Our Ascended Lord
(No. 1928)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 7, 1886,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Who has gone into Hea ven and is at the right hand of God; angels and
authorities and po wers being made subject to Him." 1 Peter 3:22.
LAST Lord's Day morning [#1927–Our Sympathizing High Priest] we
considered the humiliation of our Divine Lord and, I think, if one may
speak for the rest, that we consciously and deeply felt how very near
He came to us in His suffering condition and how very near He still is
to us as truly Man. On that happy occasion we had fellowship with Him
of the truest kind. The sympathy of His soul toward us awoke our
sympathies towards Him. We felt it exceedingly profitable to sit and
weep with Him who not only wept but bled for us.
This morning, in considering our Lord's Glorification, I hope we shall
feel quite as near to Him as we did on the former occasion, for if He
was humiliated for us, He is also exalted for us. If He, Himself, once
stooped to come near to us, He now lifts us up from our low estate and
brings us near to Himself in His Glory. It is not only that He is
partaker of our lowliness, but we are partakers of His exaltation. The
fellowship is full and complete, for while He takes upon Himself our
fall, we, on the other hand, partake in His rising again! He comes down
to us in His Incarnation, but He calls us up to Him in His Ascension.
He wears our garb of poverty by bearing our flesh, but He robes us in
His splendor as He bears our nature into Heaven. Remember, it is "this
same Jesus" whom they saw on earth who also is gone into Heaven and who
is to come again a second time. Yes, it is "this same Jesus" and He is
no less Man on the Throne of God than He was on the Cross–He is as
truly our Brother, now, amid the acclaim of angels as among the weeping
women of Jerusalem.
I beseech you, do not let the change of His estate create any distance
in your hearts, since there is no distance in His heart, but rather ask
for Grace that you may rise up unto Him, to joy in His joy and triumph
in His triumph! Let us behold our Lord's glories today, not as a blaze
of intolerable splendor, driving us back with fear, but as a radiance
of peace, drawing us near with hope! Let us go to the land where our
greater Joseph is Lord of all! Let us go into His palace, let us sit at
His table with Him, there, as He once sat at our table with us here! We
went to David in the cave, let us not fear to approach Him now that He
is King! Yes, let us rejoice that we share His royalty, for He has made
us kings and priests, and we shall reign with Him forever and ever.
The history of our Lord after His death is as simple as it is sublime
and I shall not try to set it forth with garnishing of human speech.
When a renowned warrior writes home after great victories, his
dispatches are short and to the point. The brilliance of the news is
sufficient without the light of sparkling sentences. His words are few;
he has so much to tell that he does not waste a letter! His
achievements are so great that they do not require the aid of poetry or
oratory. A dash from the conqueror's pen is enough to set a nation
rejoicing. "I came, I saw, I conquered," is a line which will be quoted
to the end of time! Such is the life of our Lord Jesus from the Cross
onward. If I seem to preach very plainly and even baldly, this morning,
you will understand that my theme forbids the adornments which other
subjects invite.
Our Savior died, but He rose again. It is a sort of courtesy to death
to speak of the period of our Lord's entombment as three days. The
victory of death was so short that Scripture can afford to let it be
reckoned in the roughest manner, to give to death the utmost it could
claim by the broadest method of reckoning. Give Death his three
days–that is the outside of all his victory! Let Death and Hell make
the best they can of it–the bruised heel of the Seed of the woman soon
ceases to be lame!
When the first day of the week began to dawn, before yet the sun had
gleamed through the veil of the olives and lit up the garden of Joseph
of Arimathaea, our Lord arose from His slumber and began to disrobe
Himself of His grave clothes. In orderly manner He folded them up and
divided them with intent of instruction. He left the grave clothes for
us, that our last chamber may be fitly furnished when we shall come to
lie in it–and then He put the napkin by itself, that our friends may
dry their tears thereon when they remember that there is now a glorious
hope in death for all who are in Christ! The living Lord waited a while
and then the messenger from the courts of Heaven descended to set Him
free. The angel touched the stone which shut the mouth of the
grave–the stone removed–the Risen One came forth from the dampness of
the vault into the freshness of the morning air, frightening the
watchmen and causing the solid earth to quake with fear! He was as
truly risen as He had been truly dead! He was no apparition or
phantom–that body which had most certainly given up the ghost now
received life again!
