would he please in the Gospel according to Luke, chapter twenty four. The Gospel by Luke, chapter twenty four. And we'll read from verse fifty. Luke twenty four, verse fifty. And he led the march as far as to Bethany. And he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. Now the Acts, chapter one. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter one. And we'll read from verse four for the context. Acts chapter one, verse four. And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem. But wait for the promise of the Father, which said he ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, will thou this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own power, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in quite a firm, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. This morning we were looking at John's account of the crucifixion. some of the beautiful details that he adds to the Synoptic Gospel. The Gospel according to John was written many, many years after the other three Gospels, and we certainly would have lost an awful lot if John hadn't given us this lovely book. The sum of the most delightful details connected with the atoning death of the Lord Jesus, and particularly with his burial and also with his resurrection. Now tonight I thought I would like to continue what we were speaking about this morning in looking at the ascension of the Lord Jesus and his going up to God's right hand, his ascension glory and his exaltation of God's right hand. The Apostle Paul in the epistle to the Ephesians, he tells us that he has gone up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And if we were to examine the epistles, of the Apostle Paul and other writings in the New Testament, you'll find that there are about sixteen passages that deal with the Ascension. There's a tremendous body of material that one could examine and speak about. But I want to confine myself particularly to what Luke has to say about it. You know, we don't find anything about the Ascension of Christ and either the Gospel by Matthew or the Gospel by John. But Luke, he gives us two distinct accounts of the ascension, and he gives us some very beautiful details connected with it. The Gospel, according to Luke, has been called the most beautiful book in the world. The man who called it that was a French skeptic. His name was Ernest Renan, and he said it was the most beautiful book in the world. He was a literary critic, and I think that what he said is perfectly true. You know, when we look at the book, we find that some of the great fundamental doctrines of Christianity are outlined in it. Dr. Luke, a very delightful character. One of the greatest characters in the New Testament scriptures, he's writing to a friend of his. He calls him most excellent Theophilus. He probably was a Roman official. And he tells us that what he's writing about in this Gospel are the things most surely believed among us. Now that term, the things most surely believed among us, I think, take in the great fundamental doctrines of Holy Scripture. And if we were to examine carefully the Gospel according to Luke, we would notice immediately that there are five great fundamentals that Luke speaks of. Now the first one is the virgin birth. He goes into some detail about that, and then he speaks of the virtuous life of the Lord Jesus. Then he speaks of his vicarious death upon the cross. He speaks about his victorious resurrection. And in the little paragraph that we read at the commencement of our meeting tonight, we find his visible ascension to God's right hand. These are five great fundamental doctrines. and it would be interesting to go into them in some little detail, detailed and trace their development in the Gospel according to Luke. I want to confine myself particularly to the last little paragraph on this lovely group tonight. But before we do that, it might be as well to say, for any visitor who may be here tonight, that as far as we are concerned, we believe all of these five with our heart. Do you believe in the virgin birth of Christ? You know, Sir Robert Anderson, many years ago, who was a lawyer, and a man who was in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department in Scotland Yard in London, he said this, he said, the whole of Christianity that either stands or falls were the last clause in the last verse of Matthew chapter one. And if you were to turn over to that passage, you'll see what he meant. He meant that the virgin, the virgin Mary, was the vehicle that God used in bringing his beloved Son into this world. You know, if he was not virgin born, if he wasn't born, then the way that's described in Isaiah chapter seven, and I know the passages of the Word of God, we might as well close our Bibles and go home. For the simple reason, that practically every other fundamental doctrine is indecisively linked to it. He was virgin born. God brought a super miracle when he brought his beloved Son into the world. On the link with the fallen humanity, on the link with the first Adam, was snapped as far as he was concerned when God brought his Son into the world. He was holy, not only innocent, but he's called that holy thing. And God brought a