human. There are some scenes, towns, and houses which have been made sacred to us by suffering, sickness, and Gethsemane struggles; and now that the suffering is gone and the cloud is vanished, we love to visit the old haunts, and show them our triumph, our joy, our exaltation. The mother frequently looks

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at the empty crib, and the widow at the vacant arm-chair; and not always through blinding tears of sorrow, but sometimes with a sweet, melancholy joy. Another reason for selecting Bethany has been suggested by one rich in his thoughts on the last scenes in our Lord's life, and that is, that being deeply attached to places and friends, He could not depart without a farewell visit. Bethany was the scene of many touching incidents in His life. It was here He raised Lazarus to life; here He feasted at the house of Simon the leper, and was anointed by Mary; and from this place He made His royal entry into Jerusalem. It is, therefore, no wonder that He chose this spot for His ascension and glorification. It was very kind of Him to think of His friends, Mary and Martha, in this hour of joy. He seemed to say to them, "You have seen Me often in humiliation, weakness, and sorrow. have been burdened with the weight of My gloom, you have been sharers with Me in My agony and cross, you shall now see Me in My joy and radiant glory. Be of good cheer, I go to prepare a place for you." And no doubt He was attached to the place itself. There were some villages, mountains, valleys, and rivers of Palestine made very sacred to our Lord through holy associations. The Jordan, the Samaritan well, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Mount Olivet, Gethsemane, and, above all, Bethany. He seemed to say, as He travelled towards it with His disciples, "I want to have a look at it before I go, that I may take the scenery of it on My mind to heaven." All this is very human. We have a natural but strong desire to die among our dearest friends. Death is terrible and lonely enough under any circumstances, but death in a wilderness or among strangers is still worse. When we are seized with a sickness which is unto death we call for all our friends. Father, mother, sisters, and brothers must be there, that we may see their faces and hear their voices; all other voices will jar upon our spirit. Not only so, but we

There are some places to Some brooks sing sweeter songs

have a strong desire to die at home. which we are deeply attached. to us than others. There are some hills, and fields, and woods that are eloquent with the thoughts of other days. There are some trees under whose shadows we have in former days sat, talking of highest themes or sweetest loves. There are some roads along which we have walked with bounding joy or heavy heart. There are some houses where our highest pleasures and deepest sorrows have been born-where we have formed the divinest ties, met our best friends, sung our noblest songs, offered our intensest prayers, and shed our truest tears. Our prayer is, "O God, let me die here-here under the brow of this hill, under the shadow of this old tree, by the side of this babbling brook, within the sacred walls of this ancient house. From this sacred spot let my spirit pass away to the home above. bones lie till the resurrection day." only the place from which He ascended but the place to which He ascended-Heaven. There are two or three heavens mentioned in the Scripture. There is the firmament called heaven. Moses speaks of the windows of heaven being opened at the deluge. Job speaks of the bottles of heaven. The stellar universe is called heaven. The stars are so many lamps leading But above all these there is another

In this hallowed soil let my And in our text we have not

up to the temple of God. heaven-the place of God's dwelling and glory. To this region Paul was caught up. There are many names for this heaven in the Bible-Paradise, Abraham's bosom, New Jerusalem, being with Christ, My Father's house, a building, a better country, an inheritance, a crown, Glory, Peace, and Rest. To this heaven of glory, rest, peace, and holiness, Christ ascended: and that is the heaven He opened for us. I do not wonder the disciples gazed on Him as He moved upwards, no doubt they longed to go with Him. There is a great contrast between that heaven and this earth. Here it is dark, there it is light; here we are strangers, there is our home; here there are conflicts, there are the palms of victory; here there is sorrow, there there is delight.

II. The SPIRIT of His ascension. and blessed them," &c.

"He lifted up His hands,

This shows that He was earnest and reverent in His manner. I might compare the human body to a glass beehive. Such a hive is transparent, and we can see through it the working and movements of the bees. The human body is also transparent. Through its actions, moods, and attitudes we may learn the spirit of the mind. The wave of the hand, the glow of the cheek, the tone of the voice, the glance of the eye reveal to us what is in a man's soul. This was the case especially with Christ. He had a sensitive human frame which vibrated with all the emotions of His heart, and it is frequently said of Him that He beckoned with His hand, or lifted up His hands to heaven, or lifted up His eyes to heaven. His thoughts and emotions moved His whole nature; and now in His prayer to God He lifted up His hands, those hands bearing the scars, and radiant with Divine glory, towards the object of His worship. What a reverent attitude! Angels show the same reverence and awe in approaching God. With veiled faces they praise Him. The publican in the temple prayed with bowed head. If Christ and the angels draw near to God with such reverent forms, truly it becomes us to approach Him with deepest humility. Flippancy, boldness, impudence, boasting, are unbecoming in His presence. Humility, reverence,