Our Lord tarried here for 40 days–a time sufficient for the
establishment of His identity and the production of proof of the fact
that He had truly risen. During that 40 days He so showed Himself in
different places that the testimony to His Resurrection became most
abundant and convincing. He was seen by ones and twos who could the
more carefully examine Him because they were alone with Him. He was
tested by one who put his finger into the print of the nails and thrust
his hand into His side–nothing could be more conclusive than the
verdict of that suspicious examiner! He was seen by about 500 brethren
at once, that by the eyes of many the fact of His being the once
Crucified Jesus might be ascertained beyond all further question. His
appearance was not a vision beheld by one or two enthusiasts when
alone–He was manifestly set forth among a great company as their Lord
and Master who had been cruelly put to death, but had risen from among
the dead! Our Savior would not go to Heaven till He had settled the
fact of His Resurrection upon a basis which can never be shaken. There
is no fact in history, ancient or modern, which is half so well
attested as the Resurrection of our Lord from the dead! You shall turn
to the pages of the most veracious and sober historians of any age you
please, but you will not there find such assured evidence of any event
as the Gospels give to us of the rising again of Jesus! Events which we
now speak of as indisputable are not so surely true as that Jesus, who
was taken down from the Cross and laid in the tomb of Joseph of
Arimathaea, did really rise and live again among the sons of men!
He tarried 40 days, not only for the establishment of this great Truth
of God, but for the comfort of His disciples. He wiped away the tears
which they shed at His death and made them feel that it was no longer a
calamity that their Lord had died. He also prepared them for the more
enduring grief of His departure–indeed, He so elevated their minds and
raised their spirits, that we never hear of their lamenting His
Ascension! He made them see that it was expedient that He should go
away so that the Comforter might come to them. He also communed with
them, gave them of His Spirit and filled them with His peace. He raised
them from being common peasants to be the Patriarchs of a new age, the
vanguard of the Divine crusaders who would conquer the world for Jesus!
They went forth strong in the Lord and in the power of His might
because He had spoken to them and they had heard from His own lips the
Gospel which they were commissioned to proclaim.
He also stayed long enough to give them directions how to act. In fact,
He organized His forces, ordered their line of battle and prepared them
for the victory! To all He gave the direction to tarry at Jerusalem
till they were endowed with power from on high and, in that command, we
have our marching orders for all time. Some of the disciples He had to
address individually, for they had special needs. He had to cheer the
heart of Magdalene, to overcome the unbelief of Thomas, to give warning
and encouragement to Peter and to brace them all for their coming
struggle. The Great Shepherd of the sheep could not return unto His
rest till He had seen to every sickly sheep and put the whole flock in
order. He would not go to His Glory till He could leave all whom the
Father gave Him prepared for their future destiny.
Those forty days were soon over. Very remarkable days they were, if you
study them–so different from His former life. Nobody molested the
Lord. No scribes or Pharisees contradicted Him, no malicious Jews took
up stones to stone Him. Those were calm days, days wherein the birds of
peace sat on the still waters and not a wave ruffled the calm. I might
almost say that those days were the prelude of His Glory, a sort of
anticipation of His reign of peace when He shall stand in the latter
day upon the earth and wars shall cease unto the end of the earth. When
those 40 days were over, the Master went His way. All was done that He
had covenanted to perform and He ascended to His reward. Now we have
come to our text.
I shall this morning, first of all, rehearse the circumstances which
are here mentioned in three parts–He has gone into Heaven. He is at
the right hand of God. Angels and authorities and powers are made
subject to Him. When I have rehearsed these circumstances, I shall
then, Beloved, by the help of God's Spirit, ask you to learn the simple
but sublime lessons which these facts are meant to teach us.
I. First, LET US REHEARSE THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
They begin thus–"Who is gone into Heaven." "He is gone"–that sounds
rather gloomy. You might touch the mournful string as you hear these
words, for if He is gone, we are bereaved, indeed! Yet we dare not
raise a monument to Christ as one who is dead! Let us complete the
sentence–"Who is gone into Heaven." Now you demand the trumpet, for
the words are full of soul-stirring music and create intense delight!
Still, there are the words, "He is gone"–He is gone away from you and
from me–we cannot embrace His feet, nor wash them, nor lean our head
upon His bosom, nor look into His face. We have to sing to our
Well-Beloved–
"Jesus, these eyes have never seen
That radiant form of Yours!
The veil of sense hangs dark between
Your blessed face and mine!'
