PROPHECY - SIGNS - NICE BIBLE STUDY!

[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Word Became Flesh
by A. Edwin Wilson

Again, concerning the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, we read in Romans 9:4, 5, speaking of the brethren of Christ according to the flesh: "Who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever." This One born of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, of Judah, of the seed of David, of the children of Israel. . . mind you, this One born in the flesh of that lineage is Christ, God blessed forever.

In Luke 1:30, 31 we read, "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS." Now the name "Jesus" is all important and we are going to devote much time to this name "Jesus." The name "Jesus" is the name of His body of flesh; the name "Jesus" is the name of His humanity. If this One called Jesus the Christ does not have His body of flesh in heaven today, then He is not Jesus Christ, the one Mediator between God and man. If this One called Jesus is not in heaven in His body of flesh and bones, you cannot call Him Jesus, there is no Jesus. Jesus is the name of His flesh, His humanity. Christ is the name of His deity. God manifest in the flesh is Jesus Christ, other times called Christ Jesus; and there is a reason why those names are alternated, one coming first and then the other, at various and sundry times.

"Thou shalt call His name Jesus." He is never called "Jesus" as spirit or soul. The name "Jesus" belongs to and pertains only to His body of flesh. And if there is no one with this body of flesh, then there today is no Jesus. But praise God, Paul, in writing to Timothy, says there is now, today, this very moment, one Mediator between God and man, the MAN (that's His humanity) CHRIST (that's His deity) JESUS (that's His humanity again) - the Man Christ Jesus. If Jesus is not present in His body of flesh in heaven today, we have no Mediator between God and man, we have no go-between, we have no one to bridge the gap, we have no one to intercede for us, we have no salvation, we have no hope and, as Paul said, "we are of all men most miserable."

Back to Luke 1:31-33: "Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. "And the Word became flesh." There must be a voluntary, sacrificial offering; there must be the shedding of blood; and since the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, since only the sinless, matchless, perfect, pure, holy, righteous blood of One could atone for sin, God Himself must come in the flesh. God Himself must take upon Himself a body of blood and flesh, that blood must be shed as an atonement for our sin, and the manifestation of God in the flesh is in the Person of the second individual of the Godhead - the Christ become Jesus Christ. See John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh (ASV), and dwelt among us." The coming of Christ IN THE FLESH was for the purpose of atoning for our sins and of redeeming us.

We will show as we further study this particular truth that it was in the flesh that He appeared, that He was born, that He lived, that He served, that He ministered; it was in the flesh that He died; it was in the flesh that He was nailed to the cross; it was from His body of flesh that the blood flowed; it was that body of flesh that was placed in the tomb; it was that body of flesh that arose; it was that body of flesh that appeared unto the women, to the disciples and others; it was that body of flesh that the women handled; it was that body of fl~sh that ate fish and honey; it was that body of flesh which He challenged the disciples to come and handle and see that He was not a spirit; it was that body of flesh that arose, ascending on high; it was of that body of flesh of which the two men from heaven said, "This same Jesus, THIS SAME JESUS, shall come in like manner." He is coming back just like He ascended. And it is in that body of flesh that He is interceding for us. The Word became flesh, the Word is flesh, and the Word shall return in flesh.
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
From The Cross To The Tomb
by A. Edwin Wilson

FROM THE CROSS TO THE TOMB

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the central doctrine of Christianity. In the early days of the church, one of the heresies that developed concerned the humanity of our Lord. The contention was that His body was just a phantom - not a real, literal, actual body of flesh, blood and bones; therefore, His death was not real.

There are few today who deny the humanity of Jesus, but many spiritualize the facts of His life. At the present time there are many who are treating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ the same way in which the early heretics treated His death - as a figure of speech and not to be understood literally. You can imagine the astonishment with which I read in the publication of a great denomination that "Jesus is no longer in the flesh." Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote against such heresies; and now the question arises, "Who is Christ, and what is Christ?"

How can you offer salvation to a lost world in, through and by a Saviour who is nonexistent? The Christ of the Scriptures was with God from the beginning; the Christ of the Scriptures BECAME FLESH and dwelt among us; the Christ of the Scriptures died for the sins of the world; the Christ of the Scriptures was raised from the dead; the Christ of the Scriptures ascended on high; the Christ of the Scriptures is at the right hand of God the Father; and only the Christ of the Scriptures could bring the salvation of the Scriptures. I want to show you that the Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead in His body of flesh and bones, ascended on high in that same body, is present in heaven in that same body, and shall return to the earth in that same body.

