Our Lord’s Triumphant Ascension

Our Lord's Triumphant Ascension

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 11, 1890,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. INTENDED FOR READING ON
LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 27, 1890.

"You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive: You ha ve
received gifts for men; yes, for the rebellious, also, that the Lord
God might dwell among them." Psalm 68:18.

The hill of Zion had been taken out of the hand of the Jebusites. They
had held it long after the rest of the country had been subdued, but
David, at last, had taken it from them. This was the mountain ordained
of Jehovah of old to be the place of the Temple. David, therefore, with
songs and shouts of rejoicing, brought up the Ark from the house of
Obed-edom to the place where it should remain. That is the literal fact
upon which the figure of the text is based. We are at no loss for the
spiritual interpretation, for we turn to Ephesians 4:8 where, quoting
rather the sense of the passage than the exact words, Paul says, "When
He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men."

The same sense is found in Colossians 2:15: "And having spoiled
principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in it." Not misled by the will-o'-the-wisp of fancy, but
guided by the clear light of the Infallible Word, we see our way to
expound our text. In the words of David we have an address to our Lord
Jesus Christ concerning His ascent to His Glory. "You have ascended on
high, You have led captivity captive: You have received gifts for men;
yes, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among
them."

Our Savior descended when He came to the manger of Bethlehem, a
Babe–and further descended when He became "a Man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief." He descended lower, still, when He was obedient
to death, even the death of the Cross–and further yet when His dead
body was laid in the grave. "Well," says our Apostle, "Now that He
ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower
parts of the earth?" Long and dark was the descent– there were no
depths of humiliation, temptation or affliction which He did not
fathom. Seeing He stood in their place, He went as low as Justice
required that sinners should go who had dared to violate the Law of
God.

The utmost abyss of desertion heard Him cry, "My God, My God, why have
You forsaken Me?" Low in the grave He lay, but He had His face upward,
for He could not see corruption. On the third day He left the couch of
the dead and rose to the light of the living! He had commenced His
glorious ascent! To prove how real was His Resurrection, He stayed on
earth some 40 days and showed Himself to many witnesses. Magdalene and
Peter saw Him alone–the 11 beheld Him in their midst. The two on the
road conversed with Him. Five hundred Brethren at once beheld Him! He
gave Infallible proofs that He was really risen from the dead and these
remain with us unto this day as historic facts.

He ate a piece of a broiled fish and honeycomb to prove that He was no
phantom. He said to the Apostles, "Handle Me, and see that it is I,
Myself, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see I have." One
laid his finger in the print of the nails and even thrust his hand into
His side! Their very doubts were used to make the evidence clearer. The
fact that Jesus died was put beyond question by the thrust of the
spear–and the fact that He was alive, in a material form, was equally
well established by the touch of Thomas.

Beyond a doubt, Christ Jesus has risen from the dead and become the
first-fruits of them that slept. This being settled beyond question,
the time came for our Lord to continue His homeward, upward journey and
return unto the Glory from which He had come down. From "the mount
called Olivet," while His disciples surrounded Him, "He was taken up;
and a cloud received Him out of their sight." The rest of His upward
progress we cannot describe. Imagination and faith step in and conceive
of Him as rising beyond all regions known to us–far above all
imaginable height. He draws near to the suburbs of Heaven and surely
the poet is not wrong when he says of the angels–

"They brought His chariot from on high To bear Him to His Throne;
Clapped their triumphant wings and cried, 'The glorious work is done.'"

"Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be you lift up, you everlasting
doors, that the King of Glory may come in." How high He ascended after
He passed the pearly portal Paul cannot tell us, save that he says, "He
ascended up far above all heavens," and describes Him as, "set at God's
right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion." He describes our Master as, "dwelling
in the light which no man can approach unto." The Man Christ Jesus has
gone back to the place from where His Godhead came! You are the King of
Glory, O Christ! You are the eternal Son of the Father! You sit forever
in the highest Heaven, enthroned with all Glory, clothed with all
power, King of kings and Lord of lords! Unto Your name we humbly
present our hallelujahs, both now and forever.

I. Now, concerning the text itself, which speaks of the ascent of our
ever blessed Lord, we shall say, first, that OUR LORD'S TRIUMPH WAS SET
FORTH BY HIS ASCENSION. He came here to fight the foes of God and man.
It was a tremendous battle–not against flesh and blood–but against
spiritual wickedness and evil powers. Our Lord fought against sin,
death, Hell, hate of God and love of falsehood. He came to earth to be
our Champion. For you and for me, Beloved, He entered the battle and
wrestled till He sweat great drops of blood–yes, "He poured out His
soul unto

death."

