Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
KJV
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Commentary
Commentary
Between the promise of the Messiah (even the latest of those promises)
and his coming many ages intervened; but between the promise of the
Spirit and his coming there were but a few days; and during those days
the apostles, though they had received orders to preach the gospel to
every creature, and to begin at Jerusalem, yet lay perfectly
wind-bound, incognito--concealed, and not offering to preach. But in
this chapter the north wind and the south wind awake, and then they
awake, and we have them in the pulpit presently. Here is,
I. The descent of the Spirit upon the apostles, and those that were
with them, on the day of pentecost, ver. 1-4 .
II. The various speculations which this occasioned among the people
that were now met in Jerusalem from all parts, ver. 5-13 .
III. The sermon which Peter preached to them hereupon, wherein he shows
that this pouring out of the Spirit was the accomplishment of an
Old-Testament promise
( ver. 14-21 ),
that it was a confirmation of Christ's being the Messiah, which was
already proved by his resurrection
( ver. 22-32 ),
and that is was a fruit and evidence of his ascension into heaven, ver. 33-36 .
IV. The good effect of this sermon in the conversion of many to the
faith of Christ, and their addition to the church, ver. 37-41 .
V. The eminent piety and charity of those primitive Christians, and
the manifest tokens of God's presence with them, and power in them, ver. 42-47 .
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all
with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire,
and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to
speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
We have here an account of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the
disciples of Christ. Observe,
I. When, and where, this was done, which are particularly noted, for
the greater certainty of the thing.
1. It was when the day of pentecost was fully come, in which
there seems to be a reference to the manner of the expression in the
institution of this feast, where it is said
( Lev. xxiii. 15 ), You shall count unto you seven sabbaths complete, from the day
of the offering of the first-fruits, which was the next day but one
after the passover, the sixteenth day of the month Abib, which was the
day that Christ arose. This day was fully come, that is, the
night preceding, with a part of the day, was fully past.
(1.) The Holy Ghost came down at the time of a solemn feast, because
there was then a great concourse of people to Jerusalem from all parts
of the country, and the proselytes from other countries, which would
make it the more public, and the fame of it to be spread the sooner and
further, which would contribute much to the propagating of the gospel
into all nations. Thus now, as before at the passover, the Jewish
feasts served to toll the bell for gospel services and entertainments.
(2.) This feast of pentecost was kept in remembrance of the giving of
the law upon mount Sinai, whence the incorporating of the Jewish church
was to be dated, which Dr. Lightfoot reckons to be just one thousand
four hundred and forty-seven years before this. Fitly, therefore, is
the Holy Ghost given at that feast, in fire and in tongues, for the
promulgation of the evangelical law, not as that to one nation, but to
every creature.
(3.) This feast of pentecost happened on the first day of the
week, which was an additional honour put on that day, and a
confirmation of it to be the Christian sabbath, the day which the
Lord hath made, to be a standing memorial in his church of those
two great blessings--the resurrection of Christ, and the pouring out of
the Spirit, both on that day of the week. This serves not only to
justify us in observing that day under the style and title of the
Lord's day, but to direct us in the sanctifying of it to give God
praise particularly for those two great blessings; every Lord's day in
the year, I think, there should be a full and particular notice taken
in our prayers and praises of these two, as there is by some churches
of the one once a year, upon Easter-day, and of the other once a year,
upon Whit-sunday. Oh! that we may do it with suitable affections!
2. It was when they were all with one accord in one place. What
place it was we are not told particularly, whether in the temple, where
they attended at public times
( Luke xxiv. 53 ),
or whether in their own upper room, where they met at other times. But
it was at Jerusalem, because this had been the place which God chose,
to put his name there, and the prophecy was that thence the word of the
Lord should go forth to all nations, Isa. ii. 3 .
It was now the place of the general rendezvous of all devout people:
here God had promised to meet them and bless them; here therefore he
meets them with this blessing of blessings. Though Jerusalem had done
the utmost dishonour imaginable to Christ, yet he did this honour to
Jerusalem, to teach his remnant in all places; he had this in
Jerusalem. Here the disciples were in one place, and they were not as
yet so many but that one place, and no large one, would hold them all.
And here they were with one accord. We cannot forget how often,
while their Master was with them, there were strifes among them, who
should be the greatest; but now all these strifes were at an end,
we hear no more of them. What they had received already of the Holy
Ghost, when Christ breathed on them, had in a good measure rectified
the mistakes upon which those contests were grounded, and had disposed
them to holy love. They had prayed more together of late than usual
( ch. i. 14 ),
and this made them love one another better. By his grace he thus
prepared them for the gift of the Holy Ghost; for that blessed dove
comes not where there is noise and clamour, but moves upon the face of
the still waters, not the rugged ones. Would we have the Spirit poured out upon us from on high? Let us be all of one accord,
and, notwithstanding variety of sentiments and interests, as no doubt
there was among those disciples, let us agree to love one another; for,
where brethren dwell together in unity, there it is that the
Lord commands his blessing.
II. How, and in what manner, the Holy Ghost came upon them. We often
read in the old Testament of God's coming down in a cloud; as when he
took possession first of the tabernacle, and afterwards of the temple,
which intimates the darkness of that dispensation. And Christ went up
to heaven in a cloud, to intimate how much we are kept in the dark
concerning the upper world. But the Holy Ghost did not descend in a
cloud; for he was to dispel and scatter the clouds that overspread
men's minds, and to bring light into the world.
1. Here is an audible summons given them to awaken their expectations
of something great, v. 2 .