We are strangers here because He is not here. He intends us to remove,
for He has removed. We are not at home on earth. If He were here, we
might think this world could be our abiding place, but it cannot be so
now. If He were here, earth would be a kind of Heaven to us, but away
from Him it is a place of exile. If we could now run to Him and tell
Him our griefs as they arise, they would cease to be griefs, but Jesus
does not mean this to be our lot and portion. Our inheritance is not on
this side of Jordan. Truly, this world and all the works that are in
it, are to be burned up–in token of which He is gone from it. It is
vain for us to think that we can make our abode here! We are,
ourselves, to go away soon and, therefore, He is gone–
"When He arose, ascending high He taught our feet the way."
He seems to say, "Upwards, my Brethren, upwards from off this earth!
Away from this world to the Glory Land! I am gone and you must be gone.
This is not your place of resting, but you must prepare yourselves for
a time when it shall be said of each one of you, 'He is gone.'" Those
who linger behind us will see us no more, for we shall be gone into
Heaven to be with our Lord in His Kingdom.
I like to remember that our Lord Jesus is gone in the entirety of His
Nature. His body is gone. He has not left His flesh in the grave. Jesus
has carried with Him His entire Self, His whole Humanity. Therein I
rejoice, for He has carried my nature to Heaven with Him! My heart is
with Him on His Throne and all my being longs to follow it! Jesus has
taken our manhood into Heaven. He is in Heaven, our Adam, the
Representative of His people. He has taken us up with Himself, Beloved,
even all of us who are in Him. He has gone into Heaven in His true and
proper Manhood. In the New Jerusalem He looks like a Lamb that has been
slain and still He wears His Priesthood, His Manhood and His
sympathetic heart. He who is gone into Heaven is not an imposter, but
the real Christ! We shall know Him there if we have known Him here. He
on whose head are many crowns, is identical with the Christ whose head
was encircled with thorns! Despite the change in His circumstances,
there is no change in Him–He is "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today and forever." He, His own Self, who bore our sins, is gone up
into Heaven!
We have dwelt long enough upon the words, "He is gone." Now let us
consider that He "is gone into Heaven." What does this signify but,
first, that He is gone out of the region wherein our senses can
perceive Him? Be sure of this, that you will not now see Him, nor touch
Him, nor handle Him. He is gone into Heaven–out of reach of our
earth-bound senses. It is a vain idea of carnal-minded men that Christ
is corporeally in the "sacrament." He is gone into Heaven! His very
flesh and blood cannot be here among us. He is gone up into Heaven and,
therefore, He is not where He can be recognized by these bodily senses.
Spiritually He is here, according to His promise, "Lo, I am with you
always, even unto the end of the world," but to say that He is here
corporeally is to deny that He is gone up into Heaven. As Man, as His
body was of substance, it is not capable of being in more than one
place at a time! You must not transform His Humanity into De-ity–His
Deity is everywhere, but His substantial Humanity can only be in its
one proper place–and to suppose it to be everywhere is virtually to
deny that it is anywhere! A covert unbelief in the reality of our
Lord's body thus veils itself un-
der the appearance of a superstitious faith. Jesus is really and indeed
gone into Heaven and, therefore, we see Him not, we hear Him not and
our communion with Him is by faith–not by the senses.
But then, Beloved, we know that our Lord, as Man, is gone into a
greater nearness to God than ever–"He is gone into Heaven" where is
the Throne of the Great King. The High Priest, on the Day of Atonement,
lifted the mysterious veil which shut in the Holy of Holies. He passed
within and the veil fell between him and the people. They could not
possibly see him while he was performing his sacred functions. But they
knew that he stood before the Throne of God. Though he was not with
them, he was with God which was better for them. The High Priest was
more useful to them within the veil than outside of it–he was doing
for them, out of sight, what he could not accomplish in their view. I
delight to think that my Lord is with the Father! Sometimes I cannot
get to God–my access seems blocked by my infir-mity–but He is always
with God to plead for me! Sometimes my intercessions seem to die
outside the veil–but His prayers are always within the Holy Place,
since He, Himself, is there, presenting His potent pleas directly to
the Father and being always accepted by Him! Let us joy and rejoice
that our Covenant Head is now in the bosom of the Father, at the
Fountainhead of Love and Grace–and that He is there on our behalf.
In going into Heaven there is also this thought, that our Lord is gone,
now, into the place of perfect happiness and of complete Glory. We
rightly sing–
"No more the bloody spear,
The Cross and nails no more, For Hell itself shakes at His name, And
all the heavens adore.'
