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Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Good evening and welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Let's go ahead and find our seats this evening Find the seats and find a hymnal close to you and turn to page number one hundred and thirty four Saw number one hundred and thirty four We will open our congregational singing with my anchor hold saw number one hundred and thirty four Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first You're safe and sure that can evermore endure Any holes my anchor holds? Blow your wildest an old gale On my bark so small and frail By his grace I shall not fail for my anchor holds My anchor Saw number one hundred and thirty four I think you guys can do a little bit better So y'all don't let me sing solos up here saw number one hundred and thirty four on the second mighty tides about me sweet Pairs lurk within the tea Angry clouds or shade the sky and the tempest rises high Still I stand the tempest sharp For my anchor grips the rock Any holes my anchor holds? Boy, why is there no gale on my bar so small and frail? By his grace. I shall not fail for my anchor holds My Anchor Sing it out on the third. I can feel the anchor fast as I sudden blast and the cable scene bears the heavy strain between Those I say Till the turning of And it holds my anchor holds Boy, why is there no gale on my bar so small and frail? By his grace. I shall not fail By Oh sing it out on the last troubles almost well the soul Never seek to lure a stray song secure the light of day But in Christ, I can be I've an anchor that shall hold Oh My anchor holds Boy, why is there no gale on my bar so small and frail? By his grace. I shall not fail for my Oh My Amen great singing welcome to Verity Baptist Church here on our Wednesday evening service We are glad to see everyone here this evening. Let's open the service with a word of prayer Dear heavenly Father Lord, we come to you this evening or we thank you for everything that you've done throughout the week Lord Pray that we thank you for the people that are here. Thank you for keeping us safe I pray that you bless the service bless the singing bless the preaching come Lord. We love you in Jesus in my pray. Amen All right, turn to page number 30 Almost slipped there and asked for favorites. So number 30 Sound number three zero. What can wash away my sin? Nothing, but the blood of Jesus on number 30 on the first What can wash away my sin? Nothing, but the blood of Jesus What can make me whole again nothing, but the blood of Jesus Oh That makes me white as snow No Fount I know Jesus on the second for my pardon this I see Jesus For my cleansing this I plea nothing, but the blood of Jesus Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow No Founts I know Nothing Jesus we're gonna sing it out on the third, but not at the four I asked by the Christian to raise it up a little bit. So on that force is the fourth. It's gonna go up All right, so let's sing it out on the third Nothing can force in a town nothing, but the blood of Jesus not of good Nothing but the blood of Jesus Oh That makes me No other founts I know nothing, but the blood of Jesus key change This is all my hope and peace nothing, but the blood of Jesus this is all my righteousness Nothing, but the blood of Jesus That makes me white as snow No Amen we want to welcome you to the midweek service here at verde baptist church. We're glad you're with us Let's go ahead and take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly tonight If you do not have a bulletin just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you If you need a bulletin just put your hand up and we'll get one for you the verse this week first peter one three Blessed be the god and the father of our lord jesus christ, which according to his abundant mercy have begotten us again Until of lively hope by the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead and that's a good verse there We like that if you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time sunday morning service 10 30 Am and we had uh, we do invite you to be with us Of course on sunday morning on the lord's day for church sunday evening service at 6 p.m And we're glad you're here for the Midweek bible study if you look at our soul winning times our main soul winning times on saturday mornings at 10 a.m And then we have additional soul winning times on thursdays fridays and sundays at 2 p.m So if you'd like to go soul winning There'll be an opportunity for you to be able to do that tomorrow at 2 p.m If you're a first-time guest if it's your first time here at verde baptist church, we're glad you're with us We have a gift we'd like to give you As you walk out of the church building tonight if you go out our main foyer Or if you go to our secondary foyer, you'll see a little table set up and on that table You'll see these little gift bags Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have But the one I like to highlight is this documentary that our church made it's called being baptist It's very well made very interesting. We think you'll like it. I want to give you this gift Uh tonight for being our guest and if you are a guest we'd ask that you please take a moment You should have one of these cards. It says survey questionnaire on them And if you take a moment to fill the card out we would appreciate it We'd love to have a record of your attendance We would actually like to send you a little gift, but we need your info to do that So please take a moment to fill the card out And when we're done with the announcement We're going to sing a song and then we'll receive it the offering As the offering plate goes by you can drop this card in the offering plate if you look at the announcements there Of course, we had easter on sunday and that was a great success and praise the lord for that I think we had like 270 in church on sunday morning or something like that So praise the lord for that. And then of course, we've got a baby shower this saturday april 15th at 3 p.m And uh, it's for miss karen. Jimenez. She has registered on amazon. She's having a boy It is a potluck So if you can please bring a dish to share and then there's other things there for you to look at Of course We have the ladies tea coming up and we invite all the ladies to come out to an elegant afternoon tea in honor of mother's Day on saturday may 13th at 3 p.m. And then mother's day is on sunday may 14th at 10 30 a.m Men's preaching and p tonight is on friday. April 21st at 7 p.m And make sure you make plans to be here. Of course for that children's choir begins on sunday April 16th at 5 15 in the playroom. They're going to start practicing for mother's day Homeschool group other things they're free to look at. I think they've got pe is that tomorrow the 13th at 10 a.m Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody if you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries for the month of April we have miss emily and julia gessler have a birthday today on april 12th Daniel santos has a birthday today on april 12th as well Miss christine ortiz has a birthday on april 15th and jabra free love has a birthday on april 15th praise report money matters Are all there are other things for you to look at I do want to uh, just real quickly i'm gonna mess up the ushers a little bit But if you did not get a prayer sheet, would you raise your hand? We want you to have a prayer sheet We're not going to go through the prayer sheet tonight But I do want you to have a prayer sheet if you didn't get one. I apologize I realize that's two weeks in a row We'll make sure to go through that next week But if you need a prayer sheet, please put your hand up and we will get one for you I think that's it for all of the announcements. So we're going to go ahead and sing page number 15 page number one five As we prepare to receive the offering tonight page number 15 And we'll sing lead me to calvary page one five sing it out on the first king of my life I crown thee now Mine shall the glory be Lest I forget thy thorn crown brow lead me to calvary Lest I forget 70 Lest I forget my nagini Lest I forget thy love for me Lead me to