ARTICLE VI - CHAPTER I
He ascended into Heaven.
1. This article hath received no variation, but only in the addition
of the name of God, and the attribute Almighty; the ancients using it briefly
thus, He ascended into heaven, sitteth on the right hand of the Father.
It containeth two distinct parts: one transient, the other permanent: one
as the way, the other as the end. The first is Christ’s ascension,
the second is his session.
2. In the ascension of Christ these words of the CREED propound to us
three considerations, and no more: the first of the person, He; the second
of the action, ascended; the third of the termination, into heaven.
Now the person being perfectly the same which we have considered in the
precedent articles, he will afford no different speculation but only in
conjunction with this particular action. Wherefore I conceive these
three things necessary and sufficient for the illustration of Christ’s
ascension: first, to show that the promised Messias was to ascend into
heaven; secondly, to prove that our Jesus, whom we believe to be the true
Messias, did really and truly ascend thither; thirdly, to declare what
that heaven is into which he did ascend.
3. That the promised Messias should ascend into heaven, hath been represented
typically and declared prophetically. The high priest under the law
was an express type of Messias and his priestly office; the atonement which
he made was the representation of the propitiation in Christ for the sins
of the world: for the making this atonement the high priest was appointed
once every year to enter into the holy of holies, and no oftener.
For “the Lord said unto Moses, speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come
not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy-seat,
which is upon the ark, that he die not.” [Lev. 16:2] None entered
into that holy place but the high]priest alone, and he himself could enter
thither but once in the year; and thereby showed that the “high-priest
of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not
made with hands, was to enter into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us.” [Heb. 9:11, 12] The Jews did all believe that
the tabernacle did signify this world, and the holy of holies the highest
heavens; [Josephus, Jud. Antiq. lib. iii. cap. 8] wherefore as the
high-priest did slay the sacrifice, and with the blood thereof did pass
through the rest of the tabernacle, and with that blood enter into the
holy of holies, so was the Messias here to offer up himself, and being
slain, to pass through all the courts of this world below, and with his
blood to enter into the highest heavens, the most glorious seat of the
majesty of God. Thus Christ’s ascension was represented typically.
4. The same ascension was also declared prophetically, as we read in
the prophet David, “Thou has ascended up on high, thou hast led captivity
captive, thou hast received gifts for men:” [Ps 68:18] which phrase on
high in the language of David signifying heaven, could be applied properly
to no other conqueror but the Messias; not to Moses, not to David, not
to Joshua, not to any but the Christ. who was to conquer sin, and death,
and hell, and triumphing over them to ascend unto the highest heaven, and
thence to send the precious and glorious gifts of the Spirit unto the sons
of men. The prophecy of Micah did foretell as much, even in the opinion
and confession of the Jews themselves, by those words, “The breaker is
come up before them: they have broken up and have passed through the gate
and are gone out by it; and their king shall pass before them, and the
Lord at the head of them.” And thus Christ’s ascension was declared
prophetically as well as typically; which was our first consideration.
5. Secondly, whatsoever was thus represented and foretold of the promised
Messias, was truly and really performed by our Jesus. That only-begotten
and eternal Son of God, who by his divinity was present in the heavens
while he was on earth, did by a local translation of his human nature really
and truly ascend from this earth below on which he lived, into the heavens
above, or rather above all the heavens, in the same body and the soul with
which he lived and died and rose again.
6. The ascent of Christ into heaven was not metaphorical or figurative,
as if there were no more to be understood by it but only that he obtained
a more heavenly and glorious state or condition after his resurrection.
For whatsoever alteration was made in the body of Christ when he rose,
whatsoever glorious qualities it was invested with thereby, that was not
his ascension, as appeareth by those words which he spake to Mary, “Touch
me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” [John 20:17] Although
he had said before to Nicodemus, “No man ascended up to heaven, but he
that come down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven;” [John
3:13] which words imply that he had then ascended: yet even those
concern not this ascension. For that was therefore only true, because
the Son of man, not yet conceived in the Virgin’s womb, was not in heaven,
and after his conception by virtue of the hypostatical union was in heaven;
from whence, speaking after the manner of men, he might well say that the
had ascended into heaven, because whatsoever was first on earth and then
in heaven, we say ascended into heaven. Wherefore beside that grounded
upon the hypostatical union, beside that glorious condition upon his resurrection,
there was yet another and that more proper ascension; for after he had
both those ways ascended, it was still true that he had not yet ascended
to his Father.
Now this kind of ascension, by which Christ had not yet ascended when
he spake to Mary after his resurrection, was not after to be performed;
for at the same time he said unto Mary, “Go to my brethren, and say unto
them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father.” [John 20:17] And
when this ascension was performed, it appeared manifestly to be a true
local translation of the Son of man as man from these parts of the world
below into the heavens above, by which that body which was before locally
present here on earth, and was not so then present in heaven, became substantially
present in heaven, and no longer locally present in earth. For “when
he had spoken unto the disciples, and blessed them, laying his hands upon
them,” and so was corporally present with them, even “while he blessed
them he parted from them, and while they beheld, he was taken up, and a
cloud received him out of their sight,” and so he was “carried up into
heaven, while they looked stedfastly towards heaven as he went up.” [Luke
24:50, 51; Acts 1:9, 10] This was a visible departure, as it is described,
a real removing of that body of Christ which was before present with the
apostles, and that body living after the resurrection, by virtue of that
soul which was united to it; and therefore the Son of God according to
his humanity was really and truly translated from these parts below unto
the heavens above, which is a proper local ascension.
