Key Verse: "And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them."
- Luke 24:50 KJV
Let us approach the spot where the Redeemer ascended. It was from Mount Olivet, near to Bethany; so that the two accounts of Christ's ascension recorded by Luke, the one in his Gospel, and the other in his Acts of the Apostles, 1:12, perfectly, agree. How full of great, and holy, and solemn, yes, awful, associations would be that spot to Jesus!
Key Verse: "But
thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of
Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler
in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
- Micah 5:2 KJV
The Lord Jesus had goings forth for His people as their
representative before the throne, long before they appeared upon the stage
of time. It was "from everlasting" that He signed the compact with His
Father, that He would pay blood for blood, suffering for suffering, agony
for agony, and death for death—in the behalf of His people. It was "from
everlasting" that He gave Himself up without a murmuring word—that from the
crown of His head to the sole of His foot He might sweat great drops of
blood, that He might be spit upon, pierced, mocked, rent asunder, and
crushed beneath the pains of death. His goings forth as our Surety were from
everlasting.
Key Verse: "Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."
- Ephesians 1:23 KJV
In the mind of God, and as chosen in Christ, the Church
is a perfect body. It is, therefore, the fullness of Christ. Just as our
head and members, in their union with each other, form one perfect
harmonious body, so it is with Christ and the Church. As the natural head
would be incomplete without the body, as the body would be incomplete
without the head, so it is with Christ mystical, and his body the Church.
Each needs the other, and the union of both makes the whole complete.
Key Verse: "Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched."
- Luke 8:44 KJV
Though the Gadarenes desired the Lord Jesus to depart out
of their coasts, there were others who gladly received him. So it is
now—while some find religious privileges a burden, there are others who are
longing to possess them. While some occupy seats in the house of God, and
count the service a weariness; there are others, confined at home by various
causes, envying, as David did, the happiness of the swallow, who builds his
nest on God's altars.
Key Verse: "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."
- John 20:21 KJV
The Son of God came down and lived in human form on the earth—that men might see God in the flesh. He said, "He who has seen me, has seen the Father." All the love, the gentleness, the patience, the compassion, the purity, the truth, the righteousness, which people saw in the life of Jesus—was simply a revealing of God. That is what God is like.
Key Verse: "And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
- Job 1:21 KJV
Noble posture this — to kneel and to adore! To see no
hand but ONE! Sabeans; Fire; Whirlwind; Sword — are all overlooked. The
Patriarch alone recognizes "the Lord" who gave and "the Lord" who has
taken away. What is the cause of so much dejection, needless sorrow,
and unchristian murmuring — in our hours of trial? It was what Rutherford
calls "our looking to the confused rollings of the wheels of second causes;"
a refusal to rise to "the height of the great argument," and confidently to
say, "May the will of the Lord be done!" A refusal to hear His voice; His
own loving voice, mingling with the accents of the wildest storm: "It is
I!" "When disaster comes to a city — has not the Lord caused it?" Is
there a bitter drop in the cup — and the Lord has not mingled it?
Key Verse: "Unto
the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call
upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:"
- 1 Corinthians 1:2 KJV
To be sanctified means to be set apart, made holy, and dedicated to God’s purposes. It is both a position and a process, something God has done for us through Christ, and something He continues to work within us daily.
Bible Reading: Luke 24:46-53 KJV Key Verse: " And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed ...
