REFORMED WITNESS
Volume XI, May 2003, Number 5
God is Gone Up with a Shout
A Reformed Witness Hour radio sermon by Rev. Carl Haak from May 19, 1996
See more articles by this author
Also in this issue: Our Citizenship in Heaven - by Rev. Carl Haak
This past week Thursday the church of Jesus Christ celebrated a great work of Jesus performed in her behalf. Perhaps you missed it. It is what we call the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven.
Apart from faith in God, perhaps one would judge the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven as a very sad event. The Bible teaches us that forty days after He arose from the dead Jesus Christ in the presence of His disciples ascended into heaven from Mount Olivet. Jesus Christ went away, and, judging without faith, perhaps one would conclude that the One whom we confess to be Savior had left us and that Christians are nothing but idle dreamers.
Does His departure not mean that His cause is defeated? Perhaps the world would say to the Christian: "You call Him the Prince of Peace, but where is He when He is so needed in a world of chaos and unrest? If Jesus Christ is all that you say He is, why is He not here? Really then, His work and all that He came to do is nothing but a fizzle, a big failure, and you Christians, if you are going to remember His ascension, should remember it as a funeral or as a wake in memory of one who is gone."
But that is not what faith says. Faith in Jesus Christ remembers the ascension of Jesus Christ as the most glorious event that Christ has yet performed in the working of our salvation - an event which is going to be outshined in glory only by Christ's return at the end of the world. It is a triumphant and victorious event. Jesus Christ went up as the conqueror in absolute triumph to claim His rightful crown and now to rule over all things.
That ascension of Jesus Christ is the pledge, the guarantee of our salvation. It means that our salvation is now secure in the heavens and is kept there by the power of God, as Peter says in I Peter 1:5.
Still more, it means that from heaven Jesus Christ sends His mighty Spirit to dwell within the hearts of Christians so that He abides within us forever.
There is still more. It means that our Lord has passed into the heavens as the victor and now rules over all things, executing God's eternal plan as the Lord of lords and King of kings.
Because of the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven every Christian today may live in assurance and may take the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 8 as his own: "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God." Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God. He is ascended into heaven. Therefore, no one can separate the child of God from the love of God. All things must work together for good to them that love God. Why? Because our Lord is in the heavens ruling over all things.
I would like to consider with you today the ascension of Jesus Christ in the words of Psalm 47:5. There we read, '"God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet." Psalm 47 was a psalm written by David in order to be sung in the tabernacle in times of worship. It was a psalm that David composed in commemoration of the ascension of the Ark of the Covenant up into Jerusalem. When the Ark had come up into Jerusalem and rested upon Mount Zion, David rejoiced and wrote Psalm 47.
It is important for us to consider the history of this psalm, if only briefly. What was living in David's mind when he wrote this psalm was the memory of the Ark of the Covenant which, throughout the Old Testament and especially in the days of Israel's being in the wilderness, was carried upon the shoulders of the Levites. David was remembering when the Ark was carried up into Jerusalem and placed at rest in the tabernacle.
We read this in I Chronicles 15:28, "Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps." At that time there had been a triumphal procession led by David, who danced with all of his might as the Ark ascended up the Mount, through the gates. and finally rested on Mount Zion. As the people shouted in praise, as the trumpets sounded forth with their beautiful blasts, and as all the people rejoiced before God, David, commemorating this, says: "God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet."
That was a figure or picture of the ascension of Jesus Christ. The Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was the most important sacred piece of furniture in the Old Testament tabernacle. It alone rested in the Holy of Holies. God had commanded Moses exactly how the Ark was to be built. It was to be overlaid with gold. On the top was the mercy seat of pure gold, and two cherubim with their wings spread over the Ark and their faces looking downward. Within that Ark of the Covenant was placed the pot of manna, two tables of the law, and Aaron's blossoming rod. The Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was the symbol of God's presence with His people, for the people would sing: "He dwells between the cherubim," that is God, in the cloud of His glory, would assure His people of His presence in the Ark of the Covenant.
