far the consciousness of the humanity shared the knowledge of the Divinity, but we know that there was some impartation of that knowledge. "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?" (John vi. 62) was a question that indicated this fact. But it was yet more touchingly declared in the intercessory prayer in the seventeenth chapter of John's Gospel. The whole prayer breathes the home-sick longing of a child for his Father's house, and a soul ripe for heaven yearning for its rest. Take, for example, the unutterable tenderness of the heart-gushing words, "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 which I had with thee before the world was." John xvii. 4, 5. There is a wonderful depth of beauty and tenderness in these words. They are the longing of a weary heart that is conscious of having faithfully done its work, and now wistfully looks for its release and repose. We cannot doubt that to the lonely man of sorrows there came visions of the better land, memories of the sweet rest above, echoings of the minstrelsy of the heavenly harps, whisperings of angels, and thoughts of the city that hath foundations, and the home and the throne that awaited him, such as none other ever had, and such as none other ever needed. As he trod the dusty

streets of the cities of Palestine, laid his head beneath the lowly roof of Bethlehem, spent the long cold night on the mountain-top and the sea-shore, we are assured by these words of Paul that his eye was often lifted to the everlasting hills, gazing on the throne that glittered there in reserve for him in the land that was afar off. These hopes cheered him in his toils and sorrows.

Now, to a holy being, toiling on earth, it was needful that when this work was done he should return to that holy city and holy company that awaited him above. Heaven is the great gathering-place of all that is holy, and lovely, and grand in the universe; and by its mighty magnetism is drawing to it all that is loveliest and purest in creation, and clustering it in a bright eternal harmony around the throne. Hence, had Jesus been only a mere and ordinary creature, it would have been a fitting thing for him to ascend to this glorious rest when his work was done. But he was not such a creature. He was the second Adam, the representative of redeemed humanity, and as such, it was needful for him to enter paradise regained, as our forerunner. And to show that heaven was a place as well as a state, and that he was the Saviour of the body as well as of the soul, it was needful that he should go up in his human body, and enter the heavenly city as our great Leader, take possession of it in our name, and thus give us assurance

that the body as well as the soul should be saved ; and therefore that there should be hereafter a resurrection from the dead in glory of all who sleep in Jesus.

The great fact of instruction and comfort to us, then, in the Ascension of our Lord, is, that it is at once the pledge and the picture of our future glory as Christians. The fact that it was the same body which died that also arose and ascended to heaven, is an assurance to us that the same body that we carry about us in our earthly pilgrimage shall be taken hereafter to heaven, and that this vile body shall be made like to Christ's glorious body. As he ascended, so also shall we. As he lingered, after his new life, for forty days on earth, and then went up to heaven, so shall we, even after our new life, our spiritual resurrection, linger for a time on earth, and then ascend to heaven, first, in our disembodied spirits at death, and afterwards, in both body and spirit, hereafter, at the resurrection and second coming of Jesus. Hence, death is not a descent into the grave to the Christian, but an ascension to heaven. It is a going up to Jesus, an entrance into the heavenly city; and as our risen bodies shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air at the Resurrection, so at death we shall be conveyed by angels to our rest, and shall see the everlasting doors lifted up to welcome us home to the King of glory.

8. Another reason is found in the fact, that as Mediatorial King, he was to "sit on the right hand of God." This expression is of course not to be taken literally, as God has neither right nor left hand, as a literal fact. To sit on the right hand is to occupy a place of the highest confidence and authority, and when spoken of a king, in oriental idiom, means to share his royal authority. In regard to the person of Christ, it means that he was to have the highest majesty and glory placed upon it, and that it was to be invested with universal dominion. This glory and dominion could not be enjoyed if he remained on earth, and hence to enter upon them it was needful that he should ascend to heaven. The kingdom here alluded to is that mediatorial kingdom, spoken of by Paul in 1 Cor. xv. 24-28, which the Son shall deliver to the Father when the end shall come. It was to this he also alluded when he said to his disciples, "If ye loved me ye would rejoice because I said, I go unto the Father, for my Father is greater than I." John xiv. 28. The fact that he was to ascend to the right hand of the Father was a ground of rejoicing, not only on his account, but on ours also. He is not only unutterably glorious and happy in heaven, but he is dispensing the government of the universe, so that all things work together for the glory of his church. This kingly rule of Jesus, the Mediator, is a sheet-an

chor of hope in the darkest hour, for we know that with Christ in the vessel we need not fear the storm.

Hence we see how full of instruction, comfort, and joy is the great fact of the Ascension. It is an opening of the golden gates, and the nearest approach to a visible unveiling of its glories that shall be given until the everlasting gates shall be lifted up, not to welcome the King of glory back, but to return him, in all the pomp of the second advent, to judge the world. As we gaze on the sky that was once opened by the receding form of our blessed Lord, we may feel as the immortal dreamer in his vision, as he looked after the entering pilgrims. "I beheld the golden streets, and the men with crowns on their heads, and palms in their hands, and golden harps to sing praises withal." "And after that, they shut up the gates; which when I had seen, I wished myself among them." Then let the Ascension of Jesus draw our thoughts, affections, and longings more to the rest that remaineth for his people.