Q. Have we any other testimony to the truth of the ascension?

A. Yes. Immediately after our Saviour was taken up out of his Disciples' sight, two angels appeared to them, and said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven "."

b

Q. Have we any further proof?

A." It is expedient for you," said Christ to his Disciples, that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." We conclude then that he did go unto his Father, because the Comforter was sent, as at the day of Pentecost d.

Q. Was the ascension of Christ typified or foretold?

A. It was both typified and foretold. The High Priest of the Jews, who once a year entered into the holy of holies to make atonement for the sins of the people, was a type of Christ, "who being come an High Priest of good things to come, neither by the blood of goats nor of calves, but by his own blood, entered in once into

Acts i. 10, 11. See Witsius' Dissertations, xx. 25—31.
John xvi. 7. xv. 26. d. Acts ii. 4. • 1 Pet. i. 11.

the holy place, even into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."

The ascension was foretold by the royal Psalmist, Psalm lxvii. 18, as appears from Eph. iv. 18. It was foretold also by Dan. vii. 13.; and by Christ himself, John xx. 17.

Q. When did our Saviour ascend into heaven? A. After forty days, from the time of his resurrection".

Q. Why did not our Saviour ascend immediately after his resurrection?

A. He remained with his faithful followers for a season, in order to open their minds, and enlighten their understandings, instructing them in the knowledge of the Scriptures concerning him; explaining to them the fulfilment of the various prophecies relative to his divine mission, and thus fitting them to instruct others. He continued with them also for the purpose of inspiring them with courage and resolution to undertake the publication of his name throughout the world, notwithstanding the persecutions and afflictions which they knew must inevitably await them. He continued too, that by his various appearances to the faithful at different times and places, he might render the fact of his re

'Heb. ix. 11. 24. Lev. xvi. 29.

Acts i. 3.

surrection as indubitable as the fact of his birth, or life, or death.

Q. Is Christ the only one who ever visibly ascended into heaven in a miraculous manner?

A. No. "Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him "." Elijah also was carried up into heaven in the sight of Elisha '.

Q. Do these instances take off from the preeminent glory of Christ's ascension?

A. By no means. Enoch and Elijah were only types of Christ; and every fresh instance of the grand system of preparation adopted by the Almighty, only tends to raise our ideas of his importance, in whom all types and prophecies were to centre, and by whom all were to be fulfilled.

Q. Are there not several different acceptations of the word heaven?

A. Yes: sometimes heaven is put for the atmosphere which surrounds the earth. Sometimes for the expanse in which the planets and other heavenly bodies perform their various revolutions'. Sometimes for the heaven of hea

vens, or highest heaven, in which we suppose the throne of the Almighty to be fixed, and where we imagine his more immediate presence to be vouchsafed to the angelic host ".

Q. In which of these senses is the word "heaven" used, when applied to the ascension of our Saviour?

St.

A. It is used in the most exalted sense. Paul says, "We have a High Priest that is passed into the heavens,” (διεληλυθοτα τους ουραvove), that is, through the first and second heavens, into the heaven of heavens. And

again he says, Christ is entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." And further, "He ascended up far above all heavens, (i. e. all the stars of heaven), that he might fill all things "."

Q. Quote Bishop Pearson's words on this subject?

A. The Bishop says, "Whatsoever heaven is higher than all the rest which are called heavens; whatsoever sanctuary is holier than all which are called holies; whatsoever place is of greatest dignity in all those courts above, into that place did he ascend, where in the splendour of

m 1 Kings xxii. Matt. v. 46. xxii. 30. Rom. i. 18.

"Heb. iv. 14. vii. 26. ix. 24. Eph. iv. 10. Vide Poli Synops. in loc.; and Bp. Newton, Dissert. lx., on the final state and condition of men.

his deity he was, before he took upon him our humanity"."

Q. Since we profess that Christ was one with God, and was God, and therefore must acknowledge that he was in heaven and earth, and filled all space at all times; how can we say that he went up into heaven at a particular time?

A. When we speak of the divine nature of our Saviour as distinguished from his human body, we say his attribute is ubiquity. But when we speak of Christ generally, as we do for the most part, without making any distinction, we mean the Son of God, who took upon him our nature, of a human body and soul subsisting; and thus constituted, Christ did not ascend into heaven till forty days after his death P.

Q. Is not the doctrine of the ascension eminently calculated to fill the pious Christian with fervent and animating hope?

A. Full of hope he now looketh unto " Jesus, the Author and Finisher of his faith." His hope is" as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the temple, whither the forerunner is for us entered,

• Pearson on the Creed, Art. vi. p. 409.

Sherlock's Discourses, vol. iv. disc. 1. part iv. p. 54. King Edward the Sixth's Catechism, in Enchir. Theol. Qu. "Christ's Ascension," p. 18.