Consider the body which Christ received from the virgin Mary. Luke 1:35: "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." That holy thing, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ was not a created angel. Nor was He a created man; He was begotten of God from the seed of the woman, by and through the Holy Ghost. That which was begotten was not a person, but a nature...a human nature. That human nature was holy, that human nature is still holy. The Scripture calls it "that holy thing." This holiness was produced by and out of the Holy Ghost; it was produced by and out of God. It is the quality of the holiness of God; and since this human nature is of the quality of the holiness of God, it could not sin. It was holy, sinless human nature, indissolubly joined to the eternal personality of the Son of God. His human nature could not have sinned because He was very God of very God.

Now, because He had a human nature that could not sin, His body was not subject to death. We read in John 10:18, speaking of His life that He would lay down: "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself." No man could take His life from Him. He was immune to death and only when He willed it could He experience death. In Romans 6:23 we read that "the wages of sin is death." And because He had no sin, He had no wages, death was not His, death had no power over Him, death had no control over Him, and the ravages of sin and death did not manifest themselves on His holy body. Ofttimes during His lifetime they sought to take Him and to slay Him; but we read that they did not, they could not, because His hour had not yet come.

Now, let us go with Him to the cross. There we find the Lord Jesus Christ crucified, suffering beyond the comprehension of man. And as we contemplate that suffering, we remember that many volumes have been written, trying to account for His death. And that is not difficult at all. The Scriptures read simply that when His hour had come, and when that moment - decreed from before the foundation of the world in the eternal council chambers of God that He should die. . . when that moment came He turned His face toward heaven and said, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit," and with that He yielded up His spirit. It was a voluntary death; and until He voluntarily chose to surrender His life, no one, nothing could take it from Him, because He was sinless.
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
From The Cross To The Tomb
by A. Edwin Wilson

He died sinlessly upon the cross; that is, there is no sin within Him, though all of the sin of the world was put upon Him. It was a sinless body that experienced death. Since that body was sinless, that body would not - yea, that body could not - undergo the processes of death. Had He not risen from the dead when He did but continued in the tomb until today, that body would be today as it was then, because it was a sinless body and the forces of death had no power over, in or about it. You should keep that in mind in order to understand and appreciate the fact that "a body Thou hast prepared for me."

Now, when that body had yielded up the spirit according to the will of God Almighty, we find a number of things taking place. First, we find two men coming to claim that body. In John 19:38-42, notice the preparation by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ for its burial. Nicodemus came with a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes and he, along with Joseph of Arimathea, had the linen cloth with which to wrap the body of Jesus. The best I can explain it: The application of the myrrh and aloes with the linen cloth is similar to the application of a plaster of Paris cast today. Myrrh is a kind of resinous gum and the aloes is a powdered wood; and the mixing of that gum and the powdered wood together made a sticky substance which was spread on the cloth as it was wound around the body of Jesus, similar to the plaster of Paris cast, starting at the toes and continuing up to the neck. Thus, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ was enclosed, was encased in that myrrh, aloes and linen cloth to the weight of one hundred pounds or more. This mixture of myrrh and aloes would harden and set, even as does plaster of Paris. Keep these facts in mind if you want to understand and appreciate the significance of the fact that Peter and John did not believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ until they saw those undisturbed graveclothes.

While Joseph and Nicodemus were preparing the body of our Lord for burial, the Lord's enemies were seeking to eliminate any possible resurrection teaching. Matthew 27:62-64: "Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, after three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first." Pilate then gave them a Roman watch, a minimum of sixty-six men, to stand guard over that tomb and see that they did not steal away the body of our Lord and claim that He had risen from the dead.

Keep these two major facts in mind as you meditate on the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. First, a body is encased in a cast of myrrh and aloes of about a hundred pounds' weight which would become hard as a rock. Second, Pilate grants them a Roman watch with a minimum of sixty-six men to guard the tomb. Will they be able to keep Him in that tomb?
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Graveclothes
by A. Edwin Wilson

GRAVECLOTHES

In our last meditation the Lord Jesus was in a tomb. His body, from whence He had voluntarily released His spirit Himself, was taken by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus and wrapped in linen cloth with a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes spread in and through the cloth in which it was wrapped, making a cast about His body which would harden. Not only was His body encased in that cast and laid in the tomb, but the enemies of Jesus, who believed His statements far more readily than did His disciples, had obtained from Pilate a Roman watch, which was composed of not less than sixty-six men. This guard was to be set over the tomb to see that no one would steal away the body of the Lord and then claim that He had risen from the dead.

