And having favour with all the people, &c.— Some would translate the original, exercising or shewing charity towards all the people; which the Greek will certainly bear, and which seems to be favoured by the 33rd and 34th verses of the fourth chapter, as well as by the reason of the thing; for as the generality of the Jews were professed enemies to Christ and his disciples, it is not easy to see how they could have been in favour with ALL the people. The Syriac version reads, They gave alms before all the people. The words τους σωζομενους, rendered such as should be saved, signify properly the saved, such as were now saved, or entered in the sure way to salvation. See Acts 2:40 where St. Peter advised them, σωθητε, be ye saved from this untoward generation. A reformed harlot is called, by Sophocles, σωζομενη, one that was saved. Pricaeus quotes the table of Cebes, as using the words οι σωζωμενοι, for the reformed. The abandoned, or incorrigibly wicked, are called the lost, απολλουμενοι, 2 Corinthians 4:3. The reformed or regenerated are here called the saved, σωζομενοι. These two sorts of persons are set in opposition to each other, 1 Corinthians 1:18. 2 Corinthians 2:15. Those who are saved or recovered from sin to holiness, from Satan to God, will, if faithful, be also admitted to eternal salvation; but the word σωζομενους seems here to denote their being saved from sin to the enjoyment of the favour of God through Christ, and to a life of holiness. As Christ was sacrificed at the time of the Jewish passover, so we have observed on the former part of this chapter, that the new law of grace was given from mount Sion, at the same time as when the law of Moses was given from mountSinai,—at the feast of Pentecost, when the apostles having received the first-fruits of the Spirit, gathered in three thousand souls, whom they presented unto God and the Lamb, hallowed or anointed with the unction of the Spirit, as a kind of first-fruits of the new creation. Nor did theywant that innocent festivity and joy usual at the great festival of the Pentecost; for the rich among them sold their possessions and their goods, and raised a plentiful fund for the common benefit of the poorer Christians, while they kept together at Jerusalem; and they with harmony and unanimity not only frequented the temple worship every day, but feasted also together in the true spirit of temperance in their upper rooms, with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God in the most joyous and affectionate manner, and shewing the utmost charity towards all. And then they proceeded to gather in and to complete their great harvest at Jerusalem. Thus were many of the figures and prophesies which went before concerning him, remarkably fulfilled in Christ, and the Christian dispensation.
Inferences drawn from the evangelical account of the descent of the Holy Ghost.—By this miraculous effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, they were qualified for the conversion of mankind; the Christian church was established; and all those graces and excellencies which have made the names of those immediate disciples of our Lord so precious in the Christian world, were at this time poured forth upon them. To this it is that we owe the sanctity of their lives, the purity of their doctrine, the power of their miracles, and all the glorious acts of their martyrdom.
All the other mysteries of the gospel prepare the way for this, when considered in the utmost extent of its efficacy to the consummation of all things: it is the great end of the incarnation, the grand fruit of the death of Christ, and the full accomplishment of all his designs. He had indeed already in some degree formed the body of his new visible church, while he was here on earth, conversing with and instructing his disciples; but by this last act, the descent of the Holy Ghost, he infused a soul into that his mystical body; he endowed it with a vigorous principle of life and action, a heart that might always correspond and sympathize with him, its head. See 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. For the same Holy Spirit then descended upon all the living members of Christ, according to his gracious promise in the last words of St. Matthew's gospel,—almost the last words which he spoke upon earth: Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
This promise, I say, is fulfilled in the mission of the Holy Ghost. Christ is now peculiarly present in his church by his Spirit, which as it formerly descended upon the apostles, so it ever shall descend upon all his true disciples unto the end of the world. The sacred Fountain still stands open, and nothing is retrenched from the bounteous efflux of divine grace, but only the outward prodigies which attended it at the beginning of its course. Now indeed it flows on in general, as some peaceful river, through opened channels, with a silent stream, and marking its way chiefly by the riches it spreads in the parts it passeth through: but the season here celebrated was the time of its grand eruption, if I may so speak, when it rapidly issued forth from the divine source to replenish the apostles, who were the conduits prepared to receive and convey it forward to the later generations. At that time, as was usual upon such extraordinary occasions, it manifested itself even outwardly by sensible representations expressive of its energy, and the effects it produces in the spirits of men.