No weariness, no mockery, no sinking of heart, no bearing of reproach,
no crying, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" He is gone into
peace, bliss, honor and renown. "Heaven" is a great word–none of us
can understand it–nor shall we approach its meaning till we reach the
place. He is where there are pleasures forevermore. The Human soul and
body of Jesus are filled with delight! The Man, Christ Jesus, the son
of Mary–He that died upon the Cross is now blessed forevermore! The
Lord Jesus is filled with ineffable satisfaction which is the reward of
His passion and His death. Let us this day be glad and rejoice in Him,
for He is gone up into Heaven!
Thinking this over, let us reflect, dear Brothers and Sisters, that
nothing could stop His going there. "He is gone up into Heaven, despite
all who raged against Him."
Death could not hold Him. Death bound Him very fast with the strongest
cords, but He could not be held by them. This great monster must give
up Jesus, even as another monster gave up Jonah, after the third day!
Our greater Jonah came up, again, from the depths of the earth. He died
and was a captive for our sakes, but His body could not see corruption,
nor could His soul abide in the realms of death. He is gone to Heaven,
despite the stone, the watch, the seal– despite the clay-cold hand of
death.
He is gone into Heaven despite malicious men. Have you ever wondered
why they did not attack Him when He had showed Himself openly and had
led out His disciples to the Mount of Olives? They paid the soldiers to
say that His disciples stole Him away while they slept–why did they
not seize Him? Why is Herod so quiet and Caiaphas so still? Scribes and
Pharisees, where are they? Are these lions chained? Our greater Daniel
is in their den, but they do not even roar at Him! It is now or never
with them–if they could capture Him, now, and stop His way to His
eternal triumph, it would be a great victory! It is the last chance for
the overthrow of His power! But truly, against Him did not a dog move
his tongue! They were still as a stone while He passed over to take
possession of the inheritance!
As death could not hinder Him, so neither could the malice of men
detain Him, nor could all the forces of the devil block His way. I see
no trace of the arch-enemy after Christ has risen from the dead. O
Prince of Darkness, you did meet Him in the wilderness at the
beginning–why not close with Him at the end? Why not assail Him by the
sea when He stands there with His coals of fire, with fish laid on
them, and bread? Prince of Darkness, why did you not hasten up to shoot
a last arrow at Him and summon all your bands to waylay Him in mid-air
to block His passage to the Golden City? No, the powers of darkness
were baffled! In their silence they gnashed their teeth for rage, but
they could not even hiss against Him! He had so thoroughly cowed and
subdued Satan and all his angels in Gethsemane and on the Cross, that
nothing remained but to triumph over them and lead captivity captive!
The leaguered hosts of Hell could not summon courage for another
encounter–His warfare was accomplished and the road to His Father's
capital lay open before Him! In peaceful triumph He passed beyond the
clouds. Troops of angels on the road met with their joyful songs, the
Heir of all things returning to His Home! My heart rejoices as I think
that He is gone into Heaven, none disputing His passage.
But I beg you to remember that He is gone up into Heaven as our
Representative. Jesus does nothing by Himself, now. All His people are
with Him. He says, "Behold I and the children which God has given Me."
They are always in union with Him. The Head is never separate from the
members–the supposition is ghastly! He is our Forerunner marking the
way; our Herald predicting our coming; our Breaker clearing the road.
As the great Lord calls them Home, it shall be said of each one of the
saints, "who is gone into Heaven." Jesus is gone there as Pioneer to
open the way, as our Friend to prepare a place for us and as the Pledge
that all who are in Him shall come to the same happiness! If He had not
entered, neither could we, but in His Person God has given to us a
token that we, also, shall rise from the dead and shall enter into
Heaven! He who is the Surety of the Covenant is our guarantee of
entrance into Heaven! This is the best seal that our faith could
desire, the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ being practically the
resurrection and the home-bringing of all His redeemed! I stop–may the
Lord bless this to your souls.
Secondly, we have to look at the next circumstance, His sitting at the
right hand of God–"who is gone into Heaven, and is at the right hand
of God." Remember that this being at the right hand of God relates to
the complex Person of our Lord. It relates to Him not as God, alone,
but as God and Man. It is His Manhood that is at the right hand of God.