calvary page number 15. Sing it out on the second Show me the tomb where thou was laid tenderly more than when Left angels and road come wide arrayed I forget Lest I forget Nagini lest I forget my love for me lead me to calvary Glory Let me like mary through the gloom come with a gift to thee Show to me now the empty tomb lead me to calvary Lest I forget My love for me Lead me to calvary Good sing it out on the last may I be willing lord to bear daily my cross for thee Even my cup of grief to share thou has borne all for me Me Lest I forget Amen, all right We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer heavenly father lord We do thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord. We pray that you bless the offering the gift and the giver In jesus name we pray. Amen So So So So Please open mouths to luke 24 luke chapter number 24 If you need a bobby probably you can put your hand up and i'm not sure i'll bring you a bible luke chapter number 24 If you need to keep your hand up on the show come by luke 24 we're reading the entire chapter as our custom Luke chapter number 24 beginning verse number one Now upon the first day of the week very early in the morning They came into the sepulcher Bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others with them And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher and they entered in and found not the body of the lord. Jesus And it came to pass As they were much perplexed there about behold two men stood by them in shining garments And as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in galley Saying the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise again And they remembered his words And returned from the sepulcher and told all these things unto the eleven and to all the rest It was mary magdalene and joanna and married the mother of james Another woman that were with them which told these things unto the apostles And their words seemed to them as idle tales and they believed them not Then arose peter and ran into the sepulcher and stooping down. He beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves and departed Wondering in himself that that which was come to pass and behold Two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three square furlongs And they talked together of all these things which had happened And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were holding that they should not know him And he said unto them What manner of communication are these that you have one to another as you walk and are sad? and the one of them said And the one of them whose name was Cleopas answering said unto him aren't that only a stranger in Jerusalem? And it's not known the things which are come to pass there in these days And he said unto them what things and they said unto him unto him concerning jesus of nazareth Which is a prophet mighty indeed and worded before god and all the people Now the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed israel And beside all this today is the third day since these things were done In certain women also of our company made us astonished which were early at the sepulcher When they found not his body they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive Concern of them which were with us went to the sepulcher and found that even so as the woman had said But him they saw not Then he said unto them oh fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken I'm not christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory And beginning at moses and all the prophets he expounded into them in all things in all the scriptures the things concerning himself And they drew nigh into the village whether they went and he made as though he would have gone further But they constrained him saying abide with us for it is toward evening and the day is far spent And he went in to tarry with them And it came to pass as he sat at me with them He took bread and blessed it and break and gave to them and their eyes were opened and they knew him And he vanished out of their sight And they said one to another did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way While he opened to us the scriptures And they rose up the same hour and returned to jerusalem and found the eleven gathered together and them that were with them Saying the lord is risen indeed and appeared to simon And they told what things were done in the way now. He was known of them in breaking of bread And as they thus spake jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them peace be unto you But they were terrified and affrighted and supposed that he had that they had seen his spirit And he said unto them Why are you troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself Handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have When you are thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet And while they yet believed not for joy and wondering he said unto them have you here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and oven honeycomb and he took it and did eat before them And he said unto them these are the words which I speak unto you while I was yet with you That all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning me Then opened here their understanding that they might understand the scriptures and he said unto them Thus it is written and thus it behooved christ to suffer and to rise from the dead of the third day And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at jerusalem And ye are witnesses of these things And behold I send the promise of my father upon you But tarry ye in the city of jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high And he led them out as far as to bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them And they came to pass while he blessed them. He was parted from them and carried up into heaven And they worshiped him and returned to jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing. God. Amen Let's pray heavenly father. Thank you for this evening. God. I thank you for your word And for our church for him that's here tonight. God as he please give us the tender hearts of the message I see a few other pastors to strengthen them and to fill them with spirit. We love you in jesus name. Pray. Amen Amen All right, we're there in luke chapter number 24 and tonight is a very special night because we are Finishing up this uh sermon series that we've been in if you are If you've been with us, you know that we've been In a bible study in the gospel of luke we've called it journey with jesus But it's really just been a verse by verse study through the gospel of luke And we've been in this journey with jesus for quite some time. In fact, we began this series in on uh, sunday november 21st of 2021 2021 And of course we took a lot of breaks in between And we started it in november In luke's chapters one and two, of course dealing with the christmas story in 2021 2022 we called it the year of jesus and we spent most of the year studying the life of christ together And like I said, we've taken breaks here and there and at times I preached through luke on sunday mornings Sometimes I preached through luke on wednesday nights. Sometimes we've done sunday morning sunday night and wednesday night So it's just kind of been uh a different thing, but uh, we're finishing tonight. Of course we in january we took a break from the gospel of luke and we I preached on different things from january to The beginning of january to the end of march and we picked it back up Right around the easter season. Uh, so some of you are like I didn't notice and that's you know concerning to me But that's fine, that's fine It doesn't matter if you know what i'm doing as long as the word of god is being preached and you're being ministered to Uh, some of you still don't know that I preach through books of the bible, but that's all right Um tonight is the final sermon in this uh book. It's actually the 95th sermon in this book And we spent we've had 95 sermons through the gospel of luke before you judge me harshly just realize that it's 24 chapters Every chapter has like anywhere between 50 and 80 verses Um, and it's the longest the longest book in the new testament