Bristol Conference 1973-02 the Lord Jesus Christ — Stan Ford

The Risen Christ and the Kingdom of God

The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he showed 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.

I mentioned one evening that my favorite hymn in your hymnbook, Choice Hymns of the Faith, I believe that is, is Alfred Macy's lovely hymn. All lead me to the man who died,. Who all God's nature glorified, Descending to the depths of woe,.

And for us vanquish every foe. All lead me to the empty tomb,. His death hath robbed of all its bloom,. He's risen, the Lord of life and peace, Holds us in his palm in grace. All lead me up to heaven's heights, To see the Lord enthroned in light,.

The gazing on his glory there, I may reflect his image here. And it is because, this evening, we are continuing our studies in the first of Acts, and we are dealing tonight with that second verse, until the day in which he was taken up, that I wanted to quote to you that third verse of the hymn.

The gazing on his glory there, we might reflect his image here. And I pray that this may be the outcome of our reading and consideration of the Word of God tonight. You will remember during the past evening, for surely it behoves us just to go through very briefly what we have considered, you will remember that we were considering a little of this, our blessed Savior.

The Lowliness of Christ's Birth and the Loveliness of His Life

We thought a little of the lowliness of his birth, and I'm certain that every one of us wondered as we thought of he whose body prepared of the Father, and produced of the Spirit, and possessed of the Son, was the body of a man as he moved amongst us.

When one ponders the lowliness of his birth, and one realizes that there he lay in the very danger of escape, and I often allow my imagination to run away with me, I often think of that dark Galilean night, and when my way and imagination to that stable, and remember that there's no candle, there's no light there, and yet that babe is the very light of the world.

I remember there's no doctor and no midwife there, and yet that babe is the very great physician. They have no room or time for him, and yet this babe is the very bread of heaven. So, I marvel at the lowliness of his birth, and then we were thinking not only of the lowliness of his birth, but we were utterly amazed at the loveliness of his life.

We thought of this blessed Christ who moved amongst men, the acclamation of heaven, this is my beloved Son in whom I am wealthy. O brethren, sisters, may I say this to you, and I'm sure you would say it to me, that the more I open my Bible, and the more I read of the Lord Jesus, the more I realize that he was a wonderful person, and I am utterly amazed at the loveliness of his life.

Then, I also acknowledge that I am but a man. I also acknowledge that the Bible tells me that there were many things that Jesus did and said, that there was no room to record all that was said and done.

There are so many things I don't know about him. Isn't it wonderful? There was not a breath he took, there was not a step he took, there was not an action he did, but God the Father saw it all. And as I go down, I find my knowledge so trenched that I can't make it out.

There's a part of me that says, this is my beloved Son in whom I find all. You spend your life, and you'll still find there's more to find out, and you'll still find that he's more wonderful than any other person was.

Christ's Loneliness in Birth, Life, and Death

But if we keep thinking a little of the loneliness of his birth, and the loneliness of his death, did not he spend one occasion to consider the loneliness of his death? We thought of this one who went on to Calvary.

While we may not have quoted the verses, I am sure we could have quoted the words of the sixty-third of Isaiah, and I am certain none of us would have been in any doubt that, in spite of the Savior, I have trod the winepress alone.

Oh, please don't come to me afterwards and say that, Mr. Preacher, this is the nineteenth of Revelation. I know it is. But because he will tread the winepress of the wrath of God in a day that tends to come, and tread it alone, he's treading it there, because on Calvary's cross alone he met the requirements of God and all our needs.

Do you know, brethren, sisters, the more I think of the loneliness of Christ, the more my heart is moved. You see, there is a loneliness of place, isn't there? I must know something of the loneliness of place.

I spend most of my time away from my wife, and my children, and my grandchildren, and I have never got used to being away from them. I find myself desperately lonely, and if occasionally you see me wander off on my own, you can rest assured of this, that I'm no longer in your lovely country, as lovely as it is.

I'm back home again, and I'm thinking of the children, and the grandchildren, and the wife. There's a loneliness of place, and Jesus many a time knew the loneliness of place. We are lonelier place than Calvary, but will you remember there's something deeper in loneliness than the loneliness of place?