Not only was the body encased in this cast weighing a hundred pounds or more (according to the weight of the linen cloth), not only was there a Roman guard with not less than sixty-six men, but there was also a Roman seal on the door of the sepulchre. They imagined that the body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was in the tomb to stay; and one marvels at the teachers of the Word of God today who have no concept whatsoever of the power of God as manifested in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In John 20:1-10 we read: "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and that other disciple (which was John) did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home."

When Mary Magdalene came to the sepulchre she found the stone had been rolled away. She then went and told the disciples, and Peter and John left the group and ran to the tomb. John, being the faster of the two, reached the door of the sepulchre first. He had not the bold, brash nature of Peter and he paused at the door. After a few moments Peter arrived and went right on into the sepulchre, and John soon followed. When they saw the graveclothes, they believed.

Here is what happened. In Luke 24:12 we read, "Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves. . ." But the literal translation is: "lying by themselves." Then he "departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass." Now this expression "beheld the linen clothes lying by themselves" is a very singular expression. Oh, that man would give attention to the words which our Lord uses and study them and ascertain the meaning of them. Here the Word states that Peter saw the linen clothes lying by themselves. This does not mean over, apart and separate from something else, but he saw them lying of themselves; he saw them resting and maintaining the shape of the contour of the body of our Lord; he saw them being upheld of and by themselves.
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Graveclothes
by A. Edwin Wilson

As previously explained, the cast of myrrh, aloes and linen cloth, about a hundred pounds' weight, would of necessity be several inches thick. And when Peter entered the tomb and saw the graveclothes hardened and maintaining the shape which they had when the body was in them - they had not collapsed, they had not been cut, they had not been broken, they had not been unwrapped - he believed.

In raising Lazarus from the dead, the Lord commanded some to roll away the stone from the sepulchre. God Almighty Himself rolled the stone away from the sepulchre of Jesus. Jesus had to call to Lazarus to come forth. When Lazarus came forth bound by the graveclothes, the Lord commanded those that stood by to unwrap the linen cloth from the body of Lazarus. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ it was not necessary to remove the stone from the door nor to remove the graveclothes. He passed through the cast which enclosed His body and out of the tomb without benefit of the door. His entrance into the locked room in which the disciples were waiting is conclusive evidence that in His resurrected body He could pass through walls of substance.

The linen clothes - this cast of myrrh and aloes - was lying there as it was when the body of Jesus was present. . . undisturbed, unbroken, uncut, unwrapped. . . but empty. Prior to His resurrection He was lying there encased in that cast of myrrh, aloes and linen cloth and this napkin, or cloth was placed over His face. Now, when the Lord arose and His body went out of that cast and out of that napkin, the napkin simply collapsed - it folded up in the place where it was. The Lord in His body of flesh and bones was gone. And when Peter saw the graveclothes undisturbed, when he saw the napkin had simply collapsed where it had been over the face of our Lord, he had to believe. John, seeing the boldness of Peter, entered into the tomb. As he and Peter stood there and considered the significance of the undisturbed graveclothes, of those clothes lying there - of themselves maintaining the shape of the body, and the covering of the face collapsed in folds where His head had lain - then they believed; that is, they believed that the Lord Jesus Christ had risen in His literal, physical, visible, tangible body of flesh and bones.

There is one eternal, God-blessed truth concerning that tomb on that morning - IT WAS EMPTY. The body of the Lord Jesus Christ was gone. The most startling question that can be asked any individual today concerning the Lord Jesus Christ is, "Where is His body?" Where is that body of flesh and bones of the Lord Jesus Christ? The empty tomb is God Almighty's irrefutable evidence that Jesus Christ is God Almighty's testimony to you and to me that we too one day shall live in our bodies of flesh and bones.

"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming" (I Corinthians 15:21.23).
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Appearance Unto Mary Magdalene
by A. Edwin Wilson

APPEARANCE UNTO MARY MAGDALENE

In our last study we considered the experiences of Peter and John at the sepulchre, from whence the stone had been rolled away and in which were the undisturbed graveclothes, from whence our Lord had taken His leave. These undisturbed graveclothes resulted in Peter's and John's accepting the truth of the literal, physical, visible, bodily, tangible resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Now I want to consider the appearances of our Lord to various and sundry individuals and we will continue to study these appearances until we have concluded. There seem to have been some eleven separate and distinct appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ in His body of flesh and bones before His ascension, and six appearances of the Lord Jesus in His body of flesh and bones after He entered into heaven.

In John 20:11-18 we read: "But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they had laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her."

