IS FOR THE S ERMON , B I BLE R E A D I NG , GOSPEL ADDRESS m W Homiletical Helps
B y W I L L I A M E V A N S
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SERMON OUTLINES
Theme: The Ascension of Christ. T ext : Luke 24:50, 51; Acts 1 :9, 10. I ntroduction : The Ascension is a fact, not only the subject o f prophecy and foretold by our Lord and witnessed to by apostolic preach ing, but is also an answer to the world’s question, “Where is Christ now?” I. The Purpose o f the Ascension. 1. Godward—It showed that God was well pleased and satisfied with Christ’s work. 2. Christward—It was Christ entering again into His glory. Christ once in humil iation is now in the glory. 3. Manward—There was something in the Ascension for the disciples. It gave them a testimony, a fact o f vision and faith, and also an assurance o f His Coming again. II. The Manner of the Ascension. 1. It was a real event—No hallucination, no “ascended thought,” but an actual, real ascension o f the bodily Christ (cf. Luke 24:39). The disciples’ testimony o f the senses is to be accepted in this instance. 2. It was a bodily and visible ascension —this is important because o f its bearing on the Second Coming (cf. 1:11). III. The Results of the Ascension. 1. It assures the believer o f a represen tation in heaven—a Saviour and Intercessor in the glory. 2. The way o f access to God is made clear and open—Christ was a Forerunner. This the Old Testament High Priest was not. No one could follow the High Priest
into the mist holy place. Where Christ goes the believer may go. 3. The ascension o f Christ assures the Believer of power over all enemies and cir cumstances—in His ascension Christ was made head over all things (Ephesians 1:23). The believers are seated with Him in this place o f power (cf. Ephesians 2:1- 5 ). 4. The Ascension is an assurance and pledge o f Christ’s Secohd Coming (cf. Acts 1 :11). I f we admit the Ascension, we must admit the Second Coming. Christ will come as he went—personally, bodily, visibly, with the clouds and the angels. Theme: The Highest Education. T ext : Isaiah 1:17—Cease to do evil, learn to do well. I ntroduction : The highest education is the development o f character. Character is the greatest thing in the world. Life’s one great task is the building o f character. The absence o f character indicates hopeless weakness. I. What is character? There is danger o f grave misunderstand ing here. Some things are substituted for character. 1. Intellectual culture is not necessarily character. Character and culture do not necessarily go together, as history well shows. Solo mon, Bacon, Byron, were not saved from immorality because o f their scholarship. All the mere products o f understanding tend to death.”
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