It is here said,
(1.) That it came suddenly, did not rise gradually, as common
winds do, but was at the height immediately. It came sooner than they
expected, and startled even those that were now together waiting, and
probably employed in some religious exercises.
(2.) It was a sound from heaven, like a thunder-clap, Rev. vi. 1 .
God is said to bring the winds out of his treasuries ( Ps. cxxxv. 7 ),
and to gather them in his hands, Prov. xxx. 4 .
From him this sound came, like the voice of one crying, Prepare ye
the way of the Lord. (3.) It was the sound of a wind, for the way of the Spirit is like that
of the wind
( John iii. 3 ), thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it comes
nor whither it goes. When the Spirit of life is to enter into the
dry bones, the prophet is told to prophecy unto the wind: Come from
the four winds, O breath, Ezek. xxxvii. 9 .
And though it was not in the wind that the Lord came to Elijah,
yet this prepared him to receive his discovery of himself in the still small voice, 1 Kings xix. 11, 12 . God's way is in the whirlwind and the storm ( Nah. i. 3 ),
and out of the whirlwind he spoke to Job.
(4.) It was a rushing mighty wind; it was strong and violent,
and came not only with a great noise, but with great force, as if it
would bear down all before it. This was to signify the powerful
influences and operations of the Spirit of God upon the minds of men,
and thereby upon the world, that they should be mighty through God,
to the casting down of imaginations. (5.) It filled not only the room, but all the house where
they were sitting. Probably it alarmed the whole city, but, to show
that it was supernatural, presently fixed upon that particular house:
as some think the wind that was sent to arrest Jonah affected only the
ship that he was in
( Jon. i. 4 ),
and as the wise men's star stood over the house where the child was.
This would direct the people who observed it whither to go to enquire
the meaning of it. This wind filling the house would strike an awe
upon the disciples, and help to put them into a very serious, reverent,
and composed frame, for the receiving of the Holy Ghost. Thus the
convictions of the Spirit make way for his comforts; and the rough
blasts of that blessed wind prepare the soul for its soft and gentle
gales.
2. Here is a visible sign of the gift they were to receive. They saw cloven tongues, like as of fire ( v. 3 ),
and it sat -- ekathise , not they sat, those
cloven tongues, but he, that is the Spirit (signified thereby), rested
upon each of them, as he is said to rest upon the prophets of old. Or,
as Dr. Hammond describes it, "There was an appearance of something like
flaming fire lighting on every one of them, which divided asunder, and
so formed the resemblance of tongues, with that part of them that was
next their heads divided or cloven." The flame of a candle is somewhat
like a tongue; and there is a meteor which naturalists call ignis
lambens--a gentle flame, not a devouring fire; such was this.
Observe,
(1.) There was an outward sensible sign, for the confirming of the
faith of the disciples themselves, and for the convincing of others.
Thus the prophets of old had frequently their first mission confirmed
by signs, that all Israel might know them to be established
prophets.
(2.) The sign given was fire, that John Baptist's saying concerning
Christ might be fulfilled, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost
and with fire; with the Holy Ghost as with fire. They were now, in
the feast of pentecost, celebrating the memorial of the giving of the
law upon mount Sinai; and as that was given in fire, and therefore is
called a fiery law, so is the gospel. Ezekiel's mission was confirmed
by a vision of burning coals of fire ( ch. i. 13 ),
and Isaiah's by a coal of fire touching his lips, ch. vi. 7 .
The Spirit, like fire, melts the heart, separates and burns up the
dross, and kindles pious and devout affections in the soul, in which,
as in the fire upon the altar, the spiritual sacrifices are offered up.
This is that fire which Christ came to send upon the earth. Luke xii. 49 .
(3.) This fire appeared in cloven tongues. The operations of the Spirit
were many; that of speaking with divers tongues was one, and was
singled out to be the first indication of the gift of the Holy Ghost,
and to that this sign had a reference.
[1.] They were tongues; for from the Spirit we have the word of God,
and by him Christ would speak to the world, and he gave the Spirit to
the disciples, not only to endue them with knowledge, but to endue them
with a power to publish and proclaim to the world what they knew; for the dispensation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal. [2.] These tongues were cloven, to signify that God would hereby divide
unto all nations the knowledge of his grace, as he is said to have
divided to them by his providence the light of the heavenly bodies, Deut. iv. 19 .
The tongues were divided, and yet they still continued all of one
accord; for there may be a sincere unity of affections where yet there
is a diversity of expression. Dr. Lightfoot observes that the dividing
of tongues at Babel was the casting off of the heathen; for when they
had lost the language in which alone God was spoken of and preached,
they utterly lost the knowledge of God and religion, and fell into
idolatry. But now, after above two thousand years, God, by another
dividing of tongues, restores the knowledge of himself to the
nations.
(4.) This fire sat upon them for some time, to denote the constant
residence of the Holy Ghost with them. The prophetic gifts of old were
conferred sparingly and but at some times, but the disciples of Christ
had the gifts of the Spirit always with them, though the sign, we may
suppose, soon disappeared. Whether these flames of fire passed from one
to another, or whether there were as many flames as there were persons,
is not certain. But they must be strong and bright flames that would be
visible in the day-light, as it now was, for the day was fully
come.
III. What was the immediate effect of this?
1. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, more plentifully
and powerfully than they were before. They were filled with the graces
of the Spirit, and were more than ever under his sanctifying
influences--were now holy, and heavenly, and spiritual, more weaned
from this world and better acquainted with the other. They were more
filled with the comforts of the Spirit, rejoiced more than ever in the
love of Christ and the hope of heaven, and in it all their griefs and
fears were swallowed up. They were also, for the proof of this, filled
with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are especially meant here; they
were endued with miraculous powers for the furtherance of the gospel.
