Ingraham_The_Prince_of_the_House_of_David.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
he reached the green hill-side beyond
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the village; for all followed him, expecting to
hear more glorious revelations from his lips of
the life beyond this.
" goes to the hill to pray," said one of his
disciples.
"," said , "he prays not since his
resurrection as before. has no need of
prayer for himself, who has conquered sin,
, death, the grave and the world!"
" goeth to show us some mighty miracle,
from the expression of power and majesty in his
aspect," said to me, gazing upon the
with awe; for each moment as he ascended
the hill, his countenance grew more glorious with
a certain -like majesty, and shone like the
face of descending from .
all hung back with adoring fear, and alone
he proceeded onward, a wide space being left by
us between ourselves and him. there was
no terror in the glory which surrounded and
shined out from him ; but rather a holy radiance,
that seemed to be the very light of holiness and
peace.
" looked he," said to us, "when we be
held him transfigured in the mount with
and /'
hill, which is not lofty, was soon sur
mounted by his sacred feet. stood upon its
apex alone. kept back near the brow of the
hill, fearing to approach him, for his raiment
shone now like the sun, while his countenance
was as lightning. shaded our eyes to be
hold him. was now expectation, and look
ing for same mighty event what we knew not!
514 .
drew nearest to him, and upon his knees,
with clasped hands looked towards him earn
estly; for he knew, as he afterwards told us, what
would take place; having informed him the
night before. and yet tears were on his
face, as he gazed with blinded eyes, as one gazes
on the noon-day sun, upon his .
was a scene, dear father, impressive beyond
expression. hill-top was thronged with an
expectant, awe-stricken multitude, which knew
not whether to remain or fly from the glorious
majesty of the presence of the of .
blue sky spread out its illimitable concave above
the hills without a cloud. the foot of the
eminence towards the holy city, slept the gardens
of , where loved to walk, and
where he was arrested. , with its
towers, pinnacles, palaces, and gorgeous ,
glittered in the distance; and , studded
with fresh crosses, stood out boldly in
view, in the transparent air. tall cypresses
which grew above the tomb of , where he
had lain, were also visible. seemed for a
moment to survey these scenes of his suffering,
of his ignominy and death, with the look of a
divine conqueror. then turned to his disci
ples and said:
'' have been with me in my sorrows, and
you now shall behold my glory, and the reward
which my doth give me. -day take
leave of you and ascend to my and your
. all things which have
-taught you concerning my kingdom. forth
and teach the glad tidings of salvation to all men,
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and baptize all nations in the name of the ,
and of the , and of the ; and lo,
am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world."
speaking, in a voice that thrilled every
bosom with emotions indescribable, he extended
his hands above their heads and blessed them,
while we all fell upon our faces to the ground,
also to receive his blessing.
then lifted up his eyes to the calm blue
depths of heaven, and said:
" now, , glorify thou me with
thine own self, with the glory which had with
before the world was!"
he spoke, we raised our faces from the
ground, and saw him leaving the earth, rising
from the hill-top into the air, with a slow and
majestic ascension; his hands outspread over us
beneath, as if shedding down blessings upon us
all. loud burst of surprise which rose from
five hundred voices at seeing him soar away into
the atmosphere, was followed by a profound and
awful silence, as we watched him rise and still
rise, ascending and still ascending into the upper
air, his whole form growing brighter and
brighter, as the distance widened between his
feet and the earth !
our knees, in speechless amazement, we
followed his ascent with our eyes, not a word
being spoken by any soul : and hearts might have
been heard beating in the intense expectation of
the moment.
in the far off height of heaven, we be
held appear a bright cloud, no larger than a man's
516 .
hand, but each instant it expanded and grew
broader and brighter, and swift as the winged
lightning, it descended through the firmament
downward, until we beheld it evolve itself into a
glittering host of angels, which no man could
number, countless as the stars of heaven.
these shining legions descended, they parted into
two bands, and sweeping along the air, met the
ascending of in the mid sky! rush
ing of their ten thousand times ten thousand
wings, was heard like the sound of many waters.
