Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.*

D

THE original occasion of this hymn of triumph, and the solemnity I have at present adapted it to, bear so great a resemblance to each other,

"Dicuntur portæ attollere capita, quum ita ædificantur ut sursum versùs eleventur, ne obsint magnitudini rei per eas ingressuræ." Rivetus. "Sunt quædam portæ pendulæ, quæ demittendo clauduntur, et elevando aperiuntur. Tales Anglice portcullis vocamus, quæ usurpantur in locis munitis, qualis erat Sion, 2 Sam. v. 7, &c." Hammond, &c. Everlasting doors. "Sic dicun tur portæ templi, quod illic arca esset perpetuò habitatura, hoc est, usque ad destructionem" templi." Vatablus, &c.—"Repetitur hic versùs, 1o. Ad'excitandam nostram negligentiam ac stuporem. 2°. Ad incutiendam reverentiam coram tanto rege. 3o. Ob adventum Messiæ geminum, tum ad templum secundum, juxta Hag. ii. 8, 10, tum ad extremum mundi judicium. Gejerus.

that

that every one must see the propriety of applying it to both. The solemn procession of the ark of God and its entrance into Jerusalem, the city of David, is so manifest a type of the ascension of Christ into the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the great King, that, what is spoken of the former, must, though in a much more exalted sense, be necessarily supposed to refer to the latter and, though this triumphant song might be properly made use of to usher the Ark of the Covenant into Mount Sion, yet it seems to be more naturally employed in proclaiming the arrival of Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, into the city of the living God.* If, indeed, we imagine ourselves at the gates of Sion,+ and fancy that we hear the sweet singers of Israel celebrating the entrance of the Ark into the holy city, with their voices tuned to melody, the idea must inspire us with rapture: but, let us suppose ourselves at the gates of heaven, let us represent to ourselves the inexpressible splendor and majesty of the Son of Man attended with an innumerable company of angels, and let us imagine we hear this heavenly choir shout for joy and sing the seraphic hymn, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory+ shall come in," and it must fill us with ecstasy and astonishSo glorious a sight as this would be too dazzling and powerful for the weak eye of mortals; we must, therefore, acquiesce in what some of the heavenly retinue will tell us, that this same Jesus, which is taken up from us into heaven, shall so come in like manner as we have seen him go into heaven. Information sufficient for the confirmation of our faith and the support of our hopes. Infidelity is inexcusable

ment.

De Christo magis quam de arca Dei, Christi figurâ, hæc accipienda sunt." Muis. ↑. "Forsan duo chori ad portas Sionis utrinque collocati sunt, quorum hic canit, v. 1, 2, 3, ille respondet versibus 5, 6, 7, attollite, &c." Hammond. "Hujusce autem dialogismi, seu rem ipsam, seu dictionem, imagines et figuras spectemus, est vera summeque admiranda sublimitas." Lowth de Sac. Poes.

The King of Glory." Vel, 1o. Deus, qui arcæ cum gloria et majestate insidebat; vel, 2o. Christus sive Messias, dictus Rex Gloria, 1 Cor. ii. 8. Apertio portarum illi significat introitum in regnum suum, ejusque administrationem." Muis, Rivetus, &c.

"Cum eadem majestate et gloria, cum eadem anima et corpore." Tirinus.

T

1

and

and diffidence unpardonable. There are many reasons to be assigned for the necessity of the ascension of our blessed Saviour, and many, truths to be drawn from it, which yield unspeakable comfort to the sinner. The consideration of the former will naturally lead to the observation of the latter.

His right of domi-, of the world, but

And, first, the ascension of our blessed Lord into heaven was necessary, that he might be inaugurated in his kingdom of glory,* and invested with that supreme dominion he had acquired by his death and sufferings. As Son of God, indeed, he had, from the creation of the world, governed and supported it by his all-wise administration; but he now assumes a different title, and all power and authority in heaven, and on earth is given to him as the Son of man. nion was before founded on his being the creator now he claims it because he is the Saviour of it. And, as the divine nature had accompanied the human in all its indignities and ignominious treatment, the human was now to be exalted, and partake of the. glories of the divine nature. It was requisite, therefore, that in his humanity he should ascend up into heaven, the throne of his glory, and there assume the authority committed to him, as God-man. place so proper for the enthronement of this Prince of Glory, as that where there is a continual display of divine majesty? Or where could this sun of righteousness shine forth but in the heaven of heavens? Thus we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, by taking upon him the form of a servant, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour, and, by virtue of his regal office, liberally dispensing the blessed effects of his gracious administration by

What

• In his kingdom of glory. "Erat Christus rex initio conceptionis suæ, regni autem possessionem paulatim ac progressu temporis accepit; plene autem usurpare cœpit cum statu exaltationis; plenissime et perfecte accepturus in secundo suo adventu." Estius, &c. See 1 Pet. iii. 22."

