Character of Jesus

He Rises Above All

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. – Luke 24:51

Our Lord’s ascension was a triumph over the world. He had passed through it unscathed by its temptations; He had been solicited on all hands to sin, but His garments were without spot or blemish. There was no temptation which had not been tried upon Him, the quivers of the earth had been emptied against Him, but the arrows had glanced harmlessly from His armor of proof. They had persecuted Him relentlessly; He had been made to suffer all that cruel scorn could invent, but He came forth from the furnace with not the smell of fire upon Him. He had endured death itself with love unquenched and courage invincible. He had conquered by enduring all. As He rose, He was infinitely beyond their reach; though they hated Him no less than before, He had been forty days amongst them, and yet no hand was outstretched to arrest Him. He had shown Himself openly in divers places, and yet not a dog dare move his tongue. In the clear air, from far above the hills of Jerusalem, He who was once tempted in the desert, looked down upon the kingdoms of the earth, which had been shown Him by Satan as the price of sin, and reserved them all as His own by right of merit. He rises above all, for He is superior to all. As the world could not injure His character by its temptations, so no longer could it touch His person by its malice. He has defeated altogether this present evil world.

There, too, He led captive sin. Evil had assailed Him furiously, but it could not defile Him. Sin had been laid upon Him, the weight of human guilt was borne upon His shoulders, it crushed Him down, but He rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven, and proved that He had shaken off the load, and left it buried in His sepulcher. He has abolished the sins of His people; His atonement has been so efficacious that no sin is upon Him, the Surety, and certainly none remains upon those for whom He stood as substitute. Though once the Redeemer stood in the place of the condemned, He has so suffered the penalty that He is justified now, and His atoning work is finished for ever. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0982.cfm

Who is this King of Glory?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

…Who is this King of glory? – Psalm 24:7-10

Call to your minds how the Psalmist in vision saw the Savior’s ascension, and, in the twenty-fourth Psalm, represented the angels as saying: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.” The scene is described in rich poetic imagery of the most sublime kind, and it evidently teaches us that when our Savior left the sight of mortals, He was joined by bands of spirits, who welcomed Him with acclamations and attended Him in solemn state as He entered the metropolis of the universe. The illustration which has usually been given is, I think, so good that we cannot better it. When generals and kings returned from war, in the old Roman ages, they were accustomed to celebrate a triumph; they rode in state through the streets of the capital, trophies of their wars were carried with them, the inhabitants crowded to the windows, filled the streets, thronged the house-tops, and showered down acclamations and garlands of flowers upon the conquering hero as he rode along. Without being grossly literal, we may conceive some such a scene as that attending our Lord’s return to the celestial seats. The sixty-eighth Psalm is to the same effect: “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. 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.” So also in Psalm forty-seven: “God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.” Angels and glorified spirits saluted our returning champion; and, leading captivity captive, He assumed the mediatorial throne amidst universal acclamations. “having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0982.cfm

Like Our Lord

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Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. – Ephesians 4:8

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:2

As we consider Christ ascended, our hearts burn within us at the thought that He is the type of all His people. As He was, so are we also in this world; and as He is, so shall we also be. To us also there remain both a resurrection and an ascension. Unless the Lord come very speedily, we shall die as He did, and the sepulcher shall receive our bodies for a while; there is for us a tomb in a garden, or a rest in the Machpelah of our fathers. For us there are winding-sheets and grave clothes; yet like our Lord we shall burst the bonds of death, for we cannot be holden of them. There is a resurrection morning for us, because there was a rising again for Him. Death could as soon have held the head as the members; the prison doors once taken away, post and bar and all, the captives are set free. Then when we have risen from the dead at the blast of the trumpet, we shall ascend also, for is it not written that we shall be caught up together with the Lord in the air, and so shall be for ever with the Lord? Have courage, brother; that glittering road up to the highest heavens, which Christ has trodden, you too must tread; the triumph which He enjoyed shall be yours in your measure. You, too, shall lead your captivity captive, and amidst the acclamations of angels you shall receive the “well done” of the ever-blessed Father, and shall sit with Jesus on His throne, even as He has overcome and sits with the Father upon His throne. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0982.cfm

Our Prayer Advocate

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God…let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. – Hebrews 4:14,16

If Jesus has gone into the glory, how successful must our prayers be. You send a petition to court, and you hope for its success, for it is drawn up in proper style, and it has been countersigned by an influential person; but when the person who has backed your plea for you is himself at court, to take the petition and present it there, you feel safer still. To-day our prayers do not only receive our Savior’s imprimatur, but they are presented by His own hand, as His own requests. No prayer which Jesus urges can ever be dismissed unheard for that case is safe for which He is advocate.