not by chapters, but by word count Um, it's the longest book in the entire bible So we spend a lot of time and I think it's fine to spend time studying life of christ, of course But um, we'll be finishing up this study tonight tonight We're going to look at this idea of the ascension of christ the ascension of christ. I'm like you notice there in verse number 50 Luke 24 and verse 50 in verses 50 51 52 and 53. We have the ascension of christ I'm, not gonna necessarily preach through those verses tonight we're gonna look at a lot of different passages, but I want you to just notice the ascension the bible says and he The bible says led them and of course, this is the lord. Jesus christ He led them as far as to bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them And it came to pass while he blessed them. He was parted from them And carried up into heaven and they worshiped him and returned to jerusalem with great joy And were continually in the temple praising god and blessing Praising and blessing god. Amen Let me just begin just by way of introduction and say this if you're not sure what we mean by the ascension of christ What we're talking about is right there at the end of verse 51 when it says that he was carried up into heaven The ascension of christ is the event in which the lord jesus christ left this earth and ascended back Into heaven it's spoken a lot of uh, the the bible speaks a lot about the ascension of christ. We're gonna see that tonight But I would say that it is probably the event that is least spoken of in the life of christ is the event that we Uh kind of study the least and talk the least about the ascension of christ, but it's very interesting And I want to just Give you some thoughts here and just real quickly Like I said, we're gonna spend a lot of time in these specific verses Let me just real quickly outline these few verses for you here luke 24 50 51 52 and 53 Why don't you notice when we look at the story of the ascension if you want to? Outline it or if you want to maybe mark in your bible Um in verse 50 there we see kind of the first step and it is that he led them He led them out as far as to Bethany and jesus at this time is really in every way shape or form their leader And he's been their leader this entire time And here the bible tells us that he led them and of course I was actually just recently talking with my wife about this It's interesting to me that Jesus is probably I mean not probably he is for sure the greatest leader who ever lived And but you'll notice that jesus never really speaks too much of himself as a leader In fact what he said over and over and over again to the disciples was follow me Follow me and his emphasis in leadership style for those of you that are interested was not on emphasizing his position as a leader But emphasizing their positions as followers. We don't see him saying i'm the leader a lot, but we see him saying follow me Obviously if somebody's following you and that makes you the leader And that's just a thought for you husbands who feel that you constantly need to tell your wife that you're in charge Uh, if you're having to always tell somebody you're the boss, maybe you're not the boss But um here the bible tells us that he led them out as far as to bethany and if you want to outline this passage Here's another point. He lifted up his hands. He lifted up his hand So we see that he led them and then we see that he lifted up his hands He lifted up his hands the bible tells us and blessed them and I just want you to notice And I want you to see that when the bible says he lifted up his hands It's literally referring to the fact that he lifted up his hands as you spoke to them and he Began to bless them. He began to pronounce the blessing upon them what he said We don't know for sure exactly what he said to them and what type of blessing he bestowed upon them But we know that he lifted up his hands and blessed them And I just want to bring out this thought in regards to this That their last memory of jesus would be this because in verse 51 we're told and it came to pass while he blessed them So as he was doing this as he lifted up his hands and began to bless them while he blessed them number three He was parted from them and carried up into heaven So in verse 50, we see that he led them in verse 50 We also see that he lifted up his hands to bless them and in verse 51 we see that he left them He led them and he lifted up his hands and then he left them But when he left he left with his hands lifted I I want you to notice that because nothing in the bible is in there for no reason The bible says that he lifted up his hands and blessed them and it came to pass while he blessed them He was parted from them and carried up into heaven as he lifted up his hands and pronounced the blessing upon them The bible says that he began to ascend up to heaven and he was carried up into heaven And I just think it's interesting to know that the last memory that they would visually have of jesus The last thing that they physically saw him do Was to lift up his hands and to pronounce a blessing on them and that just shows you the grace and the mercy of christ Because you would you would have thought And before the resurrection they would have thought that maybe the last memory that they had of christ Was of his hands stretched out on a cross But instead of the last memory of marry his mother or the followers of christ instead of their last memory Being of his arms and his hands stretched out on a cross It was instead his hands lifted up in a blessing and I just think that's a beautiful thought to consider that He was carried up into heaven As he lifted up his hands and blessed them verse 52 and they worshiped him and returned to jerusalem with great joy And we're continually in the temple praising and blessing god, amen I want to speak to you tonight on the subject of the ascension We see it here in luke 24. We're going to come back to luke 24 But we're going to look at other passages as well And what i'd like to do is i'd like to just give you three words That will serve as points or as pointers as markers to help us transition through this idea of the ascension and help you understand What the ascension is i'll give you the words in advance so you can jot them down if you like And that way you can tell as we mark our way through this idea of the doctrine of the ascension. The first word is transition And transition and if you're taking notes, you might want to jot that down. The second word is ascension And then the third word is commission transition ascension commission in fact, let me Flip that around Transition commission ascension i'll give it to you in that order. Let me begin by explaining the transition Obviously at the resurrection of christ there was a transition between how christ met with and talked with and dealt with his disciples before the crucifixion before the resurrection and after And what I want you to understand and you may or i'm sure you already know this This is a smart crowd that we've got around here. But some of you maybe don't know this so I want you to understand the appearances of christ after the resurrection were sporadic Before the crucifixion. Jesus was with them every day Jesus lived with them. They were together every day. They spent three years three and a half years however long his ministry was together In a physical way, but after the resurrection he appeared to them But those appearances of the risen christ were sporadic meaning they were not consistent They were here and there he they saw him for a little while and then they would not see him again You're there in luke 24, uh, go up to verse number 33 luke 24 in verse 33 just to give you an example We've already seen the story, but I want you to notice the example in verse 33 The bible says and they and if you remember from Sunday the they there is referring to the two disciples on the road to amaeus and they rose up the same hour And returned to jerusalem and found the 11 gathered together and them that were with them verse 34 Saying the lord is risen indeed and hath appeared to simon I just want you to notice that jesus, of course We saw that story of the road to