It seems evident to me that not only the twelve apostles, but all the
hundred and twenty disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost alike at this time--all the seventy disciples, who were apostolic men,
and employed in the same work, and all the rest too that were to preach
the gospel; for it is said expressly
( Eph. iv. 8, 11 ), When Christ ascended on high (which refers to this, v. 33 ), he gave gifts unto men, not only some apostles (such were
the twelve), but some prophets and some evangelists (such
were many of the seventy disciples, itinerant preachers), and some pastors and teachers settled in particular churches, as we may
suppose some of these afterwards were. The all here must refer
to the all that were together, v. 1; ch. i. 14, 15 .
2. They began to speak with other tongues, besides their native
language, though they had never learned any other. They spoke not
matters of common conversation, but the word of God, and the praises of
his name, as the Spirit gave them utterance, or gave them to
speak apophthengesthai -- apophthegms, substantial
and weighty sayings, worthy to be had in remembrance. It is probable
that it was not only one that was enabled to speak one language, and
another another (as it was with the several families that were
dispersed from Babel), but that every one was enabled to speak divers
languages, as he should have occasion to use them. And we may suppose
that they understood not only themselves but one another too, which the
builders of Babel did not, Gen. xi. 7 .
They did not speak here and there a word of another tongue, or stammer
out some broken sentences, but spoke it as readily, properly, and
elegantly, as if it had been their mother-tongue; for whatever was
produced by miracle was the best of the kind. They spoke not from any
previous thought or meditation, but as the Spirit gave them
utterance; he furnished them with the matter as well as the
language. Now this was,
(1.) A very great miracle; it was a miracle upon the mind (and so had
most of the nature of a gospel miracle), for in the mind words are
framed. They had not only never learned these languages, but had never
learned any foreign tongue, which might have facilitated these; nay,
for aught that appears, they had never so much as heard these languages
spoken, nor had any idea of them. They were neither scholars nor
travellers, nor had had any opportunity of learning languages either by
books or conversation. Peter indeed was forward enough to speak in his
own tongue, but the rest of them were no spokesmen, nor were they quick
of apprehension; yet now not only the heart of the rash understands
knowledge, but the tongue of the stammerers is ready to speak
eloquently, Isa. xxxii. 4 .
When Moses complained, I am slow of speech, God said, I will
be with thy mouth, and Aaron shall be thy spokesman. But he
did more for these messengers of his: he that made man's mouth new-made
theirs.
(2.) A very proper, needful, and serviceable miracle. The language the
disciples spoke was Syriac, a dialect of the Hebrew; so that it was
necessary that they should be endued with the gift, for the
understanding both of the original Hebrew of the Old Testament, in
which it was written, and of the original Greek of the New Testament,
in which it was to be written. But this was not all; they were
commissioned to preach the gospel to every creature, to disciple all
nations. But here is an insuperable difficulty at the threshold.
How shall they master the several languages so as to speak intelligibly
to all nations? It will be the work of a man's life to learn their
languages. And therefore, to prove that Christ could give authority to
preach to the nations, he gives ability to preach to them in their own
language. And it should seem that this was the accomplishment of that
promise which Christ made to his disciples
( John xiv. 12 ), Greater works than these shall you do. For this may well be
reckoned, all things considered, a greater work than the miraculous
cures Christ wrought. Christ himself did not speak with other tongues,
nor did he enable his disciples to do so while he was with them: but it
was the first effect of the pouring out of the Spirit upon them.
And archbishop Tillotson thinks it probable that if the conversion of
infidels to Christianity were now sincerely and vigorously attempted,
by men of honest minds, God would extraordinarily countenance such an
attempt with all fitting assistance, as he did the first publication of
the gospel.
5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of
every nation under heaven.
6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together,
and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in
his own language.
7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to
another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilæans?
8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were
born?
9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in
Mesopotamia, and in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya
about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues
the wonderful works of God.
12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to
another, What meaneth this?
13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
We have here an account of the public notice that was taken of this
extraordinary gift with which the disciples were all on a sudden
endued. Observe,
I. The great concourse of people that there was now at Jerusalem, it
should seem more than was usual at the feast of pentecost. There
were dwelling or abiding at Jerusalem Jews that were devout men, disposed to religion, and that had the fear of God
before their eyes (so the word properly signifies), some of them proselytes of righteousness, that were circumcised, and admitted
members of the Jewish church, others only proselytes of the
gate, that forsook idolatry, and gave up themselves to the worship
of the true God, but not to the ceremonial law; some of those that were
at Jerusalem now, out of every nation under heaven, whither the
Jews were dispersed, or whence proselytes were come. The expression is
hyperbolical, denoting that there were some from most of the then known
parts of the world; as much as ever Tyre was, or London is, the
rendezvous of trading people from all parts, Jerusalem at that time was
of religious people from all parts. Now,
1. We may here see what were some of those countries whence those
strangers came
( v. 9-11 ),
some from the eastern countries, as the Parthians, Medes, Elamites,
and dwellers in Mesopotamia, the posterity of Shem; thence we come
in order to Judea, which ought to be mentioned, because, though the
language of those in Judea was the same with that which the disciples
spoke, yet, before, they spoke it with the north-country tone and
dialect ( Thou art a Galilean, and thy speech betrays thee ), but
now they spoke it as correctly as the inhabitants of Judea themselves
did. Next come the inhabitants of Cappadocia, Pontus, and that country
about Propontis which was particularly called Asia, and these
were the countries in which those strangers were scattered to whom St.
