Taken Up Into Heaven
Or
To Return In Like Manner
Sunday Dec. 3, 2023
Scripture To Consider:
“Now when Jesus had spoken these things, while they watched [His disciples], He [Jesus] was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.”
“And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold two men [apparently two angels] stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’” Acts 1.9-11
Something To Consider:
I am convinced that the disciples would have preferred that the forty days of visitation by Jesus had never ended. But there had to be a conclusion to His in person work on earth. I am also convinced that there are many who would prefer life on earth to continue forever as is. For it is human nature to resist change!
But let us put ourselves in the place of these disciples, for the unknown is at times frightening and stirs up thoughts of fear and doubt. What do you suppose they were thinking when Jesus rose up into the cloud that received Him? It is difficult for us to fully imagine the mixed emotions and questions that may have filled their hearts and minds.
They did not have the rest of the story as we are so privileged to have in written and preserved form. If they were to move forward from there, it would have to be by faith. And now they were destined to receive the spiritual power they so desperately were in need of. But what about us? Have we willingly received that same spiritual power of the Holy Spirit to be unleashed by God in our own lives?
Jesus, in John chapter 14, speaking of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the lives of true believers, proclaimed in verse 26; “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” This is extremely important to understand as end time true believing saints. We can have no hope of enduring to the end or of overcoming our flesh and the enemy of our souls without the help and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, according to Jesus!
Something Else To Consider:
For the disciples, following Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and an exercise of true biblical faith, as was demonstrated by some of their Old Testament ancestors. These disciples had left their occupations to follow Jesus. Some had left friends and families to follow Jesus. They had probably been cast out of their places of worship and named as rebels and worse, false teachers.
For those of us who have also been cast out of and ostracized from organized religious circles, we know of the heartache and difficulty it brings. Hopefully, our being cast out of institutional religious organizations has been because of our holding firm to biblical truths and not because of our own foolishness. And yet, if for our own foolishness, that can be and hopefully has been forgiven by our seeking true repentance from our heavenly Father.
But for these disciples, for them, Jesus was gone from their physical presence. With their own eyes they saw Him taken into heaven. As Jesus had warned them of His eventual going away while they were in the upper room partaking of the Passover meal, Peter questioned Jesus, saying, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered Peter in John 13.36, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”
Therefore, they all now realized the solemn truth of those words. Not a single one of them could follow Him now including Peter, no matter how much they may have desired to do so. And so they looked steadfastly into heaven. Maybe they thought that just by chance He would return in a few moments.
We must keep in mind that these disciples had been misled concerning the Old Testament prophecies of the first coming of Christ or the Messiah. These early disciples did not have their personal copy of the Scriptures. They believed what they had been told by the so-called highly religious so-called educated leaders of that day. And how sad it is that many misconceptions and unbiblical deceptions are still being taught and believed by the masses within organized religious circles.
Something More To Consider:
Then two angels appeared and declared, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Daniel writing of a vision in Daniel 7.13, prophetically saw what the angels have promised, by stating, “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven!” And the writer of Hebrews 12.1 acknowledged, “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance [let us endure to the end] the race [the life] that is set before us.”
Will we be numbered among the great cloud of witnesses from down through the centuries as will be these enduring to the end early disciples of Jesus? If we are alive when that great last trumpet is sounded will we be gathered together with every true enduring to the end true believer in Jesus Christ, both past and present? I truly hope so!
But what of the truth of Christ’s second coming? We know according to the truth of Scripture that many are deceived concerning the return of Jesus due to highly educated religious leaders who have not the Holy Spirit teaching them the truth of the Word of God. And yet, the truth of the Word of God is readily available and is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.
Jesus Himself, said in Matthew 24.29-30; “Immediately after the tribulation [and not before as most so-called religious leaders report, but], Immediately after the tribulation of those days, then the Son of Man [Jesus] will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes [nations] of the earth will mourn [because they have been deceived by religious but not spiritual leaders], and they will see the Son of Man [Jesus] coming [again the second and final time] on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
A Few Final Words:
Yes, Jesus was taken up into heaven, but He is to return in like manner. The question is, will we be prepared or will we be deceived and offended, having been misled and deceived concerning a pre-tribulation rapture man-made escape plan? Please, let us open the Word of God for ourselves in search of the truth. Let us receive the Holy Spirit so we may be equipped to observe all things Jesus has commanded and has taught as the divine living and powerful truth.
The second coming of Jesus will not be a private event as was His ascension into heaven. For behold, He is coming with clouds and every eye shall see him, even those who pierced Him.
And according to Luke’s record of the two angels report, “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, thank You for the prophetic thread of promises that are so beautifully woven throughout the living and powerful Word of God. Help us to rightfully study Your written Word that we may be able to show ourselves approved unto You, in Christ’s name. In Him Always, Amen!
According to Jesus 