super miracle in bringing his beloved Son into this world. So the Virgin Birth, described in such beautiful, delicate language by Dr. Luke that the commencement of his Gospel is one of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. And then his virtuous life. You know, here again is something that's infinitely important. Not only was a Virgin born, But thank God he was without sin. Although a real man, in every sense of the word, yet apart from sin, he knew no sin, he did no sin, in him was no sin. One of the great fundamental doctrines of Holy Scripture is the impeccability of our Lord. Some people would tell me that although he didn't sin he could have, I think that's... threading on very, very thin ice. Anybody that says anything of the kind. On the one hand, while he was a man, a real man in every sense of the word, yet at the same time he was God, the very God. And I would like to ask you, could God sin? If the person of Christ is involved in the question, I'm going to thank God for his impeccability. Not only his virgin birth, but thank God through his virtuous life. We'd have some detail this morning with his vicarious death upon the cross. And possibly some young person here tonight may say, what do you mean by a vicarious death? Well, we mean that when he died vicariously, he died for others and not for himself. You know, there's a man who preached the gospel over in England for many years. He was one of the outstanding gospel preachers of a generation ago. His name was Charles Haddon Spurgeon. And when Mr. Spurgeon was dying, a friend sitting by his side said this to him, They said, Mr. Spurgeon, you have preached the gospel all your life, and you've seen many, many souls brought to Christ. And now, at the moment, when you're about to pass into eternity and meet God, on what are you depending for your salvation. And Mr. Spurgeon, he said this. He said, on the truth behind four little words. And the friend said, what are those words? He said, those words are, Jesus died for me. Oh, how simple this is. And yet how profound. That's the vicarious death. Jesus died for me. Oh, I'm just a poor sinner. Fit for nothing but hell. Fit for nothing but eternal banishment from God. But Jesus died for me. Not that the precarious death. And then his victorious resurrection. Again and again in the Acts of the Apostles, his resurrection is mentioned. It is a part of the gospel. And thank God he fraudulently rose from the tomb unto night. for a little while I want to speak about his visible ascension to God's right hand. We very often hear these other fundamental doctrines expounded, but it's not so often that we hear anyone speak about the ascension of the Lord Jesus. And I want just for a little while tonight, just for about half an hour, to speak about his ascension and some of the things that are involved in it. There are four things that Luke speaks about. in connection with the ascension. And four great details that he mentions in connection with it. Now the first thing, he tells us the locality. It's only Dr. Luke that tells us the actual place from which our Lord ascended to God's right hand. He says that he led them out as far as the Bethany. Now we often think that Mount Olivet was the place where our Lord ascended. And that is perfectly true. But Luke tells us there was a specific place on Mount Olivet from which the Lord ascended. He led the Mount as far as to Bethany. He tells us there about the locality. And then he tells us about a great promise that was made just before the Lord led the Mount of Bethany, where he said, Ye shall receive power. Now he has already spoken about this. In the upper room before his death upon the cross, The Lord Jesus in John chapter fourteen and in John chapter seventeen he spoke again and again about the comforter, the paraclete. He said, I'm going up, but he said the Holy Ghost is coming down. And there are some things that are completely unique about his ministry that characterizes the present day, the present era. And the Lord spoke about that. He said, he is with you, but he said, he shall be in you. and he spoke about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We will have opportunity during this week to speak about the baptism and the filling of the Holy Ghost. But it was our Lord who promised that the disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Ghost came down. He was going up to the throne, but the Holy Ghost was coming down. And then a third thing that Luke mentions is the cloud. who read that a cloud received him out of their sight. We want to look at this in a moment or two and what is involved in the cloud that received him and enveloped him and went with them up to heaven. And then the last thing we find in the passage in Acts chapter one that Luke tells us about, that two men appeared. While they looked steadfastly toward heaven, two men appeared. men and shining garments. And they said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This then Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. And they speak here about the coming again of the Lord Jesus. That a speak one day would stand upon the Mount of Olives, and we find the fulfillment of that great prophecy. in