the former treaties of our made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he, to the Holy Ghost, had given commandment unto the Apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible things, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Amen. The good hymn in your hymn book, The Choice Hymns of the Faith, I believe that is, is how good Macy's lovely hymn. Why, do all God's nature glorify you? Let's grow and grow up, vanquish every birth, all need need His death hath robbed a bernic loon, he's risen. Oh God, in his psalm, in birth, meet me up to heaven's height, to see the Lord enthroned in light. Glory there, I may reflect, even he is. And it is because this evening we are continuing our studies in the first event, and we are dealing tonight with that... ...the day in which he was taken up. And I wanted to quote to you that third verse of the hymn. The gazing... Here. We might reflect his image here. And I pray that this... of our reading and consideration of the word of God tonight. You will remember during the past evening, for surely at Mahosa, she asked to go through very briefly what we have considered. You will remember that we were considering a little of this, our blessed Savior. We talked a little of the loneliness of his life. And I'm certain that every one of us wondered as we thought of E, who saw the prepared of the Father, and produced of the Spirit, and possessed of the Son, was the folly of a man. And he moved them up. And when one ponders the load in us in its part, and when we arise in the day-to-day, in the very danger of a king. And I often allow my imagination to run away with me. I often think of that and went my way and imagination to that table, and remember that there's no candle, there's no light there, yet that day is the very light of the world. I remember there's no doctor and no midwife there, and yet that day was the very great position. I remember that there's no food there, for there was no place in the inn, they have no room or time for him, and yet this day was the very bread of heaven, and I marvel at the loneliness of his birth, And then we were thinking not only of the lowliness of his birth, but we were thinking of the lowliness of his life. We thought of this blessed Christ who moved among men, who could hear the exclamation of heaven, this is my beloved. I am well made. Oh, brethren, sisters, may I say to him to you, and I'm sure you would say it to me, that the more I open my Bible and the more I read of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more I realized that he was a wonderful man. I was utterly amazed at the loveliness of his life. Then I also acknowledged that I am but a man. I also acknowledged that the Bible tells me that there were many things that Jesus did and said, that there was no room to record all of those head and down. There were so many things I don't know about him. But isn't it wonderful? There was not a grasp in talk. There was not a step in talk. There was not an action he did. But God was Father for it all. And the Lord was going to ruin the Bible for it all. And the Lord said, No, I can't understand it all. And my knowledge so fast that I can't measure it all. Yet there's a Father in heaven that knows it all and sees it all. And he said, In whom I find all by the light. Oh, my young friend, you spend your life searching the scripture concerning the light. And you'll still find there's more to find out. And you'll still find that he's more wonderful than ever you call him. But if we've been thinking a little of the loneliness of his heart and the loveliness of his death, it did not we spend one occasion to consider the loneliness of his death. We thought of this one who went on to Calvary. While we may not have quoted the verses, I am sure we could have quoted the words of the sixty-third of Isaiah. And I'm certain none of us would have been in any doubt that it speaks of the Savior. I have found it alone. Oh, please don't come to me afterwards and say that, Mr. Preacher, this is the nineteenth of Revelation. I know it is. because he will tread the wild path of the wrath of God in a vain attempt to come and tell it aloud. He's telling it there because on tells these thoughts aloud. That's the requirements of God and all our needs. You know, brethren, sisters, the more I think of the loneliness of Christ, the more my heart is moved. You see, there is a loneliness. Some of us know something of the loneliness of life. I spend most of my time away from my wife and my children and my grandchildren. And I have never got used to being away from them. There are times when I find myself desperately lonely. And if occasionally you see me wander off on my own, you can rest assured of this, that I'm no longer in your lovely country as lovely as it is, my back home again. And I'm thinking of the children and the grandchildren and the wife. There's a loneliness of me. Many a time you, the loneliness of late. Could there be our lonelier place in Calvary? Will you remember