ASCENSION – FRIDAY

LESSON: COLOSSIANS 3:1-4

When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. Ephesians 4:8

Christ’s ascension is a mighty act which should bring us real comfort and assurance. Those who believe in the ascended Lord should be joyful and courageous, take confidence from this act and say, “My Lord Jesus Christ is Lord over death, the devil, sin, righteousness, body, life, enemies, and friends. Of what shall I still be afraid?”

If my enemies beset me with intentions of slaying me, my faith declares, “Christ has ascended into heaven and become the Lord of all creatures. Hence, my enemies must also be subject to Him. So, it is beyond their power to harm me. I defy them to raise a finger against me and disturb one hair on my head without Christ’s will.”

If this is how faith looks at this matter and rests on this article of Christ’s ascension, all is well. Then faith will also become bold and certain and declare, “If my Lord’s will is that my enemies should put me to death, I willingly depart.”

You see, then, that Christ ascended into heaven not just to sit up there in His own interests but to rule there, to work out all things for our good, that we may derived comfort and joy from His ascension.

SL 11:941 (27)

PRAYER: We thank you, Lord Jesus for the assurance of abiding help and blessing, which we derive from Your glorious ascension into heaven, and its significance for our faith and lives as Christians at all times. Continue to be with us and bless us as our ascended Lord, for Your name’s sake. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 3:180-194.

THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD - THURSDAY

LESSON: MARK 16:14-20

Then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. Mark 16:19

We must regard the ascension of Christ as an efficacious, powerful act which is in continuous and ceaseless operation. We must not just imagine that Christ has ascended into heaven and left us here on earth to be ruled in other ways. On the contrary, He has ascended into heaven because He can achieve most and rule most effectively by that act.

If He had remained visibly here on earth among men, He could never have achieved as much. Not all people would then have been able to be with Him to hear Him. He had to make a start on having to deal with all men, ruling all men, preaching to all men, so that all might hear Him and that He might be with all men.

Take care, therefore, that you do not form the idea that Christ is now far away from you. The contrary is true. When He was on earth, He was far away from us; since His ascension, He is very close to us.

Reason, of course, cannot understand this, so the ascension is an article of faith. Here one must close the eyes to reason and grasp matters by faith. God’s Word tells us that the man Christ Jesus ascended visibly into heaven where He now sits at God’s right hand and governs all things.

SL 11:940 (24-25)

PRAYER: Christ our Savior ascended visibly into heaven from where He now rules and governs all things. Make us aware of the full import of this mighty act of our Savior, heavenly Father, so that we look more confidently to Jesus as Lord of lords and King of kings. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 3:180-194.

EASTER - WEEK 5 - WEDNESDAY

LESSON: MATTHEW 7:7-12

“If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:14

An important factor in our prayers is that we must pray to our heavenly Father in the name of Jesus. This is nothing else but to come to God with faith in Christ and to console ourselves with the confidence that He is our Mediator through whom all things are given to us.

Without such faith and confidence in Christ and His work of salvation, we would merit nothing but wrath and displeasure. St. Paul reminds us of all this when he declares in Romans, “Through Christ we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God” (Romans 5:2).

We are really asking in the name of Jesus when we rely on Jesus and believe that we shall be accepted and heard for His sake and not for our sakes.

Those who ask in their own name—with the presumptuous idea that God will hear them and regard them because of their many great, devotional, and holy prayers—will merit and receive nothing but God’s wrath and disfavor. They do not regard a mediator as necessary. For them, Christ has no significance and is of no use.

SL 11:922 (10)

AE 77:255

PRAYER: Lord God, heavenly Father, never let us forget how much we need the work of our Savior and Mediator. On this basis, may our prayers be always pleasing and acceptable to You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

EASTER - WEEK 5 - TUESDAY

LESSON: LUKE 19:1-6

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. Romans 8:26

In our prayers, we must earnestly desire or wish that what we pray for should come to pass. This is what is meant by the word “ask” which Jesus uses in the Gospel. Some have described this as “the ascent of the soul to God.” The heart lifts itself up and soars up to God with a burning desire, and on this basis, it sighs and says, “O that I had this or that!”

According to St. Paul, prayer can be a yearning that cannot always be put into actual words. The mouth cannot always express what the heart feels; the yearning of the heart can surpass all our speaking and even thinking (Romans 8:26).

When Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, the possibility of Jesus speaking to him and coming to his house was beyond all his powers of conception. But after this joyful event, he was more than satisfied. His efforts had succeeded beyond his fondest desires.

On one occasion, Moses cried out to God, and God said to him, “Why do you cry to me?” (Exodus 14:15). Actually, Moses on this occasion did not utter a word, but deep sighs came from his heart in the hour of need. Such sighs God calls cries.

St. Paul also declares that God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). Trials, fear, and distress serve to bring out these sighs. They teach us how to sigh to God in prayer.

SL 11:922 (9)

AE 77:255

PRAYER: You know the meaning of our sighs, heavenly Father, and Your Holy Spirit can also interpret them for us at Your throne of grace. Hear us, accordingly, when we sigh to You in Jesus’ name. Amen.

