“Oh! rise, and ‘watching daily,’ ask Him your lamps to trim, With the fresh oil which He giveth, that they may not burn dim. Yes, rise and shine for Jesus! Be brave, and bright and true, To the true and loving Saviour, who gave Himself for you. Oh! shine for Jesus, children! and henceforth be your way Bright with the light that shineth unto the perfect day!” THE ASCENSION We come now to the last event in the history of our Saviour’s life on earth. His work is done. His teachings are finished. His sufferings are ended. Nothing remains for him to do but to return to heaven, from whence he came, and take his seat at the right hand of God. And this is the subject we are now to consider—_The Ascension of Christ_. And in considering it, the first thing for us to notice is—_the time of the Ascension_. And in all the New Testament there is only one place in which anything is said about the time of the ascension. Indeed it is surprising that so little is said about it altogether. Two of the gospels, that of St. Matthew and St. John, have not a word to say on the subject. And the other two do not say much. All that St. Mark says about it is in a single verse. We read thus in Chap. xvi: 19:—“So, then, after that the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.” There are two verses in St. Luke in which the ascension is spoken of. In Ch. xxiv: 50, 51, we find the ascension thus described: “And 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.” The most particular account of the ascension that we have in the New Testament is given in the “Acts of the Apostles.” In the first chapter of this book we are told that the ascension took place “forty days after the resurrection.” We are told of the “many infallible proofs” that he had risen, and how he spoke to them “of the things pertaining to the kingdom of heaven.” And he “commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem,” until they should “be baptized with the Holy Ghost,” which was to take place “not many days” after his ascension. “Ye shall receive power,” said he, “after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Then he told them how “they should be witnesses for him, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” And then we read about the two angels who appeared to the disciples and told them that “this same Jesus, which was taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, in like manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven.”