Gen. 45.27 Did Jacob rejoyce to see a Waggon or a Chariot that would carry him into Aegypt to see his Son Joseph And wilt not thou rejoyce to think that Death is a Chariot to carry thee to JESUS CHRIST to carry thee not to Aegypt but to Heaven Not to thy Son but to thy GOD Death is but a Chariot to carry into Heaven to bring us to that Eternal Goshen of Light where GOD's Presence shall both make and keep us blessed for ever And thus have you been offered a taste of Three of those Sweet Streams which came forth of that River which runs in the Eden of God 4. The Fourth and Last is this Is Christ gone to Heaven Thou shalt assuredly go after him 'T is somewhat a sad thing when Death comes and says You must go with me the Body to the Grave the Soul to God that gave it I say then Nature makes a sowr Face upon such a sad Message What my Body that hath cost me so much I used so tenderly that lived so delicately Now to say to corruption thou art my father and to the worm thou art my mother and my sister What this Face of mine be cloathed with Clods of Dust as Job says These Arms these Hands these Feet of mine that were my Pride the Worms Meat They shall feed sweetly upon them Job 24. This is a hard saying to Nature and the harder to be born when the Care hath been all imployed about the Body and the Soul forgotten it will be dreadful indeed to leave the Body in the Hands of Death when the Soul hath been in the Power of Sin But hast thou the least Hold-fast on Christ a Faith but like a smoaking Flax thou hast then a Cordial to give the Spirit when thy Body is falling into the Pit No mattter let it fall it shall up again Christ is risen and he is gone to Heaven and he is gone to receive thee thither that thou mayest be even where he is So he tells you Joh. 14.19 Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more but you see me because I live you shall live also The Branches live in the Root and if the Root lives they will live As if he said Well my Friends I must leave you a while I must go to Heaven before you but know this I go to Heaven for you and be cause I live there bodily assure your selves you shall live there bodily too What saith a Father to this Well saith he Christ is our Flesh and our Bone he is gone with our Flesh into Heaven our Flesh hath taken possession already of our Inheritance And this is a good assurance and pledge to us that our Flesh these Bodies of ours shall be in Heaven where Christ is Christ is gone bodily into Heaven and because he lives there you shall live there also Because I live ye shall live also saith Christ And as much you have in the 14 Joh. 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to my self that where I am ye may be also Christ is gone for the present but when all is prepared above he will come again and fetch his People Home to his House and to their Inheritance Oh what an unspeakable Comfort is this to a dying Soul I am now ready to lie down in the Dust saith a Soul And though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God as Job said 19 Job 26. Christ is entred into Heaven in our Name in our Flesh hath taken possession for us of the purchased Inheritance and therefore he will bring us thither in his appointed time Christ hath gotten in his Head his Body his Church shall come after CHRIST will not sit in Heaven a HEAD without MEMBERS It 's a Scripture more worth than both the Indies for a dying time 6. The End of Christ's Ascention was that he being full of Grace and Glory might be able to refresh and fill the Souls of all his People My Brethren as I told you before Christ did not lose his Bowels his Pity by going to Heaven We have not an High Priest saith the Apostle which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities let us therefore come boldly to obtain mercy Heb. 4.15 16. No my Brethren our High-Priest hath not lost his Feeling by going into Heaven he is not like a Man that his Advancement should make him forget his Friend 's Good That he might hear them that he might help them that he might fill them that he might save them so saith the Apostle Ephes 4.10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things He ascended with filling purposes as the Sun ascends with enlightning strength And therefore at his departure what saith he John 17.19 For their sakes saith he sanctifie I my self that they may be sanctified And Ver. 22. The glory that thou givest me I have given them Our Glory our Fulness our Holiness was one of Christ's Ends why he was glorified and filled himself Of his fulness we all receive grace for grace John 1.16 A notable Comfort to poor needy Souls Dost thou see thy emptiness yea but look on Christ's fulness he emptied himself for us Why so he filled himself for us Dost thou feel great want of Knowledge thou