It represented the truth that God had come down, that God had led them by His own hand through the wilderness and now had conquered the land of Canaan by Joshua. The covenant of God was represented in that Ark. When David says that the Ark has gone up, or God is gone up, with a shout, he is speaking figuratively of the ascension of Jesus Christ. For Christ came down as the God of our salvation. Christ has done all things to accomplish that salvation and now is gone up. God is gone up with a shout, Jehovah with the sound of a trumpet.
When we see that David's words are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in the ascension of Christ into heaven, then we have here a very clear testimony to the deity of Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is God in our flesh. God has gone up. The Son of God in our flesh has gone up. The ascension is the truth that the Son of God, having come down to do His Father's will, now returns to heaven having completed the work that His Father gave Him to do.
Still more, the ascension means that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down to the earth to take a certain task in hand. The ascension means that the Son of God came down and humbled Himself to perform the work that the Father had given Him to do. Paul speaks of this in Ephesians 4:9 and 10. We read, "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." There the apostle says that God bent Himself down. In compassion He turned Himself towards us. He descended that is, He came down to the lowest parts of the earth, meaning that He humbled Himself under our curse. The Son of God came under our sin and death. He made Himself of no reputation. He came down to take upon Himself our sins and the curse which was due to us for our sins.
Now the ascension of our Lord declares the mystery that the eternal Son of God who came down to this earth, not simply to visit us, but to bear our sins away and to deliver us from those Sins, now He in our place is gone up. He is gone up with a shout, with the sound of a trumpet. He is gone up as a mighty conqueror. He is gone up as the One who has accomplished all that the Father gave Him to do.
So we may say that the ascension means this: God's Son came forth from heaven to perform the work of our salvation and now He returns as the conquering Lord. He came down to do battle. He came down to fight the battle against the powers of darkness, sin, death, and hell which ruled over us. Having left the palace of His glory and come down to this sinful earth, He has waged war against our enemies and defeated them. Having now triumphed completely over them, He has gone up with a shout. His ascension declares to us that our salvation is accomplished, that the Son of God has fulfilled all that the Father gave Him to do. What was it that the Father gave Him to do? Jesus Himself puts it in these words in John 17: "All those given to me of my Father I have kept and lost none of them. I have redeemed them. I have made a complete sacrifice for their sins."
The ascension of Jesus Christ proclaims the triumph and the victory of His work. The Son of God who came down from heaven on a divine mission to do the Father's will now returns to heaven, having completed that work.
Therefore the ascension of Jesus Christ is triumphant It is something for which we give thanks and praise to God, for He has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He goes up with a shout.
This shout that David is referring to in Psalm 47 is the shout of a people who greet a conqueror. It is the joyful, the heart-lifting praise and worship of a joyful people, as in a battle when soldiers suddenly render a cheer as the conquering king appears before them. So also Jesus Christ has gone up with a sound of a trumpet, with a shout of victory.
Jesus Christ then did not simply sneak away. He did not beat a hasty retreat. That is not the ascension. He did not just slip away, happy to have made it through. Oh, no! The ascension declares to us that He has left as the royal and majestic conqueror. Although no one on the earth saw it (even the disciples did not see it, for a cloud received Him out of their sight), yet the Bible tells us about it. In Revelation 12:10 we read: "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven. Now is come salvation, and strength. and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." When Jesus Christ ascended up into heaven, then in heaven there was a royal chorus of praise. And there was the shout: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing." The ascension tells you that the struggle is ended, that the salvation of God's people is secure, that Jesus Christ has conquered. The battle has been fought. He came to fight that battle, to do battle against all our enemies. But now He ascends as the conquering Lord.
Therefore, the word is this (Psalm 2): '"Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way... Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."
What a glorious message, then, the ascension brings to us. And how wonderful it is to remember this work of Jesus Christ.
