words to Mary (John, xx. 17), Touch me not, for I am NOT yet ascended to my Father; that is as much as to say, Do not be over-anxious to touch, to hold, or to detain me now, as though you suppose I have ascended to heaven, and only pay you this transient visit, to convinee you I am alive; and therefore your desire may be earnest to discourse with me, and pay me homage, lest you should not see me again. Now, the kind of ascension with which Christ had not ascended when he spake to Mary, after his resurrection, was not to be performed often; for at the very same time he said unto her, Go unto my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and unto your Father, unto my God and unto your God; or, in other words, I shall not immediately ascend, but stay some time with you here on earth, when you will have sufficient opportunity to converse with me, and prove the truth of my resurrection, before the time appointed for my final departure; when what I before said to my disciples of going to my Father, shall be fulfilled by my ascension into heaven, in your presence: and accordingly, when it took place, it appeared plainly to be a true and positive translation, or removal, of the Son of man, as a man, from these parts of the world below, into the heaven above; by which that very body which was before, as to place, here on earth, and consequently not

so in

heaven, became substantially present in heaven, and no longer locally on earth. And, indeed, the action of blessing his disciples proves his bodily presence with them; for even while he blessed them, he parted from them; and while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud receiv ed him out of their sight, and so he was carried up into heaven; while they looked steadfastly towards heaven, as they looked up. Most probably, after he had laid his hands on them, and as he was pronouncing some heavenly benediction over them, he raieed himself gently from the earth, and then ascended gradually, till the organs of human sight could not distinguish the object from the vapours that involved it. Thus was our Lord's ascension visibly performed, in the presence and sight of the Apostles, that they might want no possible assurance as to the reality and certainty of it. And these few following observations may serve to confirm the truth

of it.

The reason why the Apostles did not see Christ exactly when he rose, but were to be present at his ascension, is very evident, because an eye-witness was not necessary to the act of resurrection; it being enough that Christ showed himself to them alive after his passion: for, as they knew him before to be dead, and now saw him alive, they were thereby certain that he rose again. But the case was very different as

to the act of his ascension; because, as the Apostles could not see our Saviour in heaven, it became absolutely necessary they should be eyewitnesses of the very act of his going there, who could not, from the nature of the thing, behold the effect in this case, as in the former.

But, to crown the glorious ceremony, and both to confirm its truth, and cheer the naturally drooping spirits of the Apostles at losing such a Comforter, the gracious mercy of the Father appointed, in his high wisdom, to honour his Son's triumph with a celestial evidence. Those blessed spirits which ministered before, and saw the favour of God in heaven, knew well that Christ ascended up from whence they came; and because the mortal eyes of the Apostles could not follow him so far, God sent the inhabitants of that place to testify of his reception: (Acts, i. 10, 11,) For, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? 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.—And thus I conclude this second particular of our belief, which is, that the eternal Son of God, who died and rose again, did, with the same body and soul with which he died, and rose, ascend up into heaven in the presence of his disciples. The next object that presents itself for our consideration,

in this division of my discourse, is the nature of the place to which our blessed Lord ascended.

Thirdly, then, HEAVEN is a general term, and admits of several acceptations in the sacred writings; yet I think we shall find no difficulty, by their help, to fix the import of it, past all dispute, in the sense it should here be properly received. Indeed, it may be truly said,

Christ was in heaven before the cloud received him out of the Apostles' sight, because we properly term the upper regions of the air by this title, for the clouds themselves are called the clouds of heaven; but THAT heaven may justly be called only the first, and we can hardly doubt but that our Lord ascended at least as far as St. Paul was said to be caught up, that is, into the third heaven. The language of the Apostle (Heb. iv. 14), truly translated, is very descriptive of our Saviour's seat above: For we have a great High Priest (says he) that is PASSED THROUGH the heavens; denoting, that he

is

gone above the ethereal firmament. And the further declaration, that he was made higher than the heavens (Heb. vii. 26), argues, that he must needs pass through them. Again (Eph. iv. 10), the Apostle expressly says, that He who descended, is the same also who ascended up far above all heavens. Another argument that Christ is far above all heavens (taking the word here,

in its common acceptation), is what was just now hinted of St. Paul's translation. He was Christ's apostle to the Gentiles, born (as he says) out of time; but yet he had such things revealed to him in this divine ecstacy, as it was impossible for one in the body to relate. Now, it is not consistent that he should be where his divine Master was not, of whom (the Lord Jesus) he declares he received these things; and therefore may we conclude, our Saviour was ascended to the third heaven-that, as the Apostle adds, in the same verse, he might fill all things. The true sense, then, in which we must receive this word is, that it signifies the HEAVEN OF HEAVENS : and so Christ is ascended through, and above all other heavens, and yet is still in heaven, for he is entered into that within the veil, into the holy place, even into heaven itself, to appear in the presence of God for us. we have this sure description: Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. Thus, as Christ descended unto the footstool of his Father, in his human humiliation of the flesh, so he ascended to the throne of his Father, in his glorified exaltation. In short, this was the place of which our Saviour spake to his disciples: What and if you should see the Son of man ascend where he was before? A proof at the same time, both of the nature of the place to which, and of the body with which,

And of this heaven