Acts 1:10-11 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;… There is here — I. AN AFFECTIONATE EXPOSTULATION WITH THOSE WHO ARE UNDER PERSONAL BEREAVEMENT. When Jesus had kept telling these friends of His that He purposed to leave them before long, they received no settled impression from it. It is of no use to attempt to become prepared for the loss of one whom we love. Now they looked after their ascending Lord with unutterable dismay. When any one has parted with some precious object of affection, the wounded spirit remains just broken, gazing up into vacancy, sometimes even wishing it might fly away and be at rest. But this cannot be indulged. These disciples are told to report immediately for duty. The mourner's eyes should be fixed upon work, and not upon loss. See the promise (Psalm 126:5, 6.). II. AN EARNEST INCITEMENT TO THE LAGGARD OR LISTLESS. The great world needed the gospel without delay. Christ was gone, but the Comforter was coming. Just as soon as they advanced to duty the day of Pentecost dawned. There are men who stand gazing up into heaven after a revival. Now, nowhere does God's Word bid us wait for any special outpouring of spiritual influence. The Holy Spirit is in the Church. III. A CLEAR COUNSEL FOR THOSE IN EARNEST IN THE SEEKING OF CHRIST FOR THEIR SOULS. It is possible for a man to stand gazing up into heaven for a course of years, and then suddenly discover that what he has been looking for was an experience, and not a Saviour. Salvation is not a thing to be vacantly gazed after. Repent of your sins now. Put your trust in Christ now. The entire work of turning unto a new life usually begins with some commonplace step of commitment of one's self before others. A public word in a prayer-meeting, the asking of a blessing at the table, a checking admonition to a comrade, a mere refusal to do a wrong or worldly act, will never make a man a Christian, but it may show he has become one. IV. A COMFORT FOR SUCH CHRISTIANS AS ARE IN BONDAGE THROUGH FEAR OF DEATH. Let us think of our departure as an ascension like Christ's. One may habituate himself to melancholy foreboding until all looks dark and frightful on ahead. Or he may accustom his mind to regarding a change of worlds as only a sweet, bright journey along the path the Saviour went from the Mount of Olives. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; |
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