When we look at the ascension of Christ we may look back over the field of battle and say, It is finished. The atonement, the payment for our sins, has been made. There never again needs to be a sacrifice to take away sins, because it is finished. By His one sacrifice upon Calvary's cross He has perfected forever them that are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). There remains; therefore, now no more sacrifice for sins. Jesus Christ did not stay on the earth. He did not stay because the work of salvation is finished. The payment for sin has been given. It is over. There is; therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? (Romans 8:32). Righteousness for the people of God is earned. A covering for all of our sins has been made. Garments of righteousness have been woven for all the saints of God. The power of Satan is vanquished. Satan may tempt, accuse, and slander us. The world may kill us for our confession. But Satan is a beaten dog, and he knows he has only a short time. He cannot overcome the people of God, because Jesus Christ is ascended as the Lord and conquering King. Death, the death of a believer, is now robbed of all of its might and power. Death has been vanquished too. Death cannot hold us. We will not be left in the grave, but because He ascended into heaven, we shall go to be with Him in heaven at our death.
But the ascension of Jesus Christ also speaks to us in the present. We are yet called to live upon the battlefield, the spiritual battlefield as His people. But the outcome of this battle of faith is already decided. We do not labor in our calling as a Christian in doubt. We do not worry whether or not the cause of Jesus Christ is going to prevail. It will prevail even though the devil and the wicked world (and even our sinful flesh) oppose that work. Jesus Christ will glorify His people and He shall save His church. Why? Because He is ascended up into heaven as the conquering Lord. The victory is won.
Yes, as Christians we are still upon this earth, and we bear the marks of the battle, become weary, and have many troubles that beset us. But the victory, you see, is guaranteed. The time of struggle is short. We fight under the eye of the conqueror who will not suffer us to fall away from Him.
People who believe in God, lift up your heads! Ours is the victory. Although it may appear spiritually dark around us, we shall pass through this darkness and we shall be brought to glory.
But the ascension of Jesus Christ also speaks to us of the future. It tells us that it is coming. This same Jesus who has triumphantly entered into the heavens will so come again in power and great glory, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on all who obey not the truth, and He will be admired in all them that believe (II Thessalonians 1). Those trumpets shall sound again. Trumpets are kept right now ready by the angels. They keep them in their hands. They are ready to be sounded. The saints with Jesus will shout again. He will return with the clarion call of the trumpet, and all of heaven shall shout forth: Hosanna to the Son of David.
At the end of the world, when Jesus comes again to destroy this present world with fire and to take His own unto Himself in eternal glory, then when Jesus Christ descends in all of His glory, the people of God will meet Him and will ascend with everlasting joy upon their heads. We shall obtain joy and gladness; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isaiah 35:10). We shall go up with Him to the sound of a trumpet, to the shout of victory. We shall enter the gates of glory and there be with our Savior and at rest at last.
Glory, victory and eternal salvation is secure for everyone who belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ by the gift of God.
How do I know it is so? I know it because He ascended up into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God in all heavenly glory. All power is given to Him. He has conquered, and those who belong to Him shall live forever.
Do you believe this? Blessed are those who believe.
Let us pray.
Our Father. We pray that Thou wilt bless this Word to our hearts that we may live in the confidence that our Lord Jesus Christ is ascended as the victorious Lord. In His name do we pray, Amen.
Our Citizenship in Heaven
A Reformed Witness Hour radio sermon by Rev. Carl Haak from May 4, 1997
Where is your citizenship?
No, I am not asking if you are a naturalized citizen of this country. I am not asking if you are African, French or German. According to the Bible, there are only two citizenships: that of the world, and that of heaven: the kingdom of darkness, and the kingdom of light. In which of these do you hold citizenship? To which one of these do you belong?
If you are of the world, the Bible says that you mind earthly things. That is, your life revolves around, and your heart seeks the things (the pleasures, the riches, the honors) of this present world. Maybe you make an outward show of religious belief and confession, yet your heart seeks the earthly. The goals of the world are yours... how much money? what kind of pleasures? how much honor and power do you seek? You live then to gratify your own lusts. You speak your own language. You worry about losing what you have. Your god really is your belly, your own appetites. That is what you serve. Life to you, then, is how much money you have, the good times you experience, the things you possess, the satisfying of your cravings: that is your life.
