Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to the Gospel according to Luke
chapter 24. And we'll read for our text verse
50. And he led them out as far as
to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. Luke 24 verse 50 and it is specifically
upon my spirit the first part that he led them out but we will
speak of the whole verse. I want to note first as to where
they were led. It says here led to Bethany and
of course we would immediately think of Lazarus and Mary and
Martha, whose house was in a place called Bethany. But that one
was 15 furlongs from Jerusalem, that is nearly two miles, whereas
this Bethany is a piece of land that is a mountain ridge. It's
got the Mount of Olives on one end of it, and Bethany is the
place where our Lord went into Jerusalem. They brought the asses
for Him to ride on and He rode into Jerusalem. It was a day's
journey and we can see this if we compare the Ascension as it
is recorded in the Acts. in Acts chapter 1, then we have
them returning in verse 12, then returned they unto Jerusalem
from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath
day's journey. So our text points going to Bethany,
when they're coming back as it's recorded in Acts, it's the mount
called Olivet, and it is that at Mountain Range. It's in the
same direction as to the house of Mary and Martha. If they went
another day's journey, another mile, they would get to that
house. And so there are several passages
that make it very clear where it actually was that the Lord
then led them out. And he brought his disciples
out so that they would see him. ascend into heaven. The Lord's
design that men should not be looking to an earthly Jerusalem,
a place on earth, but to be drawn away from that and to see the
Lord ascend. We think of what was said to
Elisha when Elisha wanted a double portion of the spirit that was
on Elijah, and Elijah said it was a hard thing that he had
asked. But if he saw him when he is
parted from him, then he would know that that spirit was given
to him. And as they walked, then there
appeared a chariot of fire, horses of fire, and Elijah was taken
up into heaven, and Elisha he saw it. For the disciples here
likewise, they saw the Lord taken up while he was speaking with
them, while he blessed them, he was taken up into heaven.
And it was said with Elisha, Elijah, Elisha performed twice
as many miracles as Elijah. And our Lord said of his disciples,
and greater things than these shall ye do because I go to the
Father. And though the Lord had many
that he fed with loaves and fishes, you do not read of those that
were just a few that were called that were blessed. But on the
day of Pentecost, you had 3,000 that were blessed, baptized,
and the disciples always in the name of Jesus, they raised the
dead, they did the same miracles as what the Lord was doing, and
even you may say more so, and the gospel was then preached,
a clear line of the gospel, Arisen, Ascended, Saviour, which of course
couldn't be preached before the Lord suffered and before he had
ascended, arisen from the dead and ascended. And so It was a
very favoured spot to be brought out in that way, and to be separated
so that they could be blessed, away from the multitudes, virtually
nearly in the same place as where our Lord in the Garden was taken,
and what had been a sacred place to them before, now was a very
blessed place, and they clearly understood what had happened,
and the conquest. We would normally think, and
we think of those that came from Ephesus, when Paul said goodbye
to them, and they accompanied him to the ship. They were sorrowful
that they'd never see him again, and yet here, what a difference. The Lord was taken up, and we
read that they returned, were continually in the temple, praising
and blessing God. They returned to Jerusalem with
great joy. They clearly understood what
was done, the blessings and all the scriptures fulfilled, all
the prophecies fulfilled. It must have been a sacred time
for them. It's hard for us to enter into
it. We're trying to look at those
disciples and think that they were somewhat different than
us. We get reminded, we've spoken about Elijah and James said he
was a man subject to like passions as we are, and we know the disciples
were. We read of Peter denying his
Lord, we see their characters coming through, and for them
to realise what they were witnesses of and what had been done. And
we might say in the same token, those that were pricked in their
hearts at the Day of Pentecost what they must have felt to realise
that they had, in their midst, the Son of God, the Messiah,
that they had crucified Him, what they had done. Now there
are those of us that have had our loved ones taken, parents
perhaps, and there's times you think, I wish we'd have asked
them that, I wish we'd have said that, I wish we'd have done that
with them, and you can't take it back. And you think of those
that had crucified the Lord. You can't reverse time. They
couldn't undo it. They were pricked in their hearts. I think hardly could really summarize
what really was going through. Now if the apostle Paul could
not forget and said he was not worthy to be an apostle because
he persecuted the people of God, what of those who knew that they
had by wicked hands crucified and took the Lord. But in a way,
all of us, in our sins, we have also pierced Him. It's our sins
that pierced Him. They shall look upon Him whom
they have pierced. They shall mourn for Him. So
this then was a blessed time to be brought out, to be blessed,
to see the Lord ascend, and to, as Paul says, that we are to
run the race, looking unto Jesus and looking to where he has gone
into heaven from whence forth he will come with power and great
glory and where he makes intercession for his people. It is sad that
so many look to an earthly Jerusalem, make pilgrimages to it, and while
it is nice to perhaps see the historical land and where the
Lord was, Yet the Lord is not there. It's like the empty tomb.