“Look up, my soul, with cheerful eye
See where the great Redeemer stands;
The glorious Advocate on high,
With precious incense in His hands.

He sweetens every humble groan,
He recommends each broken prayer;
Recline thy hope on Him alone,
Whose power and love forbid despair.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0982.cfm

Our Eternal Habitation

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God 1 Comment

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. – John 14:3

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. – Ephesians 1:11

Beloved, let us reflect how secure is our eternal inheritance now that Jesus has entered into the heavenly places. Our heaven is secured to us, for it is in the actual possession of our legal representative, who can never be dispossessed of it. Possession is nine points of the law, but it absolutely secures completely our tenure under the gospel. He who possesses a covenant blessing shall never lose it, for the covenant cannot be changed, nor its gifts withdrawn. We are heritors of the heavenly Canaan by actual hold and sure title, for our legal representative, appointed by the highest court of judicature, has entered into possession and actual occupancy of the many mansions of the great Father’s house. He has not merely taken possession, but He is making all ready for our reception and eternal inhabitation. A man who enters a house and claims it, if he has any question about his rights, will not think of preparing it for the inhabitants, he will leave any expenditure of that kind till all doubts are cleared up: but our good Lord has taken such possession of the city of the new Jerusalem for us, that He is daily preparing it for us, that where He is we may be also. If I could send to heaven some mere human being like myself to hold my place for me till my arrival, I should fear that my friend might lose it: but since my Lord, the King of heaven and the Master of angels, has gone thither to represent all His saints and claim their places for them, I know that my portion is secure. Rest content, beloved, and sing for joy as the apostle’s heart did when he wrote “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0982.cfm

Our Trust and Joy

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:18

The presence of Jesus Christ on earth would have been, to a great extent, a perpetual embargo upon the life of faith. We should all have desired to see the Redeemer; but since, as man, He could not have been omnipresent, but could only have been in one spot at one time, we should have made it the business of our lives to provide the means for journeying to the place where He might be seen; or if He himself condescended to journey through all lands, we should have fought our way into the throng to feast our eyes upon Him, and we should have envied each other when the turn came for any to speak familiarly with Him. Thank God we have no cause for clamor or strife or struggle about the mere sight of Jesus after the flesh; for though once He was seen corporeally by His disciples, yet now after the flesh know we even Him no more. Jesus is no more seen of human eyes; and it is well, for faith’s sight is saving, instructing, and transforming, but mere natural sight is not so. Had He been here we should have regarded much more the things which are visible, but now our hearts are taken up with the things which are not seen, but which are eternal. This day we have no priest for eyes to gaze upon, no material altar, no temple made with hands, no solemn rites to satisfy the senses; we have done with the outward and are rejoicing in the inward. Neither in this mountain nor in that do we worship the Father, but we worship God, who is a Spirit, in spirit and in truth. We now endure as seeing Him who is invisible; whom, having not seen, we love; in whom, though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory…In an unseen Savior we fix our trust, from an unseen Savior we derive our joy. Our faith is now the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0982.cfm

Our Celestial Burgess-rights

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. – Colossians 3:1,2

Our Bridegroom has gone into the ivory palaces, He dwelleth in the midst of His brethren; do we not hear Him calling us to commune with Him? Hear ye not His voice, “Rise up My love, My fair one, and come away”? Though awhile our bodies linger here, let our spirits even now walk the golden streets, and behold the King in His beauty. Begin, O faithful souls, to-day the occupation of the blessed, praising God even while ye linger yet below, and honoring Him if not by the same modes of service as the perfect ones above, yet with the same obedient delight. “Our conversation is in heaven.” May you and I know what that means to the full. May we take up our celestial burgess-rights, exercise our privileges and avocations as heavenly citizens, and live as those that are alive from the dead, who are raised up together and made partakers of His resurrection life. Since the Head of the family is in the glory, let us by faith perceive how near we are to it, and by anticipation live upon its joys and in its power.

No, earth, my treasure, is not here with thee, neither shall my heart be detained by thee. Thou art, O Christ, the rich treasure of Thy people, and since Thou art gone Thy people’s hearts have climbed to heaven with Thee. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0982.cfm