The Southern herald., 1913-06-06


tne earth; for 1t is not till then that
the divine plan concerning his man
lfested Kingdom will begin to an.
proach fulfllment.
But that which gives peculiar inter
est to Christ's ascension is its bear
Ing on our spiritual life today, for II
we are being established in the faith,
enlightened in the knowledge of God,
sanctitied In our souls and anointed
by the Holy Spirit for service. all
blessings are the result of our Sa.
viour's presence in heaven as our in.
terceding high priest at the right.
hand Of God.
AT the ascension the body of Jesus
did not vanish into nothing, for not
only did the disciples see him as he
went up, but Stephen beheld him at.
terwards, standing at the right-hand
Of God (Acts VII. 55-56). Moreover,
the angels on Mount Olivet said to the
disciples that he would so come in
AAN AA0AASA G0 AO Wd5 bSSu W ~
Acts, 1-1D. In other words, heaven
Is a locality and Jesus Christ, the
glortfied Goldman, Is there. We can.
not understand how the original body
of Jesus was transmitted into his res.
direction and glorifed body, any more
than we can understand how heavy
waited is changed into light vapor, or
dark flint into transparent glass, by
heat; but we know that he is In tha
same body, although now in another
form Of existence and standing under
other laws How the thought digni.
fies our conception of human nature
and broadens our idea of the scope
Of the atonement! The presence of
his glorified body in heaven takes
away any vagueness as to our own
glorifed bodies being there, if we
have been united to him by living
faith-because he lives, we shall live
also.
Was it not the reward of his obe-
dience to the father in his sufferings
and death on behalf of guilty men?
Was 1t not the joy set before him for
which he was willing to endure the
cross, desplsing the shame? And yet
there is more to follow, when, in the
regeneration of the heavens and the
earth, he shall sit upon the throne Of
his power in the sight Of the whole
universe, and every knee shall bow to
him and every tongue confess that he
is lord, to the glory Of God the father
philippians II. GID.
Of course we speak now, only Of his
human nature, of the Goldman consid-
cred as the mediatorial prince. Such
terms do not pertain to his deity, in
which sense his glory could not be
enhanced and the thought Of reward
is entirely excluded.
But the ascension of Jesus Christ
means great things for US who believe
on him as we'll as great things for
himself 1t means the reinstatement
| of our nature in all its lost honors,
In reconciliation with God. 1t means
our reception into Paradise and par
ticipation in endless felicity. II Christ
had risen from the dead and still re-
mained on earth, we might have been
assured of deliverance from the grave,
and possibly a protracted residence
here: but what we desire before all
things is reunion with God, the hab-
itation of glory and the communion
of his presence The ascension Sc.
cures this.
Oh. you to whom these truths have
no meaning, in whose esteem they are
as foolishnesses, think what you are
losing now, and shall forever lose, il
they be true! l would have you fol-
low the example of John Keble, who,
conscious OF his groveling thoughts
which lay half buried, roamed lawless-
ly around this earthly waste, ex
claimed,
"Cbains of my heart, avaunt. ! say
I will arise, anu III lllG III VI WV
pursue the bright track ere It fade away,
NV saviors pathway to His Home
above"
But it is useless to urge a man to
do this without telling him how to
do IT, When, or how, can one obtain
this strength of love" Of which the
poet speaks? How can he pursue "the
right track" whose eyes are blinded
INV sin other things OF the present
world" Who will seek the home
above" unless he shall be awakened to
its glories? 1t is God only who can
accomplish these things in human ex'
nsrience and he begins the work BY
weakening the ties Of earth, and re
veaIlnR the loathscmensss Of sin snS
| A. ..o-N ~ uukoltAA.