When He had ended the struggle He declared His victory by ascending to
the Father's Throne. Now His descent is ended. There was no need for
Him to remain amid the men who despised Him. The shame, suffering,
blasphemy and rebuke are far beneath Him now. The sun has risen and the
darkness of night has fled. He has gone up beyond the reach of sneering
Sadducees and accusing Pharisees. The traitor cannot again kiss Him.
Pilate cannot scourge Him. Herod cannot mock Him. He is far above the
reach of priestly taunt and vulgar jest–

"No more the cruel spear,

The Cross and nails no more; For Hell itself shakes at His frown, And
all the hea vens adore."

Now, also, our Lord's work is done. We are sure that the purpose of His
love is secure or He would not have returned to His rest. The love that
brought Him here would have kept Him here if all things necessary for
our salvation had not been finished. Our Lord Jesus is no sudden
enthusiast who rashly commences an enterprise of which He wearies
before it is accomplished. He does not give up a work which He has once
undertaken. Because He said, "I have finished the work which You gave
Me to do," and then ascended to the Father, I feel safe in asserting
that all that was required of the Lord Christ for the overthrow of the
powers of darkness is performed and endured–all that is needed for the
salvation of His redeemed is fully done!

Whatever was the design of Christ's death, it will be accomplished to
the fullest for had He not secured its accomplishment He would not have
gone back. I do not believe in a defeated and disappointed Savior, nor
in a Divine Sacrifice which fails to effect its purpose. I do not
believe in an atonement which is admirably wide but fatally
ineffectual. I rejoice to hear my Lord say, "All that the Father gives
Me shall come to Me." Whatever was the purpose of the Christ of God in
the great transaction of the Cross, it must be fully effected–to
conceive a failure, even of a partial kind–is scarcely reverent.

Jesus has seen to it that in no point shall His work be frustrated.
Nothing is left undone of all His covenanted engagements. "It is
finished" is a description of every item of the Divine labor and,
therefore, has He ascended on high. There are no dropped stitches in
the robe of Christ! I say again, the love that brought our Lord here
would have kept Him here if He had not been absolutely sure that all
His work and warfare for our salvation had been accomplished to the
fullest.

Further, as we see here the ending of our Lord's descent and the
accomplishment of His work, remember that His ascent to the Father is
representative. Every Believer rose with Him and grasped the
inheritance. When He rose up, ascending high, He taught our feet the
way. At the last His people shall be caught up together with the Lord
in the air and so shall they be forever with the Lord. He has made a
stairway for His saints to climb to their bliss and He has

traveled it Himself to assure us that the new and living way is
available for us. In His Ascension He bore all His people with Him.

As Levi was in the loins of Abraham, when Melchisedec met him, so were
all the saints in the loins of Christ when He ascended up on high. Not
one of the number shall fail to come where the Head has entered, else
were Jesus the Head of an imperfect and mutilated body! Though you have
no other means of getting to Glory but faith in Jesus, that way will
bring you there without fail! Not only will He not be in Glory and
leave us behind, but He cannot be so since we are one with Him–and
where He is His people must be. We are in the highest Glory in Jesus as
our Representative and by faith we are raised up together and made to
sit together in the heavenlies, even in Him.

Our Lord's ascent is to the highest Heaven. I have noted this already
but let me remind you of it again, lest you miss an essential point.
Our Lord Jesus is in no inferior place in the Glory land. He was a
servant here, but He is not so there. I know that He intercedes and
thus carries on a form of service on our behalf–but no striving, vying
and tears are mingled with His present pleading. With authority He
pleads. He is a Priest upon His Throne, blending with His plea the
authority of His personal merit. He says, "All power is given unto Me
in Heaven and in earth" and, therefore, He is glorious in His prayers
for us!

He is Lord of every place and of everything–He guides the wheels of
Providence and directs the flight of angels– His kingdom rules over
all. He is exalted above every name that is named and all things are
put under Him. Oh, what a Christ we have to trust in and to love! And
on this account we are called upon in the text to think much of His
blessed Person. When we speak of what Christ has done, we must think
much of the doing, but still more of the Doer. We must not forget the
Benefactor in the benefits which come to us through Him. Note well how
David puts it. To him the Lord is first and most prominent. He sees
Him. He speaks to Him. "You have ascended on high. You have led
captivity captive. You have received gifts for men."

