In this sermon, Robert Stephen Kahl discusses the different aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He explains that the gospel according to Matthew presents Christ as the King, emphasizing the importance of submitting to his authority. The gospel according to Mark portrays Christ as the servant of the Lord, teaching the lesson of service. The gospel according to Luke presents Christ as the Son of Man, highlighting his compassion for humanity. Kahl also mentions the significance of Christ's birth, growth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension in the gospel narratives.

This is Monday morning, August the 7th, 1972, in Richland, Virginia. Ministry is being given to his brother Stephen Kahn. Let us pray. Lord, as we gather together unto thyself, the longing of our hearts is that we would see thee. O Lord, do reveal thyself to us in such a way that we may say we have seen the Lord. We have seen his glory. Even the glory of the Lord as the Son of Man. So we do commit this time into thy hand, trusting thy Holy Spirit to give wisdom and revelation to us. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen. Last night we mentioned that the gospel of Jesus Christ is one, and yet it is presented to us in four different aspects. The gospel according to Matthew presents Christ to us as the King. And whoever puts himself under the authority of the King belongs to his kingdom. So whether we are today in actuality part of his kingdom or not depends upon whether our lives are in subjection to the King or not. And the gospel according to Mark presents Christ to us as the servant of the Lord. As Son, he serves the Father perfectly. And when we see him as the servant of the Lord, then we begin to learn the lesson of service. Now the gospel according to Luke presents Christ to us as the Son of Man. Or to put it in another way, the Man after God Almighty. Being a physician, he is always interested in men. So here you'll find the Holy Spirit uses this physician to turn our eyes upon the Man, even the Lord Jesus Christ. For those who say God is always interested in men. You'll find in Psalm, I think it's in Psalm 16, it says of the Lord, verse 3, To the things that are on the earth, and to the excellence thou hast set, in them is all my delight. Now this speaks of our Lord Jesus. His delight is in men. God is always interested in men. And that's the reason why he created men in the first place. And then in Hebrews chapter 2 you'll find when it comes to this matter of redemption, God does not indeed take hold of angels by the hand, but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham. Now all these words show you that God is really interested in men. Sometimes we are not interested in ourselves as men. We would rather be angels, or even spirits. We think that to be spiritual we have to be like angels. Or to be spiritual we have to be like spirits. But God is more interested in men than in angels. God does not want us to be angels. God wants us to be men. God wants us to be spiritual, but not as spirits. When you go back to Genesis, you'll find that in the beginning when God created all things, on the sixth day he says, Let us make man. Let us create man in our image, and after our likeness. The creation of man is unique in the sense that he is created very differently from all the other created beings. God created everything by his word. By his power. By his authority. By his wisdom. But in the creation of man there is something unique. God said, let us make man in our image. Man is created in God's image. And this is something you'll find never happens to all the other created beings. Why? Why does God create man in his image? The reason is God has something in mind when he creates man. He does not create man just as he is. He creates man with a very definite purpose behind it. And that purpose is he wants to join himself with man. He wants to unite himself with man and man with him. In order that, this union may be possible. He creates a man in his own image. Because only in his image there is the possibility of having himself united with that man. If Adam should eat the tree of life instead of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden then he will have received God into him. And God's purpose of creating man will be fulfilled. But unfortunately, instead of eating the tree of life he ate the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Instead of entering into the full purpose of God concerning man he rebelled against God. Frustrated, God's purpose of creating man. And not only that. After God had created man, you remember in Genesis God blessed man as they be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fowls of the air the beasts of the field and the fishes of the sea. In other words, man is not only created in God's image but man is also given a very special work, a very special mission. Man is to fill the earth, subdue it and to have dominion over it. The earth needs to be subdued. The earth needs to be brought back to God. And this work of bringing the earth back to God is a work appointed by