But if by the living and powerful grace of God you are a citizen of heaven, then, although you live in this world, your heart revolves around and your love centers in Jesus Christ. You feel out of place here below. As you grow and as you move about in this world you feel that this world cannot satisfy you, cannot be your home. You speak a different, spiritual language, and there is a tension in your life to be with the Lord. Behind all of your planning, all of your building of a home, your working, your training for a job, behind all of your life is the eager expectation of the coming of Jesus Christ, the day of glory, the day when you will be with Him. You feel as if you are an alien on the earth. You do not fit in spiritually. A different spirit dwells in you.
Where is your citizenship? Here below? Or in heaven?
The ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven gives the answer to every believer concerning his citizenship. Because Jesus Christ is ascended into heaven we will confess: My citizenship is also in heaven where Jesus is.
Forty days after the resurrection our Savior was taken in His glorified body up into heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of God. This week the church of Jesus Christ will commemorate that blessed event on what we call Ascension Day. The faithful church will gather on that day to celebrate that blessed event.
The benefits of our Lord's ascending up into heaven forty days after His resurrection are many. He is in heaven now, says the Bible (I John 2), as our advocate with the Father. He intercedes for us as a merciful and compassionate High Priest. Still more, in heaven He rules over all things for the church. He subjects everything to Himself. He rules to serve the purpose of God and to bring about the eternal kingdom of our God, and still more, Jesus Christ is in heaven as the pledge that we too must go to be with Him. Because He is in heaven, all those who belong to Him shall also be with Him.
But there is also this profound benefit of the ascension of Jesus, namely, that it shows that our citizenship has changed. The apostle Paul, in Philippians 3:20 and 21, puts it this way: "For our conversation [or citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." By the ascension of Jesus Christ we are now translated from this world of darkness into the kingdom of His Son. We are given a heavenly citizenship. Belonging to Jesus Christ, who is ascended into heaven, we are now given the title for glory. The life of heaven is now in our hearts. Not only shall I become a citizen of heaven at death - but I am one right now. I am made a pilgrim and a stranger here below. I hold a spiritual citizenship not in this world but in that which is to come. Why? Because Christ, the Head of the church, the Head of the body, ascended into heaven, and being united to Jesus Christ by grace through faith means that we too have entered into heaven. Therefore, we have in Him secured a heavenly citizenship. That is why the world cannot be our home.
The apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:17 to19 that there are many even in the church, who still mind earthly things. Although they confess Jesus Christ as their Savior, in reality their god is their belly. They serve and they live for the appetites of their own flesh. They glory in their shame. They are carnal, earthly and sinful yet in their heart. But the apostle Paul goes on in Philippians 3 to say that that cannot be true of a Christian, not of a true Christian. That cannot be the experience of a true Christian. Why? Because our citizenship is in heaven, because when He ascended we were made the citizens of eternal glory.
That is certainly a wonderful fact. I said a moment ago that the word "conversation" in Philippians 3:20 is really "citizenship." "For our citizenship is in heaven." One's citizenship refers to his legal relationship to a state or nation. Our citizenship is in heaven. A citizen, as you know, is one who belongs to the country in which he resides. He enjoys the privileges, he has the rights and protection of his country. He speaks the language of the country.
To the Philippian saints that word would jump out at them. Citizenship? That was very important. Roman citizenship in those days was coveted. You remember the experience of the apostle Paul, when he was in Philippi (Acts 16), after he was beaten and imprisoned. He was about to be released in the morning hours, but the apostle said, "They have beaten us openly, uncondemned, being Romans." When the magistrates heard that, they feared when they understood that Paul was a Roman. You see, as a Roman he had the right to appeal. As a Roman he had exemption from the degrading punishments that the Philippian magistrates had given to him. Citizenship in Rome, in the Roman government? That was very important.
Still more, a citizen of the country calls that country his home. He loves his country. He takes pride in having his name enrolled in that country. He wears the native dress. He not only speaks the language but he is governed by the laws, worships the gods of that country. And he bands together with others and fights for the causes of that country.