Three times he addresses Him by that personal pronoun, "You." Dwell on
the fact that He, the Son of David, who for our sakes came down on
earth and lay in the manger–and hung upon a woman's breast–has gone
up on high into Glory! He that trod the weary ways of Palestine now
reigns as a King in His palace. He that sighed, hungered, wept, bled
and died is now above all heavens! Behold your Lord upon the
Cross–mark the five ghastly wounds and all the shameful scourging and
spitting which men have worked upon Him! See how that blessed body,
prepared of the Holy Spirit for the indwelling of the Second Person of
the adorable Trinity, was evilly treated! But there is an end to all
this. "You have ascended on high." He that was earth's scorn is now
Heaven's wonder!

I saw You laid in the tomb, wrapped about with cerements and embalmed
in spices–but You have ascended on high where death cannot touch You!
The Christ that was buried here is now upon the Throne! The heart which
was broken here is palpitating in His bosom this minute, as full of
love and condescension as when He dwelt among men! He has not forgotten
us, for He has not forgotten Himself and we are part and parcel of
Himself! He is still mindful of Calvary and Gethsemane. Even when you
are dazzled by the superlative splendor of His exalted state, still
believe that He is a Brother born for adversity.

Let us rejoice in the ascent of Christ as being the ensign of His
victory and the symbol of it! He has accomplished His work. If You had
not led captivity captive, O Christ, You had never ascended on high.
And if You had not won gifts of salvation for the sins of men, You had
been here still suffering! You would never have relinquished Your
chosen task if You had not perfected it. You are so set on the
salvation of men that for the joy that was set before You, You did
endure the Cross, despising the shame–and we know that all must have
been achieved or You would still be working out Your gracious
enterprise. The voice of the ascension is–CONSUMMATUM EST–"It is
finished."

II. Having led your thoughts that way, I would, secondly, remind you
that THE LORD'S TRIUMPHAL ASCENT DEMONSTRATED THE DEFEAT OF ALL OUR
FOES. "You have led captivity captive" is as certain as, "You have

ascended on high." Brethren, we were once captives–captives to tyrants
who worked us woe and would soon have worked us death. We were captives
to sin. We were captives to Satan and therefore captives under
spiritual death. We were captives under many lusts and imaginations of
our own hearts–we were captives to error, captives to deceit. But the
Lord Jesus Christ has led captivity captive! There is our comfort!

Forget not that we were hopeless captives to all these–they were too
strong for us and we could not escape from their cruel bondage. The
Lord Jesus, by His glorious victory here below, has subdued all our
adversaries and in His going

up on high He has triumphed over them all, exhibiting them as trophies.
The imagery may be illustrated by the triumph of Roman conquerors. They
were known to pass along the Via Sacra and climb up to the Capitol,
dragging at their chariot wheels the vanquished princes with their
hands bound behind their backs.

All those powers which held you captive have been vanquished by Christ.
Whatever form your spiritual slavery took, you are fully delivered from
it, for the Lord Christ has made captives those whose captives you
were. "Sin shall not have dominion over you." Concerning Satan, our
Lord has bruised his head beneath His heel. Death also is overcome and
his sting is taken away. Death is no more the King of Dread–"The sting
of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the Law. But thanks be to
God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Whatever there was or is which can oppress our soul and hold it in
bondage, the Lord Jesus has subdued and made it captive to Himself.

What then? Why, from now on the power of all our adversaries is broken.
Courage, Christians! You can fight your way to Heaven for the foes who
dispute your passage have been already beaten in the field! They bear
upon them the proofs of the valor of your Leader. True, the flock of
the Lord is too feeble to force its way–but listen–"The Breaker is
come up before them and the King at the head of them." Easily may the
sheep follow where the Shepherd leads the way! We have but to follow
those heavenly feet which once were pierced and none of our steps shall
slide! Move on, O soldiers of Jesus, for your Captain cries, "Follow
Me!"

Would He lead you into evil? Has He not said, "You shall tread upon the
lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under
feet." Your Lord has set His foot on the necks of your enemies–you
wage war with vanquished foes! What encouragement this glorious
ascension of Christ should give to every tried Believer! Remember,
again, that the victory of our Lord Christ is the victory of all who
are in Him. "The Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head."
Now, the Seed of the woman is, first of all, the Lord Jesus–but also
it is all who are in union with Him. There are still two seeds in the
world–the seed of the serpent which cannot enter into this rest–and
the Seed of the woman who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of
man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God.

