The first kind is simply historical as to the single fact of our Lord's resurrection, which is proved by the unanimous testimony of eye-witnesses; and their integrity is placed beyond suspicion by its being shewn that they were, as to this world, losers, and not gainers by their testimony (v. 1-34). The second kind of proof is analogical, the object of which is to compare things similarly related; it thus helps us to rise from things seen to things unseen, from the natural to the spiritual world: hence it is well adapted to meet difficulties in revealed religion. If, for instance, it be hard to conceive that the human body, after it is buried, shall rise again, and be adapted to a very different sphere of existence, so it is hard to comprehend, what we daily see, that the seed should spring up after it is buried in the earth, and that creatures should be adapted to so many different modes of life (v. 35-49). raised again a spiritual body, as unlike, perhaps, and as superior to our present bodies, as the beautiful flower is to the seed from which it springs. But, will you say, intimates the apostle, that the human body is adapted only to this world? Is it not possible for the Almighty, if he so pleases, to adapt it to a very different state of existence, seeing he has made some creatures, as the beasts, for the land, some, as the birds, for the air, and some, as the fishes, for the water? surely then he can adapt the human body to any situation in which he sees fit to place it. But, will it be asked, what provision can there be for different capacities of enjoyment, and for different degrees of progressive improvement? Look to the heavens above you; "there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory" (v. 41). The apostle then recapitulates this part of his argument, summing The third kind of proof is indeed the up the parallelism which he had just drawn be- highest of all, but it requires a prepared state tween natural and spiritual things (v. 42-49). of mind to receive it; for it can only be apAnd thus having gone as far as reason or ana-preciated by the believer-it is the testimony logy could carry him, he proceeds to divulge a truth of pure revelation the doctrine of the general resurrection at the last day. "Behold I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a momentin the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written 'Death is swallowed up in victory."". At the contemplation of this sublime event the apostle breaks out into an apostrophe to death and the invisible world. O! death, where is thy sting? O! grave (Hades*), where is thy victory?" The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But, thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ" (v. 51-57). Thus, the most humiliating of all subjects, man's mortality, is turned, by the bright hopes which Christianity holds out, into a subject of triumphant exultation. Let us now briefly review the convincing evidence by which the apostle maintains the fundamental doctrine of the resurrection, and we shall find it to consist of three distinct kinds of argumentation, each rising above. the other in importance, and all converging on the same point. Hades simply signifies the invisible state, from which the human body will be summoned at the resurrection. of God himself, in what he pleases to reveal to mankind: he has declared that there should be a general resurrection, therefore none who believe his word will doubt it (v. 50-57). Such is the various, accumulative, and united evidence by which the doctrine of the resurrection is proved. But, it is not enough to believe this doctrine, or even to be able to prove it; to do us any good, we must shape our whole life with reference to it, and this the apostle takes care to remind us of in the last, and, I had almost said, the most important verse in the whole chapter-"Therefore," because it is un doubtedly true that we shall rise again to be recompensed according to our works-"therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." This injunction is so plain that it needs no explanation, but it is the work of a life to practise it. THE ASCENSION: BY THE REV. J. BUDGEN, M.A. So, then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he THE appropriation of certain periods of the year to the commemoration of events deeply interesting to believers, is a custom ordered by the church, under the authority and sanc I. The types and prophecies whereby this great event was anciently revealed. tion of God himself, and, as such, has been grounds of hope and comfort, inasmuch as it piously observed by the immemorial practice is a type and earnest of the assumption of his of primitive antiquity. Under the old dis-own soul and body, one day, into the holiest; pensation, it was ordained that every event, for, as Christ is his forerunner into the inmost the occurrence of which had influenced to sanctuary, thither must he among the members any material degree the welfare of the Jewish follow whither the Head is gone before. church, should, at stated times, be comme- Keeping then these things in remembrance, morated by the observance of certain rites, in order to quicken our interest in the subordinarily figurative of the nature of the ject, consider events themselves, to the end that they might be had in remembrance to the latest generations; of which we have instances, in the institution of the sabbath, the passover, the feasts of pentecost, of tabernacles, and of trumpets, whereof some were on no account to be omitted. Our primitive and apostolic church has carried out the principle on which such ordinances are based, by enjoining a devout observance of many periods of the year; such as those at which Christ became incarnate, was crucified, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, to which last she appropriates the present season. Her object is, by such institutions, annually to recall to the minds of her children, and to impress on their hearts, the remembrance of these occurrences, so deeply interesting to their eternal welfare; so that the memory of them may never be blotted out, and that the souls of her members may be kindled to more than usual devotion, meditation, and prayer, as they obey her call in