These sensible representations appeared in the two active elements, air and fire, which kindle and keep up the life of nature. For when the apostles were assembled on the day of Pentecost, that is to say, the day whereon the law was given to the Jews, a double prodigy appeared; a sound was heard from heaven, as of an impetuous wind filling the house; and several distinct flames were seen, one of which resided over each of the apostles. Now these are two proper emblems or symbolical representations; and in order to judge of their significancy, we are to observe, that there is such an analogy and intimate connection between the material and the spiritual worlds, that not only the names of things visible serve to denote things invisible, and are the only names we have for them, which plainly argues a notorious analogy upon which such use of the names is grounded; but also some extraordinary transactions in the higher order pass on and impress themselves upon the lower, so as to affect outward nature in a similar manner; such, I mean, as somehow answer to what is then accomplished in the supernatural state. Thus, for instance, a few weeks before this descent of the Holy Ghost, while our Lord was hanging on the cross, the sun was eclipsed; and, when he expired, outward nature was convulsed with an earthquake. And she sympathized again, yet to a different purpose, in a second earthquake at his resurrection. And now, when his Spirit with the plenitude of divine power was descending upon his apostles, a sound from heaven was heard as of an impetuous wind, and distinct flames were seen over the heads of the apostles.
It will be proper here, as far as our scanty knowledge will permit, to trace out the analogy whereon these two symbols are grounded.
Concerning the first, it has been observed, that among those parts of the material world which are invisible, and whose existence we discover only by their effects, there is scarcely any thing more subtle, more active, and of greater efficacy than wind, that is to say, air in motion, or spirit, according to the primary sense of the word. Hence, in the common use of most languages, the name of wind, or spirit, serves to express those things, which, being not discernible to us by reason of the subtilty or fineness of their substance, are yet conceived to be moved with great agility, and endowed with great force. So naturalists, when they speak of that which is most abstruse, most agile, and most operative, in any liquor or other body, call it spirit. And for the same reason, our souls are called spirits for the subtilty of their nature, and those vital powers wherewith they actuate our bodies.
In regard to our capacity and manner of conceiving things, the holy Scriptures have used this term Spirit to express even the adorable and incomprehensible Deity, signifying his most simple nature, and most powerful energy—his most simple nature, I say, which cannot possibly be the object of any of our senses; and his most powerful energy, which pervades and actuates all things.
This name Spirit, as it is common to the whole Godhead, so it is peculiarly applied to the third person of the ever-blessed Trinity, styled by way of eminence the Holy Spirit; and the spiritual operations of God towards men, are in an especial manner ascribed to him.
Now in all languages commonly known, the operation of a superior mind upon an inferior to raise and invigorate it, is expressed by the metaphor of inspiration, that is to say, breathing into; and the general consent of mankind in the use of this metaphor, demonstrates its fitness and propriety. And therefore when the infinite mind vouchsafed to communicate itself with such plenitude and force to the minds of his chosen servants assembled on the day of Pentecost, this sound from heaven of a mighty rushing wind, or torrent of mysterious air, was a proper symbol to indicate its decent; as the other miraculous appearance by the element of fire, was proper to represent the effects which it produces.
To enlighten, to purify, and to warm, are the properties of fire. Now if we transfer these to the spiritual world, the light of the soul is truth, the purity of the soul is holiness, the warmth or heat of the soul is an active, vigorous ardour to surmount the obstacles, and zealously prosecute the end proposed. The Holy Ghost produces these three effects, and accordingly the Scriptures describe him as a Spirit of truth, of holiness, and of power. As a Spirit of truth, he enlightens the minds of the faithful, and leads them into all truth fit for them to know: as a Spirit of holiness, by an intimate union with their hearts, he reforms them, and makes them holy: as a Spirit of power, he gives them vigour to resist temptation, strength to bear their crosses, and full ability to work out their salvation. We will consider these three properties of the Holy Ghost separately.