Peter writes. 1 Pet. i. 1 .
Next come the dwellers in Phrygia and Pamphylia, which lay
westward, the posterity of Japhet, as were also the strangers of
Rome; there were some also that dwelt in the southern parts of Egypt, in the parts of Libya about Cyrene; there were also some
from the island of Crete, and some from the deserts of Arabia; but they
were all either Jews originally, dispersed into those countries; or proselytes to the Jewish religion, but natives of those
countries. Dr. Whitby observes that the Jewish writers about this time,
as Philo and Josephus, speak of the Jews as dwelling every where
through the whole earth; and that there is not a people upon
earth among whom some Jews do not inhabit. 2. We may enquire what brought all those Jews and proselytes together
to Jerusalem at this time: not to make a transient visit thither to the
feast of pentecost, for they are said to dwell there. They took
lodgings there, because there was at this time a general expectation of
the appearing of the Messiah; for Daniel's weeks had just now expired,
the sceptre had departed from Judah, and it was then generally thought
that the kingdom of God would immediately appear, Luke xix. 11 .
This brought those who were most zealous and devout to Jerusalem, to
sojourn there, that they might have an early share in the kingdom of
the Messiah and the blessings of that kingdom.
II. The amazement with which these strangers were seized when they
heard the disciples speak in their own tongues. It should seem, the
disciples spoke in various languages before the people of those
languages came to them; for it is intimated
( v. 6 )
that the spreading of the report of this abroad was that which brought the multitude together, especially those of different
countries, who seem to have been more affected with this work of wonder
than the inhabitants of Jerusalem themselves.
1. They observe that the speakers are all Galileans, that know no other
than their mother tongue
( v. 7 );
they are despicable men, from whom nothing learned nor polite is to be
expected. God chose the weak and foolish things of the world to
confound the wise and mighty. Christ was thought to be a Galilean, and
his disciples really were so, unlearned and ignorant men.
2. They acknowledge that they spoke intelligibly and readily their own
language (which they were the most competent judges of), so correctly
and fluently that none of their own countrymen could speak it better: We hear every man in our own tongue wherein we were born ( v. 8 ),
that is, we hear one or other of them speak our native language. The
Parthians hear one of them speak their language, the Medes hear another
of them speak theirs; and so of the rest; v. 11 , We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. Their respective languages were not only unknown at Jerusalem, but
probably despised and undervalued, and therefore it was not only a
surprise, but a pleasing surprise, to them to hear the language of
their own country spoken, as it naturally is to those that are
strangers in a strange land.
(1.) The things they heard the apostles discourse of were the wonderful works of God, megaleia tou
Theou -- Magnalia Dei, the great things of God. It is
probable that the apostles spoke of Christ, and redemption by him, and
the grace of the gospel; and these are indeed the great things of
God, which will be for ever marvellous in our eyes. (2.) They heard them both praise God for these great things and
instruct the people concerning these things, in their own
tongue, according as they perceived the language of their hearers,
or those that enquired of them, to be. Now though, perhaps, by dwelling
some time at Jerusalem, they were got to be so much masters of the
Jewish language that they could have understood the meaning of the
disciples if they had spoken that language, yet,
[1.] This was more strange, and helped to convince their judgment, that
this doctrine was of God; for tongues were for a sign to those
that believed not, 1 Cor. xiv. 22 .
[2.] It was more kind, and helped to engage their affections, as it was
a plain indication of the favour intended to the Gentiles, and that the
knowledge and worship of God should no longer be confined to the Jews,
but the partition-wall should be broken down; and this is to us a plain
intimation of the mind and will of God, that the sacred records of
God's wonderful works should be preserved by all nations in their
own tongue; that the scriptures should be read, and public worship
performed, in the vulgar languages of the nations.
3. They wonder at it, and look upon it as an astonishing thing
( v. 12 ): They were all amazed, they were in an ecstacy, so the
word is; and they were in doubt what the meaning of it was, and whether
it was to introduce the kingdom of the Messiah, which they were big
with the expectation of; they asked themselves and one another ti
an theloi touto einai ;-- Quid hoc sibi vult?--What is the
tendency of this? Surely it is to dignify, and so to distinguish,
these men as messengers from heaven; and therefore, like Moses at the
bush, they will turn aside, and see this great sight.
III. The scorn which some made of it who were natives of Judea and
Jerusalem, probably the scribes and Pharisees, and chief priests, who
always resisted the Holy Ghost; they said, These men are full of new
wine, or sweet wine; they have drunk too much this
festival-time, v. 13 .
Not that they were so absurd as to think that wine in the head would
enable men to speak languages which they never learned; but these,
being native Jews, knew not, as the others did, that what was spoken
was really the languages of other nations, and therefore took it to be
gibberish and nonsense, such as drunkards, those fools in
Israel, sometimes talk. As when they resolved not to believe the
finger of the Spirit in Christ's miracles, they turned it off with
this, "He casteth out devils by compact with the prince of the devils;"
so, when they resolved not to believe the voice of the Spirit in the
apostles' preaching, they turned it off with this, These men are
full of new wine. And, if they called the Master of the house a
wine-bibber, no marvel if they so call those of his household.
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice,
and said unto them, Ye men of Judæa, and all ye that dwell at
Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I
will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in
those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the
earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on
the name of the Lord shall be saved.