Zechariah chapter fourteen, where one day his feet will stand possibly on the same place where he left. It's fairly likely it will, but it's where it will happen. So these are four details and these two passages given us by Dr. Luke concerning the ascension of the Lord Jesus. Now just for a minute or two, let's think of these four details connected with it. The first thing is he led them out. You know, he did this as a shepherd. He led them out as far as the Bethany. Many a time I have wondered to myself, just why did the Lord take the disciples out the Bethany? Why did he want to leave them there? I think the answer is that here was a place that he loved, a retreat, a place where he was always welcome, a place of gracious hospitality. For the Lord always was welcome. So when we look at the life of the Lord Jesus here below, look at the account offered in the four Gospels. You would notice immediately that there are four outstanding places associated with this life on Minestrade on here. Now, first of all, there's Bethlehem where he was born. And then secondly, there's Nazareth, where he spent the first thirty years of his life. Nazareth, where he was brought up. On the end of the year, on his thirtieth year, that is when a priest entered into his ministry, worried that he went into the synagogue at Nazareth, and he opened the book to read. That was at Nazareth. But then for three years, after that point, he spent about three years in Galilee. On the center of his Galilee and ministry was Capernaum. Apparently it was there that he made a center in his Galilean ministry. And then finally, at the end was Jerusalem, the city of David, the city of the great king. Now if you think of these four places associated with the life and ministry of our Lord here below, in every single one of them he was rejected. And the details connected with that rejection are given in the word of God. If you remember when he was born in Bethlehem, we read, there was no room for him in the end. Do you know how dramatic those words are? Probably some of the VIPs that came on the census, when they arrived in Bethlehem, there was plenty of room for them. These important individuals when they came here, but when our Lord, the Lord of life and glory, God manifested in flesh, when he was born, really there was no room, no room for him in the end. And the pathetic situation is that the Virgin, on the most important day in her life, and I suppose the day when Paul sent it, it would go out to any woman of the birth of her child. The shelter out to a stable, and there in the stable and in the manger our Lord was born. no room for him in the end. And then immediately he was born the man that was upon the throne, the Edomite, Herod the Great. When he heard that the king of the Jews was born without going into detail of the story, he committed one of the most horrible crimes recorded in the word of God. He sent his soldiers to Bethlehem and he gave orders that all the little children from two years old and under were to be wiped out. He tried to destroy him. Oh, here is the seed of the woman on the seed of the serpent in conflict. It was the first conflict of our Lord when he was born down here. But God wonderfully delivered his son. But the point is this, that in Bethlehem, the place that he was born, he was rejected. And then after thirty years in Nazareth, living a humble, modest life, working as a carpenter, I'm awfully thankful that he did. The vast majority of mankind today are hard-working people, and I'm awfully thankful that our blessed Lord had that experience, the carpenter. But when he was thirty years of age, he went into the synagogue as his once was, as his custom was. And going into the synagogue, they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. And when he hath found the place, he opened it deliberately at what we call chapter sixty-one. And when he hath found the place he read, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to give deliverance to the captives, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he suddenly closed the book. He closed it at a comma. The next sentence is on the day of vengeance of our God. But when he came to this word to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, he deliberately closed the scroll, and they handed it to the minister, and it said, this day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. It was a clean to his messiahship. On the elders of the synagogue, when they heard that, they were filled with anger, and they took them outside. and they took him to the brow of the hill and they tried to destroy him to try to kill him. God again, miraculous, they delivered his son. He was rejected in Nazareth. And then in Capernaum, that place that was the center of a Galilean ministry where his mighty works were done, at the end of three years he has to say, Andar, Capernaum, which are exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to heaven. He said, if the mighty works which have been done in these had been done in Tyre and Sidon for Sodom and Gomorrah would have lasted to this day, but it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and the day of judgment than for these. Oh, he was rejected