488 SECT. ccil. xxiv. 47 Reflections on the commission Christ gave his apostles. We have surely perpetual reason for thankfulness, when we think of that commission which Christ gave to his disciples: nor is it a circumstance of little importance, that they had it in charge, Luke when they published this message of grace, to begin at Jerusalem; though the religious opportunities that were abused by that ungrateful city had already been so great, and their provocations sə many. Amazing condescension of the Prince of Peace, that he sent his ambassadors of peace to them when they had hardly laid aside the weapons with which they had slain him, and were scarce rested after the cruel fatigue which their officious malice had given them in abetting his murder! Behold, he offers them all the invaluable blessings purchased by his blood, while it was yet, as we may say, warm upon mount Calvary! and on the same principles, even unto this day, where sin hath abounded, there is grace abounding much more. (Rom. v. 20.) The commission he gave his apostles, though it began at Jerusalem, did not end,there; nor was it confined within the narrow limits of Judea; but they were appointed to go into all the world, Mark and preach the gospel to every creature. We to this day, in our xvi. 15. remote land, enjoy the benefit of it. Let us remember the important consequences that will one way or another attend the 16 gospel thus brought us. If we believe it, we shall be saved; but if we believe it not, we shall be damned. Life, or death, O my soul, is the certain issue of it, with regard to thee in particular. Be surety to thy servant, O Lord, for good (Psal. cxix. 122.) and let my life be precious in thy sight! Luke Christ opened the understanding of the apostles, to apprehend the xxiv. 45 sense of scripture. Let us study that sacred book with an humble dependence upon the aid of that blessed Spirit by whom it was dictated. And let these apostles who were thus divinely taught, be reverently regarded as our surest guides, when we are studying the oracles of the Old Testament; considering the extraordinary commission with which Christ sent them forth, the power from on 49 high with which he invested them, and the ample credentials which he thereby gave them. Mat. 20 These miraculous donations are now ceased, but that valuable xxviii. promise still continues in force, That he will be with his ministers always, even unto the end of the world. In the strength of that gracious assurance, O thou faithful and true Witness, would thine humble ambassadors still go forth to all the labours and difficulties. before them remember thy word unto thy servants (Psal. cxix. 49.) and may it be unto us according to it! Amen! : SECT. The disciples are again bid to wait for the Spirit at Jerusalem. 489 SECT. CCIII. Christ, after his last discourse with his disciples, ascends to heaven in their sight, from the mount of Olives in the neighbourhood of Bethany; and they joyfully return to Jerusalem, waiting for the Spirit. Mark XVI. 19, to the end. Luke XXIV. 50, to the end. John XX. 30, to the end. XXI. ult. Acts I. 4-12. ACTS I. 4. SUCH ACTS I. 4. SECT. Acts AND being assembled together with was the conversation Jesus had with them, [he] command- his disciples at Jerusalem, and such the cciii. ed them that they commission he gave them and now at length, should not depart from having gathered them together on the fortieth day 1.4. for the promise of the after his resurrection, he charged them again, as Father, which, saith he had done before (Luke xxiv. 49, p. 484), he, ye have heard of not to depart from Jerusalem, to employ them Jerusalem, but wait me. selves in any secular cares at home; but rather to spend some succeeding days in extraordinary devotion in the temple, or in their secret retirements; that they might, with the most becoming temper, wait for the accomplishment of that promise of the Father, which, [said he] you have again and again heard from me, both before and since my resurrection. (Compare John xiv. 26. xv. 26. xvi. 7. and Luke xxiv. 5 For John truly 49.) For John indeed baptized with water, when baptized with water; he was sent to call men to repentance; but you but ye shall be baptized with the Holy well know, that he declared at the same time, Ghost, not many days "there was one coming after him, who should baptize in a more glorious manner with the Holy Spirit" (see Mat. iii. 11, Vol. VI. p. 103, And in accomplishment of this prediction, as you now are to be sent forth to preach the gospel, and to bear witness of me as the true Messiah, that whosoever shall believe in me may obtain remission of sins, you shall be plentifully furnished from above with all those graces that may enable you to fulfil your ministry, and by my means shall be baptized with an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit; and this shall be done not many days hence. hence. LUKE XXIV. 50. -And he led them ny. 5 Luke And he then took them with him out of the out as far as to Betha- city, and passing over the brook Kedron again, XXIV. in a very different manner from that in which he 50 had lately crossed it (John xviii. 