First, He is a Spirit of truth; and so our Lord styled him, when he foretold his descent upon the apostles. I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now: howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. Men may teach us divers truths; but to teach all truth is the distinguishing prerogative of the Spirit of God. There are truths, and those too of the utmost importance, which flesh and blood cannot reveal—truths which the world cannot receive; which even the apostles themselves could not bear, much less relish, approve, and fully practise, before they had received the Holy Ghost. Ye cannot bear them now, said Christ, in the passage last quoted; they shock corrupt nature, and our passions recoil at the mention of them. For besides the mysteries of our holy religion, the deep things of God, which cannot be duly apprehended but by minds enlightened by the Spirit of God; besides these, I say, there are many moral truths, whereof we cannot be fully and effectually persuaded, but by the immediate operation of the Holy Ghost: such are those in the beginning of our Lord's sermon on the mount, "That the poor in spirit, the meek, those that mourn and are persecuted, are blessed above other men: that it is better to pull out our eyes, and cut off our hands, than use either in the commission of sin: that our enemies must be loved, and that the most provoking injury ought not only to be forgiven, but requited with benevolence." These, and others that might be named, are certain and saving truths; but no mortal man can convince us of them; I mean with a full, lasting, operative conviction, such as shall determine our practical judgment, and become the habitual rule of our conduct. All demonstration of reason, and arts of persuasion, are vain to this end; and it is in vain that we ourselves endeavour to reason ourselves into these truths. The Holy Ghost only can work this conviction in our minds; and we must seek this conviction from him by prayer, and by opening our minds to his operations, or we shall perish in our errors. The same power only that made our minds, can reform them. That Holy Spirit of God, which at the first creation brooded over the rude chaos, and produced this orderly world out of darkness and confusion, must also preside in our minds to make the new creation of holiness, to bring forth light out of our darkness, truth out of our errors. St. Paul alludes to this, where he says, God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Such are the advantages of the descent of the divine Spirit; such are the privileges to which we are admitted, if we do not love darkness more than light, because our deeds are evil, and we resolve to continue in them. God's school now stands open to all, his Spirit condescends to be our master, our teacher, and will infallibly lead us into all truth, if we devoutly resign ourselves to his direction.
We cannot have a plainer proof of this than in the history given us in this chapter. Consider the apostles; see how wondrous a change was wrought in them by the illumination of this Holy Spirit. Observe what they were before, what after his descent, and thence learn what inestimable advantages we are entitled to by Christianity.
Three long years had the apostles been in the school of Christ, and had tired even his patience with their gross stupidity, and incapacity to apprehend his spiritual doctrine. Though they had made some progress in the way of truth by leaving their little all to follow him: though they daily heard his precepts, and saw his practice, that living comment upon his doctrine—yet nothing could rectify their false notions, nothing could wean them from their vain desires of secular grandeur and magnificence. When our Lord informed them of the necessity of sufferings, the benefits of poverty, the blessedness of persecution, it was all a riddle to them. They understood none of these things; these sayings were hid from them, neither knew they the things that were spoken, Luke 18:34. Even after the resurrection of Christ the cloud was still upon their minds, and they were yet hankering after an immediate possession of worldly grandeur and dominion. Lord, say they, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Acts 1:6. Christ no longer opposed their carnal prejudices, but referred them to the Holy Ghost for full information and conviction.
According to the promise of Christ, the Holy Ghost came. Immediately, all darkness, error, and mistake fled before him. They understood, they believed, they taught, they practised, they were ready to lay down their lives for those truths, which before they could not receive, they could not bear, nor endure. The cross of Christ was no longer an offence to them, but their boast and their glory; and they rejoiced, that they themselves were counted worthy to partake of it, and to suffer shame for his name. Such and so effectual were the fruits of the Spirit, enlightening the minds of the apostles as a Spirit of truth. We are, in the next place, to consider him as a Spirit of holiness. He is not only, by way of eminence, the Holy Spirit, but also the hallowing, that is to say, sanctifying Spirit, whence all holiness in the creatures is derived. It would be endless to mention the places of Scriptures where this property is ascribed to him. It is of more concern, how to explain the precise meaning of the word holiness, which is to be considered in two respects; first, as it is proper to God alone, and, secondly, as it is the privilege and duty of a creature. According to the first sense, we may say, Thou only art holy, as Thou only art the Lord. This holiness peculiar to God, consists in the singularity of his nature, even that surpassing transcendant excellence, which leaves all creatures at an infinite distance beneath his majesty.
It is a common error in men's notions of God, that they conceive of him as one Being among many, greater indeed, and higher, and better than all the rest, but yet as one among others, one that may be named with them, and however superior, yet not absolutely distinct from the rest. This is a wrong conception, for God is not only Unus but Unicus—He is one Alone, the First, without any second or like. But this is a subject to which no speculations can do justice, and which should naturally sink the mind into the profoundest devotion.
