their great Lord and Master, according to the messages he had sent them by the women, and in all probability appointed at some former appearance, not mentioned by the Evangelists, the brethren set out for some mountain in Galilee, perhaps that on which he was transfigured. Here five hundred of them were gathered together, expecting the joyful sight of their great Master, after he had triumphed over death and the grave; some of them not having yet seen him after his resurrection.

They did not wait long before Jesus appeared, on which they were seized with rapture, their hearts overflowed with gladness, they approached their kind, their benevolent Master, and worshipped him. Some few, indeed, doubted; it then being agreeable to nature for men to be afraid to believe what they vehemently wish, lest they should indulge themselves in false joys, which vanish like a morning cloud. But Jesus afterwards appeared frequently to them, and gave them full satisfaction, and instructed them in many things relating to their preaching the gospel, establishing the church, and spreading it through the

whole earth.

CHAPTER XLIV.

Our blessed Lord instructs his Disciples in what manner they should conduct themselves in order to propagate the doctrine of the Gos pel.-Promises to assist them in this important business.-Gives them his final blessing, and ascends into Heaven.—General review of the life and doctrines of the great Redeemer of mankind.

A FEW days before the feast of Pentecost, or the "feast of weeks," the disciples went up to Jerusalem, where the blessed Jesus made his last appearance to them; and after instructing them in many particulars concerning the kingdom of God, and the manner they were to behave themselves in propagating the doctrine of the gospel, he put them in mind that, during his abode with them in Galilee, he had often told them that all things written in the law, the prophets, and the Psalms, concerning him, were to be exactly accomplished. At the same time, "he opened their understandings;" that is, he removed their prejudices, by the operation of his Spirit, cleared their doubts, improved their memories, strenghtened their judgments, and enabled them to discern the true meaning of the Scriptures.

Having thus qualified them for receiving the truth, he again assured them that both Moses and the prophets had foretold that the Messiah was to suffer in the very manner he had suffered;

that he was to rise from the dead on the third day, as he had done; and that repentance and remission of sins were to be preached in the Messiah's name, among all nations, beginning with the Jews.

He ncxt delivered unto them their commission to preach the doctrines of repentance and remission of sins, in his name, among all nations, and to testify unto the world the exact accomplishment, in him, of all things foretold concerning the Messiah; and to enable them to perform this important work, promised to bestow on them the miraculous gift of the Spirit, which he called the promise of his Father; because the Almighty had promised it by his prophets.

Having thus fortified them for the important work they were going to undertake, he led them on to the Mount of Olives, as far as Bethany; where, standing on a hill above the town, he told them that he was going to ascend to his Father: for which reason they might go courageously through all the world, and preach the Gospel to every rational creature; that they who believe should be admitted into his church by the rite of baptism, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and be taught, in consequence of their baptism, to obey all the precepts he had enjoined them: that such baptized believers should receive the pardon of their sins, together with eternal life in the happy mansions of his Father's kingdom; but such as refused to embrace the doctrines of the Gospel should be forever excluded those happy regions, and have their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; that while they were employed in this work, he would be constantly with them, to assist them by his Spirit, and protect them by his providence. Finally, that those who should, through their preaching, be induced to believe, should themselves work most astonishing miracles, by which the Gospel should be propagated with the greatest rapidity.

When the blessed Jesus had spoken these things, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And in the action of blessing them, he was parted from them, in the midst of the day, a shining cloud receiving him out of their sight; that is, this brilliant cloud encompassed him about, and carried him up to heaven; not suddenly, but at leisure, that they might behold him departing, and see the proof of his ascending into heaven, as he had promised them.

The cloud in which the blessed Jesus ascended was more bright and pure than the clearest lambent flame, being no other han the schechinah, or glory of the Lord; the visible symbol of the divine presence which had so often appeared to the patri archs of old: which filled the temple at its dedication, and which, in its greatest splendor, could not be beheld with mortal eyes; for which reason it is called the light inaccessible.

As he ascended, the flaming cloud that surrounded him marked his passage through the air, but gradually lost its magnitude in the eyes of those who stood below; till it at last vanished, together with their beloved Master, out of their sight.

Thus was the great Redeemer of mankind triumphantly carried into heaven, where he now sitteth at the right hand of God his Father, to whom be honor, glory, and power, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hossanna to the prince of lignt,

That cloth'd himself in clay;
Entered the iron gates of death,
And tore the bars away.

Death is no more the king of dread,
Since Christ our Lord arose;
He took the tyrant's sting away,
And spoil'd our hellish foes.