God. So here you'll find two things. Man is created in God's image that he may be united with God. And then secondly, you'll find man when he is created is given a job to do. And that job is to subdue the earth and bring everything But unfortunately, in yielding himself to temptation instead of having dominion you'll find he himself is put under the dominion of sin. Instead of being an agent of God he has become an agent of the enemy. And that's the fault. That's the fault. But not because man has failed. God gave up his hope. Or God changed his mind. God might very well create another man. But God did not do that. Even though man had fallen God had not given up his hope. God did not change his mind. God still wanted man. God didn't throw him away. Three thousand years later when David, as a prophet of God prophesied about God's interest in man in Psalm 8 the eighth Psalm you'll find he said What is man? That thou art mindful of him. And a son of man that thou visiteth him thou hast made him a little lower than an angel and hast crowned him with glory and honor thou hast made him to rule over the works of thy hand thou hast put everything under his feet. In other words God's original interest and purpose and design in and for man has not changed. After three thousand years Psalm 8 from verse 4 4, 5, and 6 you'll find God hasn't changed his mind. He still wants that man. The man after his own heart. God hasn't given up man. God is working towards that man. But where is that man? During those three thousand years we have seen here and there one man, another man in a very small way in pieces and in fragments and in bits seem to manifest that man that God has in mind in the beginning. For instance in Abel in Noah in Enoch in Abraham and so forth. Now in all these men in the Old Testament during those three thousand years you can see a little bit here and a little bit there of the man that God wants. But you never see that man in total. Another thousand years. Four thousand years later and here you'll find in Hebrews chapter 2 God has finally got that man. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 6 For one has testified somewhere saying what is man that thou rememberest him? Or some of man that thou visited him. Thou hast made him from living in Syria to the angels. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor and hast set him over the works of thy hands. Thou hast subjected all things under his feet. For in subjecting all things to him he has left nothing unsubjected to him. For now we see not yet all things subjected to him but we see the end. Thou hast made him from living in Syria to angels on account of the sufferings of death crowned with glory and honor. So finally you'll find in Jesus Christ God has finally got his man. The man that he had in his mind when he first created Adam. Adam is a figure of Christ. Adam failed but Christ succeeded. So the gospel according to Luke is showing us the man that God has in his mind in the very beginning. The man that is created in his image. The man that is united with him. The man that is given authority and power over all his created things. In heaven, on earth and even underneath earth. And here you'll find it all being fulfilled in Christ Jesus. And this is the man that Luke tries to present. But the man in God's original design is not just an individual man. He is a complete man. Why? Because God said let us make man in our image as to our likeness. And God created man in his image male and female. He created them. So the man in God's thought is not an individual man. The man in God's thought is a corporate man. Male and female. Adam and Eve. And brothers and sisters of course today we know. The man at God's own heart is Christ. But this is not only the personal Christ. This is Christ in his corporate expression. And that's the reason why you'll find in Hebrews chapter 2 as you read on you'll find in verse 10. Here you'll find not only one man but many sons. And these many sons are conformed to the image of these sons. And together they become that man that God has in his mind. That man that God wants. So brothers and sisters Luke is used of God to write two books. He writes not only the gospel according to Luke in which he presents Jesus to us as the man after God's own heart. God has finally secured a man in Christ. But this is only part of it. Therefore Luke has to write another book. The book of Acts. The book of Acts is to show us many yet one. Heaven and earth. In other words, it is Christ personally and Christ corporately. And when you see these two books then you see the man that God is after. And then you begin to understand why is it that God is so interested in man. So brothers and sisters I do hope that these will serve as a kind of background for us to see that how much God is interested in man. God is out today to secure man. He wants man. He wants human beings. He is not out to secure and direct these spirits. But he is here to secure man. Human beings. But a new order. And actually that new order is after his own heart. Divinely human. Divinely human. So that is the reason