The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-12-25

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Christ Ascending
Under this head we may have two minor
divisions: /. Christ leaving the earth
Here the reader will naturally picture the
scene: the eleven (as is probable) in that
upper room where they ate the paschal
supper, and which became the hcadquar-
ters OF the infant Church (see 18th verse;
then Jesus coming and leading them
out Q4uke a. 5O by the old familiar road,
over the Kedron, past Gethsemane, up
Olivet, over toward Bethany; his farewell
nstructions-in connection with which
their peculiar functions as witnesses un-
to him" (Acts 1. 81 will be explained and
Illustrated by witnesses in law courts.
etc; and then his sudden rising into the
air, waited upward from their midst, ana
lost in the encircling clouds. The predic-
ton OF the angels will be specially
noticed Verse 1D-"shall so come in like
manner as We have seen him CO. In
what manner? % With clouds (see Rev.
!. y: (9 Blessing his people (see Luke
"A. 81; Matt. %. 81, 80. .. Christ entering
| heaven, Can we picture that? Well, we
have an inspired picture of it, See Psalm
a. 90 The ascension took place quietly
enough on Olivet. The great men Of
Even close by. in Jerusalem, PLATE.
Herod, Caiaphas, little dreamed what was
going on. But in heaven it was a grand
everss. The Son of God had come back!
Yes, and more than that: he did not re-
turn to heaven as he left it. He left it as
God: he returned as both God and man.
He had stopped to be lower than the
angels" now he was exalted far above
nd
name that is named See Heb 2 9:
Peter g. %; Phil. .. Ill; Col. /. 2O-22. He
left to seek and to save the lost sheep
he returned, as it We're, with his redeemed
people laid upon his shoulder, rejoicing.
He left to fight the great enslavec of
mems souls, he returned leading captiv-
ity captive" There was joy in heaven
when he was born on earth; but how
much more now!
Christ Assembled this head the
reader may dwell on one or more of the
four aspects in which his mediatorial
work at Gods right hand is regarded in
Scripture. !. Our High Priest. The Jew
lsh high priest went once every year
within the veil, into the Holy of Holes.
taking with him % the blood of the great
sin offering of the Day of Atonement:
picture of Christ's work. See Heb. 4. IA:
g. 10, 20; 8. l: 9. Hip, "a; 10. u. He offered
himself. the zone sacrifice for sins" and
then went into the presence of God for
us. to present, as it were. ID his blood.
and (0 the incense of his ntercession.
z Our Advocate. We are like prisoners at
the bar of Justice Satan. the accuser of
lis brethren Czech. g. /: Rev. u. 1O). LAYS
l,o,
no answer to them, for we are verify
guilty. But Christ is our Advocate. and
pleads our cause: and he cannot fail, for
he has himself paid the penalty. See
John 2. ]; Rom. s. 81; Heb I. 25 3. Our
Elder Brother. Heaven is called the in
heritance of Gods children (Col. /. -:
l Peter l. ~. How comes it to be theirs?
1t is for the heir and his brethren. Jesus
is the heir (Heb. l. y. He is mot
ashamed to call us brethren (Heb. 2. ~;
SO we are joint heirs (Rom. s. II: Gal.
4. y. And he. the Elder Brother, has
gone before to take possession to pre-
pare a place for u.s. 4. Our King. He
is upon his throne. His proclamation has
gone forth, with the promise of free par
don to all rebels who will return to their
true allegiance. Have we yielded I'D our
selves, our souls and bodies, to our King?
And are we doing what we can to extend
his kingdom?
We are to carry on "all that Jesus be-
gan. he promised that mightier works
than he did his followers should do. The
gospel story was not fully told when he
assembled to glory: the Chrstly life was
not fully lived. If the early Christians
were Paurs best epistles, known and read
l;,,fr
than was ever given to his man
uscripts, we in our personal lives
should regard ourselves as Chrst's
epstles - his letters sent to cheer
this world. We are his gospels. too. as
well as his epistles; for the gospel is the
story of Jesuss life. and we are living in
the world to-day in Christ's stead There
fore every humble Christians life should
DE IN verify another gospel. Do not be
AFRAID that you will Lot be read No book
has as wide a circulation as man or
woman or child. Few, alas! read the Bible:
not everybody even reads the newspapers:
Dut everybody reads his neXt-door neigh
Dor. You are the next-door neighbor of
somebody whose only conception of Christ
is got from your life: and by holy liv-
ing only can you fulfill the doing and
teaching which Jesus began.
The verify Of the resurrection of Christ
should be emphasized Skepticism per-
Vades our mental atmosphere as deadly
contagion sometimes pervades the air.
unadvertised and not guarded against il
does deadly work. Let us emphasize the
cardinal truths of our faith. 1t was nv
'infallible truths that Christ Showed
himself alive" after his passion. Every
Lords Day is a commemoration of the
first Easter-tide.
The gist of the Gospel is that Jesus
Christ lives to-day and personally di-
reefs his followers.-He who regards
Christianity as merely reformatory in
fluence, or the Christian Church as
bridge for souls to pass over from earth
to heaven, has utterly misunderstood the
Gospel story.
What Jesus talked about as a pertinent
thought.-You need not be long EMPLOYED
IN an office or shop to discover whether
your fellow-worker is Republican or
Democrat. If he does not show signs at
tirst when reading his morning newspaper
ne Will inevitably show them by the time
election day comes around. Jesus talked
or the things pertaining to the kingdom
Of God"