Until The Day Series

Resurrection Series: “Redeemed”

Until The Day

Luke 24:50-53

Luke 24:50 ¶And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: 53 And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

I like what the song says “I didn’t see Him go up, but I will see Him when He comes down!”

"When Jesus was here"

"He gave us the words of eternal life"

"He gave us His peace and He said I’ll not leave you alone."

"And though I wasn’t there when the multitude watched Him ascend"

"Two angels in white announced he would come back again."

"What a blessing it was to be gathered there that day"

"To see him go up and in clouds, to see Him taken away."

"But I know in my heart that a greater blessing waits now for me"

"Cause I’m part of the crowd that is watching the sky’s faithfully"

"My eyes shall see King Jesus"

"When He comes in clouds of glory"

"If I am sleeping I’ll be awakened from the grave"

"And if I remain I’ll hear the trumpets joyful sound"

"I didn’t see him go up but I’ll see Him when He comes down".

I am glad that one day I will see Him, and we should be looking and anticipating His arrival. But we are not to spend all our time gazing into the Heavens, UNTIL HE RETURNS, THERE IS WORK TO DO! - The angels at the ascension of Christ addressed this very fact in Acts 1:11 {they aid} 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.

I want to take some time today and see what we should be doing “Until The Day” that He returns.

The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts were both written by “Luke, the beloved physician”. These two books over lap one another, as a result we will look to both accounts of the ascension for this message. In Acts 1:8 Jesus gives a command to His disciples. “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.”

At this point Jesus has:

Came and given His life to redeem mankind.

He has risen from the grave.

He has revealed Himself to the disciples.

He has spoken to them concerning the Kingdom

v3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

Now Jesus gives them the promise that they will soon be baptized in the Holy Ghost.This will be the fulfillment of a promise that He had made in John chapter 16:7-14. At this point all things were accomplished. Jesus is about to return to His Father, But before He goes He shares some final instructions with His disciples. The words that Jesus shared were the most important words that the disciples could hear. They were the words that would describe what they were to do with the rest of their life.In verse 6 they asked Him “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” This was a logical question. As we mentioned earlier Jesus had been talking to them about the Kingdom of God. Jesus answered them by saying - “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

There are many today who would try to predict the timeline of Christ’s return. Many have tried and all have failed. The Word says that “of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” Mark 13:32 - We are to be prepared for Christ’s return. We are to be looking for His appearing.But we can’t lose sight of what He has commanded us to do “Until The Day” In verse 9 Jesus ascends to heaven and the disciples are there gazing into the clouds. Two men in white apparel say to them “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” - Simply put, there is work to do and we must work “Until The Day” He returns!