Acts 13:27

- A revelation of the Divine will was made to some person then present; probably to either Simeon, or Lucius, or Manaen, mentioned before. Separate me Barnabas and Saul - Consecrate, or set them apart, for the particular work whereunto I have called them. How this was done, we find in the next verse. Verse 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them - 1. They fasted: this was probably done by the whole Church. 2. They prayed, that God would bless and prosper them in their work. 3. They land hands upon them; thus solemnly appointing them to that particular work. But was it by this fasting, praying, and imposition of hands that these men were qualified for this work? No. God had already called them to it, Act 13:2 , and he who called them had qualified them. Both their call and their qualification came from God; but he chose that they should have also the sanction of that Church of which they had been members; and therefore he said, Separate me, etc. The ordination of elders among the Jews was by three persons; and here we find three, Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen, ordaining two others, Barnabas and Saul. But how did the Jews ordain? Not by imposition of hands: this is strictly forbidden, see Maimon. Sanh. chap. 4. "After what manner is the ordaining of elders for ever? Not that they should lay their hands on the head of an elder; but only that they should call him Rabbi, and say to him, Behold, thou art ordained, and hast power of judging, etc." It is remarkable that the imposition of hands in the ordaining of elders was not used among the ancient Jews, probably never under the first temple; and rarely, if ever, under the second. See Lightfoot on this place. The Church at Antioch, however, did depart from this custom: they put their hands on the heads of Barnabas and Saul; thus designating them to be the persons whom they, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, sent to preach the Gospel of Christ to the heathen. When the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them, and the elders of the Church, in consequence, prayed, fasted, and laid their hands upon them, they certainly understood that by acting thus they fulfilled the mind of the Spirit. Hence, is it not evident that, when the elders of the Church of God have good reason to believe that He has called certain persons to the work of the ministry, and qualified them for that work, they should proceed as the elders of the Church of Antioch did; and by fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands, separate those persons for the work whereunto God has called them. Such persons will consider themselves accountable to God and his Church, and should take care how they use the gift and authority received from both. Is it not being wise above what is written to say, "When God has called and given authority, there is no need of ordination or appointment from man?" I would just ask the objector, Why, then, when God had called Barnabas and Saul to the work, did he command the Church to separate them to him for that very work? And why did they, in obedience, fast, pray, and lay hands upon them? I shall dispute with no man about the superior excellence of the episcopal or presbyterian form in ordination: if all the preliminaries be right, they may be both equally good, for all that I have ever been able to learn to the contrary; but that there should be some proper scriptural form attended to, I am fully satisfied. Besides, if the plan of the Church at Antioch were regularly and faithfully followed, in sending forth the ministers of the Gospel, no man can prove that God would not own them in an especial manner, and more particularly prosper their work. But, O ye rulers of the Church! be careful, as ye shall answer it to God, never to lay hands on the head of a man whom ye have not just reason to believe God has called to the work; and whose eye is single, and whose heart is pure. Let none be sent to teach Christianity, who have not experienced it to be the power of God to the salvation of their own souls. If ye do, though they have your authority, they never can have the blessing nor the approbation of God. "I sent them not: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord." Jer 23:32 . Verse 4 Being sent forth by the Holy Ghost - By his influence, authority, and under his continual direction. Without the first, they were not qualified to go; without the second, they had no authority to go; and without the third, they could not know where to go. Departed, unto Seleucia - This is generally understood to be Seleucia of Pieria, the first city on the coast of Syria, coming from Cilicia; near the place where the river Orontes pours itself into the sea. They sailed to Cyprus - A well known island in the Mediterranean Sea. See on Act 4:36 (note). Verse 5 Salamis - The capital of the island of Cyprus; afterwards called Constantia, and now Salina, situated on the eastern part of the island. They preached the word of God - Τον λογον, The doctrine of God, the Christian religion, emphatically so called. They had also John to their minister - This was John Mark, of whom we heard, Act 12:25 ; for their minister, ὑπηρετην, to assist them in minor offices, as deacon or servant, that they might give themselves wholly to the doctrine of the Lord. Verse 6 Gone through the isle - Ὁλην, The Whole isle, is added here by ABCDE, several others, both the Syrian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and Itala; and also by several of the Greek fathers; and this must be the true reading, for it is evident they ran through the whole island from east to west. Unto Paphos - This town, next in importance to Salamis, was situated on the western part of the isle; and having gone from Salamis to this place is a proof that they had gone through the whole island from east to west, according to the reading noticed above. There was probably no town in the universe more dissolute than Papas. Here Venus had a superb temple: here she was worshipped with all her rites; and from this place she was named the Paphian Venus, the queen of Paphos, etc. This temple and whole city were destroyed by an earthquake; so that a vestige of either does not now remain. There are two islands which go by this name, both adjoining, and on the west side of the island of Cyprus. One is called Old Paphos, the other New Paphos; the latter is probably the island here mentioned, though they are often confounded. On this island there is a Christian Church, dedicated to St. George, in which service is performed by the Greek ministers. It is a bishop's see, suffragan to the Abp. of Nicosia. A certain sorcerer - Τινα μαγον, A magician, one who used magical arts, and pretended to have commerce with supernatural agents. A person who dealt in sleight of hand, or leger-de-main. Such as I have supposed Simon Magus to be. See the note on Act 8:9 . A false prophet - A deceiver, one who pretended to have a Divine commission, a fortune teller. Bar-Jesus - That is, the son of Jesus or Joshua; as Bar-jona is the son of Jonah; Bar-tholomew, the son of Thalmi, etc. Verse 7 The deputy of the country - Ανθυπατῳ, The proconsul. Rosenmuller and others remark, that in those days the Romans sent two different kinds of governors into the provinces. Some of the provinces were Caesarean or imperial, and into those they sent propretors; others belonged to the senate and people of Rome, and into those they sent proconsuls. Cyprus had formerly been an imperial province; but Augustus, who made the distinction, had given it to the people, whence it was governed by a proconsul. See Dion Cass. Hist. Rom. lib. iv. p. 523. (Edit. Leunclav.) Sergius Paulus - This proconsul is not mentioned any where else: he became a Christian, had his name written in the book of life, and, probably on that very account, blotted out of the Fasti Consulares. A prudent man - Ανδρι συνετῳ, A man of good sense, of a sound understanding, and therefore wished to hear the doctrine taught by these apostles; he did not persecute the men for their preaching, but sent for them that he might hear for himself. Verse 8 But Elymas, the sorcerer, (for so is his name by interpretation) - That is, Elymas is the interpretation of the word μαγος, or sorcerer; not of the word Bar-Jesus as some have imagined; and to support which they have been led into strange etymologies on the word βαρ-Ιησους, Bar-Jesus. But how is Elymas, Ελυμας, the interpretation of the word μαγος, magician or sorcerer? Ans. Both names are Asiatic; but neither Hebrew nor Greek. I have already observed, in the note on Mat 2:1 , that mogh in Persian means an idolater, a worshipper of fire, and sometimes what we term a magician. Elymas is from the Arabic ilm, knowledge, science, doctrine, art; from alama, he was wise, skilled, etc.; hence aleem or alymon, a doctor or learned man, and, with the Greek termination, ελυμας, Elymas, the interpretation of mogh, Greek μαγος, magos, a magician, a wise man, doctor, etc. Verse 9 Saul, who also is - Paul - This is the first time the name Paul occurs, and the last time in which this apostle is called Saul, as his common or general name. Saul, שאול Shaul, was the name of the first Israelitish king, and signifies asked, sought; from שאל shaal, he asked, inquired, etc. Paul, Paulus, if derived from the Latin, signifies little, dwarfish: but if from the Hebrew, פלא pala, it signifies extraordinary, wonderful; and this appears to have been the derivation assigned to it by St. Jerome, com. in Ep. Pauli ad Philem., who translates it mirabilis, wonderful, and Hesychius must have had the same in view, for he defines it thus, Παυλος, θαυμαϚος, η εκλεκτος, συμβουλος, Paul, wonderful, or elect, counsellor. The lexicographer had probably here in view, Isa 9:6 : his name shall be called (פלא יועיץ pelé yoêts) wonderful, counsellor; which he might corrupt into paulus, and thus make his θαυμαϚος συμβουλος out of it by way of explanation. Triller, however, supposes the συμβουλος of Hesychius to be corrupted from συνδουλος fellow servant, which is a term not unfrequently applied to apostles, etc., in the New Testament, who are called the servants of God; and it is used by Paul himself, Col 1:7 ; Col 4:7 . The Latin original is the most probable. It is well known that the Jews in the apostolic age had frequently two names, one Hebrew, the other Greek or Roman. Saul was born of Jewish parents, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; he had therefore his first name from that language, שאול Shaul, asked or begged; as it is possible he might have been a child for whom his parents had addressed their fervent petitions to God. The case of Samuel is one in point. See 1Sam 1:9-18 . As he was born in Tarsus, in Cilicia, he was consequently born a free Roman citizen; and hence his parents would naturally give him, for cognomen, some name borrowed from the Latin tongue, and Paulus, which signifies little, might indicate that he was at his birth a small or diminutive child. And it is very likely that he was low in stature all his days; and that it is to this he refers himself, 2Cor 10:10 , for his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. If he were small in stature, his voice would be naturally low and feeble; and the Greeks, who were fond of a thundering eloquence, would despise him on this very account. Filled with the Holy Ghost - Therefore the sentence he pronounced was not from himself, but from God. And indeed, had he not been under a Divine influence, it is not likely he would have ventured thus to accost this sorcerer in the presence of the governor, who, no doubt, had greatly admired him. Verse 10 O full of all subtilty - Δολου, Deceit, pretending to supernatural powers without possessing any, and having only cunning and deceit as their substitutes. And - mischief - Ῥᾳδιουργιας, from ῥᾳδιος, easy, and εργον, a work; one who is ready at his work; a word which excellently well defines a juggler, one who is expert at sleight of hand; though it is often employed to signify an abandoned and accomplished villain. Child of the devil - Υἱε διαβολου, Son of the devil, possessing his nature; filled with his cunning; and, in consequence, practising deceit. Enemy of all righteousness - Εχθρεπασης δικαιοσυνης; Opposed in thy heart to all that is just, true, and good. Wilt thou not cease to pervert, etc. - Ου παυσῃ διαϚρεφων. Wilt thou not cease perverting? He had probably labored in this bad work from the beginning of Paul's ministry in the place; and God in his mercy had borne with him; and no doubt the apostle had warned him, for thus much seems implied in the reproof. What a terrible character is given of this bad man! He no doubt passed among the people for what we call a clever fellow; and he was so clever as to hide himself under a pretty dense mask; but God, who searches the heart, plucked it off, and tells him, and those who were perverted by him, what an accomplished deceiver and knave he was. The right ways of the Lord - Τας ὁδους Κυριου τας ευθειας, The ways of the Lord, the straight ways. This saying is very emphatical. The ways of Elymas were crooked and perverse; the ways of the Lord, the doctrine taught by him, plain and straight. What is here said of the conduct and teaching of Elymas, for he was a false prophet, is true of all false doctrine: it is complex, devious, and tortuous: while the doctrine of God is simple, plain, and straight; directing in the way, the sure way, that leads to present peace and everlasting happiness. From the phraseology which the apostle employs in this terrible address to Elymas, we may learn, as well as from his name Bar-Jesus, that he was by birth and education a Jew. On this account he was the greater enemy to Christianity; and on this same account he was the less excusable. Verse 11 The hand of the Lord is upon thee - The power of God is now about to deal with thee in the way of justice. Thou shalt be blind - Every word here proves the immediate inspiration of Paul. He was full of the Holy Ghost when he began this address: by the light of that Spirit he discerned the state of Elymas, and exposed his real character; and, by the prophetic influence of that same Spirit, he predicted the calamity that was about to fall upon him, while as yet there was no sign of his blindness! Mark this! Not seeing the sun for a season - In the midst of judgment God remembers mercy. This blindness was not to be perpetual: it was intended to be the means of awakening and softening the hard heart of this poor sinner. There is an ancient tradition, and it is mentioned both by Origen and Chrysostom, that Elymas, in consequence of this became a sincere convert to the religion of Christ. Origen says: "And Paul by a word striking him blind, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paul, δια των πονων επιϚρεφει αυτον εις θεοσεβειαν, by anguish converted him to godliness." And, commenting on - Thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun, αχρι καιρου, for a season, asks, "And why for a season? That, being smitten on account of his transgressions, and brought to repentance, he might at last be deemed worthy to see the sun, not only with his body, but with his mind; that the Divine virtue might be proclaimed in restoring him to sight, and his soul, believing, might receive godliness." Com. in Exod., vol. i. p. 117, edit. de la Rue, Par. 1733. There fell on him a mist and darkness - Αχλυς, achlus, is a disordered state of the eye, in which the patient sees through a thick mist. This thick mist, or perturbed state of the eye, took place first: it increased, and σκοτος, thick, positive darkness, was the issue. He went about - Πεπιαγων. Not knowing how to take a right step, he groped about in great uncertainty; and, not being able to find his way, he sought for some persons to lead him by the hand. This state of Elymas is inimitably expressed in one of the cartoons of Raphael, now at Hampton-court, (and lately engraved, in the true spirit of the original, by Mr. Thomas Holloway), in which his whole figure expresses the depth of distress, concern, uncertainty, and confusion; and, to use a word common in exhibiting this matchless piece of painting, he is blind from head to foot. In this manner the text authorizes the painter to express the state of this miserable culprit. Verse 12 The deputy - believed - This was a proof that the doctrine was true; and that the power of God, from which nothing could be concealed, and which nothing could resist, was with these preachers. Being astonished - Εκπλησσομενος, Being struck with astonishment, as Elymas was struck with blindness. Thus the word of God is a two-edged sword: it smites the sinner with judgment or compunction; and the sincere inquirer after truth, with conviction of its own worth and excellence. Verse 13 Paul and his company loosed from Paphos - They sailed away from this island, leaving, it may be presumed, Elymas a sincere and deeply humbled penitent; and Sergius Paul, a thorough and happy believer in the doctrine of Christ. Previously to this time, St. Luke always mentions Barnabas before Paul; but after this he mentions Paul always first; probably after seeing how God had distinguished him in the late proceedings at Cyprus; as much of the Holy Spirit now rested upon him. They came to Perga in Pamphylia - As Perga was not a maritime town, it is conjectured that the apostles sailed up the river Cestrus, in order to come to this place, which, according to Strabo, was situated about sixty leagues up this river, and near to which was a famous temple dedicated to Diana. For Pamphylia, see Act 2:10 . And John departing from