the celebration of the rites commemorative of the most prominent events in their Saviour's earthly mission. As the present season of the ecclesiastical year is set apart for the observance of Christ's ascension into heaven, it will be profitable for us, and according to the intention of the church, that we take, as the subject of our meditations this day, the glorious event whereof the text contains the record; not viewing it as a simple fact of history, but drawing from it such streams of consolation and joy, as, while it is made to form the ground of our hope, may also edify our faith, and kindle love and rejoicing in our hearts, at the exaltation of him who humbled himself so much for our sakes and for our salvation. The ascension of Christ is an object of deep interest to the true Christian; not only as affording him additional evidence of his Saviour's godhead, and as certifying him that that Saviour has indeed entered into the holiest, his Mediator and Intercessor at the right hand of God, but as giving him cause for rejoicing, that he has, after so much suffering and humiliation for the world's sake at the world's hands, at length re-entered into that glory, whereof he had the fruition in the unity of the Godhead before the world was. Moreover, the assumption of the human soul and body of Christ into heaven, affords him strong 1. The typical nature of the ceremonial law is manifest, both from a consideration of the bare law as practised by the Jews, and from the testimony of St. Paul, who fully and divinely expounds, in his epistle to the Hebrews, the application of these various rules to the several offices of Christ, whereof they were the types and figures. A prominent rule of that dispensation was ordered to be observed on the fast of the great day of atonement, in which the high priest, having sacrificed the victim, carried his blood up through the first tabernacle within the vail into the holy of holies, where stood the ark of the covenant, shadowed by the cherubim, and where dwelt the Shechinah, the glorious manifestation of Jehovah's peculiar presence; and there, having sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat, he made atonement for the sins of the people, and acted as their mediator and intercessor with their offended God. In officiating in this ceremony he stood a type of Christ in his ascension; every movement of his was a figure, whereof the substance was Christ. So Christ, having offered up himself on the cross in this world (which answers to the first tabernacle), must needs have passed with his own blood into the true most holy place (which corresponds to that within the vail), even into the very presence of God himself, there to sprinkle his own blood before the true mercy seat, and plead the efficacy of his most precious death, and stand the Mediator between God and his people, obtaining their pardon at the hands of his Father, and continually interceding on their behalf for their infirmities. As it was not sufficient that the high priest slew the sacrifice; he must needs have ascended up to within the vail, there to sprinkle the blood thereof on the mercy seat to obtain remission of the sins of ceremonial defilement; so Christ must not only have offered himself in this world, but must needs have ascended up to within the true most holy place, there to present his own sacrifice for his people, and by his most precious blood-sprinkling on their behalf to change the throne of wrath into a throne of grace. 2. Moses also, when he ascended unto the mount, was a type of Christ in his ascension. As Moses went up to receive the law and covenant of works for the government of the Jewish church, so Christ ascended into heaven itself to send down the new law-the law and covenant of faith, which, ratified by his blood, was granted to the universal church to be unto all and upon all that believe. 3. The translation also of Elijah was figurative of the ascension of Christ, though as much exceeded by it in many particulars, as the substance in point of dignity and importance excelled the type. Elijah was translated by the power of God, but Christ ascended by the virtue and exercise of his own power; Elijah in a single chariot, but Christ attended by thousands; Elijah bequeathed a double portion of his spirit to his disciple, but Christ without measure poured out the Holy Ghost on his apostles, so that of their abundance, by the imposition of hands, they gave to others to execute the office of their ministry and to edify the church for ever. Thus the Old Testament reveals three important types of the glorious event which we at this time celebrate. The voice of prophecy also affords us testimony to the same thing. The psalmist, when he prophetically sang of the triumph of his Redeemer, exclaimed with exultation and joy, "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." And the prophet Micah, in his visions, saw "the breaker come up before them "-he saw "when they had broken up, and passed through the gate, and had gone out by it, and their king had passed before them, and the Lord on the head of them." Thus the voice of prophecy unites with the types of the law, and foreshews the glorious ascension of the Lord Jesus— II. Consider with what body he ascended. It is important to observe this, because the assumption of his human body into heaven is a type and earnest of our own. Christ, having become incarnate, was "perfect God of the substance of the Father, and perfect man of the substance of his mother, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting." Having ministered on earth the appointed period as prophet of his people, in his human nature, he died on the cross as priest for their sins, his soul descending to the world of spirits, and his body being consigned to the grave. There, however, according to prophecy, it saw no corruption, and on the third day the spirit returned to its tabernacle, and the man Jesus rose from the grave with his glorified body, fitted to endure throughout an eternity. And, since the resurrection of his body is an earnest and type of our own, and the first fruits from the grave, he was careful that his disciples, who were to be the chosen witnesses thereof, should be certified of the