Suffice it then to say, that this sublime exaltation and infinite distance of the Creator from the creatures, constitutes his holiness. The Hebrew word signifies separation, and, when applied to God, imports that unconceivable elevation, whereby he is distinguished, and stands alone in his universe. Thus we read; There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside Thee. There is none beside Him: He is a whole genus by himself; and this surpassing, singular excellence, which excludes all possible comparison, constitutes his holiness; and the exercise of it tends solely to the promoting of his own glory. He is glorious in (or by) holiness, says Moses; and the angels incessantly celebrate him by this title, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts: heaven and earth are full of thy glory. The holiness of God is founded, as was said, in the supremacy of his nature; and it is perpetually exercised in maintaining that supremacy, in treating himself worthily, exerting all his attributes, and directing all his acts, to one certain point, which is his glory, the exaltation of his nature, the effulgency of his excellence. The reason why God does all things for his own glory is, because that is the end most worthy of God; his supreme excellence requires it of him as a due to himself by the eternal laws of righteousness: truth and justice make this necessary in God. The glory of God therefore being the end most worthy of God, and all his acts centering therein, all his acts are holy, that is to say, pure from all allay of inferior motives, from every thing that does not inflexibly promote that end.
Such is the holiness of God. The creatures too are holy, when they prosecute the same end that God does, the end for which he created them; that is to say, the glory of God. We call things or persons holy, when they are separated from common use, and dedicated to the service of God, devoted to his glory: to apply them to any other is to profane them. All the laws of God are boundaries set to fence in the way that leads to God's glory; and we never transgress those laws, but we at the same time deviate from it. And therefore St. Paul defines sin to be a falling short of the glory of God. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Holiness, on the contrary, aims all our actions aright, making the glory of God our scope and design. In a word, every action directed to that end, is a holy action, and leads us on towards the participation of the divine glory which we had regard to in performing it; and when it is said that the Holy Ghost sanctifies Christians, the meaning is, that he infuses this general motive, extinguishing the narrow principles of covetousness, pride, and sensuality, and exalting our nature to the noble disinterested purpose of glorifying our Maker.
Those corrupt motives of covetousness, sensuality, and pride, cleave intimately to our souls in the present depraved state, rendering all actions that proceed from them, unholy: and the Spirit of God does then sanctify us, when it disengages us from those corrupt motives. To wash, cleanse, baptize with the Holy Ghost, and sanctify, are commonly synonymous in Scripture; hence the phrase of being baptized with the Holy Ghost, which is elsewhere called being baptized with fire, to signify the universal and intimate purification of the inmost springs of action thereby. With this view the prophet Malachi compares the Spirit to a refiner of gold or silver, destroying the dross, and separating all heterogeneous particles from those metals by force of fire, till they are reduced to perfect purity. Thus the Spirit sanctifies the soul, by abolishing all sordid inclinations, by purging away the multiplicity of carnal desires, and reducing all the powers of the mind to one simple constant pursuit, viz. that of God's glory. This renders the soul holy, that is to say, pure, all of a kind, concentered in the end of its creation, even the glory of its Maker.
To shew how the apostles were thus sanctified, were to relate their history, which is but one continued narrative of their holiness. They were purified from all corrupt principles of action. The love of riches moved them not: for they had all the treasures of the faithful laid at their feet, without any other concern than for the right distribution of them in charity. The love of ease and pleasure moved them not: for their life was spent in incessant labours: they traversed the face of the earth, doing good, and suffering evil in all the parts that they visited. The love of glory and applause moved them not, for they gladly suffered reproach in their Master's cause: and when divine honours were offered to two of them at Lystra, they rent their clothes, and expressed a greater concern for the misplaced reverence of the multitude, than for all the ill usage they had ever met with. And lastly, the love of life itself moved them not, when the glory of God required them to resign it. They rejoiced that they were accounted worthy to die in so great and good a cause. They went cheerfully to death, although the wit and malice of their persecutors had so circumstanced it with a horrid variety of tortures, that only the manner of dying was the punishment, and death itself the deliverance.
Such was the holiness of the apostles: it was the purity of their hearts, the unity of their desires, all meeting in one point, the glory of God.
This one thing only they desired: this one thing only they pursued: they pursued it through poverty, infamy, and distress; through numberless toils and torments. Death in vain came athwart their passage; they leaped the gulph, and were received into glory, that glory for which they had been so zealous.
If we would arrive where they are ascended, we must follow their steps; we must be holy; as they were holy; that is to say, we must absolutely prefer the glory of God to all other considerations; for heaven stands open to none but saints; and without holiness no man shall see the Lord.
That we may not be disheartened in so arduous a work, there are the greatest encouragements, in the third place; namely, that this Spirit of holiness is also a Spirit of power, inspiring zeal, magnanimity, and fortitude, sufficient to surmount all difficulties that occur in the arduous paths of duty. And of this also the apostles were very remarkable instances.