In these last is the living and incorruptible Seed which lives and
abides forever. Jesus, our Lord, represents them in all that He
does–they died in Him, were buried in Him, are raised in Him and in
the day when He triumphed they led captivity captive in Him. Looking at
the great battle now raging in the world, I gaze with joyful
confidence. We are fighting now with Popery, with Mohammedanism, with
idolatry in the foulest forms–but the battle is, in effect, won! We
are struggling with the terrible infidelity which has fixed itself like
a cancer upon the Church of God and our spirit sinks as we survey the
horrors of this almost civil war. How often we groan because the battle
does not go as we would desire it!

Yet there is no reason for dismay. God is in no hurry as we are. He
dwells in the leisure of eternity and is not the prey of fear as we
are. We read concerning the multitude, when they needed to be fed, that
Jesus asked Philip a question–but yet it is added, "However Jesus knew
what He would do." So today the Lord may put many questions to His
valiant ones and, "for the divisions of Reuben there may be great
searchings of heart," but He knows what He is going to do and we may
lay our heads upon His bosom and rest quietly. If He does not tell us
how He will effect His purpose, yet assuredly He will not fail. His
cause is sure to win the victory–how can the Lord be defeated? A
vanquished Christ?! We have not yet learned to blaspheme and so we put
the notion far from us! No, Brothers and Sisters, by those bleeding
hands and feet He has secured the struggle. By that side opened down to
His heart we feel that His heart is fixed in our cause.

Especially by His Resurrection and by His climbing to the Throne of
God, He has made the victory of His Truth, the victory of His
Church–the victory of Himself–most sure and certain!

III. Let us notice, thirdly, that OUR LORD'S TRIUMPHANT ASCENSION WAS
CELEBRATED BY GIFTS. The custom of bestowing gifts after victory was
practiced among the Easterns, according to the song of Deborah. Those
to whom a triumph was decreed in old Rome scattered money among the
populace. Sometimes it seemed as if every man in the city was made rich
by his share of the spoils of vanquished princes.

Thus our Lord, when He ascended on high, received gifts for men and
scattered largess all around. The Psalm says: "You have received gifts
for men." The Hebrew has it, "You have received gifts in Adam"–that
is, in human nature. Our Lord Christ had everything as Lord–but as the
Man, the Mediator–He has received gifts from the Father. "The King
eternal, immortal, invisible," has bestowed upon His triumphant General
a portion with the great and He has

ordained that He shall divide the spoil with the strong. This our Lord
values, for He speaks of all that the Father has given Him with the
resolve that He will possess it.

When Paul quotes the passage, he says, "He gave gifts to men." Did Paul
quote incorrectly? I think not. He quoted, no doubt, from the Greek
version. Is the Greek version, therefore, compatible with the Hebrew?
Assuredly! Dr. Owen says that the word rendered "received" may be read
"gave." And if not, for Christ to receive for men is the same thing as
to give to men for He never receives for Himself, but at once gives it
to those who are in Him. Paul looks to the central meaning of the
passage and gives us the heart and soul of its sense. He is not
intending to quote it verbatim, but to give in brief its innermost
teaching.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has nothing which He does not give to His Church.
He gave Himself for us and He continues, still, to give Himself to us.
He receives the gifts, but He only acts as the conduit through which
the Grace of God flows to us. It pleased the Father that in Him should
all fullness dwell–and of His fullness have we all received. What are
these great ascension gifts? I answer that the sum of them is the Holy
Spirit. I invite your adoring attention to the sacred Trinity
manifested to us here. How delightful it is to see the Trinity working
out in unity the salvation of men!

