The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-26
ciety of Jesus. The Gospel and Church
History overlap each other.

| History overlap each other.
2. The Apostles made Ready
for the Final Parting, 6-S.
The meeting in Jerusalem occurred ac-
cording to appointment. After this
meeting. or it may be a series of meet
ings, Jesus led his eleven out of the city
and over the brow of Olivet. near to
Bethany. for the final farewell. They
were ravisned with expectation. A
strange question they ask him,-strange
as now appears to us: Lord, doest thou
at this time restore the kingdom of
Israel? Even yet they hold to their de-
fusion that the restoration of Isrsel,-
its deliverances from bondage to Rome.
its revival in it's historic faith. will
complete the mission Of the Messiah.
1t as not for you, Jesus replies, to knoac
the times or seasons aUhich the Father
hath set aDithin his oacn authority; in
the palmer rendering of the margin. the
times and seasons Uhich the Father
hath appointed. 1t is not for his die
ciples to know the exact dates of epochs
and dispensations: it was not for him, nor
for the angels Mark. 1929. He would
have his disciples plant their faith firmly
on invincible moral forces, which can
never be exactly measured or defined;
he would not have them even DESTROYS of
an exact foreknowledge which, in its
very nature, belongs exclusively to the
All Seeing one.
But he gives to th m a cheering prom
ise. Ye shall receiUe loot many days
hence, as he had told them) pOocer
aohen the Holy Ghost is come upon you.
The coming of the Holy Spirit; it's fall
upon his disciples as an atmosphere; its
speech to them as With Voice; its
emancipation from sinful habits. selfish
desires. doubts and fears before the Fa-
Their; it's exaltation into blessedness,
which is heaven begun,-this had been
with him an oft-repeated prophecy.
This will be the power" that will cure
them of their insistent liberalism and
earthliness.
They will then be prepared to be his
witnesses. They will begin to declare
his Gospel in Jerusalem. where their
Lord had been crucifed; they will carry
it unto heretica Samaria; they will be-
come it's heralds throughout the ma
tions, even to the uttermost parts of the
earth.
8 The Vanishing of Jesus
VS.. Ola.
The time for the final scene has now
come. While the disciples are with
Jesus on the hill, they listen with dazed
rapture to his promise of a blessing soon
to come; they hear anew their own call
to worldwide mission as his witness;
they scarcely know whether they are in
the body or out of the body.
Their Master begins to fade. Intently
they gaze at the Vanishing One His
arms are outspread; he is in the act of
blessing them. Still he fades; his feat
ures and form become indistinct. Yet
more intentIy they gaze; they try to
penetrate the misty veil. He utterly
disappears. A cloud received him out
of their sight.
They remain spellbound; awe-struck,
not frightened. 1t has not yet da gned
upon their souls that they have seen
the last of their Master in the cart;
hot h 10
until they too go whittier he has now
gone.
While the disciples were steadfastly
looking into heaven, We are told. tUO
men stood by them IN a0hite apparel
These "men" are appareled as priests; we
can hardly tell whether Luke means
that we shall bslieve that they were
spirits, discernible only by enraptured
spiritual vision or whether they were
human and sensibly discerned. These
white -robed beings declare to the dis
ciples: Ye men of Galilee, aohy stand ye
| looking up into heaUenP This Jesus
avhich a0ds received from gou into
heaven shall so come IN like manner as
ye beheld him going into heaUen.
This promise is manifestly to the dis
ciples; to be fulfilled in their persons.
in their day. They are told that in like
impressive mystery as Jesus has parted
from them he will come to them. But not
of course literally in the same way. Vain
therefore. is their gazing into the skies
He will come as a Spirit OF Man. He
will come.-as Matthew reports in his
words,-as an Abiding Spiritual Pres
ence. to be with his own until the con-
summation of the ages.
The Eleven surely understood this
mysterious message as an exhortation
to withdraw their eyes from the skies.
and torego the expectation of their Mas
ter coming to them again in bodily
form.
They returned to their room in Jerusa-
lem; THE room. They set themselves to
their work. They organized the believ-
ers; they filled the vacancy in their
apostleship to the round Twelve. They
went often to the temple with thank
offerings. They were often 10 prayer
and thanksgiving among themselves.
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