津

a diverse way from the path of honour; one seems to tend downward, and the other upwards; yet indeed they both meet and become the same, both carry a man to the same place. As the ass was a token both of kingly honour and great humility. The ass, the symbol of humility, carries a King on his back, and on an ass does the King of glory ascend into the city and temple of the Great King, as by humiliation Christ ascended into heaven.

The ass on which Christ rode, was a colt, on which never man sat. So Christ's humiliation was now such as there never had been a parallel of, nor any thing like it, and it carried him into glory as unparalleled.

Zion is called upon to rejoice on this occasion; so heaven rejoiced on occasion of Christ's ascension. They cut down branches of palm-trees, the symbol of victory, and spread them in the way; so Christ's ascension to heaven was a triumphant ascension, he having obtained the victory in his sore conflict with his enemies. A great multitude attended Christ; so a vast multitude attended him in his ascension into heaven-a multitude of saints and angels. They spread their garments under his feet; which is like the angels and elders casting down their crowns at his feet: they consecrate all their honours to Christ's honour. He sat on their garments, and went on them. He is attended with great and joyful acclamations and praises, all the way as he went up into the mountain of the temple, the children crying hosanna there in the temple. As the multitude attended the ark in all its ascent into Jerusalem and mount Zion, (which was then the mount of the house of the Lord,) all the way with most joyful acclamations and songs: so the saints and angels attended Christ all the way as he went from the uppermost regions of our air, with most joyful praises and acclamations, to heaven.

As he came into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this!" so on occasion of Christ's ascension, the inhabitants of heaven say once and again, "Who is this King of Glory!" Ps. xxiv. See Notes on the place.

It is very remarkable that one thing that the multitude cry in their acclamations, is, "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!" (Luke xix. 38,) being wonderfully directed thus to express the joy and glory there would be in heaven, the highest heaven, at the ascension of Christ.

God was pleased thus to give Christ such a representation and earnest of the ascension and glory that should be the reward of his sufferings, a little before those sufferings, to encourage him to go through them, as he had before done another way in his transfiguration.

[330] Matth. xxi. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. Concerning making Christ's house a den of thieves, &c. The apostate Jewish church that was in Christ's time, was in many things an image of the apostate Christian church, or rather the anti-christian church; and among other things the Jews making Christ's Father's house an house of merchandise, and a den of thieves, was typical of what the clergy of the church of Rome do. And Christ's overthrowing them, and driving them out of the temple, is typical of what Christ hath done, and will further do, with respect to that church. It shows how displeasing and provoking to Christ their so doing is, how Christ abominates such practices. They sold doves in the temple, so the merchants of the church of Rome pretend to sell those things that are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Heavenly dove. These gifts are called spirits in Paul's epistles, and so in the Revelations. The Spirit of God, with respect to his various gifts and operations, is called, "Seven spirits." They do as Simon the sorcerer, who desired to buy a power to confer the gifts of the Holy Ghost on whomsoever he would, to that end that he might make merchandise of them. So the clergy of the church of Rome, sell baptism, regeneration, and salvation; they sell forgiveness of sins, the eucharist and ordination, consecration and extreme unction, &c. The Holy Spirit is the great commodity that their merchandise consists in.

Christ cast the Jewish merchants out of his temple; so Christ cast such merchants out of his church. When Christ came into his temple at Jerusalem, this was the effect; so when Christ returns into his church, after its great apostacy, this is the consequence. At the same time, the blind and the lame come to Christ, and he heals them; so when Christ comes to drive out the anti-christian merchants out of his house, there will be a great flocking of poor miserable souls to Christ to be healed. At the same time also the children cry hosanna in the temple, and the priests and scribes are sore displeased, which are all typical of what will be when Christ comes to revive religion, and execute judgment on the Romish church. Then will the mouths of God's people be filled with praises to Christ, and there will be a remarkable fulfilment of that saying, "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise;" which will greatly displease and provoke the chief priests and scribes of the church of Rome.

Because this was typical of something very remarkable that should surely come to pass in the church, therefore it was repeated, as Pharaoh's dream was, concerning the years of famine and plenty, for Christ drave out the merchants out of his temple once before. John ii. 13.

[4] Matth. xxi. 40, 41. "When the lord, therefore, of the vineyard cometh." It is manifest here that the destruction of Jerusalem is called the coming of the Lord. This is called the end of the world: it is the end of the old world, and from this time began the new heavens and new earth, spoken of in Isaiah; and the time when the heavens and the earth are shaken; this was the end put to the Jewish church, and polity, and nation and law, country, city, sanctuary, and all the Jewish world: and from this time began the Gentile church to be the chosen people of God; for as soon as these husbandmen were destroyed, then the vineyard was let out to others, according to this place, and this coming of Christ. It was that which was spoken of as being very near by the apostles; and said by Christ to be within the life time of some there present. This city was begun anew and finished in Constantine's time, when the heathen world was overthrown, as now the Jewish. The calling of the Gentiles is what is called, (Matth. xxiv. 3,) "The gathering together the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