them - Why John Mark left his brethren at this place we are not informed; probably he went to visit his pious mother Mary at Jerusalem, and to see Peter, to whom he is supposed to have been much attached. It certainly was not with the approbation of Paul that he left them at this place, as we learn from Act 15:38 ; yet his departure does not seem to have merited the displeasure of Barnabas; for John Mark having met these apostles at Antioch, when Paul purposed to revisit the various places where they had planted the word of God, Barnabas was willing to take him with them; but Paul would not consent, because he had departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work, Act 15:35-39 , and this occasioned a separation between Barnabas and Paul. It does not appear that John Mark was under any obligation to accompany them any longer or any farther than he pleased. He seems to have been little else than their servant, and certainly was not divinely appointed to this work, as they were; and consequently might leave them innocently, though not kindly, if they could not readily supply his place. In this respect John Mark might be to blame; but Barnabas, whose nephew he was, could look over this fault more easily than Paul, who could not find those motives to pass by what was reprehensible in his conduct which natural affection might furnish to his brother apostle. Verse 14 They came to Antioch in Pisidia - This place is mentioned thus to distinguish it from Antioch in Syria, with which it had nothing in common but the name. There were several cities and towns in various districts of these countries called Antioch: some have reckoned up not less than twelve. Pisidia, in which this was situated, was a province of Asia Minor, near to Pamphylia, having Phrygia on the north, and Pamphylia on the south. The position of all these places may be seen on the map. Into the synagogue on the Sabbath day - Though Paul was now on a special mission to the Gentiles, yet he availed himself of every opportunity, in every place, of making the first offer of salvation to the Jews. Verse 15 After the reading of the law and the prophets - A certain portion of the law and another of the prophets, was read every Sabbath; and the law was so divided as to be read over once every year. In the notes at the conclusion of Deuteronomy, I have considered this subject at large, and given a complete table of the Parashoth, sections of the law, and Haphtaroth, sections of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath in the year in the Jewish synagogues. To have an exact view of every part of the Jewish ecclesiastical economy, the reader will do well to consult the above mentioned table, and those which follow it: they have been drawn up with great care, attention, and indescribable labor. It has been a question, in what language were the law and prophets read in a synagogue of Pisidia, for in that district Strabo informs us that four languages were spoken, viz. the Pisidian, the Solyman, the Greek, and the Lydian. Dr. Lightfoot conjectures, with great probability, that the Scriptures were read in the original Hebrew; and that an interpreter tendered the reading to the people in their mother tongue. There is no doubt that the Jews and proselytes understood the Greek tongue well; and they certainly had the Septuagint version among them. The rulers of the synagogue - These were the persons whose business it was to read the appointed sections, and to take care of the synagogue and its concerns; and to see that all was done decently and in order. Sent unto them - Seeing them to be Jews, they wished them to give some suitable address to the people, i.e. to the Jews who were then engaged in Divine worship; for the whole of the following discourse, which greatly resembles that of St. Stephen, Acts 7:1-53, is directed to the Jews alone; and this was probably spoken either in Hebrew or Greek. Ye men and brethren - Ανδρες αδελφοι, Men brethren, a Hebraism for, "Ye men who are our brethren," i.e. Jews, as we ourselves are; but ανδρες is often an expletive, as we have already seen. See the note on Act 7:2 . If ye have any word of exhortation - Ει εϚι λογος εν ὑμιν παρακλησεως· If ye have any subject of consolation, any word of comfort to us, who are sojourners in this strange land, speak it. The Consolation of Israel was an epithet of the Messiah among the Jews; and it is probable that it was in reference to him that the rulers of the synagogue spoke. That παρακλησις is to be understood here as meaning consolation, and this in reference to the Messiah, the whole of the following discourse will prove to the attentive reader; in which Paul shows the care and protection of God towards his people Israel, and the abundant provision he had made for their salvation by Jesus Christ. They wished for consolation, and he declared unto them glad tidings, and many felt the power and comfort of the doctrine of the cross. Verse 16 Men of Israel - Ye that are Jews by birth; and ye that fear God - ye that are proselytes to the Jewish religion. In this discourse Paul proves that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, sent from God, not only for the salvation of the Jews, but of the whole human race. And this he does, not with the rhetorician's arts, but in a plain, simple detail of the history of Christ, and the most remarkable transactions of the people of God, which referred to his manifestation in the flesh. Rosenmuller. Verse 17 The God of - our fathers - The apostle begins his discourse with the Egyptian bondage, and their deliverance from it, as points the most remarkable and striking in their history; in which the providence and mighty power of God, exerted so frequently in their behalf, were peculiarly conspicuous. Exalted the people - Even when they were strangers in the land, and greatly oppressed, God exalted them; made them a terror to their enemies, and multiplied them greatly. With a high arm - A literal translation of the Hebrew phrase, בזרוע רמה bezeroa ramah, with a lifted-up arm, to protect them and destroy their enemies. The meaning of the phrase is, a manifest display of the Divine power. Verse 18 About the time of forty years - The space of time between their coming out of Egypt, and going into the promised land. Suffered he their manners - Ετροποφορησεν αυτους; He dealt indulgently with them: howsoever they behaved towards him, he mercifully bore with, and kindly treated them. But instead of ετροποφορησεν, ACE, some others, with the Syriac, Arabic, Coptic, Ethiopic, and some of the fathers, read ετροφοφορησεν, which signifies, he nourished and fed them, or bore them about in his arms as a tender nurse does her child. This reading confirms the marginal conjecture, and agrees excellently with the scope of the place, and is a reading at least of equal value with that in the commonly received text. Griesbach has admitted it, and excluded the other. Both, when rightly understood, speak nearly the same sense; but the latter is the most expressive, and agrees best with Paul's discourse, and the history to which he alludes. See the same form of expression, Num 11:12 ; Exo 19:4 ; Isa 46:3 , Isa 46:4 ; Isa 63:9 . Verse 19 Destroyed seven nations - The Canaanites, Hittites, Girgasites, Amorites, Hivites, Peresites, and Jebusites. The rabbins frequently call them שבעה אומות Shebaah Omoth, the Seven Nations. Verse 20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years - This is a most difficult passage, and has been termed by Scaliger, Crux Chronologorum. The apostle seems here to contradict the account in 1Kgs 6:1 : And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, he began to build the house of the Lord. Sir Norton Knatchbull, in his annotations upon difficult texts, has considered the various solutions proposed by learned men of the difficulty before us; and concludes that the words of the apostle should not be understood as meaning how long God gave them judges, but when he gave them; and therefore proposes that the first words of this verse, Και μετα ταυτα, ὡς ετεσι τετρακοσιοις και πεντηκοντα, should be referred to the words going before, Act 13:17 , that is, to the time When the God of the children of Israel chose their fathers. "Now this time wherein God may properly be said to have chosen their fathers, about 450 years before he gave them judges, is to be computed from the birth of Isaac, in whom God may properly be said to have chosen their fathers; for God, who had chosen Abraham out of all the people of the earth, chose Isaac at this time out of the children of Abraham, in whose family the covenant was to rest. To make this computation evident, let us observe that from the birth of Isaac to the birth of Jacob are 60 years; from thence to their going into Egypt, 130; from thence to the exodus, 210; from thence to their entrance into Canaan, 40; from that to the division of the land (about which time it is probable they began to settle their government by judges) 7 years; which sums make 447: viz. 60 + 130 + 210 + 40 + 7 = 447. And should this be reckoned from the year before the birth of Isaac, when God established his covenant between himself and Abraham, and all his seed after him, Gen 17:19 , at which time God properly chose their fathers, then there will be 448 years, which brings it to within two years of the 450, which is sufficiently exact to bring it within the apostle's ὡς, about, or nearly. "Some have made the period 452 years; which, though two years more than the apostle's round number, is still sufficiently reconcilable with his qualifying particle ὡς, about. And it may be added that the most correct writers often express a sum totally, but not exactly: so, with Demosthenes and Plautus, we find that called a talent where some drachms were either wanting or abounding." The sacred writers often express themselves in the same way: e.g. He made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it about. Now we know that the circumference of any circle is only in round numbers to its diameter as three to one; but, correctly, is considerably more, nearly as 22 to 7. But even the Spirit of God does not see it necessary to enter into such niceties, which would only puzzle, and not instruct the common reader. Calmet has paraphrased these passages nearly to the same sense: the text may be thus connected; Act 13:19 . And having destroyed; seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot, about one hundred and fifty years after. And afterwards he gave them judges, to the time of Samuel the prophet. The paraphrase of Calmet is the following: "The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers in the person of Abraham; he promised him the land of Canaan; and four hundred and fifty years after this promise, and the birth of Isaac, who was the son and heir of the promise, he put them in possession of that land which he had promised so long before." As this view of the subject removes all the principal difficulties, I shall not trouble my reader with other modes of interpretation. Verse 21 Saul the son of Cis - In all proper names quoted from the Old Testament, we should undoubtedly follow, as nearly as possible, the same orthography: קיש Kish, was the name of this king's father, and so we spell it in the Old Testament, and yet have transformed it into Cis in the New, where the orthography is almost entirely lost. The space of forty years - Reckoning from the time of his anointing by Samuel to the time of his death, from a.m. 2909 to 2949. Verse 22 David - a man after mine own heart - That is, a man who would rule the kingdom according to God's will. Dr. Benson's observation on this point is very judicious: "When it is said that David was a man after God's own heart, it should be understood, not of his private, but of his public, character. He was a man after God's own heart, because he ruled the people according to the Divine will. He did not allow of idolatry; he did not set up for absolute power. He was guided in the government of the nation by the law of Moses, as the standing rule of government, and by the prophet, or the Divine oracle, whereby God gave directions upon particular emergencies. Whatever Saul's private character was, he was not a good king in Israel. He did not follow the law, the oracle, and the prophet; but attempted to be absolute, and thereby to subvert the constitution of the kingdom. That this was the meaning of David's being a man after God's own heart will easily appear by comparing 1Sam 15:28 ; 1Sam 28:17 , 1Sam 28:18 ; 1Chr 10:13 , 1Chr 10:14 ; Psa 78:70 , etc.; Psa 89:20 , etc." Verse 23 Of this man's seed hath God - raised - a Savior - That Jesus Christ came in a direct and indisputable line from David, according to both promise and prophecy, may be seen in the notes on Mat 1:1 , etc., and particularly in the notes at the end of Luke And that the Messiah was promised to come from the family of David, see Isa 11:1 , Isa 11:2 , and Jer 23:5 , Jer 23:6 . Verse 24 John - preached - the baptism of repentance - On the nature and effects of John's preaching, see the notes on Mat 3:1 , etc., and Luk 3:10-15 (note). Verse 25 As John fulfilled his course - As John was fulfilling his race, he said, etc. It has been supposed that the word δρομον, course, or race, is used here to point out the short duration of the Baptist's ministry, and the fervent zeal with which he performed it. It signifies properly his ministry, or life. A man's work, employment, function, etc., is his race, course, or way of life. John had a ministry from God; and he discharged the duties of it with zeal and diligence; bore the fatigues of it with patience and resignation; and was gloriously successful in it, because the hand of the Lord was with him. Verse 26 Men and brethren - This should have been translated brethren simply. See the note on Act 7:2 . Children of the stock of Abraham - All ye that are Jews. And whosoever among you feared God - That is, all ye who are Gentiles, and are now proselytes to the Jewish religion. The word of this salvation - The doctrine that contains the promise of deliverance from sin, and the means by which it is brought about; all which is founded on Jesus, of the stock of David, dying and rising again for the salvation of Jews and Gentiles. Verse 27 Because they knew him not - A gentle excuse for the persecuting high priests, etc. They did not know that Jesus was the Christ, because they did not know the prophets: and why did they not know the prophets, which were read every Sabbath day? Because they did not desire to know his will; and therefore they knew not the doctrine of God: nor did they know that, in condemning Christ, they fulfilled those very Scriptures which were read every Sabbath day in their synagogues. Verse 28 They found no cause of death in him - No reason why he should be condemned. Though they accused him of several things, yet they could not substantiate the most trifling charge against him; and yet, in opposition to all justice and equity, desired Pilate to put him to death! This points their perfidy in the strongest light. Verse 29 They took him down from the tree - The apostle passes rapidly over several circumstances of his death, that he might establish the fact of his resurrection. Verse 30 But God raised him from the dead - And thus gave the fullest proof of his innocence. God alone can raise the dead; and he would not work a miracle so very extraordinary, but on some extraordinary occasion. Verse 31 He was seen many days, etc. - The thing was done but a very short time since; and many of the witnesses are still alive, and ready to attest the fact of this resurrection in the most unequivocal manner. Verse 32 We declare unto you glad tidings - We proclaim that Gospel to you which is the fulfillment of the promise made unto the fathers. Verse 33 Written in the second Psalm - Instead of τῳ ψαλμῳ τῳ δευτερῳ the second Psalm, πρωτῳ ψαλμῳ, the first Psalm, is the reading of D, and its Itala version, and several of the primitive fathers. Griesbach has received it into the text; but not, in my opinion, on sufficient evidence. The reason of these various readings is sufficiently evident to those who are acquainted with Hebrew MSS. In many of these, two Psalms are often written as one; and the first and second Psalms are written as one in seven of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. Those who possessed such MSS. would say, as it is written in the First Psalm; those who referred to MSS. where the two Psalms were separate, would say, in the Second Psalm, as they would find the quotation in question in the first verse of the second Psalm. There is, therefore, neither contradiction nor difficulty here; and it is no matter which reading we prefer, as it depends on the simple circumstance, whether we consider these two Psalms as parts of one and the same, or whether we consider them as two distinct Psalms. