siah's name amongst all nations, beginning with the Jews at Jerusalem.

After this, he delivered unto them their commission, to preach the doctrine of repentance and remission of sins in his name amongst all nations, and to testify unto the world the exact accomplishment in him of all things foretold concerning the Messiah; and, to enable them to perform this important work, promised to bestow on them the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, which he called the promise of his Father; because the Almighty had promised them by his prophets in the Old Testament.

Being thus fortified for the important work they were going to undertake, he led them on to the Mount of Olives as far as Bethany; where, standing on a hill above the town, he told them that he was now raised to the government of heaven and earth; for which reason they might go courageously through all the world, and preach the gospel to every rational creature; assuring themselves that affairs in all countries should be so ordered, as to dispose the inhabitants for the reception of the gospel; that they who believed, were to be admitted into his church by the rite of baptism, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and to be taught, in consequence of their baptism, to obey all the precepts he had enjoined them: that such baptised believers should receive pardon of their sins, together with eternal life in the happy mansions of his Father's kingdom; but that those who refused to embrace the doctrines of the gospel, should be forever excluded those happy regions, and have their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; that while they were employed in this work, he would be with them to the end of the world, to guide them by his counsel, to assist them by his Spirit, and to protect them by his Providence. Finally, that those who should, through their preaching, be induced to believe, should thempelves work most astonishing miracles, by which the

gospel should be propagated with the greatest rapidity and success.

After Jesus had spoken these things, he lifted up his hands and blessed them; and in the action of blessing them, he was parted from them in the midst of the day, a shining cloud receiving him out of their sight: that is, this brilliant cloud encompassed him about, and carried him up to heaven, not suddenly, but at leisure, that they might behold him departing and see the proof of his having come down from heaven, as he had promised them.

The blessed JESUS ascended in a cloud which was more bright and pure than the clearest lambent flame, being no other than the Shechinah, or glory of the Lord, the visible symbol of the divine Presence which had so often appeared to the patriarchs of old, which filled the temple at its dedication, and which, in its greatest splendour, cannot be beheld with mortal eyes; for which reason, it is called the light inaccessible in which the Almighty resides, and with which he is surrounded.

It was probably on this occasion that our Lord's body was changed, acquiring the glories of immortality, perhaps in the presence of his disciples, who stedfastly beheld him as he mounted from the earth. And as he ascended, the flaming cloud that surrounded him marked his passage through the air, but gradually lost its magnitude in the eyes of those who stood below, till at last it vanished, together with their beloved Master out of their sight; for he was received up where the Divine Being manifests himself in a peculiar manner, and was set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; all power in heaven and earth being now given him and this universal government he will hold, till he establishes the dominion of righteousness, when he will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all. 1 Cor. xv. 28.

Thus did the great Redeemer of mankind depart in a most illustrious manner, after having finished the grand work which he left the bosom of his Father to execute; a work which God himself in the most remotest eternity contemplated with pleasure, which angels with joy described as to happen, and which through all eternity to come, shall at periods the most immensely distant from the time of its execution be looked back upon with inexpressible delight by every inhabitant of heaven; for though the minute affairs of time may vanish altogether and be lost, when they are removed far back by the endless progression of duration, this object is such, that no distance, however great, can lessen it: the kingdom of heaven is erected on the incarnation and sufferings of the Son of God, the kingdom and city of the Almighty comprehending all the virtuous beings in the universe, made happy by goodness and love; and, therefore, none of them can never forget the foundation on which their happiness stands established: the human species in particular, recovered by the labour of the Son of God will view their deliverer, and look back on his stupendous undertaking with the highest rapture while they are feasting without interruption, on its delicious fruits: the rest of the members of the city of God will contemplate it with perpetual pleasure, as the happy means of recovering their kindred that were lost; possibly the grand confirmation of the whole rational system in subjection to him who reigned for ever, whose favour is better than life itself, and at whose right-hand there are pleasures for evermore.

We have now followed our dear Redeemer through all the transactions of his life, and enlarged on the stupendous miracles of his resurrection, as the whole Christian doctrine is founded on that glorious event. And it is abundantly evident from this history, that our blessed Saviour shewed himself to his disciples and friends only, not to the Jews in general. This circumstançe gave Spinoza a pretence for raising an objection

which his disciples have considered as the strongest ar gument against our Lord's resurrection. If, say they, he really rose from the dead, to have shewed himself to his enemies as well to his friends, would have put the truth of his resurrection beyond all doubt, than which nothing could be more necessary to the cause of Christianity; and therefore, the supposition of his having confined his appearances, after his resurrection to a few select friends, renders the affair extremely suspicious and unworthy of credit.'

This argument, however plausible it may appear at first sight, is destitute of the least force; because it may be demonstrated, that if JESUS had shewed himself to his enemies, and to all the people in general, these appearances, instead of putting the truth of his resurrection beyond all doubt, would have weakened the evidence of it, at least in after ages; and, conse. quently, have been of infinite prejudice to mankind— for upon the supposition that our blessed Saviour had shewed himself openly, one of these two things must necessarily have happened; either his enemies, submitting to the evidence of their senses, would have believed his resurrection, or, resisting that evidence, they would reject it altogether. We shall begin with taking

the latter into consideration,

Its very evident, that those enemies of the great Redeemer of mankind, who resisted the evidence of their senses, or who, though really convinced, would not acknowledge their conviction, must have justified their disbelief by affirming that the person who appeared to them as risen from the dead, was not JESUS whom the Roman governor had crucified, but an impostor who personated him. On any other foundation their infidelity would have been ridiculous and absurd; but, if the unbelieving Jews, by our Lord's appearing personally to them, would have been laid under a necessity of denying the reality of his resurrection, even though persuaded of it in their own minds, the evidence of fact

could have gained nothing by such public appearances; because the generality of the Jews were not capable of passing a judgment upon the falsehood which CHRIST'S enemies must have made use of to support their denial of his resurrection, being unacquainted with JESUS, they could not certainly tell whether he was really the person whom the Romans had crucified. His apostles, disciples, and acquaintance, who, by their long attendance on him, knew his stature, shape, air, voice, and manner, were the only proper persons by whose determination the point in dispute could be decided; consequently, if our Lord had appeared to all the people, if any considerable number of his enemies had continued in their infidelity, the whole stress of the evidence of his resurrection must have rested on the evidence of the very persons who according to the plan pitched upon by Providence, bear witness to it now, and upon whose testimony the world has believed it: so that instead of gaining an additional evidence by the proposed method of shewing JESUS publicly to all the people, we should have had nothing to trust but the testimony of his disciples, and that clogged with the incumbrance that his resurrection was denied by many to whom he appeared, and who were not convinced by the testimony of their senses.

In the second place, it may be supposed that in case our blessed Saviour had shewed himself publicly, the whole nation of the Jews must have believed, and that future generations would thus have had the fullest evidence of the truth of his resurrection, beyond all possibility of a doubt.

However, this will not appear to be the case, if we consider, that the greatest part of our Lord's enemies having not given themselves the trouble of attending him often, cannot be supposed to have been so well acquainted with his person as to know him with certainty; for which reason, though he had shewed himself to them, even their belief of his resurrection must, in a great