ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

Conservative Christianity has never given a prominent place to the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many socalled fundamentalists today give only scant attention to this important fact, while they assert vociferously that He is coming again. But His ascension is the other side of the door of His coming again as the two witnesses declared, "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner" (Acts 1:11).

Churches which follow a liturgical calendar call attention to the ascension to a far greater degree than those which pride themselves on sound doctrine. We major on the vicarious, substitutionary death and proclaim His bodily resurrection — and these things are all-important. But by the time we get through Christmas, Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter, we seem to be all tuckered out. The ascension is lost sight of in the midst of much serving, and it sinks into insignificance after the great events which surround the death and resurrection of Christ.

The forty-day post -resurrection ministry began with Christ's resurrection and concluded with His ascension. The "days of His flesh" began with His virgin birth and ended with His death upon the Cross. Our salvation begins with His death and resurrection and is brought to completion at our ascension.

For forty days the disciples saw Him alive (Acts 1:3). There were many infallible proofs. They looked upon Him, handled Him, spoke with Him, and ate with Him. It was not the dream of a night, the delusion of a day nor the vision of a moment. It was not the excitement of Easter morn, the hysteria of frightened women, nor the lone witness of a solitary individual.

On that first Sunday evening along the dusty road to Emmaus, two discouraged disciples, with hopes dashed to earth, saw Him. They returned with renewed hope and courage. They left Jerusalem as rank unbelievers in the resurrection. They returned devout and consecrated believers. Many days later seven disciples saw Him. Their Easter clothes were laid aside, for they had returned to the humdrum, commonplace duties and monotonous routine of their daily lives. They were back on the job, and there they saw Him. They left their nets to follow Him forever.

Now we return to Jerusalem forty days after His resurrection for the final interview. We come to another familiar spot — the Mount of Olives. Here is where He brought them. Here is where His feet trod the sides of the mountain. Here is where they saw Him last. This is the place of the ascension.

We speak of mountain-top experiences. His life can be told on the mountain tops. There was the mountain of temptation; the sermon given on the mountain; the transfiguration on a mountain; the Olivet discourse given on this very spot; and He was crucified on Golgotha. It was on the Mount of Olives that His greatest miracle, next to that of the resurrection, took place.

"And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). The cloud which shut Him from view was not a cloud of vapor. It was the cloud of glory which abode on the tabernacle in the wilderness. It was the Shekinah glory which clothed the temple.

Somewhere along Israel's checkered career the Shekinah glory departed. Ichabod was written over the threshold of God's house — the glory departed. Ezekiel saw the vision. Christ announced on the Mount of Olives beforehand that they would see the "sign of the Son of man" in the heavens "when He comes again." The glory cloud will come with Him. Is not the sign the cloud of glory which received Him out of their sight?

When He was here on earth we read that He emptied Himself. Was it not the glory which was absent from His glorious person? He prayed in John 17:5: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." Was not this prayer answered in His ascension?

The record in Acts continues, "And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, 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" (Acts 1: 10,11).

These were men, not angels. Some have attempted to identify them as Moses and Elijah. This is merely speculation, as we cannot know.

Many who visit Palestine give priority to a visit to Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, or the Sea of Galilee. Personally, I would rather go to the Mount of Olives to see the last place His blessed feet walked and be fully conscious that here is where His feet will touch the earth again that He may continue the postponed march of triumph through the earth. "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south" (Zech. 14:4).

This is evidently a reference to Christ's personal return to the earth in power and glory to establish His kingdom. It is therefore not a reference to the "blessed hope" of the Church, which Paul describes as a trysting place in the air when the church will "meet the Lord in the air." It is noteworthy that this is a day which is air-conscious: Air travel, jet planes, guided missiles. Surely the Church cannot afford to be other than air-conscious — "caught up to meet the Lord in the air." But the two witnesses in Acts 1 are referring to His return as it affects the earth, when He shall continue His purpose in bringing in the kingdom.

The primary factor in the ascension is the miraculous. It was an event of supernatural power which was not an ordinary fact in His life, as going up to Jerusalem to a feast, or walking down the dusty road in Samaria, where He sat weary and thirsty at a well. The ascension is a demonstration of divine power, which is commensurate with the resurrection. Both are evidences of superhuman and supernatural energy. Omnipotent strength is required to bring life to the dead. Likewise, only God can release men from the prison house of the earth. Space, like prison bars, completely surrounds man and there is no way of escape. Man cannot lift himself by his bootstraps to heights beyond the skies.

A serious effort is being made today to accomplish this old but impossible feat. A prominent engineer of one of the aircraft companies in southern California came into my study recently to make a substantial contribution to missions. I asked him, rathe skeptically, about the possibility of man making a trip to the moon.

Immediately I sensed that this was no laughing matter to this man. He stated categorically that he believed that if we live out our normal life span it will be possible to make a trip to the moon. He told me that the mechanical problems were largely solved, but that the major problem was to acclimate man to the environment of space.