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee - It has been disputed whether this text should be understood of the incarnation or of the resurrection of our Lord. If understood of his incarnation, it can mean no more than this, that the human nature of our blessed Lord was begotten by the energy of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the blessed virgin; for as to his Divine nature, which is allotted to be God, it could neither be created nor begotten. See some reasons offered for this on Luk 1:35 (note); and, if those be deemed insufficient, a thousand more may be added. But in the above reasons it is demonstrated that the doctrine of the eternal Sonship of Christ is absolutely irreconcilable to reason, and contradictory to itself. Eternity is that which has had no beginning, nor stands in any reference to time: Son supposes time, generation, and father; and time also antecedent to such generation: therefore the rational conjunction of these two terms, Son and eternity, is absolutely impossible, as they imply essentially different and opposite ideas. If the passage in question be understood of the resurrection of Christ, it points out that the human nature, which was produced by the power of God in the womb of the virgin, and which was the Son of God, could see no corruption; and therefore, though it died for sin, must be raised from the dead before it saw corruption. Thus God owned that human nature to be peculiarly his own; and therefore Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead, Rom 1:4 . Verse 34 No more to return to corruption - To the grave, to death, the place and state of corruption; for so we should understand the word διαφθοραν in the text. The sure mercies of David - Τα ὁσια Δαβιδ τα πιϚα. These words are quoted literatim from the Septuagint version of Isa 55:3 ; where the Hebrew is חסדי דוד הנאמנים chasdey David ha-neemanim, of which the Greek is a faithful translation; and which sure mercies of David St. Paul considers as being fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ. From this application of the words, it is evident that the apostle considered the word David as signifying the Messiah; and then the sure or faithful mercies, being such as relate to the new covenant, and the various blessings promised in it, are evidently those which are sealed and confirmed to mankind by the resurrection of Christ; and it is in this way that the apostle applies them. Had there not been the fullest proof of the resurrection of Christ, not one of the promises of the new covenant could have been considered as sure or faithful. If he did not rise from the dead, then, as said the apostle, your faith and our preaching are vain, 1Cor 15:14 . The following observations of Bp. Pearce are judicious: "For the sense of these words, we must have recourse to what God said to David in 2Sam 7:11 , 2Sam 7:12 , etc., explained by what is said in Psa 89:3 , Psa 89:4 , Psa 89:28 , Psa 89:29 , Psa 89:36 , where frequent mention is made of a covenant established by God with David, and sworn to by God, that David's seed should endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven, and as the sun, to all generations. This covenant and this oath are the sure and sacred things of which Isaiah, Isa 55:3 , speaks; and Luke in this place. And Paul understood them as relating to the kingdom of Jesus, (the Son of David), which was to be an everlasting kingdom; and if an everlasting one, then it was necessary that Jesus should have been (as he was) raised from the dead; and, to support this argument, Paul, in the next verse, strengthens it with another, drawn from Psa 16:10 ." Verse 36 David - fell on sleep - and saw corruption - David died, was buried, and never rose again; therefore, David cannot be the person spoken of here: the words are true of some other person; and they can be applied to Jesus Christ only; and in him they are most exactly fulfilled. See the notes on Act 2:29 , Act 2:30 , etc. Verse 38 Be it known unto you, therefore - This is the legitimate conclusion: seeing the word of God is true, and he has promised an endless succession to the seed of David; seeing David and all his family have failed in reference to the political kingdom, a spiritual kingdom and a spiritual succession must be intended, that the sure covenant and all its blessings may be continued. Again: seeing the person by whom this is to be done is to see no corruption; - seeing David has died, and has seen (fallen under the power of) corruption; - seeing Jesus the Christ has wrought all the miracles which the prophets said he should work; - seeing he has suffered all the indignities which your prophets said he must suffer; - seeing after his death he has most incontestably risen again from the dead, and has not fallen under the power of corruption, - then he must be the very person in whom all the predictions are fulfilled, and the person through whom all the blessings of the covenant must come. Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins - See the notes on Act 5:30 , Act 5:31 . Remission of sins, the removal of the power, guilt, and pollution of sin comes alone through this man, whom ye crucified, and who is risen from the dead. Verse 39 And by him - On his account, and through him, all that believe in his Divine mission, and the end for which he has been manifested, namely, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, are justified from all things, from the guilt of all transgressions committed against God; from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses; because it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, or any other rite or service of this kind, could take away sin from the soul, cancel its guilt in the conscience, or make an atonement to the Divine justice; but this is the sacrifice which God has required; this is every way suited to the end for which it has been instituted; and this is the sacrifice alone which God can accept. Your law says, "Do this, and ye shall live;" and, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them." Ye have not done these things required; ye have not continued in any good thing; ye have not only not done all things commanded, but ye have done none, none as they ought to be done; and therefore ye are under the curse. The Gospel says, Believe on the Lord Jesus; credit his Divine mission; consider his death an atonement for sin; believe in his resurrection, as a proof that the atonement is made, believe that he suffered, died, and rose again for your justification; and that for his sake God, though he be infinitely just, can be the justifier of all who believe in him. By the law of Moses there is neither justification nor salvation: in Jesus Christ there are both, and all the sure mercies of David. Therefore, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye shall be justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Verse 40 Beware - lest that come upon you, etc. - If you reject these benefits, now freely offered to you in this preaching of Christ crucified, you may expect such judgment from the hand of God as your forefathers experienced, when, for their rebellion and their contempt of his benefits, their city was taken, their temple destroyed, and themselves either slain by the sword, or carried into captivity. It is evident that St. Paul refers to Hab 1:5-10 ; and in those verses the desolation by the Chaldeans is foretold. Never was there a prophecy more correctly and pointedly applied. These Jews did continue to slight the benefits offered to them by the Lord; and they persevered in their rebellion: what was the consequence? The Romans came, took their city, burnt their temple, slew upwards of a million of them, and either carried or sold the rest into captivity. How exactly was the prophecy in both cases fulfilled! Verse 41 Behold, ye despisers - There is a remarkable difference here between the Hebrew text in Habakkuk, and that in the Septuagint, which is a little abridged here by St. Paul. I shall exhibit the three texts. Heb: - ראו בגוים והביטו והתמהו תמהו כי פעל פעל בימיכם לא תאמינו כי יספר Reu bagoyim vehabitu vehitammehu; temehu; ki poal poel bimeycem, lo teaminu hi yesupar. Behold, ye among the heathen, (nations), and regard, and be astonished; be astonished, for I am working a work in your days, which; when it shall be told, ye will not credit. See Houbigant. Sept. Ιδετε οἱ καταφρονηται, και επιβλεψατε, και θαυμασατε θαυμασια, και αφανισθητε· διοτι εργον εγω εργαζομαι εν ταις ἡμεραις ὑμων, ὁ ου μη πιϚευσητε, εαν τις εκδιηγηται ὑμιν. See, ye despisers, and look attentively, and be astonished, (or hide yourselves), for I work a work in your days, which, if any one will tell to you, ye will not believe. St. Luke. Ιδετε οἱ καταφρονηται, [και επιβλεψατε], και θαυμασατε, [θαυμασια], και αφανισθητε· ὁτι εργον εγω εργαζομαι εν ταις ἡμεραις ὑμων, εργον ᾡ ου μη πιϚευσητε, εαν τις εκδιηγηται ὑμιν. Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and be astonished, (or hide yourselves), for I work a work in your days, which, if any one will tell unto you, ye will not believe. I have taken Luke's quotation from the best MSS., and I have quoted the Septuagint according to the Codex Alexandrinus; and the quotations are exactly the same, not only in words, but almost in letters, with the exception of επιβλεψατε and θαυμασια which the evangelist omits, and which I have included in crotchets in the text of St. Luke, merely that the place of the omission may be the better seen. It may now be necessary to inquire how St. Luke and the Septuagint should substitute ye despisers, for ye among the heathen, in the Hebrew text? Without troubling myself or my readers with laborious criticisms on these words, with which many learned men have loaded the text, I will simply state my opinion, that the prophet, instead of בגוים bagoyim, among the heathen, wrote בגדים bogadim, despisers, or transgressors: a word which differs only in a single letter, ד daleth, for ו vau; the latter of which might easily be mistaken by a transcriber for the other, especially if the horizontal stroke of the ד daleth happened to be a little faint towards the left; as, in that case, it would wear the appearance of a ו vau; and this is not unfrequently the case, not only in MSS., but even in printed books. It seems as evident as it can well be that this gives the word which the Septuagint found in the copy from which they translated: their evidence, and that of the apostle, joined to the consideration that the interchange of the two letters mentioned above might have been easily made, is quite sufficient to legitimate the reading for which I contend. Houbigant and several others are of the same mind. The word αφανισθητε, which we translate perish, signifies more properly disappear, or hide yourselves; as people, astonished and alarmed at some coming evil, betake themselves to flight, and hide themselves in order to avoid it. Verse 42 When the Jews were gone out - That part of them in whom the words of the prophet were fulfilled, viz. those who, though they had the clearest relation of so interesting a history, would not believe it: they shut their eyes against the light, and hardened their hearts against the truth. There were other Jews in the assembly that did believe, and were saved. The Gentiles besought - There is some doubt whether the original, παρεκαλουν τα εθνη, should be translated the Gentiles besought; or they besought the Gentiles: for the words will bear either, but the latter sense more naturally. When the Jews retired, determining not to credit what was spoken, the apostle, seeing the Gentiles of a better mind, requested them to come and hear those words, or doctrines, the next Sabbath. But, the next, το μεταξυ, as Hesychius defines it, μετ' ολιγον, ανα μεσον, shortly, or betwixt, may mean the after part of the same Sabbath, or the course of the ensuing week, between the two Sabbaths; for Mondays and Thursdays, or the second and fifth days of the week, were times in which those who feared God usually met together in the synagogue; for it is a maxim with the rabbins, that no three days should elapse without reading of the law. On this verse there is a great number of various readings: instead of, when the Jews were going out of the synagogue, ABCDE, several others of great repute, with all the Syriac, the Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and Itala, read, As they were going out, they entreated that these words should be preached unto them in the course of the week, or the next Sabbath. So that, according to this well accredited reading, the words, εκ της συναγωγης των Ιουδαιων, are left out in the first clause, αυτων being put in their place; and τα εθνη, the Gentiles, is wholly omitted in the second clause. The most eminent critics approve of this reading; indeed it stands on such authority as to render it almost indubitable. Of the αυτων, them, which is substituted for the first clause, Professor White says, lectio indubie genuina: this reading is undoubtedly genuine; and of the τα εθνη εις, he says, certissime delenda: they should certainly be expunged. We are therefore to understand the words thus: that, "as they were going out on the breaking up of the assembly, some of them desired that they might have these doctrines preached to them on the ensuing week or Sabbath." And thus all the ambiguity of the verse vanishes. Verse 43 Many of the Jews - Direct descendants from some of the twelve tribes; and religious proselytes, heathens who had been converted to Judaism, and, having submitted to circumcision, had become proselytes of the covenant: though some think that the expression means proselytes of the gate - persons who believed in one God, like the Jews, but who had not received circumcision. Persuaded them to continue in the grace of God - That is, that they should continue to credit the Gospel; to receive the spirit and influence of it; to bring forth the fruits of that spirit; and thus continue under the favor and approbation of God. Verse 44 The next Sabbath day - The good news had spread far and wide, by means of the converted Jews and proselytes. Almost the whole city - Jews, proselytes, and Gentiles, came together to hear τον λογον του Θεου, this doctrine of God, this Divine teaching, by which so many of their kindred and acquaintance had become so wise and happy. It is not by public discourses merely that people are converted to God; but by the private teaching and godly conduct of those who have received the truth; for, as these are scattered throughout society, they are a leaven in every place. Verse 45 The Jews - were filled with envy - See on Act 5:17 (note). These could not bear the Gentiles, who believed in Christ, to be equal with them; and yet; according to the Gospel, it was really the case. Contradicting - The arguments and statements brought forward by the disciples; and blaspheming, speaking impiously and injuriously of Jesus Christ. This is probably what is meant. Verse 46 Waxed bold - Παρῥησιασαμενοι; Having great liberty of speech; a strong, persuasive, and overpowering eloquence. They had eternal truth for the basis of this discourse; a multitude of incontestable facts to support it; an all-persuading eloquence to illustrate and maintain what they had asserted. Should first have been spoken to you - When our Lord gave his apostles their commission to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature, he told them they must begin first at Jerusalem, Mar 16:15 ; Luk 24:47 . In obedience therefore to this command, the apostles (in every place where they preached) made their first offers of the Gospel to the Jews. Ye put it from you - Απωθεισθε αυτον, Ye disdain this doctrine, and consider it contemptible: so the word is frequently used. And judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life - Was this meant as a strong irony? "Ye have such humbling thoughts of yourselves, that ye think the blessings of the Gospel too good to be bestowed on such worthless wretches as ye are." Or did the apostle mean that, by their words and conduct on this occasion, they had passed sentence on themselves, and, in effect, had decided that they were unworthy of the grace of the Gospel; and God now ratifies that judgment by removing those blessings from them, and sending them to the Gentiles? Verse 47 For so the Lord commanded us - The apostles could quote a pertinent scripture for every thing they did; because the outlines of the whole Gospel dispensation are founded in the law and the prophets; and they were now building the Church of God according to the pattern shown them in the Mount. In the things of God, no man nor minister should go farther than he can say, Thus it is written, and thus it behoves me to do; and let him see that his quotations are fairly made, and not a detached passage or member of a sentence produced, because it seems to look like the system he wishes to establish. I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles - This quotation is from Isa 49:6 , and was most fully in point. The Jews could not resist the testimony of their own prophet; and the Gentiles rejoiced to find that the offers of salvation were to be made so specifically to them. For salvation unto the ends of the earth - The very name of the Messiah, viz Jesus, announced the design and end of his mission. He is the Savior, and is to be proclaimed as such to the ends of the earth; to all mankind; to every nation, and people, and tongue; and, wherever the Gospel is preached, there is a free, full, and sincere offer of salvation to every soul that hears it. And the offer is proof sufficient, in itself, that there is a power to receive its blessings given to those to whom the offer is made; as it would be of no use to offer them a salvation which it was designed they either should not or could not receive. A son of Satan might be capable of such dissimulation and bad faith; but the holy God cannot. Verse 48 As many as were ordained to eternal life believed - This text has been most pitifully misunderstood. Many suppose that it simply means that those in that assembly who were fore-ordained; or predestinated by God's decree, to eternal life, believed under the influence of that decree. Now, we should be careful to examine what a word means, before we attempt to fix its meaning. Whatever τεταγμενοι may mean, which is the word we translate ordained, it is