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The King Ascends, His Work Continues
Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:1-14
Many enter marriages thinking the climax is the “I do” and things will be fine. Then they become disappointed. Many enter jobs with a skip in their step, thinking they’ve passed the interview. And they’re hit with reality. But the marriage itself is the hard part; staying the course is the challenge. Working and longevity at the work place tests the mettle of a person. And with Christ’s help, marriages and work can be glorious despite the challenges. It’s the same with the Christian life. We think that when we believe, we’ll have a charmed life. And we can’t take the disappointments. But pressing on in the Christian life is the life of a Christian. The Lord Jesus lived that life. He was tempted, was opposed, and suffered. At his birth, King Herod tried to kill him. At his commissioning, the devil tempted him. At his first teaching, they tried to stone him. Many followed, then stopped following. The gospel was too difficult. He cast out demons, but they said he had a demon. He loved his disciples, but they denied him. While they denied, he didn’t deny them. This is the love of the Savior. He was a man of sorrows. But he was also the most joyful man ever. And at the end, despite their continued weakness, he gave them a commission, and promised to help them. And they experienced power. Difficult life, but joyful life. He’d continue to work in and through them, even though he was absent in body, but present with power. The Christian has the power of Christ to live the life Christ called them to live - his life. We’ll see this in points. Firstly, the powerful king gives us a commission and mission. Secondly, the ascended king works through us his mission.
Firstly, the powerful king gives us a commission and mission. In Matthew 28, Christ took his 11 disciples to a mountain in Galilee. There, he gave them a commission and a mission. And very often we just focus on the disciples and their work. But if we do, we’d wonder how they were fit for the work. They wavered. We learn this perplexing truth in verse 17 - “And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.” But how could they? By the shores of Galilee, they caught a boat load of fish at his instruction. They knew he was God! But this detail is remarkably honest. Even at the climax of redemptive history, there’s a mixture of worship and wavering. This reminds us they were men of clay, but so are we. If the disciples had failure, how much more do we? And this is important. We often push past this verse in order to get to the “Go ye therefore.” We talk about what our duties are. But the “therefore” hangs entirely on the “all power.” Our duty depends not on our ability but his. If the Lord didn’t have power, his commission would be a suicide mission. Rather, his commission would be an assured victory because of his power. And it’s also important for us to understand this, because we often look at the perceived competence and incompetence of those who serve. Yes, the biblical qualifications are important - that’s without equivocation, but often we push in our own qualifications onto biblical ones - what we perceive as competent. So while it’s important to look at biblical competence, we must know that the most competent person will waver. It’s therefore far more needful to look at the power and competence of the one who sends us to serve. He has all power.
And it’s all power in heaven and earth. Christ is the King of Kings! It’s a kingly power. And this authority isn’t just the authority of God per se - it’s divine authority given to the Son of God - the second Adam. God commissioned Adam to have dominion over the world and to subdue it. Adam failed despite having all authority on earth. So Christ became the Second Adam. And as the second Adam had all authority in heaven and earth. He’s that Son of Man from Daniel 7 - the one who has been given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. The perfect man - God’s King. He was crowned after his ascension where he sat at God’s right hand. And the cloud that took him up in Acts 1, was the cloud in Daniel’s vision - a royal chariot.
So on the basis of that kingly power, he could commission his servants to have a mission, even though they were weak. We see this powerful king was also merciful. Notice what he didn’t do - he didn’t rebuke their doubt. He didn’t wait for their faith to become more robust before giving them a commission and a mission. He simply declared he was the powerful one - “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” And this is vital. If we look at men, we’ll be disappointed, because men are disappointing - so is your disappointment in disappointing men!
But Christ gave them a commission and assurance. He commanded, “Go ye therefore and teach or make disciples of all nations.” The command is not primarily to “go.” The command is to “make disciples.” The going, baptizing, and teaching, are all describing what is needed to make disciples. One could say it this way - Make disciples! How? By going, baptizing, and teaching. Now, this commission was a seismic shift. Firstly, there’s a shift in commission. God gave Adam the cultural commission to have dominion in this earth, to be fruitful and multiply. Sure, that wasn’t revoked - so our work, having children, glorifying Christ with our good works still matters. But the King adds the great commission; alongside our living, traveling, eating, working, being in society as a good citizen - we must make disciples of Christ. Secondly, the method changed. Israel was meant to be a nation that people came to. It was a beacon of light. The nations would go there to worship at the temple. But there’s a shift here - rather than people come, it would be the people of the church who’d would go. Thirdly, the scope also shifted. In Matthew 10, when Jesus sent out his disciples, it was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now, it expanded to all nations. This was the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise - “in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
And notice the means of discipleship - baptizing and teaching. Outward baptism was a sign of belonging to God’s kingdom; that disciples are chosen of the Father, saved by the Son, and washed by the Spirit. Outwardly they’re washed by water to demonstrate the significance of that salvation. And teaching was the means of conveying the gospel. The gospel was the ordinary means and agency of salvation. But the teaching was not just mere information transfer, but it was to teach them to observe all that Christ had commanded. It was to make more disciples who’d do the work of the commission. So the disciple is a saved learner who’d obey this God-man King, who had all authority in heaven and earth. Meaning, out of weakness, they’d grow in strength; out of wavering, they’d become worshipers.
And we see the assurance - he’d be with them until the end of the age. The discipleship doesn’t end. The help doesn’t end. The authority doesn’t end. The commission therefore is not given without companionship. The mission is not one that they’d do alone, but have his mentorship. And we see how the King of Kings would do it.