why we mentioned last night the aim of redemption is to redeem us out of such human conditions back into the divinely human level. That is the purpose of redemption. God comes out to redeem us that we may be man. We may be human. Real human. Not optimal. But divinely human. Now this is the purpose. Now in the life of a human being there are certain events that stand out. We may call these the crises of For instance, birth is the first crisis of life. One of the most important things in life without birth. There is no history. Birth. Growth. From infanthood you grow to childhood, adulthood. Number three. His work on earth. His ministry. Number four. His death. Now death is an important crisis of life. In the case of an ordinary person probably these four things are the most important things. But in the life of Christ you have something more than that. Because after death there is resurrection and ascension. So in the gospel according to Luke you find that in presenting Christ as the man, the Son of Man to us he puts special emphasis on these five points. His birth. His growth. His ministry. His death. And his ascension. That includes resurrection. However the gospel Luke is the gospel that gives us a very detailed record of the birth of Christ. Mark doesn't even mention the birth of Christ. Why? Because the birth of a slave is no use. Nobody is interested in his birth. Matthew recalls the birth of our Lord Jesus because the birth of a king is of great use. People are interested in it. The gospel according to John does not recall the birth of Christ. It says the Word became flesh. That's true. But it is a statement. It does not recall the details happening. Why? Because he is God. God has no beginning. Therefore there is no record of his birth. But Luke is presenting to us Christ as the Son of Man. The man. So he gives us a very detailed record of the birth of Christ. Of all the four gospels he gives us the most detailed one. Of the birth of Christ. Most interesting. So brothers and sisters you know in the birth of Christ there are two important principles involved. Number one on God's side. Number two on the human side. For the Son of God to become man tremendous things are involved there. Now do not think that God can just jump down to earth and enter into a womb and be born as a child. Not that simple. God who is the infinite can put himself into the finite. Much is involved there. Much is involved there. Suppose you have a little box. One inch square. A little box. And you want to put something that is ten feet square into that one inch box. How are you going to do that? You need to cut off a lot. Do a lot of cutting. To cut it down to size. In order to squeeze it, put it into that one inch box. For God who is infinite so majestic, so glorious, so high, so rich, so full. For God to enter into the womb of a woman and be born as a babe and to be a man. How much emptying there must be. It is not a simple matter. Incarnation is not a simple thing. Incarnation speaks to us of tremendous love behind it. For God to empty himself, to empty his glory, to empty his honor, to empty his position, to empty all these things that rightfully belong to him and to become... It is a mystery we cannot understand. It is beyond our understanding. God has done that. Out of great love, but what an act. So this is the reason why in Philippians chapter 2 he put equal with God. And yet he emptied. To take upon himself the form of a slave, to take even the likeness of a man. Now this is the divine side. Good morning, I will not emphasize this side because we did that last time where the Gospel according to Mark. But good morning, I want to emphasize the human side. When Christ is born, his birth is very different from our birth. Now you know the birth of John the Baptist is miraculous. It is. Because Elizabeth and Zechariah, they have passed the age of deliverance of the dead. The birth of John the Baptist is miraculous. God has done something. Quickened life. Out of this. It's miraculous. But the birth of Christ is different from the birth of John the Baptist. The birth of John the Baptist is miraculous but still after the regular human order. He is still born of a human father and a human mother. It is miraculous but it follows the natural order of birth. But in the birth of Christ, it is so miraculous that it does not follow the natural order of death. Why? Because Christ is born of a virgin. Is there any virgin that can beget? Never. Never. It's impossible. For here you'll find Christ is born of a virgin. How? By the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. In other words, Christ is born of the Spirit. It is the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit upon Mary that Mary conceived. Therefore, the seed that he conceived is the Holy Seed. Our Lord Jesus has no human father. Joseph is just supposed to be his father, not a real father. Our Lord Jesus has a real mother as a man but he doesn't have a human father because he is born through the overshadowing of the power of the Highest, born of God, of the Holy Spirit. He is the Holy Spirit. But why