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disappears from the eyes of his beloved disciples. As he ascends through the regions of the air, to occupy a throne above the skies, the church triumphant, and all the spirits in bliss, unite in celebrating his return to heaven, with songs of praise; the celestial arches resound with their joyful acclamations, while they cry aloud: lift up your heads, Oye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in, Ps. xxiv. 7.

On his arrival at the habitation of his glory, he assumes his place at the Father's right hand. And thence it is that he exercises the dominion to which his sufferings and death have exalted him thence it is he beholds the impotent designs of the enemies of the church, and, to use the expression of scripture, laughs at them, Ps. ii. 4. Thence it is he brings down to the ground the heads of the haughtiest potentates: thence it is he controls the power of tyrants, or permits it to act, and to accomplish his purpose: thence it is he bends his eyes upon us, my brethren; that he hears, and regards, and answers the prayers which, in our indigence, we present at the throne of grace: thence it is he beholds St. Stephen, and grants the petition of that martyr, from amidst the shower of stones which is overwhelming him: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, Acts vii. 59. Thence it is he draws to himself the souls of our expiring believers, and says to all those who combat under the banners of the cross: to him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, Rev. iii. 21. be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life, Rev. ii. 10.

Such is the glory which must follow the sufferings and death of the Saviour of the world. Such must be the perfection of that unity, which subsists between Jesus Christ Mediator and his Father: Fa

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ther, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.... I have manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world.... Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the Son of Perdition.... I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me tv do: and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self; with the glory which I had with thee before the world was

SERMON III.

PART II.

-CHRIST'S SACERDOTAL PRAYER.

JOHN xvii. 18-21.

As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

WE have seen the relation which subsists be

tween Jesus Christ and his heavenly Father. 1. A relation of nature, implied in that glory which he had with the Father before the world was. 2. There is a relation of economy: Jesus Christ as Mediator, is one with God. And this relation consists of three particulars: (1) Unity of idea (2) Unity of will: (3) Unity of dominion. Let us,

II. Consider the relation subsisting between Jesus Christ and his apostles, not in their character,

simply, of believers of Christ, but principally in the view of their public character as apostles. Let us inquire, in what sense it is that Jesus Christ makes it his request, that they may be one with the Father and himself, as he was one with the Father. This is the second object, this the second mystery, to which we now call upon you to direct your se

rious attention.

Weigh the import of these remarkable words: As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world: and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Jesus Christ had entered into the plan of the eternal Father, respecting the salvation of the human race; and had come into the world to put it in execution. It was necessary, in like manner, that the apostles should enter into the plan of this divine Saviour, and, to the utmost extent of their ability, should labor, together with him, in executing the merciful design. And as Jesus Christ, in order to acquit himself, with success, of this mystery which was committed unto him, must have possessed, with the Father, a unity of idea, of will, and of dominion, it was likewise necessary that the apostles should possess this threefold unity with Jesus Christ; and this precisely is the substance of what Jesus Christ prays for in their behalf.

1. In order to acquit themselves successfully of the functions of their ministry, it was necessary that the apostles should participate in the ideas of Jesus Christ, and in the infallibility of his doctrine. He had himself said to them, he that heareth you, heareth me, Luke x. 16. He had given them this commission: Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: and, lo, I am with you

always, even to the end of the world, Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.

How could they possibly have executed this commission, to any advantage, unless they had participated in the ideas of Jesus Christ, and in the infallibility of his decisions? What dependance could we repose on their testimony had it been liable to error? How should we implicitly admit the oracles which emanated from the apostolic college, if they were to be subjected to examination at the tribunal of human reason, as those of mere human teachers? The slightest alteration affecting the assertion of the infallibility of the doctrine of those holy men, subverts it from the very foundation. The moment that human reason assumes a right to appeal from their decisions, it is all over, and we are at once brought back to the religion of nature. And the moment we are brought back to the religion of nature, we are bewildered in all the uncertainty of the human understanding: we are still seeking the Lord, if haply we might feel after him, and find him, Acts xvii. 27. as did the Pagan world. We are still saying, as did the greatest philosophers of the Gentile nations, respecting inquiries of the highest importance to mankind: Who can tell? Peradventure. We are treating St. Peter and St. Paul, as we do Socrates and Se

neca.

Now, if such be our condition, what advantage has the Christian over the Pagan? Wherein consists the superiority of the gospel over the systems of mere human philosophy? Away with a suspicion so injurious to the great Author and Finisher of our faith. He has supplied his church with every thing necessary to a clear knowledge, and a well grounded belief of all needful truth. When he committed to the hands of his disciples, the ministry of his

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