Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-05-05

had but short hold upon Him, for on the third
He arose from the grave in the same body
which had been laid therein. Then came in
the great forty days, that is, from Easter to
the Ascension, during which time our dear
Master frequently met with the Apostles and
instructed them as to the establishment OF
His Church, the spreading of the gospel, all
that regarded the reign of God in our hearts,
and everything calculated to bring our souls
TO the eternal Joys of heaven. What time
must those forty days have been to the
Apostles. How their thoughts must have
dwelt upon the past; how their Masters
discourses, His parallels, His miracles,
and. alas, no doubt a feeling of horror
was with them when they thought of the
agony, the scourge, the cross, the crown Of
thorns, and the spear. All was now changed,
and the final withdrawal Of His sacred body
from among men was at hand, and on this
the fortieth day after His resurrection, "He
led them out as far as Bethany" says one Of
the Apostles. and He lifted up His hands
and blessed them and it came to pass while
He blessed them He was parted from them,
and carried up into heaven" There was no
delusion there. 1t was broad daylight. He
was conversipg with them up to the very mo-
ment that He began to ascend. He was not
suddenly removed from them. He did not
become invisible il an instant. They had
leisure to watch their Lord ascending gradu-
ally, higher and higher, until the heavens
opened to welcome their returning God.
.sWhils they looked steadfastly toward
heaven, as He went up, behold two men
stood by them in white apparel, which also
said, Ye men of Galilee. why stand ye
gazing up into heaven This same Jesus
which is taken up from you into Heaven
shall 80 come in like manner as ye
y L .~4a Tk1
ESsame looking up into the heavens, that
attitude of true devotion, the same state Of
mind which held the Apostles while they
steadfastly gazed toward the place where
their Lord had disappeared, is the right atti-
tude and the right frame of mind for each
Sir knight who has had his faith sealed.
Look to it that you mske no mistake in that
faith. For be well assured, that amidst all
the trials and vicissitudes that we are des-
tined to endure while travelling through this
pilgrimage, firm belief in that faith through
life will, when the gloomy hour of death has
arrived, afford you that peace which the
world can neither give nor take away.
There is more than an idle assent to that
faith required of us our Christian life must
be more than merely gazing into the heaven.
We, as Knights Templar, are vowed to prove
our faith before the world, by our Christian
works for, says the Apes lie, AS the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without
works is dead slso." We are placed in
the midst of world which exercises
a sad power over us; earthly longings
and desires weave chains around US
from which it is indeed hard to escape. The
world, with its alluring pictures of present
pleasures and enjoyments, hides our risen
Lord from us. and deceives US into laying up
our treasures-n0t there, where neither
Al At,k
times change, where sin mars and corrupts,
and where an ends in few sad years.
Although surrounded by spiritual enemies,
vet that same Jesus which was taken up into
heaven still watches over all our struggles
with sin. He from the throne of His glory
sees all the secret workings of our most pri-
vate and deeply hidden thoughts as well as our
outward life in the world, and il we but ask
for il He will strengthen US for our daily bat
Ting with every form of sin. Then, while
we are busy with the necessary things of this
world, let US ascend TO our Lord and Master
in thought. in faith. in hope and in love. If
we thus daily ascend to our Lord while in
this world, we shall hereafter ascend in our
glorifed bodies.
In conclusion, Sir Knights, we are enlisted
under banner that bears symbol which
commits us to warfare against all that is
evil. The enemies we are sworn to fight are
incarnate in every wrong that characterizes
the world, the hssh and the devil. They fire.
quept every resort of responsibility, and
swarm in through every avenue of thought (;
but " In Hoe ,Signo Finces" reminds us that
the war we wage borrows its sanction from
our holy religion, and as that religion knows
no compromise between good and evil, so we
as Knights Templsr should know no COM
promise between our Christian principles and
Al L e -H ! -. l. 4
Templar let your Christian life appear to the
world as unsullied as your glitsering blades Of
steel-ever holding your sword ready to be
drawn in defense of that cause which you
have espoused; hoping ever, praying always
for the advent of that glorious day when the
house of the Lord shall be established upon
the top of the mountain when swords shall
be beaten into plowshares, and spears into
pruning-hooks when nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more when the reign of the blessed
Emmanuel the Prince of Peace, the Great
Captain of our Salvation shall be universal
and eternal.