This Mary is the one out of whom our Lord had cast seven demons; this is the one of whom He forgave so much and it seems, therefore, He loved so much. Standing at the tomb and looking in, she sees it empty; then she sees two angels in white sitting there in the sepulchre - one sitting at the place where His head had been, the other sitting at the place where His feet had been - and she is weeping. When they ask concerning that, she inquires concerning the disposition they have made of the body of our Lord. So she turns, goes away and she sees Jesus standing there, not knowing that it is Jesus.

This name Jesus. . . I am going to have occasion to refer to it again and again. You can have no concept of Christianity, of redemption, of salvation unless you understand the significance of the name Jesus. Jesus is the name of His humanity. Jesus corresponds to the name "Son of man." Christ is the name of His deity and it corresponds to the name "Son of God." Imagine anyone saying that Jesus is no longer in the flesh! If this person is not in the flesh, then He is no longer Jesus. Jesus is the name of His humanity; and if you talk about Jesus today you are talking about someone with a body of flesh and bones because that name Jesus applies only to that which was born of the virgin Mary, and that which was born of the virgin Mary was that holy thing, that sinless body, that sinless nature of the Lord Jesus Christ which is God manifest in the flesh. And today the only Mediator between God and man is the man Christ Jesus. And if Jesus is not at the right hand of God today in His body of flesh and bones, then neither you nor I nor anyone else has any mediator, we have no go-between, we have no one to stand between us and God. But, praise God, now IS Christ risen from the dead!
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Appearance Unto Mary Magdalene
by A. Edwin Wilson

And when Mary turned and looked and saw this One, Jesus, she was looking upon a body of flesh and bones. And so this One, Jesus, so designated, says to her, "Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?" She - because of her tear-dimmed eyes, because of her unbelief in the physical, bodily, literal, tangible resurrection of the Lord  - does not know that this is her Lord and Saviour but supposes it is the gardener. And so she says, "Tell me where thou hast laid Him (meaning Jesus) and I will take Him away." And then Jesus calls out her name, "Mary." The tone of the name! How oft had she heard that name before! She would never forget that tone of voice, the love, the mercy, the compassion that was in His voice as He spoke to her. And she turns and she says, "Rabboni," which is to say, "Master." And then she grabs Him by the feet, the lower limbs, and clings to Him. The King James translation says, "Touch me not." But the literal translation is, "Stop clinging to me." The Amplified New Testament brings that out very clearly: John 20:17: "Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and tell them I am ascending to my Father and to your Father and to my God and to your God."

She actually reached out, grabbed hold of Him and held Him. He was physical, He was corporal, He was visible, He was tangible. And she had hold of His resurrected body - a body that could be seen, a body that could be handled, a body that could be felt, a body that could be held - and He says, "Stop clinging to me." He still has a mission to accomplish: He must go to heaven, He must take His blood, He must put that on the mercy seat - according to the typical teaching of the high priest who, having offered the sacrifices, must go in and put the blood on the mercy seat in the holy of holies before coming out and appearing unto the multitudes. And our Lord Jesus Christ must do that; and that He did, as evidenced by the expression in the Epistle to the Hebrews in which we are told that it was by His own blood, it was through His own blood, it was with His own blood that He entered into the holy of holies. And He tells Mary that He must do that. But she in the meantime is to go and tell all of the brethren that He has risen from the dead and that He is ascending to His Father and to their Father and to His God and their God and that He will meet them a little later at the sea of Galilee.

Here is the first appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ after His resurrection from the dead. It is unto Mary, the one who loved Him as few others have. Oh, my beloved friends, when you get to know Him and His love for you, and experience the forgiveness and the grace, the mercy and compassion and the love that He has for you, you too will love Him as did Mary; you too will want to grasp Him and hold Him and keep Him with you. And I praise God that when you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, when you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, He comes in the Person of His Holy Spirit to indwell you, never again to be separated from you, but to indwell you henceforth.

In summarizing, please note that the Lord Jesus Christ, having risen from the dead, Peter and John having been convinced of His resurrection simply by the undisturbed graveclothes, now appears personally and visibly and bodily and tangibly unto Mary Magdalene. And as He speaks her name and as she recognizes His voice and knows of a certainty that this is Jesus, the same One who forgave her of her sins and who died for her, she grabs Him by the feet; but He says, "Stop clinging to me." Mary Magdalene testifies that Jesus Christ arose from the dead in His body of flesh and bones by grabbing it, clasping it, holding it, and clinging unto it until He bids her desist and to go and tell His brethren that He will meet them in Galilee.

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept" (I Corinthians 15:20).
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Appearance Unto The Women
by A. Edwin Wilson

APPEARANCE UNTO THE WOMEN

"And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now IS Christ risen from the dead" (l Corinthians 15:17-20).