"You have ascended on high"–there is Christ Jesus. "You have received
gifts for men"–there is the Father, bestowing those gifts. The Gift
itself is the Holy Spirit. This is the great generosity of Christ's
Ascension which He bestowed on His Church at Pentecost. Thus you have
Father, Son and Holy Spirit blessedly co-working for the benediction of
men, the conquest of evil, the establishment of righteousness. O my
Soul, delight yourself in Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

One of the sins of modern theology is keeping these divine Persons in
the background so that they are scarcely mentioned in their several
workings and offices. The theology which can feed your souls must be
full of Godhead and yield to Father, Son and Holy Spirit perpetual
praise. Beloved, the gifts here spoken of are those brought by the Holy
Spirit. "The water that I shall give him," said Christ, "shall be in
him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." He said again,
"If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink." We read that He,
"spoke of the Spirit, which they that believed on Him should receive."
"If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit
to them that ask Him?" To conquer the world for Christ we need nothing
but the Holy Spirit and in the hour of His personal victory He secured
us this Gift. If the Holy Spirit is but given we have in Him all the
weapons of our holy war.

But observe, according to Paul, these gifts which our Lord gave are
embodied in men, for the Holy Spirit comes upon men whom He has chosen
and works through them according to His good pleasure. Therefore He
gave some Apostles, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. No
one may be judged to be given of God to the Church in any of these
offices unless the Spirit dwells upon him. All are given of God upon
whom the Holy Spirit rests, whatever their office may be. It is ours to
accept with great joy the men who are chosen and anointed to speak in
the name of the Lord, be they what they may.

Paul, Apollos, Cephas–they are all the gifts of the risen Christ to
His redeemed ones for their edifying and perfecting! The Holy Spirit,
in proportion as He abides in these servants of God, makes them to be
precious blessings of Heaven to His people and they become the
champions by whom the world is subdued to the Lord Jesus Christ. These
gifts, given in the form of men, are given for men. Churches do not
exist for preachers, but preachers for Churches. We have sometimes
feared that certain Brothers thought that the assemblies of Believers
were formed to provide situations for clerical persons–but, indeed, it
is not so.

My Brothers and Sisters in the Church, we who are your pastors are your
servants for Christ's sake. Our rule is not that of lordship, but of
love. Every God-sent minister, if he discharges his duty aright, waits
upon the bride of Christ with loving diligence and delights greatly to
hear the Bridegroom's voice. I wish that you who talk of my Lord's
servants as if they were rival performers would cease, thus, to profane
the gifts of the ascended King. The varying abilities of those by whom
the Lord builds up His Church are all arranged by infinite wisdom and
it should be ours to make the most we can of them.

Comparing and contrasting the Lord's gifts is unprofitable work. It is
better to drink of the well of Elim than to grow hot and feverish in
disputing as to whether it is better or worse than Beersheba or Sychar.
One minister may be better for you than another, but another may be
better for somebody else than the one you prefer. The least gifted may
be

essential to a certain class of mind–therefore despise no one. When
God gives gifts, shall you turn them away contemptuously and say, "I
like this one but the other I do not"? Did the Father bestow these
gifts upon His Son and has the Holy Spirit put them into different
earthen vessels that the excellency of the power might be of God–and
will you begin judging them?

No, Beloved, the Lord has sent me to preach His Gospel and I rejoice to
feel that I am sent for your sake. I entreat you to profit as much as
you can by me by frequent hearing, by abounding faith, by practical
obedience to the Word. Use all God's servants as you are able to profit
by them. Hear them prayerfully–not for the indulgence of your
curiosity, nor for the pleasing of your ear with rhetoric–but that
you, through the Word of God, may feel His Spirit working in our hearts
all the purpose of His will. Our conversion, sanctification, comfort,
instruction and usefulness all come to us by the Holy Spirit–and that
Spirit sends His powerful message by the men whom He has given to be
His mouths to men.

See how wonderful, then, was that ascension of our Lord in which He
scattered down mercies so rich and appropriate among the sons of men!
From His glorious elevation above all heavens He sends forth pastors,
preachers and evangelists, through whom the Holy Spirit works mightily
in them that believe. By them He gathers the redeemed together and
builds them up as a Church to His glory!

IV. I want the attention, now, of all who are unconverted for I have
glorious tidings for them. To them I speak under

my fourth head, OUR LORD'S TRIUMPH HAS A VERY SPECIAL BEARING. "You
have received gifts for men"–

not for angels, not for devils, but for men–poor fallen men. I read
not that it is said, "for bishops or ministers," but, "for men." And
yet there is a special character mentioned. Does the text particularly
mention, "saints," or those that have not defiled their garments? No, I
do not read of them here.

What a strange sovereignty there is about the Grace of God! Truly He
will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, for in this instance He
selects for special mention those that you and I would have passed over
without a word! "Yes, for the rebellious, also." I must pause to brush
my tears away! Where are you, you rebels? Where are those who have
lived in rebellion against God all their lives? Alas, you have been in
open revolt against Him–you have raged against Him in your hearts and
spoken against Him with your tongues!