there's something deeper in loneliness than the loneliness of faith? There is the loneliness of faith. To be surrounded with thousands of people. To have them clamor that you might keep to them and bless them. Yet on your path, so just simply await them. Have you ever thought to think that in thirty-three and a half years as Jesus walked in this scene, again and again he wanted to talk to someone about the purpose of his being here. And again he tried to. On one occasion as we sing, he had actually to turn to a disciple, having spoken to him of the reason of his hearing in this scene, and hearing the disciple refusing for it, he had to send it to the disciple, get him behind the table. There was only one occasion in thirty-three and a half years that Jesus could speak intelligently to anyone and for the reason he came into this scene. And on that occasion, God had to lift the lid on the earth, summoned the prophet and a patriarch to speak on the mount of transfiguration of the deceit that he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Oh, the loneliness of the cross. that if we have brought in deeds of the loveliness of his life, the loveliness of his life, and the loneliness of his death, those things, oh, bless God, we're going to talk of the loftiness of his extortation. We're going to remember that they may have placed him in a tomb, but up on that tomb he rose, and blessed be God near him, in the heaven. He ascended into glory. May I read the words of our text tonight until the day in which he was taken up. Taken up. May I do what I... I don't know that I have, but may I do what I said I would do every evening. May I tell you what I'm going to tell you? We're going to look just for a moment first at the expediency of his... a saint. Do you remember the words of Jesus himself? It is expedient that I should go. We're going to look at the expediency of his offense. Then we're going to look, if we may please, for a moment of truth, at the ease of his offense. We're going to see some of the things that happen ere he was received unto the glory. But then we're going to look not only at the expediency of his assent and the eve of his assent, but we're going to look together, if we may, at the eyewitnesses of his assent. We're going to see who evolved before him. Then you will well understand, if I suggest to you that we will also consider the extent of his assent. Where has he gone? How far has he gone? all the expense of this left Savior of ours. We know something of the depths to which he went, but how high have you gone back? How high? First of all, then, could we look together for a moment or two at the expediency of his offense? In the glorious words of the Savior himself, in the sixteenth chapter of John, and in verse heaven, it is expedient that I should go away, For if I go not away, the comforter will not come. May I repeat that? It is expedient that I should go away, for if I go not away, the comforter will not come. What is so glad of this? Any of my life said we have wondered why it was, having risen from the dead, that Jesus Christ did not stay, did not stay right here in this scene at that moment. And when we do, we come to all of us with the same conclusion, don't we? And this is the conclusion we're bound to come to, that there is a sense in which we're glad these little snags. Not easy, our good friend, Mr. McLean, shows you some of the slides that he's prepared to do in the look. I've been hearing today of some of you other folks that are going, I believe, this year, or that they may be next year. Have you ever gone to see what would have happened if Jesus had stayed in Jerusalem? Every faith, every faith, by every means, answered upon thousands of people, would be rushing to Jerusalem to see this. And if you and I would suddenly say we're going to see him, you talk about it too for dinner. Why would we never get near him, would we? We'd never be able to see him. Blessed be God, he has ascended in the glory. It was his fear that he should bow, for he has gone there to send to our bond, who can make his peasants real in our life. Not some distance away, where we can see this in occasionally, but make his peasants elsewhere, moment by moment, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year. Blessed be his name to the end of the journey, when in glory we shall see him face to face. Oh, brethren, sisters, let's thank God for the key of the splendid impact. And he's because he has ascended, he's because he has been glorified. He has sent you up to Holy Spirit. Oh, blessed be his name for this great gift. Now I will be talking a little about the word of the Spirit before we finish. But could I just say this here and now, and I think it's most important? I must say it. You've had it said to you a hundred times. I must say it again. When we speak of the Holy Spirit, as we have seen in the birth of the Lord Jesus, produced by the Spirit, we are talking of a person, not of an influence, but of a person. Never let us forget this, for if