And with the triumphant message of Christ risen from the dead, we continue our studies and meditation in the resurrection, seeking to show, the Lord helping us, from the Word of God that Jesus the Christ rose from the dead in His body of flesh and bones - a literal, visible, tangible body - and in that body ascended into heaven and in that body is present in heaven and in that body is returning again and in that body He shall continue to live throughout eternity.

Our last study told of His appearance unto Mary Magdalene, of her grabbing hold of Him and of His saying unto her, "Stop clinging to Me." Turning to Luke 23:50 - 53, we read that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of our Lord and laid it to rest in that incasement of linen, myrrh and aloes.

Beginning with Luke 23:55 and reading through 24:11, we read: "And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, 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 Galilee, 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 sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women 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."

This expression "these words seemed unto them as idle tales" is a medical term and means that these words seemed to them as the ravings of ones who were beside themselves, who were in a delirium, screaming and crying, knowing not what they said.

In connection with this, as Peter and John go running to the tomb, these women evidently follow them back to the tomb. And we read in Matthew 28:6 - 10 the following: "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: 10, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring pis disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid; go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."

The interesting thing in this particular instance is that after the Lord had appeared unto Mary in the garden a little while before, He now appears unto all of the other women who had been at the tomb and they recognize Him. Running to Him, they grab hold of His feet and hold Him. Now from Him there is no remonstrance about holding Him as there had been unto Mary. When He rebuked Mary, saying, "Stop clinging to Me," He gave as the reason for that the fact that He had not yet ascended unto His Father and their Father, unto His God and their God. The reason for this is manifest. When the high priest went in annually to offer sacrifices, making atonement for the sins of the children of Israel, it was not sufficient that the animal be slain. It was not enough that the blood should be caught, but the blood had to be taken and sprinkled on the mercy seat. Our Lord Jesus Christ had yielded up His spirit on the cross, having cried, "It is finished," and then turning His face toward the Father, He said, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit," and with that He yielded up His spirit. That moment, His spirit took its flight into the heavens into the presence of God, His soul went down into Sheol, as the Old Testament expresses it, which was the place of the dead, that place being separated by a gulf from that of the unredeemed - a gulf which could not be crossed. See Luke 16:19 - 31. His body was taken by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus and placed in the tomb.
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Appearance Unto The Women
by A. Edwin Wilson

Now, the spirit of our Lord returning to heaven was not the Lord as High Priest entering into the Holy of Holies. Our Lord could not do that until body, soul and spirit were reunited and the whole Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, entered in. The apostle Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God, in writing to the Thessalonians in his first epistle, chapter 5 and verse 23, says, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Some commentators contend that the minute Jesus commended His spirit into the hands of His Father, He then and there took His blood and sprinkled it on the mercy seat. Others contend that when He ascended some forty days after His death, burial and resurrection, then it was that He sprinkled His blood on the mercy seat. But there is something between these two experiences - of His meeting with Mary and then with the women - that leads me to believe that this is the time in which that was done. Because His sacrifice was not completed, the atonement was not completed until He placed His blood on the mercy seat. To delay the placing of His blood on that mercy seat until the time of His ascension is to delay the completion of His atonement until that moment.

Consider carefully. As Mary comes unto Him, she grabs Him and Jesus says unto her, "Stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father and to my God and to your God." When Jesus says, "I have not yet ascended," He means that "I - spirit, soul and body, the complete Jesus Christ - have not yet ascended to my Father," which reveals unto us that He did not go as a complete being to put His blood on the altar at the moment of His death.

Now, when He appears unto the women and they grab Him by the feet and hold Him, there is no rebuke. He is now willing and ready for any and all who want to handle Him, to feel Him, to see that He is flesh and bones and not a ghost, not a spirit. He permits that to be done. I think we are driven to but one conclusion, and that is that between the time of His appearance to Mary when He forbade her to cling to Him, and the time when He appeared unto the women when He permitted it, that is the time that He ascended into the heavens and put His blood on the mercy seat.

Here in these two experiences we have His first two personal appearances. First, He appeared to Mary - she saw, touched, felt, handled His actual, literal, physical, visible body of flesh and bones. Second, a little later that same day He appeared unto a number of women, likewise permitting them to handle, to feel, to touch His body of flesh and bones. We will encounter that same experience on several occasions of our Lord's appearances unto other of His disciples when He tells them, "Handle Me, feel Me and touch Me and see that it is I, and know that I, the Lord Jesus Christ, have risen from the dead in My body of flesh and bones."
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Appearance Unto Peter
by A. Edwin Wilson

APPEARANCE UNTO PETER

After the women had appeared at the tomb, the angel spoke unto them as recorded in Mark 16:6, 7, "". . . Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you." You will notice the admonition or glad tidings that the angel is sending through the women to Peter - a special word from the Lord to Peter that He will see him there by the sea of Galilee. We read in I Corinthians 15:3-5 the apostle Paul's description, explanation of the gospel of Christ, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen of Cephas. Here in this 15th chapter Paul gives evidence of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ by naming the ones to whom He appeared. Peter is the first. one that is here named.