art a poor ignorant Creature that as Paul said thou dost know nothing as thou shouldst Thou dost want Wisdom and Strength and Grace to make thee solid and able in thy Christian Business Thou canst not walk as prudently as thou shouldest in the place God hath set thee Thou canst not carry thy self as beseemingly and as humbly as thou shouldest when God's Hand is upon thee thou hast not that fear of God as thou shouldest nor that love of God that his Mercies call for Yet in the midst of all here 's thy stay and support Thou knowest where to carry thy empty Vessels to be filled Thou canst now go to thy Saviour and say Lord thou art now in Heaven filled with unmeasurable Glory Thou art a God full of Grace and Glory Thou art full that thy People may be full Oh of thy Fulness let us receive Grace for Grace Such Thoughts such Meditations as these will in time work us out of all our Wants Where I am there also shall my servant be saith he John 12.26 When I shall be in Heaven ne're a Servant of mine but shall be in Heaven too the Servant shall be with the Master and you know in that fore-cited place Ephes 2.6 The Apostle speaks of our Ascension as a thing already effected and wrought by Christ's Ascension God hath made us sit together saith he in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Oh my dear Brethren here 's a Comfort for every Cross Come what can come Life or Death Fears Hopes Trouble or Peace this will give us Confidence in all our Fears and
Condition in the World If Enjoyments are but small Temptations are the fewer Satan hath not such advantage to play his Temptations in a low as in a high and raised Estate in the World And certainly that 's the best Condition in which Sin can take the least advantage and by which we are disposed to do God the greater Service But 't is observable that Christ makes choice of that place for his ascension which was the place of his Agony Thus doth Christ take the House of Affliction in his way to Heaven And thus God in his Providence doth often bring his Josephs from the Prison to the Crown carries them through Bethany to Bethel Through the House of the Poor to the House of God Thus must the Captain of our Salvation be perfect through sufferings saith the Author to the Hebrews Heb. 2 10. He that descended is the same that ascended saith Paul Heb. 4.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As an ancient He descends as a Man but he ascends as God As Pride goes before a Fall so often comes Advancement behind it And so saith the wise Man Before Honour is Humility Prov. 15.33 Self-abasings are ever antecedent to God's advancings As God doth imploy his Wisdom to make his Children high so it shall be in such a way as withal may make his own-Name great And therefore doth then most frequently appear to help when his People to sight are almost past hope He suffers the ungodly to build high and even to touch the Heavens with their Heads In Obad. 4. To set their Nests among the Stars that when they come tottering down all the World may say The Lord was above them and for his own People he suffers them often to be reduced to Job's sad Condition to sit Mourning on a Dunghill that when they are advanced and set in high places all may see and sing and say the Finger of the Lord was there We must not then think it strange nor that God wrongs us if he bring us first to Bethany and then to Glory From the Dunghill to the Throne for all the World is but a great Dunghill Great Enjoyments will do us less hurt and sad Providences when they come will less afflict if with Children we begin our Lesson at the Cross Think of a Combat before a Crown that we run our course and so get the Prize by knowing this is not the Place of payment We are in a World that was never intended to be our Heaven and happy for us if we go not about to make it so That we do not as a Learned Man saith Pro summo bono bonorum infirma amplecti That we chuse not the lowest Goods for the highest Good Grasp at a Cloud instead of a Goddess and make Vanity an Idol He that considers how sad it were to have our Heaven here will rejoyce that he shall not have his Crown till he shall get above Thus much for the place where he ascended at Bethany on Mount Olivet 2. For the Persons that brought him going called to this glorious Sight They were his Apostles As you have also proved to your hand in 1 Acts. Which by the way though People must not deifie Instruments and make of Instruments efficient Causes yet People may by this be taught to give them more Honour and Respect than the World will now allow them It was necessary that all the Disciples all that then professed the Gospel should be ascertain'd of Christ's Ascension and of the Manner of it too And Christ might have done it by giving notice of the time that