The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 3

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 3

work together for good to them that love Him, Rom.
8, 28. Faith interprets all by the cross of Christ —
“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered
Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
give us all things?’ Rom. 8, 32.
“Thy way, not mine, O Lord,
However dark it be;
Lead me by Thine own hand,
Choose out the path for me.
Smooth let it be or rough,
It will be still the best;
Winding or straight, it leads
Right onward to Thy rest.”

Christ’s Ascension.

Forty days have passed since the Resurrection.
These days had been blessed days of communion
between the Saviour and His disciples. During
these days the Redeemer had conversed with the
faithful again and again, their eyes had seen Him,
and their hands had touched Him. But now the

time is come when they must be deprived of His’

earthly presence, the time when He must ascend to
His Father and their Father. He meets them for the
last time in Jerusalem and leads them to Bethany,
for this same village from which He made His trium-
phant entry into the earthly Jerusalem shall also
view His triumphant entry into the Jerusalem that
is above. Taking a last farewell He lifts His hands
in blessing, and while speaking His words of bene-
diction is parted from them, and their yearning eyes
see acloud receive Him hiding Him from their view.
He has gone up on high, He has ascended to heaven
whence He will not return until He will come in
glory to judge the world.

Concerning the Messiah David had written hun-
dreds of years before: ‘‘Thou hast ascended on high,
Thou hast led captivity captive: Thou hast received
gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also,’’ Ps. 68, 18.
And as the royal prophet had foretold, so it was ful-
filled. The assembled disciples saw the Saviour
ascend on high. Christ, according to His human
_ nature, now entered into the heavenly glory of His
Father. As the apostle puts it: ‘‘He that descended
is the same also that ascended far above all heavens,
that He might fill all things,’’ Eph. 4, 10. The
pearly gates of heaven open wide, and the jeweled
walls of His city shine to receive the triumphant
Hero. Our Saviour and King ascends to His royal
city, takes possession of His throne, and fills all
things with His presence. Jesus Christ, the God-
man, fills heaven and earth.

But Christ’s Ascension redounds to our good.
For us He went on high, even as He Geren

from heaven for us. It is our Saviour, Mediator,
and Substitute that entered into glory. For us He
gained heaven, for us He entered heaven, for us He
took possession of heaven. ‘‘Thou hast received
gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also,’”’ says
the psalmist. And so itis. That which Christ has
gained and received is all for us, and so He has

entered heaven for no other purpose than that He ©

might giveittous. Where He is, there shall also His
servants be, John 12,26. He has opened heaven’s
gates and paved the way that we may have free en-
trance into its joys and glories. Since He has gone
to heaven, His home, we, too, that home shall one
day share. Satan, Law, sin, death—all these com-
bined can no longer debar us from entering our
eternal home, for where Christ, the Head, has gone,
the members will surely follow. As our Mediator
He daily intercedes for us and secures for us for-
giveness, and He will not cease to do so till all that
are His will be gathered before His Father’s throne.

Saviour, hasten Thine appearing;

Bring, O bring the glorious day,

When the awful summons hearing,

Heaven and earth shall pass away.

Then, with glorious harps, we’ll sing:

“Glory, glory, to our King!’’
F.J.L.

——_-_—_+«-e— --—__—

Something to Hold On By.

How loudly the flight of time speaks to us!

Another year is gone, and eternity is nearer. The
new year may be our last year upon earth. It will
be well for us to have something to hold on by in
our last hour.

A woman who had been a prominent lecturer

on infidelity came to her dying pillow. She being _

much disturbed in her mind, ber friends gathered
about her and exhorted her to “‘hold on to the last.”

‘Yes, I have no objection to holding on,”’ said
the dying woman, ‘‘but will you tell me what I am
to hold on by?”’

These words so deeply impressed an infidel
standing by that he was led to renounce the de-
lusion.

Infidelity will noel do ‘to hold on by”? in the.

solemn hour of death.

“Wather,”? said a young man as ‘he lay dying,
“T find eternal punishment which I have so long
disputed now to be an awful reality.’’? At another

time he said, ‘‘As soon as I am dead write to my
friends L. and D. that the doctrine we have tried to
spread is an awful delusion — that it forsook. me on
my deathbed.’’

Ee