neither προτεταγμενοι nor προορισμενοι which the apostle uses, but simply τεταγμενοι, which includes no idea of pre-ordination or pre-destination of any kind. And if it even did, it would be rather hazardous to say that all those who believed at this time were such as actually persevered unto the end, and were saved unto eternal life. But, leaving all these precarious matters, what does the word τεταγμενος mean? The verb ταττω or τασσω signifies to place, set, order, appoint, dispose; hence it has been considered here as implying the disposition or readiness of mind of several persons in the congregation, such as the religious proselytes mentioned Act 13:43 , who possessed the reverse of the disposition of those Jews who spake against those things, contradicting and blaspheming, Act 13:45 . Though the word in this place has been variously translated, yet, of all the meanings ever put on it, none agrees worse with its nature and known signification than that which represents it as intending those who were predestinated to eternal life: this is no meaning of the term, and should never be applied to it. Let us, without prejudice, consider the scope of the place: the Jews contradicted and blasphemed; the religious proselytes heard attentively, and received the word of life: the one party were utterly indisposed, through their own stubbornness, to receive the Gospel; the others, destitute of prejudice and prepossession, were glad to hear that, in the order of God, the Gentiles were included in the covenant of salvation through Christ Jesus; they, therefore, in this good state and order of mind, believed. Those who seek for the plain meaning of the word will find it here: those who wish to make out a sense, not from the Greek word, its use among the best Greek writers, and the obvious sense of the evangelist, but from their own creed, may continue to puzzle themselves and others; kindle their own fire, compass themselves with sparks, and walk in the light of their own fire, and of the sparks which they have kindled; and, in consequence, lie down in sorrow, having bidden adieu to the true meaning of a passage so very simple, taken in its connection, that one must wonder how it ever came to be misunderstood and misapplied. Those who wish to see more on this verse may consult Hammond, Whitby, Schoettgen, Rosenmuller, Pearce, Sir Norton Knatchbull, and Dodd. Verse 49 The word of the Lord was published, etc. - Those who had come from different parts, and were converted, carried the glad tidings to their respective neighbourhoods; and thus the doctrine was published throughout all the region of Pisidia, where they then were. See on Act 13:44 (note). Verse 50 Devout and honorable women - It is likely that these were heathen matrons, who had become proselytes to the Jewish religion; and, as they were persons of affluence and respectability, they had considerable influence with the civil magistracy of the place, and probably their husbands were of this order; and it is likely that they used that influence, at the instigation of the Jews, to get the apostles expelled from the place. Verse 51 They shook off the dust of their feet against them - This was a very significant rite; by it, they in effect said: Ye are worse than the heathen: even your very land is accursed for your opposition to God, and we dare not permit even its dust to cleave to the soles of our feet; and we shake it off, in departing from your country, according to our Lord's command, ( Mat 10:14 ), for a testimony against you, that we offered you salvation, but ye rejected it and persecuted us. The Jews, when travelling in heathen countries, took care, when they came to the borders of their own, to shake off the dust of their feet, lest any of the unhallowed ground should defile the sacred land of Israel. Came unto Iconium - According to Strabo, Iconium was a small fortified town, the capital of Lycaonia, at present called Cogni. "Lycaonia was a province at the back of Pamphylia, higher up in Asia Minor, and to the northeast of Pamphylia." Pearce. Verse 52 The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost - Though in the world they had tribulation, yet in Christ they had peace; and, while engaged in their Master's work, they always had their Master's wages. The happiness of a genuine Christian lies far beyond the reach of earthly disturbances, and is not affected by the changes and chances to which mortal things are exposed. The martyrs were more happy in the flames than their persecutors could be on their beds of down. St. Paul's sermon at Antioch has been thus analyzed. 1. His prologue, Act 13:16 , addressed to those who fear God. 2. His narrative of God's goodness to Israel: 1. In their deliverance from Egypt. 2. In their support in the wilderness. 3. In his giving them the land of Canaan. 4. In the judges and kings which he had given for their governors, Acts 13:7-22. 3. His proposition, that Jesus was the Christ, the Savior of the world, Act 13:23 . 4. The illustration of this proposition, proving its truth: 1. From Christ's stock and family, Act 13:23 . 2. From the testimony of his forerunner, Act 13:24 . 3. From the resurrection of Christ, Act 13:30 ; which was corroborated with the testimony of many Galileans, Act 13:31 , and of the prophets, David, Act 13:33 , Act 13:35 , and Isaiah, Act 13:34 . 5. He anticipates objections, relative to the unjust condemnation, death and burial of Christ, Act 13:27-29 . 6. His epilogue, in which he excites his audience to embrace the Gospel on two considerations: 1. The benefits which they receive who embrace the Gospel, Act 13:38 , Act 13:39 . 2. The danger to which they were exposed who should despise and reject it, Act 13:40 , Act 13:41 . Introduction Paul and Barnabas, having preached at Iconium with great success, are persecuted, and obliged to flee to Lystra and Derbe, Act 14:1-6 . Here they preach, and heal a cripple; on which, the people, supposing them to be gods, are about to offer them sacrifices, and are with difficulty prevented by these apostles, Act 14:7-18 . Certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, coming thither, induce the people to stone Paul; who, being dragged out of the city as dead, while the disciples stand around him, rises up suddenly, and returns to the city, and the next day departs to Derbe, Act 14:19 , Act 14:20 . Having preached here, he and Barnabas return to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the disciples, and ordaining elders in every Church, Act 14:21-23 . They pass through Pisidia and Pamphylia, Act 14:24 . Through Perga and Attalia, Act 14:25 ; and sail to Antioch in Syria, Act 14:26 . When, having called the disciples together, they inform them of the door of faith opened to the Gentiles, and there abode a long time with the Church, Act 14:27 , Act 14:28 . Verse 1 In Iconium - See the conclusion of the preceding chapter. So spake - Και λαλησαι οὑτως. With such power and demonstration of the Spirit, that a great multitude both of the Jews, genuine descendants of one or other of the twelve tribes, and also of the Greeks, Ἑλληνων, probably such as were proselytes of the gate, believed, received the Christian religion as a revelation from God, and confided in its Author for salvation, according to the apostles' preaching. Verse 2 Stirred up the Gentiles - Των εθνων, Such as were mere heathens, and thus distinguished from the Jews, and the Greeks who were proselytes. Evil affected - Εκακωσαν, Irritated or exasperated their minds against the brethren, the disciples of Christ; one of their appellations before they were called Christians at Antioch. See on Act 11:26 (note). Verse 3 Long time therefore abode they - Because they had great success, therefore they continued a long time, gaining many converts, and building up those who had believed, in their most holy faith; notwithstanding the opposition they met with, both from the unbelieving Jews and heathens. Speaking boldly - Παρῥησιαζομενοι, Having great liberty of speech, a copious and commanding eloquence, springing from a consciousness of the truth which they preached. The word of his grace - The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the doctrine of God's grace, mercy, or favor to mankind. And granted signs and wonders to be done - For no apostle could work a miracle by himself; nor was any sign or wonder wrought even by the greatest apostle, but by an especial grant or dispensation of God. This power was not resident in them at all times; it was only now and then communicated, when a miracle was necessary for the confirmation of the truth preached. Verse 4 The multitude of the city was divided - The Jews treated the apostles as false teachers, and their miracles as impositions; and many of the people held with them: while the others, who had not hardened their hearts against the truth, felt the force of it; and, being without prejudice, could easily discern the miracles to be the work of God, and therefore held with the apostles. Verse 5 An assault made - Ὁρμη, A desperate attempt was made by their rulers, i.e. by the heathen rulers of the people, and the rulers of the synagogue. To use them despitefully - To expose them, bring them into contempt, and make them appear as monsters, or movers of sedition; and then to stone them for this falsely alleged crime. Verse 6 They were ware of it - They were informed of the scheme, and of the attempt that was about to be made, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe; they did not leave the province of Lycaonia, but went to other towns and cities. Lystra lay to the south and Derbe to the north of Iconium, according to the general opinion. Strabo, Geogr. lib. xii., tells us expressly, that Iconium was within Lycaonia, Thence are the Lycaonian hills plain, cold, naked, and pastures for wild asses. About these places stands Iconium, a town built in a better soil. Ptolemy also, Tab. Asiae, i. cap. 6, places Iconium in Lycaonia. How comes it, then, that St. Luke does not call Iconium a city of Lycaonia, as well as Derbe and Lystra? Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. v. cap. 27, solves this difficulty, by stating, that there was granted a tetrarchy out of Lycaonia, on that side which borders upon Galatia, consisting of fourteen cities; the most famous of which is Iconium. See Lightfoot. Verse 7 And there they preached the Gospel - Wherever they went, they were always employed in their Master's work. Some MSS. of considerable note add here, and all the people were moved at their preaching, but Paul and Barnabas tarried at Lystra. Verse 8 Impotent in his feet - Αδυνατος τοις ποσιν, He had no muscular power, and probably his ancle bones were dislocated; or he had what is commonly termed club feet; this is the more likely, as he is said to have been lame from his mother's womb, and to have never walked. Verse 9 That he had faith to be healed - How did this faith come to this poor heathen? Why, by hearing the word of God preached: for it is said, the same heard Paul speak. And it appears that he credited the doctrine he heard, and believed that Jes

17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm brought he them out of it. 18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. 19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. 20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. 21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 23 Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: 24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. 26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. 27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. 28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him from the dead: 31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. 35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: 37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. 38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; 41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. Perga in Pamphylia was a noted place, especially for a temple there erected to the goddess Diana, yet nothing at all is related of what Paul and Barnabas did there, only that thither they came ( v. 13 ), and thence they departed, v. 14 . But the history of the apostles' travels, as that of Christ's, passes by many things worthy to have been recorded, because, if all had been written, the world could not have contained the books. But the next place we find them in is another Antioch, said to be in Pisidia, to distinguish it from that Antioch in Syria from which they were sent out. Pisidia was a province of the Lesser Asia, bordering upon Pamphylia; this Antioch, it is likely, was the metropolis of it. Abundance of Jews lived there, and to them the gospel was to be first preached; and Paul's sermon to them is what we have in these verses, which, it is likely, is the substance of what was preached by the apostles generally to the Jews in all places; for in dealing with them the proper way was to show them how the New Testament, which they would have them to receive, exactly agreed with the Old Testament, which they not only received, but were zealous for. We have here, I. The appearance which Paul and Barnabas made in a religious assembly of the Jews at Antioch, v. 14 . Though they had lately had such good success with a Roman deputy, yet, when they came to Antioch, they did not enquire for the chief magistrate, nor make their court to him, but they applied to the Jews, which is a further proof of their good affection to them and their desire of their welfare. 1. They observed their time of worship, on the sabbath day, the Jewish sabbath. The first day of the week they observed among themselves as a Christian sabbath; but, if they will meet the Jews, it must be on the seventh-day sabbath, which therefore, upon such occasions, they did as yet sometimes observe. For, though it was by the death of Christ that the ceremonial law died, yet it was in the ruins of Jerusalem that it was to be buried; and therefore, though the morality of the fourth commandment was entirely transferred to the Christian sabbath, yet it was not incongruous to join with the Jews in their sabbath sanctification. 2. They met them in their place of worship, in the synagogue. Note, Sabbath days should be kept holy in solemn assemblies; they are instituted chiefly for public worship. The sabbath day is a holy convocation, and for that reason no servile work must be done therein. Paul and Barnabas were strangers; but, wherever we come, we must enquire out God's faithful worshippers, and join with them (as these apostles here did), as those that desire to keep up a communion with all saints; though they were strangers, yet they were admitted into the synagogue, and to sit down there. Care should be taken in places of public worship that strangers be accommodated, even the poorest; for, of those of whom we know nothing else, we know this, that they have precious souls, for which our charity binds us to be concerned. II. The invitation given them to preach. 1. The usual service of the synagogue was performed ( v. 15 ): The law and the prophets were read, a portion of each, the lessons for the day. Note, When we come together to worship God, we must do it not only by prayer and praise, but by the reading and hearing of the word of God; hereby we give him the glory due to his name, as our Lord and Lawgiver. 2. When that was done, they were asked by the rulers of the synagogue to give them a sermon ( v. 15 ): They sent a messenger to them with the respectful message, Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. It is probable that the rulers of the synagogue had met with them, and been in private conversation with them before; and, if they had not an affection to the gospel, yet they had at least the curiosity to hear Paul preach; and therefore not only gave him permission, but begged the favour of him that he would speak a word of exhortation to the people. Note, (1.) The bare reading of the scriptures in the public assemblies is not sufficient, but they should be expounded, and the people exhorted out of them. This is spreading the net, and assisting people in doing that which is necessary to the making of the word profitable to them—that is, the applying of it to themselves. (2.) Those that preside, and have power, in public assemblies, should provide for a word of exhortation to the people, whenever they come together. (3.) Sometimes a word of exhortation from a strange minister may be of great use to the people, provided he be well approved. It is likely Paul did often preach in the synagogue, when he was not thus invited to it by the rulers of the synagogues; for he often preached with much contention, 1 Thess. ii. 2 . But these were more noble, more generous, than the rulers of the synagogues generally were. III. The sermon Paul preached in the synagogue of the Jews, at the invitation of the rulers of the synagogue. He gladly embraced the opportunity given him to preach Christ to his countrymen the Jews. He did not object to them that he was a stranger, and that it was none of his business; nor object to himself, that he might get ill-will by preaching Christ among the Jews; but stood up, as one prepared and determined to speak, and beckoned with his hand, to excite and prepare them to hear. He waved his hand as an orator, not only desiring silence and attention, but endeavouring to move affection, and to show himself in earnest. Perhaps, upon the moving of them to give an exhortation to the people, there were those in the synagogue that were ready to mutiny against the rulers, and opposed the toleration of Paul's preaching, and that occasioned some tumult and commotion, which Paul endeavoured to quiet by that decent motion of his hand; as also by his modest desire of a patient impartial hearing: " Men of Israel, that are Jews by birth, and you that fear God, that are proselyted to the Jewish religion, give audience; let me beg your attention a little, for I have something to say to you which concerns your everlasting peace, and would not say it in vain." Now this excellent sermon is recorded, to show that those who preached the gospel to the Gentiles did it not till they had first used their utmost endeavours with the Jews, to persuade them to come in and take the benefit of it; and that they had no prejudice at all against the Jewish nation, nor any desire that they should perish, but rather that they should turn and live. Every thing is touched in this sermon that might be proper either to convince the judgment or insinuate into the affections of the Jews, to prevail with them to receive and embrace Christ as the promised Messiah. 