Okay, in the book of Acts this
morning, chapter 1, we're going to read the first, 9 through
11, and then 14 also. When he had spoken these things,
while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him,
the Lord himself, out of their sight. And while they looked
steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood
by them in white apparel. 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 ye
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. And when they were come in, They
went up into an upper room where both 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. These all continued with one
accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother
of Jesus and with his brethren. And we're going to look at in
particular verse 11 this morning that says, speaking of the two
that stood by in white apparel, which said also, you 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. And the title or the thought
we're going to look at this morning in this is the phrase, this same
Jesus. And that as the The men there
were looking up in wonder, no doubt, of seeing the Lord ascending
up into heaven, into the cloud. They surely were aware of what
the scriptures had said, and that they knew this was to happen,
and this was part and parcel of... Just a minute, let me... There. Part and parcel of what they
had known, and they no doubt were amazed at this, seeing this,
even though they were told that this would take place. And what
they questioned, that gazing up into heaven, and a couple
of different thoughts come to mind is that they were saying
this, he's gonna come again. You know that he's gonna come
again. And as we see on into Acts, the next several chapters,
we see what they were about, that they were, they're about
witnessing the gospel and witnessing and testifying of our Lord himself. And that was what their, they
were to be about, in the one sense, don't just stand there
gazing into heaven, you got things to do type of thought, I think.
And the other was not to worry, he's gonna come back as he promised.
And we're gonna look at several thoughts about that. But keep
in mind that during this time, as they said, as the two in white
apparel said, the messenger said, this same Jesus will return.
And not just, another one or something else, but this same
Jesus, the one that they knew. And as Christ was received up
into heaven, they assured him, it was an assurance to them,
I think, that this was going to take place, that he was coming
again. And like I say, it was a wonder for them to behold what
the prophets had foretold in their own sight and the prophecies
about our God and Savior and King. And I'd like to look at
three spots to start with in the book of Psalms. Turn to the
book of Psalms if you would. And we're going to look at Psalm
24 to start with. Psalm 24. And in Psalm 24, we're gonna
read the 10 verses of Psalm 24. It's not very long, but it speaks
about the King of glory, who we have to do with, the King
of glory. And it says, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness
thereof, the world and all they that dwell therein. For he hath
founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord or who shall stand
in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and
righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation
of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob, Selah. Lift
up your heads, O ye gates, and lift ye up ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? 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. Who is this King of Glory? The
Lord of hosts. He is the King of Glory, Selah. And we know from what the scriptures
foretell of him that this one that they watched ascend up into
heaven was indeed Very God, he was the king of glory and he
was ascending up to sit at the right hand of the father and
be in his place of glory where he always belonged or had that place and
was returning up into there. So he was the king of glory,
he was very God and we see in the beginning of the book of
John and Hebrews and other places and the revelation speaks to
who He is and that there's no doubt in the scriptures that
our God and Savior is indeed He's the Mighty One. As in Zechariah
where Norman's been quite a bit, the Lord of hosts. He's the Lord
of all there is and there is none superior to Him or beyond
Him. In Psalm 47, we're going to look
at a few verses in Psalm 47. Psalm 47 speaks about our Lord
and Savior, our God, not only being the Creator and King of
glory, but He is the King of the whole earth. In Psalm 47
it says, O clap your hands, all ye people. Shout unto God with
the voice of triumph. For the Lord Most High is terrible. He is the great King over all
the earth. He shall subdue the people under
us and the nations under our feet. He shall choose our inheritance
for us, the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved, Selah. God has
gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises, sing praises to our King, sing
praises. For God is the King of all the
earth, sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen.
God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. The princes of
the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of
Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong unto God. He is
greatly exalted. And that is not only he's the
king of glory in that he's the creator and sustainer of all
things, but as it says here, he's the king of all the earth.
all the physical parts of the earth, every man, woman, child,
and beast of His creation, that He is God and King of those things. And as it says, it speaks about
His people seeing praises to God with understanding, and that's
by what the Scripture says, that He is that one. Norman read from
part of the Scriptures, I think it was Wednesday about Nebuchadnezzar,
what he had to say about him and whether he was a believer
in that or not. But after being turned out as
a beast, when he came back, he recognized and attested to the
fact that he was witness to God being this all powerful one,
that nobody else asked him what he was going to do. That's the
Lord we deal with. And whether it is his people,
He reigns over with grace and mercy and everlasting love and
commitment to His people or others, the rest. They're going to be
ruled over but not in the same manner. It says, He reigneth
over the heathen. He reigns over all. It says here
in verse 2, Most high is terrible for he
is a great king over all the earth. And I don't, that to God's
people is not terrible in a bad way, it's terrible in an awesome
way that he reveals a little to that, to his people of what
he is like. And we're in awe and praise and
wonder of that, but to the heathen, it's not gonna turn out quite
so good. They're not in his favor, they're not in his favor. And
then the third idea about our God being the
King, not of glory only, or the King of the whole earth, but
the King of Israel. And turn to Psalm 68. And we're going to read a couple
of different excerpts from that. Read that on your own, if you
would, to the rest of that. The King of Israel, verses 18,
19, and 20, it says, Speaking of God, Thou hast ascended
on high, Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts
for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily
loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation, Selah.