22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man
approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also
know:
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain:
24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death:
because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always
before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be
moved:
26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad;
moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make
me full of joy with thy countenance.
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his
sepulchre is with us unto this day.
30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to
the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see
corruption.
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having
received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath
shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith
himself, The L ORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that
God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord
and Christ.
We have here the first-fruits of the Spirit in the sermon which Peter
preached immediately, directed, not to those of other nations in a
strange language (we are not told what answer he gave to those that
were amazed, and said, What meaneth this? ) but to the Jews in
the vulgar language, even to those that mocked; for he begins with the
notice of that
( v. 15 ),
and addresses his discourse
( v. 14 ) to the men of Judea and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; but we
have reason enough to think that the other disciples continued to speak
to those who understood them (and therefore flocked about them), in the
languages of their respective countries, the wonderful works of
God. And it was not by Peter's preaching only, but that of all, or
most, of the rest of the hundred and twenty, that three thousand
souls were that day converted, and added to the church; but Peter's
sermon only is recorded, to be an evidence for him that he was
thoroughly recovered from his fall, and thoroughly restored to the
divine favour. He that had sneakingly denied Christ now as courageously
confesses him. Observe,
I. His introduction or preface, wherein he craves the attention of the
auditory, or demands it rather: Peter stood up ( v. 14 ),
to show that he was not drunk, with the eleven, who concurred
with him in what he said, and probably in their turns spoke likewise to
the same purport; those that were of greatest authority stood up to
speak to the scoffing Jews, and to confront those who contradicted and
blasphemed, but left the seventy disciples to speak to the willing
proselytes from other nations, who were not so prejudiced, in their own
language. Thus among Christ's ministers, some of greater gifts are
called out to instruct those that oppose themselves, to take hold of
sword and spear; others of meaner abilities are employed in instructing
those that resign themselves, and to be vine-dressers and husband-men. Peter lifted up his voice, as one that was both well assured of
and much affected with what he said, and was neither afraid nor ashamed
to own it. He applied himself to the men of Judea, andres
Ioudaioi -- the men that were Jews; so it should be read;
"and you especially that dwell at Jerusalem, who were accessory
to the death of Jesus, be this known unto you, which you did not
know before, and which you are concerned to know now, and hearken to
my words, who would draw you to Christ, and not to the words of the
scribes and Pharisees, that would draw you from him. My Master is gone,
whose words you have often heard in vain, and shall hear no more as you
have done, but he speaks to you by us; hearken now to our words."
II. His answer to their blasphemous calumny
( v. 15 ):
" These men are not drunken, as you suppose. These disciples of
Christ, that now speak with other tongues, speak good sense, and
know what they say, and so do those they speak to, who are led by their
discourses into the knowledge of the wonderful works of God. You
cannot think they are drunk, for it is but the third hour of the
day, " nine of the clock in the morning; and before this time, on
the sabbaths and solemn feasts, the Jews did not eat nor drink: nay,
ordinarily, those that are drunk are drunk in the night, and not
in the morning; those are besotted drunkards indeed who, when they
awake, immediately seek it yet again, Prov. xxiii. 35 .
III. His account of the miraculous effusion of the Spirit, which is
designed to awaken them all to embrace the faith of Christ, and to join
themselves to his church. Two things he resolves it into:--that it was
the fulfilling of the scripture, and the fruit of Christ's resurrection
and ascension, and consequently the proof of both.
1. That it was the accomplishment of the prophecies of the Old
Testament which related to the kingdom of the Messiah, and therefore an
evidence that this kingdom is come, and the other predictions of it are
fulfilled. He specifies one, that of the prophet Joel, ch. ii. 28 .
It is observable that though Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost,
and spoke with tongues as the Spirit gave him utterance, yet he did
not set aside the scriptures, nor think himself above them; nay, much
of his discourse is quotation out of the Old Testament, to which he
appeals, and with which he proves what he says. Christ's scholars never
learn above their Bible; and the Spirit is given not to supersede the
scriptures, but to enable us to understand and improve the scriptures.
Observe,
(1.) The text itself that Peter quotes, v. 17-21 .
It refers to the last days, the times of the gospel, which are
called the last days because the dispensation of God's kingdom
among men, which the gospel sets up, is the last dispensation of divine
grace, and we are to look for no other than the continuation of this to
the end of time. Or, in the last days, that is, a great while
after the ceasing of prophecy in the Old-Testament church. Or, in the
days immediately preceding the destruction of the Jewish nation, in the
last days of that people, just before that great and notable day of
the Lord spoken of, v. 20 .
"It was prophesied of and promised, and therefore you ought to expect
it, and not to be surprised at it; to desire it, and bid it welcome,
and not to dispute it, as not worth taking notice of." The apostle
quotes the whole paragraph, for it is good to take scripture entire;
now it was foretold,
(2.) The application of this prophecy to the present event
( v. 16 ): This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; it is the
accomplishment of that, it is the full accomplishment of it. This is
that effusion of the Spirit upon all flesh which should come, and we
are to look for no other, no more than we are to look for another
Messiah; for as our Messiah ever lives in heaven, reigning and
interceding for his church on earth, so this Spirit of grace, the
Advocate, or Comforter, that was given now, according to the promise,
will, according to the same promise, continue with the church on earth
to the end, and will work all its works in it and for it, and every
member of it, ordinary and extraordinary, by means of the scriptures
and the ministry.
2. That it was the gift of Christ, and the product and proof of his
resurrection and ascension. From this gift of the Holy Ghost, he
takes occasion to preach unto them Jesus; and this part of his sermon
he introduces with another solemn preface
( v. 22 ):
" You men of Israel, hear these words. It is a mercy that you are
within hearing of them, and it is your duty to give heed to them."