Some have sinned as drunkards. Others have broken the laws of purity,
truth, honesty. Many rebel against the light, violate conscience and
disobey the Word–these, also, are among the rebellious. So are the
proud, the wrathful, the slothful, the profane, the unbelieving, the
unjust. Hear, all of you, these words and carry them home! And if they
do not break your hearts with tender gratitude, you are hard, indeed.
"Yes, for the rebellious also." When our Lord rode Home in triumph He
had a pitying heart towards the rebellious! When He entered the highest
place to which He could ascend He was still the sinner's Friend! When
all His pains and griefs were being rewarded with endless horror He
turned His eyes upon those who had crucified Him and bestowed gifts
upon them! This description includes those who have rebelled against
God, though once they professed to be His loyal subjects.

Perhaps I am addressing some who have so far backslidden that they have
thrown up all religion and have gone back into the world and its
sins–these are apostates from the profession which once they made. To
these I would give a word of encouragement if they will turn to the
Lord. Once upon a time John Bunyan was under great temptation from the
devil. This trial he records in his, "Grace Abounding." He thought that
God had given him up and that he was cast away forever and yet he found
hope in this text. I have copied out a little bit which refers to
it–"I feared, also, that this was the mark that the Lord set on Cain,
even continual fear and trembling under the heavy load of guilt that He
had charged him for the blood of his brother Abel.

"Then did I wind and twine and shrink under the burden that was upon
me, which burden did also so oppress me that I could neither stand, nor
go, nor lie, either at rest or quiet. Yet that saying would sometimes
come into my mind, 'He has received gifts for the rebellious.'
Rebellious, thought I, why surely they are such as once were under
subjection to their Prince, even those who, after they had sworn
subjection to His government, have taken up arms against Him; and this,
thought I, is my very condition! Once I loved Him, feared Him, served
Him–but now I am a rebel and I have sold Him. I said, let Him go if He
will, but yet He has gifts for rebels; and then why not for me?"

Oh, that I could cause every despairing heart to reason in this way!
Oh, that the Holy Spirit would put this argument into every troubled
mind at this moment–"And then why not for me?" Come home, dear
Brothers and Sisters, come home, for there are gifts for the
rebellious–and why not for you? I know you deserted the Lord's Table,
but the Lord of

the Table has not deserted you! I know you have, as far as you could,
forsworn the name of Christ and even wished you could be
unbaptized–but that cannot be, nor can the Lord leave you to perish! I
know you have eagerly done evil with both hands and perhaps now you are
living in a known sin–and when you go home today you will see it
before your eyes.

Nevertheless, I charge you, Return unto the Lord at once! Come to your
Lord and Savior who still prays, "Father, forgive them for they know
not what they do." Behold how in His Glory He "has received gifts for
men; yes, for the rebellious also." O my Soul, I charge you, on your
own account, hang on to this most precious declaration, for you, too,
have been a rebel! Would God that all my Brothers and Sisters would be
cheered by this dear Word and take it home to themselves with a
believing repentance and a holy hatred of sin! I would print the words
in stars across the brow of night–"Yes, for the rebellious, also."

V. I have done when I have handled the fifth point, which is this–OUR
LORD'S TRIUMPHANT ASCENSION SECURES THE CONSUMMATION OF HIS WHOLE WORK.
What does it say? "That the Lord God might dwell

among them." When our Lord Christ came here at the first He was willing
enough to "dwell" among us, but it could not be. "The Word was made
flesh and tabernacled among us," like a Bedouin in his tent, but not as
a dweller at home. He could not "dwell" here on that occasion. He was
but a Visitor and badly treated at that.

"There was no room for Him in the inn," where everybody else was freely
welcome. "He came unto His own"– surely they will lodge Him–"but His
own received Him not." There was no room for Him in the Temple–there
He had to use the scourge. There was no room for Him in the open
streets for they took up stones to stone Him. Out of the synagogue they
hurried him, to cast him down headlong from the brow of the hill. "Away
with Him! Away with Him!" was the cry of the ribald crowd. This dear
Visitor who came here all unarmed, without sword or bow–they treated
as though He had been a spy or an assassin who had stolen among them to
do them ill.

