The Ascension.
I. Our Saviour has "gone up on high;" that is, He went up from earth in His human form, and was exalted far above all creatures to the right hand of God His Father. It is not wonderful that the Lord of Life should have burst the bonds of death. It is not wonderful that the Son of God, after finishing His appointed task, should have gone back to His loving Father. The birth of Christ and the death of Christ, His meekness in taking our nature upon Him, His mercy in submitting to be crucified for our offences these are the things to wonder at, and not the Resurrection and Ascension.
II. Christ led captivity captive. For though He is, in one sense, the Prince of peace, because He came to make peace between God and man and to open a way for reconciling the truly penitent to their offended but still loving Father, yet, in another sense, He is the Captain of our salvation, because in this world of sin and strife the only road to peace is through war. He had to fight in the shape of man against those tyrannous enemies of man, sin and death. The first He conquered by His holy life; the last He conquered by His resurrection. This is called leading captivity captive, because before the time of Jesus sin and death were holding the human race captive in their hard bonds.
III. If sin and death are captives to Jesus Christ, they are likewise captives to His servants. Therefore we need not fear them provided we are His servants, not in name only, but in deed and truth.
A. W. Hare, The Alton Sermons,p. 161.
Christ's disinterestedness our pattern.
I. Our love should be without bounds.
II. Our love must be disinterested.
III. Our love should be self-denying.
IV. This self-denial must be shown in overcoming our passions.
A. W. Hare, The Alton Sermons,p. 172.
Christ's gifts.
The gifts which Christ has received for His enemies may be divided into two classes; the first consists of such gifts as Christ offers to men while they are still His enemies, the second of such as He bestows on men whom He has reconciled to God.
I. The gifts in the former class are two: repentance and forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness as soon as we repent and the power to repent in order to our forgiveness are the two gifts which Christ offers to men while they are still enemies to God.
II. Suppose that we have profited by the first gifts, and through them have been reconciled to our heavenly Father, Christ has a second and larger class of gifts to forward us in the way of holiness and to bring us into the presence of God. (1) Of these spiritual gifts the chief is the new heart and the right spirit which are the mark of God's true children. (2) A more perfect faith and love. (3) The gift in which all the others are embraced is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
A. W. Hare, The Alton Sermons,p. 183.
This Psalm goes over the whole reach of God's mercies in redeeming His Church, but the most illustrious verse perhaps in it is the eighteenth, which relates to our Lord's ascension. Here we may observe the several parts of the great triumph of our suffering Redeemer when His glory was made perfect and He was finally exalted on that day.
I. There is the simple fact of His ascension. He is gone into heaven, the first of all Adam's children, opening the gates of immortality to all believers. He is gone into heaven, the first-fruits of a whole harvest of His redeemed; and by that glorious ascension we know something of what is prepared for those who try to ascend thither in heart and mind. We know that nothing possibly can be too high or glorious for faithful Christians to hope for, seeing that He who is their Pattern and Example is raised to the right hand of the Almighty Father.
II. Notice the effect of Christ's ascension on His enemies, and on all the powers of darkness. "Thou hast led captivity captive;" that is, Thou art now like a great warrior returning in triumph from the field, with a band of captive enemies. This gives us a fearful notion of what we are doing when we permit ourselves to forget that we are Christians, serving any lust or unworthy desire, instead of practising those tempers which only can make us fit for everlasting life. We are then taking the wrong part in the great, never-ending warfare between Christ and the power of darkness.
III. Notice the effect of our Saviour's ascension on men, even on the worst of men: "the rebellious." He received for them the most precious gifts, insomuch that the Lord God, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, was sent down by Him to dwell among them. There is hope here even for the vilest; there is encouragement for those who have been most rebellious to resolve anew and more earnestly that they will be such no longer.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times"vol. ii., p. 97.
The gifts which the Christian already enjoys only consist of foreglimpses and earnests of that which is to come. He lives upon the interest of the rich capital which is deposited for him in the skies.
I. These instalments and this interest usually bring with them a peace and tranquillity of mind which lift him in a measure above the troubles which harass and distress the worldly man.
II. They sustain the troubled heart under every species of affliction
III. The sweet and holy meditation which the good man has of God through life is another manifestation of these gifts.
IV. But it is in the hour of death that the Christian realises the richest assurance of the preciousness and value of the gifts which have been received in trust for him. Then he feels that "the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
A. Mursell, Calls to the Cross,p. 1.
I. It is not for nothing that St. Paul, in the Epistle to the Ephesians, lays such emphasis on these words, for indeed he is giving us the secret of all true glory: that it rests and is based on humility. Christ ascended, only He had first descended, had taken the form of a servant, had been willing to be accounted the lowest and the last, and thus attained of right to be the highest and the first. As His descent, so also His ascent.
II. "Thou hast led captivity captive." The work of men's deliverance, which Christ began while He was on earth, He carries on and completes from heaven. He "received gifts for men" the manifold gifts of the Holy Ghost. He who gave once gives always. These are gifts for men; and as long as there are men needing these gifts, they will not cease. And that will be always, even to the end of the world. In a world of sorrow such as ours, when will the office of a Comforter cease? In a world of sin such as ours, when will the office of a Sanctifier be out of date?
R. C. Trench, Sermons in Westminster Abbey,p. 214.
References: Psalms 68:18. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. x., p. 212; Homiletic Quarterly,vol. v., p. 478; J. Keble, Sermons from Ascension Day to Trinity,p. 12; C. Wordsworth, Sermons at Harrow School,p. 229; C. Kingsley, Sermons on National Subjects,p. 140; C. J. Vaughan, Memorials of Harrow Sundays,p. 358. Psalms 68:20. J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit,vol. iv., p. 121; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons,p. 138. Psalms 68:20; Psalms 68:21. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxvi., No. 1523.Psalms 68:24; Psalms 68:25. Expositor,3rd series, p. 93.