See how the conq'ror mounts aloft,
And to his Father flies,
With scars of honor in his flesh,
And triumph in his eyes.

There our exalted Saviour reigns

And scatters blessings down;
Our Jesus fills the right hand seat
Of the celestial throne.

In this illustrious manner did the great Redeemer of mankin depart, after having finished the grand work which he left the bosom of his Father to execute; which angels with joy described was 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 minute affairs 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. The kingdom of heaven is erected on the incarnation and sufferings of the Son of God, the kingdom and city of the Almighty, comprehending all the people of God in the universe, made happy by goodness and love, and therefore none of them can ever forget the foundation on which their happiness stands established. The human beings, in particular, recovered by the labor of the Son of God, will view their deliverer, and look back on his stupendous undertaking, with the highest rapture, while they are feasting, without interruption on its delicious fruits. The angels, likewise, the celestial inhabitants of the city of God, will contemplate it with perpetual pleasure, as the happy means of recovering their kindred that were lost, and bringing them to a joint and proper subjection to

him who reigneth for ever, and whose favor is better than life itself.

Thus have we followed our dear Redeemer through all the transactions of his life, and enlarged on the stupendous miracle of his resurrection, on which glorious event the whole Christian doctrine is founded.

We shall conclude this chapter with a few observations on the general conduct of our blessed Redeemer, during his peregrination on the earth.

The human character of the blessed Jesus, as it results from the account given of him by the Evangelists, for they have not formally drawn it up, is entirely different from that of all other men whatsoever; for whereas they have selfish passions deeply rooted in their breasts, and are influenced by them in almost every thing they do, Jesus was so entirely free from them, that the most severe scrutiny cannot furnish one single action in the whole course of his life wherein he consulted his own interest only. No; he was influenced by very different motives: the present happiness and eternal welfare of sinners, regulated his conduct, and while others followed their respective occupations, Jesus had no other business than that of promoting the happiness of the sons of men. Nor did he wait till he was solicited to extend his benevolent hand to the distressed: "he went about doing good," and always accounted it "more blessed to give than to receive;" resembling God rather than man. He went about

doing good; benevolence was the very life of his soul: he not only did good to objects presented to him for relief; but he industriously sought them out, in order to extend his compassionate

assistance.

It is common for persons of the most exalted faculties to be elated with success and applause, or dejected by censure and disappointments: but the blessed Jesus was never elated by the one, or depressed by the other. He was never more courageous than when he met with the greatest opposition and cruel treatment; nor more humble than when the sons of men worshipped at his feet.

He came into the world inspired with the grandest purpose that ever was formed: that of saving from eternal perdition, not a single nation, but the whole world; and in the execution of it went through the longest and heaviest train of labors that ever was sustained, with a constancy and resolution, on which no disadvantageous impression could be made by any accident whatČalumny, threatenings, bad success, with many other evils, constantly attending him, served only to quicken his endeavors in this glorious enterprise, which he unweariedly pursued, even till he had finished it by his death.

ever.

The generality of mankind are prone to retaliate injuries re

ceived, and all seem to take a satisfaction in complaining of the cruelties of those who oppress them; whereas the whole of Christ's labors breathed nothing but meekness, patience, and forgiveness, even to his bitterest enemies, and in the midst of the most excruciating torments. 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 express the temper which he maintained through the whole course of his life, even when assaulted by the heaviest provocations. He was destined to sufferings here below, in order that he might raise his people to honor, glory, and immortality, in the realms of bliss above; and therefore patiently, yea joyfully, submitted to all that the malice of earth and hell could inflict. He was vilified that we might be honored: he died, that we might live for ever and

ever.

To conclude: the greatest and best men have discovered the degeneracy and corruption of human nature, and shown them to have been nothing more than men: but it was otherwise with Jesus. He was superior to all the men that ever lived, both with regard to the purity of his manners, and the perfection of bis virtues. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners.

Whether we consider him as a teacher, or as 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 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 censured, upon the various topics of religion and morality, which were the daily subjects of his discourses; 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 evidently above the reach of human nature; and consequently he who possessed it must have been divine.

Such was the person who is the subject of the Evangelical history. If the reader, by reviewing his life, doctrine, and miracles, as they are here represented to him, united into one series, has a clearer idea of these things than before, or observes a beauty in his actions thus linked together, which, taken separately, do not appear so fully: if he feels himself touched by the character of Jesus in general, or with any of his sermons and actions in particular, thus simply delineated in writing, whose principal charms are the beauties of truth: above all, if his dying so generously for men strikes him with admiration, or fills him with joy in the prospect of that pardon which is thereby