after a long and interesting conversation with his disciples; in which he explained to them the Scriptures, and directed their attention to the various prophecies relative to himself, "that he was parted from them, and carried up to heaven." And the same sacred writer, in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, relates" that when he had given them commandments, and told them that they should be witnesses unto Him in every quarter of the earth, he was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.'

But may they not have been deceived in this matter? Might not all this be the creation of a heated fancy? No; it could not be delusion. A single person might, under the influence of imagination, have persuaded himself that he had seen Jesus ascend; just as you may have heard of many persons supposing they had seen spirits: but such a thing as that would not account for the ascension of Jesus; for it was not one person, nor two, nor three, who beheld this extraordinary sight, but a considerable number, who could not be deceived in this matter. Neither can they reasonably be supposed to have agreed to make up a story; for they never would have persisted in the same account, amidst tortures and insults, nor have died to seal its truth. We cannot, therefore, doubt that Jesus did really ascend.

But supposing this to be true, how does it

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prove the truth of his religion? I answer; it fulfilled his own prophecies. We are told by St. John, that "when many of his disciples murmured, at some of his sayings as hard ", and evidently wanted faith, he informed them that they should have more extraordinary things to engage their attention than any they had yet met with. "Doth this offend

you;" are ye startled at what I am now saying?"What, and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before."The same future event he also communicated to the apostles on another occasion, in these words; "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world:" again," I leave the world and go to the Father." These predictions he verified by his ascension, and thereby established the truth ofhis character.

-But though it was one object of his ascension to establish his right to the character which he assumed, yet it was not the only one. There were other matters of importance closely connected with it. It furnished us with a demonstration of Christ's entering into the presence of God, to lay the sacrifice which he had made before the throne of his FATHER; and to make intercession for us. To this view of the subject, we are especially drawn by St. Paul; who, in his epistle to the Hebrews, teaches us to consider Jesus

SERMON VIII.

ACTS i. 9.

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

HAVING Considered the resurrection of Christ, and seen its vast importance in the scheme of the Gospel; we naturally carry on our attention to the next great event which is recorded concerning Him, viz. his return to that blessed place from whence he came down.

This circumstance of his ascension, or going up to heaven, is a still further proof of the truth of his doctrines, and an additional confirmation of the hopes of all who believe in him; and is therefore well deserving of a place in every summary of Christian doctrine. I shall therefore beg your attention to some remarks on the fact of Christ's going up to heaven, when he had shewn himself upon earth, after his resurrection; and to the

particular purposes answered by his so doing so far as they regard the spiritual condition of men.

To convince his disciples (those men who were to preach his Word, and proclaim his Gospel to the rest of the world) that he really had risen from the grave, he appeared to them at various places, and at considerable intervals; sometimes to single persons, and at other times to large bodies of people assembled together; that was to shew his power over the grave; to prove the truth of prophecy; and to make it plain that he really was what he asserted himself to be, the Son of the eternal God; and lastly to declare that the soul continues alive after the body is dead. It seems to have been the chief design of his visible ascension, to prove that the body which had been raised from the sepulchre should carry the soul of the Messiah to the place from which he had before come down; and thereby to establish for ever the truth of what he had taught on that subject.

That Jesus Christ did so go up to heaven, in the sight of men, we have the same reason for believing that we have for giving credit to the rest of his history, viz. the testimony of those who witnessed it. St. Luke informs us in his Gospel, that it was just

after a long and interesting conversation with his disciples; in which he explained to them the Scriptures, and directed their attention to the various prophecies relative to himself, "that he was parted from them, and carried up to heaven." And the same sacred writer, in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, relates that when he had given them commandments, and told them that they should be witnesses unto Him in every quarter of the earth, he was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.'

But may they not have been deceived in this matter? Might not all this be the creation of a heated fancy? No; it could not be delusion. A single person might, under the influence of imagination, have persuaded himself that he had seen Jesus ascend; just as you may have heard of many persons supposing they had seen spirits: but such a thing as that would not account for the ascension of Jesus; for it was not one person, nor two, nor three, who beheld this extraordinary sight, but a considerable number, who could not be deceived in this matter. Neither can they reasonably be supposed to have agreed to make up a story; for they never would have persisted in the same account, amidst tortures and insults, nor have died to seal its truth. We cannot, therefore, doubt that Jesus did really ascend.

But supposing this to be true, how does it