1, p. 342), he led them out to the mount of Olives, and brought them through that ridge of hills, as far as to the boundaries of Bethany. a As far as to the boundaries of Bethany.] word tw;; but what is said elsewhere will This at least must be the import of the not allow us to extend it to the toten itself: for 490 SECT. Acts as ACTS I. 6. When come together, they They discourse with Jesus on the mount of Olives. When therefore they were come together with cciii. such peculiar solemnity, and Jesus had thus they therefore were sembled them in a body (as they apprehended, asked of him, saying, on some extraordinary occasion) they asked him, Lord, wilt thou at this saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time, when they time restore again the have just been guilty of such aggravated wick- kingdom to Israel? edness, restore the kingdom to Israel? And wilt thou now in such a manner shew thy favour to a nation which so well deserves to be destroyed, that Israel shall at this time be raised from its servitude, to that extensive empire which ancient prophecies have led us to expect under the government of the Messiah? 7 8 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his 8 But ye shall receive power after that But, as Jesus was not willing to enter on a subject, concerning which the Spirit would soon rectify their notions, he chose to check their curiosity, and said to them, whatever the schemes of providence may be, it is not for you to know, own power. and therefore is not proper for you to inquire, what are those times or seasons which the Father has placed under his own authority: the Messiah's kingdom shall indeed be triumphant, and the Israel of God shall reign with him; but where, or when, or how this shall be, it is not your present business to inquire: And therefore now let not these secret things engage and take up your attention; but let me rather exhort mind your present duty, and to leave the event of things to God: and, to prepare you for the both in Jerusalem, and important service you are called to, you shall Samaria, and unto the in all Judea, and in indeed, as I before have told you, receive the uttermost part of the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you; and earth. by this means you shall be qualified to be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth; and you shall gather in subjects to my kingdom in the remotest regions, and subdue multitudes to the obedience of faith. for the town of Bethany was about fifteen you to And the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me, Mat. xxi. 1, p. 154.)-It is indeed possible, that our Lord might make his last visit on earth to Lazarus and his pious sisters; but it is manifest he did not ascend from the town of Bethany, where many others must have seen him, but from the mount of Olives, where none beheld him but his his own disciples; nor is there any intimation in the words of the evangelist, that he came from Bethany to the mount of Olives on the day of his ascension, but rather that he went directly from Jerusalem thither. b While Having blessed them, he ascends to heaven in their sight. LUKE XXIV.-50. 491 SECT. cciii. And then, lifting up his hands in a most soAnd he lift up his lemn and devout manner, he blessed them, as one hands, and blessed that had authority, not only to desire, but to Luke them. command a blessing on them; and recommended XXIV. them to the guardianship and care of his hea- 50 venly Father, to whom, after so long an abode on earth, he was now returning. 51-And it came to pass [after the Lord had spoken [ACTS, these 1.9. And it came to pass, after the Lord had spoken 51 these things unto them, and had with great afthings] unto them], fection and solemnity discoursed with his diswhile he blessed them, ciples of the work they were to do, and of the he was parted from them. [MARK XVI. Power they should have to qualify them for it, 19.--ACTS 1. 9.