Our Lord, having had a long experience of their natural weakness and pusillanimity, commanded them, when he appeared to them after his resurrection, to live retired for a time, and wait for the promise of the Father. But, said he, ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and then ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And his prediction was gloriously accomplished as soon as the Holy Ghost came. The zeal which inflamed their hearts, found a ready channel into their tongues: their tongues were as tongues of fire, communicating, through grace, their sacred ardour to the hearts of all that heard them.
That conceit of the ancients, who represented their famous orator as brandishing flames of lightning with a thunder-bolt, was never so nearly verified as in the apostles: they flashed conviction into the minds of their hearers, and bore down all opposition of reluctant passion or prejudice with a force and energy most irresistible. They made those very Jews, who had lately condemned our Lord, and with bloody cries solicited Pilate for his crucifixion, now condemn themselves with bitter remorse and compunction. It is said, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter, and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Three thousand were thus converted under the power of the Holy Spirit, in one day and one place; which, considering the natural weakness of the preachers, with the rooted prejudices and noted obstinacy of the audience, we may account one of the greatest miracles of our religion.
The apostles bear witness of Christ, not only before his friends, or even persons indifferent, but before those that murdered him—even those apostles who had deserted him shamefully at his being first seized, so far were they from bearing witness for him at his trial: Peter, in particular, who, trembling before a servant-maid, had three times renounced him with oaths, now standing up with the eleven, lift up his voice and said: Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words. You see he makes no timorous apology, he uses none of the little arts to gain benevolence; but, conscious of the divine authority wherewith he stood invested, he charges his hearers with all the enormity of their crime. Ye have killed (said he) the Lord of life: he tells them, that the person, whom they had with wicked hands crucified and slain, was the Messias; and he proves him to be so, by bearing testimony of his resurrection: him God hath raised up from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. And he backs his own evidence with irrefragable arguments from scriptures, which he at the same time explained with such force and perspicuity, as extorted assent from the most obdurate. Is this the illiterate fisherman? Is this the carnal disciple who presumed to rebuke his Lord, when he first mentioned the cross to him? Is this the fugitive apostate, the abjuring Peter? But with God all things are possible. Peter had now received the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Power, whose property it is to strengthen us with might in the inward man, to create a new heart, and renew a right spirit within us.
Thus have we endeavoured to represent to our readers this Holy Spirit in his operations of truth, holiness, and power. We would now only add a word or two concerning the disposition by which we must prepare our hearts to receive him: and this, as our Lord teaches us, is earnest and persevering prayer. We have his direction, Luke 11. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.—If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him? The terms, you see, are very easy, are highly reasonable: if we do not perform them, we shall be without excuse. But if by humble, fervent, incessant prayer, we seek from our heavenly Father the gift of his Spirit, we shall infallibly receive it, we shall be enlightened, purified, and confirmed in all goodness, we shall advance from strength to strength, till, if faithful to death, we become meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, The great promise here receives its accomplishment in the mission of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples. We have,
1. The time: when the day of pentecost, the fiftieth from the passover, was fully come, in the morning, they were all with one accord in one place; it being the first day of the week, which they observed in memory of their Lord's resurrection, and was consecrated also now by the pouring out of the Spirit upon them. No longer strifes or discord divided them; united in fervent charity, they waited the fulfilment of their Master's promise. Note; (1.) They who wait upon God in the assembly of his saints, shall find him by his Spirit still present in the midst of them. (2.) God will delight to dwell with those whose hearts, by fervent love, are united in his service.
2. The manner in which the Holy Ghost descended. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, an emblem of the Spirit's divine energy on the minds of men; and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, signifying the illuminating, warming, and purifying influences of the Spirit upon their souls, and the amazing gift of tongues bestowed upon them, with that freedom of utterance, whereby they were enabled to preach the gospel among all nations; and it sat upon each of them; the Holy Ghost, in all the fulness of his miraculous operations, now taking up his constant residence in them, to qualify them for the arduous service to which they were ordained. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost; not only the apostles, but all the disciples; experiencing such divine joys and consolations as they had never experienced before; and began to speak with other tongues, in all the variety of languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance, suggesting both the matter and words, and enabling them with the greatest copiousness and most forcible energy to declare the wonderful works of God, in the gospel of his dear Son.