you do, you'll ever be in trouble. You do not receive a person in prison, do you? You receive a person in his entirety. I think it's important for us to remember that. I will be emphasizing that maybe on another occasion. But here is the expediency of the return of the Lord, at least the attention of the Lord. But then let's look for a moment at the ease of his attention. The twenty-fourth chapter of Luke comes to enclose with words like these. And he's left about to starve to death with it. and he lifted up his hands and he blessed them. And while, as he was in the process of blessing them, he received up in the glory, all the eve of his ascension in glory. But there he leaped the mountain far as the Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and he blessed them. Have you ever done what I have done? Have you ever wondered why ever he led them as far as Bethany? I can think of a least of the places he could have led them to. Oh, tell me, why did not this blessed Christ meet them as far as Bethlehem? The chanting angels had told of his birth. Why didn't he meet them as far as Mount Abel? For we've been thinking already, as we have talked indeed of his transfiguration, that it was there at Mount Abel that celestial beings hovered in homage before him. For what if he didn't meet them as far as hell? for had not the women lost in the open grave, to claim to all that this was gone over all, blessed forever. Why didn't he lead them to the temple court, the Chicago glorious town court, in all its wonder in this place? No, it was not to Jephthah or to Calvary or from Mount Tabor. It was not to the temple court that he led them, that he led them out as far as the Jephthah. Oh, that wonderful. Did you feel you want to just praise God? But my youngest friend knows this, that Bethany was the place of his deepest sorrow. But hallelujah, it will be the place of his greatest joy. Place of his deepest sorrow? It is only twice recorded in the gospel, the kings of the West. Only twice recorded that Charles Grant was the sorrow that came upon him, that the tears ran down his face. Once he went over one man, once he went over a sickiest man, once he went over a dead man, once he went over a living man. But on both occasions that in the Gospel it's recorded, the Jesus rest, he was acceptable. He went to Stephanie over the grave of Lazarus. Yes, but Bethlehem is in the distance. He calls the war cities of Jerusalem, and cried, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, me who stole us upon it. There is one other occasion in Holy Writ where we're told that Jesus went. The writer of the Apostle of the Hebrew said, With strong, royal ears. And there is little doubt that he's speaking of death. Now, where would it get better? It wasn't at Jerusalem. It was hard to bethany. And the seeing of his greatest sorrow, the seeing of his greatest sorrow, the seeing of his greatest sorrow, and he leads them out to the seeing of his greatest sorrow, that one day will be the seeing of his greatest joy. For hallelujah, as we saw this morning, he's coming back again. having caught his own to be with him. After that time, when indeed there will be the judgment key to Christ, the marriage cover of the lab, from the presentation of the Father, hallelujah! He's coming back again, and he's coming in his feet shall stand upon the man's of office. The mountains shall split up under, and shall we shall look at that day, shall we hear? Blessed his God, back to the land of others, back to the place of his power. He's come to show his sovereignty. He leads them out to a place of sorrow. They're going to know sorrow on that. They're saying goodbye to him. But he leads them to the place that will tell his greatest joy. For out of his sorrow comes our succor and our joy. He leads them as far as the deserts. And every couple of times I like that, don't you? I like that. You know, there were so many lovely hymns I loved you. But how many times, as maybe our brother might be, that causes through heaven to pass. Then through heaven to say, To the horrors of tears and anguish, And nobody thinks it takes. Family somewhere in the shadows. You'll find him. He's the only one that cares and understands. Find him somewhere in the shadows. You will find him. You know him by the nail prints in his hand. They let him out as far as the Bethany, and they lifted up his hand. Wonderful hand. Rooted for me. Wonderful piece nailed to the tree. wonderful eyes, lovely with his wonderful heart, broken by things. And he leaped them and he lifted up his hands. And I wonder what those disciples thought. When they looked at that, the only thing that man ever made that would be in glory, as they looked at those scars in his hands. No wonder he could bless them. No wonder. A repressing stream, now close on his helmet, What to dwell below, by God's decree, an omen has been made, full at guilty rate, detentions might be paid, all wonder of grace. Listen up, he's mad, but it's yet. I say, what he not doing? What he not