Wonderful conception! The next being to God is Man! Infinite leagues
must necessarily lie between the Creator and the created, but between
God and man, in Christ Jesus, there seems no distance at all–the Man
Christ Jesus sits at God's right hand. Is not this a sublime thought,
that man, creature as he is, is now so linked with the Second Person of
the Divine Trinity in Unity, that he is so near to God as to be at His
right hand? So near, so very near to God–he cannot be nearer! This is
a wonderful thing–Jesus sits at the right hand of God as Man–and man
is thus brought into a singular nearness to God! As I said before,
there is an immeasurable chasm between God and a seraph, and yet man,
whom He made a "little lower than the angels," and who was,
consequently, a little further off, is, in the Person of the Son of
God, brought so near to God that no being of any kind now intervenes
between the Almighty God and man!
What does it mean that Christ sits at the right hand of God? Does it
not mean, first, unrivalled honor? To sit at the right hand of God is
the highest conceivable glory. The mother of Zebedee's children asked
that her sons might sit, the one on His right hand, and the other on
His left, in His Kingdom, but Jesus said it was not His to give. The
Father has given the Son to sit in the highest place nearest to His
Throne, yes, on the very Throne of God, for we read of "the Throne of
God and of the Lamb." Jesus, our Brother, is elevated to the throne of
the Most High!
Does not it also signify intense love? When Solomon would describe the
love of the king to his bride, he said, "Upon your right hand did stand
the queen in gold of Ophir." The Lord God places the Son of Man in the
seat of love, where none may be but the One who is the beloved of the
Father. He loves Him with an unutterable, inconceivable love and even
thus does He love us in Him! Christ at the right hand of God means all
His people at the right hand of God–all the saints are in the place of
the nearest and dearest love!
It means, also, communion and counsel. We speak of a person with whom
we take advice as "the man of our right hand." God takes counsel with
the Man, Christ Jesus. When you have a friend at court, you hope you
will do well, but what a Friend have we in the King's courts–even He
who is The Wonderful, Counselor! He is the King of Glory, the Governor
of earth, the Distributor of thrones and crowns, the Man Christ Jesus!
Now I know that the decree of God must mean my good, for my Lord sits
at the right hand of Him that does decree! Now I understand that the
purposes of God must work out the happiness of the chosen, for He who
loves them is in union with the Maker of the purpose!
Does it not also signify perfect repose? Jesus is gone up to the right
hand of God and sits there. While He was occupied with His holy
service, He did not sit down. There were no seats for the priests in
the tabernacle–their work was too laborious for sitting down. But
Jesus has forever taken His seat at the right hand of God, expecting
till His enemies are made His footstool! O restful Savior, we, toiling
and laboring, come to You and find rest in You–we also sit down
longing for and expecting the time when You shall put down all our
enemies and we shall tread even Satan under our feet! Even now we sit
with You in the heavenlies and enjoy Your peace. So much concerning the
seating of our Lord.
The third fact is, His dominion–"Angels and authorities and powers
being made subject to Him." Angels are subject to Him upon whom cowards
spat–to Him whom they nailed to the Cross–and at whom they wagged
their heads! This is one of the wonders of Heaven. Is it possible that
the conjecture of the old writers was true, that Satan rebelled
against God because He heard a whisper that a man would one day be Head
over all principalities and powers? I do not know, but certainly the
angels must often marvel that Gabriel, nor the brightest of the
seraphim is next to God–but a Man! Lord, what is man! Man made of the
dust of the earth–what is he that he should sit above more spiritual
beings, crowned with glory and honor? Yet it is so. God has set the
Christ above all angels and principalities and powers. Is not this one
of those things which angels desire to look into? Although Lucifer has
fallen, there is yet no gap in Heaven. Creatures in part, material, are
lifted up to fill the void caused by the great dragon when he drew down
with his tail the third part of the stars of Heaven. Men in countless
myriads are in Heaven, white-robed, praising God! And one Man is
actually on the Throne of God, Vice Regent, Lord over all–having every
knee to bow before Him and every tongue to call Him Lord, to the Glory
of God the Father!
Oh, think of it! The Man Christ Jesus is Lord of all the shining ones!
He can send an angel to comfort you in your grief–"Are they not all
ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs
of salvation?" When you count up the available forces of your Lord, do
not forget these invisible armies. Did He not say in the hour of His
agony, "Can I not now pray to My Father and He shall presently give Me
more than twelve legions of angels"? The air will soon teem with
invisible spirits if they are needed for our defense, for our Savior is
their Lord! They will count it all joy to do His bidding on our behalf.