2nd, Such an extraordinary occurrence was soon spread abroad, and brought a vast concourse together. We have,
1. The persons. Devout men who dwelt at Jerusalem, out of every nation under heaven; both Jews, and proselytes, who were now assembled at the feast of Pentecost, or, as some suppose, had taken up their residence there, in expectation of the speedy appearing of the Messiah.
2. The amazement which filled them at hearing these men, who were poor illiterate Galileans, speak with such fluency and propriety all the various languages and dialects of their respective countries, Parthians, Medes, &c. They could not, therefore, but with wonder and surprize, observe to each other how astonishing was this miracle, and question what could be the meaning of it, and whether it ushered in the long-expected kingdom of the Messiah? for they heard them speak in their several native tongues the great things of God, respecting the redemption which was in Jesus Christ, and the glorious privileges obtained by his death, resurrection, and ascension, for all believers.
3. Some mocking, said, These men are full of new wine; a cavil most wicked, absurd, and blasphemous. Probably these were inhabitants of Jerusalem, the scribes and Pharisees, who, not understanding the languages which the inspired disciples spoke, thought the whole to be nonsense, and would fain have branded them as drunkards, that they might prejudice the people against them by this most malicious falsehood. Note; There are still too many to whom the great things of God appear unintelligible; and because they are themselves destitute of spiritual understanding, and are perfectly ignorant of divine and experimental truths, they brand the preachers of them as enthusiasts, speaking evil of the things they know not.
3rdly, In answer to the malicious cavil of these enemies to the truth, Peter, the zealous speaker, and now inspired by peculiar influences from on high, arose, and boldly addressed to these mockers the awakening discourse contained in this chapter.
1. He stood up with the eleven, to shew the falsehood of the charge, and to vindicate himself and his brethren from so malicious an accusation: and directing his discourse aloud to the Jews who were present, begs attention to the words of truth and soberness, which he was about to utter. Note; We must not return a sharp answer to a reviling accusation, but with meekness answer those who oppose themselves against us.
2. He denies the calumny, and shews it to be as absurd as malicious. These men are not drunken, as ye suppose and would insinuate, seeing it is but the third hour of the day, but nine o'clock in the morning; and till that hour, on the sabbaths and festivals, the Jews usually did neither eat nor drink; nor was it at all probable, that so many as they were, they should have been guilty of such a debauch, or dare appear intoxicated on so solemn an occasion.
3. He explains to them an affair which they counted so strange, which some admired and others ridiculed. This was the accomplishment of the prophesy of Joel, Ch. Acts 2:28-32 which he cites at large; for though himself inspired, the Spirit was not given to supersede the Scriptures, but to enable us to understand them. God had promised in respect to the last days, the days of the Messiah, which ushered in the last dispensation of grace, I will pour out of my Spirit, in a more extraordinary measure than ever before, upon all flesh, upon Gentiles as well as Jews: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, foretelling future events, Ch. Acts 21:9-10 and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; God in these ways revealing to them his mind and will: and on my servants, and on my handmaidens, on persons of all conditions, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, as from an inexhaustible fountain, and they shall prophesy: and I will shew wonders in heaven above, dreadful prodigies in the air, which were the prelude to the approaching ruin of the Jewish nation, for their obstinate infidelity and rejection of the Messiah; and signs in the earth beneath, dire presages of impending woes: blood and fire, and vapour of smoke, the blood of the people shed by the invading foe whose devastations should spread through the country, and the smoke of their cities consumed in flames which should obscure the sky. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, suffering unusual eclipses, or looking red, through the dusky clouds of smoke; or this may signify the approaching total dissolution of their government, before that great and notable day of the Lord come, when he shall execute such condign vengeance on his murderers, as no nation, since the burning of Sodom, ever suffered, and when he shall be glorified in his judgments. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever, discerning the signs of these times shall call on the name of the Lord, the Almighty Jehovah, Jesus, spoken of in this prophesy, placing their dependance on him alone for salvation, and in fervent prayer making their application to him for help, and persevering in faith and love to him,—they shall be saved by his power and grace from all the evils they fear in time or eternity, and be made partakers of his eternal glory. Lord, pour out a spirit of prayer and supplication upon me, that I may be of this blessed number!
4. He improves this occasion in order to preach to them Jesus, whose gift this Spirit was, which now was shed abroad so abundantly upon them, entreating their attention to the important truths that he was about to deliver.
[1.] He reminds them of his well-known life and character—Jesus of Nazareth, a name which they gave him by way of reproach, but a man approved of God among you; evidently signalized with his peculiar favour, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which he wrought in proof of his divine mission, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; bearing his attestation to the character that he assumed; and they themselves had been eye-witnesses of these wonderful works.