He is not here. And we are to look away from
this world and to where he is. So here in our text, he led them
out as far as to Bethany, lifted up his hands, and he blessed
them. A recording of what the Lord
did, exactly what he did. when he was parted from his dear
disciples and carried up into heaven. I want to look, though, with the
Lord's help this evening, three points. Firstly, a shepherd who
leads his sheep out. And then secondly, a people led
out and separated and thirdly, a people blessed after being
led out, as was the case here. He led them out as far as to
Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. But firstly, a shepherd who leads
his sheep out. In the Gospel, according to John,
our Lord spoke of himself as the shepherd, the good shepherd.
And he spoke it firstly in the form of a parable, a natural
story with a spiritual application. And we read in verse three of
that chapter, to him the porter openeth, he that entereth in
by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter
openeth and the sheep hear his voice and he calleth his own
sheep by name and leadeth them out." And the Lord chooses this
word as to leading his sheep out as the good shepherd. David, a shepherd himself, he
speaks of this, the Lord is my shepherd, and how that he is
then as a sheep led to those still waters, and green pastures. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
a leader. He goeth forth before his people. When he putteth forth his people,
he goeth before them, and they follow him. And it is so important
as to who we follow. We think of so many in this world,
they follow all sorts of religions, all sorts of people, all sorts
of ideas, but with our Lord, he is to be our guide. And the apostle, as we mentioned
before, would have us run the races set before us, looking
unto Jesus. And it's one of the most beautiful
relationship passages in the Word of God that speaks of the
Lord as the shepherd and his people as the sheep. He's not
the only one, of course. is full of relationships through
the word of God. The father to the son, his children,
God's children, those who are adopted into the living family,
those that are bound together with church ties, the children
of Israel, which were said, they are my people. The relationship
that the Lord has with his people is very, very important. It's a very precious thing. And
so with the shepherd, he cares for them, he guides them, he
provides for them, he watches over them, and their security
is with him. We read in verse 28 of that chapter
10, that I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Who shall never perish? My sheep
that hear my voice. I know them, they follow me.
