STORY OF JESUS - 8

The Ascension

      The Saviour's work on earth was finished. The time had now come for Him to return to His Heavenly home. He had overcome, and was again to take His place by the side of His Father upon His throne of light and glory.

      Jesus chose the Mount of Olives as the place of His ascension. Accompanied by the eleven, He made His way to the mountain. But the disciples did not know that this was to be their last interview with their Master. As they walked, the Saviour gave them His parting instruction. Just before leaving them, He made that precious promise, so dear to every one of His followers:

      "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matthew 28:20.

      They crossed the summit, to the vicinity of Bethany. Here they paused, and the disciples gathered about their Lord. Beams of light seemed to radiate from His countenance as He looked with love upon them. Words of the deepest tenderness were the last which fell upon their ears from the lips of the Saviour.                                                  

      With hands outstretched in blessing, He slowly ascended from among them. As He passed upward, the awe-stricken disciples looked with straining eyes for the last glimpse of their ascending Lord. A cloud of glory received Him from their sight. At the same time there floated down to them the sweetest and most joyous music from the angel choir.

      While the disciples were still gazing upward, voices addressed them which sounded like richest music. They turned, and saw two angels in the form of men, who spoke to them, saying:

      "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 ye have seen Him go into Heaven." Acts 1:11.

      These angels belonged to the company that had come to escort the Saviour to His heavenly home. In sympathy and love for those left below, they had stayed to assure them that this separation would not be forever.

      When the disciples returned to Jerusalem, the people looked upon them with amazement. After the trial and crucifixion of their Master, it had been thought that they would appear downcast and ashamed. Their enemies expected to see upon their faces an expression of sorrow and defeat. Instead of this, there was only gladness and triumph. Their faces were aglow with a happiness not born of earth. They did not mourn over disappointed hopes, but were full of praise and thanksgiving to God.

      With rejoicing they told the wonderful story of Christ's resurrection and His ascension to heaven, and their testimony was received by many.

      The disciples no longer had any distrust of the future. They knew that the Saviour was in Heaven, and that His sympathies were with them still. They knew that He was pleading before God the merits of His blood. He was showing to the Father His wounded hands and feet, as an evidence of the price He had paid for His redeemed.

      They knew that He would come again, with all the holy angels with Him, and they looked for this event with great joy and longing anticipation.

      When Jesus passed from the sight of His disciples on the Mount of Olives, He was met by a heavenly host, who, with songs of joy and triumph, escorted Him upward.

      At the portals of the city of God an innumerable company of angels await His coming. As Christ approaches the gates, the angels who are escorting Him, in triumphant tones address the company at the portals:

           "Lift up your heads, O ye gates;

            And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;

            And the King of glory shall come in."

      The waiting angels at the gates inquire:

           "Who is this King of glory?"

      This they say, not because they know not who He is, but because they desire to hear the answer of exalted praise:

           "The Lord strong and mighty,

            The Lord mighty in battle.

            Lift up your heads, O ye gates;

            Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;

            And the King of glory shall come in."

      Again the waiting angels ask:

           "Who is this King of glory?"

      The escorting angels reply in melodious strains:

           "The Lord of hosts,

            He is the King of glory."

                                        -Psalm 24:7-10.

      Then the portals of the city of God are opened wide, and the angelic throng sweep through the gates amid a burst of rapturous music.

      All the heavenly host are waiting to honor their returned Commander. They wait for Him to take His place upon the throne of the Father.

      But He cannot yet receive the coronet of glory and the royal robe. He has a request to present before the Father concerning His chosen ones on the earth. He cannot accept honor till before the heavenly universe His church shall be justified and accepted.

      He asks that where He is, there His people may be. If He is to have glory, they must share it with Him. Those who suffer with Him on the earth must reign with Him in His kingdom.

      For this Christ pleads for His church. He identifies His interests with theirs, and, with a love and constancy stronger than death, advocates the rights and titles purchased by His blood.

      The Father's answer to this appeal goes forth in the proclamation:

      "Let all the angels of God worship Him." Hebrews 1:6.

      Joyfully the leaders of the heavenly host adore the Redeemer. The innumerable company of angels bow before Him, and the courts of Heaven echo and re-echo with the glad shout:

      "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Revelation 5:12.

      Christ's followers are "accepted in the Beloved." In the presence of the heavenly host, the Father has ratified the covenant made with Christ, that He will receive repentant and obedient men, and will love them even as He loves His Son. Where the Redeemer is, there the redeemed shall be.

