Faith and Duty: Sermons on Free Texts, with Reference to the Church-YearBuchheimer, L. B. (Louis Balthaser)
Religion
Faith and Duty: Sermons on Free Texts, with Reference to the Church-Year
Buchheimer, L. B. (Louis Balthaser)
Church year sermons; Lutheran Church -- Sermons; Sermons, American
By Christ's ascension we mean that Christ, according to body and
soul, was taken up in a visible manner, by a true and local motion
ascending into the clouds, so that now "body and soul" He is in
heaven. We shall not speculate, throw up all manner of questions how
this could be, but accept the statement of trustworthy, reliable
witnesses, men of unimpeachable veracity, that so it was, and we
know that it was not the only case of such heavenly ascension. The
Bible records two others; the one occurred in the days before the
Flood, when it states of Enoch "that God took him and he was seen
no more"; and the other took place after the Flood, when Elijah,
the prophet, was conveyed in a fiery chariot into ethereal realms.
These Old Testament incidents were types of Christ's ascension. The
ascension of our Lord stands out as an indisputable fact, witnessed
by many. The exact time, place, and circumstances are all minutely
given. Thus, what is the first particular of its significance for
Him, it shows that He was the divine Being which the Bible states,
that He was divine God blessed forevermore.
And we rejoice at this elevation of His. How delightful it is to-day
to lift up our eyes and behold Him who for our sakes became a babe
in the poverty and humiliation of Bethlehem's stall, Him whose
life was one uninterrupted series of woes, Him who was despised and
rejected of men, whose head was pierced by the crown of thorns,
and in whose hand was placed the insulting rod, who hung suspended
from the cross,--how delightful to see Him worshiped by the host
of heaven, conquering, triumphing, receiving the very honor that
behooves Him as the true God. On this day we invite and unite with
all Christendom in "bringing forth the royal diadem, and crowning
Him Lord of all." As He once said to Nicodemus: "No man ascendeth up
into heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man,
which is in heaven." The ascension of Christ is evidence that He was
the God-Man, having come from heaven.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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