is it? Among all the women at that time, among all the Jewish women at that time, among all the pious Jewish women of that time, why did God choose Mary and not somebody else? To be that woman, that human. Now this is the human side we want to emphasize. To bring God's man into this world, on the divine side there is an empty by the Son. But on the human side you find there must be a vessel that is suitable for God. So in Mary you find a spiritual suitability. To be chosen as God's vessel to bring forth Christ the man. Without that human vessel the Son of God cannot come as a man. He can come as God but not as a man. In order to come as a man and to be THE man there must be a human vessel. And this human vessel is found in Mary. Why? In what way? We can see her suitability. Now of course we do believe that. Mary must be among those few at that time who are really looking forward to the consolation of Israel. You know even though the Jews at that time as a habit, as a custom, they always pray for the coming of the Messiah. That they are not really waiting for the Messiah. When the news comes that the Messiah has come they are disturbed. But here you find there are two people. They are really looking for the consolation of Israel. Not only just looking but they are ready. They are prepared. They are prepared for the coming of the Messiah. Now in the case of Mary you find there is a suitability. You do not even find that in the priest Zechariah. But you find in Mary. When the angel told her the power of the high shall overshadow you and you shall give birth to a child. The Holy Spirit, the Son of God. She said, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it to me as thou hast said. In other words you find in Mary there is a yieldedness. There is a surrender. That is so absolute. She does not think of what will happen to her name. What will happen to her life. Because according to the Jewish law if a woman that is betrothed, that is not married and if she should be pregnant she is considered as an eviscerate and she shall be taken out to the open and the nearest of her kind shall throw the first stone. He shall be thrown to death. So here you find his name, even his life, all there. Nobody will understand. How can you explain? It never happens before. And it happens only once. How can you explain that? Even Joseph did not understand. He is a righteous man. He does not want to put Mary to shame openly. So he tries. He is thinking of doing it secretly. But you see, nobody will understand. But here you find a perfect obedience. An absolute yieldedness. She does not think of herself. She said, I am a handmaid of the Lord. I am yours. Whatever you say, it is all right. There is no self-interest in her. There is no self-concern in her. She is all for God. Whatever it may be. Brothers and sisters, this is the suitability of the Jew. And when God can find such a suitability the army of God is able to be born. As a man throws that away. It is true, we should not worship Mary. But we should not overlook her either. She is very special. She is very special to God. Unknown to man, but known to God. There is an absolute yieldedness. Brothers and sisters, apply it to us today. God has that man healed. Through the emptying of the son and the absolute surrender of Mary. Now when you apply it to us today, that is We are to be many such. When we believe in the Lord Jesus. The holy seed is planted in us. And that is what the Bible used, you know. The Bible used that word seed. Not only in the parable, but also you will find that in 1 John. We have the seed. The godly seed, the holy seed here. So when we believe in the Lord Jesus. Remember, there is something tremendous involved here. When you believe in the Lord Jesus, it is not simply a matter of now you are saved. You can go to heaven. Thank God for that. That's true. But when we are saved, it is as if the power of the highest has overshadowed us. And a seed is conceived in our womb. We have received the life of Christ here. The life of Christ is like a seed that is now deposited in our spirit. We have conceived it. But do we allow that seed to germinate? Is the life of Christ able to be formed in us? Is anybody to be manifested to this world? Now that is where spirituality is. You are born again. Yes. But is Christ able to be born? We have the seed. But is Christ formed here? Just like the seed is formed in the womb. And after it is formed, it is brought forth as a birth. Poor thing. I travel for you Galatian believers until Christ is formed in you. It is the travel of birth to there of birth. Brothers and sisters, for Christ to be formed in us and for Christ to be manifested through us, there needs a training. There needs a spiritual supervision. There requires an absolute surrender, a wilderness to Christ. It involves the cross, working deeply in our lives. Otherwise, how can Christ be brought? It is the same principle. The principle that is demonstrated in the birth of Jesus is to be manifested in the life of everybody. And when that is manifested, then you find the man that is at God's own heart shall be