In Mark 16:7 the Lord had sent a special word to Peter that He would meet him. Here in I Corinthians 15 Paul says that He appeared unto Cephas, which is the other name of Peter. Then in Luke 24:33, 34, speaking of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus after the Lord had appeared unto them, "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 hath appeared to Simon." These references make plain beyond any doubt that the Lord Himself appeared unto the apostle Peter, an individual appearance, and nothing more is recorded of that appearance than we have here. This appearance manifestly is a very private appearance and meeting between the Lord and Peter. It was of Peter that our Lord had said in John 1:42, "And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone." At the first meeting of our Lord with Peter He tells him that his name is Simon, which means vacillating, unstable and shifting. He says, "I am going to change your name to Cephas," which is a rock, a solid foundation.

And our Lord changed him from Simon to Cephas, and all of these experiences were a part of the development and growth of this individual from the vacillating Simon to the solid-rock individual Cephas. He was headstrong and egotistical; and when our Lord had called attention to the fact that all of them would flee and forsake Him, Peter, with an air of braggadocio said, "No, Lord, not I; though all of them forsake Thee, yet not will I." Then it was that the Lord reminded him that before the cock would crow he would deny Him thrice. Peter sinned grievously in bragging and boasting of what he would do, in the face of what our Lord had said that he would do. Having boasted of what he would do, Peter was forced to resort to human strength to carry out that boast that he would stand with the Lord, though all others forsook Him. And when that mad rabble came to seize the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter, to carry out his boast, took his sword and tried to slay the first one that he came to; but missing the head of the individual, the sword glances off the side and cut off the ear.

Here was given to Peter a lesson that you and I need to learn. When we begin to boast and to brag about what we are going to do for the Lord, we find ourselves ultimately forced to resort to human means, plans and methods to accomplish that of which we have been boasting. And that is what Peter did. But the Lord would not accept the service of Peter which was rendered in the energy of the flesh and neither will He receive any such service from you or me. Because the Lord would not accept it, Peter was miffed and began to pout and sulk, drawing back and following the Lord from afar. It was as if he were saying, "Since you will not receive my service, nor acknowledge it, and since you do not appreciate it, I will withdraw." And he did so. He was not with the group that followed Jesus into the court and into the meeting of the Sanhedrin. He came on later and soon found himself with the enemy and warming himself by the enemy's fire. Soon he was denying with an oath that he even knew the man (Jesus). He did not call Him by His Name, but simply said, "the man." He did that which the Lord had said, he denied the Lord three times while in the presence of the Lord's enemies. The pain that came to his heart and his whole being when the Lord, passing from one court to another, looked upon him! The piercing eye of our Lord searched his innermost being and revealed his deepest thoughts. Peter now saw his deep sin and had knowledge of the fact that Jesus knew of his sin. Then the cock crowed and Peter went out and wept bitterly.
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Appearance Unto Peter
by A. Edwin Wilson

Only the Lord knows the things that went through the heart of Peter in those days from the time that he denied our Lord until he ran to the tomb that morning and saw the undisturbed graveclothes and was convinced of the resurrection of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter knew not where the body was or what had become of it. The love, tenderness and compassion of the Lord is manifested in the special message to Peter, "You tell Peter." I can well imagine Peter turning to the women again and saying, "Now, what was that you said? Did the angel actually callout my name alone? Did the Lord send word by the angels and you that He would see me there?" What joy and happiness came to the heart of Peter! Our Lord would restore him to previous fellowship.

The Lord had much work for him to do. Peter was the one who made that great confession when Jesus asked him, "Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?" Peter said, "Some say that Thou art John the Baptist, some say Thou art Elijah, others say that Thou art that prophet, some say that You are Jeremiah." Then did Jesus pinpoint the question and make it very personal, saying, "Whom do ye say that I am?" Peter replied, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Then said Jesus, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona. Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto you but My Father which is in heaven, and I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Then it was that the Lord announced to Peter that He would deliver unto him the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.

You will note that He did not say He would deliver unto him the keys of heaven. And all jokes and stories pertaining to St. Peter's being at the door of heaven and having the keys of heaven are not according to Scripture at all. It was the keys of the kingdom of the heavens that were delivered unto Peter; and he opened the kingdom of the heavens to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, to the Samaritans when he came down to Samaria where Philip had been preaching, and to the Gentiles when he went into the household of Cornelius with the glorious gospel of the grace of God.

