As in these is the glory of Christ, so, they contain much comfort to a Christian. In that very elevation of our nature to such dignity, is, indeed, as the ancients speak, mira dignatio; that our flesh is exalted above all the glorious spirits, the angels, And they adore the nature of man, in the person of man's glorified Saviour, the Son of God. This exaltation of Jesus Christ doth so reflect a dignity on the nature of mankind. But the right and possession of it, is not universal, but is contracted and appropriate to them that believe on him. He took not on him the nature of angels, says the Apostle, but the nature of the seed of Abraham. Heb. ii. 16. He says not, the nature of man, though it is so, but, of the seed of Abraham; not so much because of his descent from that particular stock after the flesh, as in the spiritual sense of Abraham's seed, as it is at large cleared, Rom. ix. The rest of mankind forfeit all that dignity and benefit that arise to their nature in Christ, by their distance and disunion from him through unbelief. But the believer hath not only naturally one kind of being with the humanity of Christ, but is mystically one with the person of Christ, with whole Christ, GodAnd by virtue of that mysterious union, they who partake of it, partake of the very present happiness and glory of Christ: they have have a real interest in whatsoever he is and hath, in all his dignities and power; and in that sense, they who are justified, are glorified. Rom. viii. 30. In that Christ is exalted, they are so too in him. Where a part, and the chief part of themselves, is, and is in honour, there they may account themselves to be. Ubi portio mea regnat, ibi me regnare credo. A man is said to be crowned, when the crown is set upon his head; now, our Head, Christ, is already crowned.

man.

In sum, believers have in this ascending and enthroning of Christ, unspeakable comfort through their interest in Christ, both in consideration of his present affection to them, and his effectual intercession for them, and in the assured hope which this gives them of their own after happiness and glory with him.

First, In all his glory he forgets them not. He puts not off his bowels with his low condition here, but hath carried it along to his throne. Bene conveniunt, et in una sede morantur, majestas et amor. His majesty and love suit very well, and both in their highest degree. As all the waters of his sufferings did not quench his love, nor left he it behind him buried in the grave, but it arose with him, being stronger than death; so, he let it not fall to the earth when he ascended on high, but it ascended with him, and he still retains it in his glory. And that our flesh which he assumed on earth, he took up into Heaven, as a token of indissoluble love betwixt him and those whom he redeemed, and sends down from thence as the rich token of his love, his Spirit into their hearts; so that these are mutual remembrances. Can he forget his own on earth, having their flesh so closely united to him? You see he does not; he feels what they suffer. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ME? And can they forget him whose Spirit dwells in them, and records lively to their hearts the passages of his love, and brings all those things to their remembrance, (as himself tells us, that Spirit would do,) and so proves indeed THE Comforter, by representing unto us that his love, the spring of our comforts? And when we send up our requests, we know of a friend before us there, a most true and a most faithful friend, who fails not to speak for us what we say, and much more. He liveth, says the Apostle, to make intercession for us. Heb. vii. 25. This is the ground of a Christian's boldness at the throne of grace: yea, therefore is the Father's throne the throne of grace to us, because the throne of our Mediator, Jesus Christ, is beside it: he sits at His right hand, otherwise it could be nothing to us but a throne of justice, and so, in regard of our guiltiness, a throne of terror and affrightment, which we would rather flee from, than draw near

unto.

Lastly, as we have the comfort of such a friend, to prepare access to our prayers there, which are the messengers of our souls, so, of this, that our souls themselves, when they remove

from these houses of clay, shall find admission there through him. And this he tells his disciples again and again, and in them all his own, that their interest was so much in his as ce nd ing to his glory: I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there ye may be also. John xiv. 3.

