The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1879, Page 9

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY

MONTHLY.

PuBLisHeD BY THE EVANGELICAL LuruerRAN SynopicaL ConrerENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

Vol. L

(For the ‘Lutheran Pioneer.’’)

Ascension.

To Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, this day
For Thy Ascension thanks we pay.
Immanuel, Almighty Lord,

Bless soul and body by Thy word.

All christendom rejoice in Thee

And ever sing triumphantly:

All praise to God in heaven’s high throne,
Our brother is God’s only Son.

He did ascend to God on high,

And still to us is always nigh ;

His power and might is unconfined,
True God and man, our Saviour kind.

Above all heavens He did ascend;
All angels worship now our Friend ;
All human beings rules our Lord ;
All creatures must obey His word.

He sitteth now at God’s right hand,
All things must bow to His command;
He sits almighty on God’s throne,
The Son of God and Mary’s Son.

The world, sin, devil, death and hell
Are vanquished by Immanuel;
Whatever foes His power defy:

He always gains the victory.

Blest is the man that trusts the Lord
And steadfastly believes His word!
Ah! fleeting world, how vain thou art!
To Christ alone we give our heart.

He is our Hope, our Lord and God,
For He redeemed us by His blood;
Captivity He captive led,

That death no longer we must dread.

We therefore heartily rejoice

And sing His praise with gladsome voice:
Our Brother, our own Flesh and Blood,
Now, sitteth on the throne of God!

Heaven is our own for His sake now.
Grant us, Lord Christ, dear Brother Thou,
That we may firmly trust in Thee

And live through Thee eternally.

Amen, Lord Jesus, dearest Friend,

Who didst above all heavens ascend,
Keep Thou us steadfast in Thy word,
Curb Satan’s craft and rage, good Lord! _

Edited by Prof. R. A. BISCHOFF.

St. Louis, Mo., May, 1879.

Dear Saviour, come, in glory come,
To judge the world, and lead us home
Out of this vale of tears, that we

May live fore’er in heaven with Thee.

Amen, Amen! again we sing,

And long to be with Thee, our King,
Where with the heavenly host to Thee
We shall sing praise eternally.

Dr. Nicolaus Selnecker, 1587.
Translated by A. Crull, 1879.

- > oo pe

Ascended into Heaven.

Christ, after His resurrection, remained on
earth forty days, showing Himself alive to His
disciples at different times. When those forty
days had passed, He was visibly present with
them for the last time, on a mountain called
Olivet. He there told them that they should
stay at Jerusalem and wait for the promise of
the Father, for the descent of the Holy Ghost.
After this baptism with the Holy Ghost, they
should become His witnesses unto the uttermost
part of the earth, by preaching the Gospel to
every creature. And when He had spoken
these things, He was taken up into heaven and
sat at the right hand of God. The disciples
saw Him rising, until a cloud received Him
out of their sight. And, while they looked
toward heaven as He went up, two angels stood
by them saying: “Ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall come in like manner as ye have seen Him
go into heaven.’’ And the disciples returned
unto Jerusalem.

This is the glorious event at which Christ-
ians rejoice on Ascension Day. That day is
not a day of sorrow, but a day of jubilee, a day
of glad tidings. Beholding this day in the far
future, David joyfully cried out: ‘God is gone
up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a
trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For
God is the King of all the earth; sing ye praises
with understanding.’”? (Psalm 47.) In order
to join this song of praise with understanding,
we must know and accept in faith the great

benefits which are ours by the Ascension of

lower parts of the earth?
is the same also that ascended up far above all
heavens, that He might fill all things.”’

No. 3.

| Christ. These we can learn to know from the
| Bible only. St. Paul says in the fourth chapter
of his epistle to the Ephesians: ‘‘When He as-
cended up on high, He led captivity captive,
and gave gifts untomen. Now that He ascended
what is it but that He descended first into the
He that descended

From
these words we learn that Christ’s ascending

into heaven is closely connected with His de-
scending, with His coming into this world, and

that He, by His ascension, led captivity captive.
Which is this captivity? It is the captivity of
sin, of the law, of death, of the devil, and of
hell. In this captivity, in this bondage, in this
slavery all men are held by nature. Every
man, in his natural state, is a slave of sin, a
captive of Satan; the curse of God’s holy law
is upon him and death and eternal damnation
are the punishment for his sins. No man can
deliver himself. Many have tried and tried
and failed. There is only one Deliverer from
this bondage. It is Jesus. He came into this
world to snap our bonds and to set us free.
He took our sins and the curse of the law upon
Himself. Of His own free will, He in our
place was made the captive of our enemies.
He in our stead was thrown into prison. Our
enemies rejoiced. But, behold! they could
not hold Him captive. He, the powerful God-
man, broke the prison. Rising from the grave,
He came forth as the conquerer over all our
enemies; and ascending into heaven, He led
our captivity captive, He made our enemies
captives and slaves. He fully entered into
His glory and majesty, and was crowned
as the great Hero and as the Lord over all
things: our enemies were put under his feet.
Through Him deliverance is now procured for
all sinners, and therefore the Gospel proclaims
liberty to every captive sinner. The prison-
doors are thrown wide open, and sinners are
told to come out of their captivity, they are
told that they are free. Many do not believe
it; they find it more pleasant to remain in their
dark prison cell; they do not want to enjoy
the beautiful light and the fresh air of Gospel-
liberty; they. go on in their hatred towards God,
in swearing and cursing, in despising the Word