in Capernaum. It was there he uttered those gracious words, Come on to me, all ye that labor, under heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoga from you and there, me and Brian, me and Goliath, and I, and we shall find that to yourself. So Capernaum rejected the son of God. And then finally in Jerusalem, the city of the great king, when he comes there, and if he runs the dam, and the city comes into view, believe that he lifted his point in lamentation, and he said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Lord, that killeth the prophets, sownest them that are sent unto thee. How often would I have gathered thy children that gathers a hen, gathers her brood, onto her wings, but you would not. Behold, your heart is left unto you desolate. You shall not see me, until ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh, in the name of the Lord. The poor place is associated with this earthly ministry. Our Lord was rejected. and by the world his own, by the many still neglected, and by the few for all, for soon he had come in glory. There are his growing night, for the crowning day is coming, by and by. For these are the four places where he was rejected. But there was one little place where he was not rejected. And I think that this is what he had in mind. He led the mosque outside the walls of the city, gone through the valley of the quidron, and up the other side through a very humble little place, and it's very likely that he passed the home of Martha and Miriam Lazarus on the way. I love to think he was going to take one last route of that little place, the place where he had always been welcome, a place of retreat, the place of gracious hospitality, and it was there that he wanted to leave. He led the march. as far as the Bethany. You know, there are three occasions when he came to Bethany. It would be interesting to go into some little detail about them. I just want to mention them briefly. The first time we find them coming to Bethany is in Luke chapter ten. And believe that when he came there, we read that Mary sat out of sleep and heard his word. Martha is serving. And we read that Mary sat at his feet and heard his word. You know, anyone that wants to learn the word of God, that's the place to learn it. It was on Jesus' feet. Now it was there that Mary sat and heard the word of the Lord Jesus. It has been called since Mary's College. Certainly the best education in the word of God that anybody could get is at the feet of Christ. That's the first time he came there, at least in rank art. And then the second time he came is in John chapter eleven. And here is a scene of death, bereavement. He knew that his friend Lazarus was sick and yet he died. But when he came there Lazarus had already, he had died and already had been buried. And he had been in the tomb for four days. And again Mary and Martha, both of them come. and to cast themselves on his feet and say, If our husband here, our brother had not died. Then the Lord, he comes for the tomb. He said, Where have you laid him? And those wonderful words, possibly the most pathetic, the most beautiful in the word of God, believe that Jesus went. Now he knew perfectly well he was going to exercise his prerogative of the Son of God and raising the man from the dead. but the same time that did not interfere with the sins of it. And all those who were each hurt. And as he saw the sisters mourning their loved one, who read the Jesus way. And then the next thing he did, take away the song. And when they removed the stone, he spoke those words of power, Lazarus and Horus, and the dead man, who had been dead for four days, he came out, bound hands and fruit for the grave of God. What a wonderful display we get here of the God man. As a man, he wept. That's his humanity, his perfect, sinless humanity. Jesus wept. But on the other hand, his God-head power, Lazarus, come forth. And someone had said that he hadn't used the word Lazarus, the whole graveyard of the prison. But he said, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus came forth, bound, hand and foot with the grape cloth, and they said, Loos and let him go. First of all, Mary is at a speed listening to his word. And in John chapter eleven, Mary is weeping, but again she is at a speed. And oh, what words of comfort? We have in those words, I am the resurrection and the life. So the third time he comes to Bethlehem is in John chapter twelve. And in that passage, we get worship. What a wonderful picture we get here of that family. In that humble little home, they have made him a supper. And Ruth at Lazar's hand at the table, and one of the characters they say is serving. But Ruth merely brings her alabaster box of ointment. And while the Lord was sitting at the table, she breaks the alabaster box of ointment, and she poured it on his head. and I believe she poured it on his feet. Matthew, the Gospel of the King. We read that the oil, the ointment was poured upon his head, but in John it's poured upon his feet. The whole poem of Smythnard is poured upon his feet. Some little time ago, I picked up a book that was written by a professor of Poitone from the University of California. His name is Mal Denke. is one of the