Words concerning Christ should be acceptable words to the men of
Israel. Here is,
(1.) An abstract of the history of the life of Christ, v. 22 .
He calls him Jesus of Nazareth, because by that name he was
generally known, but (which was sufficient to roll away that reproach)
he was a man approved of God among you, censured and condemned
by men, but approved of God: God testified his approbation of his
doctrine by the power he gave him to work miracles: a man marked out
by God, so Dr. Hammond reads it; "signalized and made remarkable
among you that now hear me. He was sent to you, set up, a glorious
light in your land; you yourselves are witnesses how he became famous
by miracles, wonders, and signs, works above the power of
nature, out of its ordinary course, and contrary to it, which God
did by him; that is, which he did by that divine power with which
he was clothed, and in which God plainly went along with him; for no
man could do such works unless God were with him. " See what a
stress Peter lays upon Christ's miracles.
[1.] The matter of fact was not to be denied: "They were done in the
midst of you, in the midst of your country, your city, your solemn
assemblies, as you yourselves also know. You have been
eyewitnesses of his miracles; I appeal to yourselves whether you have
any thing to object against them or can offer any thing to disprove
them."
[2.] The inference from them cannot be disputed; the reasoning is as
strong as the evidence; if he did those miracles, certainly God
approved him, declared him to be, what he declared himself to
be, the Son of God and the Saviour of the world; for the
God of truth would never set his seal to a lie.
(2.) An account of his death and sufferings which they were witness of
also but a few weeks ago; and this was the greatest miracle of all,
that a man approved of God should thus seem to be abandoned of him; and
a man thus approved among the people, and in the midst of them, should
be thus abandoned by them too. But both these mysteries are here
explained
( v. 23 ),
and his death considered,
[1.] As God's act; and in him it was an act of wonderful grace and
wisdom. He delivered him to death; not only permitted him to be
put to death, but gave him up, devoted him: this is explained Rom. viii. 32 , He delivered him up for us all. And yet he was approved of God,
and there was nothing in this that signified the disapproving of him;
for it was done by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, in infinite wisdom, and for holy ends, which Christ himself
concurred in, and in the means leading to them. Thus divine justice
must be satisfied, sinners saved, God and man brought together again,
and Christ himself glorified. It was not only according to the will of
God, but according to the counsel of his will, that he suffered
and died; according to an eternal counsel, which could not be altered.
This reconciled him to the cross: Father, thy will be done; and Father, glorify thy name; let thy purpose take effect, and let
the great end of it be attained.
[2.] As the people's act; and in them it was an act of prodigious sin
and folly; it was fighting against God to persecute one whom he
approved as the darling of heaven; and fighting against their own
mercies to persecute one that was the greatest blessing of this earth.
Neither God's designing it from eternity, nor his bringing good out of
it to eternity, would in the least excuse their sin; for it was their
voluntary act and deed, from a principle morally evil, and therefore
"they were wicked hands with which you have crucified and slain him." It is probable that some of those were here present who had
cried, Crucify him, crucify him, or had been otherwise aiding
and abetting in the murder; and Peter knew it. However, it was justly
looked upon as a national act, because done both by the vote of the
great council and by the voice of the great crowd. It is a rule, Refertur ad universos quod publice fit per majorem paretm--That
which is done publicly by the greater part we attribute to all. He
charges it particularly on them as parts of the nation on which it
would be visited, the more effectually to bring them to faith and
repentance, because that was the only way to distinguish themselves
from the guilty and discharge themselves from the guilt.
(3.) An attestation of his resurrection, which effectually wiped away
the reproach of his death
( v. 24 ): Whom God raised up; the same that delivered him to death delivers him from death, and thereby gave a higher approbation
of him than he had done by any other of the signs and wonders
wrought by him, or by all put together. This therefore he insists
most largely upon.
First, The text quoted at large
( v. 25-28 ),
for it was all fulfilled in him, and shows us,
1. The constant regard that our Lord Jesus had to his Father in his
whole undertaking: I foresaw the Lord before me continually. He
set before him his Father's glory as his end in all-- for he saw that his sufferings would redound abundantly to the honour of God, and
would issue in his own joy; these were set before him, and these
he had an eye to, in all he did and suffered; and with the prospect of
these he was borne up and carried on, John xiii. 31, 32; xvii. 4, 5 .
2. The assurance he had of his Father's presence and power going along
with him: " He is on my right hand, the hand of action,
strengthening, guiding, and upholding that, that I should not be
moved, nor driven off from my undertaking, notwithstanding the
hardships I must undergo." This was an article of the covenant of
redemption
( Ps. lxxxix. 21 ), With him my hand shall be established, my arm also shall strengthen
him; and therefore he is confident the work shall not miscarry in
his hand. If God be at our right hand we shall not be moved.
3. The cheerfulness with which our Lord Jesus went on in his work,
notwithstanding the sorrows he was to pass through: "Being satisfied that I shall not be moved, but the good pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in my hand, therefore doth my heart rejoice, and my
tongue is glad, and the thought of my sorrow is as nothing to me."