He spoke with ease of establishing an island airport in space at the exact distance where the gravitated pull and the centrifugal force would be equal. This would create a planetorial, where earthlings would go by plane and there begin their journey in a space ship. He spoke of these fictional subjects as factual. His concluding comment was, "It will take power to accomplish this feat."

After he had gone I turned with a new appreciation to Ephesians 1:19-21: "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come."

Paul prayed that this power, the power that took Jesus from the earth through space to the right hand of God, might work in the Believer. This power is commensurate with resurrection power. Surely this power is enough to enable Believers today to live above the smog of the world, the flesh and the devil.

In view of His ascension Christ gave His disciples a final message during those forty days immediately preceding His ascension. This does not mean that this is a second Olivet discourse, but rather a second upper room discourse, for He was eating with them (Acts 1:4). Chrysostom took this position that He was eating with them. He made Himself very real to the disciples during the forty days. In view of His ascension, He gave them a final message. It was of threefold importance.

First of all, they were to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (Acts 1:4,5).

This was a direct reference to Pentecost. He was pointing to Pentecost and pin-pointing it as the birthday of the Church. The Holy Spirit became incarnate in the Church from that day on, and the Holy Spirit was to work through the Church during the life of the Church.

Pentecost could no more be repeated than the birth of Christ could be repeated. He became incarnate at Bethlehem. Shepherds came from nearby, and wise men came from afar, but they did not repeat their visit year after year. Neither is Pentecost repeated. The Holy Spirit came to baptize Believers into the body of Christ which is His Church. Paul informed the church at Corinth of this fact which, up to this time, was a matter of total ignorance as far as they were concerned: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (I Cor. 12:13).

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the vital operation of the Holy Spirit which unites Believers to Christ in such a real way that they are not only identified with Christ, but actually become a member of His body and are called Christ. Since Believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit, they are enjoined to be filled fully with the Holy Spirit. They should wait, watch, and pray for this continual renewing of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Nevertheless, this filling of the Holy Spirit should not be confused with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit because Christ ascended to the Father. The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost because ten days before Christ had arrived in heaven.

The second point emphasized by the Lord before His ascension was that they were to wait for the kingdom. "When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power" (Acts 1:6,7).

It has been the common custom of some conservatives to rebuke the disciples for asking the question. One has gone so far as to say, "They retain the old Jewish idea of the Messianic kingdom." Were the disciples wrong in their viewpoint? Surely the one to correct them was the Lord Jesus Himself and not some later writer.

The Lord Jesus did not correct them, apparently because they were not wrong. The expectation of the Old Testament was not something to discard lightly as of no importance. The Lord rather confirmed it. He stated that it was not for them to know the times and the seasons which the Father had placed in His own hands. They were not to be concerned with dates, but rather with duties now. They were to put patience above the program.

The kingdom has not been discarded for another program, neither has it been displaced for another in this age. This is "the kingdom and patience" of God. He will establish the kingdom in His own time, by His own methods, according to the purpose of His will. For us it is the time of patience. "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord" (Jas. 5:7).

The third point made in connection with the ascension concerns the primary task of this day. The Church, which is made up of blood-washed and Spirit-baptized Believers, is to witness in all the world. "But 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 Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

The Church has been given a world-wide task, for we have received a global Gospel. It knows no boundaries or borders. However, we are not presently concerned with the geography of the witness. It is not the territory that concerns us, but the teachings.

A witness is one who tells something he knows is true. A witness is disqualified who tells what he thinks or hopes or feels should be told. He reports only from the realm of his own knowledge. Not only is a witness one by lip, but also one by life. The life of the witness is all-important.

In a court of law, if a witness reports on something which seems unreasonable to the court, his life often becomes the subject of close examination. The world is continually examining and testing the Christian. Woe to the witness who does not have a life to correspond with his lip or works to match his words!

This method is Scriptural. In Acts 1:1 Luke puts down the formula: "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach." Jesus began to "do" and "teach"— Jesus is still doing and teaching. But He has ascended, and is not here in a glorified body. He is here in the body of Believers, those baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit.

The Church is His body in the world today, and through our bodies we are known. We express ourselves through our bodies — love, hate, hope and fear; concern and indifference can all be expressed through our bodies. Christ is judged today by His Church. Emerson said, "What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say."

The briefest biography of Christ is found in Galatians 5:22,23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Yet this is given to the Believer; the Believer is to manifest the fruit of the Spirit because He is the body of Christ.

The story is told that Dwight L. Moody approached a boy one night who was sitting alone sobbing in the tabernacle after everyone else had gone. When Mr. Moody spoke to him the boy said that the text Mr. Moody used was one that his mother had quoted so often, and the life of his sainted mother had come before him. Her life confronted the boy and he was converted. We witness by words, but also by works. Our life is more potent than our lips.

It is only with the power of the ascended Christ that we can witness at all. "Without me ye can do nothing." These are the "greater works" that we should do (John 14:12). Our total life should become a witness to a living Saviour at God's right hand who ascended there 1900 years ago from the Mount of Olives.