7. Thus was Christ’s ascension visibly performed in the presence and
sight of the apostles, for the confirmation of the reality and the certainty
thereof. They did not see him when he rose, but they saw him when
he ascended; because an eye-witness was not necessary unto the act of his
resurrection, but it was necessary unto the act of his ascension. [Chrysostom
Hom. 2 in Act. Apost.] It was sufficient that Christ showed himself
to the apostles “alive after his passion;” [Acts 1:3] for being they knew
him before to be dead, and now saw him alive, they were thereby assured
that he rose again: for whatsoever was a proof of his life after death,
was a demonstration of his resurrection. But being the apostles were
not to see our Saviour in heaven, being the session was not to be visible
to them on earth, therefore it was necessary they should be eye-witnesses
of the act who were not with the same eyes to behold the effect.
8. Beside the eye-witness of the apostles, there was added the testimony
of the angels; those blessed spirits which ministered before, and saw the
face of God in heaven, and came down from thence, did know that Christ
ascended up from hence unto that place from whence they came: and because
the eyes of the apostles could not follow him so far, the inhabitants of
that place did come to testify of his reception; [Acts 1:3] for “behold
two men stood by them in white apparel, which also 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.” [Acts 1:10, 11] We must, therefore, acknowledge and confess
against all the wild heresies of old, that the eternal Son of God who died
and rose again, did with the same body and soul with which he died and
rose ascend up to heaven; which was the second particular considerable
in this article.
9. Thirdly, being the name of heaven admitteth divers acceptions in
the sacred scriptures, it will be necessary to inquire what is the true
notion of it in this article, and what was the proper termination of Christ’s
ascension. In some sense it might be truly said Christ was in heaven
before the cloud took him out of the apostles’ sight, for the clouds themselves
are called the clouds of heaven: [Dan. 7:13] but that heaven is the first;
and our Saviour certainly ascended at least as far as St. Paul was caught
up, that is, into the third heaven; [2 Cor. 12:2] for “we have a great
High-priest that is passed through the heavens.” [Heb. 4:14] And
needs must he pass through the heavens, because he was “made higher than
the heavens:” [Heb. 7:26] for “he that descended is the same also that
ascended up far above all heavens.” [Eph 4:10] When, therefore, Christ
is said to have ascended into heaven, we must take that word as signifying
as much as the heaven of heavens, and so Christ is ascended through and
above the heavens, and yet is still in heaven: for he is “entered into
that within the veil,” [Heb. 6:19] there is his passage through the heavens;
“into the holy place, even into heaven itself, to appear in the presence
of God,” [Heb. 9:12, 24] this is the heaven of heavens. For “thus
said the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool;”
[Isa. 66:1] and as Christ descended unto the footstool of his Father in
his humiliation, so he ascended unto the throne of his Father in his exaltation.
This was the place of which our Saviour spake to his disciples, “What and
if you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?” [John 6:62]
Had he been there before in body, it had been no such wonder that he should
have ascended thither again: but that his body should ascend unto that
place where the majesty of God was most resplendent; that the flesh of
our flesh, and bone of our bone, should be seated far above all angels
and archangels, all principalities and powers, even at the right hand of
God; this was that which Christ propounded as worthy of their greatest
admiration. Whatsoever heaven then 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 his deity he was
before he took upon him our humanity.
10. As therefore, when we say Christ ascended, we understand a literal
and local ascent, not of his divinity (which possesseth all places, and
therefore being everywhere is not subject to the imperfection of removing
any whither), but of his humanity, which was so in one place that it was
not in another; so when we say the place into which he ascended was heaven,
and from the expositions of the apostles must understand thereby the heaven
of heavens or the highest heaven, it followeth that we believe the body
with the soul of Christ to have passed far above all those celestial bodies
which we see, and to look upon that opinion as a low conceit which left
his body in the sun.
11. It was necessary to profess this article of Christ’s ascension,
first for the confirmation and augmentation of our faith. Our faith
is thereby confirmed, in that we believe in him who is received unto the
Father, and therefore certainly came form the Father; his Father sent him
and we have received the message from him, and are assured that it is the
same message which he was sent to deliver, because he is so highly rewarded
by him that sent him for delivering it. Our faith is thereby exalted
and augmented, as being the “evidence of things not seen.” [Heb. 11:1]
The further the object is removed from us, the more of faith hath that
act which embraceth it: [Leo and Augustine] Christ said unto Thomas, “because
thou hast seen me thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen,
and yet have believed:” [John 20:29] and that blessedness by his ascension
he hath left to the whole church. Thus Christ ascended is the ground
and glory of our faith; and by virtue of his being in heaven our belief
is both encouraged and commended; for his ascent is the cause, and his
absence the crown of our faith; because he ascended we the more believe,
and because we believe in him who hath ascended, our faith is the more
accepted.
