These things had been foretold by Moses and the prophets. Jesus Christ, which unto you: Acts 533 and you may be delivered from the heavy bur- SECT. den of your guilt; that seasons of sacred refresh- vii. ment and delight may come upon you from the 20 And he shall send presence of the Lord. And that in conse-111. 20. before was preached quence of your complying with this important counsel, you may not only be received to all the joys of a state of pardon and divine acceptance, but he may at length send unto you this Jesus Christ who was so long before appointed by God to this blessed purpose, and represented and proclaimed under such a variety of symbols as the great Saviour of lost sinners; that having triumphed over all his enemies, and accomplished all the prophecies as to the prosperity and glory of his church on earth, he may finally receive you and all his faithful servants to com ven must receive, un 21 Whom the hea- plete and eternal happiness above. Submit 21 til the times of resti- yourselves this day then to this glorious Retution of all things, deemer, whom you must not indeed expect, as which God hath spo- immediately to appear in person among you; ken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, for heaven must continue to receive and retain since the world began. him, till the long expected and happy times of the regulation of all things, that is, till the great appointed day, when God will rectify all the seeming irregularities of his present dispensations, and make the cause of righteousness and truth for ever triumphant and glorious: Concerning, which [great events,] (that is, that such a Saviour f Before appointed.] Instead of aponevor, before preached, I here follow Beza in reading προκεχειρισμένον as Tertul lian and several of the fathers quote it, and the Alexandrian and several other valuable manuscripts and ancient versions likewise have it; and then up must (as in this version) be referred to anogun, shall send to you, &c. e That seasons of refreshment may come, sure, since I wrote this, to find that the &c.] So it is that Tertullian, Luther, learned Vitringa agrees with me in this Heinsius, Lightfoot, De Dieu, and Raphe- interpretation. Vitring. Observ. Sacr lib. lius, (ex Herod, p. 329.) I think very v. cap. 6, § 14. reasonably, render the words ow; cev hy, &c. as the same phrase is used, Luke ii. 35. όπως αν αποκαλυφθωσιν, &c. that the thoughts may be revealed; and Mat. vi. 5. oпws av pavart, that they may be seen. (See also Acts xv. 17. and Rom. iii. 4.Erasmus and Piscator render it, Seeing times of refreshment are come; and Beza, After that, or when they shall come: But the authorities produced in favour of this version seem not sufficient to justify it; nor was the blotting out the sins of penitents deferred to any distant time. Divine refreshment would no doubt, immediately mingle itself with a sense of pardon, and eternal happiness, would certainly at length succeed; but the following clause seems to intimate, that Peter apprehended the conversion of the Jeres, as a people, would be attended with some extraordinary scene of prosperity and joy, and open a speedy way to Christ's descent from heaven, in order to the restitution of all things. I have the plea g The regulation of all things.] This animalagang may so well be explained of regulating the present disorders in the moral world, and the seeming inequalities of providential dispensations, that it is surprising to find Dr. Thomas Burnet, Mr. Whiston, and other learned writers, urging it for such a restoration of the paradisaical state of the earth, as they on their different hypotheses have ventured to assert, without any clear warrant from Scripture, and amidst a thousand difficulties which clog our conceptions of it. (Compare note k on Mat. xvii. 11. p. 474. hFrom -534 vii. The prophecy of Moses concerning Chri st. SECT. Saviour should be raised up, and should at length be fixed in universal dominion, and the Acts like, God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy 1.21. prophets from the beginning of time. 22 For Moses truly said unto the Fathers, 22 For Moses, the first of these prophets whose unto to pass, that not hear that prophet, 24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, 23 soever he shall say unto you: And it shall come 23 And it shall 25 Let us now, therefore, solemnly intreat you to h From the beginning of time.] See note b on Luke i. 70. Vol. VI. p. 47. i Moses said to the fathers.] This quotation from Deut. xviii. 15. & seq. docs in its primary sense refer to the Messiah, as Dr. Bullock and Mr. Jeffery have excellently shewn; he being, like Moses, not only a prophet, but a saviour, and a lawgiver too. On this scripture does Limborch chiefly build in that noble controversy of his with Orobio, most justly called Amica Collatio cum erudito Jude, which not only contains a variety of beautiful, and some of them very uncommon arguments, but is also on both sides so fine a model of a genteel and amicable manner of debating the most momentous question, as it would have been much for the credit of their religion and of themselves, if all other advocates for Christianity had followed. Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho is written with much of the same decent spirit, though by no means with equal compass and solidity of thought. k Shall be cut off from among the people.] One cannot imagine a more masterly address than this, to warn the Jews of the coming after, as many as have foretold of these days. spoken have likewise 25 Ye are the child ren dreadful consequence of their infidelity, in the very words of Moses, their favourite prophet, out of a pretended zeal for whom they were ready to reject Christianity, and to attempt its destruction, See above, sect. 4. note k. p. 519. As All the prophets from Samuel.] Samuel is the earliest prophet next to Moses, whose writings are come down to us, and as the books which go under his name, and were probably begun by his pen, speak very expressly of the Messiah, 1 Sam. ii 10. 2 Sam. xxiii. 3-5) nothing can be more unnecesary, and hardly any thing more unnatural, than to draw an argument from this passage to support the notion of Samuel's being the author of the Pentateuch which many texts in the Old and New Testament seem most directly to contradict. See Lord Barrington's Essay on Var. Disten. sat. Appendix, No. ii. It would be trifling to argue from this expression of all the prophets, that every one of them, and partilarly Jonah and Obadiah, must have said somewhat of the Messiah. It is abundantly sufficient, that it is true of the prophets in general. n To 1 As children of the covenant, Jesus was first sent to them. and of the covenant Our in thy seed shall all earth be blessed. 535 vii. Acts ren of the prophets, coming manner: for you have peculiar obli- SECT. which God made with gations to do it, as you are the children of the fathers, saying prophets, and of the covenant which God constituunto Abraham, And ted of old with our fathers, saying to Abraham 111. 25. the kindreds of the again and again, (Gen. xii. 3. xviii. 18. xxii. 18.) "And in thy seed shall all the families of the 26 Unto you first earth be blessed." And accordingly this 26 God having raised up Messiah who was promised as so extensive and his son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in universal a blessing, has sprung from him; and turning away every to you first", God having raised up his child one of you from his Jesus, from the loins of this pious patriarch, iniquities. has sent him with ample demonstrations of his divine mission, lately in his own person, and now by our ministry and the effusion of his Spirit, to offer pardon and salvation to you, and to bless you, every one of you turning from your iniquities ; in which, though by profession you are God's people, you have been so long indulging yourselves; nor are the vilest and most aggravated sinners among you excepted from the grace of such an invitation. Let it therefore be your most solicitous care, that this gracious message may not be addressed to you in vain. IMPROVEMENT. HAPPY the minister whose heart is thus intent upon all oppor- Ver. tunities of doing good, as these holy apostles were! Happy that 12 faithful servant, who, like them, arrogates nothing to himself, but centres the praise of all in him who is the great source from whom every good and perfect gift proceeds! Happy the man who 13 is himself willing to be forgotten and overlooked, that God may be remembered and owned He, like this wise master builder, will lay 15 the foundation deep in a sense of sin, and will charge it with all its aggravations on the sinner, that he may thereby render the tidings of a Saviour welcome; which they can never be till this burden has been felt. Yet will he, like Peter, conduct the charge with To you first.] Accordingly the gospel was (by the astonishing grace of our blessed Redeemer) every where offered first to the Jews. Had it been otherwise, humanly speaking, many who were converted in this method might have been exasperated and lost. n Every one of you turning from your iniquities.] That is, All those of you that turn from sin, shall be intitled to his blessing. This, which is just equivalent to Beza's, seems a natural version of the words And I choose y Tw Top pay 50%, &c. 536 The Priests and Sadducees lay hold on Peter and John. SECT. with tenderness and respect, and be cautious not to overload even the greatest offender. vii. Ver. We see the absolute necessity of repentance, which therefore is 19 to be solemnly charged upon the consciences of all who desire that their sins may be blotted out of the book of God's remembrance, and that they may share in that refreshment which nothing but the sense of his pardoning love can afford. Blessed souls are they who have experienced it; for they may look upon all their present comforts as the dawning of eternal glory; and having seen 20, 21 Christ with an eye of faith, and received that important cure, which nothing but his powerful and gracious name can effect, may be assured that God will send him again to complete the work he has so graciously begun, and to reduce the seeming irregu larities of the present state into everlasting harmony, order, and beauty. 