now to appear in the presence of God for us. Formerly the higb priest after the order of Aaron was wont to go once every year into the holy of holies, there to make a most solemn atonement for his own sins, and those of the people. But Christ having now once in the end of the world appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of him. self, he hath entered within the veil as our forerunner, there to plead for us the merit of his atoning blood. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Heb. vii. 25.)

Christ ascended moreover, as for believers in particular, so for his church in general. “He received gifts for men:" upon which idea the apostle Paul thus comments : “ And he gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers: for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Eph. iv. 11, 12.) While our Lord was on earth, he himself personally appointed, directed, and comforted his disciples. But as it was necessary that in succeeding generations there should be constantly kept up new pastors and teachers, he therefore provides these for the Church, by the gift of his Holy Spirit. He therefore says, “ It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you : but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” (Joho xvi. 7.)

The ascension of Christ into beaven, is to be viewed also as preparatory to the eternal glorification of his believing people. “In my Father's house, (he saith,) are many mansions; 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.” (John xiv. 2, 3.)

The ascension of Christ was a pledge moreover of his coming at the last day to judge the world. So the angelic attendants of that glorious scene said to the apostles, “ 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 bave seen him go into heaven." (Acts i. 11.)

These then are the doctrines which we should bear in mind, when we declare our belief that Christ the only-begotten Son of the Father, hath ascended into the heavens.

2. The prayer grounded on this glorious event, is, that we may in heart and mind ascend thither, and with Jesus continually dwell.

We pray therefore for a strong and lively faith, by which we may be enabled, as it were, to pierce the skies, and behold our Redeemer, perfect God and perfect man, enthroned in glory. Merely to meditate on his exaltation, will not suffice : we need a realizing faith : that as Stephen with the eye of the body, so we, being full of the Holy Ghost, may with spiritual eyes look up steadfastly into heaven, and see the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.

We pray for lively affections, which may soar upward ; loving Jesus though we have not seen him, and rejoicing in him with joy unspeakable and full of glory. “ Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

We pray for a mind entirely like the mind of Christ. “Let that mind be in you which was also in Christ.” If we ascend to him, we are to be one with him. We are to abide in him, and he in us. . · Above all, we pray that this upward soaring of our hearts to Christ, may be continued without interruption : “ that we may with him continually dwell.” When we consider what drowsy, earthly, downward-sinking hearts we have by nature, surely we must see that this part of the prayer is peculiarly needful for us : and it crowns the whole. " Whom have I in heaven but Thee,” should be accompanied with the thought, “ And there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee." All sin, every corrupt desire, even the dearest and most ensnaring idol, must be surrendered and renounced, if we would dwell with Christ. We cannot mount heavenward, if weights, heavy as lead, press down our wings. O let us hear the words of our Saviour, for ever sounding in our ears, “ Continue ye in my love."

SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION DAY.

The glorious subject of Christ's ascension into heaven is renewed in this Collect : wherein two things are principally to be observed. We here celebrate the triumph of our Lord : and we present at the throne of grace our humble prayer, that he would bestow on us the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

1. We celebrate the triumph of our ascended Lord. God, the King of glory, bath exalted him with great triumph unto his kingdom in heaven.

Just before our Lord's ascension, being surrounded by his disciples, he said to them, “ All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Then was the prayer fully answered, which he had offered to his heavenly Father, the night before his crucifixion. “ I have glorified thee on the 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 that I had with thee before the world was.” (Joho xvii. 4, 5.) For having suffered for our sins upon the cross, and being risen from the dead, he then ascended, and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high ; angels and principalities and powers being made subject unto him.