-] even while he was blessing them, he was miracuACTS 19. And lously separated from them. And while they Acts while they beheld, he stedfastly beheld him, and fixed their eyes upon was taken up, [LUKE, him with the strictest observation, he was taken and carried up into heaven,] and a cloud up from the ground on which he stood, and grareceived him out of dually carried up into heaven, as it seemed their sight, [and he sat on the right-hand of by the ministry of attending angels (though he God.] [MARK XVI. could certainly have ascended merely by his own -19. LUKE XXIV. power); and while he hovered in the air, at -31.] 10 And while they looked stedfastly towent up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; ward heaven, as he some distance from them, a bright cloud ap- And as they were stedfastly looking up to hea- 10 b While they beheld, he was taken up, &c.] It will, I hope, be remembered, that it was for majesty, and not of necessity, that our Lord used the ministration of angels in Carrying himself to heaven.-Dr. Jennings has observed, with his usual sagacity and propriety (Serm. at Berry-street, Vol. I. p. VOL. VII. return 973), that it was much more proper our 492 SECT. cciii. Acts Two angels tell them, he shall come again in like manner. return to the glory from which he came? And same Jesus which is we are now sent hither to assure you, that this taken up from you into heaven, shall so Jesus, who is thus taken up from you into heaven, come in like manner 1.1. shall so come again, in the very same manner as as ye have seen him you have now beheld him go into heaven: for the go into heaven. great day shall surely come, when he will visibly descend from heaven in a cloud of glory, attended as now with a guard of angels, to dispense their final judgment to all the inhabitants of the world but in the mean time, the heavens must receive him, and you must no more expect his company on earth. Luke XXIV. : LUKE XXIV. 52. him, and [then] re rusalem a sabbath day's journey:] [ACTS 1.12.] And his disciples were so fully satisfied of his 52 Divine power and glory, that they worshipped And they worshipped him with the humblest reverence, though he was turned to Jerusalem, now become invisible to them; and then (as he with great joy [from had ordered them) returned to Jerusalem with the mount called Oligreat joy from the mount called Olivet, where he vet, which is from Jewas parted from them); which is but a sabbath day's journey, or about a mile distant from Jerusalem and it exceedingly rejoiced their hearts to think that Jesus their Lord was in this singular manner honoured by his heavenly Father, and received up into a state of everlasting felicity and glory, in which he would be able to protect all his followers, and to provide in the most effectual manner for their present and 53 eternal happiness. And they were always in the temple, that is, they constantly attended there at tinually in the temple, praising proper times, and were daily present at the hours of prayer, praising and blessing God, both in C Which is a sabbath-day's journey from Jerusalem.] A sabbath-day's journey is gencrally reckoned by the Jews to be two thousand cubits; which was the distance between the ark and the camp, when they marched (Josh. iii. 4); and probably the same proportion was observed when they rested. This is usually computed at about eight furlongs, or a mile. But as the camp took in a large extent of ground, and this was only the distance of those that encamped nearest to the ark; so it is evident, that as all the people were to repair on the sabbath-day to the place of God's public worship, a sabbath-day's journey was more than two thousand cubits to those whose station in the camp was more remote from the ark: yet when they were afterwards settled in towns, they allowed no more than two thousand cubits for a sabbath-day's jour ney. (See Selden, de Jur. Nat. & Gent. lib. iii. cap. 9, and Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. his 53 And were con on Luke xxiv. 50; and Acts i. 12.) Compare note a in this section, on Luke xxiv. 50. d And they were always in the temple.] Some have imagined (by comparing this with Acts i. 13, 14), that the apostles dwelt for some time afterwards in an upper-chamber of the temple: but they had no such interest with the priests, as to allow us to suppose they would permit them to lodge in an apartment of the temple. It is sufficient that they were always there at the proper seasons; for it is well known, that by night the temple was shut up. (Compare Luke ii. 37, Vol. VI. p. 74, and John xviii. 20, Vol VII. p. 368.) They probably joined their voices with the chorus of the Levites, as no doubt other pious Israelites did; and must surely, from what they had already seen and known, have learnt to use many of the psalms sung by them, in a much sublimer sense than the generality of the people could, e The |