[2.] They had, notwithstanding, rejected his credentials, and hung him on a tree. Him, this glorious Messiah, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ordained as a sacrifice to divine justice, ye have taken and seized as a criminal, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; engaging the Gentile governor to bring him to this ignominious death; and his innocent blood is now upon your heads.
[3.] God had raised him, notwithstanding all their enmity, rage, and malice; having loosed the pains of death, judicially discharging him from the grave, and from all the sorrows of death, which as the substitute of the fallen race, and more especially of them who perseveringly believe, he consented to endure, because it was not possible that he should be holden of them. The dignity of his person, the perfection of his sacrifice, and the prophesies concerning him, rendered it impossible that he should remain longer the prisoner of death; whom by dying he had destroyed, and, as a triumphant conqueror, rose to lead captivity captive.
[4.] He shews that this was foretold by the royal Psalmist, who personating Jesus, the true Messiah, thus speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face; he walked under the constant sense of his Father's presence, and with an eye to his glory; for he is on my right hand, to support and carry me through my arduous undertaking, that I should not be moved with any of the sufferings of life, or the terrors of death. Therefore did my heart rejoice in his power, faithfulness, and love, and my tongue was glad, praising him for the experience of his almighty grace: moreover also, my flesh shall rest in hope, entirely satisfied of a glorious issue, and entering the grave in the fullest assurance of a speedy resurrection; because, or that thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, to abide, like other departed spirits, in the invisible world; nor his body in the dust; neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption, and putrify in the tomb: being the holy one of God, and having by a perfect obedience to death, even the death of the cross, completed the great atonement, he had a right to a speedy discharge from that lowest step of his humiliation. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, which lie through the gates of death; and Christ, the first-fruits of those that slept, is gone before; having raised himself to an endless life, and leading his faithful people after him to a glorious immortality: thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance, in that state of bliss and blessedness to which, as Mediator, he should be exalted: and what is here primarily spoken concerning the great Head of the church, is true of every real member of his body mystical perseveringly cleaving to him. (1.) They live for God, designing his glory as their end, and resting upon his promises, his power, and grace, as their abiding support, comfort, and joy. (2.) They die in hope, committing their souls into the hands of a faithful Creator, and rejoicing in the prospect of eternal life and glory which the gospel sets before them, and of which faith assures them.
[5.] He comments on the text that he had quoted. Great and respectable as the patriarch David was, the head of the royal race of Judah, yet he saw corruption; and they, as reasonable men, and his countrymen, if they dispassionately considered these words, must needs be convinced that the Psalmist spake not this of himself; he dying, and being buried, as other men; and his tomb being extant to that day: but being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, Psalms 132:11 that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, as Israel's king, in the most exalted sense, reigning in the hearts of his believing people—he seeing this before, by the spirit of prophesy, spake of the resurrection of Christ, whom he personates when he says, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus, who lately lay in the grave, the son of David after the flesh, the person of whom he David, as a prophet, speaks, hath God raised up; whereof we all are witnesses: having been his constant followers before his death, and having often seen, conversed, and ate and drank with him since his resurrection, till the day that we beheld him ascend up to heaven.
[6.] The gifts of the spirit were the fruit of his exaltation. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted to the mediatorial throne, and possessed of the most transcendent dignity and glory, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, the purchase of his obedience to death, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear; the flames of fire, and gift of tongues, which appeared to them so strange. And his ascension also David had foretold, Psalms 110:1. For David is not ascended into the heavens, as the Person, in whose name he speaks, evidently was; but the Lord Jesus is gone thither, as he saith himself, The Lord God the Father, said unto my Lord, the Messiah, Sit thou on my right hand, in the highest dignity, and possessed of universal dominion and authority, until I make thy foes thy footstool; until sin, satan, death, and every enemy of the Redeemer and his faithful people, shall be finally and for ever destroyed.
[7.] He warmly applies the matter to their consciences. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, as a truth most infallible and certain, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ; and there could not be a greater aggravation of their wickedness than this, that whom the Lord had glorified, they had crucified; nor a more tremendous consideration, than that he was now exalted to a throne of glory to execute vengeance on all his murderers, who obstinately persisted in their impenitence.
4thly, The power of the Spirit upon the apostles themselves appeared gloriously evident in the boldness wherewith he inspired them, as well as in the miraculous gifts with which he endued them: and we have also a proof of his energetic influence on the consciences of the hearers, accompanying his own word in the mouths of his servants.