doing? What the patriarch had done in the years that were long past? You never let him upon. And there came a time when the age father of Jacob, or rather the age of Jacob. Well, there came a time when the age father of Jacob was going to bless Jacob's son. And do you remember what happened? And though I dare suggest this to you, The children of him that day and were lifted to bless. So the hands of chief are so lifted to bless. To bless you and to bless me. He ever wishes to do that. He lifted up his hands and embraced them. Oh, here was the very eve of his attention. And we praise God this very day, do we not, that just as he blessed him, for he raised his glory, so the word of God comes in all, in all his thrill to our heart, that as he went, so he's coming. He went in blessing, and hallelujah, he's coming back again in blessing. But if we have caught a little of the expediency of his attention, and we have caught a little of the eve of his attention, I wonder if we could say just a little about the eyewitnesses of his ascension. He ascended into glory. And in the eleventh verse of the first chapter of Acts, if we go down that chapter, we read these words, 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. You will notice, of course, in verse ten that we are told that there are two names in those of power. I think this is rather important to us. You see, I learned long ago, and I'm sure you did. I learned long ago that God does what he asks us to do. Could I repeat that? God does what he asks us to do. You remember in the Old Testament, God gave the great statement and law concerning evidence. He told us that we must never accept the word of one man, the testimony of one man. It is in the mouth of two or three witnesses that every word shall be established. No, God does not tell us that we must not accept the word of one man, but only the word of two, unless he himself gives two witnesses to every divine truth that's essential for our salvation. And never you forget that. If you forget that, you can rally the peril of us. It is because of this these people who call themselves Latter-day Saints have come with their baptism of the dead, and they have taken one of the pure birth, and they built what they call a doctrine upon it. But it is in the mouth of the Lord who is with the faith. Have you noticed how completely God has done this? He wants you and I to accept that Jesus Christ is his son. So he is through witnesses at the baptism of the Christ, the Spirit came as a God, and he himself So we have the twofold witness as to the loyalty of Christ. We have the twofold witness, indeed, as to the redemption in Christ. The lines of transfiguration, as we've called already, there appear two, Moses and Elias, and they say, look at the teeth that he should accomplish at Jerusalem. There is the twofold witness after his resurrection. Remember yesterday we were thinking how the angel came up here, he's risen, and there were two of them. One sat on the throne and the other at the head, where Jesus had laid. And so we have a twofold witness as to his royalty, the twofold witness as to his redemption, the twofold witness as to his resurrection. But here, bless God, the twofold witness as to his return. And there stood two men in white power which said, This same Jesus shall go coming like that. Oh, we have not followed cunningly devised angels. Hear what God requires of us. He himself has done and has given us the twofold witness. I don't know who these two men were of you. Oh, I could allow my imagination to run away with me. By the way, they weren't angels, were they? I mean, it's very true, doesn't it? I mean, I don't know about your Bible, but my Bible says this, that there stood two men stood by in white apparel, two men. And I assure you, the word men there is men. Is men? I don't think they were angels. I once heard a dear brother, and I must put it that way, because if I didn't, you come to me afterwards and ask me for chatter at first. You see what I can't give, and I'm repeating what someone else said. But I once heard someone say that these two men were the two men that appeared with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elias. And those of him who tasted death, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and Elias, who was caught out of the chariot, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive in the name, unto the coming of the Lord shall be caught up, not taste death. No, I don't know if that's right. I only know that it that my heart is glad. Glad that there were two messengers that came from God, and they dared to say to the men of Galilee, why Sanjeev gave him up? Don't you realize there's something to do? Don't you realize, indeed, that this Jesus is coming down again? There's no need for thine heart to be broken. There's no need indeed for you to be cast down. This Jesus shall come again in like manner. Oh, I bless God for this. For those who were the eyewitnesses of attention, were those indeed who in this scene