{"id":37583,"date":"2021-03-19T14:48:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T14:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/utter-importance-of-ascension\/"},"modified":"2021-03-19T14:48:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T14:48:00","slug":"utter-importance-of-ascension","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/utter-importance-of-ascension\/","title":{"rendered":"The Utter Importance of the Ascension"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Henry Drummond wrote:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Ascension &hellip; what if it didn&#39;t happen? Suppose Jesus had not gone away. Suppose he were here on earth NOW. Suppose he were still in the Holy Land&#8211;Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<p>Every ship that started for the East would be crowded with Christian pilgrims. Every train flying through Europe would be thronged with people going to see Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Supposing YOU are in one of those ships. The port when you arrive after the long voyage is blocked with vessels of every flag. With much difficulty you land and join one of the long trains starting for Jerusalem. As far as the eye can reach the caravans move over the desert in an endless stream. As you approach the Holy City you see a dark mass stretching for (miles and miles) between you and its glittering spires. You&#39;ve come to see Jesus, but you will NEVER see him.<\/p>\n<p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3440,3441,3722,3839,3921,4071,4275,4329,4564,4622,4698,4699],"tax_ctp_topics":[380,384,404],"class_list":["post-37583","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-ascension","tax_ctp_tags-ascension-of-jesus","tax_ctp_tags-crowd","tax_ctp_tags-easter","tax_ctp_tags-experiencing-god","tax_ctp_tags-gods-presence","tax_ctp_tags-intimacy","tax_ctp_tags-knowing-god","tax_ctp_tags-omnipresence-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-pentecost","tax_ctp_tags-presence","tax_ctp_tags-presence-of-god"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Utter Importance of the Ascension - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/utter-importance-of-ascension\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Utter Importance of the Ascension - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Henry Drummond wrote: Ascension &hellip; what if it didn&#039;t happen? 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