Note, It was a constant pleasure to our Lord Jesus to look to the
end of his work, and to be sure that the issue would be glorious;
so well pleased is he with his undertaking that it does his heart good
to think how the issue would answer the design. He rejoiced in
spirit, Luke x. 21 . My tongue was glad. In the psalm it is, My glory
rejoiceth; which intimates that our tongue is our glory, the
faculty of speaking is an honour to us, and never more so than when it
is employed in praising God. Christ's tongue was glad, for when
he was just entering upon his sufferings, in the close of his last
supper, he sang a hymn. 4. The pleasing prospect he had of the happy issue of his death and
sufferings; it was this that carried him, not only with courage, but
with cheerfulness, through them; he was putting off the body, but my
flesh shall rest; the grave shall be to the body, while it lies
there, a bed of repose, and hope shall give it a sweet repose; it
shall rest in hope, hoti, that thou wilt no leave
my soul in hell; what follows is the matter of his hope, or
assurance rather,
(1.) That the soul shall not continue in a state of separation from the
body; for, besides that this is some uneasiness to a human soul made
for its body, it would be the continuance of death's triumph over him
who was in truth a conqueror over death: " Thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell " (in hades, in the invisible state, so hades properly signifies); "but, though thou suffer it for a
time to remove thither, and to remain there, yet thou wilt remand it; thou wilt not leave it there, as thou dost the souls of other
men."
(2.) That the body shall lie but a little while in the grave: Thou
wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption; the body shall not
continue dead so long as to begin to putrefy or become noisome; and
therefore it must return to life on or before the third day after its
death. Christ was God's Holy One, sanctified and set apart to
his service in the work of redemption; he must die, for he must be consecrated by his own blood; but he must not see
corruption, for his death was to be unto God of a sweet smelling
savour. This was typified by the law concerning the sacrifice, that no part of the flesh of the sacrifice which was to be eaten
should be kept till the third day, for fear it should see
corruption and begin to putrefy, Lev. vii. 15-18 .
(3.) That his death and sufferings should be, not to him only, but to
all his, an inlet to a blessed immortality: " Thou has made known to
me the ways of life, and by me made them known to the world, and
laid them open." When the Father gave to the Son to have life in
himself, a power to lay down his life and to take it again, then he
showed him the way of life, both to and fro; the gates of
death were open to him and the doors of the shadow of death ( Job xxxviii. 17 ),
to pass and repass through them, as his occasion led him, for man's
redemption.
(4.) That all his sorrows and sufferings should end in perfect and
perpetual felicity: Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy
countenance. The reward set before him was joy, a fulness
of joy, and that in God's countenance, in the countenance he
gave to his undertaking, and to all those, for his sake, that should
believe in him. The smiles with which the Father received him, when, at
his ascension, he was brought to the Ancient of days, filled him with joy unspeakable, and that is the joy of our Lord, into which all his shall enter, and in which they shall be for ever
happy.
Secondly, The comment upon this text, especially so much of it
as relates to the resurrection of Christ. He addresses himself to them
with a title of respect, Men and brethren, v. 29 .
"You are men, and therefore should be ruled by reason; you are
brethren, and therefore should take kindly what is said to you by one
who, being nearly related to you, is heartily concerned for you, and
wishes you well. Now, give me leave freely to speak to you
concerning the patriarch David, and let it be no offence to you if
I tell you that David cannot be understood here as speaking of himself,
but of the Christ to come." David is here called a patriarch, because
he was the father of the royal family, and a man of great note and
eminency in his generation, and whose name and memory were justly very
precious. Now when we read that psalm of his, we must consider,
1. That he could not say that of himself, for he died, and
was buried, and his sepulchre remained in Jerusalem till now, when
Peter spoke this, and his bones and ashes in it. Nobody ever pretended
that he had risen, and therefore he could never say of himself that he should not see corruption; for it was plain he did see
corruption. St. Paul urges this, ch. xiii. 35-37 .
Though he was a man after God's own heart, yet he went the way of
all the earth, as he saith himself
( 1 Kings ii. 2 ),
both in death and burial.
2. Therefore certainly he spoke it as a prophet, with an eye to
the Messiah, whose sufferings the prophets testified beforehand, and
with them the glory that should follow; so did David in that
psalm, as Peter here plainly shows.
(1.) David knew that the Messiah should descend from his loins
( v. 30 ), that God had sworn to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according
to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He
promised him a Son, the throne of whose kingdom should be
established for ever, 2 Sam. vii. 12 .
And it is said
( Ps. cxxxii. 11 ), God swore it in truth unto David. When our Lord Jesus was born,
it was promised that the Lord God would give him the throne of his
father David, Luke i. 32 .
And all Israel knew that the Messiah was to be the Son of David, that
is, that, according to the flesh, he should be so by his human
nature; for otherwise, according to the spirit, and by his
divine nature, he was to be David's Lord, not his son. God
having sworn to David that the Messiah, promised to his fathers, should
be his son and successor, the fruit of his loins, and heir to his
throne, he kept this in view, in penning his psalms.
(2.) Christ being the fruit of his loins, and consequently in
his loins when he penned that psalm (as Levi is said to be in Abraham's
loins when he paid tithes to Melchizedek ), if what he says, as
in his own person, be not applicable to himself (as it is plain that it
is not), we must conclude it points to that son of his that was then in
his loins, in whom his family and kingdom were to have their perfection
and perpetuity; and therefore, when he says that his soul should not
be left in its separate state, nor his flesh see corruption, without doubt he must be understood to speak of the resurrection of
Christ, v. 31 .
And as Christ died, so he rose again, according to the
scriptures; and that he did so we are witnesses. (3.) Here is a glance at his ascension too. As David did not rise from
the dead, so neither did he ascend into the heavens, bodily, as
Christ did, v. 34 .