manifested. This is the history of the man, the beginning of his history. This is the history of Christ. This is the history of the Church. And this is the history of individual believers. Brothers and sisters, if we think that because we are saved, we are born again, that's all. You miss it. The very purpose of God in creating you as you did. Because God wants man. God wants man. God wants that man to be born, to be manifested. We have to go on. We have to. Then you find the second phase of life. Of course, it's growth. That's important. Now, for a child, after a child is born, the most important thing is to see that he is growing. He is growing. And what interest the parents must have on the growth of the child. Now, of all the four Gospels, Luke alone gives the most detailed history of the growth of our Lord Jesus. In the Gospel of John, when he appears, he is full grown. But in the Gospel of Luke, you'll find that he describes in detail the birth, the infanthood of our Lord, the boyhood of our Lord, and his manhood. On the eighth day, he was circumcised according to law. So that a right relationship might be established. As a Jew. Under the covenant of God. And he was presented to God in the temple according to Mosaic law when he was a baby. Because the firstborn must be presented to God. Set apart for God. And he did that. And you'll find when he was presented as a baby in the temple, then Simeon came and said, this child will be the fall and the rising of Mary. For he will expose the heart of Mary. And Simeon told Mary, a sword shall enter into it. Then the Bible, in Luke chapter 2, it says, the child waxed strong. Increased in wisdom and the favor of God. You see, the growth of our Lord Jesus is very balanced. Spirit, soul, and body are growing. Waxed strong in body. Physically. Increased in wisdom. Mentally. And favor with God. Our Lord grows well balanced. And when he was twelve, at that time, twelve, is the age, what people today call the time of Bach. On this Bach. You know, with the Jewish people. When a boy today grows to thirteen, then he will, then his parents came, come back to find him. He said, what? Should I not be occupied in my Father's presence? So here you'll find Christ as man. At the age of twelve, he comes into a full consciousness of his relationship with the Heavenly Father. Now we can believe that because he's still a child. You have to remember that. And another person, even though he has come to that full consciousness of his relationship with the Heavenly Father, yet, as a dependent, he still goes back with his parents and obeys them. Amen. Not because now he is conscious of his relationship with the Heavenly Father. Therefore, he can disobey his earthly parents now. He is still on his own. Amen. He is still under the authority of his parents. And how he goes back, even though he is fully conscious of his relationship with the Heavenly Father, how he obeys his earthly parents. Brothers and sisters, you know how much is involved there? Until he is thirty. Now, thirty is the year, is the age that a Levi, a priest, enters into the temple as a full-fledged priest. In other words, thirty is the age of full service. So when he is thirty, you find he comes to be baptized. And there he offers himself to God as a sacrifice. As a sacrifice. In other words, when he is twelve, he comes into a full consciousness of his relationship with the Father. But when he is thirty, he accepts the vision, the will, that God has entrusted. So he offers himself by baptism. He identifies himself with the sinful mankind. Especially with the repentant people. And he offers himself as a substitute. Therefore, the Holy Spirit descends upon him as a dove. Because a dove is a sacrifice of the poor. So brothers and sisters, here you see his growth. His growth. The growth of the man. Now, we who are the Lord, not because we are saved, not because we have received our Lord Jesus, therefore in one day we are fully grown. Not at all. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are saved. Even though the life of Christ in us is complete and perfect. And yet, we need to grow into understanding, appreciation, appropriation of what Christ is to us. We need to grow. There is no such thing as instant spirituality. You know, in this country, people like everything instant. Not only do you have instant coffee, I'm surprised we have instant tea. You see, people are so impatient. Everything is instant. Now, even with the cattle and the sheep, they give them some kind of injection and some kind of medicine to make them grow fast, quickly. But anything instant is a natural, you know. People today, among God's people, there is a kind of hope. Hope. And that hope is instant spirituality. If you believe in the Lord Jesus, if you get saved, or if you do certain things, or if you have certain experience, then instantly you shoot up to heaven. You become spiritual. No such thing. No such thing. We have to grow. Growing pain is something unavoidable. You have to grow. Have to grow. And in growing, you will find there are two things that will come as you grow in Christ. One