ARTICLE 6


_He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of
God the Father Almighty_


Forty days after His resurrection Jesus charged the Apostles, in the
last words He is known to have spoken on earth, to testify of Him
throughout the world, and assured them that they should receive power
through the descent of the Holy Spirit. This last-recorded utterance
called His Church to missionary enterprise: "Ye shall be witnesses unto
me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth."[140] It is when believers in Christ are
faithful in the performance of this duty that fulfilment of the promise
may be confidently looked for, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world."[141]

We are told that, when Jesus had spoken these things, "He led them out
as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And
it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and
carried up into heaven."[142]

Ascension is the completion of Resurrection. "If he were on earth," says
the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, "he should not be a
priest."[143] No part of His work would have corresponded to that of the
high priest, who, when he had offered up sacrifice, passed into the holy
place with the blood of the victim, and laid it upon the altar. The act