I give unto them eternal life, they shall never perish. Neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave
them me is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand." It would be very clear in this,
the shepherd makes known his will, makes known his leading
through the Word of God. That Word that he has left for
his people, that the Holy Spirit is the inspirer of, and the applier
of thy word, says the psalmist, is a lamp unto my feet, a light
unto my path. And we are then to follow the
word. The Lord said to the disciples
that believed on him, that if ye continue in my word, then
shall ye be my disciples indeed, or my followers indeed. Ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And so the
disciples or followers are clearly described as those that know
and follow the Lord in the Word of God. But may we have then
a clear view of the Lord as a shepherd, be able to say, the Lord is my
shepherd, as if to say, He has led me. He has guided me. I do follow Him. I do know His
voice. He is the one that cares for
me and watches over me. It is a vital thing that the
Lord be our shepherd and that we be amongst His sheep. Well,
on to then secondly, the people led out and separated. This is the reason why we read
the portion in Genesis 12 with Abraham. Abraham, where the Lord
first gave the promises and, of course, formed the children
of Israel from his seed. It is from that line that begins
in Matthew chapter 1. The line goes from Abraham and
his trace from Abraham to David, 14 generations, David to the
carrying away into Babylon, 14 generations, and then We carry
way into Babylon to Christ's 14 generations and it begins
with Abraham, the promise that was given to him. And he was
led out, he was brought out from Ur of the Chaldees. Why couldn't he stay in Ur of
the Chaldees? Why could not God have blessed
him there? But God didn't and there's a
spiritual reason and teaching in a leading out, a separating
out. He was the only one that we know
as it were, apart from those of his own kindred there that
came with him, that were separated out, and they came into Canaan. And it was there that he was
to be blessed. But first he was to be separated,
and we read of him in Hebrews 11, that it was by faith, by
faith that he journeyed, separated and he went where God told him
he should go. We find again with the children
of Abraham when they were in Egypt, there they were in Egypt
and God would have them to come out to be separated and all of
those signs that were wrought were wrought to that end. They
were to go and to worship God. They were to be blessed in the
wilderness. They weren't going to be blessed
in Egypt. They couldn't sacrifice there.
They couldn't worship there. They needed to be separated first. And so all of those signs were
done, and they were brought out, and Lord led them out. He went
before them with the fiery, cloudy pillar and guided them. He showed
them the way that they should go. No roads, no directions in
the wilderness. And we're told that he led them,
not by the way of the Philistines, though that was near, lest they
saw war and turn back, but by the way of the Red Sea. The Lord
making clear, distinct choices for them, which way they should
go and what was best for them. And it's good for us to see that
If the Lord is our God, He is doing exactly the same thing
for us. And yet, of course, they had
hindrances. They had the Red Sea. But then
the Lord blessed them, brought them through that. Many things
to discourage them. And what was as well to be remarked,
very often, when things got bad, they looked back towards Egypt. Even years and years later, in
Jeremiah's time, Just before they were brought to go down
into Babylon, to be taken in Babylon, they're still looking
to Egypt for help. And we can be just the same like
that. In a spiritual sense, Egypt is
like the world, and we are to be separated from it in spirit. The Lord said clearly, I am not
of the world. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou take them
out of the world, that is physically out of the world, but thou keep
them from the evil. To be in it, but not of it. A people gathered in from every
nation, kindred, and tongue, not to go to a specific country
or to a place, but gathered unto the Lord, unto Him shall the
gathering of the people be. a people that are separated unto
the Lord. And so with the typical people
of Israel, that is what he did. You have the beautiful psalm,
Psalm 107, and in that psalm it not only thinks of just Israel
in Egypt, but it speaks of all the people of God, the redeemed
People of God, now give thanks unto the Lord for His good, for
His mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. Remember, coming out of Egypt,
they were redeemed. The Passover, the blood was shed. They were set free by the payment
of a price, the shed blood, the same as what was done by our
Lord at Calvary in shedding His precious blood. Gather them out
of the lands. from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness
in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses,
and he led them forth by the right way, that they might go
to a city of habitation. He is speaking clearly in a spiritual
way, gathered from all lands, led forth by the right way. The
Lord says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. And he's being led then by the
Lord. And in Hebrews 11 again, the
summary of those in faith, that they confess that they were strangers
and pilgrims in the earth, And this is what is here. They wandered
in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell
in. And this will be the experience
of the people of God. This is not your rest. It is
polluted. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth, where moth and rust doth not