1. Many of the hearers, struck with conscious guilt at what they heard, were pricked in their heart with sharp and deep convictions of their sin and danger, and, in great distress of conscience, said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do, to avert the dire vengeance that we have provoked, and to obtain pardon for a deed so atrocious? Note; (1.) When the Spirit of God opens the conscience of the sinner to discern his hell-deserving guilt, his hard heart then is broken with the most fearful apprehensions of his danger. (2.) Ministers are the physicians to whom convinced sinners should apply, and they have balm to cure the mortal wound which sin has made in their souls. (3.) They who truly feel their lost estate, cannot but desire, above all things, to know if yet there may be hope.
2. Peter, in the name of his brethren, said unto them, Your case, however dangerous, is not desperate, Repent—under a sense of redeeming love be deeply humbled for your guilt and ingratitude; and with deep self-abhorrence turn unto the Lord, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ; professing your faith in him as the true Messiah, and sincerely yielding up yourselves to him as his willing subjects; for the remission of sins, purchased by him, and freely bestowed on the chief of sinners; and herewith also ye shall receive the give of the Holy Ghost, of his comforting and sanctifying influences; as also (it is probable) of his miraculous powers in respect to many. For the promise, of pardon and the Holy Ghost, or the great promise made to Abraham and his seed, is unto you, and to your children, his descendants, and to all that are afar off, Jews or Gentiles, even as many as the Lord our God shall call to this high and glorious dispensation—all such shall have the invaluable opportunity of becoming members of the Messiah's peculiar kingdom here below, and of enjoying the higher glories awaiting faithful Christians in his kingdom above. Note; No sinner need despair; the gospel holds forth, through the blood of Jesus, a free pardon to the most guilty of the sons of Adam; and he that believes, shall be saved.
3. The apostle enlarged on this subject. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation; come out from among them, and be ye separate; renounce the false tenets and corrupt practices of the scribes and Pharisees, that you may escape the plagues ready to descend upon this sinful people, abandoned to their infidelity and destruction. Note; They who would be saved among Christ's faithful people, must be separated from the ways of this wicked world, and from the familiar society of careless sinners, shunning their assemblies, as a man dreads the house infected by the plague.
4. Great was the effect produced by this discourse, through the Spirit's mighty energy. No less than three thousand souls immediately embraced, and gladly received, the word of gospel grace; and, believing in a crucified Redeemer now risen from the dead, made open profession of their faith, and were baptized in his name. Note; (1.) The salvation which is by Jesus Christ, is glad news to the sinner who is pricked to the heart with a sense of his guilt and danger. (2.) They who are truly turned to the Lord, will boldly make profession of his name, and join themselves to the society of the faithful, whatever danger or reproach they may be exposed to thereby.
5thly, We have the practice of the primitive church.
1. They were united in holy ordinances. They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, professing their faith in Christ and his gospel, and attending on the apostles ministry and fellowship, maintaining the closest communion with them and each other; and in breaking of bread, celebrating the Lord's supper, and in prayers, social and public, continuing daily with one accord in the temple at the stated hours of service, and praising God for all the inestimable blessings bestowed, through Jesus Christ, upon them. Note; They who have tasted of the blessing of communion with God, will delight to maintain it in the diligent use of all holy ordinances.
2. A solemn awe restrained their enemies from molesting them. Fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles, so that it evidently appeared that God was with them. Note; God can put his bridle in the jaws of persecutors, and say, Touch not my prophets, and do my anointed no harm.
3. A spirit of most noble and disinterested charity appeared among them. All that believed were together; they were of one heart and mind, and assembled in several companies, as many as conveniently could meet in one place, and had all things common, each casting his all into the common stock; and as the necessity of the times was urgent, they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man of their society had need. And as they assembled daily with one accord in the temple, so did they break bread from house to house, provided out of the common stock, eating their meat together with gladness and singleness of heart; fervent in love to each other, thankful to God, and conscious of their own undissembled simplicity and sincerity before him. Note; Who should rejoice, if the children of God do not?
4. They were highly esteemed, and their numbers daily increased. They had favour with all the people; their undissembled piety commanded respect; the miraculous powers with which so many of them were invested, excited reverence; and their charitable actions abounded; and the Lord so eminently blessed their ministrations, that there were added to the church daily such as should be saved, or the saved. See the original Greek, and the note on Acts 2:47.