      The Son of God has triumphed over the prince of darkness, and conquered death and sin. Heaven rings with voices in lofty strains proclaiming:

      "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Revelation 5:13.

Coming Again

      Our Saviour is coming again. Before parting with His disciples on the earth, He Himself gave them the promise of His return.

      "Let not your heart be troubled," He said. "In My Father's house are many mansions: . . . I go to prepare a place for you, And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:1-3.

      He did not leave them in doubt as to the manner of His coming. "The Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations." Matthew 25:31, 32.

      Carefully He warned them against deception: "If they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:26, 27.

      This warning is for us. Today false teachers are saying, "Behold, He is in the desert," and thousands have gone forth into the desert, hoping to find Christ.                                                          175

      And thousands who claim to hold communion with the spirits of the dead are declaring, "Behold, He is in the secret chambers." This is the very claim that Spiritualism makes.

      But Christ says, "Believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

      At Christ's ascension the angels declared to the disciples that He would "so come in like manner" as they had seen Him go into Heaven. Acts 1:11. He ascended bodily, and they saw Him as He left them and was received by the cloud. He will return on a great white cloud, and "every eye shall see Him." Revelation 1:7.

      The exact day and hour of His coming has not been revealed. Christ told His disciples that He Himself could not make known the day or the hour of His second appearing. But He mentioned certain events by which they might know when His coming was near.

      "There shall be signs," He said, "in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars." Luke 21:25. And He speaks still more plainly: "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven." Matthew 24:29.

      Upon the earth, He said, there shall be "distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." Luke 21:25, 26.

      "And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matthew 24:30, 31.

      The Saviour adds: "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." Matthew 24:32, 33.

      Christ has given signs of His coming. He says that we may know when He is near, even at the doors. When the trees put forth their leaves in the spring, we know that summer is near. Just so surely, when the signs appear in the sun and the moon and the stars, we are to know that Christ's coming is near.

      These signs have appeared. On May 19, 1780, the sun was darkened. That day is known in history as "the dark day." In the eastern part of North America, so great was the darkness that in many places the people had to light candles at noonday. And until after midnight the moon, though at its full, gave no light. Many believed that the day of judgment had come. No satisfactory reason for the unnatural darkness has ever been given, except the reason found in the words of Christ. The darkening of the sun and the moon was a sign of His coming.

      November 13, 1833, there was the most wonderful display of falling stars ever beheld by men. Again thousands believed that the day of judgment had come.

      Since that time earthquakes, tempests, tidal waves, pestilence, famine, and destructions by fire and flood, have multiplied. All these, and "distress of nations, with perplexity," declare that the Lord's coming is near.

      Of those who beheld these signs He says, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but  My  words shall not pass away." Matthew 24:34, 35.

      "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

      Christ is coming, coming with clouds and with great glory. A multitude of shining angels will attend Him. He will come to raise the dead, and to change the living saints from glory to glory.

      He will come to honor those who have loved Him and kept His commandments, and to take them to Himself. He has not forgotten them nor His promise.

      There will be a relinking of the family chain. When we look upon our dead, we may think of the morning when the trump of God shall sound, when the "dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52.

      That time is near. A little while, and we shall see the King in His beauty. A little while, and He will wipe all tears from our eyes. A little while, and He will present us "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." Jude 24.

      Wherefore when He gave the signs of His coming He said, "When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21:28.

A Day of Judgment

        The Day of Christ's coming is a day of judgment upon the world.

      The Scriptures declare, "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all." Jude 14.

      "Before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." Matthew 25:32.

      But before that day, God warns men of what is coming. He has always given men warning of coming judgments. Some believed the warning and obeyed the word of God. These escaped the judgments that fell upon the disobedient and unbelieving.

      Before He destroyed the world by a flood, God commanded Noah, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me." Genesis 7:1. Noah obeyed and was saved. Before the destruction of Sodom, angels brought to Lot the message, "Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city." Genesis 19:14. Lot heeded the warning and was saved.

      So now we are warned of Christ's second coming and of the destruction that is to fall upon the world, and all who heed the warning will be saved.

      The righteous, as they behold Christ at His coming, will exclaim, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us." Isaiah 25:9.

      Because we know not the exact time of His coming we are commanded to watch. "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching." Luke 12:37.

