multitude of fishes, that they were not able to draw it into the boat, but were forced to drag it after them in the water towards the land.

They had toiled, it seems, all the preceding night to no purpose; and therefore such remarkable success could not fail of causing various conjec tures amongst them, with regard to the stranger on the shore, who had given them such happy advice. Some of the disciples declared they could pot imagine who he was; but others were persuaded, that this person was no other than their great and beloved Master. John was fully convinced of his being the Lord, and accordingly told his thoughts to Simon Peter; who making no doubt of it, girt on his fisher's coat, and leaped into the sea, in order to get ashore sooner than the boat could be brought to land, dragging after it a net full of such large fishes as were almost ready to sink it.

The disciples, when they came ashore, found a fire kindled, and on it a fish broiling, and near it some bread: but neither being sufficient for the company, JESUs bid them bring some of the fish they had now caught, and invited them to eat with him. Thus did the blessed JESUS prove again to his disciples, the reality of his resurrection, not only by eating with them, but by working a miracle like that which, at the beginning of his ministry, had made such an impression upon them, as disposed them to be his constant followers. This was the third time that Jesus appeared publicly to a great number of his disciples in a body, besides his shewing himself to particular persons, upon special occasions, and at divers tines.

After they had eaten, Jesus reminded Peter how diligent and zealous he ought to be, in order to wipe off the stain of his denying him, when he was carried before the high-priest: "Simon, son of Jonas," said our blessed Saviour to him, art thou more zealous and affectionate in thy love towards me, than the rest of my disciples? To which Peter answered, "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee." He was taught modesty and diffidence by his late fall; and therefore, would not compare himself with others, but humbly appealed to his Master's omniscience, for the sincerity of his regard to him. JESUS answered, Express then thy love towards me by the care of my flock committed to thy charge: "Feed my Lambs, feed my Sheep." I well know indeed, continued the blessed JEsus, that thou wilt continue my faithful shepherd even until death: for the time will come when thou, who now girdest on thy fisher's coat voluntarily, and stretchedest out thy hands to come to me, shall in thine old age be girt by others, and forced to stretch out thy hands against thy will, in a very different manner, for the sake of thy constant profession of my religion.

JESUS, by these last words, signified the manner of Peter's death, and that he should finally suffer martyrdom for the glory of God, and the testimony of the truth of the Christian religion, which he had been instrumental in propagating to the world.

The disciples being now about to meet their great Lord and Master, according to the Messages he had sent them by the women, and having, in all probability, appointed this meeting at some former appearance, not mentioned by the evangelists, the brethren set out for the mountain in Galilee, perhaps that on which he was transfigured. Here five hundred of them were gathered together, waiting the joyful sight of their great Master, after he had triumphed over death and the grave; some of them not having yet seen him after his resurrection from the dead.

The disciples did not wait long before Jesus appeared, on which they were seized with rapture; and with hearts overflowing with gladness they approached their kind, their benevolent Master, and worshipped him. Some few indeed doubted, it being a thing agreeable to nature for men to be afraid to believe what they vehemently wish, lest they should indulge themselves in false joys, which vanish like a morning cloud. But Jesus afterwards appeared frequently to them, and gave all of them full satisfaction, and instructed them in many things relating to their preaching the gospel, establishing the church, and spreading it through the known world.

Our blessed Saviour, either at his appearance on the mountain, or some subsequent appearance, not mentioned by the evangelists, probably ordered them to return to Jerusalem, as he proposed to ascend visibly into heaven from the top of the mount of Olives, a medidas of aгомоз

JESUS ascends into Heaven: The principal Arguments of the Deists against our blessed Saviour's Resurrection considered and refuted: Reflections on the Life and Doctrine of our great Redeemer.

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ABOUT twelve days before the feast of Pentecost, called in the law the feast of weeks, and nearly forty days after our blessed Saviour arose from the dead, the disciples repaired to Jerusalem, probably in conformity to a command given them by their great Master at one of his appearances; unless we suppose they went up to that city, in order to purify and prepare themselves for the solemnity now approaching.