amaeus and he appeared to the disciples on the road and then vanished before their site They went back to jerusalem But by the time they got there they were already being told of another appearance of christ where he had appeared to simon And they're telling him that simon has seen him verse 35 and they told what things were done in the way And how he jesus was known of them. So these Appearances of christ they are sporadic and I won't take the time to go through all the different stories, but Even the story we saw on sunday where jesus appeared in the upper room the bible tells us in another gospel that Thomas doubting thomas was not there And then of course he said that he would not believe unless he saw it unless he touched jesus With his own hands and the bible tells us that eight days later. He appeared unto them again But this time thomas being with them and I only point that out to say this that when jesus rose from the dead It was not this thing where it was like, okay guys, i'm back now Let's keep traveling or let's keep going. He appeared to them but the appearances of the risen christ were sporadic They were not consistent. They weren't with him every day. They saw him here They saw him there as he appeared to them as he came to them The second thing that I want you to understand regarding this transition Is that not only were the appearances sporadic but the appearances were only to believers Uh, go to first corinthians chapter 15. If you were would you're there in luke if you go past john acts romans into first corinthians first corinthians chapter 15 In first corinthians 15 the apostle paul gives us a list of those who had seen the crucified christ And here's what he says first corinthians 15 and verse 5 The bible says and that he was seen of cephas now we just saw in luke How the two disciples on the road to mayas they they came back and the 11 told them that jesus had appeared To simon that he had appeared to cephas and he appeared to peter here. We see it again that he was seen of cephas Of course, this was referring to simon peter then of the 12 verse 6 after that he was seen of above After that, he was seen of above 500 brethren at once So here we're told that there's an appearance of christ where there are 500 but notice the word there brethren. That's believers. That's christians 500 Believers brethren are gathered together and jesus appeared to them at once of whom the greater part remained unto this present paul is telling us at the time of his writing he's saying Most of those 500 people are still alive He says but some are falling asleep and that's paul telling the writers that you can check me on this I'm, not making this story up. There was 500 brethren that saw him at once for seven after that. He was seen of james That's of course the half brother of christ then of all the apostles And last of all, he was seen of me paul says also as of one born out of due time So I want you to notice that there's this transitional period after the resurrection That leads us to the ascension during that period there are appearances of christ but those appearances are sporadic and those appearances are only to Uh believers go to the book of aks real quickly aks chapter one If you go backwards from first corinthians, you've got the book of romans and then the book of aks aks chapter number one and you you should understand that because of the fact that Jesus did not rise from the grave and then go and appear to the pharisees and the sadducees And and the and and the high priest and the levite, you know, and and the religious leaders He didn't go and appear to them and say You know here I am I told you, you know, he didn't go and appear to pilot He didn't go and appear to unbelievers because of the fact that the bible says that That we must believe without seeing The bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen so he appeared to people that had already placed their trust that are already believed on him and he was seen I mean Of 500 brethren at once of the 12 and of cephas and of all the apostles all the apostles not just referring to the 12 referring to the 70 that are referred to as apostles paul says and last of all He was seen of me as one born of due time And of course that was an appearance after the ascension when he appeared to paul or saul on the road to damascus But what I want you to understand is that jesus appeared sporadically and he appeared to believers and this happened Over a period of 40 days acts chapter 1 If you're there look at verse 1 Acts 1 1 of course acts chapter 1 and verse 1 is an introduction to the book of acts For those of you that are not aware. I just want you to understand the gospel of luke was obviously written by a man named luke The book of alex was written by the same writer. It was written by luke And in verse 1 of acts 1 he says the former treaties Have I made otheophilus of all that jesus began both to do and teach the word treaties? There is a reference to a formal or systematic Exposition and what he's referring to is the gospel of luke He's saying the former treaties referring to the gospel of luke the book that we've been studying He says have I made otheophilus of all that jesus began both to do and teach look at verse two Until the day in which he was taken up notice that that is a reference to the ascension Until the day that he was taken up after that He through the holy ghost had given commandment until the apostles whom he had chosen to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many Infallible proofs being seen of them. I just want you to notice this being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things Pertaining to the kingdom of god. So jesus after the resurrection Was on this earth for 40 days. He was not with them every day of those 40 days. His uh, His his appearances were sporadic. They were only to believers, but they lasted for a period of 40 days And of course the number 40 is a Number that comes up a lot in the bible There is some value to the number 40. Of course. Jesus, uh was in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights as he fasted So was moses so was elijah The the children of israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years the number 40 comes up a lot but God chose for jesus to be on this earth for 40 days In his glorified body and to appear to certain believers at certain times sporadically This was a transitional period and I I want you to get that because the ascension just kind of ends That transition and the ascension is important because of the fact that if jesus would have just kind of appeared Here appeared there and just kind of appeared a few times and it just kind of trickled down There really would not have been a finality to it There wouldn't have been an end to it The the beautiful thing about the ascension where he gathered the disciples together and he ascended up to heaven He went back to heaven Uh, and they visually physically saw that is that it brought an end a definitive end to that Transitional period in which he was walking on the earth after the resurrection for 40 days Just another thing for you to kind of and I realize tonight It's maybe more of a bible study, but it's Wednesday nights. I think that's what we're supposed to be doing. But um, Just so you can kind of put these uh, this the sequence into in into thoughts if you remember the day of pentecost Was a celebration that happened 50 days after the passover So 50 days it's called pentecost in the word penta meaning five or 50 in this case, of course like a pentagon Right, um, so 50 days after the passover was the day of pentecost and jesus was with them After passover, obviously, he died passover resurrected. He was with them for 40 days So he left them really just right before the day of pentecost Which is what we'll see when he sends them back to jerusalem to prepare for that day So we have the transition and I hope you understand that period of time those 40 days The appearances of the risen christ were sporadic the appearances of the risen christ were only to believers And that time frame lasted for uh, 40 days. That's the transition number two Uh, the second word that I want to highlight for you