fact, for, when they doubted he said unto them, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have:" and then, in confirmation of his words, he took meat and did eat. Into that same body, then, which had been crucified, the soul, having returned from the world of departed spirits, re-entered; with that same body he appeared unto and conversed with many forty days; and then, having completed his earthly mission, with that same body, perfect man and perfect God, he ascended into heaven, there to perfect the offices of his ministry, to stand the effectual Mediator and Intercessor of his people and the King and Guardian of his church. This same bodily resurrection and ascension is an earnest and type of that of all believers; and we impress this point upon those that have put on Christ, that they may be assured, that, as his body died, was buried, rose again, and ascended into heaven; so surely must their bodies also be consigned to the grave, and so surely shall they be raised glorious bodies, and follow their Saviour to his blessed abode. III. Consider the manner of his ascension. The plain narratives of the evangelists simply state, that Christ" was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.' But visions of brighter things had been poured out on the old prophet, who declared that the ascent of the Saviour was equal in majesty to the awful descent of Jehovah on Sinai with blackness and darkness and tempest. The joyful psalmist exults in the glorious return of Christ to his eternal mansions. In his visions he saw the myriads of angels encircling Christ in his ascent, which the cloud hid from the eyes of his wondering disciples; he saw the heavenly company surrounding the Redeemer, and proclaiming his going up with a shout, while "the earth shook and the heavens dropped at the presence of God." He saw their upward flight to the very gate of heaven, the accompanying angels demanding an admission for the King of glory, and the angels within, the doorkeepers thereof, challenging the spirits without, and demanding, "Who is the King of glory?" Then the portals of heaven are opened wide at the presence of their Lord; the celestial bands within shout for joy and sing together at his appearing; all the hosts of heaven are moved and exult at the approach of their King. They had witnessed | his incarnation and humiliation; they had witnessed his last agonies and the burial of his body; they had ministered to him during his earthly sojourn; had strengthened him in his temptation and passion; had opened the doors of the tomb for his resurrection, and, as each scene passed before their eyes, the gracious and mysterious counsels of Jehovah for man's redemption, which before had been hid from them, became more and more manifest; and now with exultation they welcome their Creator and God back to his bright abode; they welcome the first fruits of the grave into glory, resting in certainty for the harvest of the redeemed to follow; they hasten to usher the God-man Christ into the holiest, there to perfect his work of mercy; while around the throne they chant the glories of the Lamb, and with, the voice of melody give utterance to their joy at the consummation of the grace of redeeming love. These bright visions were shut out from the mortal sight of the wondering apostles; they strained their eyes in vain to see that which the psalmist of old beheld manifestly, and of which he prophetically sang; the beams of Christ's glorious ascent illumined his eyes a thousand years before its accomplishment, and cheered his spirit as he poured forth his sorrows in other songs over that Saviour's suffering. The cloud shut out from the gaze of the apostles this glory, which neither would they have dared to look upon, neither could their eyes have endured to behold, while Christ, bodily quitting this earth till the last trumpet shall sound, as Judge to return hither even as he went, ascended on high, and now sitteth at the right hand of God, in that seat of glory which he had with his eternal Father before the worlds. IV. Consider the place to which he ascended. The apostle declares, that Christ "being made higher than the heavens," in his ascension "passed through the heavens" into that highest heaven, which Paul calls "the third heaven," and which answers to the holy of holies within the vail. Into that part of heaven then which is the highest and the holiest; into that part of heaven into which Paul was caught up and saw unspeakable visions; into that part of heaven where, though he be every where present, God in a more peculiar manner dwells; into that part of heaven where the glory of the Godhead concentrates itself, and thence beams forth, giving life and being to all created things; into that Christ re-entered, there to appear in the very presence of God for us. No place short of that was fitting for him: angels wait afar off and veil their heads in the presence of the glory of the Highest, and stand quick to hear and swift to execute the commands that issue from the inmost sanctuary. But the seat of angels was too low for the triumphant God, yea, the seat of the highest archangel was a seat of unspeakable humiliation to the exalted Saviour. As God, his dignity could bear no degradation; as God, he must dwell in the very highest heaven, and as Mediator, in his glorified human nature, he must enter into the holiest, there to exercise power and pre-eminence over all created kings, and stand the omnipotent King and Head of his church. V. Consider, lastly, the offices he ascended into the holiest to fulfil. 