To apprehend in some degree the glory of this ascension, we may profitably look to the.account given in the Old Testament of an event wbich was a type of it: namely, the carrying up of the ark by David to Mount Zion. It is related in 2 Samuel vi. 12-15. On that occasion the twenty-fourth psalm was composed : and in order to understand the force and beauty of it, we are to imagine King David attended by the Levites in their order, and by the innumerable hosts of Israel, marching up the mount to the gate of the city of David ; and there, with shouts and with the sound of the trumpet, demanding that the gates should be opened to give them entrance. “ Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.” The porters are then supposed to ask, “Who is this king of glory ?.” which is twice asked, and twice answered, for the greater certainty and dignity ; “ The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.” In like manner let us conceive of our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Ark of the covenant, uplifted up from the earth, and borne on clouds, arriving at the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, the spiritual Mount Zion, the city of the living God. There, admission for his Divine Person is solemnly demanded by his attendant angels : armies of seraphic beings from within enquire, “ Who is this King of glory?" To whom it is answered, • It is the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who through death hath destroyed him that had the power of death, even the devil ; who hath spoiled principalities and powers, and is now making a shew of them openly.” Hereupon the everlasting doors are thrown wide open, and Jesus with all his glorious train, enters the heavenly kingdom. That brow, once pierced with thorns, is now crowned with many crowns, and encircled with a rainbow, emblem of peace and good-will: the hand that held a reed as a mock sceptre, now sways. a right sceptre, the sceptre of truth, of meekness and of righteousness : he who in derision was clad in a robe of purple, now wears a vesture dipped in blood, and hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.

2. In the prevailing name therefore of this victorious Redeemer, we offer up our humble petitions : “ We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless.” This thought is taken from the language which our Saviour addressed to his disciples, when he beheld them sorrowful at the prospect of his departure from earth. He said, “I will not leave you comfortless ; ” (the word in the original signifies, I will not leave you orphans.) The removal of a valued and beloved friend is a most bitter affliction. Such a friend was Jesus; kind, patient, able both to teach and to comfort. When he should have departed, the disciples felt that they would be left as children bereaved of a father. So in reality the Church of Christ, in all succeeding ages would be, had we not the same promise, as was given to the disciples, to comfort us as it comforted them. That promise enlarges within us the spirit of hope : hence also our prayers are enlarged : “ Send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us.“ To quicken us in the expectation of an answer to this prayer, we have the assurance of Christ,“ Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." How then can a believer feel himself unguided, or unbefriended, when Christ, by his Spirit, is ever near to him; yea, actually within him ?

But we pray also, that the Lord would “ exalt us to the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before.” This also shall, in God's good time, be granted to all who faithfully walk in the steps of their exalted Saviour. It is peculiarly delightful to our natural feelings to contemplate our being in the same place with an endeared friend : and our Lord, by his express words, hath sanctified the idea : “ I will receive you unto myself; that where I am, ye may be also.” (John xiv. 3.)

Consider wherein consists the blessedness of this admission into Christ's presence in heaven. We shall have perfect light there :: for the 'glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." No dark dispensations of Providence, no unexplained mysteries of grace ; but the privilege of knowing, even as also we

are known. There we shall have perfect holiness : not our present varying degrees, and changeable feelings of devotion, but a completeness in righteousness : “ we shall be like God; for we shall see him as he is.” There we shall possess perfect joy : for “ in thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” “ There shall be no more sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former things are passed away.”

Such then are our petitions; and through Jesus we may confidently expect finally to enter upon this promised inheritance. Meanwhile let us cherish the gift of the Spirit. It is our best portion here below: it is sufficient : it is never-failing; it is our sure preparation for the everlasting enjoyment of the Divine Presence in the world above.

WHITSUNDAY.

We celebrate at this season that wonderful event, from which the beginning of the Christian Church may properly be dated : for, as the Gospel is peculiarly a dispensation of the Spirit, the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost distinguishes, by marks which cannot be mistaken, the era when that dispensation commenced in all its fulness.

Two things are to be noticed in this Collect: first, the record of the gift of the Spirit ; and secondly, the prayer which we, in consequence, offer up on our own behalf.