and i'd like you to go to romans if you would romans chapter number Eight you're there in the book of acts if you just flip over to romans And do me a favor if you haven't flipped already keep your place in axis We're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it throughout the sermon. I'd like you to be able to get to it quickly romans chapter number eight So Obviously, we already saw in luke that jesus ascended up to heaven And the question is where is jesus now and What is jesus doing? And why did jesus go right? Why why even have the ascension and let me just answer that? For you from the word of god here. Let's begin with this question. Where is jesus in romans 8 and verse 34 the bible says this Who is he that condemned it? It is christ that died Yea, rather that is risen again Notice this little phrase who is even at the right hand of god who also maketh intercession for us So the bible very clearly and very consistently tells us that jesus is at the right hand of god He has taken his place In the throne room of god sitting at the right hand of god Uh, and we we would call that he's god's right-hand man, right? He's uh in heaven sitting at the right hand of the father go to first timothy if you would first timothy chapter number three Uh, if you can find all the t-books, they're all clustered together first second thessalonians first second timothy titus first timothy chapter three And look at verse number 16. I just want to show you i'm not going to show you all the verses on the ascension Because there there's too many and we don't have the time to do it tonight but i'd like to give you a lot of verses so that you can see how Much this is spoken of throughout the bible first timothy 3 16 First timothy 3 16 is a verse that we often go to to prove certain things Usually the deity of christ, but I want you to notice that there's something else in here that proves and talks about the ascension as well First timothy 3 16 the bible says and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh Of course, we usually use this verse to show that the fact that god was massive fast in the flesh and that speaks to the Incarnation the fact that god became flesh But then the bible says justified in the spirit scene of angels preached unto the gentiles believed out in the world And I just want you to notice this little phrase receive received up into glory And this is again a reference to the ascension. He was received up in to glory. He uh ascended in to Heaven he is now sitting at the right hand of god go to hebrews chapter one If you're there in first timothy you can go past second timothy titus philemon and then the book of hebrews hebrews chapter number one And i'd like you to keep your place in hebrews as well if you can keep your place in acts And then keep your place in hebrews. We're gonna Be going back and forth to those books for a little bit hebrews 1 3 hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3 notice what the bible says for being the brightness of his glory And the express image of his person And this is of course speaking about the lord jesus christ And upholding all things by the word of his power And I just want you to notice that the bible is telling us here that this is jesus. I don't you can read the the two verses before that If you don't believe that or you don't trust me But it's a reference to jesus and it tells us that he is upholding all things by the word of his power And of course, we know that he is the creator, but he is also the sustainer He is the creator of the universe and he sustains the universe He is upholding all things by the word of his power when he had himself purged our sins That's a reference to the cross notice when he had by himself purged our sins Sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high So the bible consistently talks about the ascension the fact that he is sitting on the right hand of the father when he had by himself Purged our sins and I love this little hebrews 1 3, you know, the bible is so deep And sometimes we tend to only focus on one thing in a verse and we kind of use this proof text mentality and I don't have a problem with us having proof text we need proof text but Realize that there's so much in the bible. For example here Obviously i'm showing to you the fact that he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high But this is a great thought when he had by himself purged our sins And you know the bible tells us that he did it by himself this idea that uh, well I gotta help him You know, he did some of it, but I gotta do my part. Isn't that what people tell us outdoor knocking? Well, I gotta do my part. Well, no, no he had by himself Purged our sins. He did it in his person, but he also did it by himself And he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high go to hebrews chapter 10. Look at verse 12 hebrews chapter 10 and verse 12 Hebrews 10 12 the bible says but this man Of course referring to jesus he was 10 12, but this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down On the right hand of god So the bible is consistent about this idea that jesus if you want to know where is jesus? He is sitting at the right right hand of the father. He is ascended into heavenly places. He has taken his place by God, uh the father but then let's answer this question. Why did he go? Why would jesus go? What's the purpose for that and what's the point of that and we could look at a lot of passages tonight? I'm, not going to do that. But let me just show you a couple things go to john chapter 16 If you kept your place in acts right before actually have the book of john in john chapter 16 And look at verse number seven John chapter 16 and verse 7 And like I said, we there's there's a lot more verses than just this one, but i'm just going to show you this one John 16 7 the bible says nevertheless. I tell you the truth It is expedient for you that I go away. This is jesus speaking to his disciples He says I have to go away that is a reference to the ascension He says for if I go not away The comforter and the comforter is a reference to the holy spirit You can study that word out later if you'd like and you'll see that the comforter is the holy spirit Is the holy spirit Will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send him unto you So what we need to understand is that the reason that jesus left was so that he could give us the holy spirit Because he had to go in order for the holy spirit to to come and of course jesus Was with them But jesus is a man he was 100 god and he's 100 man, but we know that he was physically in a body And in his physical body, he was unable he spent three years with the disciples literally physically with them but now he has to ascend so that he can send the holy spirit of god so that the holy spirit can be Indwelling every believer and see he left us physically So that we could be indwelled and every believer could experience and have the presence of the holy spirit and have The presence of god, uh with them. So why did he go he left to give us the holy spirit But he also left So that he can give us spiritual gifts Go to ephesians real quickly ephesians chapter four you're there in john Just go past the book of acts romans first second gradients galatians ephesians ephesians chapter four And look at verse seven Ephesians four and verse seven the bible says But unto every one of us is given grace According to the measure of the gift of christ and I want you to notice that Unto every one of us is given grace According to the measure of the gift of christ We have been given gifts by christ And according to that measure we've been given a certain amount of grace given to us for those gifts. Look at verse eight Wherefore he saith Notice it again I just want you to see it because I think that you might have Read the bible a lot before and read all these verses and not realize That the ascension is being spoken of and being brought up a lot throughout the bible in verse eight We're told wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high There's a reference to the ascension It's actually where we get the term ascension when he ascended up on high. He led captivity captive And I