holy fear, awe, and love are the proper emotions with which to approach the King of kings and Lord of lords: and if we are reverent in spirit, that reverence will come out in the trembling tones of our voice, in the attitude of our hands, and the subdued upward gaze of our eyes. The next thing He did was to bless them. We read that Aaron, the high priest, lifted up his hands and blessed the people, and then the glory of God appeared. Jacob blessed his sons, and Moses the children of Israel. So Jesus now blessed the apostles. On another occasion we read that He breathed on them. It would be very interesting to know what were the words He used in pronouncing His benediction. It has been suggested that perhaps He used the old formula of the Psalmist "The Lord bless thee and keep thee: the Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift upon thee the light of His countenance, and give thee peace." Whatever were the words He used they must have

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fallen from His lips with peculiar tenderness and grace. will allow such an expression, Christ seemed at home in blessing. He began His ministry with the beatitudes. Very rarely did He exercise severity or show even holy anger. It is true that He cursed the barren fig-tree, drove out the money-changers from the temple, smote the intruders in Gethsemane. But He rather used His power to bless, not to punish. He came into a world that had been cursed with sin. The world's heart was aching with sorrow. The world's limbs were diseased, men were stricken with blindness, and everywhere they were crying for a helper and healer. The curse of sin had wrought weakness, misery, ruin, destruction, death, in all hearts. Into this cursed world Christ came to heal the people's plagues, to lift the demon-power from off their bodies, to lead the captives from their dark dungeons. He stood among the sick and demon-vexed as a living fount of spiritual blessing. They touched Him and virtue flowed out of Him. O to be blessed by Jesus Christ! To be blessed by Him is to be made eternally happy, eternally rich, eternally strong. I would not despise the blessing, the goodwill and wish of a fellow-man. If the Pope of Rome wished to bless me I would thank him for it. There is something more than mere sentiment in the blessing of a loveable dear old Christian patriarch. I look upon it as one of my greatest privileges to listen to a venerable silver-haired saint, as he bends on me, saying, "God bless you, my dear young friend." Such a benediction from such lips is worth more than gold. But it is a higher privilege to be blessed by the King of kings. This blessing contains in it all good gifts. To receive His smile and benediction is to receive heaven into the heart, and to be crowned with the crown of life. But not only did Christ begin His ministry with blessing, He closed it with the same act, "while He blessed them. He was parted from them." It was His last act on earth. had often blessed the disciples during life, and that they might have a happy memory of Him He let the curtain fall while stretching out His hands to bless them. That was the last thing they saw Him do: it was a happy conclusion to His grand ministry. He had lived to bless; He died to bless; He went to

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heaven scattering showers of blessing behind Him. I have before now seen a pious parent gathering his children around his dying bed to give them a parting kiss and blessing, and then passing away to the land of light. Such a scene reminds us of Him who, when He had showered benedictions on His friends, went to heaven to be enthroned and glorified.

Again, remember, His act of blessing was not cut short at parting. It was a continued act-"While He blessed them." He began to bless on earth; He is gone to heaven to continue in the same work; and He will not cease blessing until the last believer is in heaven; in Him all the families of the earth are to be blessed; He is ready and waiting to bless now.

He goes up and down still among the sorrowful, the poor, the sinful. His hands are full of benedictions, and His heart is full of love; and wherever there are hearts to receive His blessings, there He will bestow them.

Again, He ascended in the spirit of love. There is a significance in the phrase "He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." There was no violence, but there was no voluntary movement on His part. He did not want to leave them. Having loved His own, He loved them to the end. His coronation was before Him, high honours awaited Him. Angels were ready to sing, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, that the King of glory may come in." Yet He lingered on the mount. What a different departure to that on the cross. "Into Thy hands I commit My spirit." He was impatient for His cross. He rushed towards the He had a passion for death. He was not satisfied till He had felt his grip and conquered his sting. But for His throne He had no such passion. He did not leave until He was carried away. III.-The PURPOSE of His ascension.

cross.

(a) He ascended to heaven to receive His mediatorial power, to deliver us from guilt and sin. Christ is from everlasting equal to the Father in power and majesty, but as the "Son of Man" He was endowed with power to put all His enemies under His feet. The Scriptures everywhere associate special power with the ascension. The Psalmist says:-"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy