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Acts 1:9-12 SEEING JESUS RETURN TO HEAVEN

Introduction:

After His resurrection Jesus made several appearances to His disciples

within a forty day period. In one of those appearances He instructed the church

to tarry at Jerusalem until it was empowered from on high by the Holy Spirit of

God. The Holy Spirit would empower them to carry out the Great Commission which

He had given to them. After receiving this great power from on high they were

instructed to witness for Him in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria and unto

the uttermost parts of the world.

On that same day Jesus leads His disciples out on the Mt. of Olives to a

spot near the village of Bethany. It was there that they had the privilege of

seeing another spectacular event. They had the privilege of seeing Jesus as He

arose into the air and went back to heaven.

This was a marvelous event to see. It would make a great impact upon the

hearts and minds of the disciples. It would add one more event to a whole

series of events which would change the whole outcome of their lives.

I. Their first major life changing event which they had experienced

One of the earlier things that had such an impact upon their whole lives

was that they heard about a preacher who was preaching out in the wilderness of

Judea near Jerusalem. These disciples lived in Galilee, but they heard about

John the Baptist who was preaching down in Judea near the River Jordan.

I am not certain just how they came to hear John preach, but I think that

it must have been on one of the annual trips they were required to make to

Jerusalem to worship. While they were already there in the vicinity of

Jerusalem they decided to go out and hear John the Baptist preach.

For them it was a life changing experience. They heard John tell that the

long awaited Christ of God, which the Old Testament prophets had said would

come, was about to make His appearance. John urged all of his listeners to

repent of their sin and to believe in the Christ who was soon to come. They

did. It was an event that would have a tremendous change on the outcome of

their lives. It would turn their lives around to whole new direction. It would

change their whole lifestyle. From this point forward they would dedicate

themselves to righteous living. They would seek by the help of God to live in a

way that would please God. Their chief goal in life would be to bring honor and

glory to God and to the Christ of God in whom they had now come to believe.

It did more than change their lives. It changed their destiny. It took

them off the broad road that leads to destruction and placed them on the narrow

road that lead to life everlasting. It would keep them out of the fires of hell

and would bring them into the eternal glories of heaven.

I can identify with that experience. Back when I was sixteen years old in

Pensacola, Florida, I was most certainly not headed in the right direction. But

a buddy of mine told me about a little Missionary Baptist Church which he

attended with his family. He asked me to go to church with him and I did.

It was there that I heard a preacher by the name of C. D. Barton. He

preached

to me about the same Christ that John the Baptist had preached about. He

informed me that Jesus is the Son of God and that He had come to the world to

die for lost sinners so that they might be saved and spend eternity with God in

heaven.

That message touched my heart. This was what I wanted. I wanted to be

cleansed from all my sin and I wanted to go to heaven when I die. So I called

on Jesus Christ and asked Jesus to save my soul --- and He did.

Jesus saved my soul and it was a life changing experience. I will not say

that prior to my salvation that I had deliberately dedicated myself to doing

evil. But there had been a lot of wrong doing in my life and some of the things

I had done which bore heavily on my conscious. There was one thing for sure. I

had certainly not dedicated myself to a righteous living.

But when I trusted Jesus as my Savior that changed. I still do not

measure up to the kind of person I ought to be. I still do all too many things

that I should not do. But from the time that I trusted Jesus as my Savior there

has been a desire in my heart to live a righteous life and there has been an

effort on my part to live my life for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ who

saved my soul.

But for me it did more than to bring about a change in my life style.

Even more import, it brought about a change in my destiny. In the words of a

great hymn I can say to you, ?I once was lost, but now I?m found; was blind but

now I see.? In my own words I say to you I was lost and hell bound, but now,

thank God, I?m saved. Jesus Christ has saved my soul and I am now on that

narrow road which will eventually lead me into heaven.

I think many of you can identify with this. There was a time when you

came under the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and you called upon Jesus

to be your Savior. This was a life changing experience for you. It turned your

life around. It not only cleaned up your life and started you out on a life of

righteous living, but it put a new song in your heart and made life worth

living.

But even more important than the change in your lifestyle, it brought

about a change in your eternal destiny. Like the words of another great hymn,

you are ?safe in the arms of Jesus.? You are ?saved by the blood of the

Crucified One.? You have left forever the broad road that leads to destruction.

You are now traveling the narrow road that will eventually lead you into the

wondrous glories of heaven.

I must say that if there are any of you who cannot identify with this

experience, then what you need to do this morning is to repent of your sin and

call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to be your Savior. This will be an

experience that will turn your whole life around and make your life worth

living. But even more important, it will change your eternal destiny. It will

make the difference between spending eternity in the fires of hell and spending

eternity in extreme joy.

II. Another life changing experience for those disciples

Not only did those disciples place their faith in Jesus under the

preaching of John the Baptist, but they got baptized by him. God had authorized

John the Baptist to baptize those who repented of their sin and trusted in the

coming Christ. So after trusting in the coming Christ which John preached about

they went to John and requested to be baptized by him. One by one John took

them out into the Jordan river and dipped them down into the waters of the

Jordan River. Then he lifted them up out of the waters again.

Now I hope you understand that their baptism did not help in any way to

get them saved. Neither did it have anything to do with keeping them saved. It

did not even get them into the membership of a church at that time. There was

not church in that area for them to join. There was not a church at that time

even in Jersusalem for them to join. There was not a church in all Israel for

them to join. There was not a church in all the world for them to join.