don't have time to get into that that term and i've preached on that before But let me just quickly explain that verse if you study that verse when it's brought up not brought up a lot throughout the bible What is brought up a couple of times the idea is to lead captivity captive is to turn the tables around to Uh for you to be captive and then the tables have been turned and now you're leading captive what was Leading you captive and when the bible says here that he led captivity captive The idea is that he was being held by death and now resurrected He has the keys of hell and death He is now leading the captivity that once led him. He led captivity captive notice what the bible says there in verse eight and gave gifts unto men Notice verse nine now that he ascended What is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth and again i'm not preaching on this I'm, just reading it for you. But here's another verse about about the fact that jesus went to hell Now that he ascended what is it but that he also descended first before he ascended he descended Into the lower parts of the earth and the lower parts of the earth is not a reference to a cave a sepulcher that was hewn out of a stone in jerusalem All right, the lower parts of the earth the nether parts of the earth These are all terms used for hell throughout the bible verse 10 he that descended is the same also that ascended up Far above all heavens that he might fill all things So I want you to notice the ascension spoken of a lot but here we're told that he gave gifts unto men So we know that he left so that he could give us the holy spirit and then he also Gives us spiritual gifts through the holy spirit and I don't want to get into this and spend a lot of time on it We've studied it before I did a whole series on the holy spirit. I don't know a couple years ago The bible talks about the fact that there are spiritual gifts That we have been given and every single saved individual has a spiritual gift We don't all have the same gift But we have different gifts and those are given to you by the holy spirit and they are meant to be used In the ministry and in the work of god, did you know that god wants you involved in ministry? God wants you involved in the work of god and he's equipped you and given you certain gifts and abilities And those are given through the holy spirit They are that we are given grace according to the measure of the gift of christ that he would give gives unto men So if you want to know why did he go well He left so that he could send the comforter and when he sent the comforter Which is the holy spirit along with the holy spirit. He gave us spiritual gifts Go back to john chapter 14 if you would go back to john If you kept your place in acts right after right before actually have the book of john john chapter 14 Let's talk about what is he doing So In reference to the ascension We're answering some questions number one, where is jesus we've already stated he is at the right hand of the father We're asking the question. Why did he go he went to so that he could give us the holy spirit And so that he could give us spiritual gifts through the holy spirit And then we got to ask the question. What is he doing? What is it that jesus is doing? I want you to notice here in john 14 in verse 1 Jesus said let all your hearts be troubled you believe in god believe also in me In my father's house are many mansions. This is of course referring to heaven If it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you If you were wondering what is it that jesus is doing in heaven? He's obviously sitting at the right hand of the father. He's obviously sustaining the universe through his power But there's actually some things that he has accomplished and he is doing and what he is doing is number one He is preparing a place The bible says that he goes to prepare a place for you verse three And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there he may be also so he is in heaven Preparing a place for you what that means exactly. I don't know i'm not a hundred percent sure what that means Obviously God jesus is god He can speak whatever into existence but the bible tells us that he's in heaven preparing a place for you And what I like I like to think that he you know He's preparing certain things for you and for me and certain things that he wants us to have and certain Rewards that we might get in heaven. So here's what we know We don't know exactly what it all entails But we know that heaven is going to be more wonderful than anything that you can imagine Heaven is going to be greater than anything you've ever seen and here's what I know if you ask the question What is jesus doing right now? He is preparing a place He's preparing a place But that is not the only thing he is doing Not only is jesus preparing a place But I want you to notice go to romans. You're there in acts Or if you're in john go past the book of acts into the book of romans He's preparing a place And then I want you to also understand that he is pleading your case In romans 834 the bible says who is he that condemneth? It is christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of god notice this phrase who also Maketh intercession for us Jesus is sitting Jesus is sitting At the right hand of the father Because he is making intercession for us. He is preparing a place and he is pleading your case He's preparing a place and he's making intercession on your behalf. Go back to hebrews hebrews chapter 9 hebrews chapter 9 verse 24 hebrews 9 24 says for christ Is not entered into the holy place made with hands Which are the figures of the true But into heaven itself notice Now to appear in the presence of god for us The bible tells us that jesus is in heaven and he is pleading our case. He is our mediator He is our advocate. He is our attorney if you will go to first john chapter number two first John chapter number two you're there in hebrews you go past james into first and second peter And then first john first john chapter number two First john chapter two in verse one the bible says my little children These things write i am to you that you said not and if any man sin Notice what the bible says We have an advocate with the father Jesus christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins Of the whole world. So if you all know what it is that jesus is doing He's not in heaven just simply relaxing or just waiting until it's time for him to come back. He is up there working He's preparing a place. He's pleading our case. He's our advocate. He is our intercessor He is making intercession, uh for us. He is helping us in other passages I won't take the time to go there. In fact, please go go back to acts acts chapter one in other passages We are told that He is our suckerer. The bible tells us in hebrews that we have not an high priest Which uh is not touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He understands us and as a result He is helping us. He is ministering to us. He is leading us and guiding us He's praying for us. Look the bible tells us that the devil is the accuser of the brethren The bible tells us that the devil is going to and fro on this earth But we also know from the book of jobe that he goes up to heaven and he accuses the brethren and look when you and I sin And this is what John is telling us He I'm not telling you this to excuse your sin my little children these things write unto you that you said not It'd be better if you don't sin But here's what I know about you and here's what I know about me that we're sinners And if any man sin we have an advocate with the father And you know the devil is up there and he's accusing the brethren and every time you mess up and every time I mess up We may be giving the devil an opportunity to go up to heaven and throw it in god's face and say look what they're doing Look what they did last night. Look where they went Look what they they they got themselves into and he's accusing the brethren But i'm here to tell you something that we have an advocate with the father up in heaven Pleading our case and every time the accuser the brother who shows up and wants to accuse you that advocate the lord Jesus christ shows up as your representative as your attorney And when the devil says look at that sin, jesus shows up and says it's been paid It's clear It's gone. We have an advocate with the father. He is interceding on our behalf. He is praying on our behalf He is, uh helping us so he's up there Preparing a place and pleading our case Until the day that he returns Go to acts chapter number one Let me give you the third word tonight The first word is transition We know that there was a transitional period between the resurrection and the ascension it lasted 40 days The appearances of the risen christ were sporadic and they were only to believers Then there was an ascension There was a finalizing of jesus's ministry upon this earth. He ascended up to heaven And he went to the right hand of the father He left so that he could give us the holy spirit And so that he could give us spiritual gifts through the giving of the holy spirit And if you want to know what he's doing in heaven, he is preparing a place and he's pleading our case Then the third word is this and it is commission commission In act chapter one in verse eight We see another passage in scripture where we see the ascension of christ But act chapter one in verse eight is not known for the ascension of christ. It is known for the commission or the great commission And that's fine because the ascension and the commission are connected in the sense that Right before jesus left we know that he lifted up his hands and blessed them as he departed out of their sight But right before he left he left them with a commission Acts chapter 1 verse 8 the bible says but ye shall receive power. This is jesus speaking After that, the holy ghost has come upon you And he shall be witnesses Notice how it's not an option If you want If you can roll out of bed on a saturday morning, that's not what it says And he shall be witnesses unto me Both in jerusalem and in all judia and in samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth And when he has spoken these things while they beheld notice the ascension he was taken up And a cloud received them out of their sight And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparel Which also said even of galley why send you gazing up into heaven this jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner As you have seen him go into heaven I want to highlight that for you because that's important The angels told the disciples The way that he left is how he will come back They said this same jesus which was taken up from you into heaven Shall so come in like manner That's what the bible says in revelation The bible says that he's going to come in the clouds behold He cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth Show well because of them so don't let some clown on youtube tell you, you know, i'm jesus Or I saw jesus or I met jesus because the bible says that he's going the the way that he left this same jesus Which is taken up from you into heaven. So Shall so come in like manner he left in the clouds. He's coming in the clouds He ascended in the clouds and he is descending in the clouds, but from here till then He left us a commission Now it's interesting to me because The same commission we see here in acts 1a But you shall receive power after the holy ghost has come upon you and you shall be witness to them to me both in Jerusalem and in judia and in samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth. It's the same thing that is highlighted at the end of luke Right before the ascension of christ. So in acts 1 8 we have the great commission And then acts 1 9 we have the ascension if you go back to luke keep your finger there in acts We're going to flip back and forth go back to luke 24 And luke 24 In verses 47 and 48 and 49 You have the commission And in verses 50 51 52 and 53 you have the ascension Let me just point out the similarities for you Look at verse 45 just to get the context luke 24 45 Then open he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures and he said unto them Thus it is written and does it behoove christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day I want you to notice first of all, there's a plan look at it in verse 47 and that repentance And remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at jerusalem You say what is the plan? What is the plan that we're supposed to be? executing that repentance Notice it doesn't say repentance of your sins Repent simply means to turn from and when it comes to salvation we turn from unbelief to belief Or the wrong belief to the right belief That repentance and remission. What does the word remission mean? It means the cancellation of a debt It means that something has been canceled you used to owe now You don't owe that repentance and remission of sins should be preached Preached in his name among all nations beginning at jerusalem Now notice how that's similar to acts 1 8 look at acts 1 8 real quickly But you shall receive power after that the holy ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me Notice what he says both in jerusalem luke 24 47 among all nations beginning at jerusalem acts 1 8 both in jerusalem and in all judia and in samaria And unto the uttermost part of the earth you say what is the plan the plan is that repentance and remission of sins? Should be preached starting at jerusalem and then going out into judia Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth that is the plan He left And he said look I can only be with with a few of you I can be with 12 of you. I can be with 500 of you Maybe at one time but what we need to do is we need to reach the world He says the plan is to start right here in jerusalem And then go out to judia and go out to samaria and go out to the uttermost part of the earth He says among all nations beginning at jerusalem And for that reason he said i've got to ascend that I might send the holy spirit and the holy spirit will Indwell you so that you can go into the world That's the plan You say that sounds like a nice plan Well, who's supposed to do it? Well notice what jesus says in luke 24 48 In verse 47, we have the plan in verse 48. We have the personnel Luke 24 48 and ye are witnesses of these things He says here's the plan and you're gonna do it He says here's the plan and here's what I want you to do and you are witnesses of these things notice How this matches acts 1 8 look at it again acts 1 8, but ye shall receive power after that The holy goes to come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me Now he's told him. Hey, you have seen the resurrected christ You saw me die and you see me alive. You are witnesses of these things. I want you to go out into jerusalem I want you to go out into samaria into juda and into the uttermost parts of the earth with this message And if you read the book of acts you'll notice that that's exactly what they did They went out into the city of jerusalem and they said we have seen the risen savior We have seen jesus. He is lord. He is christ. He is the son of god and they preached jesus Unto their community. They were witnesses, but let me tell you something. This is not just for them He says ye are witnesses and he's speaking to all christians Amen You say I wasn't there when jesus died. I wasn't there to see him rise But you know what? I was there when he saved my soul And I may not have witnessed The resurrected christ, but I witnessed salvation My faith in him and the word of god and I can now serve as a witness to go out and let others know Amen And you know for those of you who just refuse to be soul winners Let me just say it as plainly as I can you're selfish I don't understand this idea how somebody would say well I was a sinner on my way to hell and somebody gave me a free gift They told me that I could be safe. They told me that jesus loved me They told me that jesus died on the cross for my sin. I received that through faith now i'm safe But i'm not gonna tell anybody else let them all die and go to hell I don't know what other word you can use but selfish See the plan is That repentance and remissions should be preached to all nations and the personnel is you And me He's called us to do it We see the plan We see the