They are the chariots of God in which He rides to the rescue of His
own. The day shall come when all the hosts of Heaven shall come down to
earth, attending the Son of Man–then shall they gather out of His
Kingdom all things that offend and, at the same time, they shall
delight to display their loyalty to Him that once did hang upon the
Cross. We rejoice, today, that God has set Him far above all
principality, power, might and dominion– and every name that is named!
But I must not forget that He has power over all devils as well. They
are fallen angels and Jesus has subdued them once and for all. They
cannot tempt His followers without His permission. They cannot put
forth their finger to bring any calamity upon a Job unless God wills
it. These dogs are muzzled and, therefore, we should not fear them–
"A faithful God restrains their hands, And binds them down in iron
bands.'
Jesus is Lord of all!
Whatever else this term "angels and authorities and powers" may
comprehend, Christ has under His sway. That is to say, all kings and
princes upon earth, all leaders of thought–political or religious–all
controllers of human movements are subject to Him. Do not be afraid of
this or that form of anarchy–nothing can shake the eternal Throne of
the Prince of Peace! Monarchs may die and crumble back to dust and
their empires with them, but the Throne of the Son of David shall
endure forever and ever! No acts of senators, nor decrees of despots,
nor raging of the multitude, nor foaming of rebels, nor deliverances of
sages can interfere, in the least degree, with the supreme power of
Jesus of Nazareth! His very Cross proclaimed Him King–and King He is!
Be cheered by His reign. "Fear not, little flock, for it is your
Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." It is surely so, for
the Lord has given Jesus the Kingdom and He shall reign forever and
ever.
Yes, and all kinds of forces other than human are under subjection to
Jesus. The Psalmist, when he measured the domain of man, said–"You
made him to have dominion over all the works of Your hands; You have
put all things under His feet: all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts
of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and
whatever passes through the paths of the seas." We do not yet see all
things put under man, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with Glory and
honor! All things this day bow before the Lord Jesus, willingly or
unwillingly. It matters not what powers, forces and energies may be now
developed, or may be yet developed in the ages to come–they are all
subject to the Lord Christ! That heel which once was bruised when the
serpent wounded it, has crushed the dragon's head and holds it down
upon the earth. Life, death, Hell and worlds unknown lie in subjection
to Him that lives and was dead! Oh that my Lord had a servant that
could worthily declare His glories! Great princes have their heralds
who, with blast of trumpet, proclaim their honors and dignities, but
who shall proclaim the glories of the Son of Man who once died for our
sins?
Come, let us rejoice together in the victories of our Leader and Lord!
I know of no better theme to stir the pulses of my soul with holy
exultation than the thought that Jesus is victorious! I have heard of
wounded men crushed amid a heap of bleeding bodies lying on the
battlefield and awakening all the life that remained in them when they
saw the great Na-
poleon come riding over the plain. With their legs gone, they raised
themselves upon their arms, once more to salute their captain! Poor
souls, to be thus enthusiastic for one who shed their blood like water!
Far more wise is our enthusiasm for Him who shed His blood for us! If I
knew that I must die in a ditch and be forgotten or slandered and
abhorred of men, I would yet rejoice and cry, "Hosanna!" at the
prospect of my Lord's sure victory! Yes, I will salute Him now with my
most hearty praises and be glad because I know that He is, even now,
King of kings and Lord of lords. Hallelujah! He of whom they said,
"Crucify Him, crucify Him," is now Head over all! There I leave it. God
grant us Grace to rejoice in this story of our Lord!
II. Secondly, and very briefly, LET US LEARN THE LESSONS OF THESE
CIRCUMSTANCES.
The first lesson is–the religion of Christ is true. Whenever I read
modern doubts–and you cannot read long without coming across them–I
am glad to get back to facts. If you read a certain set of modern
sermons, you will find all the eternal Truths of God denied or
maligned. Too many ministers, instead of being servants of Christ, are
servants of the devil dressed in the livery of God–may the Lord have
mercy upon them! Whenever a doubt is proposed to me, I fall back upon
this fact–Jesus did rise from the dead. That is sure. He did also
ascend into Heaven, for His disciples saw Him rise. Well, then, I am
satisfied to be the least of His disciples and to take His Word and the
words of His Inspired Apostles and believe them–even though faith is
denounced as ridiculous! "You are left behind in the march of progress.
