LECTURES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY OF DIVINES-ADDRESSED TO YOUTH.

LECTURE XXVII.

The Exaltation of Christ.

(Continued from p. 148.)

The second step of our Lord's exaltation was "his ascending up into heaven."

The place of Christ's ascension is well worthy of particular notice. It was from Mount Olivet, nigh to Be thany; from the very mountain, perhaps from the very spot, where, in his awful agony, his soul had been "exceeding sorrowful even unto death;" and he had "sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." What an interesting, what a well chosen contrast! How proper that on the spot where his disciples I had seen his deep depression, they should witness his glorification; that from the place where he had tasted, as far as innocence could taste, of the pains of hell, he should ascend to heaven; that from the ground once moistened with his blood and tears, he should rise to eternal joys. His eleven faithful apostles-the traitor Judas having gone to his own place were the chosen witnesses of this glorious scene. Their Divine Master, we are told, led them out as far as Bethany.-Let us go with them, my children, guided by the word of truth. As they passed along, the Lord charged them not VOL. V.-Ch. Adv.

to depart from Jerusalem till they should have received the Holy Ghost, which he promised he would shortly send. He told them, of course, that this was his last personal interview with them on earth, and that he was just going to ascend to the Father. Yet, to raise their drooping spirits, he promises them his spiritual presence, without interruption-" Lo! I am with you always, even to the end of the world."

But the place of separation is now reached-the time to part is come. He gathers the little group around him-I think I see them all kneel to receive his last blessing-He lifts up his hands in prayer and benediction; and while he is blessing them, behold! he rises from the ground. But still he blesses them-till his voice can no longer be heard. He ascends rapidly, but they follow him with eager eyes, till a cloud receives and covers him: And still they look at the place where they saw him last-They hope to catch one more glimpse of their dear departed Lord, and they look and look, till they are roused from their reverie by a voice-They cast their eyes downward, and see two angels clothed in white, who say-"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you, shall so come, in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" Then the holy apostles prostrate and worship their ascended Master. Beyond a reasona2 B

ble question it was religious worship, which they offered him. How could it be any other? His body was gone into heaven. If they did not believe him present, as God, their act was unmeaning and absurd.

Meanwhile, the ascended Saviour, making the bright cloud his triumphant chariot, attended by, and passing through, crowds of adoring angels, went far on to a throne exalted above theirs, till he sat down on the right hand of God.

This is sublimely shadowed forth in the 24th Psalm, which I recommend that you read attentively, in reference to this glorious event. The Psalm primarily related to the introduction of the ark to the holy of holies, in the Jewish tabernacle and temple; but ultimately and especially it refers to the entrance of the King of glory, the divine Immanuel, into his heavenly kingdom; and to his reception of his mediatorial throne, after conquering the powers of darkness, and leading captivity captive.

This last circumstance is considered in the Catechism, as another distinct step of his exaltation. In scripture, the right hand is always considered as the place of the greatest honour and dignity, and sitting implies rest and quietness. Christ's sitting on the right hand of the Father, therefore, implies the quiet and peaceable possession of that matchless dignity, and fulness of power, with which he is vested as the glorious King and head of his church. The first and most illustrious act of the ascended, glorified and reigning Saviour, in execution of his work, was the mission of the promised Comforter, the Holy Ghost, on the day of Pentecost-the fifteenth day after his resurrection, and the tenth, it would appear, after his ascension into heaven. You will observe that the mission of the Holy Ghost, is expressly declared to be the immediate act of Christ, by the apostle Peter, in explaining the wonderful appearances on the day of Pentecost. "This Jesus (says the apostle) hath God raised up, whereof we all

are witnesses-Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." He who was anointed with the Spirit without measure, and who was now seated on his mediatorial throne, in conformity with the will of the eternal Father, and in fulfilment of his own promise to send the Comforter, did now send him, with all his miraculous energies and operations. The apostles themselves were immediately and fully enlightened into the nature of their mission, work and expectations. You never more hear of their looking for a temporal kingdom, or for any earthly distinctions-To spread the gospel, and to suffer and die for their Lord, was ever after their highest ambition -Although men of no literary education, they now, by the instantaneous instruction of the Spirit of all wisdom, spake and discoursed with propriety, in twelve or fourteen different languages; and thus were qualified to spread the gospel throughout the world. But perhaps the greatest miracle of all was, that a single address of a fisherman of Galilee, under the guidance and ap plication of the Holy Spirit, made, in one day, three thousand converts— converts, some of them, of the very betrayers and crucifiers of Him, who, in this wonderful manner, sent the Spirit to convince them of sin and renew them unto holiness. Under the unerring guidance of this Holy Spirit, the apostles were also qualified to give us, without error, the sacred writings of the New Testa ment, and to publish the gospel with an astonishing success, throughout the civilized world-in opposition to all the learning, power and supersti tion, which the world containedthe only means employed being truth and miracles.

The miraculous gifts of the Spirit have long since ceased, but, his ordi nary operations have not ceased, and never will to the end of time. To these operations the renovation and

conversion of every soul, that is translated out of the kingdom of satan into the kingdom of God's dear Son, is altogether to be attributed; and the kingdom of Christ on earth is thus continued, established, and extended, in opposition to all enemies; and it will extend, till the knowledge and love of God shall cover the earth as the waters do the seas. The sending of this glorious and blessed agent, thus to insure and perpetuate the benefits of his work, is a most important particular in the exaltation of Christ.