1. He owns them to be God's favourite people, whom he had taken into special relation to himself, and for whom he had done great things. Probably the Jews of the dispersion, that lived in other countries, being more in danger of mingling with the nations, were more jealous of their peculiarity than those that lived in their own land were; and therefore Paul is here very careful to take notice of it, to their honour. (1.) That the God of the whole earth was, in a particular manner, the God of this people Israel, a God in covenant with them, and that he had given them a revelation of his mind and will, such as he had not given to any other nation or people; so that hereby they were distinguished from, and dignified above, all their neighbours, having peculiar precepts to be governed by, and peculiar promises to depend upon. (2.) That he had chosen their fathers to be his friends: Abraham was called the friend of God; to be his prophets, by whom he would reveal his mind to his church, and to be the trustees of his covenant with the church. He puts them in mind of this, to let them know that the reason why God favoured them, though undeserving, and ill deserving, was because he would adhere to the choice he had made of their fathers, Deut. vii. 7, 8 . They were beloved purely for the fathers' sakes, Rom. xi. 28 . (3.) That he had exalted that people, and put a great deal of honour upon them, had advanced them into a people, and raised them from nothing, when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and had nothing in them to recommend them to the divine favour. They ought to remember this, and to infer hence that God was no debtor to them; for it was ex mero motu—out of his mere good pleasure, and not upon a valuable consideration, that they had the grant of the divine favour; and therefore it was revocable at pleasure; and God did them no wrong if he at length plucked up the hedge of their peculiarity. But they were debtors to him, and obliged to receive such further discoveries as he should make to his church. (4.) That he had with a high hand brought them out of Egypt, where they were not only strangers, but captives, had delivered them at the expense of a great many miracles, both of mercy to them and judgment on their oppressors ( signs and wonders, Deut. iv. 34 ), and at the expense of a great many lives, all the first-born of Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his host, in the Red Sea; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, gave men for thee. Isa. xliii. 3, 4 . (5.) That he had suffered their manners forty years in the wilderness, v. 18 , Etropophoresen. Some think it should be read, etrophophoresen — he educated them, because this is the word the Septuagint use concerning the fatherly care God took of that people, Deut. i. 31 . Both may be included; for, [1.] God made a great deal of provision for them for forty years in the wilderness: miracles were their daily bread, and kept them from starving: They lacked not any thing. [2.] He exercised a great deal of patience with them. They were a provoking, murmuring, unbelieving people; and yet he bore with them, did not deal with them as they deserved, but suffered his anger many a time to be turned away by the prayer and intercession of Moses. So many years as we have each of us lived in this world, we must own that God has thus been as a tender father to us, has supplied our wants, has fed us all our life long unto this day, has been indulgent to us, a God of pardons (as he was to Israel, Neh. ix. 17 ), and not extreme to mark what we have done amiss; we have tried his patience, and yet not tired it. Let not the Jews insist too much upon the privileges of their peculiarity, for they have forfeited them a thousand times. (6.) That he had put them in possession of the land of Canaan ( v. 19 ): When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, that were doomed to be rooted out to make room for them, he divided their land to them by lot, and put them in possession of it. This was a signal favour of God to them, and he owns that hereby a great honour was put upon them, from which he would not in the least derogate. (7.) That he had raised up men, inspirited from heaven, to deliver them out of the hands of those that invaded their rights, and oppressed them after their settlement in Canaan, v. 20, 21 . [1.] He gave them judges, men qualified for public service, and, by an immediate impulse upon their spirits, called to it, pro re nata—as the occasion required. Though they were a provoking people, and were never in servitude but their sin brought them to it, yet upon their petition a deliverer was raised up. The critics find some difficulty in computing these four hundred and fifty years. From the deliverance out of Egypt to David's expulsion of the Jebusites from the stronghold of Zion, which completed the casting out of the heathen nations, was four hundred and fifty years; and most of that time they were under judges. Others thus: The government of the judges, from the death of Joshua to the death of Eli, was just three hundred and thirty-nine years, but it is said to be [ os ] as it were four hundred and fifty years, because the years of their servitude to the several nations that oppressed them, though really they were included in the years of the judges, are yet mentioned in the history as if they had been distinct from them. Now these, all put together, make one hundred and eleven years, which added to the three hundred and thirty nine, make them four hundred and fifty; as so many, though not really so many. [2.] He governed them by a prophet, Samuel, a man divinely inspired to preside in their affairs. [3.] He afterwards at their request set a king over them ( v. 21 ), Saul, the son of Cis. Samuel's government and his lasted forty years, which was a kind of transition from the theocracy to the kingly government. [4.] At last, he made David their king, v. 22 . When God had removed Saul, for his mal-administration, he raised up unto them David to be their king, and made a covenant of royalty with him, and with his seed. When he had removed one king, he did not leave them as sheep without a shepherd, but soon raised up another, raised him up from a mean and low estate, raised him up on high, 2 Sam. xxiii. 1 . He quotes the testimony God gave concerning him, First, That his choice was divine: I have found David, Ps. lxxxix. 20 . God himself pitched upon him. Finding implies seeking; as if God had ransacked all the families of Israel to find a man fit for his purpose, and this was he. Secondly, That his character was divine: A man after my own heart, such a one as I would have, one on whom the image of God is stamped, and therefore one in whom God is well pleased and whom he approves. This character was given of him before he was first anointed, 1 Sam. xiii. 14 . The Lord hath sought out a man after his own heart, such a one as he would have. Thirdly, That his conduct was divine, and under divine direction: He shall fulfil all my will. He shall desire and endeavour to do the will of God, and shall be enabled to do it, and employed in the doing of it, and go through with it. Now all this seems to show not only the special favour of God to the people of Israel (with the acknowledgment of which the apostle is very willing to oblige them) but the further favours of another nature which he designed them, and which were now, by the preaching of the gospel, offered to them. Their deliverance out of Egypt, and settlement in Canaan, were types and figures of good things to come. The changes of their government showed that it made nothing perfect, and therefore must give way to the spiritual kingdom of the Messiah, which was now in the setting up, and which, if they would admit it and submit to it, would be the glory of their people Israel; and therefore they needed not conceive any jealousy at all of the preaching of the gospel, as if it tended in the least to damage the true excellences of the Jewish church. 2. He gives them a full account of our Lord Jesus, passing from David to the Son of David, and shows that this Jesus is his promised Seed ( v. 23 ): Of this man's seed, from that root of Jesse, from that man after God's own heart, hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour—Jesus, who carries salvation in his name. (1.) How welcome should the preaching of the gospel of Christ be to the Jews, and how should they embrace it, as well worthy of all acceptation, when it brought them the tidings, [1.] Of a Saviour, to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, as the judges of old, who were therefore called saviours; but this a Saviour to do that for them which, it appears by the history, those could not do— to save them from their sins, their worst enemies. [2.] A Saviour of God's raising up, that has his commission from heaven. [3.] Raised up to be a Saviour unto Israel, to them in the first place: He was sent to bless them; so far was the gospel from designing the gathering of them. [4.] Raised up of the seed of David, that ancient royal family, which the people of Israel gloried so much in, and which at this time, to the great disgrace of the whole nation, was buried in obscurity. It ought to be a great satisfaction to them that God had raised up this horn of salvation for them in the house of his servant David, Luke i. 69 . [5.] Raised up according to his promise, the promise to David ( Ps. cxxxii. 11 ), the promise to the Old-Testament church in the latter times of it: I will raise unto David a righteous branch, Jer. xxiii. 5 . This promise was it to which the twelve tribes hoped to come ( ch. xxvi. 7 ); why then should they entertain it so coldly, now that it was brought to them? Now, (2.) Concerning this Jesus, he tells them, [1.] That John the Baptist was his harbinger and forerunner, that great man whom all acknowledged to be a prophet. Let them not say that the Messiah's coming was a surprise upon them, and that this might excuse them if they took time to consider whether they should entertain him or no; for they had sufficient warning by John, who preached before his coming, v. 24 . Two things he did— First, He made way for his entrance, by preaching the baptism of repentance, not to a few select disciples, but to all the people of Israel. He showed them their sins, warned them of the wrath to come, called them to repentance, and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance, and bound those to this who were willing to be bound by the solemn rite or sign of baptism; and by this he made ready a people prepared for the Lord Jesus, to whom his grace would be acceptable when they were thus brought to know themselves. Secondly, He gave notice of his approach ( v. 25 ): As he fulfilled his course, when he was going on vigorously in his work, and had had wonderful success in it, and an established interest: "Now," saith he to those that attended his ministry, " Whom think you that I am? What notions have you of me, what expectations from me? You may be thinking that I am the Messiah, whom you expect; but you are mistaken, I am not he (see John i. 20 ), but he is at the door; behold, there cometh one immediately after me, who will so far exceed me upon all accounts, that I am not worthy to be employed in the meanest office about him, no, not to help him on and off with his shoes— whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose, and you may guess who that must be." [2.] That the rulers and people of the Jews, who should have welcomed him, and been his willing, forward, faithful subjects, were his persecutors and murderers. When the apostles preach Christ as the Saviour, they are so far from concealing his ignominious death, and drawing a veil over it, that they always preach Christ crucified, yea, and (though this added much to the reproach of his sufferings) crucified by his own people, by those that dwelt in Jerusalem, the holy city—the royal city, and their rulers, v. 27 . First, Their sin was that though they found no cause of death in him, could not prove him, no, nor had any colour to suspect him, guilty of any crime (the judge himself that tried him, when he had heard all they could say against him, declared he found no fault with him), yet they desired Pilate that he might be slain ( v. 28 ), and presented their address against Christ with such fury and outrage that they compelled Pilate to crucify him, not only contrary to his inclination, but contrary to his conscience; they condemned him to so great a death, though they could not convict him of the least sin. Paul cannot charge this upon his hearers, as Peter did ( ch. ii. 23 ): You have with wicked hands crucified and slain him; for these, though Jews, were far enough off; but he charges it upon the Jews at Jerusalem and the rulers, to show what little reason those Jews of the dispersion had to be so jealous for the honour of their nation as they were, when it had brought upon itself such a load and stain of guilt as this, and how justly they might have been cut off from all benefit by the Messiah, who had thus abused him, and yet they were not; but, notwithstanding all this, the preaching of this gospel shall begin at Jerusalem. Secondly, The reason of this was because they knew him not, v. 27 . They knew not who he was, nor what errand he came into the world upon; for, if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Christ owned this in extenuation of their crime: They know not what they do; and so did Peter: I wot that through ignorance you did this, ch. iii. 17 . It was also because they knew not the voice of the prophets though they heard them read every sabbath day. They did not understand nor consider that it was foretold that the Messiah should suffer, or else they would never have been the instruments of his suffering. Note, Many that read the prophets do not know the voice of the prophets, do not understand the meaning of the scriptures; they have the sound of the gospel in their ears, but not the sense of it in their heads, nor the savour of it in their hearts. And therefore men do not know Christ, nor know how to carry it towards him, because they do not know the voice of the prophets, who testified beforehand concerning Christ. Thirdly, God overruled them, for the accomplishment of the prophecies of the Old-Testament: Because they knew not the voice of the prophets, which warned them not to touch God's Anointed, they fulfilled them in condemning him; for so it was written that Messiah the prince shall be cut off, but not for himself. Note, It is possible that men may be fulfilling scripture prophecies, even when they are breaking scripture precepts, particularly in the persecution of the church, as in the persecution of Christ. And this justifies the reason which is sometimes given for the obscurity of scripture prophecies, that, if they were too plain and obvious, the accomplishment of them would thereby be prevented. So Paul saith here, Because they knew not the voice of the prophets, therefore they have fulfilled them, which implies that if they had understood them they would not have fulfilled them. Fourthly, All that was foretold concerning the sufferings of the Messiah was fulfilled in Christ ( v. 29 ): When they had fulfilled all the rest that was written of him, even to the giving of him vinegar to drink in his thirst, then they fulfilled what was foretold concerning his being buried. They took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. This is taken notice of here as that which made his resurrection the more illustrious. Christ was separated from this world, as those that are buried have nothing more to do with this world, nor this world with them; and therefore our complete separation from sin is represented by our being buried with Christ. And a good Christian will be willing to be buried alive with Christ. They laid him in a sepulchre, and thought they had him fast. [3.] That he rose again from the dead, and saw no corruption. This was the great truth that was to be preached; for it is the main pillar, by which the whole fabric of the gospel is supported, and therefore he insists largely upon this, and shows, First, That he rose by consent. When he was imprisoned in the grave for our debt, he did not break prison, but had a fair and legal discharge from the arrest he was under ( v. 30 ): God raised him from the dead, sent an angel on purpose to roll away the stone from the prison-door, returned to him the spirit which at his death he had committed into the hands of his Father, and quickened him by the Holy Ghost. His enemies laid him in a sepulchre, with design he should always lay there; but God said, No; and it was soon seen whose purpose should stand, his or theirs. Secondly, That there was sufficient proof of his having risen ( v. 31 ): He was seen many days, in divers places, upon divers occasions, by those that were most intimately acquainted with him; for they came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, were his constant attendants, and they are his witnesses unto the people. They were appointed to be so, have attested the thing many a time, and are ready to attest it, though they were to die for the same. Paul says nothing of his own seeing him, which was more convincing to himself than it could be when produced to others. Thirdly, That the resurrection of Christ was the performance of the promise made to the patriarchs; it was not only true news, but good news: "In declaring this, we declare unto you glad tidings ( v. 32, 33 ), which should be in a particular manner acceptable to you Jews. So far are we from designing to put any slur upon you, or do you any wrong, that the doctrine we preach, if you receive it aright, and understand it, brings you the greatest honour and satisfaction imaginable; for it is in the resurrection of Christ that the promise which was made to your fathers is fulfilled to you. " He acknowledges it to be the dignity of the Jewish nation that to them pertained the promises ( Rom. ix. 4 ), that they were the heirs of the promise, as they were the children of the patriarchs to whom the promises were first made. The great promise of the Old Testament was that of the Messiah, in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed, and not the family of Abraham only; though it was to be the peculiar honour of that family that he should be raised up of it, yet it was to be the common benefit of all families that he should be raised up to them. Note, 1. God hath raised up Jesus, advanced him, and exalted him; raised him again (so we read it), meaning from the dead. We may take in both senses. God raised up Jesus to be a prophet at his baptism, to be a priest to make atonement at his death, and to be a king to rule over all at his ascension; and his raising him up from the dead was the confirmation and ratification of all these commissions, and proved him raised of God to these offices. 