There is the loneliness of so much place, and thirty-three and a half years as Jesus walked in this scene, again and again he wanted to talk to someone about the purpose of his being here. On one occasion, as we've seen, he had actually to time to understand the reason of his being in this scene, and hearing the disciple refuting for it, he had the presence of the disciple standing behind him saying, on one occasion, in thirty-three and a half years, that Jesus could speak intelligently.

When he came into this scene, on that occasion God had to lift the lip of a tongue, to speak on the mount of transfiguration of the deceit that he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But if we have thought indeed of the loneliness of his past, and the loveliness of his life, and the loneliness of his death, this evening, oh bless God, we're going to talk of the lostness that they may have placed him in a tomb, but up on that tomb he arose, and blessed be God, he ascended into heaven.

He ascended into glory. May I read the words of our text tonight? Until the day in which he was taken up. Taken. May I do what I said I would do each evening? I don't know that I have, but may I do what I said I would do every evening?

May I tell you what I'm going to tell you? We're going to look, just for a moment, first at the expediency of his ascent. You remember the words of Jesus himself? It is expedient that I should go. We're going to look at the expediency of his ascent.

Then we're going to look, if we may please, for a moment or two, at the eve of his ascent. To see some of the things that happened ere he was received up into glory. We're going to look not only at the expediency of his ascent, and the eve of his ascent, but we're going to look together, if we may, at the eyewitnesses of his ascent.

To see who it was, you will well understand, if I suggest to you that we will also consider the extent of his ascent. We know something of the depth to which he went, and gone back. First of all, then, could we look together, for a moment or two, at the expediency of his ascent?

The Necessity and Gift of Christ's Ascension

In the glorious words of the Savior himself, in the 16th chapter of John, and in verse 7. It is expedient that I should go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come. May I repeat that? It is expedient that I should go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come.

Everybody's so glad of this. One wonders why it was, having risen from the dead, that Jesus Christ did not stay, right here, in this scene, at that moment. And when we do, we come, all of us, to the same conclusion, don't we?

And the conclusion we're bound to come to, that there is a text in which we're glad he didn't stay. Our good friend, Mr. MacLean, showed you some of the slides of his trip away to Jerusalem. We're hearing today of some of you other folks that are going, I believe, this year, or it may be next year, that Jesus had stayed in Jerusalem.

Every boat, every train, by eminence upon thousands of people, would be rushing to Jerusalem to see him. And if you and I would suddenly say, we're going to see him, you talk about a tube for dinner. Let it be God, he has ascended into glory.

It was expedient that he should go, for he has gone there to send to us one who sends away, where we can visit him occasionally, but make his presence up where moment by moment, day to the end of the journey, when in glory we shall see him, face to face.

All brethren, sisters, let's thank God that Jesus ascended into heaven. And because he has ascended, because he has been glorified, he has sent to us his Holy Spirit. Oh, blessed be his name for this great gift.

I'll be talking a little about the work of the Spirit before we finish, but could I just say this here and now, and I think it's most important, I must say it, you've had it said to you a hundred times, I must say it again.

When we speak of the Holy Spirit, as we have seen in the birth of the Lord Jesus, produced by the Spirit, we are talking of a person. For, if you do, you'll ever be in trouble. You do not receive a person in bits and pieces, do you?

You receive a person to remember that. I will be emphasizing that, maybe on another occasion. But, here is the expediency of the return of the Lord, at least the ascension of the Lord. But then, let's look for a moment at the eve of his ascension.

Bethany and the Eve of Christ's Ascension

Luke, the 24th chapter of Luke, comes to its close with words like these. And he lifts them out as far as the Bethany, lifted up his hands and he's blessed. And while, as he was in the process of blessing, he's received up into glory, receive of his attention to glory.

But there he lifts them out as far as the Bethany, and he lifts up his hands and he blesses. Have you ever done what I have done? Have you ever wondered why, ever, he led them as far as Bethlehem? I can think of a legion of places he could have led them to.