experts along that line here in the United States for many years. On the reading of his article on Schweignard, I learned a few things about it. It was a tremendous lesson to me. Mr. Maldanke, he describes in his book how Schweignard was fun. I'm not going to go into the technical details of that. But in any case, it had to be carried along the most difficult terrain in the world. Afghanistan and right into Palestine. And by the time it got there, it was worth its weight in gold. And among other things, Mr. Moldenki said that in those days, one drop of spikener was usually placed behind the ears. It was a powerful cosmetic. One of the most powerful fragrances that was known at that time was spikener. And what he used to do is just take a drop and put it behind the ear or on the back of the hand. And the powerful fragrance from that pipe-nard, he said, it would generally last about a month. Now, if you think of old pound of pipe-nard, it was poured upon the head and poured upon the feet of our Lord. And if you look at the chronology of Matthew and John, you'll find that it's just a few days before Gethsemane's loss. And there's one thing that I love to think of, that while men flatten the space, and while men plucked the hair of the space, and while they took the clenched fist, and the buffeted him, and then took the open pan and flattened. I believe that that grievance was there. Not only in Gethsemane, but I believe that when he hung upon the cross, he was the national sphere of that lovely, lovely person that surrounded the person who had blessed you all. Our Lord himself, he said, that if she did it upon my parents, that's why she poured it upon him. A whole ton of this powerful cosmetic was poured upon its head and upon its face. But then Mary did a beautiful thing. She takes her glory. She takes the hair of her head. On using it as a towel, she wipes the teeth with her hair. You know, I heard a Roman temple. many years ago in my native Ireland, I heard him say this, must be over fifty years ago, and I've never forgotten it. He said that when Mary wiped the Lord's feet with her hair, for many a day afterwards as she was walking up and down the streets of Bethany, people were dismissing and saying, where's the person coming from? Where's the fragrance coming from? He said, it was coming from Mary's hair. You know the Lord has a pleasure in this your life. of having that taxed devotion put upon his person, but it had the least taxed action on theirs. And for many a day afterwards she heard the parable of the Christ in our own first person's birth, in the name of the portion of the law that we have taken. Thank God the Lord, we have taken from the time. We have upon today, which we have. So can you imagine what the thought was on our Lord's mind He led them up as far as the Bethany. Oh, I don't think that there's any mystery about it at all. He just wanted to leave them there. And I think I can see him, for that little band of disciples, as the cross that he'd keep on, and walk to the other side, and to take a look at that little home in Bethany. As a matter of fact, if you look at some of the Gospels, you'll find that this last week here upon earth, he ministered in the temple in Jerusalem. was in the evening time he went to Bethany. We don't know what he did there, but apparently it was a place where he was always welcome on the place of gracious, loving, kindly of the Father. So I think that that is the reason why he had this first expression, he led the march. This is the work of a shepherd. He led the march as far as Bethany. That's his first act. Now the second thing that Luke tells us is, that he lifted his hands and he blessed them. He lifted his hands and he blessed them. If he led them out like a shepherd, I believe that he lifted his hands and blessed them as this is the word of a priest. You know, Luke is the priestly gospel. It would be interesting to look at the various references to the priest and the gospel according to Luke. But it is a priestly gospel. On the final act of our Lord, as he's parting with the disciples, he lifted his hands and blessed them. This would remind you very forcibly of the Day of Atonement, Leviticus chapter sixteen, and the different acts of graceful on the Great Day of Atonement. But the final thing that the priest did on the Day of Atonement, when all the sacrifices had been offered, the last thing he did, he lifted his hands. On behalf the blessing, the priestly blessing, in number six in verse twenty-three. I wonder if he used it. He lifted his hands and he blessed. oil up to think that it was a priestly blessing. And if he actually used the word, this is what was said. The Lord blessed thee and pleased thee. The Lord lifted up his face upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lifted up his face upon thee and gave thee. You know, in the upper room three times he gave them his face. And it's very likely to hear on the map that he's pardoned from them, the Lord said, given peace. In the upper room, when he spoke to them in John chapter twenty, three times we get the word, peace beyond the youth, peace beyond the youth, peace beyond the youth. And the last thing the disciples saw on the