2. This is the fulfilling of the promises made to the fathers, the promise of sending the Messiah, and of all those benefits and blessings which were to be had with him and by him: "This is he that should come, and in him you have all that God promised in the Messiah, though not all that you promised yourselves." Paul puts himself into the number of the Jews to whom the promise was fulfilled: To us their children. Now, if those who preached the gospel brought them these glad tidings, instead of looking upon them as enemies to their nation, they ought to caress them as their best friends, and embrace their doctrine with both arms; for if they valued the promise so much, and themselves by it, much more the performance. And the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, which was the great thing that the Jews found themselves aggrieved at, was so far from infringing the promise made to them that the promise itself, that all the families of the earth should be blessed in the Messiah, could not otherwise be accomplished. Fourthly, That the resurrection of Christ was the great proof of his being the Son of God, and confirms what was written in the second Psalm (thus ancient was the order in which the Psalms are now placed), Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. That the resurrection of Christ from the dead was designed to evidence and evince this is plain from that of the apostle ( Rom. i. 4 ): He was declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead. When he was first raised up out of obscurity, God declared concerning him by a voice from heaven, This is my beloved Son ( Matt. iii. 17 ), which has a plain reference to that in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son. Abundance of truth there is couched in those words: that this Jesus was begotten of the Father before all worlds —was the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, as the son is of the father's—that he was the logos, the eternal thought of the eternal mind, —that he was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin; for upon this account, also, that holy thing was called the Son of God ( Luke i. 35 ), that he was God's agent in creating and governing the world, and in redeeming it and reconciling it to himself, and faithful as a son in his own house, and as such was heir of all things. Now all this, which was declared at Christ's baptism and again at his transfiguration, was undeniably proved by his resurrection. The decree which was so long before declared was then confirmed; and the reason why it was impossible he should be held by the bands of death was because he was the Son of God, and consequently had life in himself, which he could not lay down but with a design to resume it. When his eternal generation is spoken of, it is not improper to say, This day have I begotten thee; for from everlasting to everlasting is with God as it were one and the same eternal day. Yet it may also be accommodated to his resurrection, in a subordinate sense, "This day have I made it to appear that I have begotten thee, and this day have I begotten all that are given to thee;" for it is said ( 1 Pet. i. 3 ) that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as our God and Father, hath begotten us again to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Fifthly, That his being raised the third day, so as not to see corruption, and to a heavenly life, so as no more to return to corruption, that is, to the state of the dead, as others did who were raised to life, further confirms his being the Messiah promised. a. He rose to die no more; so it is expressed, Rom. vi. 9 : As concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, that is, to the grave, which is called corruption, Job xvii. 14 . Lazarus came out of the grave with his grave-clothes on, because he was to use them again; but Christ, having no more occasion for them, left them behind. Now this was the fulfilling of that scripture ( Isa. lv. 3 ), I will give you the sure mercies of David; ta hosia Dabid ta pista — the holy things of David, the faithful things; for in the promise made to David, and in him to Christ, great stress is laid upon the faithfulness of God ( Ps. lxxxix. 1, 2, 5, 24, 33 ), and upon the oath God had sworn by his holiness, Ps. lxxxix. 35 . Now this makes them sure mercies indeed that he who is entrusted with the dispensing of them has risen to die no more; so that he ever lives to see his own will executed, and the blessings he hath purchased for us given out to us. As, if Christ had died and had not risen again, so if he had risen to die again, we had come short of the sure mercies, or at least could not have been sure of them. b. He rose so soon after he was dead that his body did not see corruption; for it is not till the third day that the body begins to change. Now this was promised to David; it was one of the sure mercies of David, for it was said to him in Ps. xvi. 10 , Neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption, v. 35 . God had promised to David that he would raise up the Messiah of his seed, who should therefore be a man, but should not, like other men, see corruption. This promise could not have its accomplishment in David, but looked forward to Christ. ( a. ) It could not be accomplished in David himself ( v. 36 ), for David, after he had served his own generation, by the will of God, who raised him up to be what he was, fell asleep, and was laid to his fathers, and saw corruption. Here we have a short account of the life, death, and burial, of the patriarch David, and his continuance under the power of death. [ a. ] His life: He served his own generation, by the will of God, before he slept the sleep of death. David was a useful good man; he did good in the world by the will of God. He made God's precepts his rule; he served his own generation so as therein to serve God; he so served and pleased men (as whatever the king did pleased the people, 2 Sam. iii. 36 ), as still to keep himself the faithful servant of God. See Gal. i. 10 . He served the good of men, but did not serve the will of men. Or, by the will of God's providence so ordering it, qualifying him for, and calling him to, a public station, he served his own generation; for every creature is that to us which God makes it to be. David was a great blessing to the age wherein he lived; he was the servant of his generation: many are the curse, and plague, and burden of their generation. Even those that are in a lower and narrower sphere must look upon it that they live to serve their generation; and those that will do good in the world must make themselves servants of all, 1 Cor. ix. 19 . We were not born for ourselves, but are members of communities, to which we must study to be serviceable. Yet here is the difference between David and Christ, that David was to serve only his own generation, that generation in which he lived, and therefore when he had done what he had to do, and written what he had to write, he died, and continued in the grave; but Christ (not by his writings or words upon record only as David, but by his personal agency) was to serve all generations, must ever live to reign over the house of Jacob, not as David, for forty years, but for all ages, as long as the sun and moon endure, Ps. lxxxix. 29 , 36 , 37 . His throne must be as the days of heaven, and all generations must be blessed in him, Ps. lxxii. 17 . [ b. ] His death: He fell asleep. Death is a sleep, a quiet rest, to those who, while they lived, laboured in the service of God and their generation. Observe, He did not fall asleep till he had served his generation, till he had done the work for which God raised him up. God's servants have their work assigned them; and, when they have accomplished as a hireling their day, then, and not till then, they are called to rest. God's witnesses never die till they have finished their testimony; and then the sleep, the death, of the labouring man will be sweet. David was not permitted to build the temple, and therefore when he had made preparation for it, which was the service he was designed to, he fell asleep, and left the work to Solomon. [ c. ] His burial: He was laid to his fathers. Though he was buried in the city of David ( 1 Kings ii. 10 ), and not in the sepulchre of Jesse his father in Bethlehem, yet he might be said to be laid to his fathers; for the grave, in general, is the habitation of our fathers, of those that are gone before us, Ps. xlix. 19 . [ d. ] His continuance in the grave: He saw corruption. We are sure he did not rise again; this Peter insists upon when he freely speaks of the patriarch David ( ch. ii. 29 ): He is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. He saw corruption, and therefore that promise could not have its accomplishment in him. But, ( b. ) It was accomplished in the Lord Jesus ( v. 37 ): He whom God raised again saw no corruption; for it was in him that the sure mercies were to be reserved for us. He rose the third day, and therefore did not see corruption then; and he rose to die no more, and therefore never did. Of him therefore the promise must be understood, and no other. c. Having given them this account of the Lord Jesus, he comes to make application of it. ( a. ) In the midst of his discourse, to engage their attention, he had told his hearers that they were concerned in all this ( v. 26 ): " To you is the word of this salvation sent, to you first. If you by your unbelief make it a word of rejection to you, you may thank yourselves; but it is sent to you for a word of salvation; if it be not so, it is your own fault." Let them not peevishly argue that because it was sent to the Gentiles, who had no communion with them, therefore it was not sent to them; for to them it was sent in the first place. " To you men this is sent, and not to the angels that sinned. To you living men, and not to the congregation of the dead and damned, whose day of grace is over." He therefore speaks to them with tenderness and respect: You are men and brethren; and so we are to look upon all those that stand fair with us for the great salvation as having the word of salvation sent to them. Those to whom he does by warrant from heaven here bring the word of salvation are, [ a. ] The native Jews, Hebrews of the Hebrews, as Paul himself was: " Children of the stock of Abraham, though a degenerate race, yet to you is this word of salvation sent; nay, it is therefore sent to you, to save you from your sins." It is an advantage to be of a good stock; for, though salvation does not always follow the children of godly parents, yet the word of salvation does: Abraham will command his children and his house-hold after him. [ b. ] The proselytes, the Gentiles by birth, that were in some degree brought over to the Jews' religion: " Whosoever among you that feareth God. You that have a sense of natural religion, and have subjected yourselves to the laws of that, and taken hold of the comforts of that, to you is the word of this salvation sent; you need the further discoveries and directions of revealed religion, are prepared for them, and will bid them welcome, and therefore shall certainly be welcome to take the benefit of them." ( b. ) In the close of his discourse he applies what he had said concerning Christ to his hearers. He had told them a long story concerning this Jesus; now they would be ready to ask, What is all this to us? And he tells them plainly what it is to them. [ a. ] It will be their unspeakable advantage if they embrace Jesus Christ, and believe this word of salvation. It will relieve them where their greatest danger lies; and that is from the guilt of their sins: " Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren —we are warranted to proclaim it to you, and you are called to take notice of it." He did not stand up to preach before them, but to preach to them, and not without hopes of prevailing with them; for they are men, reasonable creatures, and capable of being argued with; they are brethren, spoken to, and dealt with, by men like themselves; not only of the same nature, but of the same nation. It is proper for the preachers of the gospel to call their hearers brethren, as speaking familiarly to them, and with an affectionate concern for their welfare, and as being equally interested with them in the gospel they preach. Let all that hear the gospel of Christ know these two things— 1st, That it is an act of indemnity granted by the King of kings to the children of men, who stand attainted at his bar of treason against his crown and dignity; and it is for and in consideration of the mediation of Christ between God and man that this act of grace is passed and proclaimed ( v. 38 ): "Through this man, who died and rose again, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. We have to tell you, in God's name, that your sins, though many and great, may be forgiven, and how it is come about that they may be so, without any injury to God's honour, and how you may obtain the forgiveness of your sins. We are to preach repentance for the remission of sins, and divine grace giving both repentance and remission of sins. The remission of sins is through this man. By his merit it was purchased, in his name it is offered, and by his authority it is bestowed; and therefore you are concerned to be acquainted with him, and interested in him. We preach to you the forgiveness of sins. That is the salvation we bring you, the word of God; and therefore you ought to bid us welcome and look upon us as your friends, and messengers of good tidings." 2ndly, That it does that for us which the law of Moses could not do. The Jews were jealous for the law, and because it prescribed expiatory and pacificatory sacrifices, and a great variety of purifications, fancied they might be justified by it before God. "No," saith Paul, "be it known to you that it is by Christ only that those who believe in him, and none else, are justified from all things, from all the guilt and stain of sin, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses " ( v. 39 ); therefore they ought to entertain and embrace the gospel, and not to adhere to the law in opposition to it, because the gospel is perfective, not destructive, of the law. Note, 1. The great concern of sinners it to be justified, to be acquitted from guilt and accepted as righteous in God's sight. 2. Those who are truly justified are acquitted from all their guilt; for if any be left charged upon the sinner he is undone. 3. It was impossible for a sinner to be justified by the law of Moses. Not by his moral law, for we have all broken it, and are transgressing it daily, so that instead of justifying us it condemns us. Not by his remedial law, for it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin, should satisfy God's offended justice, or pacify the sinner's wounded conscience. It was but a ritual and typical institution. See Heb. ix. 9; x. 1, 4 . 4. By Jesus Christ we obtain a complete justification; for by him a complete atonement was made for sin. We are justified, not only by him as our Judge, but by him as our righteousness, the Lord our righteousness. 