↑ "Quia se adeo humiliavit, ut homo fieret, Deus eum exaltavit, &c. juxta Phil. ii. 8, 9.” Brugensis, &c." Quia hic ille est filius hominis, vel, 1°. Ille mulieri promissus, qui homines redimeret, Satanam perderet, &c. Gen. iii. 15. Vel, 2o. Ille de quo Daniel, vii. 13, 14, prædixit fore, ut ei detur dominatus in omnes, &c. de quo sic R. SS. et R. Saadias in locum, Hic est rex Messias." Lightfoot, &c.

the divine influence of the holy spirit, which he hath shed on'us åbån. dantly, and sent to abide with us for ever, that he might not leave us comfortless. Let not your heart be troubled therefore, neither let it be afraid. For greater is he that is with us than he that is in the world; and, if ye be strong and the spirit of Christ abideth in you, ye shall overcome the wicked one;" and to him that overcometh," says this King of Glory,* will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."

But it was expedient, likewise, that he should ascend into heaven, there to present himself a sacrifice for a guilty world, and intercede with his Father for the pardon of the sinner. By his voluntary death on the cross, he had performed one part of the sacerdotal office, which was to offer unto God the sacrifice for sin; and, by his ascension into heaven, there to appear in the presence of God for us, he completes. the priestly character, the principal part of which was to present the blood of the sacrifice before the divine mercy-seat in the holy of holies. But Christ, being come a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. As God had accepted the death of the Saviour for the death of the sinner, and as the former was qualified by his meritorious passion to be an advocate with the Father for the latter, where could he so effectually plead in his behalf as in the courts of the everlasting King? Where could the High Priest of

"Thonus regis apud Orientales amplus et latus est, adeo ut præter sedem regi propriam alii quoque quos honore afficere cupit rex, in eodem throno sedes habere queant." Dieu.

1

+ "Non hujus structura. Non secundum constitutum in natura ordinem, sed conceptum supernaturali modo." Grotius, &c.

"Alludit (apostolus) ad ritum V. T. quo Pontifex Adytum ingressus coram arca stabat orans pro populo. Ut autem solus Pontifex hoc præstitit, ita solus Christus pro nobis in cælo intercessorem agit." J. Capell.

our

our profession* so powerfully intercede with our offended Sovereign, for compassion to the criminal, as at the divine mercy-seat? And, if it was necessary that the high priest, under the first covenant, should once every year† alone enter with blood into the holy of holies, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people, how much more requisite was it that Christ, who offered himself a sacrifice for sin once for all, should continually present himself to God, in the heavens, as a full, perfect, and sufficient, oblation? being called of God a High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek.

A third reason for the necessity of Christ's ascension was, that he might go, as he himself tells us, and prepare a place for us. Man, by his disobedience to his maker, ha forfeited his title to happiness and his hopes of heaven: his Redeemer recovered his title to the former, and renewed his expectations of the latter. The voluntary sufferings of the Saviour were accepted for the deserved punishment of the sinner, and the wrath of God was appeased by the death of his own Son. But, that the sinner might receive satisfaction that he was again restored to favour, that the prodigal son might again return into the presence of his father, and that the doors of heaven were once more open to him, it was proper that he should have such proofs of this as admitted of no doubt or dispute. And what could have afforded him such full conviction as the ascension of Christ into heaven? Nay, without this, would he not have been left in a state of uncertainty and despondency? Could he reasonably have expected an inheritance in the heavens, had his Redeemer continued a wanderer on the earth? Could he ever have hoped for entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem,

• High Priest of our profession. "Moses proprie fuit apostolus, sive legatus, Aaron pontifex, utriusque partes implevit Christus, at multo quam illi sublimius. - Nostræ addidit, q. d. non confessionis Judaicæ, non fœderis legalis et typici, sed evangelici." J. Capell.

At Once every year.

tius, &c.

"Nempe uno tantum die, die expiationis, decimo mensis Tisri." Gro

"Similitudo sumpta ab uno comitum, qui in itinere prægressus ad diversorium, ubi cæteris cubicula assignat, et efficit ut venientibus parata sint." Grotius.