, like a shining cloud, they re
ceived him into their midst, and hid him from
our eyes, amid the glories of their celestial
splendor.
we stood gazing up into the far skies,
hoping, expecting, yet doubting if we should
ever behold him again, two bright stars seemed
to be descending from the height of- heaven
towards us. a few seconds we saw that they
were angels. on the place had
left, they said to the eleven, " gaze ye up
into heaven, ye men of ? same
whom ye have seen go into heaven, shall so come
in like manner as ye have now seen him ascend!"
speaking, they vanished out of our sight!
above account, my dear father, of the
ascent yesterday into heaven of the , our
, wrote the same evening,
while all the circumstances were present and
vivid upon my mind. , what a sublime spec
tacle! human language can describe it!
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one thing have presented clearly to you,
dear father, and that is the fact that has
ascended into the heaven of heavens! , amaz
ing reality! truth! , oh
what is earth? is ? is man?
that is mindful of that should
so have visited him! when has visited
us when , the brightness of the
glory of the , has descended to earth, and
assumed our nature, to reconcile us to , and
obtain an eternal life for us, how has been re
ceived? for his voluntary poverty
despised for his humble human parentage hated
for his holiness tried before tribunals for crimes
unknown to him scourged and spit upon,
mocked, and buffeted, and crucified with thieves,
as if his enemies would render his death as ig
nominious as it was capable of being made!
behold the issue! , when he had paid
the debt of death for us, the change in all things!
awakes to life! bursts the tomb!
walks forth from the sepulchre! are his
servants! forty days on earth, unfolding
to his disciples the mysteries of his gospel and
the splendor of his kingdom, he ascends visibly
to heaven at mid-day from , in the sight
of many hundreds, and is escorted by armies of
angels to the right hand of the majesty on high!
, my dear father, is the appropriate crown
ing event of the extraordinary life of , both
and ! ascent from this earth
into the heaven of heavens, not only is proof that
came from , but that is well-pleased
with all that has done in the flesh. in any
518 .
one thing taught, spoke what was not
true, either concerning the or concerning
himself, he would not have received such a wel
come back to the heavenly abodes! that
said of himself is therefore true!
attests it! must then believe, or we can have
no interest in the kingdom which has gone to
prepare for us, and which we can enter only as
has traveled through it, through humiliation,
suffering, death, the tomb, resurrection, and also
ascension! did he truly say, " way
go ye shall know! 1 '
kingdom is therefore, my dear father,
clearly not of this world, as he said to , the
; but it is above. it he has
triumphantly ascended, attended by legions of
and , an ascent which
clearly foresaw in vision, when he wrote:
" has gone up with a shout, he has as
cended on !"
, then, no longer, dearest father! ,
the son of in human nature, was the
of in nature; an incompre
hensible and mysterious union, whereby he has
brought together in harmony the two natures,
separated far apart by sin, by sacrificing own
body as a sin-offering, to reconcile both in one
body upon the cross. is now
no more condemnation to them who believe in
and accept ; for in body took
our sins, and with his precious blood, as that of a
lamb without blemish, cleansed them forever
away.
cannot write all would say to you, dear-
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est father. we meet, which you rejoice me
in saying, will be on the first day of the week, at
, will unfold to you all that the divine
and glorified has taught me. not
that is . not to accept ;
for is the end of , and of the , and
of the , the very who should
come and restore all things, to whom be glory,
power dominion, majesty, and excellency ever
more.
loving daughter,
.
[ terminates the series of letters of the
maiden to her father, written during the
of , under the reign
of , the .
cover a period of three years and six months, em
bracing all the events of the of the
, and of the of , to
the day of ascension into heaven.
, ^milius, it would ap
pear from history, became of the
of in the , and with ,
his noble lady, was the first to entertain the
, of , otherwise
, on his visit thither to proclaim at those
ends oi the earth the gospel of the
fied, in obedience to the command left by
with disciples, that they should preach
gospel to every creature.
520 .
history of the first establishment of the
faith of in this remote barbaric
by the , and of its spread
throughout the island, are to be found written in
detail in certain letters, which the daughter of
^Emilius and of wrote to her brother, a
knight at ] .
upon the original of
by the ,
.