And so they ran upon Him with a spear and He, quitting these
inhospitable realms which knew Him not, took Home with Him the marks of
man's discourtesy. O Earth, Earth! How could you drive away your
dearest Friend and compel Him to be as a wayfaring man that tarries but
for a night? No, worse–as a man astonished who meets with wounding in
the house of his friends? After He had risen again He went Home–that
from His Throne He might direct a work by which earth should become a
place where God could abide. Again is the Temple of God to be with men
and He shall dwell among them.

This world of ours has been sprinkled with the precious blood of the
Lamb of God and it is no longer as an unclean thing. Jesus is the Lamb
of God who so takes away the sin of the world that God can treat with
men on terms of Divine Grace and publish free salvation. The Lord God
Himself had long been a stranger in the land! Did not the holy man of
old say, "I am a stranger with you and a sojourner, as all my fathers
were"? But Jesus, the Ascended One, is pouring down such gifts upon
this sin-polluted world that it will yet become a new earth wherein
dwells righteousness and the God of Righteousness! This promise is
partly fulfilled before your own eyes this day for the Holy Spirit came
at Pentecost and He has never returned.

Jesus said, "He shall abide with you forever." The Holy Dove has often
been greatly grieved but He has never spread His wings to depart. This
is still the dispensation of the Spirit. You hardly need to pray to
have the Spirit poured out for that has been done. What you need is a
Baptism of the Holy Spirit–namely, to go down personally into that
glorious flood which has been poured forth. Oh, to be immersed into the
Holy Spirit and into fire–covered with His holy influence–"plunged in
the Godhead's deepest sea and lost in His immensity!" Here is our life
and power, for thus the Lord God does dwell among us!

Ever since the Ascension, the Holy Spirit has remained among men though
He has not been, at all seasons, equally active. All through the night
of Romanism and the schoolmen He still tarried–there were humble
hearts which rejoiced to be His temples even in those doleful days.
Today He is still with His regenerated ones. In spite of impudent
striving against the Divine Inspiration of His Holy Scripture and,
notwithstanding the follies of ecclesiastical amusements, He is with
His chosen. Lord, what is man that Your Spirit should dwell with him?
But so it is and this is why our Lord went up to Heaven and received
Divine gifts that by Him the Lord God might dwell among us.

But there comes a day when this shall be carried out to the letter. I
think I hear the angels say, "You men of Galilee, why do you stand
gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into
Heaven, shall so come in like

manner as you have seen Him go into Heaven." Now, "in like manner,"
must mean in Person. In Person our Lord was taken up into Heaven and in
Person He will come again! And when He comes the Lord God will, indeed,
dwell among us! Oh, that the day would come! We wait and watch for His
glorious appearing–for then will He dwell among men in a perfect
fashion. What happy days shall we have when Jesus is here!

What a millennium His Presence will bring–there can be no such
auspicious era without it–any more than there can be summer without
the sun! He must come, first, and then will the golden age begin! The
central glory of that period shall be that the Lord is here. "The Lord
God shall dwell among them." Then shall be heard the song which will
never end–earth's homage to the Lord who renewed the heavens and the
earth–and has taken up His dwelling in them. "They shall hunger no
more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor
any heat; for He that sits on the Throne shall dwell among them."

Up till now this work has been going on and as yet it is incomplete.
"Every prospect pleases and only man is vile," is still most sadly
true. The rankness of sin destroys the sweet odors of this world so
that the pure and holy God cannot abide in it. But since the Lord Jesus
has sweetened it with His sacred merits and the Spirit is purifying it
by His residence in men, the Lord smells a savor of rest and He will
not give up this poor fallen planet. Even now His angels come and go in
heavenly traffic with the chosen.

Soon the little boat of this globe shall be drawn nearer to the great
ship and earth shall lie alongside Heaven. Then shall men praise God
day and night in His Temple. Heaven shall find her choristers among the
ransomed from among men. The whole world shall be as a censer filled
with incense for the Lord of Hosts. All this will be because of those
gifts received and bestowed by our Lord Jesus in the day when He
returned to His Glory, leading captivity captive! O Lord, hasten Your
coming! We are sure that Your abiding Presence and glorious reign will
come in due season. Your coming down secured Your going up–Your going
up secures Your coming down again. Therefore we bless and magnify You,
O ascended Lord, with all our hearts and rise after You as You draw us
upward from groveling things. So be it! Amen.

PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON– Psalm 68; Ephesians 4:1-13.