But it did help to qualify them for membership in the church just as soon

as Jesus organized one. In fact He would do that right soon and they would have

the privilege of being charter members of the first church in the world.

Now I know that being baptized does not compare in wonder and splendor to

some of the other experiences of these disciples, but it must have been an

experience that was deeply satisfying to them. They had the satisfaction of

knowing that it pleased God for them to go to John and be baptized by him.

Again I can identify with those disciples. I still remember the time that

I was baptized down at Pensacola, Florida. I remember how happy I was to do

something that was so simple and so easy to do that would be so tremendously

pleasing to God. I was happy because I had done what the Lord wanted me to do.

The Lord wants all who are saved to be baptized at the hands of a scriptural New

Testament church.

Again, I am sure that many of you can identify with this. You have not

only trusted Jesus and been saved, but you have been baptized at the hands of a

New Testament church. If your baptism means as much to you as mine does to me,

then you are very glad that you have been baptized.

Now if there are any of you who are lost in sin I would not want you to

think that getting baptized will get you saved. It won?t. But if there are any

of you who have been saved who have not yet been baptized, then I would strongly

recommend that you present yourself as a candidate for baptism and church

membership to this church or some other good church.

III. Some other life changing events which those disciples experienced

The disciples were eye witnesses to the crucifixion of Jesus. They saw

the cruel brutal treatment that Jesus endured. They saw as His hand and His

feet were nailed to the cross. They saw as the crown of thorns was beaten into

His brow with a reed. They saw as the crowd of people mocked Him and slapped

Him and spit in His face. They heard as He cried out and said, ?Father, into

thy hand I commend my Spirit.? They saw as His head dropped forward in death.

They saw as the Roman soldier pierced His side with a spear. They also saw by

many infallible proofs during the forty day period after His resurrection that

Jesus had risen from the grave. In fact, He was there bodily in their presence

on Mt. Olives at the time involved in our text.

There is no way for us to understand the great impact that witnessing both

His crucifixion and His resurrection had on their lives. We cannot understand

because we cannot identify with them in this experience. We were not there and

we have never had a similar experience in our own lives. But we can be sure of

one thing. It made them more determined than ever to preach the gospel message

and to live for His honor and glory. That much we can identify with. We can

know our own determination to be witnesses for Jesus and to live for His honor

and glory.

IV. Seeing Jesus return to heaven

V. 9, ?And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was

taken up...? That is, as soon as He had instructed them to tarry at Jerusalem

until they were endued with power from on high and as soon as He had instructed

them to be witnesses for Him throughout the world, He proceeded to rise in the

air and to return to heaven.

(V. 9) ?...and a cloud received him out of their sight...? They must

have stood aghast. Jesus had repeatedly told them that He was not of this

earth, that He was from heaven. He had told them that God the Father had sent

Him to this earth. He had told them that He would return to the Father. But

there was no way that they expected such as this to take place before their very

eyes. There was no heavenly chariot. There was no space ship. There was just

the mighty power of God that took Him up bodily and carried Him away to heaven.

They were spellbound by the splendor of the event. Even after He disappeared

into the clouds, they just stood there gazing into the sky.

V. 10, ?And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up,

behold, two men stood by them in white apparel? All of a sudden there appeared

standing by them two manlike creatures who were dressed in heavenly apparel.

They were angels of God from heaven and they made a miraculous appearance to

give the disciples a special message from God about Jesus.

V. 11, ?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.? The angelic messengers

from God informed the disciples of two things about Jesus. First, they informed

them that Jesus would some day return to the earth. Secondly, they informed the

disciples that when Jesus does return, He will return bodily just as He went

away bodily. When He left heaven to come to earth He was not in an earthly

body. But when He returned to heaven He went away in an earthly body. When He

returns to the earth He will return in an earthly body. It will be a glorified

body, of course, but it will be in His earthly body.

V. 12, ?Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,

which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.? The disciples must have

still been aghast as they returned to Jerusalem from the Mt. of Olives. This

event would have a lasting effect upon them. It would combine with all of the

other splendrous events that they had experienced in their dealings with Jesus.

They would all have a profound effect upon them for the rest of their lives.

They would dedicate themselves to the work which Jesus had assigned for them to

do. They would work tirelessly. They would work zealously. They would witness

fearlessly. They would live their lives for one purpose. That purpose would be

to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

Listen, we are able to identify with the disciples in their experience of

salvation. We are able to identify with them in their baptism and church

membership. But we are not able to identify with them in their having witnessed

the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Neither are we able to identify with

them in their witness of the Lord?s return to heaven. Yet we can identify with

them in seeing Jesus when He returns. The angels said that He would return in

like manner as He went away. He will return from heaven.

He will return through the clouds. He will return bodily. He will touch His

feet to Mt. Olives again and when He does, according to other prophecy, the

mountain will split asunder and half of it will move toward the north and half

of it will move toward the south.

Listen, brethren, when that takes place those us who are saved will be

right there as eye witnesses to that event. The difference is that the return

of Jesus to earth will be even more spectacular than His return to heaven. We

will be equally as spellbound as those disciples weretwo thousand years ago

when they saw Jesus go away to heaven.

May God give us the grace to be just as dedicated to living for Jesus

today as they were two thousand years ago. May our lives be equally as yielded

to the will of God. May we be dedicated to living righteous lives. May we be

as dedicated to witnessing to the unsaved. May we be as dedicated to standing

for the truths of God?s Holy Book. Those disciples were just as human as we

are. They were just as weak in human flesh as we are. But they were strong in

the work of the Lord. May we be just as strong in the work of God as they were.