SERMON IV.

ON THE ASCENSION

HEBREWS ix. 24.

“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.'

AT this season of the year, we are carried back to the period,

when our blessed Lord, having accomplished all things for which he came to our earth, blessed his infant Church, and departed from them into heaven. It was a 'period of joy to the angelic hosts, which met him on his way, and welcomed hist victorious return to the regions of bliss. It was the jubilee of human nature, which then was freed from the shackles which confine it to earth, and, passing the portals of the skies, was invested with an eternal residence in the celestial world. There, as our forerunner, and the "Captain of our salvation," Jesus is seated; clothed with the highest priestly and princely dignity by the Father; making, unceasingly, intercession for us; guiding the events of time, by the counsels of the Godhead, to the final and glorious consummation of all things.

That you may have a scriptural knowledge of this mystery of our faith, I have chosen for a guide, to our present meditations, these words of the author of the epistle to the Hebrews: "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."

This passage, and most of the texts of Scripture which allude to the ascension of our Lord, lead us for an explication of it, to the economy of the tabernacle and temple of the Jewish Church. You will remember that in these, according to the directions of God, there was, besides the vestibule and outer court, an interior place, separated by a vail, and called "the Holy of Holies." Here, was the mercy-seat of the Ark of the Covenant, between the cherubim, over which the Shechinah, or manifestation of the divine presence, usually appeared. Into this sacred recess, none was permitted to enter but the High Priest. Once, only, in the year, on the great day of expiation, when atonement was made for the sins of the whole people, he passed through the vail into this presence chamber of the Deity, to present the blood of the sacrifice before the mercy-seat. The ceremony was this having first purified himself with water and blood, the animal which the Most High had chosen, to be the expiatory and propitiatory sacrifice, for the sins of the whole nation, was offered by him in the outer court, upon the altar of burntofferings. He then took of the blood of the goat, and entered with it into the Holy of Holies, where, after offering incense, as a token of homage, he sprinkled the blood seven times before the mercy-seat, and made intercession for the people. What, now, did this ceremony signify, which was instituted by God, and the observance of which was made a condition of their being brought into the promised land? It was "a shadow of good things to come;" whose substance, whose reality was Christ.

It is remarkable that the Jews, as we learn from Josephus and the writings of the Hebrew doctors, considered the outer courts of the tabernacle as symbolical of the earth, and the Holy of Holies as an emblem of heaven. When, therefore, our blessed Lord, at the time appointed by the Father, had, by the sacrifice of himself upon the cross, made a full and acceptable. expiation "for the sins of the whole world," it became him, as the great High Priest of mankind, ordained by God, and made "perfect through sufferings," to enter into the Holy of Holies

not made with hands, even "into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." Into the purest and most holy place in the universe, "the heaven of heavens," where the hosts of God have their abode, and the Divine Majesty is most specially present, Christ hath ascended in our nature and behalf. There, he pleads before the throne of the Almighty, the merits of the atonement he has made for our race, offering the incense of his perfect obedience, to conciliate for us the divine favour, and interceding powerfully with his own blood for all those who, "with hearty repentance and true faith," flee for salvation to the foot of his cross. "Christ," says the apostle, "being made an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." And "he is able to save them to the uttermost, who come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

It appears from many accounts that, while the High Priest was making intercession in the most holy place, the people were without, confessing their sins, and professing their allegiance to the Almighty. Among the uses which have been assigned to the golden bells, which were ordered to be suspended around the bottom of the pontifical robe, it has been supposed, with much probability, that they were to give notice when the High Priest entered within the vail, on this solemn business, that the people might behave with correspondent sobriety. Be this as it may, it is certain that the Jews refrained at this season from everything which was incongruous with the service performing for them, and engaged chiefly in acts of devotion and mercy. In like manner, while our Master is in heaven, we, in this earth, this outer court of God's universal tabernacle, have our work to do. There are conditions of the covenant, on our part to be fulfilled. Christ hath instructed his Church, to live here, in the exercise of faith and repentance, of patience, devotion and charity, while he is interceding for VOL. II.-4

them with the everlasting Father. And, methinks, there is a propriety in this, of which no considerate mind can be insensible. For what can be more incongruous, while our Head is pleading with the Almighty the merits of his sufferings, in our behalf, and supplicating for our growth in virtue, and reception to glory, than for us to be immersed in the pomps and vanities, the passions and vices of this transitory state; forgetful of our Intercessor, and of the glorious inheritance to which he would exalt us. It is a solecism, which the angels, if they are permitted to be witnesses of our behaviour, must behold with amazement. Surely, there should be something of harmony between our lives, and the services which are performing for us, in the courts of heaven. It is meet and right that our prayers should be united with the intercessions of our Lord, and our souls and bodies preserved pure, for the reception of that Spirit which his prevailing offices obtain. "Having, therefore,” says St. Paul, "an High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

In this region of frailty and temptation, we have need of much forbearance and compassion on the part of God. Our infirmities are great. The shades of our wants and dangers are too varied for the finest pencil to represent them. To be suited to our nature, and inspire us with the fulness of hope, our advocate must be one who can enter into our feelings and know our distresses; who can plead everything in mitigation of our sins, which the frailty of our condition can furnish, and supplicate everything for the promotion of our peace, which the difficulties of our situation can require. Now, such a Mediator is Jesus Christ. Though he is in heaven, he has dwelt on earth, in our nature, and has all that sympathetic interest in our cares, which the most perfectly compassionate disposition, and the fullest experience of our griefs can unitedly excite. "We have not an High Priest," say the oracles of truth, "we have not an High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our in

firmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

It belonged exclusively to the priests, under the Mosaic dispensation, to bless the people in behalf of God. And, doubtless, on the great day of atonement, they received joyfully that blessing, which, we may reasonably suppose, the high priest brought from the Holy of Holies, after he had made expiation for their transgressions. In like manner, our High Priest hath received of the Father, all gifts and blessings for his Church. With the voice of his ministers, he dispenses to the penitent assurances of the pardon of their sins. Visibly, with a rushing mighty sound at first, and in "a still small voice" in the bosom since, the Comforter, his most precious gift, comes down; to send whom, "it was expedient that he should go away. Mansions in the Father's house are given him, which he is preparing for the eternal accommodation of his friends. And the blessings which this adorable Priest and King of the redeemed shall bring for them, when he "shall come in like manner as he went into heaven," are represented to our minds, in the holy Scriptures, by crowns of glory, palms of victory, and white robes of purity and peace.

It is impossible for us, in this confined state, to form any adequate conception of the blessings which are in reserve for the faithful. But, it was as our representative that Christ ascended into heaven in our nature, and our eternal life is there secured with him, claimed by him as the fruit of his sufferings at the throne of God. When the daily sacrifice and oblation was to cease, in consequence of the offering of Christ, once for all, the vail of the temple, which separated the Holy of Holies from the outer courts, "was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;" signifying that there should be no more occasion for an earthly high priest, but that the kingdom of heaven was opened to all believers, through the great Intercessor. And when our Lord shall have accomplished his mediatorial office, the type shall receive its complete fulfilment. The vail which now separates heaven, the holy place of the Most High, from this outer court,