5. All that believe in Christ, that rely upon him and give up themselves to be ruled by him, are justified by him, and none but they. 6. What the law could not do for us, in that it was weak, that the gospel of Christ does; and therefore it was folly, out of a jealousy for the law of Moses and the honour of that institution, to conceive a jealousy of the gospel of Christ and the designs of that more perfect institution. [ b. ] It is at their utmost peril if they reject the gospel of Christ, and turn their backs upon the offer now made them ( v. 40, 41 ): Beware therefore; you have a fair invitation given you, look to yourselves, lest you either neglect or oppose it." Note, Those to whom the gospel is preached must see themselves upon their trial and good behaviour, and are concerned to beware lest they be found refusers of the grace offered. "Beware lest you not only come short of the blessings and benefits spoken of in the prophets as coming upon those that believe, but fall under the doom spoken of in the prophets as coming upon those that persist in unbelief: lest that come upon you which is spoken of. " Note, The threatenings are warnings ; what we are told will come upon impenitent sinners is designed to awaken us to beware lest it should come upon us. Now the prophecy referred to we have Hab. i. 5 , where the destruction of the Jewish nation by the Chaldeans is foretold as an incredible unparalleled destruction; and this is here applied to the destruction that was coming upon that nation by the Romans, for their rejecting the gospel of Christ. The apostle follows the Septuagint translation, which reads, Behold, you despisers (for, behold, you among the heathen ); because it made the text more apposite to his purpose. 1 st, "Take heed lest the guilt come upon you which was spoken of in the prophets—the guilt of despising the gospel and the tenders of it, and despising the Gentiles that were advanced to partake of it. Beware lest it be said to you, Behold, you despisers. " Note, It is the ruin of many that they despise religion, they look upon it as a thing below them, and are not willing to stoop to it. 2 ndly, "Take heed lest the judgment come upon you which was spoken of in the prophets: that you shall wonder and perish, that is, wonderfully perish; your perdition shall be amazing to yourselves and all about you." Those that will not wonder and be saved shall wonder and perish. Those that enjoyed the privileges of the church, and flattered themselves with a conceit that these would save them, will wonder when they find their vain presumption overruled and that their privileges do but make their condemnation the more intolerable. Let the unbelieving Jews expect that God will work a work in their days which you shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. This may be understood as a prediction, either, 1. Of their sin, that they should be incredulous, that that great work of God, the redemption of the world by Christ, though it should be in the most solemn manner declared unto them, yet they would in no wise believe it, Isa. liii. 1 , Who hath believed our report? Though it was of God's working, to whom nothing is impossible, and of his declaring, who cannot lie, yet they would not give credit to it. Those that had the honour and advantage to have this work wrought in their days had not the grace to believe it. Or, 2. Of their destruction. The dissolving of the Jewish polity, the taking of the kingdom of God from them and giving it to the Gentiles, the destruction of their holy house and city, and the dispersion of their people, was a work which one would not have believed should have ever been done, considering how much they had been the favourites of Heaven. The calamities that were brought upon them were such as were never before brought upon any people, Matt. xxiv. 21 . It was said of their destruction by the Chaldeans, and it was true of their last destruction, All the inhabitants of the world would not have believed that the enemy would have entered into the gates of Jerusalem as they did, Lam. iv. 12 . Thus is there a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity, especially to the despisers of Christ, Job xxxi. 3 . Paul at Antioch in Pisidia. 42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. 43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. 44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those thi

[[Luther published two sermons on Acts 13:26-39, both found here]] Sermon for Easter Tuesday; Acts 13:26-39 1 This sermon Paul preached in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, to the assembled Jews and gentiles. Note, he says, V.26. “whosoever among you feareth God.” It is a counterpart of the sermon in the preceding epistle lesson delivered by Peter at Cesarea. Here also the first part of the sermon is simply a narration of the historical facts of Christ’s resurrection, and designed to prove Christ the true Messiah promised in the Scriptures. This is sufficiently demonstrated by the facts in the case that by his own divine power and strength Christ rescued himself from death and the grave, and rose from the dead and showed himself alive and talked with men, something no man but Christ alone had ever done or ever can do. Paul elsewhere ( Romans 1:3-4 ) says that this Jesus our Lord was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. 2 Not content with a mere narration of the history of the resurrection, Paul cites Scripture testimony incontestably proving that Christ necessarily must rise from the dead and set up his spiritual and eternal kingdom through the Word he commanded the apostles to publish world-wide. He also discloses the true meaning of Scripture from revelation itself, showing how to seek and find Christ therein, The preceding Gospel lesson also spoke of this. 3 Third, as was true of Peter, Paul does not fail to mention what is of surpassing importance, the use of the historical parts of Scripture and the blessing and benefit accruing to us from that which Scripture proclaims and witnesses; also the method of appropriating its power and blessing. And he concludes with a beautiful utterance of apostolic power, showing how we are to obtain remission of sins and be saved. He says: V.38, 39. “Through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins: and by him every one that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” This certainly is a powerful passage and so plain it needs no comment, no further explanation. It is a point most firmly established and emphasized everywhere in Paul’s epistles. We should note well and remember such clear passages, that we may gain strength and assurance as to the ground of Christian doctrine. Seeing how perfectly, as faithful, truthful and harmonious witnesses, these two apostles agree in their preaching, we are justified in confidently drawing the conclusion that any doctrine at variance with theirs, any teaching concerning the remission of sins and our salvation contrary to theirs, is not of the church, but of the devil’s accursed teachers, a doctrine of Satan’s own. Galatians 1. Sermon for Easter Tuesday; Acts 13:26-39 (2nd Sermon) THE WORD AND THE RESURRECTION. 1 This sermon was preached by Paul in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia, where were gathered with the Jews some Greek converts. Wherever in a city Jews were to be found, there also were their synagogues in which they taught and preached; and many gentiles, coming to hear, were converted to God through the preaching of his Word. Undoubtedly it was by God's wonderful direction that the Jews were dispersed throughout the world among the gentiles, after the first destruction of Jerusalem by the Assyrians. Inasmuch as this dispersion resulted in the spread of the Word, they were instrumental in securing salvation for the gentiles and in preparing the way for the world-wide preaching of the Gospel by the apostles. For wherever the apostles went they found Jewish synagogues and the opportunity to preach to a regular congregation, through whom their Gospel might be widely disseminated because of the many gentiles also in attendance. Had not these gentiles been already accustomed to the Jewish synagogues, they would not have listened to the apostles, nor even permitted them publicly to preach, strangers that they were. 2 Thus it is Paul comes into the synagogue on the Sabbath, a time when the congregation was wont to assemble and read the Scriptures. He and Barnabas being guests from the country of the Jews, Paul is besought to give an exhortation, or sermon, to the people, whereupon he rises and delivers a fine, lengthy discourse concerning Christ: how in the Scriptures he had been promised unto the fathers and to David the king, had been born of the seed of David and had received the public testimony of John the Baptist; how Christ was sacrificed by the Jews (Peter gives the same account in the preceding epistle lesson); how he rose from the dead and for some time showed himself alive; how he then commanded his apostles to publish to the world the new doctrine that God's promise to the Jews had been fulfilled; and how, by his resurrection, he brought to them the promised blessing, namely, the remission of sins unattainable through the Law of Moses and all their ordinances, but dispensed and imparted alone to faith in the Christ proclaimed. 3 As stated later in the text, there were, beside the Jews, many gentiles present at the preaching of this sermon, and at its conclusion they besought Paul to speak to them again between sabbaths. Accordingly, when he came to the synagogue the next sabbath, he found almost the whole city assembled. But to return to the first sermon: Paul says, V.26. “Brethren, children of the stock of Abraham” --or, native Jews-- V.26. “and those among you that fear God” --who are gentiles. Now, though this could not but be a discourse objectionable and highly offensive to the Jews, Paul opens with tender and nicely chosen words meant to conciliate and to secure their respectful attention. He highly honors them by addressing them as the people chosen by God in preference to all the gentiles; as children of the holy fathers who had a special claim to the promise of God. But, again, he vitiates his pleasing impression when he proclaims to the Jews naught else but the crucified and risen Christ, and concludes with the statement that with nothing but Moses' Law and ordinances they ranked no higher in the sight of God than the gentiles. THE WORD OF SALVATION. 4 Paul's discourse is in perfect harmony with Peter's sermon. Peter speaks of God having sent unto the Jews heralds proclaiming peace; and Paul here says, V.26. “To you [us] is the word of this salvation sent.” Notwithstanding the joy and comfort wherewith these words are fraught, they could not please the Jews. The Jews disdained the idea--in fact, it was intolerable to them to hear it expressed--that after their long expectation of a Messiah to be lord and king of the world, they should receive a mere message, and at that a message rendering of no significance at all that Law and government for which they had expected, through that Messiah, exaltation and world-wide acceptance. Indeed, such an issue could only mean to them having entertained a vain hope. 5 Paul makes his teaching yet more offensive by not referring to the Gospel simply as the word of peace, as Peter does, but by giving it the greater and grander title, “the word of salvation”; in other words, a doctrine calculated to heal and save. No grander name could be found for the Gospel; for a message of salvation is an expression of God's grace, forgiveness of sins, abiding peace and life eternal. Moreover, these blessings were not to be bestowed upon the Jews alone; they were to be equally shared with the gentiles, who had no knowledge of God, of the Law, or of divine worship. The gentiles were thus to be made the equals of the Jews, leaving the latter without preference or special merit before God, and without advantage and lordship over the former in the world. 6 Thus early in his discourse Paul grows blunt and severe, kneading Jews and gentiles into one lump. Indeed, he plainly tells the Jews that the Law of Moses did not secure to them the favor of God in the past and would be equally profitless in the future; that through the Gospel message, and only so, they, and all gentiles as well, were to be delivered from sin, death and the power of the devil, and to become God's people, with power over all. Yet he presents no other tangible token of the great boon he calls salvation and blessedness than his preaching alone. Now, one may say: “The word I hear, and Paul I see, a poor human being; but this salvation--grace, life and peace --I behold not. On the contrary, I daily see and experience sin, terror, adversity, suffering and death, until it seems as if in all humanity none are so utterly forsaken by God as the Christians, who hear this message.” 7 But this is precisely the precious doctrine to be learned if we are to be God's children and sensible of his kingdom within us, a doctrine beyond the knowledge and experience of the Jews with their Law and of the gentiles with their wisdom drawn from reason--this it is: our salvation stands in the word Paul here declares of Christ, a word which, in name and reality, is a word of salvation and peace; for salvation and peace are the blessings which it offers and imparts. 8 God has sent this word, Paul says. Its origin and conception is not with man. It is not the edict of the Roman emperor, nor the command of the high-priest at Jerusalem. It is the Word of the God of heaven. In it he speaks. He will have the message preached by poor human beings as a power unto happiness and salvation, both in name and reality. Such the Law never was. Paul says ( Rom 1:16 ): “I am not ashamed of the Gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” And God himself has bound up with it our salvation when he manifests himself in the voice heard from heaven at Jordan, saying of Christ, “This is my beloved Son”--who is to be heard. 9 God desires Christ's Word to be heard. Otherwise expressed, his command is: “Here ye have the Word of peace and salvation. Not elsewhere may you seek and find these blessings. Cling to this Word if you desire peace, happiness and salvation. Let befall what may, crosses, afflictions, discord, death--whether you be beheaded, or fall victim to pest or stroke, or in whatever manner God may call you home--in it all, look only upon me, whose Word promises that you shall not die, what seems death being but a sweet sleep, aye, the entrance into life eternal.” Christ says ( Jn 8:51 ): “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my Word, he shall never see death.” Note, it is the keeping of the Word on which Christ lays stress. “Keeping” is holding fast to the promise, feeling and all senses to the contrary, doubting not the truth of the message heard. For he who promises is not man; it is the Lord of heaven and earth and all that in them is, who has to this moment controlled and preserved the same. One hundred years ago, what were you and I and all men now living but absolutely nothing? How and from what was creation effected when there was nothing to start with? “He spake and it was done”--that was created which before had not existence--declares Psalm 33:9, quoting from Genesis 1; “he commanded, and it stood fast.” 10 Being the Word of God, the Gospel is an entirely different thing from man's word, no matter though it be spoken by a mere man or even a donkey. Therefore, let there be, now or henceforth, discord, terror of sin; the menace of death and hell, of the grave and corruption: come upon you what may--only press to your heart this Word that Christ has sent you a message of salvation--of redemption, of triumph over all things; and that he commands you to believe it. Then you will perceive that he, as your God and Creator, will not deceive you. What are death, the devil and all creatures as a match for Christ? 11 The glory of Christ's message, then, here called by Paul “the word of salvation,” is much greater and higher than would have been the promise of all the kingdoms, all the riches and splendors of the world, yes, of both heaven and earth. For what could they benefit if one possessed not the Word of salvation and eternal life? With all these, when assailed by sins, or by the distress and danger of death, one must still say, “Away with all the blessings and joys of the world, so that I may hear and have altogether the message,of salvation sent by Christ.” You must hold fast to it and know that it alone gives eternal peace and joy; that it must receive your faith in spite of all apparent contradiction; that you must not be governed by your reason or your feelings, but must regard that as divine, unchangeable and eternal truth which God has spoken and commands to be proclaimed. Such is Paul's exhortation addressed primarily to the Jews to accept this message as sent by God and as being the bearer of wondrous blessings. 