Or, tell me, why did not this blessed Christ lead them as far as Bethlehem? The chanting angels have told of his birth at the table. For, we've been thinking already, as we have thought, indeed, of his transfiguration, that it was there at that table that Celestial Beard, he didn't lead them.

Had not the Ribbonlocks and the Open Graves proclaimed to all that this, why didn't he lead them to the temple court? There's a kind of glory at Shalmport, and all is to wonder in this place. No, it was not to Bethlehem, or to Calvary, or to Mount Tabor.

It was not to the temple court that he led them, but he led them out as far as Bethlehem. Oh, isn't that wonderful? Makes you feel you want to just praise God. For, my youngest friend knows this, that Bethlehem was the place of his deepest sorrow.

It will be the place of his greatest joy, the place of his deepest sorrow. It is only twice recorded in the Gospels that Jesus wept. It's recorded that so great was the sorrow that came upon him that the tears ran down his face.

Once he wept over one man, once he wept over a city of men. Once he wept over a dead man, once he wept over living men. But, on the both occasions that in the Gospels it's recorded that Jesus wept, he was at Bethany.

He wept at Bethany over the grave of Lazarus. He wept at Bethany as in the distance he saw the walled city of Jerusalem and cried, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, in holy writ. Jesus wept. The latter epistle to the Hebrews says, Which scroll?

And there is little doubt that he's speaking of Gethsemane. It wasn't at Jerusalem. It was hard to better his greatest sorrow. They leave them out for the scene of his greatest sorrow. That one day will be the scene of his greatest joy.

For hallelujah, as we saw this morning, he's coming back again. Having taught his own to be with him, there will be the judgment of the Lamb. He's coming in his feet shall stand upon the mount of Olives.

He's going to show his heart out to a place of sorrow. They're going to know sorrow, aren't they? They're saying goodbye to him. For out of his greatest joy, out of his sorrow, comes our sorrow. They leave them as far as the sea.

You like that, don't you? You know, there are so many lovely hymns on it. But how many times has made the outcry of the shadows. You will find him. You know him. The nail prints in his heart are so deftly and they're lifted up his hands.

The Scars of Christ as the Mark of Redemption

Wonderful. For many, they leave them and they lift up his hands. And I wonder what those are. That's the only thing that man ever made that will be in glory. As they looked at those scars, refreshing screams of guilty race, redemption, all through the ages.

Brother, sister, was he not doing what the patriarch had done in the years that were long past, when there came a time, when the aged father of Jacob was going to bless Jacob's son. He suggests this to you, Mr. Black, to bless you.

And to bless you, he ever wishes to do that. He lifted up his hands and he blessed them. Oh, here was the very eve of his ascension. And we praise God this very day, do we not, that just as he blessed people, where he went to glory.

So the word of God comes in all, in all. As he went, so he's coming. He went in blessing. Hallelujah, he's coming back again in blessing. We have taught a little of the expediency of his ascension, and we have taught a little of the eve of his ascension.

The Eyewitnesses and Twofold Witness of the Ascension

I wonder if we could say just a little about the eyewitnesses of his ascension. He ascended into glory. And in the 11th verse of the first chapter of Acts, if we go down that chapter, we read these words, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?

This saying, Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven. You will notice, of course, in verse 10, that we are told that there were found there too many in white apparel.

I think this is rather important to long ago, and I'm sure you did, long ago, that God doth to do. Could I repeat that? What he asks us to do is the great statement and law concerning evidence. We must never accept the word of one man, the testimony of one man.

It is in the mouth of two or three witnesses that every word shall be established. That we must not accept the word of one man, but only the words of two, unless he himself gives two witnesses to every divine truth that's essential for our salvation.

If you forget that, you can run into terrible trouble. It is because of this, these people that call themselves Latter-day Saints, have come with their baptism of the dead, and they have taken rather obscure verse, and they've built what they call a doctrine upon it.

But it is in the mouth of two or three witnesses. God has done it. He wants you and I to accept that Jesus Christ is his son. So, he gives two witnesses, the Spirit came in the dark, and he himself, after the royalty of Christ.