Peter was the one who was going to do the great and mighty preaching on the day of Pentecost. Peter was the one through whom the Spirit of the Lord was going to write those remarkable epistles, I Peter and II Peter. Peter was the one who was going to be used of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. Because our Lord had a special and particular ministry for the apostle Peter, He gave this special revelation unto him. Somewhere between the time that the women made this announcement and before our Lord appeared unto the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, He had appeared unto Peter. I doubt not, and I am sure that neither do you doubt but that there was that broken-hearted confession from the mouth of Peter unto the Lord Jesus Christ when they met. And what a blessed experience it is when we can claim the precious promise that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
The Ascension
by A. Edwin Wilson

THE ASCENSION

Please read Luke 24:45-53 and Acts 1:1.11.

Thus read the two accounts by Luke of the ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ up into heaven in His body of flesh and bones. The value and significance of the physical, bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be found in the fact that in order to be saved one must believe that God raised Him from the dead and that He ascended into heaven, He is present in heaven and is coming again from heaven in His body of flesh and bones. See Romans 10:9; I John 4:1-3; 5:1. These articles on the resurrection appearances are for the specific purpose of giving out the glorious news of salvation by grace; and a belief in the coming and the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ in that body of flesh and bones is an essential, an integral part of the good news which, having been accepted, is life eternal to the one who receives it.

In these accounts the Lord takes the eleven disciples out to Bethany and on over to the mount and there He is speaking to them. He has appeared to them off and on during the course of the forty days between the resurrection and this moment and now He stretches out His hands over them to bless them - hands which still bear the marks of the nail wounds - and as He with outstretched arms and hands blesses them, He begins to ascend. That body of flesh and bones; that body which had walked the shores of Galilee; that body which had appeared unto them there at the sea when He greeted them early in the morning, having prepared breakfast for them; that body which came to the upper room where the ten were present, Thomas being absent; that same body which He challenged them to come and handle and feel and see that a ghost or a spirit did not have flesh and bones such as He had; that same body with which He ate fish and honey; that same body with which He appeared eight days later unto the eleven, Thomas being present; that same body which He asked, yea, commanded Thomas to come, handle, thrust his finger into the nail wound, and thrust his hand into the spear wound.

As He with outstretched hands in that body over them, around them, above them, begins to ascend, the disciples stand transfixed. They are witnessing with their own eyes a literal, physical, visible, tangible body ascending into the heavens. They watch. That body continues to ascend, going higher and higher and higher, and after awhile the Shekinah glory of the Lord God Almighty in a cloud envelopes that body. That body disappears from sight but the disciples stand, as it were, transfixed, continuing to gaze up into heaven. They had read of Enoch walking with God and disappearing into the heavens with God and his body never being found, though it was sought diligently. They had heard and read of Elijah being caught up into heaven in a whirlwind, attended by the horsemen and chariots of God, and how that Elisha had seen that body going up into heaven and of the ridicule that was heaped upon Elisha because he spoke of the actual, literal, physical ascension of Elijah into heaven. But here before their own eyes, they themselves had witnessed the ascension of a real, literal, physical body into the heavens. And they stand transfixed, gazing up into heaven.

God Almighty, looking upon them in tenderness and mercy, condescends to send from heaven two men dressed in white, and they come and stand by the disciples; and these two messengers from heaven say unto them, 'Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus. . ." Note the name Jesus. Not Christ, not Christ Jesus, not Jesus Christ, but Jesus, the name that belongs to His body of flesh and bones, the name that has no significance or relationship to any other name such as Christ or Lord or God unless that body of flesh and bones is considered in relationship to that other name. This same Jesus - the One who was born of the virgin Mary; the One who grew in favor with God and man; the One who appeared in the temple at the age of twelve and confounded the doctors with His questions and answers; the One who went in and out among them, ministering unto them, teaching them, associating with them; the One whom they knew, the One whom they had seen and, as John testifies later on, the One whom they had handled themselves.
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
The Ascension
by A. Edwin Wilson