mountain top as they went up were those pierced at hand, lifted in blessing and those pierced at feet to the trot on the dusty highways of the land of Palestine. how beautifully it's described here. You know, those hands that he lifted up, they were pure hands. They have already spoken of his sin this night. They were pure hands. They were powerful hands. You remember in John chapter ten, he said, I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. the Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man shall pluck them out of the Father's hands. What a wonderful promise that was. They were pure hands. They were powerful hands, with all the worth years of hand. Hounds that were pierced to hell to stop. But thank God the Lord pleased the hand too. He lifted his hand and said, Brother Grace, but then he went up. And as he went up, he went in, and he sat down with the right hand of the throne of God, and he sat down like a king. Now this is the last little paragraph on Luke's Gospel. And Luke, in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, before he introduces the great subject of the Spirit of the Gospel, and not only that, but the birthday of the Church, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter two, he gives us two other little details concerning the attention. We read there a cloud that receives him out of their sight. So there have been many, many thoughts expressed concerning the cloud. I heard a brother a little while ago out in California, and he gave three different interpretations of the cloud, and I just wanted to pass them on for one word. First of all, there's the atmospheric cloud. and some would say that when the Lord went up, he went up through the atmospheric heaven, that is the atmospheric clouds, and the clouds received him. Well, that could be. But on the other hand, it could be the Shikana cloud of glory. And if you were to trace that idea, well, through the Old Testament and into the New Testament, it is very likely that it could be the Shikana cloud. Do you remember it came out of Egypt with the people of Israel? And it went behind them, and it went before them. And then when they took the tabernacles, it overshadowed them. It was the visible presence of God among his people. When they were in a confident relationship with Jehovah, the visible cloud of glory, it overshadowed. We get it again and again in the Old Testament. And then when our Lord was born, we read about the angel coming by. and read about them, saying, Glory to God on the highest, on the earth, peace, goodwill to men, and read that the glory of the Lord is shown round about. Hardly like this is a Chicana cloud. We get the same idea in Matthew chapter seventeen of the Transfiguration. And read that upon the mountain top of the Transfiguration there, there appear two names, Elijah on the one side and Moses on the other. And we read that they appeared with him in glory. And we read that a cloud, a bright cloud, overshadowed him. I believe that that bright cloud was the shamanic cloud of glory that had slipped on again. Possibly, here at the Ascension, when our Lord went up, again that bright cloud of glory had slipped on. We read that it had been the Lord's name for the first moment. And we read the Lord's name. Now again, we've got no idea in Revelation chapter one. Oh, he comes with God. It's not a different way to shine a cloud of glory. So the third suggestion that our brother made was this. He said this from the cloud was changed. Oh, I think that this is worth considering. I wouldn't broaden my divide. But the way that he suggested was this, he said that when the Lord comes back again, May the sleeping Jesus, O God, God bring with him. I believe that he'll come to the earth. I believe there about a time again, and he suggested that for us the same, it will come much wrong. And consequently, his suggestion was here that it was a delegation, a welcoming delegation from heaven that came from the sea, come far to the sea, far to the angel, that received him unto the moment of glory. Now, if anybody would ask me, what do you think it was? Personally, I feel it's a shamanic thought. I wouldn't talk about it at all. But it's Luke to tell us that a cloud received him out of their sight. You know, seven times in the New Testament we read about his attention not even enough. Under seven different prayer, that are predicated of the ascension of Christ. I think one time that we were here before and speaking about another contact, we were speaking about the illustration of a fiery refreshing drink that we have here in the United States in the summertime. It's called Seven Up. And in connection with the ascension of the Lord Jesus, there's Seven Up and Seven Prayer that are used about it. I just want to leave them. You can trace them for yourself. Investigate them. They're different. And there's a tremendous body of teaching associated with these rich words. First of all, he was raised up. Acts. Thirteen thirty-three. Then he was lifted up. John twelve thirty-two. And then he was taken up. Acts one nine. And then a cloud received him. and the movie that he was taken up. And then on Acts one ten, he went up. March fifteen, nineteen, he was received