EASTER - WEEK 5 - MONDAY

LESSON: JAMES 1:5-8

“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:24

In our prayers, we should firmly believe that God’s promise to us is always sure and certain and have no doubt that He will give us what He promises. Words of promise from God always call for faith on our part. Faith is a firm, undoubted confidence in the truth of God’s promise. He who prays to God with doubts in his heart is tempting God. He has his doubts about God’s will and grace. His prayer must be meaningless. He gropes after God like a blind man for a wall.

St. John writes: “This is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him” (1 John 5:14-15). In these words, St. John describes how a truly believing heart prays. It is quite sure and certain that prayer is heard and that it will be answered.

The Holy Spirit must give this faith and absolute certainty. Without the Holy Spirit, there can be no real Christian prayer. Try it out now and pray in this way! Then you will also experience the wonderful sweetness of this promise of God. You will also gain courage and the comfort of heart to make a variety of prayers, no matter how great or high the petitions may be.
SL 11:920 (5-6)

AE 77:253-54

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Your promises to us are sure and certain. Therefore, we take You at Your Word and bring all our requests and needs before You in prayer in the confidence that You will hear and answer them, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

EASTER - WEEK 5 - SUNDAY

LESSON: JOHN 16:23-30

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name.” John 16:23

The Gospel for Rogate speaks to us about Christian prayer and what makes a prayer truly Christian.

The first thing of importance here is God’s promise. This is the real basis of Christian prayer and the source from which it derives its power. Christ here assures us that what we ask will be given to us, and He does this with a solemn pledge when He declares, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in my name.”

Christ gives us this assurance to make us quite certain that our prayers will be heard. He chides the disciples for having been sluggish in prayer. “Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name,” He says to them. He wants them to understand that God is always prepared to give to them much earlier than they ask and much more than they ask. He offers His blessings to His disciples; they are available whenever they deign to receive them.

It is truly a great disgrace and a severe punishment upon us Christians that Christ can still reproach us with sluggishness in asking and that such a rich and excellent promise does not incite us to exercise the privilege of prayer.

Here is a great treasure untapped before us, and we make so little effort to exercise the privilege of prayer and to utilize its power in Christian faith and life. God Himself bases prayer on His promise, and on this basis, He also urges us to pray.

SL 11:918 (2-3)

AE 77:252-53

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, You have invited us to bring all our needs before You in prayer in the name of our Savior. Hear our prayer, which we offer in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

EASTER - WEEK 4 - SATURDAY

LESSON: EPHESIANS 1:11-14

It is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has commissioned us; he has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

If I am to be accounted righteous before God, it is not enough for me to do good works externally; I must do them from the bottom of my heart with delight and in love, so that I stand unafraid before sin, death, and the devil, free and joyful, with a good conscience and all confidence before God, knowing how I stand with Him.

No work and no creature can give me any assurance here. When it comes to righteousness before God, I must look to Christ alone, to Him who has gone to the Father in heaven where I cannot see Him but must believe that He is up above and will help me. This faith makes me acceptable to God, for Christ gives me the Holy Spirit in my heart. It is He who makes me ready and glad to perform all good works. In this way, I am accounted righteous before God and in no other way.

As long as you operate with works, you will become more and more wretched and disconsolate the more that you devote yourself to them. The more you rest your faith on Christ alone as your one and only hope and source of righteousness and salvation, the more you will experience the real joy of salvation in Christ.

Where Christ is really acknowledged for what He is, the Holy Spirit cannot remain absent.

SL 11:871 (17-18)

PRAYER: Thanks be to You, heavenly Father, for the riches of Your grace and mercy in Christ Jesus and also for the seal and guarantee that you have given us in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, that we are your beloved children in and through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 3:110-124.

LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31

“[The Holy Spirit] will convince the world … of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.” John 16:8-10

Righteousness means piety, a good and honest life before God. Jesus says here that He will convince the world of righteousness, “because I go to the Father.”

We have often stated that Christ’s resurrection did not take place for His benefit but for our sakes; hence, we should make it our very own possession. He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven to establish a spiritual kingdom in which He reigns in us by means of righteousness and truth. He is not just sleeping and resting in heaven or amusing Himself there in idleness, but, as Paul reminds us, He is continually active and busy here on earth in His Church, ruling consciences and souls by the Gospel (cf. Ephesians 1:22).

Wherever Christ is preached and acknowledged, He now rules in us from God’s right hand, and He Himself is present with us here in our hearts. He rules in His kingdom here on earth in such a way that he exercises power, might, and authority over us and all our foes and helps to free us from sin, death, the devil, and hell. His resurrection and ascension are our consolation, life, salvation, and righteousness.

This is what Christ means here when He states that men become righteous before God because He goes to His Father and we see Him no more. This the world cannot understand. The Holy Spirit must come to convince the world of its ignorance in this respect.
SL 11:870 (15-16)

PRAYER: Continue to abide with us, Lord Jesus, as our consolation, life, salvation, and righteousness in Your kingdom of truth and salvation, for Your love’s sake. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 3:110-124.