He that is our God is the God of salvation, and unto God the
Lord belong the issues from death. Here, blessed be the Lord, verse
19, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our
salvation. All of creation cannot say that. All of mankind cannot say that.
God's people can say that because the ones that he has died for,
we're gonna see a little later, that he is the high priest of
even now, when he rose up into heaven and ascended up into heaven,
But it says here, God's people loadeth us with benefits. We
probably could make a list longer than he thinks we probably need,
but the benefits we have are that we can be at peace with
our God. He has caused us to be at peace
with that. We can be at peace with our surroundings
and situation, even though we don't necessarily care for them
or like them in this time and place. We can be at peace with whatever
may come that he brings our way. And then verses 33, 34, and 35
of Psalm 68. It says, verse 33, To him that
writeth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old, lo, he doth
send out his voice, and that a mighty voice. Ascribe ye strength
unto God. His excellency is over Israel,
and his strength is in the clouds. O God, thou art terrible out
of thy holy places. The God of Israel is he that
giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God."
And here again, those things speaking about a king over Israel,
and not just the king over They're not speaking the king of physical
Israel, the Palestine, those people over there in that national
group. He did some mighty things in
their presence and that they saw. Did not bring salvation
to many. But the Israel of God that it's
speaking about here are the ones that he, as it said earlier in
the psalm, that he brings salvation to, that he caused salvation
to come upon. Those are his people. There are
a lot that are Israelites or Jewish people that are not God's
people. This is speaking of all time
to those people that He has opened the eyes of, brought out, shown
them who He is and caused Him in their eyes to understand some
of the King of Glory, the King of the whole earth and the King
of Israel. in what that means to them. And
this is the one, and they said, this same Jesus is going to come
back. This is the one, this is one we had to do with. Emmanuel,
God with us, and very God and very man. And as he was here,
and as he was the sacrifice for his people, and redeemed his
people, finished all that work that needed
to be done for His people in salvation and then ascended up. That's the same one that will
come back as they said. Turn to Acts chapter 2, if you
would please. In Acts chapter 2 and verse,
just a couple of verses. Start with verse 22. It says, you men of
Israel, and this is Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. Ye men
of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you, by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. Him
be delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.
whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because
it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh
concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for
he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore
did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also
my flesh shall rest in hope. Because thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to seek
corruption. Thou hast made known to me the
ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely
speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and
buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore,
being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath
to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He, seeing this
before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This
Jesus hath God raised up, for we are all witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
forth this which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended
into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. And here in the day
of Pentecost, when they saw those things happen in the preaching
of the gospel, in many languages to ones that could understand
in their language those things, things that they assumed Peter
set them straight on a few things. And one of them that this Jesus
that you have taken by wicked hands and crucified and slain
is indeed the God of glory, the one that did indeed redeem his
people and that is ascended on the right hand of the Father
and is his glory. And he says here, verse 36, that
all the house of Israel assuredly know that God hath made that
same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. And again,
back to the thought, that same Jesus is the one that is coming
back. Don't look for another. We're
not looking for someone like him or similar or the name is
the same. We're looking for the same, indeed
the same one. Acts chapter 3, while we're here
in the book of Acts, chapter 3. Peter is again speaking, and they healed a lame
man. In chapter 3 of Acts, starting with verse 13, it says, The God of Abraham, and of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son
Jesus, whom he delivered up, and denied him in the presence
of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied
the Holy One, and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted
unto you, and killed the prince of life, whom God hath raised
up from the dead. whereof we are witnesses. And
this name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong,
whom ye see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him
hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And
now, brethren, I want that through ignorant ye did it, as also your
rulers. But those things which God before
had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should
suffer, hath he so fulfilled. And we're going to go on just
a minute, but this same Jesus is the one that, again, he's
speaking about here, that God, by the mouth of the prophets,
said that this would take place. And indeed, in your sight, you've
seen this, and that this would be the one to redeem his people.