up. And on the eighth and fourth ten, he ascended up. Seven up, connected with the ascension of the Lord Jesus. Oh, thank God he has gone up. The cloud received him. Invalid him. And he went up. He was up to the strong. So the final thing, that Luke tells us here, the two men in shining garments did here, on their suit gazing up into heaven. I remember when I was a boy, reading some of Seas' Spurgeon's books, and I was really enjoying all my life. It wasn't a Spurgeon that can be there tonight. I hope it was an outstanding teacher, another shining teacher. So he used to quote John, as those that were teaching of the coming of the coming of the Lord Jesus. e man of Plymouth, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? Well, thank God he started to gaze and look up to at the end of his life. And at the end of his life, that dear man of God, that was one of the brightest hopes that he had of the coming again of the Lord Jesus. So here are two men, two witnesses. And of course, wherever you have two witnesses, this is the fulfillment of the law. To authenticate anything, both in the Old Testament and in the New it required two witnesses. At the Transfiguration we get Moses and the Life. And certainly at the Resurrection we read of two angels, one sat at the head and one sat at the feet for the body of Jesus is laid. On the side of the disciples, why? Remember what they said to him, he seeks Jesus, he's risen, he's not here. He's risen from the dead. But here, out of the sanction, we read two men. I wonder if there were really angels of whether there were a million men. Dr. Gaudet, a very distinguished French commentator, he makes the suggestion that the two men here were the same man that appeared on the Mount of Confederation, Moses and the like. But you know, for the Word of God is silent. But in any case there are the two witnesses that said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven this same Jesus? Oh, her delightful idea. This same Jesus shall so come, on like manner, as you have seen him who went to heaven. You know, I think that what we have here is the second stage of his coming. The first stage of his coming, he comes to the air and he gives that gathering shot. Oh, it could happen tonight. And I think that some of us here, we can say from the depths of our heart, Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus. We would be glad to see it. But if he were to come tonight, he would come to the air. But I think that what we get here is the fulfillment of that great prophecy in Zangarai chapter fourteen. When he comes to the second stage of his coming, then his feet shall stand upon the mind of Allah. and read in the great passage of the Word of God that the mountain shall part asunder. North and south, and there will be a great valley, possibly running from the Mediterranean, right down past the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem at that time will be a seaport. It will be opened up. On that great valley, from the Mediterranean, right down through Jerusalem, and right out to the Dead Sea, and the waters of the Dead Sea will be healed. This is one thing, one of the details concerning the second stage of the coming of the Lord Jesus. Oh, how wonderful this is. And we look at it. The great hope that each one of us hear tonight that no one loves the Lord Jesus is, first of all, he's coming for you and for me. And then later this great passage will be fulfilled. His feet shall stand. upon the Mount of Olives, and it will take up a strong, and it will rain from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. How delightful this is. Oh, may God encourage our hearts in these dark and difficult days, as we look back at the ascension of the Lord Jesus, and look forward to that time when he'd come and burst the clouds, and come for you and for me. And in the meantime, we want this week to speak a little bit about the responsibilities that we have based on these great truths of the spread of the gospel by all means in our power until the Lord Jesus comes back again. May the Lord encourage our hearts in this way for his next day. Now shall we pray. Our God and Father, again we bow before thee in the name of the Lord Jesus. For the one who died for our sins upon the cross. The one who was there, who was taken up last sin, dead by the side of the hand. We thank you that he's risen, and we thank you that he's glorified. We thank you that he's gone up to thy right hand, far above all heavens, so that he might fill all things. And our Father, we thank you for the work of grace that's being carried on today. The fact that he has gone up, and the Holy Ghost has come down, We thank thee of thy own gracious purposes for the present age is being carried out and being fulfilled. For our Father we do pray that we in this meeting tonight may be linked with thee in this great verse and the outcalling of the church. Now we commend this to thee, pray, and thy blessing upon each one of thy dear children here tonight. On any who may not know Christ the Savior, our Father we pray that they may be attracted to him. to accept him as Savior and Lord, and crown him Lord of all. We ask it in his own worthy, precious name. Amen.