corrupt, where These do not break through and steal, for where
your heart is there, or where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also. And so gathered out from all
lands. We read in Exodus 33, of the
tent of the tabernacle, put outside of the camp, and those that were
to go out to that tent for judgment, they had to separate from the
camp, they had to go out unto that tent. And it's taken up
in Hebrews, let us therefore go out unto him without the camp,
bearing his reproach. God's people are a separated
people, we mentioned Ruth in prayer. And there she was, a
Moabiteess, one really under the curse of God as the Moabites
that didn't receive the children of Israel as they were going
to the promised land. And yet the Lord brought Naomi
to her. She was joined to Marlon. And
then when her husband died, and her father-in-law died, her brother-in-law
died, and then she pleads with love to Naomi and she goes to
Bethlehem, separated from her people, from her gods, and to
be cast in her lot with the people of God. It was a very, very big
thing for her to do that, but that constraining love the beautiful
words that she used, that she would not be parted from Naomi,
where she would dwell, that her God would be her God, and where
she died, there she would die. A people then that are led out
and separated. Paul takes us up and he writes
to the Corinthians, he says, come ye out from among them,
touch not the unclean things, and I will receive you, and you
shall be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." It's
the same teaching as the Lord. You cannot serve God and mammon. We cannot be living for this
world, serving this world that all our heart is upon it, and
also have all our heart with the Lord. Not a divided heart. Yes, God's people are to be diligent
employees, diligent in all that they do. But how do they work? Working as unto the Lord and
not as unto men. That they are serving the Lord
Christ and serving those as far as they can in an earthly way
as unto the Lord. And it is a people that in the
midst of other peoples Many would look upon them, they see nothing
different, but they notice things that are different in what they
do, what they say, their language, where they go, who they worship,
whose laws they follow, whose word they obey. They are marked
and known out in that way. The Lord says in John 17, that
I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them." And
we say that the way of following and being led out by the Lord
is through the word of God. And if we choose to follow that,
we can be sure that the world won't be happy about that. There will be a clash at times
in that way. But may we never be ashamed or
tempted that There's something wrong if we have to be separated. There are things that we have
to part from, friends that we have to cease going with, or
activities that we cannot do anymore, things that the Lord
has brought us out from, and each one will be different, and
yet the Lord will have a people that are led out, and he is the
shepherd, he is the one that does that. a people led out and separated. May that describe us, describe
one aspect of the leading and teaching of the Lord. On to look then lastly at a people
blessed after being led out. Abraham was, after he had come
into the land of Canaan, there the Lord drew near to him, he
blessed him, He showed him the stars of heaven. He said, so
shall thy seed be. He made a covenant with him and
that his seed should be in that land. They should be brought
to that land. It should be their land. And
that was brought to pass. The children of Israel as well,
they could not worship the Lord, be blessed amongst those in Egypt. They had to be brought out and
there they received the Lord of God. There they had the miracles
of the manna and the quails being brought through the Red Sea.
There they saw the Lord at Mount Sinai come down and of course
then brought into Canaan, which is a time of the heavenly. Canaan, heaven for the people.
of God. But it's important to realize
this, and with the disciples here in our text, they were let
out, then they were blessed. Not blessed first and then let
out. They were let out, then they
were blessed. And with Jacob, it's a mark really,
I was noticed with his life. He ventures out, he ventures
out from his own home. And that first night, with the
stones for his pillow, the Lord comes and blesses him with the
vision of the ladder set up on earth, extending into heaven.
And years later, when he is to go down into Egypt, we read that
at first he didn't believe his sons. Then he saw the wagons,
the heart of Jacob revived. Israel said, Joseph, my son,
is yet alive. I'll go and see him. And he ventured
out. But that first night, the Lord
came and the Lord blessed him. And it was the same when he left
with Laban as well. The Lord blessed him there. And
there is this following of the Lord, and then in following,
there is the blessing that follows. And here, the disciples, he led
them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and
blessed them. The blessing of the Lord, it
maketh rich, and no sorrow with it. Souls that covet the blessings
of the Lord, that desire that the Lord will bless their soul,
first be a follower, first be one that follows the Lord. and
in this case here, led out, separated unto him, and there the Lord
blesses. The Lord ordaining the time and
the way and the face that he'll bless his dear people, may we
view a risen and ascended saviour, he that once was crucified, who
put away our sins on Calvary's tree, then rose again for our
justification and descended up into heaven to make intercession
for us. May we then come into this text
in this way. He led them out as far as to
Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. Amen.