And they said, by his faith, the faith that Christ gave him
in him, was this man made whole and not not a miracle that they
did, but God's healing in doing that. And again, a picture of
what happens spiritually to God's people. And then verses 20 and
down a bit, it says, verse 20, Acts chapter three, and he shall
send Jesus Christ, which was preached unto you, which before
was preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive until the
times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the
mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses
truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me. Him shall
ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it
shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that
prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from
Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken,
have likewise foretold of these days. And here, speaking of the
one that they're dealing with, the one that they saw send up
to heaven, and the one that was those of the, it says the prophets
and of the covenant which God made, and unto those that All
of them preach the same thing. Some of those, God has to reveal
to us the truth of those things, but all the prophets, it says
here, all the prophets attested to this, of who he was. And then,
in 2 Thessalonians, it's just a couple of places here, other
places, you'll see, we're not really shifting gears, but a
different thought. In 2 Thessalonians chapter one, starting with verse seven. After his greeting to them, but
it says here, verse seven of second Thessalonians chapter
one, and lo to you who are troubled, rest with us. when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified
in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because
our testimony on you is believed in that day. That wherefore we
also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy
of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness
and work of faith with power. That the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ may be glorified in you and ye in him according to the
grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's it down
in seven and eight here. But seven, that he shall be revealed,
shall return again from heaven, it says here, with his mighty
angels, taking vengeance. We know they'll be separating
the sheep from the goats. And on those that obey not the
gospel, and you shall come to be glorified in the saints and
be admired in all them that believe because our testimony among you
was believed in that day. This is the one, the same one
is coming again, this same Jesus as the two in white apparel said. In the book of Hebrews we know that
it speaks a lot about the priesthood of Christ and that he is there
and that he is now in heaven and we're going
to look and see here one of the things, why we look for him to
return and why we praise him for what he is doing now and
what he does for his people. Let's look at chapter four of
Hebrews, if you would please. Hebrews chapter four. And the
book of Hebrews straightens out an awful lot of things. There's
a lot of, there's a lot of things about the Lord himself, his salvation
of his people, the priesthood, everlasting priesthood, and the
things and the intercession that he makes for his people. And
in chapter four, Seeing then that we have a great
High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a High Priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. He is our great high priest and
not just, he didn't just go up into heaven and That's the end
of it. He is interceding for his people,
for God the Father. And that's what he does. And he does for his people. John chapter 14 and 16 talks
about him going to the Father. And let's look at a couple of
verses in John 14. A wonderful passage to God's
people, John 14, starting with verse 1 and reading down a bit.
It says, Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God,
believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. 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. And whither I go ye know, and
the way ye know. And Thomas said unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye know him
and have seen him. And then, let me find my spot again. And then
in John chapter 16, John chapter 16 and 16 as in
starting with verse 16, it says, a little while, the Lord speaking
to them, ye shall not see me. And again, a little while, and
you shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some
of the disciples among themselves, what is this that he saith unto
us? A little while, and you shall not see him. And again, a little
while, and you shall see me, because I go to the Father. They
said, therefore, what is this that he saith? A little while.
We cannot tell what he saith. Now Jesus knew what they were
desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among
yourselves of that I said? A little while, and ye shall
not see me, and again a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you,
that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice,
and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall turn to joy.
A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorrow, because her hour
is come. But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth
that no more, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye
now therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your
heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man can taketh from you. And in that day ye shall ask
me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever he shall
ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. And up
here, I will see you again, and your
heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you."
And they didn't understand that he had taught them, but they
still have to reveal it to his people. And he speaks here again
of that He will see us again. And as he said, I will see you
again. And I'm returning. And there's some of that was
hard to hear and understand. And from a physical standpoint,
they couldn't understand that. And from John 16, they're speaking
to that. Remember the two on the road to Emmaus. And I love
that passage because there's so much in there and they they
saw Christ crucified and That was the end of the line as far
as they're concerned. And they thought that he was going to
be the one that take care of business. And he tells them, oh, fools are slow
of heart to believe all that prophets said concerning me.
Ought not to Christ have suffered and then entered into his glory?
And he was reminding them and quoting what scripture said to
them. And he began it and spoke of all that the prophets said
concerning him about these very things that they said to him. And that he was going to come back again,
that it was that they, as the prophets said, that this was
going to happen. And then First Thessalonians, turn to
First Thessalonians one more time in the first chapter. some things that it says to God's
people that are that are here after he ascended up into heaven
in first Thessalonians chapter 10. It says he's speaking to the
Thessalonians and said that he knows that the gospel entered
into them because of that the spirit caused them to believe
these things and verse 10 says, and to wait to
serve the living and true God, they turned from idols and it
said, and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from
the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. And
again, we're waiting for that. We're looking for that same Jesus,
as they said, he's going to come back again. As the two told them,
he shall return this very same Jesus that left us and went from
us. And then Hebrews chapter 1. And with this we're going to wrap up the thoughts here. First
chapter of Hebrews and the first three verses. And remember the book of Hebrews
contrasts what our Lord is like in many offices and things. with what the fleshly that they
thought. Book of Hebrews chapter 1 verse
1 it says, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners,
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir
of all things, by whom he also made the worlds. who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had
by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
majesty on high. And that recaps what we looked
at in the Psalms. He is indeed the sovereign. He is indeed that king of glory,
the king of the whole earth, and the king of his people. And
as it says here, that he, when he had himself purged our
sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high, where
he is now and he's interceding for his people. That's the one
that those two in white apparel were talking to the apostles
there when they were looking up into heaven as Jesus ascended
and they said, Don't wonder that he's leaving
you. He's coming back again, the same one. And so that's why
the thought of, as it said there in Acts there, this same Jesus
will come again. And that same Jesus was the one
that we looked at in all these other passages about who he is
to his people. And here in the first three verses
opening of Hebrews, sets forth who he is. And that's the one,
that we are expecting and looking toward. People say, come Lord Jesus,
we're ready for Him to come. With that, let's sing one more
hymn in our hymnal as we close. We're going to sing number 51
in the blue hymnal. Praise the Savior, ye who know
him.