King's Business - 1916-09

THE KING’S BUSINESS

848

16:5; Luke 24:4, 23; John 20:12; Acts 10:3, 30). These angels were very practi­ cal beings, they said, “Ye men o f Galilee, why stand ye looking (not gazing, as in the Authorized Version) into heaven?” There are times when it is right to look up stead­ fastly into, heaven (ch. 7:55), but »there are times when duty calls to the earthward look. The right thing for the disciples to do just now was not to continue looking after Jesus, but to do just what Jesus had bidden them do, go into the city and wait there “until endued with power” (vs. 4, 12 ), and when thus endued go forth to bear witness to Him "to the uttermost part of the earth.” But while they were bidden no longer to stand there looking after Him, they were given a most precious and most glorious promise to cheer them and make it easy for them to leave the spot. That promise was that “ This Jesus,” i'. e., not some other Jesus, but the very Jesus that they knew and loved and after whom they were looking, was coming back again just as He went. He went personally and vis­ ibly and He is coming back the same way. Some try to take the definite meaning out o f these words by saying that “ so come in like manner” means that He is coming with equal certainty, but not coming per­ sonally, bodily and visibly, but the Greek will not permit o f this interpretation. It is very strong and emphatic. A literal transla­ tion is “ thus come in the manner which ye beheld Him going into heaven.” The words are never used anywhere except to describe manner and cannot refer to the certainty o f His coming, but to the manner o f His com­ ing. The return o f our Lord Jesus will be a personal, bodily, visible return (cf. Rev. 1:7; Luke 21:7; 1 Thess. 4:16; Phil. 3:20, 21; Heb. 9:28; John 14:3; 2 Tit. 4 :8 ; 2 Thess. 1:7-10). This coming again o f our Lord is the great hope o f the church dur­ ing His absence (Tit. 2:13). If we are not longing for His return it is a bad sign (Rev. 22:20). There was never a day in which 1 this hope was more cheering than in this present day when our boasted civili­ zation seems to have utterly collapsed, when

immediately surrounding territory, ‘all Judea,” and then to their nearest neighbors, the despised Samaritans, and then on' and on “unto the uttermost part of the earth.’’ A true reception o f the Holy Spirit by the church means world-wide missions. Tuesday, September 261 Acts 1 : 9 - 11 . Immediately after Jesus had spoken the words, “ Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusa­ lem, and all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part o f the earth,” His feet began to leave the earth. This was His parting message to us. How carefully then we ought to ponder it. He had lifted His hands to bless them as He finished the message (Luke ,24:50, 51). He went .up with His hands stretched out in benedic­ tion, and He has been blessing us ever since. His ascension was not merely a the­ ological theory but a historical fact which they themselves saw clearly. They saw Him until the cloud, the Shekinah glory, took Him out of their sight (cf. Ex. 19:9; 34:5; Isa. 19:1; Ps. 104:3). He ascended in order “ to appear in the presence o f God in our behalf,” and “to prepare a place” for us (cf. Heb. 9:24; Jno. 14:2). His pres­ ence there at the right hand o f God in the glory makes us eternally secure (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25), and His presence there now guarantees our presence there here­ after (John 12:26; 14:3; Rev. 2:21). Jesus did not ascend, .as is sometimes suggested, by some power within Himself, He was, as the Greek clearly indicates, taken up, or carried up by a power from without, that is, the power o f God the Father (cf. Eph. 1:19-23). As He disappeared from their sight in the cloud the disciples stood strain­ ing their eyes to get another glimpse o f Him, and as they stood there “looking steadfastly into heaven as He went,” two men stood by them in white apparel. These men were angels. It is sometimes ques­ tioned that they were angels, because they are spoken o f as men, but angels are so spoken o f elsewhere in the Bible (cf. Mark

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