The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1901-05-23
TIE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Nay ~. I8ol-Jesus Ascends
late Heaven.
Prepared by H. c. Lenington.l
THE LESSON TEXT.

had given commandments unto the
apostles whom He had chosen:
J. To whom also He showed Himself alive
after His passion by many infallibls proofs.
being seen Of them 10 days. and speak
Ing Of the things pertaining to the King
dom Of God:
l. And. being assembled together with
them. commanded them that they should
not depart from Jerusalem. but walt for
the promise of the Father. which, saith He,
ye have heard Of Me.
s. For John truly baptized with water:
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy
Ghost not many days hence.
6. When they therefore were como to-
gether, they asked Of Him. saying, Lord.
Wit thou at this time restore again the
kingdom to Isreal?
Z. And He said unto them. 1t is not for
you to know the times or the seasons,
which the Father hath put in His own
power.
S. But ye shall receive power, after that
the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye
shall be witnesses unto me both in Jeru-
salem. and in all Judea. and in Samaria.
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
8. And when He had spoken these things,
wnAe thsy beheld, He was taken up; and u
cloud received Him out OF their sight.
10, And while they looked steadfastly to.
ward Heaven. as He went up, behold, two
men stood by them in white apparel;
IL. Which also said. Ye men Of Galllee.
why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? this
same Jesus. which is taken up from you
INTO Heaven, shall 80 come in like man.
ner as We have seen Him so into Heaven.
GOLDEN TENT;-While lie blessed
them, He was psrtcd from them. and
carried up into henvcn-Luke 24,5I
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Besides the lesson text printed
above read also the account in Luke,
chapter "a, verses 4i-j3. 1t will be
noted that both of these accounts
are given by the same writer, Luke
having been the author of the book
of Acts as well as of the Gospel of
Luke. Mathew and John in their
Gospel do not at all mention the as
censon of Christ. The fact was we'll
known and needed no comment as
far as those for whom those two
Gospels were originally written were
concerned. Mark devotes one verse
Mark l6:10) to the mere statement
that after the Lord had spoken unto
them, He was received up into
Heaven, and sat on the right hand Of
God"
The II verses in Acts may be treat
ed under the following heads:
The Work Begun. un......................vs. / z
\ Commandment and a Prumlse....vs. A. )
Inc ASCENSION. ........................NS S-lO
The Second ing..................vs. II
The Work Begun.-The book Of Acts
is merely continuation or sequel of
the Gospel according to Luke. Luke
says that in his Gospel he indicated
what Jesus "began both to do and to
teach Jesus work was not done
when His bodily presence left the
earth. He was to continue the work
in the hearts of men and do even n
greaterwork because of the throwing
off of human limitations.
A Commandment and a Promise
On Thursday, May is, a. d. 30, or
just 40 days after the resurrection
of Jesus, there was meeting of the
disciples (not alone the apostles)
with their Master in Jerusalem.
From the city He led them out to the
Mount of Olives near Bethany. The
commandment of Jesus was that the
disciples wait in Jerusalem "for the
promise of the Father" 1t is well to
dwell on that word wait" Waiting
is as important as doing, and the
duty of waiting is just as obligatory
as the duty of doing, both in their
season. The disciples did not know
how long they were to wait, they
were to wait for the promise, and the
waiting period extended slowly along
until a week had passed. The prom
Use was the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Why was the Holy Spirit given? The
answer to this question is indicated
in a little incident that occurred i'm
mediately before the ascension. The
apostles asked Jesus if at that time
He was to restore again the king
dom to Israel. The question showed
that these chosen ones still had a
lingering hope of an earthly king
dom of Christ. But Jesus replied
that they were not to know the times
and the seasons. This knowledge
was in the keeping of God Almighty
alone. But, the work of establish
ing His Kingdom, spiritual king
dom, on earth was theirs. The gift
of the Holy Spirit would mean pow
er for the disciples in extending the
kingdom.
The Asccnsion.-Aftc making the
promise of the Holy Spirit and indi-
eating the line of their work (wit-
Messing Mt home and abroad wher-
ever they should go), "lIe was taken
up, and cloud received Him out Of
their sight" And into the sky the
disciples looked, but they saw their
Lord no more.
The Second Coming.-After Jesus
departure two angels in the form Of
men stood with the assembled COM
pany who called their thoughts back
to earth and present duty, and this
promise was given to comfort them:
"This same Jesus, which is taken up
from you into Heaven, shall so come