all might have been Eye-witnesses of his Glory for the Confirmation of their Faith But it must be all husht and those to whom the Dispensation of the Gospel was committed must only be called forth to see and so to deliver and attest it to the World which was indeed a deep Contrivance Our Wisdom would have thought it might have been more for the Advantage of the Gospel that all the living might have had a sight of his triumphant Departure That the Glory which he appear'd in at his departure might be as a Seal and Confirmation of those Gospel-Mysteries which he had Preached and that the Adversary might have seen it and been confounded But it pleased God rather that hereby the Ministry should be established for the Revelation of the Mysteries of the Gospel to his People and so upon sight of his Ascension they went forth and preached Mark 16.19 And in many of Christ's more notable Actions you may still find one of Christ's Eyes looking forth to the Establishing of Ministerial-Instruments for the dispensing of his Gospel-Blessings When he fed his People in the Wilderness he might with a far less Miracle have given every one his Portion with his own Hands But his Apostles must receive from him and the People from the Apostles so Ananias must be sent to heal and restore St. Paul when Christ could have easily done it himself and Philip must be sent to teach the Eunuch God will have Instruments imploy'd in his Work till we come where he shall be all in all And Christ waved the way that must have convinced all Beholders of him purposely to establish a Ministry And so we come to the manner of taking his Farewel He lift up his Hands and blessed them 1. Where we may observe by the way that Christ was then nearest his highest Glory when his Mouth was fullest of Blessings Whilst he blessed them he was parted from them A good thing to depart out of the World with a Blessing in our Mouths That is to go as Christ went Mouths accustomed to cursed Language will but ill dispose a Man to Divine Enjoyments Hellish Language makes but bad Preparation for Heaven's Glory And as Apostles should not only enjoy it being only then present so it will not be left to Christ only to do it Surely when Saints are near the State and Place where all their Works shall be blessing and praise they will before they go enter on their work God's People are always desirous to do good but at their departure when they are going to the City of the living God then are they more abundant in gracious Desires And as they are breathing out their Souls they breath out Blessings Thus did Moses Mouth run over with Blessings just before his Death Deut. 33.1 Let Reuben live and not die Hear Lord the Voice of Judah For Levi let thy Thumim and thy Vrim be with thy Holy one Bless his substance and accept the work of his hands c. He shut up his Life with the sweet Effusion of many Benedictions upon the People of God The same was Isaac's Care and Practice when he found his Age had brought him near Death and when Death would receive him was uncertain he bethinks himself of his last work to bless his Children before he died and so order'd Esau to provide for his Blessing before his decease Gen. 27. and afterward blessed
in all our necessities as is to be found in his Ascension We may now pray and not fear our Mediator is gone before our Advocate is with the Father Be now wholly confident that thou shalt be heard in that thou fearest weak Duties cannot hinder acceptance when Christ is above to further it When thou dost pray thou goest to a God that hath thine Advocate at his Right-hand He that is of God's Counsel is thy Counsel This the Apostle thinks is enough to give a Man a bold and confident face in that holy Presence 4 Heb. 14 16. Seeing then that we have an High Priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace Never fear Christ is above Who would not come boldly into the Court when he knows he hath such a Person to present his Petition The eldest Son to the King is of thy side what needest thou fear some would take off Prayer from being now a Duty because we live in the days of the Gospel Days say they of a high Dispensation 't is ill being too high for Duty No my Brethren pray now if ever for now thine Advocate is in Heaven and therefore thou shouldst now be always sending up Petitions thither 2. Christ ascended to Heaven that he might make a full Conquest over all his Peoples Enemies And this we are told by the Author to the Hebrews Ch. 10.12 13. This man sat down at the right hand of God expecting till his enemies be made his footstool That is till they are fully conquered and in the 4 Eph. 8. When he ascended up on high he led Captivity captive That is he led those captive which had before kept his People in captivity as we may see to be the meaning