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I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of

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heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only

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Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy

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Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under

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Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.

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He descended into hell. The third day he rose

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again from the grave. He ascended into heaven

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and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father

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Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge

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the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy

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Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion

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of saints. the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection

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of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

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I have been bringing you a series of messages

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on the Great Christian Pledge, better known as

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the Apostles' Creed. This is my sixth in this

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series of messages. He ascended into heaven and

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sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

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The entrance of the Lord Jesus Christ into this

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life was a miracle. Indeed, no human mind can

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fully understand, Jesus Christ as God in the

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flesh into this life. As much God as though he

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were not man. As much man as though he were not

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God. His departure was likewise miraculous. There's

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no earthly way of explaining how he transcended

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gravity. at the time of his ascension. You know,

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Christianity is supernaturalism. There's little

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danger of overemphasizing the supernatural element

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in our faith. Whenever God works, he always works

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in a supernatural way. There's nothing ordinary.

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There's nothing commonplace about God or about

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the things he does. It's a mistake to try to

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cast the gospel message in the molds of materialism.

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Belief in the supernatural gives an upward reach

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to the soul that satisfies the worshipful instinct

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with which the human spirit is endowed. The 500

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persons who accompanied the master to the Mount

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of Ascension were all stricken with the event.

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I should like to have been there that day. Luke

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describes precisely what happened, and this is

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what he said. He was parted from them and carried

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up into heaven. A feeling of loneliness crept

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over the little band. that descended the slopes

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of the Mount of Olith. Life could never be the

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same again with him gone. He was their inspiration.

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He was everything to them. He was gone. They

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were lonely but triumphant, heart -sick but comforted.

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The appearances of the Son of God in a human

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body At an end, he was gone. But his presence

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was more real at that moment than ever before.

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His parting words echoed in their hearts. It

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is expedient for you that I go away. When the

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Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you

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from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which

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proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify

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of me. The substance of Christ's ascension body

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remains a mystery. It was different and of a

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higher order than anything known to natural man.

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The body which he wore after his triumph over

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the tomb, became the pattern for the Christian

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in the afterlife. But now is Christ risen from

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the dead and become the first fruits of them

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that slept. Now the term first fruits means that

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he was the pattern or the example for believers.

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Their bodies will be like his body. If you want

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to know what your body is going to be, after

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the resurrection, then learn what his body was

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like at the time he ascended into heaven. There

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was flesh. There was bone. There was not blood.

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When a loved one is taken to the city of the

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dead, those left behind usually instinctively

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ask through blinding tears, Will we see mom again?

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Are we going to see our dad again? All the believer

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often finds himself meditating upon such questions.

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What will we be like in the other world? What

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kind of bodies will we wear? How will the redeemed

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personally be clothed? For answers to these and

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many, many other questions, we only need to climb

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the hill of Olivet. Take our place with the loyal

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500 and view the ascension of Jesus Christ. Beloved,

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now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet

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appear what we shall be. But we know that when

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he shall appear, we shall be like him. And that's

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good enough for me. I am satisfied. John continued

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to the next verse by saying, And every man that

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hath this hope in him, purifies himself even

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as he is pure. This expresses the heart yearning

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of every child of God, although he may often

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fall below his ideals. Oh, sure. It was St. Augustine

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who commented upon this passage as follows. Thou

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purifies to thyself, not of thyself, but of him

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who comes that he may dwell. in thee, continually

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beholding Christ's uppermost in affection, generates

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lightness, even as the face of the moon, being

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always turned toward the sun, reflects its light

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and glory. You know, early Christian artists

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meant well, but their efforts did violence to

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the ascension. Somehow they failed to depict

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upon the canvas the spiritual significance of

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the glorious event of the ascension of Jesus

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Christ. Their efforts to convey the tender emotions

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of the onlookers were most pathetic. The contrasts

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were too great for paint, brush, and the human

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imagination to capture. At one moment, the Lord

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was present with the 500. The next moment, he

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was not with them. Explain it. I cannot. No man

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can. The scene completely changed in an instant.

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He blessed them. And then he was parted from

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them. And they worshipped him. and sitteth on

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the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Oh,

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to me these words are thrilling. They're majestic.

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And I pray that the Holy Spirit shall make them

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very real to your heart and make our great high

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priest very real to all of us. These words...

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tend to direct one's thoughts towards the fourth

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and the fifth chapters of the book of Hebrews,

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where Christ is presented as the Christian's

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high priest, interceding at the throne of God.

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Humans are admitted into the holy of holies of

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God's presence only through this exalted office.

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The record says that our high priest was taken

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from among men, not from among angels, because

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they are incapable of entering into a fellowship

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ceiling with us. Jesus knows human nature. He

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wore a garb of flesh. He lived among men and

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is... At this moment, our great high priest,

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something happened. Watch. All the Old Testament

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saints had a priest, an earthly priest. And that

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earthly priest that the Old Testament saints

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knew, that earthly priest that Abraham knew,

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that earthly priest that Moses knew. was only

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a type and a shadow of the one who is this hour,

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our great high priest in the person of Jesus

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Christ, the Son of the living God. I told you

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in our last message that everything in the Old

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Testament was just a type and a shadow of that

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which was to come in the future. Take, for instance,

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the law. There was no justification in the law

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whatsoever. The law was added because of transgressions.

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The law revealed sin. But there was no justification

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in law. The apostle says that the law was given

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for this purpose. To reveal sin. Till the seed

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should come. That is, till Christ should come.

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When the seed, Christ, came. a fuller discovery

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of divine grace was made. In Christ, we are pardoned

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and justified. The same is true regarding the

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earthly priest. He was only a type and the shadow

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of the one who in the person of the very son

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of the living God is our great high priest today.

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That's why at the crucifixion of Jesus, when

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he yielded up, the ghost behold the veil of the

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temple was rent in twain from the top to the

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bottom and the earth did quake and the rocks

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wrench in that moment there was no longer the

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type in the shadow but that which was a shadow

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became a reality in the person of jesus christ

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In that moment, he became our great high priest.

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I have a priest. I have a glorious priest. I

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have one to whom I can go and make my confession.

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I have one who will forgive my every sin. Better

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than I understand myself. Sure. That's what the

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scripture means. Seeing then that we have a great

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high priest that is passed into the heavens.

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Jesus, the son of God. Let us hold fast our profession.

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For we have not an high priest which cannot be

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touched with the feeling of our infirmities,

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but was in all points. tempted like as we are

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yet without sin. Oh, beloved, he knows our problems,

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our feelings, our limitations, our anxieties,

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our heartache. Therefore, we come to him making

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our confession. We come to him to help in time

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of need. Amen.