forgiveness of sin.
We celebrate His resurrection because death
is defeated and our new life is won. But for
most Christians and churches, that is where it
stops. Very little thought is given to Christ’s

25. 25
ascension to the right hand of God the
Father.
Why do you think that the church does not
give much attention to the ascension?
For Luke, the ascension was a significant
moment in the disciples’ personal
transformation and the advance of the gospel
through the church. He emphasized the
importance of the ascension by ending his
Gospel with this event, and beginning his
second volume, Acts, with it.
The ascension had a profound impact on the
disciples. Up to the moment that Jesus
ascended to heaven, the disciples seemed to
be puzzled, trying to figure it all out. But after

26. 26
the ascension, they worshiped Him. They
traveled back to Jerusalem with great joy.
They maintained a regular presence in the
temple—worshiping God.
At first, the disciples’ reaction to Jesus’
ascension may catch us off guard. Jesus had
just ―left them.‖ And yet they are happy—
―filled with joy‖. Why this reaction? After all,
when Jesus told them at the end of John 13
that He would soon leave them, they were
deeply disturbed. Thus, He encouraged them
(John 14-17) by teaching them about the
ministry of the Holy Spirit. He kept them from
the brink of utter despair by saying, ―You are
not losing Me, but I am going to be with you
in a different way through my Spirit.‖

27. 27
The ascension of Jesus produced ―joy‖
because the disciples realized what amazing
benefits would come to them when Jesus
returned to the Father.
When Jesus ascended, all the promises
regarding the Spirit’s ministry to the disciples
were about to be fulfilled. The disciples
accepted His ascension, for they had
accepted Jesus’ Word about the Promised
One to come. Their doubts and fears were
gone. They were convinced of who He was.
They knew that He died to forgive them of
their sins. They knew He was alive from the
dead. In His resurrection, they had hope in
victory over death. They trusted Him. For
these reasons, Jesus’ departure gave the
disciples joy.

28. 28
The benefits of the ascension are many:
When Jesus ascended and sat down at the
Father’s right hand, He verified the
accomplishment of the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus, and confirmed that the
final payment of sin had been made
(Hebrews 10:11-14).
When Jesus ascended, the intercessory work
of Jesus on behalf of His people began. In
this ministry, that we are assured that we will
always have access to the Father forever (1
John 2:1).
When Jesus ascended, His eternal reign over
all enemies began. As Peter wrote, ―Now that

29. 29
He has gone into heaven, He is at God’s right
hand with angels, authorities, and powers
subject to Him‖ (1 Peter 3:22).
Finally, when Jesus ascended, the church and
its ministry was empowered to accomplish its
mission. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:20–23:
―[God the Father] put everything under His
feet and appointed Him as head over
everything for the church, which is His body,
the fullness of the One who fills all things in
every way.‖
Jesus Christ is the King of the universe, and
there is nothing Satan can do about it. What
Satan can do is tempt us to forget about
Jesus as King. He uses a thousand tricks to
do it, but he is after one thing—to eclipse our

30. 30
present awareness of who Jesus is and where
He is. In the book of Acts, Stephen, while
being stoned, looked up into the heaven and
saw Jesus sitting at the right hand of the
Father. The New Testament points us to this
picture, so that we will have a settled
confidence that Jesus our Savior is the King
over all things.