is you grow into an increased understanding of your relationship with the Heavenly Father. More and more you begin to realize that you are not your own. You are His. More and more you begin to know that He is your Heavenly Father. That relationship will increase as you grow in the Lord. Then on the other side, you'll find as you grow in the Lord, gradually you'll grow into a consciousness of what the Lord is calling you. So here you'll find a relationship and a mission. And this relationship and this mission do not come instantly. It comes as you grow in the Lord. The more you grow in the Lord, the fuller is your understanding of your relationship with Him, with the Father. And the more you grow in the Lord, the more you are conscious of your ministry, your mission, your task, your job that God has called you into. All these will come as a matter of growth. And this is part of the life history of the man after God's own heart. So do not be impatient. You know, I know many Christians are very impatient. They want to help God to pull it up a little bit. You know, but if you pull it up a little bit, it dies. We have to go. We have to go. We need time. How we need to humbly commit ourselves in the hand of the Lord and let Him do His work in us that we may be growing in our consciousness of our relationship with the Father and we may grow into that mission, ministry that He has called us. This is the second stage of life. Then the third thing is work, is ministry. So you find here in the gospel according to Luke, he mentions a lot about what Christ does. You know. But one thing as you read the gospel according to Luke, our Lord does many things. Just many things. But remember, He is not doing these for success. Nor for popularity, for fame. He does many things. And yet, He is not actually directly related to these things. What does it mean? It means that to Him He has only one work, to do the Father's will. That's all. He is really not interested in this or that. All that He is concerned with is the will of the Father. His whole life work is driven by this one thing, the Father's will. If it is the Father's will, fine. If it is not the Father's will, no. If it is the Father's will, then even though there is no success, He prays God. You know, at one time, He does not seem to have got success. Because He has been to all these cities, Corinth and Capernaum, and has done miracles and wonders, and yet they don't believe. A total failure. Furthermore, well, on one hand, He said, now Father, you have hidden these things from the prudence, but you have revealed these things to the children. And if the Father has said to you, because it is your good pleasure, to whom is not a matter of success or failure? He does not measure His work by success or failure. He does not measure His work by popularity. Not at all. He measures His work only by the Father's will. If it is the Father's good pleasure, thank God for that. Even if it ends up in failure, seemingly failure. That doesn't bother me. Doesn't bother me. So you find His whole work, life work, is to do the Father's will. And in doing the Father's will, He goes to the extent of laying down His life. Laying down His life. Now that's one thing you notice in the gospel according to Mark. Attitude to it. Why? Because you find He set His faith towards Jerusalem. He knows there is danger waiting there for Him. But He set His faith towards Jerusalem. And people began to tell Him, Do you know that Herod wants to kill you? Do you know the Lord Jesus said, Tell that fox. Because Herod is a very, very subtle and quick to pray. Like a fox. He says, Tell that fox. I have my work to do today and tomorrow and the day to come. Because a prophet cannot perish outside of Jerusalem. There is no deviation to the Lord. He doesn't mind all these things. He only loves the Father's will. That's all. To do the Father's will and to finish it. That's all that matters. That is our work. Brothers and sisters, we who are in union with this man. What is our work? What is our attitude toward works? Are we working to cause popularity? Or do we measure our work with success? With number? Or failure? Our whole approach to this matter of Christian work or Christian service is to do the Father's will. That's the only thing that matters. If it is the Father's will even though it may end up in success, thank God. And in failure, thank God. To God it is a success. But if it's not the Father's will even though it may be a success on earth, it's a failure. It's a failure. Our whole attitude towards work shouldn't be directly involved with the work, but involved with the will of God. And then you'll find because we are involved with the Father's will, therefore it doesn't matter what people say. It doesn't matter what it happens to us. It doesn't matter. It is the Father's will. That's all. Now that's one side. On another side you'll find in all the works of Christ you'll find His interest is always with men. And in the Gospel according to Luke especially, Luke gives us a human touch. In all the works that Christ does, there is always a human touch there. You