1. He must needs have ascended to perfect the office of his priesthood. As Prophet he fulfilled part of his office by the teaching of the word of his own mouth, and afterwards, being dead, he spoke by the mouths of his apostles, and appointed evangelists, and by the inspiration of the Spirit, whom he ascended to pour forth upon them. A part also of his office as Priest he effected on earth by the one oblation of himself once offered: but as the high priest must not only have killed the sacrifice, but also must needs have carried its blood up to within the vail to perfect the office, and be enabled effectually to intercede for the people; so Christ, of necessity according to the counsels of the Father, must not only have offered himself, but also must have ascended on high before the true mercy seat, in order, by his precious blood-sprinkling thereon, to plead its efficacy for the remission of sins, and to stand the effectual Mediator and Intercessor between God and his people. And, as his people, by manifold ignorances and infirmities, are continually, though not habitually or wilfully, falling into sin, so Christ must needs be constantly at the right hand of God, pleading his own merits in their behalf, making the wrath of his Father to be turned into grace, and presenting their prayers offered in his name before the mercy seat, procuring their acceptance and answering their petitions. Christ, therefore, must needs have ascended into the holiest to perfect the work of his priestly office by the continual offering, so to speak, of himself; to procure pardon for the penitent, and remission of the casual sins of his people, and to present to his Father their prayers, and to obtain the grant of their petitions. 2. Christ also must needs have ascended into the holiest to send down the gifts and graces of the Spirit on his church. The redemption of the world being effected by the acceptance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and the ratification of the new covenant by his blood, it was necessary that the glad tidings thereof should be published throughout all nations, out of which a church might be gathered, established and strengthened, of which Christ should be the King and Head. To this end the blessed Spirit was promised to be sent, not only to enable the chosen apostles and evangelists to preach the gospel to every creature, but to turn the hearts of the people to listen to the glad tidings and assist them to believe and be saved. But, as these gifts were purchased solely by the merits, and granted wholly to the intercession, of the Redeemer, it was necessary that he should ascend on high to plead the efficacy of his sacrifice and demand the grant of these gifts, before they could be poured out on the infant church. Hence the psalmist says, "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men" hence also Christ says, "it is expedient for you that I go away, for, if I go not away. the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send him unto you;" hence John also says, "The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified;" and Peter, on the day when the Holy Spirit did visibly descend and gave gifts to men, saith, "Therefore, Jesus, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." These gifts were of a two-fold nature: extraordinary, or miraculous and ordinary. When the church was in a weak and infant state, and the gospel had to be preached to the people of all nations and tongues, the Holy Spirit, by his extraordinary gifts, not only brought to the remembrance of the apostles all that Christ had taught them, but also gave them power to preach the same to the gentiles, and enabled them to confirm the truth of their divine mission by the miracles they were permitted to perform. The various ministers of the church were also appointed by his grace, "he gave some, apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." But as the church grew to adult strength, these extraordinary gifts were gradually withdrawn, and she was left to stand on the ordinary teaching of her duly appointed ministers, with the ordinary blessing of God on their work. In these days, we, though deprived of these miraculous gifts as no longer needing them, yet require as much now as did the primitive Christians then, the ordinary grace of the Spirit to sanctify our hearts, to enable us to keep the terms of our baptismal covenant, to contend against sin, the world, and the devil; to strengthen us under our manifold temptations and afflictions; and to prepare us for the fruition of that blessedness which none but the holy can see, none but the holy can enjoy. Hence in these days the Spirit is the comforter of Christ's people; by his ministers, by his word, by his sacraments, by prayer-in brief, by all the means of grace which Christ has opened to them, the Spirit sanctifies their hearts and makes them meet to enjoy the inheritance with the saints in light. All these blessings, by which, as members of the church of Christ, we alone stand holy in the midst of a corrupt world, are the purchase of Christ's sacrifice, and the fruits of his intercession in heaven; and hence his ascension was necessary not only to perfect his priestly work of atonement, but also to complete the purchase of, to receive, and to shed forth, the gifts and graces of his Spirit, for the establishment and extension of his church, and for the preparation of his redeemed for eternal glory. And now, having considered the prophecies and types which pre-figured the assumption of our blessed Lord; the nature wherewith he ascended; the glorious manner of his ascension; the place into which he passed; and the offices which he is now fulfilling there on our behalf, what use should we make of this great event, meditation on which the church orders at this period of the year? re 1. The thoughts of these things should produce joy in our hearts, that he who suffered such humiliation for our transgression has again taken up his glory, and entered into the holiest of heaven. Consider the humiliation of God manifest in the flesh; the lowliness of his earthly condition, the stripes, the agonizing passion, and cruel death, undergone for our iniquities; and the remembrance of these things must work love in every believer's breast for his humiliated and patient Saviour. Let that love, then, expand into joy as we meditate on his resurrection and victory over death, and let that joy be exceeding abundant as we behold with the eye of faith his triumphant ascension and exaltation on the right hand of God. For, as he was wounded, and humbled himself even unto death, this should be our sorrow and abasement; but let that sorrow be turned into rejoicing as with the psalmist we view the ascending Saviour glorified and gratulated by all the host of God, heaven's gates unbarred at his presence, and the holiest place and the highest seat thereof receiving him back into glory. |