Page 22 - Signs of the End

16 THE SIGNS OF THE END

“When they therefore were come together, they asked of him,
saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom
of Israel?”(Acts 1:6)

But the Lord demurred a s to the time of His return, instead giving
the disciples some rather prodigious instructions:

“And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or
season s, which the Father hath put in his own power, but ye
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all
Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”
(Acts 1:7-8).

And now cam e one of the m ost stupendous moments in all Scrip­
ture as the Lord ascended to His Father. The disciples were still mulling
over that tremendous assignm ent He had just uttered. They were to
receive the Holy Spirit and somehow take the doctrine of Jesu s Christ
not just to Israel, which He had indicated previously (Matthew 10:5-6),
but all over the world. And now as they stood dumbfounded, their
Master went up into Heaven:

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he
w as taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts
1:9).

The Father seemed to realize what the reaction would be to this
incredible ascension of the Lord, and He sent angels to tell the disciples
an important message:

“And while they looked stedfastly 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 sam e Jesu s, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”
(Acts 1:10-11).