when he had spoken these things, (Luke, he lift up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass while he blessed them) while they beheld (therefore this transaction happened in the day-time) he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. (Luke, he was carried up into heaven. Mark, was received up into heaven.) 10. And while they looked stedfastly toward hea ven, as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel: Two angels stood by them, who, though they had assumed the form and garb of men, were, by the majesty and splendour of their appearance, known of the apostles to be angels. For as Christ's resurrection had been honoured with the appearance of angels, it was natural to think that his ascension into heaven would be so likewise. 11. Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? (It seems they looked up stedfastly after he was gone out of sight, expecting, perhaps, to see him come down again immediately) This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven: He shall come in the same glorious manner in which you have now seen him ascend. The angels spake of his coming to judge the world at the last day, a description of which Jesus in his life-time had given. Matt. xvi. 27. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels." Wherefore the cloud whereon the Lord now ascended being the same with that in which he is to come again, was more bright and pure than the clearest lambent flame; for it was the glory of the Father, that is, the Schechinah, or visible symbol of the Divine presence, which appeared to the patriarchs in ancient times, which filled the temple at its dedication, 2 Chron. vii. 3. and which in its greatest splendour cannot be beheld with mortal eyes; so for that reason is called the light inaccessible in which God dwells, 1 Tim. vi. 16. It was on this occasion probably, that our Lord's body was changed, acquiring the glories of immortality, perhaps in the view of the disciples, who looked at their Master all the time he was mounting, Acts i. 10. As he ascended up into the skies, the flaming cloud which surrounded him, leaving a track of light behind it, marked his passage through the air, but gradually lost its magnitude in the eyes of them who stood below, till soaring high, he and it vanished out of their sight; for he was received up where the Deity manifests himself Our Lord's body was changed] For flesh and blood, such as he arose with, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Accordingly the body which he now has, is called a glorious body, and declared to be of the same nature with that which the saints shall have after their resurrection. Phil, îîi. 21. "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." Wherefore, though the Scripture is silent as to the time when this change passed upon Christ's body, we must suppose that it happened either immediately before his ascension, or in the time of it, or soon after it. himself in a peculiar manner. Mark xvi. 19. And sat on the right hand of God: that is, in his human nature was advanced in dignity next to the Divine Majesty; all power in heaven and earth being given him. And this universal government he will hold, till he fully establishes the dominion of righteousness, when he will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all." In this illustrious manner did the Saviour depart, after having finished the grand work which he came down upon earth to execute; a work which God himself, in the remotest eternity, contemplated with pleasure, which angels anciently, and superior natures, with joy descried as to happen, and which through all eternity to come shall, at periods the most immensely distant from the time of its execution, be looked back upon with inexpressible delight by every inhabitant of heaven. For though the little af fairs of time may vanish altogether and be lost, when they are removed far back by the endless progression of duration, this object is such, that no distance, however great, can lessen it. The kingdom of God is erected upon the incarnation and sufferings of the Son of God, the kingdom and city of God comprehending all the virtuous beings that are in the universe, made happy by goodness and love; and therefore none of them can ever forget the foundation on which their happiness stands firmly established. In particular the human species, recovered by this labour of the Son of God, will view their Deliverer, and look back on his stupen dous undertaking with high ravishment, while they are feasting without interruption on its sweet fruits, ever growing more delicious. The rest of the members likewise of the city of God will contemplate it with perpetual pleasure, as the happy mean of recovering their kindred that were lost, and it may be as the grand confirmation of the whole rational system, in their subjection to him who liveth and reigneth for ever, and whose favour is better than life. The apostles having seen their Master ascend into heaven, were fully convinced of his having come down thence, and of his being Messiah. This persuasion they testified by paying him divine honours. Luke xxiv. 52. And they worshipped him. His ascension, therefore, gave the apostles great joy, and the more so, that in all probability they did not consider it as their Master's final parting with them. For we may reasonably suppose they understood what the angels said unto them concerning his return, not of his return to judge the world at the last day, but of his return to restore and take upon himself the kingdom of Israel, an event which they would expect to happen very soon. Acts i. 12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem (Luke, with great joy) from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. A sabbath day's journey being only a thousand paces, paces, we are to understand Luke as describing the distance of that part of Olivet which was nearest to the city, in which way the distance of mountains was commonly measured. For Bethany, on the other side of the mountain, nigh to which, as Luke himself informs us, our Lord ascended, was full two miles from Jerusalem. After the apostles returned to the city, they spent the greatest part of their time in the temple, praising and bles sing God, as for all his benefits, so in particular for the resurrection of their Master from the dead, after he had been unjustly and inhumanly crucified by a cabal of wicked men, for his glorious ascension into heaven, and for the promise that was made them concerning his return. Perhaps they were much in the temple likewise, because they expected their Master at his return would make his first appearance there. Luke xxiv. 53. And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. The apostles, about eight days after this, received the Holy Ghost, according to their Master's promise. He descended upon them in a visible form, which betokened both the efficacy of his operations, and the first fruits thereof. Cloven tongues as of fire sat on each of them, and immediately they were inspired with the faculty of speaking all the languages of the world. After the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them, the apostles were led to form a more just notion of their Master's kingdom, for they immediately applied themselves with great earnestness to their proper work of preaching the gospel first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria, afterwards in all the different countries of the world, according to the instructions they had received from their Master's own mouth at parting. In spreading the knowledge of the Christian religion in far distant countries, they met with great approbation and acceptance, both from the Jews and Gentiles, who were not able to resist the evidence of the miracles whereby they confirmed their doctrine. Of these things Mark gives us an account. From which it is reasonable to conclude, that he published his gospel pretty late. Mark xvi. 20. And they went forth and preached every where, the Lord (i. e. Christ. See Matt. xxviii. 