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However that be, the blessed Jesus made his last appearance here to bis apostles; and after instructing them in many particulars concerning the kingdom of God, and the manner they were to behave themselves in propagating the doctrine of the gospel, he put them in mind that, during his abode with them in Galilee, he had often told them, that all things writ ten in the law, the prophets, and the Psalms concerning him, were to be exactly accomplished. At the same time, he opened their understandings, that is, he removed their prejudices by the operation of his spirit, he cleared their doubts, improved their memories, strengthened their judgments, and enabled them to discern the true meaning of the Scriptures respecting his divine mission.

Being thus qualified by him for receiving the truth, he again assured them that both Moses and the prophets had foretold that the Messiah was to suffer in the very manner he had suffered, that he was to rise from the dead on the third day as he had done, and that repentance and remission of sins was to be preached in the Messiah's name amongst all nations, be ginning with the Jews at Jerusalem.

After this, he delivered to them their commission to preach the doctrine of repentance and remission of sins in his name amongst all nations, and to testify unto the world the exact accomplishment in him of all things foretold concerning the Messiah: and, to enable them to perform this important work, promised to bestow on them the miraculous gift of the Spir it, which he called the promise of his Father; because the Almighty had promised them by his prophets in the Old Testament.

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Being thus fortified for the important work they were going to under-take, he led them on to the Mount of Olives as far as Bethany; where, standing on a hill above the town, he told them that he was now raised to the government of heaven and earth; for which reason, they might go courageously through all the world, and preach the gospel to every rational creature: assuring themselves that affairs in all countries should be so ordered, as to dispose the inhabitants for the reception of the gospel; they who believed, were to be admitted into his church by the rite of baptism, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and to be taught, in consequence of their baptism, to obey all the precepts he had enjoined them; that such baptised believers should receive pardon of their sins, together with eternal life in the happy mansions of his Father's kingdom; but that those who refused to embrace the doctrines of the gospel should be forever excluded those happy regions, and have their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; that while they are employed in this work, he would be with them to the end of the world, to guide them by his counsel, to assist them by his Spirit, and to protect them by his Providence. Finally, that those who should, through their preaching, be induced to believe, should themselves work most astonishing miracles, by which the gospel should be propagated with the greatest rapidity and auccess Jag

After Jesus had spoken these things, he lifted up his hands and blessed them; and in the action of blessing them, he was parted from them in the midst of the day, a shining cloud receiving him out of of their sight: that is, this brilliant cloud encompassed him about, and carried him up to heaven, not suddenly, but at leisure, that they might behold him departing, and see the proof of his having come down from heaven, as he had promised them.

The blessed Jesus ascended in a cloud which was more bright and pure than the clearest lambent flame, being no other than the Shechinah, or glory of the Lord, the visible simbol of the divine presence which had so often appeared to the partriarchs of old, which filled the temple at it's dedication, and which in it's greatest splendour, cannot be beheld with mortal eyes ;for which reason, it is called called the light inaccessible in which the Almighty resides, and and with which he is surrounded. It was probably on this occasion that our Lord's body was changed, acquiring the glories of immortality, perhaps in the presence of his disciples, who steadfastly beheld him as he mounted from the earth. And as he ascended the flaming cloud that surrounded him marked his passage through the air, but gradually lost it's magnitude in the eyes of those who stood below, till at last it vanished, together with their beloved Master, out of their sight; for he was received up where the Divine Being manifests himself in a peculiar manner, and was set down on the right-hand of the Ma jesty on on high; all power in heaven and in earth being now given him: and this universal government he will hold, till he establishes the dominion of righteousness, when he will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, "that God may be all in all," 1 Cor. xv. 28.01