workers the personnel I want you to notice lastly the power Look at luke 24 49 And behold That's why he had to leave right? I Send the promise of my father upon you But tarry ye in the city of jerusalem He's referring to the day of pentecost until ye be endued with power from on high Notice how that matches acts 1 8 But ye shall receive power After that, the holy ghost has come upon you And he shall be witnesses unto me Both in jerusalem and in all judea and in samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth See the truth is That he's given us a plan The beautiful thing about the ascension Is that it marks two things for us when he left And he was caught up in the clouds And we are waiting for when he returns And he comes back in the clouds And the point is this What are we to do? between those markers What are we to do between those points? Well, I I just want to show it to you real quickly and we're going to finish up acts 1 look at verse 11 Which also said Remember they saw jesus ascending up to heaven, right? He said but you shall receive power after that the holy ghost will come upon you and he shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in judea and in samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth verse 9 And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received them out of their sight And while he looked steadfastly toward heaven He went up behold and behold, excuse me Behold two men stood by them in wide apparel, which also said ye men of galilee I want you to get the picture I want you to understand it. Jesus is talking to them. He led them out He lifted up his hands. He blessed them and then he says to them but ye shall receive power After that, the holy ghost has come upon you and he shall be witnesses unto me both in jerusalem And in all judea and in samaria and into the uttermost parts of the earth literally the last words that we have of christ Pen down on earth I'm not saying they're the only they were the last words that he said to them But they're the last words that we have accounted for and let me tell you something his last words need to become our first priority Amen He says go out into jerusalem and in all judea and in samaria and into the wonderful part of the earth And then when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received them out of their sight Get the picture. Jesus ascends up And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, I mean isn't this what you'd be doing? We'd be just looking He's taking up in a cloud and they're just staring they're just trying to still see him Maybe they're just seeing a little bit of him and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men Stood by them in wide apparel, which also said ye men of galilee Don't miss the question. Look at it the gentle rebuke from the angels. Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? I say why are you standing there? This jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall come in like manner As you have seen him go into heaven This is their way of saying He just told you what to do Why why why why are you standing there? Why standing up gazing into they're literally looking up to heaven Trying to like still make an image and the question that is asked is why standing gazing up into heaven? He's told you what to do. Just go do it. You know, this is a question that I want to ask the average christian The average christian who likes to talk about the hope that we have and the blessed hope and maybe jesus will come back today I want to ask you the question. Why are you just gazing up into heaven? He's already told you what to do He's already told us what to do. He's given us a plan. He has the personnel. He's given us the power Our job is to make it our priority To get it done So we see the transition We see the ascension But we see the commission Because he left in a cloud and he's coming back in a cloud And between those two markers We are to go out and spread the good news Go back to luke 24 real quickly. I just want to read these verses and we'll finish up 95 verses over a year studying the gospel of luke together We're done right here Luke 24 50 And he number one led them Out as far as to bethany He led them because they were his followers And he lifted up his hands and blessed them and he came to pass while he blessed them Then he left them He was parted from them And carried up into heaven And they worshiped him and returned to jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing god amen And you shouldn't write this in your bible I mean you can if you want to just as a note, but we could add Right at the end of verse 53 here as a note not as an addition to scripture just as a note for ourselves to be continued Inspire head to now go to prayer. I mean father Lord we love you. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the bible We thank you that you allowed us to study this great gospel of luke together 95 sermons Many weeks many studies Many thoughts many applications And lord I pray that you'd use the word in our hearts That we might say like these men on the road to mayas did not our hearts burn within us As he opened up to us the scriptures Lord I pray that you'd help us to draw close to you And help us to make your last words our first priority We thank you that jesus is in heaven preparing a place and pleading our case He's our advocate with the father He's our protector against the accuser In the matchless name of christ we pray Amen We're gonna have brother rj come up and lead us in a final song. Just want to remind you that on sunday morning We're starting a brand new sermon series. You should have one of these in your bulletin Maybe and we're starting a series called helping people reach their full potential And we're going to talk about how you can reach your full potential how you can help your wife husbands We're gonna we're gonna i'm gonna teach the husbands how they can help their wife reach their full potential wife I'm gonna teach you how you can help your husband reach his full potential we're gonna talk to parents about helping their children reach their full potential we're gonna talk about how to reach your full potential as a As a church member in a church. I hope you'll get excited about this sermon as we talk about reaching your full potential I want to encourage you to be here and I want to encourage you to bring a friend invite somebody with you On sunday morning as we start this brand new series if there's anything we can do for you, please let us know Why would the rj come up and lead us in a final song? Man let's grab our sound books and turn to page number 228 Song number 228 We will end the service with I love to tell the story song number 228 228 I want you to think of these words as you sing song number 228 Sing it out on the first. I love to tell the story of us in things above of Jesus and his glory of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story because I know It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do I love to tell the story dwell be my theme in glory to tell the old Jesus and his love on a second I love to tell the story What wonderful it seems That all the golden fancies of all the golden dreams I love to tell the story So much for me And that is just a reason I tell it now to thee I love to tell the story dwell be my theme in glory to tell the old story of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story This pleasant to me What scenes which I might tell it more wonderfully sweet I love to tell the story for some have never heard The message of salvation From god's own holy wood I love to tell the story My theme in glory You guys are singing well, let's finish strong on the last I love to tell Sing and firstly to hear it like the rest And when it seems the glory I sing the new new song Twill be the old story That I have loved so long sing it out. I love to tell the story So Amen great singing if anyone here has questions about salvation baptism or church membership pastor would be at the door They would love to talk to you or directly to someone who's trained to do that as well brother matt Would you dismiss us with a word of prayer? Say that we Amen So