For this therefore the Mediator pleaded as His right in His last prayer before His agony, saying,

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I have glorified thee on earth: I have finished "the work, which thou gavest me to do. And "now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine "own self, with the glory which I had with "thee before the world was."

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Moreover, while we profess our faith in our Lord's ascension, we also profess to believe that He hath opened a new and living way for us, that we may follow Him whither He is gone before us; that He hath removed all obstructions to our salvation; that He hath triumphed over all our enemies; that He hath procured for us all necessary grace which He is ascended to bestow; and that He hath prepared a place for us, according to His own declaration made to His disciples: "In my father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I would "have told you; I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for "you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be "also." Accordingly if we are believers in Christ, then we are "risen with Christ;" and we are also ascended with Him, and "made to "sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." And if we are now ascended with Him, by virtue of union with Him and attraction from Him, as members of His mystical body, and in heart and affection, we shall hereafter ascend in body and soul personally and really. For He ascended as "the head of His body the church." He "entered into heaven as our forerunner.'

Now do we believe, that "our Lord Jesus ** Christ is ascended into the heavens," viewing subject in this extensive and practical view?

respect to the naked fact, "the devils

"believe it and tremble." It will be of no avail to us that we avow it as an article of our creed, unless we mix an operative faith with our assent and avowal.

We proceed to consider the prayer of our collect, in which we implore grace that we may be enabled to imitate the example which Christ's ascension furnishes.

The history of the life of Christ is analogically repeated in the experience of all His members. This analogy we have noticed in the review which we have taken, in the course of these essays, of the principal circumstances recorded in the gospel. Christians are imitators of Christ in His birth, circumcision, baptism, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. For they are born again, are circumcised with the true circumcision of the Spirit, are baptised with water and the Holy Ghost, they die to sin, are buried with Christ in baptism, rise to newness of life, and ascend with Him so as to sit with Him in heavenly places.

In the petition now before us, which is founded on the doctrine of Christ's ascension, we pray that we may ascend in heart and mind to heaven whither Christ is gone before us-that, feeling the attractive power of His love, we may be drawn to follow Him in holy desire and contemplation, according to His own promise, which may be applied to His ascension as well as to His crucifixion. "If I be lifted up from "the earth, I will draw all men unto me." This petition shews the efficient nature of faith, and the connection which exists between genuine faith and true holiness,

O how important a prayer! For of what avail will it be to us that Christ is ascended into

heaven, unless we are prepared by following Him now in affection to be hereafter for ever with Him? His ascension and session at the right hand of God must be a source of terror to the soul, if seriously considered, unless the affections, cleaving to Him, feel the power of His ascension, as the sap of the vegetable plant feels the influence of the vernal sun. The sapless lifeless stalk must be withered by the brightness of the summer solstice.

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"Where our treasure is, there will our hearts "be also." If we be "risen with Christ," we shall "seek those things which are above, where "Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." If we be "dead, and our life be hid with Christ "in God," we shall set our affections on things above and not on things on the earth." If we believe in Christ for pardon of our sins and reconciliation with our offended God, we love Him with a supreme affection. And as true love covets the society and presence of the object beloved, all true believers, under the influence of gratitude, aspire to that place where Jesus is. They consider themselves as

pilgrims and strangers upon earth," as "citi"zens of heaven," as "fellow-citizens with the "saints and of the household of God." They feel the obligations under which they are laid, both by duty and interest, to "abstain from

fleshly lusts which war against the soul;" not to mind earthly things;" and to "have their "conversation in heaven, from whence they "look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ." That place is always most dear to us and uppermost in our thoughts which we consider as our home, our resting-place, the residence of our nearest relatives and bosom-friends. If we are

absent from it, thitherward our hearts tend, even while our bodies are remote from it; and if we are journeying towards it, our minds move faster than our feet, and love adds speed to our motion. This is verified in the experience of those, who love God as their Father, Christ as their elder brother and friend, and glorified saints as their common brethren and " fellow heirs of the "grace of life."

Now, as love to Christ is inseparable from faith in Him, it is supposed by our church that all who recite her creed and join in her collects are ascending in heart and mind heavenwards. Let the reader consider if her charitable hope of himself be founded. But though the tendency of the believing soul be heavenwards, yet is there need to pray for an acceleration of motion; for corruption, like a heavy load, weighs us down to earth; guilt, like a dark cloud, hides the object of our love from view; worldly things distract our attention; and death interposes a tremendous barrier between us and our eternal home. Under these circumstances we cannot be too earnest in praying that "Almighty God "would cause us in heart and mind to ascend "heavenwards." Our comfort in praying for this blessing is built on the Omnipotence of Him from whom we implore it.

We solicit further grace that "with Christ "we may continually dwell"-that, while we continue on earth, our hearts and minds may have their settled abode in heaven, being "surely "fixed there where true joys are to be found," and that shortly we may locally be removed thither both in soul and body. O ravishing thought! May it transport and immovably rivet our hearts to Christ, whose presence and love constitute the very essence of heaven.

Reader, dost thou believe that Christ is ascended into heaven? If thy belief of this doctrine be" the faith of God's elect," thou hast the witness of its truth in thine own bosom. The desires which prevail there are evidences of it. The virtue of Christ's ascension accompanies "the power of His resurrection." Does our collect express the fervent desire of your soul? If it do not, you cannot join in the sensibilities of the church on earth, and surely are not prepared to concur in the worship of the church above; you are uninterested in the triumphs of our glorified Leader; you have no share in the largesses which at His ascension He bestowed on His church; you are in an unpardoned and unsanctified state; and, consequently, have no title to His kingdom nor qualification for it.

But some of the sincere followers of Christ, who "in heart and mind ascend" after Him, follow Him trembling, as if the victory were not won nor the spoils secured. Let them consider the plenary declarations of Scripture on the subject, and the experience of the saints, especially of those who have " fought the good

fight and finished their course." Hark, the Captain of your salvation calls to you from His exalted throne, points to His vanquished enemies, and in the words of Joshua thus addresses you: "Come near, and put your feet upon "their necks. Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage; for thus shall the "Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight." Listen, trembling saint, to the sounds which earth reverberates to the skies; "God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the "sound of a trumpet.""He hath led captivity captive." And let thy feeble voice be mingled

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