It will not be hard to persuade them who believe these things, and are portioners in them, to set their hearts on them, and, for that end, to take them off from all other things as unworthy of them: yea, it will be impossible for them to live without the frequent and sweet thoughts of that place where the Lord Jesus is. Yet, it is often needful to remind them that this cannot be enough done, and, by representing these things to them, to draw them more upwards. And it is best done in the Apostle's words: If ye be risen with Christ, mind those things that are above, where he sits, &c. Col. iii. 1. If ye be risen with him, follow him on, let your hearts be where He is. They that are one with him, the blessed Seed of the woman, do find that unity drawing them Heaven-wards. But, alas! the most of us are like the accursed seed of the serpent, basely grovelling on this earth, and licking the dust. The conversation of the believer is in Heaven, where he hath a Saviour, and from whence he looks for him. Truly, there is little of a true Christian here; (and that argues that there is little of the truth of Christianity among us, who are altogether here;) his head in Heaven, and his heart there, and these are the two principles of Life. Let us then suit the Apostle's advice, and so enjoy the comfort he subjoins, that by our affections being above, we may know, that our life is hid with Christ in God, and therefore, that when He, who is our life, shall appear, we likewise shall appear with Him in glory. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.] We have in this to consider, 1. That there is a universal judgment. 2. That Christ is the Judge. 3. Something to be added of the quality of the judgment. All the three we have together, Acts xvii. 31. Because He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righ

teousness, by that man whom He hath ordained;-whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised him from the dead.

1. That there is a universal judgment, we know to be the frequent doctrine of the Scriptures, and it hath been ever the belief of the godly from the beginning, as we may perceive by that ancient prophecy of Enoch, recorded by St. Jude; and we are so to believe it as a Divine truth. And yet, there is so much just reason for it, that natural men, by the few sparkles of light in their consciences, have had some dark notions and conjectures of it, as is evident in Plato and the Platonics, and not only the philosophers, but the poets: it may be, too, that they have been helped by some scattered glimmerings of light concerning this, borrowed from the Jews, and traditionally passed from hand to hand among the heathen, and therefore disguised and altered after their fashion.

If we be persuaded that there is a Supreme Ruler of the world, who is most wise, and just, and good, this will persuade us, not only that there is some other estate and being than that we see here, appointed for man, the most excellent, the reasonable part of this visible world; but that there shall be a solemn judicial proceeding, in entering and instating him in that after-being. The many miseries of this present life, and that the best of men are usually deepest sharers in them, though it hath a little staggered, not only wise heathens, but sometimes some of the prime saints of God, yet, it hath never prevailed with any but brutal and debauched spirits, to conclude against Divine providence, but rather to resolve upon this, that of necessity there must be another kind of issue, a final catastrophe, reducing all the present confusions into order, and making odds even, as you say. Cum res hominum tanta caligine volvi. [CLAUDIAN.] It is true, that sometimes here, the Lord's right hand finds out His enemies, and is known by the judgment which He executes on them; and, on the other side, He gives some instances of His gracious providence to His Church, and to particular godly men, even before the sons

of men; but these are but some few preludes and pledges of that great Judgment. Some He gives, that we forget not His justice and goodness; but much is reserved, that we expect not all, nor the most, here, but hereafter. And it is certainly most congruous, that this be done, not only in each particular apart, but most conspicuously in all together, that the justice and mercy of God may not only be accomplished, but acknowledged and magnified, and that, not only severally in the several persons of men and angels, but universally, jointly, and manifestly in the view of all, as upon one theatre, angels and men being at once, some of them the objects of that justice, others of mercy, but all of them spectators of both. Each ungodly man shall not only read, whether he will or no, the justice of God in himself and his own condemnation, which most of them shall do before that time in their soul's particular judgment; but they shall then see the same justice in all the rest of the condemned world, and the rest, in them; and, to the great increase of their anguish, they shall see likewise the glory of that mercy which shall then shine so bright in all the elect of God, from which they themselves are justly shut out, and delivered up to eternal misery. And, on the other side, the godly shall with unspeakable joy behold, not only a part, as before, but the whole sphere both of the justice and mercy of their God, and shall with one voice admire and applaud Him in both,

Besides, the process of many men's actions, cannot be full at the end of their life, as it shall be at that day: many have very large after-reckonings to come upon them for those sins of others to which they are accessory, though committed after their death; as the sins of ill-educated children to be laid to the charge of their parents, the sins of such as any have corrupted, either by their counsels, or opinions, or evil examples, &c.

2. HE, the Lord Jesus, shall be Judge in that great day. The Father, and Spirit, and His authority, are all one, for they are all one God and one Judge; but it shall be particu