Thus did the great Redeemer of mankind depart in a most illustrious manner, after having finished the grand work which he left the bosom of his Father to execute; a work which God himself, in the remotest eternity, contemplated with pleasure, which angels with joy descried as to happen, and which, through all eternity to come, shall at periods the most im mensely distant from the time of it's execution, be looked back upon with inexpressible delight by every inhabitant of heaven; for though the minute affairs of time may vanish altogether and be lost, when they are removed far back by the endless progression of duration, this object is such, that no distance, however great, can lessen it: the kingdom of heaven is erected on the incarnation and sufferings of the Son of God, the kingdom and city of the Almighty comprehending all the virtuous beings in the universe made happy by goodness and love; and, therefore, none of them can ever forget the foundation on which their happiness stands established: the human species in particular, recovered by the labour of the Son of God, will view their Deliverer, and look back on his stupendous undertaking with the highest rapture, while they are feasting without interruption on it's delicious fruits: the rest of the members likewise of the city of God, will contemplate it with perpetual pleasure as the happy means of recovering their

We have now followed our dear Redeemer through all the transactions of his life, and enlarged on the stupendous miracle of his resurrection, as the whole Christian doctrine is founded on that glorious event. And it is abundantly evident from this history, that our blessed Saviour shewed himself to his disciples and friends only, not to the Jews in general. This circumstance gave Spinoza a pretence for raising an objection, which his disciples have considered as the strongest argument against our Lords resurrection. "If, say they, he really arose from the dead, to have shewn himself to his enemies as well as to his friends, would have put the truth of his resurrection beyond all doubt, than which nothing could be more necessary to the cause of Christianity; and therefore, the supposition of his having confined his appearances, after his resurrection, to a few select friends, renders the affair extremely suspicious and unworthy of credit."

This argument however plausible it may appear at first sight, is destitute of the least force; because it may be demonstrated, that if JESUS had shewed himself to his enemies, and to all the people in general, these appearances, instead of putting the truth of his resurrection beyond all doubt would have weakened the evidence of it, at least in after-ages; and conse quently, have been of infinite prejudice to mankind for upon the supposition that our blessed Saviour had shewed himself openly, one of these two things must necessarily have happend; either his enemies, submitting to the evidence of their senses, would have believed his resurrection, or, resisting that evidence, they would reject it altogether. We shall begin with taking the latter into consideration.

It is very evident, that those enemies of the great Redeemer of mankind who resisted the evidence of their senses, or who though really convinced, would not acknowledge their conviction, must have justified their disbelief by affirming that the person who appeared to them, as risen from the dead was not JESUS whom the Roman governor had crucified, but an impostor who personated him. On any other foundation their infidelity would have been ridiculous and absurd; but, if the unbelieving Jews, by our Lord's appearing personally to them, would have been laid under a necessity of denying the reality of his resurrection, even though persuaded of it in their own minds, the evidence of fact could have gained nothing by such public appearances; because the generality of the Jews were not capable of pas sing a judgment upon the falsehood which CHRIST's enemies must have made use of to support their denial of his resurrection; being unacquainted with JESUS, they could not certainly tell whether he was really the very person whom the Romans had crucified. His apostles, disciples, and acquaintance, who, by their long attendance on him, knew his stature, shape, air, voice, and manner, were the only proper persons by whose determination the point in dispute could be decided; consequently, if our Lord had appeared to all the people, if any considerable number of his enemies had continued in their infidelity, the whole stress of the evidence of his resurrection must have rested on the evidence of the very persons who according to the plan pitched upon by Providence bear witness to it now, and upon whose testimony the world has believed it: so that, instead of gaining an additional evidence, by the proposed method of shewing Jesus publicly to all the people, we should have had nothing to trust too but the testimony of his disciples, and that clogged with this incumbrance, that his resurrection was denied by many to whom he appeared, and who were not convinced by the testimony of their senses.

In the second place, it may be supposed that in case our blessed Saviour had shewed himself publicly, the whole nation of the Jews must have be