Meantime, he sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as the head of the church. There, as her glorious Lord, as her Divine Mediator, as her kind intercessor and prevalent advocate, he will continue to sit, till he shall have gathered all his people to himself, and made his foes his footstool.

The exaltation of Christ will be gloriously consummated, by "his coming to judge the world at the last day." How completely will the scenes of his humiliation then be reversed-how wide and wonderful will be the contrast, when he who once suffered as a malefactor, shall sit as the judge of the universe, and pronounce the eternal destiny both of friends and foes-the eternal destiny of two whole orders of immortal beings, angels and men. We are told expressly that "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father." What an infatuation-I cannot forbear to remark in passing-what an infatuation, to think that he of whom this is spoken, is nothing more than a mere man!

The time of the final judgment is unknown, both to men and angels. It is called in the Catechism the last day, because, after this, time shall be no longer. There will be no more succession of days and nights; but one perpetual day of light, comfort and joy, to the righteous, and one perpetual night of utter darkness, misery and wo, to the wicked.

The second coming of Christ will be in a manner the most splendid and glorious. All attempts to heighten it, by poetic figure or ornament, only cloud it. The simplest representation is the most sublime. "He shall come in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory-In the glory of his Father, with all the holy angels." He will be a visible judge. It is expressly said that "every eye shall see him"-Yes, my dear youth, as surely as your eyes now behold the objects on which they are fixed, so surely will they at last be fixed on Christ, as your final judge.

The place of judgment will be the aerial heavens-It is said that "we shall ascend to meet the Lord in the air." In some portion of space, sufficiently removed from our earth, which will then be on fire, and which will eventually be burnt up, the judgment will sit. Those who are alive at the second coming of Christ, the apostle tells us, "will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Those who are dead shall be awakened; "for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised." The pious dead, as if most ready to obey the summons, will rise first. But not a child of Adam, of any age, clime, or country, shall be overlooked, or left behind. What a host!

"No spot on earth but has supplied a grave,

And human skulls the spacious ocean

tempters of man to sin, and they are now to stand with him before the common Judge. This is one grand end and design of the judgment day: that as, through the intervention of Christ, man has been redeemed and Satan defeated, so, when the work is accomplished, all concerned in this work, may be collected together, not, only to witness the exaltation and triumph of Christ, but to contribute to it his friends, by receiving his approbation and sharing his glory; his enemies, by receiving the sentence of their condemnation, and being consigned to merited and endless misery.

Another design of the judgment is to vindicate, and make known to all, the equity of the Divine dispensations, and the justice of the Divine procedure. Then all the mysteries of Providence, we have reason to believe, will be unfolded; and God will show that, in all cases, he has acted with perfect justice, wisdom, faithfulness and truth; and all inequalities, as they now appear to us, will be explained and adjusted.

But another, and a great design of the judgment is, that from that time, the happiness of the righteous, and the misery of the wicked, may be greatly augmented. Both classes, we know, are made happy or miserable at death. But the Divine constitution is, that during the intermediate state, between death and the resurrection, they shall be less happy and less miserable, than after their souls and bodies are reunited. Hence the judgment day is represented as a great object of desire to the righteous, and of great apprehension and dread to the wicked.

As the righteous will rise first, so also they will be judged and acquitted first; because they are afterwards to be assessors with Christ, in passing sentence on devils and wicked men: That is, they will consent to his judgment as just, and say Amen, to the doom pronounced on the ungodly-"Know ye not, says the apostle, that we shall judge angels." It is the opinion of some, to which I ra

ther incline, that we are authorized from scripture to say, that there will be no mention made of the sins of the righteous, in the day of judgment; that being blotted out by the blood of Christ, they will be cancelled as though they had never been. There is no question that all their good deeds will be brought into view-not only those which have been publick, but all their most secret acts of benevolence, piety and love-and that they will be rewarded, according to their works. The reward will be all of grace, and yet proportioned to the attainments and exertions of each individual.

On the other hand, all the secret vices and wickedness of the ungodly, in all their blackness and defor mity, will be exposed to the uni verse. The heathen, who have sin ned without law, shall be judged without law-judged only for the violation of that law which was written on their hearts, and legible by the light of nature. But "those who have sinned under the law, shall be judged by the law." Those who have enjoyed and rejected the gos pel, will perish with the most awful condemnation.

The reverses which the day of judgment will exhibit, will be both fearful and delightful. Many a proud warrior and conqueror, who has waded to empire and renown through rivers of blood; many a despot who has filled a throne, supported by the oppression of hapless millions; many a petty tyrant who has inflicted on helpless slaves, or other inferiors, unceasing misery and torment; many a wealthy miser, who has ground the faces of the poor, that he might add to his splendid hoards; many a talented infidel, whose writings have gained him fame on earth, while they have led thou sands to perdition-many of all these characters will wish, in all the agony of despair, that their's had been the lot of the meanest saint, or even that of ordinary sinners. On the other hand, thousands of those whom the great ones of this world have treated