know, a little touch there. Luke mentions this woman. How this woman came to the Lord. When the Lord was sitting at table with Simon the Pharisee. How she wept. How she kissed the feet of our Lord. How she anointed and do all these things. Now that's a human touch, you know. You'll find in all the things done by our Lord there is a definite human touch there. He is most interested in men. In men. And this is what we are involved. We are involved in men. Not in things, but in men. That man may be brought into what God wants them to be. Now how is that going on? The fourth is death. Of course death is one of the crises of life. Now in the death of our Lord Jesus there is a divine sight that you find in the record of the gospel according to John. But if you read the gospel according to Luke, you'll find Luke presents us the human sight of the death of our Lord Jesus. On the cross, according to the record of Luke, our Lord speaks three words. And all these three words shows us the human sight. The human sight. First, Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. That's the human, that's the man that God wants. Even though they crucified him, they put him to death, and yet he says, Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing. That is the highest expression of human nature, of the human sight. Second, he told that thief, today you will be with me in paradise. And thirdly, Father, I give back to you my spirit. So you find in all these three words he shows, reveals the human sight of his death. Yes, there is the divine sight. There is the sight of atonement. Of vicarious death. Dying as our sacrifice. Out of his sight comes out blood and water. Blood will give to remit our sins and water to give us new life. That's the divine sight. But there is the human sight. Even on the cross he manifests the highest authority of a human being. We are identified with him in his death. Now, in one thing, the death of a sphinct is very different from the death of an unbeliever. You know, death can be very tragic. Sometimes we say a man is cut off in his prime. He hasn't finished his work. It comes too quickly. He is cut off. His life is cut off. And if that should happen it is very sad. And sometimes death may be the end of a wasteful life. A man has wasted all life and then he dies for a waste. Very tragic. But to a believer on the one hand we are not supposed to die before we have finished our course and fulfilled God's call. A Christian should not. Need not. We can live to that time when our work is done. When God's purpose is fulfilled in us. We need not be cut off before our time comes. We have this faith. We believe that. And more than that if the Lord shall come soon and he will we may not go to death at all. We may be raptured alive and be changed. Now, this is all black and white. That being another offense let me put it this way. With Christ he lives first and then he dies. But with us we die first and then we live. Now that is the different thing. We are dead with Christ. Therefore we live today. No longer we but Christ who lives in us. Now this is demand. This is demand. And of course add to that the fifth crisis is invention. Here you find Christ ascends up to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Now of the full gospel Matthew does not recall the ascension of the Lord. Instead Matthew says I am with you to the end of the age. Now if he is with us to the end of the age he cannot recall ascension. Now know that Christ has not ascended but the truth of Matthew is even now Christ is with us. He has never left us. So it ends up with I am with you to the end of the age. No ascension seen there. And the gospel according to John has no ascension seen. Why? Because he is in heaven even though he is on earth. So there is no ascension seen in in John. Mark recalls ascension. Why? Because a servant after he has fulfilled his master's will he is rewarded with ascension to heaven. And Luke in a very special way there is the ascension seen. Why? Because the man has the God's own heart is now in glory. There is a man in glory today. And because there is a man in glory we know one day he will lead many sons. Thank God there is a man in glory. He is there as a forerunner as a guarantee, as a pledge that he will lead many sons into glory. So the whole gospel according to Luke begins with a baby in a manger. But it ends up with a man in glory. It begins with a prayer in the temple by Zechariah. It ends up with praises by the disciples in the temple. And that is the gospel according to Luke. The man. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father we do pray and thank Thee because Thou dost desire to have man. Thou hast had him in Christ and Thou art going to have him in us. O Lord Thou hast set Christ before us as our example and Thou hast put him in us as our life. So we do desire to yield ourselves to Thee and let Thee work out Thy perfect will in us and among us so that Thou may have that man whom Thou hast in Thy heart from the very beginning and to Thee be all the glory in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.