Our citizenship is in heaven. What a wonder!
That is not true of course by nature. By nature we are born the citizens of this world (Ephesians 2:3). We are children of this world, children of wrath, says the apostle, even as others. We are in darkness. Of ourselves we would seek the things which are below. Our portion would be in this world and in its lusts. To be a citizen of the world, by nature means as Paul says in Philippians 3:17 to 19, that your god is your belly. You mind earthly things. With the rich fool of Luke 12 (in Jesus' parable), you would believe that life consists of the abundance of the things that you have, that real living is pleasures, parties, beer, stocks, CDs, new cars, friends, a beautiful body. You look for the things of this life. You look for financial success, achievement, lusts, putting one on, getting wasted. You say that that is what life is for, that is what satisfies, and you are governed by the law of man. You would say, "Everyone may do what he wants so long as he doesn't hurt anyone else." That would be your code as a citizen of this world.
That world stands condemned, you understand. It will be overthrown by the righteousness of God. That world can never satisfy. That world of darkness and sin to which we belong of ourselves is a world of emptiness and loneliness. It is a wretched hole. It is tottering on the brink of judgment.
The wonder is that our citizenship now is in heaven. Heaven is eternal. Heaven is the dwelling place of God. Heaven is wrapped in light and peace and joy and perfection. It is a land that is glorious and fair, and each part of that land is glorious because it reflects the glory of God. It consists of perfect fellowship with God. It is rich beyond compare in love and mercy and grace. Its language is golden, its laws proceed from God's throne and are true and righteous altogether. There is no evil, no lying, no death, no weariness, no toil or pain, no tears. There is Jesus Christ and all of the saints. It will never pass away, but it goes on from glory to glory. It is fixed and eternal.
Our citizenship is in heaven. Its life is now ours. We hold the title to it. We have been given an inheritance, a mansion in glory. We belong to the state of heaven, where all our sorrows and sighings and all our sins will be forever gone, and we will enjoy fellowship with God.
You ask me, but how is that possible? You do not buy this citizenship. You do not trade for it. It is not a commodity that you can purchase. You are not born of yourself with any right to have it. All little babies who die do not go to heaven because they are little babies. No. Heaven must be given to you. It must be conferred. It must be graciously given. It is to be found only in Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Colossians 1:13, We are delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son through Jesus Christ, the Savior, who was given unto those chosen of the Father, sent into the world to take us out of the world, to perform a transaction, to release us from the bondage of this world and to give us an inheritance in the heavens.
But still we ask, How is it possible to be a citizen of heaven? The answer is: the ascension of Jesus Christ. You see, the Bible would have us understand that believers are always in union with Jesus Christ in the most intimate sense. By the wonderful love of God we are placed in Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ we are nothing. We have nothing. We can do nothing. We are naked and helpless and exposed. But God has placed us in Jesus Christ so that all that is Christ's is also ours. He is in heaven. He ascended into heaven. He has the perfect right to be there. We have the right also of heaven. I may now in this life never possess a title to any square inch of this present earth. I may lose my little nest egg. I may build up my wealth and income, and fire can wipe it out in one night. All that I have in this life that I value so much is filled with mold and rot, and I will leave it all behind. I cannot take it with me.
But in Jesus Christ I have an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away. It is reserved in heaven. It is being kept by the power of God (I Peter 1:4 and 5). In Him I live. Heaven is mine through the ascension of Jesus Christ.
Do you know what that means? That means that you in Jesus Christ are now a pilgrim and a stranger in this world. Because Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, this world cannot be your home. Even in the most joyful and blessed moments here below (the love of a family, the fellowship of a church, when God's light is upon our path), we are not yet at rest, not perfectly. We are not yet home. We are pilgrims, passing through.
To the unsaved there are what appear to be lush green hills and pleasant places: money, a three-hundred-thousand-dollar home, a new car, an honorary degree, the lusts of their flesh, oh, they say, how wonderful! But not to us! We view it differently. We view this present world as a desert landscape, as a rocky cliff. Its music, its laughter is hollow. Its pleasures leave us empty, for we have seen the King in His beauty. We have been told of heaven's lofty peaks and its wonderful, gracious meadows, and we yearn for the fulfillment of that land.