You are poor fools who cannot think for yourselves." I confess that I
am such a fool–I believe what God has revealed. I have more confidence
in the Revelation of God than in the opinions of men. I know nothing
among men except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. For this is the Truth
of God! We know it! We have facts at our back. Our doctrine is not
sentiment, view and opinion, but fact! "Who has gone into Heaven and is
at the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made
subject to Him."
I learn another lesson–that Christ's cause is safe. Let not His Church
tremble. Let her not think of putting out the hand of unbelief to
steady the Ark of the Lord. The history of the Church is to be the
history of Christ repeated–she is to be betrayed, she is to be
scourged, she is to be falsely accused and spit on–she may have her
crucifixion and her death. But she shall rise again! Her Master rose
and, like He, she shall rise and receive Glory. You can never kill the
Church till you can kill Christ–and you can never defeat her till you
defeat the Lord Jesus who already wears the crown of triumph! The grand
old cause is safe! The outlook may be dark, just now, and it may be
unpopular to follow the Lamb wherever He goes, but the day will come
when they who do so shall walk in white, for they are worthy! The wheel
will turn and they that are lowest, now, shall soon be highest–they
that have been with Him in the dust shall be with Him in His
Glory.
Now I can see that His saints are safe, for if Jesus has risen and gone
into His Glory, then each individual in Him shall be safe, too. Where
does your hope lie, Brothers and Sisters? Why, in Christ! Well, then,
your hope is always safe, is it not? If you have any hope outside of
Him, it may perish, but if your hope is all within Him, your treasure
is all within the heavenly casket and it is always secure! Therefore,
be glad and rejoice! You, too, may have to cry, "Why have you forsaken
me?" You, too, may thirst. You, too, may die. But you shall live again
and you shall triumph, for as He is, so are you and what Jesus is, that
you shall be in Him!
I can also see another lesson here–this explains the way in which
Jesus deals with sinners. That which took place in His own Person, He
makes to be a picture of what takes place in the men whom He saves. If
you come to Him, you can only get to know the fullness of His gracious
power by being scourged and buffeted with conviction and repentance–
and by having self, especially self-righteousness, crucified and slain!
You must know the destruction of self, you must see death written upon
all carnal hopes and then, out of that death, you shall live again in
newness of life and you shall receive honor and glory and immortality!
Therefore, dear troubled Heart, if Christ is killing you, be assured He
will make you alive, for this is what He says, even He, the mighty
God–"I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal." The history of
Christ has to be written out again in us! Death to sin and a new life
unto righteousness must be ours. That is a lesson worth the learning!
And so I must close with one more division which will have several
points in it. I think, Beloved, since Christ has gone into Heaven and
sits at the right hand of God, it shows which way we ought to go. "I,
if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." He draws
them to the Cross and you may be sure He will draw them to the crown!
Do you think He has lost His appeal, now that He sits on the Throne?
Not He! He is drawing us up this morning! Let us send all
our thoughts upward–our desires, our rejoicings, our aspirations–let
them all climb Jacob's ladder up to the Lord! Oh that we could at once
rise to Him! Stop a while, my Soul! Be patient through your appointed
days. Though you can hardly stand delay, yet follow His example, for
your Lord, Himself, had to wait. He had His time of waiting and so must
you, in order that you may have fellowship with Him in His sufferings.
Still feel the drawings. Remember that pretty parable, given by one of
our ministers, of the boy's kite. He made it fly aloft. It rose up so
high that he could no longer see it. Still, he said he had a kite and
he held fast to it. "Boy, how do you know you have a kite?" "I can feel
it pull," he said.
This morning we feel our Jesus pull. He draws us with a far greater
force than a mere string. He is gone into Heaven and He draws us after
Him! O Lord, draw us with greater power than ever! "Draw us, we will
run after You." Do we not feel as though we could kneel down and pray
over those words of the spouse? Wait a bit and soon you shall climb the
shining way to embrace your risen Lord! Yield to His upward drawing! Do
not pull away from Him to grasp earth and things that are earthly, but
yield to His drawings. As you yield to them, begin to sing–He has
conquered! He has conquered! He has conquered! What matters it though
my garments are rolled in dust and blood? He has conquered! He has
conquered! What does it matter though the arrows fly thick about me,
winged by the feathers of death? He has conquered! He has conquered! My
Soul, grasp the victory, for there is laid up for you, also, a crown of
life that fades not away!
God bless you, Brothers and Sisters, for Jesus' sake!