12. Secondly, it is necessary to believe the ascension of Christ for
the corroboration of our hope. We could never expect our dust and
ashes should ascend the heavens; but being our nature hath gone before
in him, we can now hope to follow after him. He is our head, and
where that is the members may expect admission; for in so great and intimate
an union there is no fear of separation or exclusion. “There are
many mansions in [his] Father’s house.” [John 14:2] And when he spake
of ascending thither, he said expressly to his disciples, “I go to prepare
a place for you, and will come again, and receive you unto myself, that
where I am there ye may be also.” [14:3] The first-fruits of our
nature are ascended, and the rest is sanctified. [Chrysostom] “This
is the new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil,
that is to say, his flesh.” [Heb. 10:20] And hence we “have our hope
as an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast, which entereth into that
within the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered.” [Heb. 6:19,
20] For if Christ in his ascension be the forerunner, then are there
some to follow after; and not only so, but they which follow are to go
in the same way, and to attain unto the same place: and if this forerunner
be entered for us, then we are they which are to follow and to overtake
him there; as being of the same nature, members of the same body, branches
of the same vine, and therefore he went thither before us as the first-fruits
before those that follow, and we hope to follow him as coming late to the
same perfection. As, therefore “God hath quickened us together with
Christ, and hath raised us up together” by virtue of his resurrection,
so hath he also “made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”
by virtue of his ascension. [Eph. 2:5, 6] We are already seated there
in him, and hereafter shall be seated by him; in him already as in our
head, which is the ground of our hope; by him hereafter, as by the cause
conferring, when hope shall be swallowed up into fruition.
13. Thirdly, the profession of faith in Christ ascended, is necessary
for the exaltation of our affection. “For where our treasure is,
there will our hearts be also.” [Matt. 6:21] “If I be lifted up from
the earth, I will draw all men unto me” saith our Saviour; [John 12:32]
and if those words were true of his crucifixion, how powerful ought they
to be in reference to his ascension? “When the Lord would take up
Elijah into heaven, Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy
soul liveth, I will not leave thee;” [2 Kings 2:1, 2] when Christ is ascended
up on high, we must follow him with the wings of our meditations and with
the chariots of our affections. “If we be risen with Christ, we must
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand
of God.” If we be dead, and our “Life hid in Christ with God, we must set
our affection on things above, not on things on earth.” [Col. 3:1-3]
Christ is ascended into heaven to teach us that we are strangers and pilgrims
here, as all our fathers were, and that another country belongs unto us:
from whence we, as strangers and pilgrims, should learn to “abstain from
fleshly lusts,” [1 Pet. 2:11] and not “mind earthly things;” as knowing
that we are “citizens of heaven from whence we look for our Saviour, the
Lord Jesus;” [Phil. 3:19, 20] yea, “fellow citizens with the saints, and
of the household of God.” [Eph 2:19] We should trample upon our sins,
and subdue the lusts of the flesh, that our conversation may be correspondent
to our Saviour’s condition; that where the eyes of the apostles were forced
to leave him, thither our thoughts may follow him.
14. Fourthly, the ascension of Christ is a necessary article of the
CREED in respect of those great effects which immediately were to follow
it, and did absolutely depend upon it. The blessed apostles had never
preached the gospel, had they not been indued with power from above; but
none of that power had they received if the Holy Ghost in a miraculous
manner had not descended: and the Holy Ghost had not come down, except
our Saviour had ascended first. For he himself, when he was to depart
from his disciples, grounded the necessity of his departure upon the certainty
of this truth, saying, “If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto
you, but if I depart I will send him unto you.” [John 16:7] Now if
all depend upon the certain information which the apostles had, and those
apostles appear to be no way infallible till the cloven tongues had sat
upon them, it was first absolutely necessary that the Holy Ghost should
so descend. Again being it was impossible that the Spirit of God
in that manner should come down, until the Son of God had ascended into
heaven; being it was not fit that the second advocate should officiate
on earth, till the first advocate had entered upon his office in heaven;
therefore in respect of this great work the Son of God must necessarily
ascend, and in reference to that necessity we may well be obliged to confess
that ascension.
15. Upon these considerations we may easily conclude what every Christian
is obliged to confess in those words of our CREED, “He ascended into heaven:”
for thereby he is understood to express thus much, I am fully persuaded
that the only-begotten and eternal Son of God, after he rose from the dead,
did with the same soul and body with which he rose, by a true and local
translation, convey himself from the earth on which he lived, through all
the regions of the air, through all the celestial orbs, until he came unto
the heaven of heavens, the most glorious presence of the majesty of God.
And thus I believe in “Jesus Christ who ascended into heaven.”
[For the next chapter, "And sitteth on the right hand of God the
Father Almighty"
click here.]