of the Phrase in the 5 Judges 12. An allusion to the Custom of the Romans who after their Victory led their Captives in triumph So Christ's ascending up to Heaven it was his getting into his Triumphal Chariot leading his own and his Peoples Enemies captived at his Chariot-wheels as it were and so saith Paul 2 Colos 15. Having spoiled Principalities and Powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is he did in height of confidence make them a publick Example of fcorn and shame 'T is true Christ strook the last stroke and won the day on his Cross Then the Devil and Sin and Death received their mortal wound But at the Resurrection he seized the Prey laid hold on those he had subdued and by his Ascension dragged them as it were at his Chariot-wheels to be trampled upon by all those that are Members of his Body which makes the Victory of God's poor People certain Oh what a comfort is this my Brethren that Christ by going up to Heaven doth manifest to all the World that all their Enemies lie bleeding at his Feet That he hath overcome the Grave Death the Devil and Sin They may bark they can bite no more the Serpent may put out his Sting but cannot hurt They now lie all as Captives chained in the Stocks till the King's Pleasure How are we hereby armed against the fear of Satan I confess these spiritual Powers are great in their own nature But they are not now what they were They are disarmed Devils they are Devils but they are naked Devils Devils they are but wounded Devils conquered Devils Devils led captives Devils in Chain no fear of a chained Enemy if you come not within his reach 2. Again what Encouragement have we here to hold out in all our Encounters against these Enemies They may foam but they cannot fight they are Prisoners Captives chained up from doing hurt Christ our Lord doth hold them pinioned that they cannot stir they think they may do what they please but no more then a Goal-bird in Irons they are held with Irons of Guilt and in Chains of Providence we would all say that that Man hath a base low Spirit who when he was well appointed and well-guarded should rear a naked Enemy We have our Weapons with us our Captain with us our Enemies naked and bound Let us be strong then in the might of him that strengthens us to look upon Satan now as loose is to deny Christ's Ascension He is a Devil still but a chained Devil 3. Here 's an Encouragement for our Faith too keep that eye clear that thou mayest see thy Victory and thou art safe there 's no more required then that thou see thy Captain triumphing Give Glory unto Christ that he hath done this for thee and he will apply it to thee Doth the Devil hold hard Fear not one look of Christ's will make his Weapons fall out of his hands Is Sin strong Yea but the Sting is gone Christ hath the Victory look to thy Saviour let but thy Faith mount into his Triumphal Chariot and thine Enemies are all under thy feet also You know 't is a mighty Encouragement to a Souldier to fight when he sees his Commander go on beating down his Enemies before him We should fear our Enemies less and prevail more if we would eye Christ's Conquest more frequently having such a Friend in Heaven we need not fear any on Earth nor Friend in Hell 3. He ascended on high for the pouring forth of the Graces of his Spirit that his People might also be prepared for that holy place not only that they be secured here but crowned above whence saith the Apostle Ephes 4.8 When he ascended on high he led Captivity captive and gave Gifts unto men It is an allusion to the Roman Custom that when the Conqueror rode in Triumph towards the Capitol or Palace he did not only draw the Prisoners at his Chariot-wheels but also scatter'd Money to the Spectators that saw him ride along in Triumph Why so Christ having by his Ascension spoiled Death and the Devil cast his Gifts unto Men dispenseth his Graces in a greater measure into the Hearts of his People He hath conquered his Enemies and now gives about his Favours to those that are his so that strength of Grace is the Fruit of Christ's Ascension and Acts 2.33 Being by the Right hand of God exalted he hath shed forth the Holy Ghost And therefore to comfort his Disciples at his departure shews them what they should get by the loss of his corporal Presence John 16.7 It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come to you But if I depart I will send him to you And 7 John 39. The Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Christ was not yet glorified Not that this Text or that other gives any countenance to that Socinian dotage That before Christ's Ascension there were no saving Gifts of the Spirit for that will suppose that before Christ was there none went to Heaven or that Holiness was not necessary to the seeing of God But the