12 Next, he proceeds to remove their chief stumblingblock, the thing of greatest offense to them. He warns them against the course adopted by them of Jerusalem, who had the Word of salvation from Christ himself, who read it in the prophets every day, who should have had no trouble perceiving that the prophets testified to Christ and that there was complete harmony between their teaching and that of Christ and the apostles, yet would not understand. Because Christ came not in the manner they desired, they condemned the very One whom they read of in the Scriptures as appearing with this Word of salvation, the time of whose coming had been pointed out, leaving them to know it had long since arrived and they had no reason to wait for another. They understood not the Scriptures because their minds were completely hardened and dominated by the fixed idea that Christ should reign as a temporal king. So thoroughly was the whole Jewish nation impressed with this belief that the very apostles had no other conception of Christ's kingdom, even after his resurrection. As John says ( ch. 12:16 ), they did not understand the Scriptures until Christ ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit came. So long as there hangs before one's eyes this curtain--the carnal fancy of a temporal kingdom for Christ, an earthly government for his Church--the Scriptures cannot be understood. As Paul says of the Jews ( 2 Cor 3:14 ), the veil remaineth in the reading of the Scriptures. But this lack of understanding is inexcusable. That is gross and wilful blindness which will not receive the instruction and direction imparted by the apostles. The Jews continue to rave against the Gospel; they will hear nothing of the Christ, though even after crucifying him they receive the offer of repentance and remission of sins at the hands of the apostles. 13 That Paul should make bold to tell the most prominent men and rulers of the whole Jewish nation--the heads of God's people, pillars of the Church, as we would say that not only the common rabble, but likewise they them- selves did not know and understand the Scriptures committed to them; aye, that, not content with such ignorance and error, they had themselves become the individuals of whom they read, the murderers and crucifiers of the Son of God, their Saviour--this was a matter of grave offense indeed! Offensive indeed was it to have this accusation brought against them, a people among whom God had ordained his worship, his temple and priesthood, and for whom he had instituted a peculiar government, giving the high-priest power to say, Do so or you will be put to death. Deut 17:12. And of them were the glorious and great council of the seventy-two elders originally ordained through Moses ( Ex 18:25-26 ), the council called the Sanhedrin. They ruled the entire people and certainly knew right and wrong according to their law. Was there not reason here to tear Paul to pieces with red-hot pinchers as a seditious character, a public blasphemer, speaking not only against the Jewish government but against the honor of God himself; daring to accuse all the princes of the nation of being in error, of knowing nothing of the Scriptures, even of being murderers of the Son of God? The Pope and his crowd lack the credentials of such glory and endorsement by God. They have merely reared a system of self-devised doctrine and idolatry, which they still defend. Hence, whatever censure and condemnation we heap upon the Pope and his crowd is small in comparison to the thrust Paul dealt the Jewish leaders. 14 Note, Paul does not stand back for anything. He teaches men utterly to disregard the hue and cry of the offended Jews that they were the high-priests, teachers, rulers in a government ordained by God and commanding the obedience of the people; that teaching disobedience to them was equivalent to teaching disobedience to parents and to civil government, yes, to God himself--something in the nature of the case not to be tolerated. Yet Paul fearlessly does so teach, as an apostle of God and in fulfilment of God's command. How much more would Paul oppose our popish deceivers who, without the authority of God's Word, boast themselves heads of the Church and of the people of God, at the same time neither teaching nor understanding the Scriptures, but offering their own drivel as God's commands! 15 But what cause has Paul at heart that he dares so boldly condemn the judgment of these exalted officials? It is this, according to his own statement: There is One called Jesus Christ, of whom the prophets, in fact the entire Scriptures, speak. Him the Jews refuse to know. He is higher and greater than the high-priests and the rulers, greater than the temple or the whole city of Jerusalem. And the Jews know his coming means their passing, and their obedience to him as Lord and Supreme Ruler. Therefore, they are inexcusable in their rejection of Christ. Of no avail is their evasion, “God has given us the dominion and the supreme power, and has commanded obedience to us in equal degree with obedience to parents.” 16 The fact that an individual is a lord or a prince, a father or a mother, a child or a subject, administers authority or obeys it, will not excuse him from being baptized and believing in Christ. For Christ is sole and supreme Lord over all kings, princes and governors. True, we should be obedient to parents and to civil authority, but not to the extent of disobeying the Lord, him who has created and subjected to himself emperors and magistrates equally with the lowliest of men. But the gentlemen and lords at Jerusalem, like those of our day, were unwilling to permit obedience to any but themselves. From such conditions arises the present dispute about ecclesiastical authority. To go counter to it in obeying God's command--this the ecclesiasts unjustly call disobedience and sedition. But such must be our course if we are to be loyal to our Lord and theirs, whom they deny. 17 In the matter of salvation, Caiaphas or Pope, Caesar or king, avails naught; none avails but Jesus Christ. “Him,” says Paul, “the rulers of Jerusalem, the Holy City, have killed. Though ye were ordained by God and given authority, God no longer regards you, because ye reject Christ. Ye have become great blockheads, blind leaders, understanding not at all the Scriptures. Yet ye should and would teach others, just as Moses and the prophets have pointed to this Christ promised to you and to all the world for salvation and solace. Persisting in your blindness, ye have brought him to the cross, though finding in him no cause for condemnation. Surely, he did you no injury; he deprived you of naught, neither money, goods, honor nor power, but has brought you all good--even salvation--if ye will but receive him. But ye made yourselves the very ones who fulfilled the Scriptures ye daily read--those who put Christ to death and brought to pass the fact that he rose from the dead (though without thanks to you or to Satan) and became a Lord commanding the obedience of all creatures.” “We shall no longer regard what ye, or all the world, have to say of our preaching Christ; it is all the same to us whether you rage or smile. For we boast the Lord, the Son of God, made Lord over all the fathers through his resurrection. It is his will that we preach of him, and that all men believe. Since ye refuse him, your God-given privilege ceases, which, however, was granted only until the advent of the Messiah. We must withdraw from you, renouncing your authority and priesthood, and Jerusalem itself. We tell you plainly that we cannot and will not obey you in opposition to the will of the Lord.” 18 Mark you, in order to make the Jews Christians, Paul had to preach that Christ was already come; that he was no longer to be looked for. He was obliged to bring home to them what they had done to Christ, they the rulers and chief of those bearing the name of God's people and entrusted with the Law and the order of divine worship--he was forced to do so that they might perceive their sin and quit their boast of having the true Law and worship, having nothing whatever wherein to glory before God. For, though possessing the Law of Moses and having heard often enough the Word of God, they would not recognize and receive the Messiah sent by God in accordance with his promise, but condemned him and became his murderers. In view of this fact, what does their boast about being Abraham's children, God's people, possessors of the prophets, and the Law and the priesthood, amount to? These privileges only magnify their sins, only make their guilt the more grievous, before God. Not as blind, ignorant heathen, but as a people who have, and should know, the Word of God, they wilfully put to death God's Son. Thus we have the first part of Paul's sermon. THE RESURRECTION AND FAITH. 19 The second part deals with the resurrection of Christ and its power through faith. This is the goal Paul has in view when he tells them that they have slain the Christ, thus effecting their condemnation by God and forfeiting whatever glory they possessed as Jews, gaining shame and wrath before God in its stead. To be still delivered from such condemnation, and to obtain justification and salvation, as he expresses himself toward the end, it is necessary to hear and believe the word concerning the selfsame Christ. Moreover, inasmuch as they with their leaders have refused to receive and recognize this Messiah when he preached and wrought miracles in person; now, that he is invisible and absent in the body, they are called upon to receive him whom they themselves have crucified unto death, and to believe that he is risen from the dead as Lord over all, according to the testimony of the apostles. The dreams of the past they are now utterly to forsake, and their expectations of a Messiah still to come and elevate them with their Law and manner of worship to fame, riches and position, and to spread abroad their Moses and their priesthood in all the earth. They must now thank God for being placed on the same footing with the gentiles, in that they may come with them to the Word of salvation for the purpose of obtaining God's favor, remission of sins and life eternal. OLD TESTAMENT TESTIMONY. 20 Paul supports his discourse on the resurrection of Christ with many strong Scripture texts. There is no doubt that he dwelt on these at length and preached quite a ser- mon, which, however, has not been recorded here in full, but only in part. The apostle's purpose was to point us to the Old Testament Scriptures, that we might there make diligent study for ourselves of how forcibly the prophets have spoken concerning Christ, his works and his kingdom. 21 The first text Paul cites is from the Second Psalm, which treats throughout of the Messiah and his reign, as even the Jews at the time when wisdom still prevailed had to admit. Christ's own words are: “I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” Paul says he is here quoting from the First Psalm, though in all editions, old and new, this psalm comes second in order. But the apostle does not have reference to the technical arrangement of the psalms in a book, but to the order of his quotations. The thought is: “First, I will prove it from the psalm,” or, “First, as written in the psalm.” just as the preacher of today says, “I observe, first,” or, “It is written, first, in the psalm,” whether the psalm be the first, second, twentieth or thirtieth, he not having reference to the order of the psalm but to the order in which he cites it. 22 But how does Paul make this text prove the resurrection of Christ? It is truly a strong statement, and no doubt the apostle fully explained it, amplifying it beautifully and well. The psalm refers to that Messiah, or King, who shall reign in the Jewish nation, among the people; for the writer says plainly, “I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion,” or Jerusalem. The King, then, must be true man like other men. Indeed, the psalmist adds that the kings and rulers of earth shall rage and persecute him, which could not be unless he reigned upon earth. 23 But this verse also makes the King true God, for here God calls him his own Son, begotten of himself in his divine, eternal essence and majesty. He is, then, not an adopted Son, but the true Son of God by birth. Being man, however, just like others, he must, in accord with his human nature, die; indeed, he must suffer crucifixion and death at the hands of the lords of the world. But, again, if he be also the begotten Son of God and therefore true God, he cannot, even according to his human nature, remain in death; he must come forth from it, must triumph over it, becoming Lord of life and death forever. Here is an indivisible Being, at the same time a Son of the virgin of the house of David and of God. Such cannot remain in death. If he enter death, it must be to overcome and conquer it, yes, to slay it, to destroy it; and to bring to pass that in him as Lord shall reign naught but life, life for all who receive him. This subject is elsewhere more fully expounded. 24 But the succeeding text cited on the resurrection--from Isaiah 55:3 --reads yet more strangely: “I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David,” which in the Hebrew is: “I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” The prophet has reference to the promise made to David in Second Samuel 7, concerning Christ. In the preceding verses of the chapter, Isaiah most tenderly entreats and invites the whole world to receive the promises of salvation, for thereby shall the poor, the wretched and the afflicted obtain the great treasures of joy and salvation. And immediately following the verse quoted, he speaks of the Messiah, the promised seed of David, as given to the Levites for a “witness”- -in other words, a preacher sent by God--and for “a leader and commander to the peoples.” The thought is of a King and Ruler differing from Moses and his priests and exponents of the Law; a ruler differing from every other lord, ruler and king, from David and all worldly rulers whatever, subjecting everything to himself. Not that this Leader should set up a new temporal government, or extend Jewish authority among the gentiles, but that both Jews and gentiles should receive him and believe in him, obtaining the fulfilment of that promise he here terms a covenant of the sure mercies of David. This covenant, God says, he enters into and keeps, a divine, sure covenant: through Christ shall be given whatever blessings God's mercy shall bestow, with remission or blotting out of sins, redemption from death and life eternal. 25 Now, if the Christ of this covenant is true man and, as the promise to David is, of David's flesh and blood; and if he is to bring eternal mercy, he must likewise be God, such gift being in the province and power of God alone. This being true, he cannot remain in death, although he may suffer death by reason of his human nature; he must of his own power rise from the dead. Only so can he raise others and give them everlasting life; only so can he truly be called eternal King of grace, righteousness and life, according to the sure promise of God. 26 Therefore, wherever the Scriptures speak of Christ's eternal kingdom, and of everlasting grace, they point out this article of the resurrection of Christ. No doubt, the apostle in explanation of the text from the Second Psalm quoted other Old Testament passages; for instance, Psalm 110:1: “Jehovah saith unto my lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool”; also verse 4: “Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever.” In these passages God has promised to give us Christ, him who was to sit at his right hand--that is, have the omnipotent, divine power possible only to an eternal Lord and King--and at the same time to have his kingdom on earth, at Zion--or Jerusalem; and who was, moreover, to be a priest forever, being taken from among men and like unto them, even in his ability to die, yet at the same time continuing a priest forever, thereby forestalling the necessity of remaining in death and grave. 27 The third passage cited by Paul is taken from the Sixteenth Psalm, which is in reality one of the Messianic psalms. This is the psalm Peter in his first sermon on the day of Pentecost more fully explains, drawing from it the irresistible conclusion, so apparent in his own words, that Christ indeed has died; not, however, to become victim to decay in the tomb, but, proof against mortal destruction and hurt, to arise on the third day.

For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers - He here anticipates a strong objection, "Why did not they at Jerusalem, and especially their rulers, believe?" They know not him, because they understood not those very prophets whom they read or heard continually. Their very condemning him, innocent as he was, proves that they understood not the prophecies concerning him.

not to reproach the Jews at Jerusalem, but to introduce the fact that Jesus had died, and had risen again. With great wisdom and tenderness, he speaks of his murderers in such a manner as not to exasperate, but as far as possible to mitigate their crime. There was sufficient guilt in the murder of the Son of God to overwhelm the nation with alarm, even after all that could be said to mitigate the deed. See Acts 2:23,36,37. When Paul says, "They knew him not," he means, that they did not know him to be the Messiah, (see 1Cor 2:8 ) they were ignorant of the true meaning of the prophecies of the Old Testament; they regarded him as an impostor. Acts 3:17. Nor yet the voices of the Prophets. Neither the meaning of the predictions in the Old Testament, respecting the Messiah. They expected a prince, and a conqueror, but did not expect a Messiah poor and despised, and a man of sorrows, and that was to die on a cross. Which are read every sabbath day. In the synagogues. Though the Scriptures were read so constantly, yet they were ignorant of their true meaning. They were blinded by pride, and prejudice, and preconceived opinions. Men may often m this way read the Bible a good part of their lives, and, for want of attention, or of a humble mind, never understand it. They have fulfilled them, etc. By putting him to death they have accomplished what was foretold. (++) "voices of the Prophets" "Words" (h) "they have fulfilled them" Lk 24:20,44 Verse 28. And though they found, etc. They found no crime which deserved deat