That does not mean that we despise this life and our calling, that we view our calling and life as evil in itself, that we sit around and mope all day long. No! We are called to serve the risen Lord here and now, and He walks with us in the valley of death. He cheers us and is with us. Nor does it mean that, being citizens of heaven, we now escape the difficulties of this present world. A pilgrim in a strange land and in a strange city does not escape the perils of that land. When bombs fall and the earth quakes and sickness comes upon that city, these things are the lot of the pilgrim too. No, we do not have exemptions. We are not given exemptions from the sufferings of this present life. We are exposed to the climate of this present land. Death stalks; sorrows; miseries. We find on our pathway those who are beaten down and we help them in the name of the Lord. We hear the screams of this world given over to sin and torments, and weariness and temptations blow against us, but we do not belong.
This is not escapism. This is not a "pie-in-the-sky" theology. This is the reality of belonging to the ascended Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you feel that?
We are not eligible for the honors of this world. The world comes to you and says, Make a name for yourself among men. Climb to the top, man, and we turn away and say, "For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord I count it all but dung; I work to be faithful to Him."
We are not subject to the laws of sin in this world. The world says, "When in Rome do as the Romans; each for himself and the devil may care. Grab now before it is gone. You may conduct yourself in business any old way. You may conduct yourself in the male/female relationships any old way, as long as you get what you want."
We respond to that, "The love of Christ constrains me. His will I will do. His law will I keep."
We do not join the world's causes. The world says to us: Come, join in establishing man's utopia, and we respond:, I will not fight your battles; I will not march in your ranks. I belong to the army of the cross, to the legions of heaven. We will not serve their gods. They say to us: Come, bow down before the god of beauty. It is before you in the magazines, in the shopping malls, with the ideal, attractive shape of the 'real' woman. It is before you in drunkenness, parties, wealth, fornication. They say to us: Come on when you hear the music, then bow down to these idols, pull the tap on the beer. When the party starts, you are welcome to join us.
We respond: Be it known unto you, O world, that we will not serve your gods; we will not worship the images that you have set up. We will not hoard your treasures, we will not live your life, we will not seek your approval. For what will it profit us if we gain the whole world and lose our souls? We have eternal life, life at God's right hand, whom to know is life eternal.
We are the citizens of heaven. We are under heaven's government. We pray, "Thy will be done." We see heaven's honors, heaven's riches, heaven's pleasures. Our self-worth is not that we have our name inscribed in the county hall, not that we have a titled deed to earthly property. But our worth is in Jesus Christ and that through His name we are inscribed in the book of eternal life, in the blood of the Lamb of God, so we live in hope.
That is something that the world lacks. They idolize hope, but they do not have it. Everything they peg their hope on comes up empty. But we have a true hope. Our hope is the expectation of the coming of Jesus Christ, when He shall change our vile body like unto His most glorious body.
You understand that the word "hope" in the Bible is not in the sense of "hope so." No, hope in the Bible is very certain. Hope is confident. It is a yearning, a desire. We hope and desire for Christ to come when we shall receive our glorified bodies, when we shall put off these present pilgrims' garments. Our present earthly life, our present pilgrims' clothes constantly need fixing. They cannot keep out the cold or protect us from the heat. We are very frail; lowly, and we cry; we have sorrow; we hurt. We sin.
When He comes we will be perfected, transformed. We will be given a body which is able to live in heaven. We will be given that which is suited for eternal life. There will be no sin, no dishonor, no corruption. We shall be shrouded in victory! And it is sure. It is sure because He has the victory. In His resurrection and in His ascension all power now belongs to Him. He subdues all things unto Him.
Is this your hope?
Once more, I ask you, Where is your citizenship? Here below or in heaven? Those who belong to the ascended Lord Jesus Christ answer the question this way: Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy word so rich and free. Cause us to live in the hope of our heavenly citizenship, Amen.
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