only, not forgetful hearers, deceiving our ownselves, but that we may be doers of the word, who lay to heart the solemn truths which it presents to our minds, and seek grace to live in obedience to what God has commanded. It is not the hearers of the law who are just before God, but the doers of the law who shall be justifiedo1 in His sight. These lay to heart the word of God; they inquire diligently what is His will which is revealed in it; they continue to wait upon God in the use of the means of grace; they worship Him in spirit and in truth; they watch over their hearts, their words, and their conduct; they seek grace from God to enable them to resist all sin; and being made partakers of Divine mercy, they imitate the example of their heavenly Father, as they have opportunity, in their conduct towards their fellow-creatures, and avoid every thing that is contrary to His holy will and commandments.

It becomes us to inquire, Which of these characters belongs to us individually? Are we hearers of the word only, who are deceiving our ownselves by an outward attendance on the means of grace, without considering the end for which God has been pleased to communicate to mankind the revelation of His will? or, Are we doers of the work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope, which God has enjoined upon His people; doers of the word, who shall be blessed in our deed? If we are hearers only, we may have

our reward in this world, in the applause of men, in the approbation of our fellow-creatures for the regularity of our external deportment; which is all that many propose to themselves, in reality, by an attendance on the house of God. But we are deceiving our ownselves if we expect the Divine blessing to be vouchsafed us, when our hearts are not truly given up to God, and our lives devoted to His service. Our religion must be pure and undefiled before God and the Father, in order to be acceptable to Him. Our hearts must be purified by faith in Christ; we must worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh; we must be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; if we would fulfil the duties enjoined upon us in the word of God; and not deceive ourselves by an empty profession. May the privilege we enjoy of hearing the word of God answer this end. May we not only call Christ, Lord, Lord, but also do the things which He has commanded; that our light may so shine before men, that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven; and that we may be enabled to rejoice in hope, that when we have done with all things here below, an entrance shall be ministered to us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

SERMON XXXII.

FOR THE

ASCENSION DAY, OR HOLY THURSDAY.

THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST.

Acts i. 10, 11.

AND WHILE THEY LOOKED STEDFASTLY TOWARD HEAVEN AS HE WENT UP, BEHOLD

TWO MEN STOOD BY THEM IN WHITE AP

PAREL; 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.

THE ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven, forty days after His resurrection from the dead, is one of the wonderful circumstances respecting Him which we are accustomed annually to commemorate. The account of it, which is given by St. Luke in the beginning of

his history of the Acts of the Apostles, is appointed by our church to be read instead of the Epistle for this day. The Evangelist commences with referring to the account which he had before written of the principal transactions in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Addressing the

person to whom he had inscribed his previous narrative, he says, The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up. Who this Theophilus (whose name signifies friend, or lover of God) was, there is no means of ascertaining; and it is of no importance, as the truth of the narrative is in no way connected with it.

The Evangelist had closed his gospel history with an account of the Lord Jesus having been carried up into heaven; being parted from His disciples, while He blessed them. He here recapitulates the events which had taken place previous to that transaction. He was taken up, after that He, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen. He had commanded them to preach repentance and remission of sins in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem; and had promised to shed forth the Holy Ghost upon them, to qualify them for the office which they were to sustain, which was accordingly accomplished on the day of Pentecost. It is repeated that our Lord Jesus Christ had showed Himself alive after His passion

to His apostles, by many infallible proofs, which could not possibly be mistaken, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Some accounts of His conversations with them are given by the different Evangelists. He was seen by them ten or eleven times during these forty days; five times on the day of His resurrection, and as many times subsequently; some have supposed that He appeared on each Lord's day previous to His ascension.

Of the occurrences of that day, the Evangelist proceeds to make mention; that Jesus being assembled with His disciples, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me. This was His last injunction to His apostles, that they should not leave the city of Jerusalem until full proof should be given to them of His almighty power, by the fulfilment of the promise which He had made, of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. John the Baptist had made the same observation, that He who was to come after him should baptize His disciples with the Holy Ghost, as a proof of His Divine power and glory.

As there doubtless was something extraordinary about the appearance and manner of the Lord Jesus on this occasion, When they therefore