This same Jesus - the One who was so brutally beaten, bruised; the One who was nailed to the cross; the One who hung on that cross, suffering the excruciating pain and humiliation; this same Jesus, whose body was taken down from that cross, wrapped in myrrh and aloes and linen, a hundred pounds of it, by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus; this same Jesus that was placed in that tomb, sealed and guarded according to Pilate's instruction; this same Jesus which arose physically, literally, visibly; this same Jesus which had appeared some forty days with infallible proofs to His disciples that He had risen from the dead in that body of flesh and bones 'I. . . this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner." He is coming back just exactly as He went away. He went away in a body of flesh and bones, He is present in heaven today in that body of flesh and bones, and He is coming back in that same body just exactly like He went away into heaven in that body of flesh and bones. "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." Consider the paradoxical state of so many today who deny that God Almighty in the Person of Jesus could ascend to heaven in His body of flesh and bones, and yet acclaim the feats of a Godless, Christless Russia who contends, along with our own scientists, that we shall take a man in his body of flesh and bones, put him in space, put him on the moon, put him out yonder in the stars - man claiming to be able to do that which they deny unto God Almighty. But praise God, we have the testimony of our Lord and our God that this same Jesus in His body of flesh and bones has been taken into and is present in heaven today and from those same heavens "this same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." I want to shout with the apostle Paul, "But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept."

He that believeth that Jesus is the Christ and that God raised Him from the dead shall be saved.
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Appearance To Stephen
by A. Edwin Wilson

APPEARANCE TO STEPHEN

A most pertinent question in regard to the resurrection of our Lord is this: Where is the body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? . . . that body of flesh and bones, that body which He received from the virgin Mary, the body which has the name of Jesus, that body which is designated as the Son of Man. . . where is that body? Your answer to that question reveals whether or not you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ or whether you belong to those who deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. In I John 4:1-3 the importance of that question is seen in the fact that whosoever denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of the spirit of Antichrist. Whosoever confesses that Jesus is come in the flesh is of God.

In II John 7 we read, "For many deceivers are entered in the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." That is not a correct translation of that verse. You can check many of your modern translations; if you have access to the Greek or if you are acquainted with a Greek professor or a minister who has studied Greek, you will find that the literal translation is that "Whosoever confesses not that Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh. . ." This was written some sixty years more or less after His resurrection and ascension into heaven. Whoever denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh and is coming (again) in the flesh is a devil and an antichrist.

Unto three different individuals our Lord and Saviour revealed Himself in His body of flesh and bones after He ascended into heaven. Many think, in connection with I Corinthians 15:50, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption," that bodies of flesh and bones cannot enter into heaven; but the Spirit of the Lord specified "flesh and blood," and not "flesh and bones." Our Lord's body was not corruptible; it was not subject to the processes of death and decay. This is true because His body was sinless. Though all our sins were put upon Him, He had no sin in Him.

In Acts 6, beginning with vs. 8 we read, "Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." Vs. 10: "They were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel."

As they brought Stephen before the council the high priest asked him to reply to those charges. Stephen's reply in chapter 7 constitutes one of the great apologies of Scripture. And when I say "apologies," I do not mean in the sense in which we use the word apology today; but the apology as delivered by Stephen then was a defense of the position which he held and of the truths which he spoke. You will study that at your leisure and God will bless you.

Now I want to bring you in the 7th chapter to the 55th verse: "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep."
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[nChrist]

Prophecy - Signs
Appearance To Stephen
by A. Edwin Wilson

That is the climax of the indictment, the charge and the defense of one of the first deacons of the church, Stephen. Standing before that Sanhedrin, that august and solemn body, he cried out with these words as he was looking steadfastly up into heaven. Being filled with the Spirit of God, seeing Jesus standing on the right hand of God, he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." He saw Jesus. The name Jesus means specifically Jehovah our Saviour. He was not called Jesus until He received His body of flesh, blood and bones from Mary; so that we know His name Jesus applies to His earthly body and is the name of His humiliation, His suffering and His sorrow. This is the name by which He was crucified. They set over His head the accusation written, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." The body which He received from Mary is to be His body throughout eternity; likewise the name Jesus will be applicable to Him, whether alone or in association with some of His other names throughout eternity. The name of Jesus is never used with adjectives. It is His name of humiliation and suffering, and adjectives are entirely out of place.

In Acts 2:36 we learn that God hath made this Jesus both Lord and Christ. And in Philippians 2:10, 11 we are told that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Christ and Lord. Stephen, looking up into heaven, saw Jesus. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He saw that body of flesh and bones and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God."

"Son of man" is the other name of His humiliation. And standing at the right hand of God, visible to Stephen through the opened heavens, was Jesus, the Son of man. He who arose from the dead in that body of flesh and bones now is in heaven in that body of flesh and bones at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for us; and in that same body He will return one day to call us to meet Him in the air.

Jesus in His body of flesh and bones is risen from the dead and has been seen in heaven by Stephen, our first of three witnesses who have seen Him since He ascended into heaven.
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