      Those who watch for the Lord's coming are not to wait in idleness. The expectation of Christ's coming is to make men fear God's judgments upon transgression. It is to awaken them to repentance for their sins in breaking His commandments.

      While we watch for the Lord's coming, we are to be diligently working. To know that He is at the door, should lead us to work more earnestly for the salvation of our fellow men. As Noah gave the warning from God to the people before the flood, so all who understand the word of God are to give warning to the people of this time.

      "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:37-39.

      The people of Noah's day abused the gifts of God. Their eating and drinking led to gluttony and drunkenness.

      They forgot God, and gave themselves up to every vile and abominable deed.

      "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Genesis 6:5. It was because of their wickedness that the people of that time were destroyed.

      Men are doing the same things today. Gluttony, intemperance, untamable passions, evil practices, are filling the earth with wickedness.

      In Noah's day the world was destroyed by water. God's word teaches that it is now to be destroyed by fire.

      "By the word of God, . . . the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:5-7.

      The people before the flood mocked at God's warnings. They called Noah a fanatic and alarmist. Great and learned men declared that such a flood of waters as he foretold had never been known, and that it would never come.

      Today God's word is little heeded. Men laugh at its warnings. Multitudes are saying, "All things continue as they were from the beginning of the world. There is nothing to fear."

      At this very time, destruction is coming. While men ask in scorn, "Where is the promise of His coming?" the signs are fulfilling.

      "When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them; . . . and they shall not escape." 1 Thessalonians 5:3.

      Christ declares: "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Revelation 3:3.

      Today men are still taken up with eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage. Merchants are still buying and selling. Men are contending for the highest place. Pleasure lovers are crowding to theaters, horse races, gambling hells. Everywhere excitement prevails; yet the day of probation is fast closing, and the door of mercy is soon to be forever shut.

      For us were spoken the Saviour's words of warning:

      "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares."  Luke 21:34.

      "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Luke 21:36.

The Home of the Saved 

      The Day of Christ's coming is a day of destruction only to evil. It is a day of redemption, not only for God's people, but for the earth.

      God created the earth to be man's home. Here Adam dwelt in that garden of delight which the Creator Himself had beautified. Though sin has marred God's work, yet the human race has not been abandoned by its Creator; nor His purpose for the earth set aside.

      To this earth angels have come, with the message of redemption, and its hills and valleys have echoed their songs of rejoicing. Its soil has been trodden by the feet of the Son of God. And for more than six thousand years, in its forms of beauty and gifts for sustenance, the earth has borne witness of the Creator's love.

      This same earth, freed from the curse of sin, is to be man's eternal home. Of the earth the Scripture says, that God "created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited." Isaiah 45:18. And "whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever." Ecclesiastes 3:14.

      So in the Sermon on the Mount the Saviour declared, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5.

      So the psalmist long before had written, "The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Psalm 37:11.

      With this agree the words of the Scripture, "The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth." They "shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever." Proverbs 11:31; Psalm 37:29.

      The fires of the last day are to destroy "the heavens and the earth, which are now;" but there shall come forth "new heavens and a new earth." 2 Peter 3:7, 13. The heavens and the earth will be made new.

      "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9.

      No human language can fully describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to those who behold it. We can not comprehend the glory of the Paradise of God.

      Yet we have glimpses of that land even now; for "God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit." 1 Corinthians 2:10. Precious to our hearts are the pictures of that country which the Bible gives.

      There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations.

      There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God's people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.

      "My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise." Isaiah 32:18; 60:18.

      "They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: . . . mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." Isaiah 65:21, 22.

      There, "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree." Isaiah 35:1; 55:13.

      "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; . . . and a little child shall lead them." "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain," saith the Lord. Isaiah 11:6, 9.

      There will be no more tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning. "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, . . . for the former things are passed away." "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." Revelation 21:4; Isaiah 33:24.

      There is the New Jerusalem, the capital of the glorified new earth, "a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." Her light is "like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." "The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it." Isaiah 62:3; Revelation 21:11, 24.

      The Lord says, "I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people." "The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." Isaiah 65:19; Revelation 21:3.

      In the earth made new, only righteousness shall dwell. "There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." Revelation 21:27.

      God's holy law will be honored by all beneath the sun. Those who have proved themselves true to God by keeping His commandments, shall dwell with Him.

      "In their mouth was found no guile." "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple." Revelation 14:5; 7:14, 15.