had walked with him. These men are down. Here were some of his disciples. He was found who, for fear of the Jews had faltered and barred the door of a room. And yet they had seen the Christ as he stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. And they had come to realize that it was through all that he had said. And now they have seen him ascend into heaven. And all the wonder of it all. But they have touched their lives as it should touch your life and my life today, brethren, and sisters. Then, of course, there's the extent of his ascension. As I come to a close, may I say this to you, that if you were to ask me how high Christ has offended, all I can do is put the Scripture to you and leave it at that. All I can say is the words of Hebrews seven and twenty-six. He is made higher than the heavens. If you ask me how high, how far he has gone, then I can quote you the words of Ephesians one and twenty-one, but I can dare say to you that God set him far above, prince of powers and powers. Oh, he has ascended into heaven. And because he has ascended into heaven, we can praise God the day that he's available for us. Available for us. We were reminded yesterday, where we got a little of the high priesthood of the Christ. We were reminded of the wonderful fact that Jesus Christ is a high priest. And as the power throughout our hearts, we'll be sharing with us something of the truth of God in this matter. The miracles were found by just passing one or two simple observations about the high priesthood of Christ. The Bible tells me that he was a high priest. He was seven after the order of Melchizedek, a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now, Melchizedek was matured. Remember that. The Melchizedek had, by the beginning of James or end of day, And is it wonderful to know that Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven and is a high priest after the order of God to the next? He's always there. And if that's all the Bible said of the high priesthood of Christ, I would shout hallelujah. But he's not only a high priest after the order of God to the next, you young people listening now. Are you listening? This is the most important thing I've heard tonight. He is not only a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, but he's a high priest after the capital of Herod. If he Melchizedek has never been born in a concentration camp, Melchizedek has never known what it meant to be smacked and kicked and sworn at and beaten. Melchizedek never knew what it meant with tears running down his face to sink to the ground and make him groan hard to heaven. But Herod did. Aaron had been born in a concentration camp in Egypt. Aaron had known the whip of the taskmaster had got his back. Aaron had had his host built to high heaven and dashed to the earth as his brother started out to be indeed a missionary and turned out to be a murderer. Aaron again and again and again and again seen the pain and suffering that comes from men and women who seek to serve God in his feet. I have a high priest in heaven. Hallelujah, he's there forever. A high priest forever. Praise God. He's not only after the order of Melchizedek, but he's after the pattern of error. And I have a high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmity because he was at all points tempted, such as we, yet without them. Do you know what it means to look back back? that did not look spittle of men that led him away to Calvary, run down his face. He knows what it means to be laughed at and jeered. He says, Mother, let him say in himself that they be hiked, the chosen of God. He knows what it means to be philosophical. Is they not blind for him and smite him? He knows what it means to pass through all the pain and suffering from this thing. Sister, Mother, He's in heaven and he knows it all. And he's my high priest. And he's ascended the glory. There's not a hand that comes to my heart. There's not a problem that comes to my life. There's not a pathway I have to tread. And I have a Savior and a glory that's been there before. There I say as I dwell. Oh. Holy. up to heaven's height, to see the Lord enthroned in light, that gazing on his glory there, I may reflect his image here. Couldn't we pray? God's Father, we're utterly amazed that the loneliness of his birth, of the loveliness of his life, of the loneliness of his death. But we rejoice together tonight in the loveliness of his exultation. We pray for him that God has given him a name which is beloved by him. And in the glory of his dead, there is found a high place. How a blessing he was in our high praise. He said that he's our advocate. We say all that we bless him is our high praise. We are seeing that thou wilt ever grant that we might understand that he's available for us. We bless him. Not just walking up streets in this world where only a few can draw near him. But he has encroached into the right hand of God. the available world, so strong that we might avail ourselves, hoping that we ask it in his name. Amen.