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SERM, affiftance, and comfort; Behold, faid he upon his depar XXXI. ture, I fend the promife of my Father upon you; but tarry Luke xxiv. ye in the city of Jerufalem, until ye be endued with the power from on high: this he promised then to his difciples, but did not perform until his exaltation; Being Acts ii. 33. therefore, faith St. Peter, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promife of the Holy Ghoft, he hath fhed forth this which ye now fee and hear. He did not, and indeed (in confiftence with the divine purpose and the defigned economy of things) could not John xvi. 7. perform this until then; It is, faid he, 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 fend him unto you that is, God, for promoting our Saviour's honour, and for the glory of his undertaking, had in his wisdom determined, that fo incomparably excellent a gift should be the reward of his obedience, the confequence of his triumph, the effect of his interceffion above, an ornament of his royal state, a pledge of his princely munificence: it was reserved as a most rich and majestic gratuity, fit to be conferred at his coronation, then when he folemnly was inaugurated to fovereign dignity, and invested with John vii.39. power fuperlative: whence, The Holy Spirit, it is faid in

St. John, was not yet, (that is, it was not yet poured forth, or bestowed in that confpicuous manner and copious measure, as God intended it fhould be afterwards,) becaufe Jefus was not yet glorified: it was from Jefus being received into glory, and advanced to God's right hand, that so transcendent a boon was in God's purpose, and according to his promise, defigned to come down.

4. Again, our Lord himself telleth us, that he went to John xiv. 2. heaven, there to prepare a place for his faithful fervants, Pfal.xvi.11. to prepare manfions of joy and blifs in God's prefence,

where is fulness of joy; at his right hand, where are pleafures for evermore. He accordingly hath, as the Apostle Heb. vi. 20. faith, entered as our góòpoμos, our forerunner into heaven ; as an honourable harbinger, having disposed things there for our reception and entertainment; or rather, as the fon and heir of that great house, he by his authority and in

xii. 26.

tereft there procured leave for us to enter, and refide SERM. there, or carrieth us as his retinue thither; It is my will, XXXI. faith he, that where I am, there should ye be alfo; that ye John xvii. may contemplate my glory, and consequently may partake 24. xiv. 3. thereof. It was indeed our Lord's afcenfion which did unlock the gates of heaven, before shut upon us by our fins; which quenched the flaming sword, and discharged the mighty cherubim, which guarded paradise from all accefs to menb.

The ancient Fathers generally were of opinion, that heaven, before our Lord's afcenfion, was inacceffible ©; and that no man had ever fet foot therein, until our Lord, by his actual afcent and ingrefs, did open the paffage thither, and removed the bars thered: to prove this, they allege that of our Lord in St. John; No man hath afcended up John iii. 13. into heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven: and the forecited place, IJohn xiv. 2. go to prepare a place for you; which feemeth to imply heaven before unfit to receive men: and thofe places, wherein our Lord affirmeth himself to be the gate of the John x. 7. Sheep, and the way to the Father: and that of the Apostle xiv. 6. to the Hebrews, concerning the Patriarchs, and other good men before Chrift's incarnation; And these all hav- Heb. xi. 39. ing obtained a good report through faith, received not the promife, God having provided fome better thing for us, that they without us should not be perfect. Hither also they referred that of the Pfalmift, Lift up your heads, O ye Pfalm xxiv. gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King 7, 9. of glory fhall come in: which words they interpreted to fignify the gates of heaven then to have been first opened, when our Lord did afcend thithere. Jofhua, a moft congruous type of our Lord, leading God's people into the

Flammea illa rhomphæa, cuftos paradifi, et præfidentia foribus Cherubim Chrifti reftin&ta, et referata funt fanguine. Hier. Ep. 3.

‹ Obgavis érı ñv äcaros. Chryf. ad Heb. ix. 8.

d Ante Chriftum Abraham apud inferos, poft Chriftum latro in paradifo, &c. Hier. in Epitaph. Nepot. Ep. 3.

• Ὅταν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνίση Χρισὸς, καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς τὸν ἐρανὸν, κελεύονται οἱ ἐν ἐρανῷ ταχθέντες ἀγέλοι ἀνοίξαι τὰς πύλας τῶν ἐρανῶν. Juft. Μ.

8.

Numb.

SERM. land of promife, did also to their fenfe imply our Lord's XXXI. first entering into heaven. The high priest alone entering into the fanctuary, did, as they deemed, argue the fame; the Apoftle to the Hebrews feeming much to faHeb. ix. 7, vour their fentiment, when he faith, Into the Second (tabernacle) went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and the errors of the people: the Holy Ghoft this fignifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifeft, whilst the firft tabernacle was yet ftanding. The fame also was, say they, fignified by those persons, who, for offences wide of malice, were detained in the cities of refuge, and prohibited to return home, until the death of the high priest, but were afterward restored to the land of their poffeffion; XXXV. 28. thereby, fay they, being intimated, that until after our Saviour's death no man could return into paradife, his primitive home, from which man for his fin had been excluded; but that thenceforth all perfons, in an evangelical account, not malicious or wicked, had a right and liberty to return thither f. Upon these and the like grounds did the Fathers commonly fuppofe no person before our Lord's afcenfion to have entered heaven; but however it were as to the time, yet affuredly, in order of nature and caufality, it was he that did first ascend thither; and by virtue of his afcenfion it is, that any man ever did or fhall ever come thither; His blood was, as St. Hierome faith, Chrifti eft the key of paradife; the efficacy of which he carrying up difi. Hier. with him did unlock it; fo that thenceforth it doth stand Ep. 129. wide open to those who can foar up thither, following his Heb. x. 19, steps in perfevering obedience. Having therefore, faith the Apoftle to the Hebrews, boldness to enter into the holieft by the blood of Jefus, by a new and living way, which he hath confecrated for us, through the veil, that is to fay, his flesh; and having a high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart: and, He, being per

Sanguis

clavis para

20.

f Quid eft quod homicida poft mortem pontificis abfolutus ad terram propriam redit? nifi quod humanum genus, quod peccando fibi mortem intulit, poft mortem veri facerdotis, id eft Chrifti, peccatorum vinculis folvitur, et in paradifi poffeffionem reparatur. Greg. M. Hom. in Ezech.

fected, (or confummated in his state of glory,) became to all SERM. that obey him the author of everlafting falvation; being XXXI. denominated by God a high priest after the order of Mel- Heb.v.9,10.

chizedek.

V. 10.

5. It was indeed an effect of our Lord's afcenfion and glorification, that all good Chriftians are with him in a fort tranflated into heaven, and advanced into a glorious state; being thence by him made kings and priests to God. Rev. i. 6. We have, faith Tertullian, in Chrift Jefus feized on heaven: Ufurpaviand the Apostle faith as much; Us, faith he, who were mus cœdead in trefpaffes and fins, God hath quickened together num Dei in with Chrift, and hath raised us up together, and made us Chrifto fit together in heavenly places in Chrift Jefus. In many de Ref. c. respects we thereby are raised to heaven and eminent 5. glory.

We thence even as men become greatly dignified, our nature being fo highly advanced thereby: we thereby get the honour of being brethren or kinfmen to the world's great Lord and King; so that any of us may say with St. Austin, Where my flesh reigns, there I believe myself to reigns; hence, as the Apoftle to the Hebrews teacheth

lum, et reg

Jefu. Tert.

us, is that of the Pfalmift verified concerning man; Thou Pf. viii. 5. haft crowned him with glory and honour, and haft fet him Heb. ii. 7. over the works of thy hands.

We also more as Chriftians are elevated thereby by our near relation to him, and our participation with him as our head: for where the head is, there the body is: they are infeparably connected; there can be no breach, no distance between themh; and the honour conferred on the head doth neceffarily accrue to the members; according to St. Paul's rule, If one member be glorified, all the mem-1 Cor. xii bers do rejoice with it, or do partake of its joyful state. Chrifti afcenfio noftra eft provectio, The afcenfion of Chrift is our preferment; and whither the glory of the head is gone

Ubi caro mea regnat ibi me regnare credo. Aug. Med.

Η Ενθεν ἡ κεφαλὴ, ἐκεῖ καὶ τὸ σῶμα· ἐδενὶ γὰρ μέσῳ διείργεται ἡ κεφαλὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα. Chryf. in Eph. 2. 3.

26.

SERM. before, thither likewife is the hope of the body called, faith XXXI. a devout Fatheri.

Heb. i. 2. Rom. viii. 17.

Eph. i. 11.

Col. i. 12.

14.

We also are by our Lord's glorification advanced and advantaged, in that his being fo glorified is a fure pledge and an earnest of that glorious reward which all good Chriftians fhall receive. Chrift being made heir of all things, did in his afcenfion, adire hæreditatem, take posfeffion of that inheritance; and we confequently, as coheirs with him, and having a share in the inheritance of the faints in light, do feize thereon, acquiring therein a right and propriety at prefent, being affured in due time (if by our miscarriages we do not forfeit our title) of an actual poffeffion thereof; As, faith Tertullian, Chrift did leave to us the earneft of the Spirit, fo he received from us the earneft of the flesh, and carried it into heaven as a pledge of the whole fum to be fometime brought in thither;

We do alfo in a manner afcend with Chrift to heaven, in regard that by his ascension our principal concernments, our only confiderable interefts, (that κρείτων ὕπαρξις καὶ μέσ Heb. x. 34. veoa, better and enduring fubftance,) the true objects of our affection, and all our hope, are transferred thither; whence heaven becometh our only true country, our abidHeb. xiii. ing city, our real home: we having here no true reft, 1Pet. ii. 11. no fettled manfion, no certain eftate; but indeed being Arangers, fojourners, and pilgrims upon earth. Our Toλí2 Cor. v. 6. Tsuμa, our politic capacity, relates to heaven, or we are Phil. iii. 20. citizens thereof, faith St. Paul; we are fellow-citizens of Eph. ii: 19: the faints, and domeftics of God; are profelytes to mount Пgorianaú Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the metropolis of θαμεν. Colof. i. 13. the faints, the heavenly Jerufalem; we are tranflated into 1 Thef. ii. the kingdom of God's beloved Son, are called into his kingColof. i. s. dom and glory, have our hope laid up for us in heaven, are Gal. vi. 14. dead to this world, and our life is hid with Chrift in God:

i. 17.

Heb.xii. 22.

1, 2.

ii. 20.

Col. iii. 3.

i Chrifti afcenfio noftra eft provectio; et quo præceffit gloria capitis, co fpes vocatur et corporis. Leo P.

* Quemadmodum Chriftus nobis arrhabonem Spiritus reliquit, ita et a nobis arrhabonem carnis accepit, et vexit in cœlum pignus totius fummæ illuc quandoque redigendæ. Tertull, de Refurr, c. 51.

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