Indeed, as to the redemption in Christ, was on the mount of transfiguration, as we've taught already. There appear two, Moses and Elias, and they speak of the deceit that he should accomplish in Jerusalem.

The two-fold witness, as to his resurrection. Do you remember yesterday, we were thinking how the angels testified? One sat at the foot, and the other at the head, when Jesus had laid. And so, we have the two-fold witness, as to his royalty.

The two-fold witness, as to his redemption. The two-fold witness, as to his resurrection. But here, next to God, the two-fold witness, an invoice of power which said, this same Jesus shall so come in thy path.

Oh, we have not followed cunningly devised tables. But God requires of us, he himself has done, and has given us the two-fold witness. Now, I don't know who these two men were, do you? Oh, I could allow my imagination to run away with me.

By the way, they weren't angels, were they? I mean, it's so true, doesn't it? I mean, I don't know about your Bible, but my Bible says this, that there stood two men stood by, invoice of power. Two men.

And I assure you, the word men there, is men. Is men. Because, if I didn't, you'd come to me afterwards, and ask me for chapter and verse. You'd say, well, I can't give it, I'm repeating what you would have said.

But I once heard someone say that these two men were the two men that appeared with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses and Elias, who tasted death. The dead in Christ shall rise first. And Elias, who was caught up in a chariot.

The dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain. Now, I don't know if that's right. I only know this, that my heart is glad. Glad, came from God, in the shade of a meadow, gallantly, wise, tangy, gazing up, wanting to do.

There's no need for thine heart to be broken. There's no need, indeed, for you to be cast down. This Jesus shall come again, in light, in light manner. Oh, I bless God for this. But those who were the eyewitnesses of ascension, were those, indeed, who in this scene, had walked with him.

These men of Galilee. Here were some of his disciples. Here was Tom, who, for fear of the Jews, had bolted and barred the door of a room. Christ, as he stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

They'd seen him ascend into heaven. Oh, the wonder of it all. For there it touched their lives, as it should touch your life and my life today, brethren and sisters. As I come to a close, may I say this to you.

Christ's Exaltation and Heavenly Priesthood

If you were to ask me how high Christ has ascended, I'll quote the scripture to you and leave it at that. All I can say is the words of Hebrews 7 and 26. He may, he is made higher than, then I can quote to you the words of Ephesians 1 and 21, and I can dare say to you that God set him far above.

He has ascended into heaven. Because he has ascended into heaven, we can praise God today that he's available for us. Wonderful fact that Jesus Christ is a high priest. Mr. Powell, for the sake of the truth of God.

Proposed by 1 or 2, Hebrews 7, remember that, then or end of day. Wonderful to know that Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven, and is a high priest after the order of Mount Zizanek. He's always there, and if that's all the Bible said of the high priesthood of Christ, I would chant, hallelujah!

But he's not only a high priest after the order of Mount Zizanek, you young people listening now. Are you listening? For this is the most important thing I've said tonight. He is not only a high priest after the order of Mount Zizanek, but he's a high priest after the order of Aaron.

You see, Melchizedek had never been born in a concentration camp. He had never known what it meant to be smacked at, and kicked, and sworn at, and beaten. Melchizedek never knew what it meant to sink to the ground and make his groans heard.

He had never been born in a concentration camp in Egypt. To be indeed a missionary and not to be a murderer. And again, and again, and again, and again, you see the pain and suffering that comes from men and women who seek to turn God into sin.

After the order of Mount Zizanek, he's after the cabin of Eden. He's in touch with the people of our infirmity, because he was at all points tempted, such as we, yet without sin. He knows what it means to be smacked, but did not the men that led him away to Calvary run down his face?

He's the chosen of God. He knows what it means to live poppity. Did they not blindfold him and smite him? What it means to pass the test. Sister, brother, he's in heaven. He knows it all. Have a Savior in glory that has been there before.

Gazing on his glory there, I may reflect his image. We pray together to enlighten the loftiness of his exaltation. But God is in glory. He's more than a high priest. He said, he's our advocate. He said, oh, but we've left him and he's our high priest.

We ask thee that thou would ever grant that we.