18 In the mean time, let us adore the wisdom of his providence, and the fidelity of his grace, which has over-ruled the folly and wickedness of men, to subserve his own holy purposes, and has 22 accomplished the promises so long since made of a prophet to be raised up to Israel like Moses, and indeed gloriously superior to him, both in the dignity of his character and office, and in the 26 great salvation he was sent to procure.-This salvation was first offered to Israel, which had rendered itself so peculiarly unworthy 15 by killing the Prince of life. Let us rejoice that it is now published to us, and that God has condescended to send his Son to bless us sinners of the Gentiles, in turning us from our iniquities. Let us view this salvation in its true light, and remember that if we are not willing to turn from iniquity, from all iniquity, from those iniquities that have been peculiarly our own, it is impossible we should have any share in it. SECT. viii. Acts SECT. VIII. The two apostles being seized by order of the Sanhedrim, and examined by them, courageously declare their resolution of going on to preach in the name of Jesus, notwithstanding their severest threatnings. Acts IV. 1-22. ACTS IV. 1. THUS it was that Peter and John improved the opportunity of addressing themselves to the multitude, who had assembled in the temple IV. 1. (as we have seen before) upon occasion of the miraculous cure of the lame man; and while they were thus speaking to the people, a considerable number of the priests came upon them; and The number of believers increased about five thousand. 2 Being grieved that they taught the people, Jesus the resurrection and preached through from the dead. 537 viii. and with the priests there came the captain of the SECT. temple, that is, the person who commanded the guard of Levites then in waiting; and the Sad- Acts ducees also joined with them: For this sect IV. 2. of men were greatly exasperated against the apostles, being peculiarly grieved that they taught the people in the name of that Jesus whom they had so lately put to death, and especially that they preached the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, as exemplified and demonstrated in [the person of] Jesus; whose recovered life had so direct a tendency to overthrow the whole system of the Sadducean tenets, which denied every thing of that kind, yea even the existence of the soul after death, and any future account of the actions of life. (Compare Acts xxiii. 8.) And therefore, that they might 3 prevent their preaching any more, they laid to the next day for it violent hands upon Peter and John, and scized them as seditious persons, who were labouring to incense the populace against the conduct of their governors; And they committed them into custody until the next day, that when the Sanhedrin met at the usual hour they might consult what it was proper to do with them; for it was now late in the evening, and was no fit season to have them examined. 3 And they laid bands on them, and put them in hold un was now even-tide. men 4 Howbeit many of But in the mean time, the disciples had the them which heard the satisfaction to see, that the apostles had not laword, believed; and the number of the boured in vain; for many of those, who had heard was about five the word preached by them, believed; and the number of the men became about five thousand, including those who had been converted before, and still attended on the instructions of the apostles. thousand. a The captain of the temple.] See note e en Luke xxii. 52, p. 358. b It was now late in the evening ] As Peter and John went up to the temple at three in the afternoon, this expression makes it probable, some hours might be spent in preaching to the people, and consequently, that what we have in the former chapter is only an abstract or specimen of the discourses they held on this occasion; which I suppose is generally the case, as to the speeches recorded by the sacred historians, as well as others. c The number-became about five thousand, &c.] Dr. Benson concludes, that five thousand were converted on this occasion, besides the three thousand mentioned before, (chap. , 41.) Had it been said, as there, that so And many were added to the church, it had determined the sense to be, as he and others understand it : (Sec Lightfoot and Whitby in loc.) But I think the use of the word yvnen here, (whereas is used chap. i. 15.) favours the interpretation have preferred. It is hardly to be thought, (unless it were expressly asserted) that another day should be so much more remarkable for its number of concerts, than that on which the Spirit descended. And, as for any argument drawn from the probabilty of more than five thousand being converted in a year's time, I must observe, that I see no proof at all, that this event was a year, or even a month after the descent of the Spirit: nay, I rather think it highly improbable the Sanhedrim should suffer the apostles to go on 4 |