lousy, and mutual ill-will; and it will lay open the infamy of fraudulence, dishonesty, and guile, among candidates for the common inheritance of the family of Christ. It will point to the throne of the glorified Redeemer, and say, Thither, if ye would reach it, in the way of purity and truth, as in the light and in the level of a sunbeam ! By things that are true, by things that are honest, by things that are just, by things that are pure, by things that are lovely, by things that are of good report,—by these things ye must adorn the doctrine of your Saviour in this present life; or think not that hereafter you will stand in the light of his presence, and be glorified with him for ever in heaven.'

II. Secondly:-we recognise in the ascension of our Saviour, not merely the improvement and exaltation of our nature, but also its triumph over the evils to which it is subject, and the enemies it has to encounter. We must remember that the ascension of our Redeemer implies, as the apostle remarks in the epistle to the Ephesians, his previous descent and humiliation even to the grave. "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he

"Thou

might fill all things." (Eph. iv. 9, 10.) hast led captivity captive," says the Psalmist. 'Thou hast surmounted the evils which afflict, thou hast conquered the enemies which would oppress, the poor condition of humanity.' "Thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian." (Isa. ix. 4.)

Let us, for a moment, dwell upon the fact that the ascension of our Saviour was an exaltation from a state of suffering. He was born into the world as we are. His was once the weakness of childhood; his too were even the hardships of poverty. He grew up as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. At one time, indeed, while he lived in obscurity, he seems to have been exempt from the cavils of the world; but, no sooner did he come out from his retirement, and enter on the path of public duty by working the work which was given him to do, than he found himself encompassed with sorrows and with difficulties, despised and rejected of men. He had the common troubles of human life to encounter; there were seasons in which he shed the tear of sympathy, and times when he groaned in spirit, being troubled. And he had trials all his own. He endured the contradiction of sinThe malice of his persecutors assailed him

ners.

with constant hostility; his soul was among lions; his life was continually sought after. He was exposed, also, to the temptations of Satan; for, although the great adversary, when he came, found nothing in him, yet he did not leave him unmolested. He was in all points tempted like as we are. Nor was he exempt from the endurance of bodily sufferings. He not only felt the pain of hunger and thirst, but he was made subject to more excruciating agonies. And, at length, to close his sufferings, he was made to submit for a while to the power of the last enemy of man. He was put to death in the flesh. He was crucified in weakness. In short, through the whole history of his sacred ministrations, the blessed Jesus, veiled in his human flesh, and compassed with mortal infirmities, passes before us with the cup of anguish in his hand, and challenges attention to the mournful appeal, "Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow."

But yet, how complete a conqueror was this Man of sorrows! The same nature which struggled, and suffered, and died, is revealed to the eye of our faith as rising superior to every conflict, and triumphant over every enemy. The cloud receives Jesus out of our sight, and vain and impotent indeed appear the sorrows which had assailed him. Below him, the malice and

murmurs and cavils of his enemies vanish into air;-the spear and the cross lie powerless upon the earth;—and oh! what disgrace, and what a mockery does he put by his heavenward flight upon the tomb that he has burst and left empty for ever! Truly, when he ascended up on high, when he triumphed over all that can be wearisome or oppressive to the sons of men, he "led captivity captive."

Now, it is to this triumph of our nature over sufferings and death, in the person of our Lord, that we are exhorted to look with a view to our support under whatever evils or calamities may befall ourselves. As our former view of the ascension was adapted to elevate our souls, and to raise us above sin, so the present may be effectual, by divine grace, to afford us consolation, and to impart to us a victory over suffering and sorrow. By keeping the eye of our faith upon the risen and glorified Saviour, we may find hope and consolation to bear us up amid all that is deadening, discouraging, and painful. Nor is it a needless object which thus displays itself to our believing contemplation. If we confine our prospect to the world that is around us, or if we seek to fortify our souls by merely human considerations, we shall find that the evils and difficulties to which we are exposed possess a fearful and

overwhelming power. In our intercourse with the world, we shall meet with much to perplex and to discourage us; and often, perhaps, we shall be ready to say, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." Our plans will be frustrated, our motives mistaken, our good intentions defeated, our labours of love disregarded or requited with ingratitude. And our profession of the religion of Jesus may possibly involve us in peculiar difficulties. Our good may be evil spoken of; and, though our lives may be harmless and blameless, yet we may expect to meet with treatment like that which Jesus himself experienced from a wicked world. It may, at some time or other, be our lot to meet with the scornful contempt of proud unbelievers, or even with the unholy violence of malicious persecution. And we must also combat with temptation. The world will sometimes put on an alluring aspect; and the great enemy of our souls will perhaps suggest to us that we find less happiness in the ways of holiness than that which we should enjoy by accepting the flattering offers of sinful indulgence. And what when languor of spirits may oppress us, and pain may afflict our bodies? And what again when death shall approach us at the last, and point to the silence. and the darkness of the grave?-My Christian