[379] Matth. xxii. 31, 32. "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. The argument is very strong for the immortality of the soul, considering how often God manifested his great favours to those patriarchs in their life-time, time after time entering into covenant with them, and professing himself to be their God, declaring to them that he was God, all-sufficient, and that he was their shield and their exceeding great reward, promising that he would be with them and would bless them, and considering what great and manifold afflictions they met with while they lived, especially Abraham and Jacob, and how little good they ever saw of those promises that God had made in this life. God promised them the land of Canaan, but they were pilgrims and strangers in it; they had no settled habitation in it, but dwelt in tents, removing to and fro. Other people had the possession of the land, and oftentimes molested them, as Abimelech did in particular. They were driven out of the land by famines: all three of them were

so.

Abraham came from a far country; left his own kindred and his father's house, and went out, not knowing whither he went, for the sake of this land; but yet "God gave him none inheritance in it; no, not so much as to set his foot on." Jacob had the promise of this land; but yet he was still driven out of the land by Esau, that had no promise of it, and lived an exile from it twenty years, for fear of him, in a state of servitude, and in abundance of trouble; and in the latter part of his life he was forced to leave it to go down into Egypt with all his family,

and posterity, and flocks and herds, and there he died. Though Canaan was the promised land, yet the principal quietness Jacob had in this world, was in Egypt, that seventeen years he lived there with Joseph his son, and not in Canaan. Another thing that was chiefly insisted on in God's covenant with them, was their being blessed in their posterity, that should be numerous and happy; but how little did they see of this while they lived! How long did Abraham wait before he had any child, and after he had one, he was obliged to cast out his first child, greatly to his grief; and he was an hundred years old before he saw one child in whom his seed should be called; and then God gave him but one, so that he saw nothing like a numerous posterity while he lived. And Isaac never had but two sons, and concerning his eldest and best beloved, it was revealed that his seed was not to be called in him, and he was obliged to disinherit him; and he had a great deal of grief in him and his wives: and his other son, that was to be his heir, he was obliged to part with into a strange land, and saw him not for twenty years together. And Jacob, though he had a numerous family, yet he had abundance of sorrow and trouble in them. His eldest son committed incest with his own concubine; his two next sons were guilty of barbarous murders. Judah, in whose posterity chiefly it was that Jacob's posterity were to be blessed, behaved himself very sinfully, and so, as doubtless was greatly to his father's grief. Joseph, his best beloved son, he went long mourning for as lost, and having come to an untimely and sorrowful end. The sons of the handmaid seem to be none of the best beloved.

Esau's posterity seems to have come to greater prosperity than Jacob's, as Esau himself seems to have been vastly richer, and more potent than his brother. Considering these things, how can it be that God's so often speaking of it as so great, inestimable, and distinguishing an happiness that he had admitted them to, that he was their God, and insisting on these covenant promises that he made to them, as so exceeding great and precious? I say how can it be imagined but that God, in thus saying and promising, had respect to something that they should see and enjoy further than they ever enjoyed in this life?

[381] The same may be argued, and in some respects were strongly from God's still revealing himself as "the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, after they were dead." It was respect to the promises that had been made to them while living, of which it was known that they never saw the fulfilment, and never had received the promises, but had received a great deal of the contrary affliction; and therefore if their being was now finally extinct, and they no more capable of

seeing and enjoying the fulfilment of any promise, why should God mention and insist on his friendship and love, and promises to them, as what still moved him to do great things for their sakes? and why should God still delight to characterize himself by his being their covenant, God, and friend, when there appeared so little foundation for it in any benefit that ever they had received by it, or were ever like to receive? It was because they were still capable of receiving the benefits of his favours and friendship, that he was not ashamed to be called their God. Heb. xi. 16. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. If it had not been for this, God's being their God, spoken of so much, and as so great a thing, would come to a very small matter, hardly worth the mentioning.

From these things we may not only argue that the patriarchs continued to be, and did enjoy something after they were dead, but also that they lived to see and enjoy the fulfilment of those promises that were made to them, with respect to which, it is that God calls himself their God, both before and after their death; and that their happiness in great part, consisted in seeing the fulfilment of these promises in the course of his providence to their seed, and in the dispensation of providence towards the church. And so I would argue that the happiness of departed souls in heaven, in a most important degree, consists in beholding and contemplating God's glorious dispensations towards the church in this world, and in seeing his wonderful wisdom, and infinite grace, and other perfections therein manifested. The principal employment of one great part of the heavenly world, viz. the holy angels, is about these things; that in which the angels do chiefly behold the manifold wisdom and other perfections of God, is in these things, and the same is that wherein chiefly the souls of departed saints do chiefly behold God's glory..

The fulfilment of the promises God made to him concerning what should be accomplished in and for his seed, and for the church of God after his death, he said was "all his salvation and all his desire ;" and therefore doubtless great part of the happiness he enjoyed after his death, consisted in fulfilling that desire

of his.

[219] Math. xxiii. 34, 35. "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.