Secondly, the ascended king works through us his mission. In Acts 1, we see the companion scene. After Christ gave commission to his apostles on a Galilean mountain, he brought them back down to a Judean mountain - the Mount of Olives. He spoke to them before he ascended. Again, we see the weakness of the disciples when they asked - “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” One might ask what they were actually asking. But considering the context, they were probably thinking about Israel the nation itself. But Christ had already told them not one stone will stand on top of another. Were they still looking for a political solution? Possibly. And it’s disappointing because Christ already gave them a spiritual commission. But what’s new, brothers and sisters? That’s why they couldn’t be left alone. Consider Christ’s words. He had power. He commissioned them. And he’d continue to work through them.
Notice what it says in verses 1-2 - “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen.” In Luke’s gospel he wrote what Christ began to do and teach. But if he only began to do and teach there, how would he continue to do and teach after he ascended? He’d work through his disciples. So this tells us that in the commission and mission he gave them, he’d be with them be the one to work through them. So the discipling would be done by him through them. The going would be done by him through them. The baptizing would be done by him through them - which is why it was in his name. And the teaching would be done by him through them, because what they’d teach is all he commanded them.
Now we know the continual work is not his atonement. He finished that at the cross. “It’s finished!” he said. But he’d do other works. And according to John 14:12, these works would be greater works - “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” Indeed, that happened. Christ preached to 5000 and fed them, but there’s no record of salvation. Peter preached to 3000, didn’t feed them, and all were saved. The number increased to 5000 in Acts 4. Christ’s teachings and works were limited to the region of Judea, but Acts 17:6 says the disciples turned the world upside down. Why? Christ was working through them.
And where would he continue to do this work as a powerful king? After he said these tings, he was taken up to heaven in a cloud. A cloud! Which in scripture symbolized divine power. God spoke in a cloud at Sinai and gave his laws! His cloud covered the Tabernacle. God surrounded Jesus, Moses, and Elijah with a cloud as he spoke. Jesus will come in the clouds in judgment. So Christ is king and God. He’s powerful enough to act from that throne in heaven. And it’s good he went. His ascension was necessary. Heidelberg Catechism 18 confesses that Christ “while his disciples watched, was lifted up from earth to heaven and will be there for our good until he comes again to judge the living and the dead.” It’s for our benefit.
How ? As Lord’s Day 19 reminds us, that “by his Holy Spirit he pours out heavenly gifts upon us, his members. Second,by his power he defends and preserves us against all enemies.” He ascended so that he could send his Spirit to work through us. That’s what the Lord said in John 14:16-17, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” Christ would work through his Spirit. They’d do greater things. That’s how he’d work his mission out in them. Absent in the body, but present in the Spirit; this is his spiritual power with them.
So what does that mean for today? Whatever work that’s happening, whether it’s missions, salvation of souls, spiritual building of the church, sanctification - Christ is the one who’s at work. He’s working through the officers and through members. He’s building his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” So it’s disappointing when they were looking for a political solution. It’s the same thing for us today in church. The solution is Christ working in us spiritually. And we’d have to walk in the Spirit. But we look for corporate and organizational solutions. We think power resides in structure. Christ said power resides in his Spirit. So this is our king speaking, but do we listen? Do we believe in the power of the Spirit? Or do we believe more in the power of organization? Now, we’re not saying that we dismiss good organization. After all, Christ commanded them to get organized. But how?
After the Lord ascended, the disciples were looking into heaven, verse 11. But Christ already told them to go to the uttermost part of the earth. Their mission was not heaven, but the earth. So the angel reminded them to get organized. He’d already told them in verses 4 onwards to remain in Jerusalem and to wait for the promise of the Father - the filling of the Spirit. On the other hand, they were thinking of the reorganization of the kingdom - its restoration. For what? Maybe for effectiveness, to conquer. That’s their modus operandi. That’s what they did before - who’d be first in the kingdom. I mean that’s responsible right? Get a leader. But Jesus said they already had one. He was their king. And he’d organize them when he sent his Spirit. And then they’d be witnesses. Witnesses of what? Of Christ. This is why they all went back to the Upper Room - to do what? To organize? No, to wait; to pray for the Spirit. Who were they? Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren - meaning half-brothers, who had now believed. And all of them, 120 of them, prayed. Organization without prayer and the Spirit is foolhardy. Organization with our own thoughts is foolhardy. And so they prayed - thereafter adding a man who was a witness of Christ - of his baptism, death, and resurrection.
Beloved, how do we end off this sermon (and even the series on the Life of Christ)? Christ took on flesh that he might redeem a people for himself. His forerunner John was filled with the Spirit from the womb. Jesus was conceived by the Spirit. At his baptism, he was filled at his baptism. The Spirit was upon him to preach good news. And the Spirit raised him from the grave. And when he ascended, he gave this Spirit, who fills every believer to be witnesses of Christ. We have the Spirit of Christ so we can live the life of Christ. And he lives his live through us. And that’s why, because of Christ, we can have that confidence that despite difficulties and challenges, we can stay the course, living the Christian life, having his power to overcome sin, that we may be victorious. And it’s a reminder of the work that we must do. Are we gazing up into heaven? To figure out when Christ is coming? Are we like the disciples who asked - when are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? When will my life be perfect? Are we gazing inwardly? God’s kingdom must grow, in you, through you in the world. That can only be done when you submit yourself to the Spirit - to grow in your witness and to grow as a witness. Amen.
1. The Powerful King Gives Us a Commission and Mission
A. They wavered
B. His kingly power
C. His commission and assurance to them
2. The Ascended King Works Through Us His Mission
A. Their continued weakness
B. His continued work
C. His spiritual power with them
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2026, Rev. Mark Chen
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