1. As to the Record of this event, it is observable that the Collect does not advert to the miraculous gifts conferred on the apostles at Pentecost and afterwards. The reason of which may probably be this : the gift of miracles was granted to the early Church for the purpose of proving the truth of the Gospel to those who had no other evidence to convince them. But the truth of the Gospel being once established in the world, it was no longer necessary to have such proofs. The Spirit of God therefore did not continue to impart gifts, which could only have served to surprise the mind, or to gratify vain curiosity. These extraordinary powers having ceased, there nevertheless remains, and ever will remain, a necessity for the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit. To these it is that our attention is directed in this Collect. We need practical truths, for practical purposes : and therefore the Church teaches us both to meditate and to pray with a practical view and feeling.

We celebrate the fact, that God did as at this time' teach the hearts of his faithful people, by the sending to them the light of his Holy Spirit.' It was to his faithful, that is, to his believing people that God vouchsafed this gift. Their faith was grounded in the promises of Christ : “ The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John xiv. 26.) Immediately before his ascension, Christ repeatedly gave them assurances; and bade his disciples tarry in Jerusalem, waiting for “ the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.” Thus therefore, in prayer, in faith, in hope, and with

one accord, the whole company of Christ's immediate followers, (in number not fewer than an hundred and twenty, Acts i. 15; ii. 1.) waited for the descent of the Spirit. And the day of Pentecost being come, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Then was fulblled the promise, contained in the prophecy of Joel, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” (Joel ii. 28.)

The effect of this outpouring of the Spirit, in addition to the gift of working miracles, was, to teach the hearts of the disciples. Now, all things whatsoever Jesus had taught them, were brought to their remembrance. What before was mystery to them, was now no longer such. There was no veil upon their hearts : there was no darkness in their doctrine. They spake openly, boldly, intelligibly, convincingly. Not only were they themselves taught of God, but they proceeded immediately to teach others. Three thousand were on that day converted to the faith ; for the Lord himself accompanied the word with the power of the Holy Ghost, sealing it on the hearts of the hearers. Thus in the midst of Jerusalem, where but a little time before Christ bad been crucified, now was Christ preached and believed on. Nor here only ; but among all nations the apostles in due season went preaching peace through Jesus Christ. Henceforward the Church of God began to enjoy the brightest beams of Gospel light. The words of Isaiah were accomplished : “ Arise, shine ; for thy light is come; and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." (Isaiah lx. 1.)

2. What is our Prayer, on the remembrance of this marvellous dispensation of Gospel light and grace? This is now to be considered from the second part of the Collect. We implore that God would grant to us, by the same Spirit, the abundance of wisdom and consolation..

We ask for wisdom : a most suitable prayer for those who feel, as we all ought to do, how ignorant and perverse our natural hearts are. It is worthy of reflection how many causes occasion this our state of darkness. First, our minds are blind by nature : in a spiritual sense we are “ born blind :” and human wisdom is not sufficient to remove this blindness. Then further, many persons live in great ignorance of the scriptures : they neglect to read the doctrine of the apostles ; men, who were expressly taught by the Holy Ghost, in order that we might learn from them. Many persons do not pray for the promised gift of the Holy Spirit : how then can they expect ever to become wise unto salvation ? Add to this, our own self-love helps to keep our souls in ignorance and dislike of the humbling truths of the Gospel. Many of us are born and bred under circumstances, from which we are led to take a partial view of divine truth. Satan also is on the watch to corrupt the Church, beguiling her, and drawing her away from the simplicity that is in Christ. Many deceivers are entered into the world. Reflecting on all these facts, we cannot wonder that many persons, and even some who are of reputation, turn aside ; making shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience.

Can we then hope to escape these dangers ? Yes, certainly; if we abide in Christ, and if we are watchful, teachable, diligent, and given to prayer. It is an expression of great beauty and force, which is used in this Collect; “i a right judgment in all things.” Consider it