20.) working with them, confirming the word with signs following. Amen. CONCLUSION. THUS endeth the history of the life of Christ; a life the greatest and best that ever was led by man, or ever was the subject of any history. The human character of Jesus, as it results from the accounts which the evangelists have given of him, for they have not formally drawn it, is entirely different from that of all other men whatsoever. For whereas they have the selfish passions deeply rooted in their breasts, and are influenced by them in al most most every thing they do, Jesus was so entirely free from them, that the narrowest scrutiny cannot furnish one single action in the whole course of his life, wherein he consulted his own interest, only. The happiness of others was what he had chiefly at heart. And while his contemporaries followed, some one kind of occupation, some another, Jesus had no other business but that of promoting the welfare of men. He went about doing good. He did not wait till he was solicited, but sought opportunities of conferring benefits on such as stood in need of them, and always reckoned it more blessed to give than to receive; in which respect he differed exceedingly from the rest of mankind, and was much more like to God than to man. In the next place, whereas it is common even for persons of the most exalted faculties, on the one hand to be elated with success and applause, and on the other to be dejected, with great disappointments, it was not so with Jesus. He was never more courageous than when he met with the greatest opposition and the worst treatment, nor more humble than when men fell down and worshipped him. He came into the world inspired with the grandest purpose that ever was form ed, even that of saving, not a single nation, but the whole world; and in the execution of it went through the longest and heaviest train of labours that ever was sustained; and that with a constancy of resolution, on which no disadvantageous impression could be made by any accident whatsoever. Calumny, threatenings, opposition, bad success, with the other evils befalling him, served only to quicken his endeavours in this glorious enterprise, which he pursued unweariedly till he finished it by his death. In the third place, whereas most men are prone to retaliate the injuries that are done them, and all seem to take a satisfaction in complaining of the cruelties of those who oppress them, the whole of Christ's behaviour breathed nothing but meekness, patience, and forgiveness even to his bitterest enemies, and in the midst of extreme sufferings. The words, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, uttered by him when his enemies were nailing him to the cross, fitly expressed the temper which he maintained through the course of his life, even when assaulted with the heaviest provocations. The truth is, on no occasion did he ever signify the least resentment by speech or by action, nor indeed any emotion of mind whatever, except such as flowed from pity and charity, consequently such only as expressed the deepest concern for the welfare of mankind. To conclude, the greatest and best men have had failings which darken the lustre of their virtues, and shew them to have been men. This was the case with Noah, Abraham, Moses, Job, Solomon, Paul, and the other heroes cel brated in history. The same thing may be said of all the greatest geniuses in the heathen world, who undertook to instruct and reform mankind; for, omitting the narrowVOL. II. 4 K ness ness of their knowledge, and the obscurity with which they spake upon the most important subjects, there was not one of them who did not fall into some gross error or other, which dishonoured his character as a teacher. The accounts we have in history of the most renowned sages of antiquity, and the writings of the philosophers still remaining, are proofs of this. It was otherwise with Jesus in every respect. For he was superior to all the men that ever lived, both in the sublimity of his doctrine, in the purity of his manners, and in the perfection of his virtues. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Whether you consider him as a teacher or a man, he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. His whole life was perfectly free from spot or weakness, at the same time that it was remarkable for the greatest and most extensive exercises of virtue. But never to have committed the least sin in word or in deed, never to have uttered any sentiment that could be found fault with, upon the various topics of religion and morality, which were the daily subjects of his discourse, and that through the course of a life filled with action, and led under the observation of many enemies, who had always access to converse with him, and who often came to find fault, is a pitch of perfection plainly above the reach of humanity; and therefore he who possessed it must certainly have been divine. Accordingly, the evidenee of this proof being undeniable, both as an argument and as a matter of fact, Jesus himself publicly appealed to it, before all the people in the temple, John viii. 46. Which of you convinceth, (or rather, convicteth) me of sin? And if in affirming that I am perfectly free from sin, I say the truth, why do ye not believe me ? Such was the person who is the subject of the evangelical his tory. If the reader, by viewing his life, doctrine, and miracles, as they are here presented to him united in one series, has obtained a clearer notion of these things than before, or discerns a beauty in his actions thus linked together, which taken separately does not so fully appear; if he feels himself touched with the character of Jesus in general, or with any of his sermons and actions in particular, thus simply delineated in writings whose principal charms are the beauties of truth; above all, if his dying so generously for men strikes him with admiration, or filis him with joy, in the prospect of that pardon which is thereby purchased for the world-let him seriously consider with himself what improvement he ought to make of the Divine goodness. Jesus, by his death, has set open the gates of immortality to men, and by his word, Spirit, and example, graciously offers to make them meet for, and conduct them into the inheritance of the saints in light. Wherefore, being born under the dispensation of his gospel, we have, from our earliest years, enjoyed the best means of acquiring wisdom, virtue, and happiness, the lineaments of |