And further, to prove that when he spoke of the resurrection he meant
it of Christ, he observes that when in another psalm he speaks of the
next step of his exaltation he plainly shows that he spoke of another
person, and such another as was his Lord
( Ps. cx. 1 ):
" The Lord said unto my Lord, when he had raised him from the
dead, Sit thou at my right hand, in the highest dignity and
dominion there; be thou entrusted with the administration of the
kingdom both of providence and grace; sit there as king, until I make thy foes either thy friends or thy
footstool, " v. 35 .
Christ rose from the grave to rise higher, and therefore it must be of
his resurrection that David spoke, and not his own, in the 16th Psalm ;
for there was no occasion for him to rise out of his grave who was not
to ascend to heaven.
(4.) The application of this discourse concerning the death,
resurrection, and ascension of Christ.
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their
heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one
of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to
all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call.
40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying,
Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and
the same day there were added unto them about three thousand
souls.
We have seen the wonderful effect of the pouring out of the Spirit, in
its influence upon the preachers of the gospel. Peter, in all his life,
never spoke at the rate that he had done now, with such fulness,
perspicuity, and power. We are now to see another blessed fruit of the
pouring out of the Spirit in its influence upon the hearers of the
gospel. From the first delivery of that divine message, it appeared
that there was a divine power going along with it, and it was
mighty, through God, to do wonders: thousands were immediately
brought by it to the obedience of faith; it was the rod of
God's strength sent out of Zion, Ps. cx. 2, 3 .
We have here the first-fruits of that vast harvest of souls which by it
were gathered in to Jesus Christ. Come and see, in these verses, the
exalted Redeemer riding forth, in these chariots of salvation, conquering and to conquer, Rev. vi. 2 .
In these verses we find the word of God the means of beginning and
carrying on a good work of grace in the hearts of many, the Spirit
of the Lord working by it. Let us see the method of it.
I. They were startled, and convinced, and put upon a serious enquiry, v. 37 . When they heard, or having heard, having patiently heard
Peter out, and not given him the interruption they had been used to
give to Christ in his discourses (this was one good point gained, that
they were become attentive to the word), they were pricked to the
heart, or in the heart, and, under a deep concern and
perplexity, applied themselves to the preachers with this question, What shall we do? It was very strange that such impressions
should be made upon such hard hearts all of a sudden. They were Jews,
bred up in the opinion of the sufficiency of their religion to save
them, had lately seen this Jesus crucified in weakness and disgrace,
and were told by their rulers that he was a deceiver. Peter had charged
them with having a hand, a wicked hand, in his death, which was
likely to have exasperated them against him; yet, when they heard this
plain scriptural sermon, they were much affected with it.
1. It put them in pain: They were pricked in their hearts. We
read of those that were cut to the heart with indignation at the
preacher
( ch. vii. 54 ),
but these were pricked to the heart with indignation at
themselves for having been accessory to the death of Christ. Peter,
charging it upon them, awakened their consciences, touched them to the
quick, and the reflection they now made upon it was as a sword in
their bones, it pierced them as they had pierced Christ. Note,
Sinners, when their eyes are opened, cannot but be pricked to the
heart for sin, cannot but experience an inward uneasiness; this is
having the heart rent ( Joel ii. 13 ), a broken and contrite heart, Ps. li. 17 .
Those that are truly sorry for their sins, and ashamed of them, and
afraid of the consequences of them, are pricked to the heart. A
prick in the heart is mortal, and under those commotions (says Paul) I
died, Rom. vii. 9 .
"All my good opinion of myself and confidence in myself failed me."
2. It put them upon enquiry. Our of the abundance of the heart, thus pricked, the mouth spoke. Observe,
(1.) To whom they thus addressed themselves: To Peter and to the
rest of the apostles, some to one and some to another; to them they
opened their case; by them they had been convinced, and therefore by
them they expect to be counselled and comforted. They do not appeal
from them to the scribes and Pharisees, to justify them against the
apostles' charge, but apply to them, as owning the charge, and
referring the case to them. They call them men and brethren, as Peter had called them
( v. 29 ):
it is a style of friendship and love, rather than a title of honour:
"You are men, look upon us with humanity; you are brethren, look upon
us with brotherly love." Note, Ministers are spiritual physicians; they
should be advised with by those whose consciences are wounded; and it
is good for people to be free and familiar with those ministers, as men
and their brethren, who deal for their souls as for their own.
(2.) What the address is: What shall we do? [1.] They speak as men at a stand, that did not know what to do; in a
perfect surprise: " Is that Jesus whom we have crucified both Lord and Christ? Then what will become of us who crucified him?
We are all undone!" Note, No way of being happy but by seeing ourselves
miserable. When we find ourselves in danger of being lost for ever,
there is hope of our being made for ever, and not till then.
[2.] They speak as men at a point, that were resolved to do any thing
they should be directed to immediately; they are not for taking time to
consider, nor for adjourning the prosecution of their convictions to a
more convenient season, but desire now to be told what they must do to
escape the misery they were liable to. Note, Those that are convinced
of sin would gladly know the way to peace and pardon, ch. ix. 6; xvi. 30 .
II. Peter and the other apostles direct them in short what they must
do, and what in so doing they might expect, v. 38, 39 .
Sinners convinced must be encouraged; and that which is broken must be
bound up
( Ezek. xxxiv. 16 );
they must be told that though their case is sad it is not desperate,
there is hope for them.
1. He here shows them the course they must take.
(1.) Repent; this is a plank after shipwreck. "Let the sense of
this horrid guilt which you have brought upon yourselves by putting
Christ to death awaken you to a penitent reflection upon all your other
sins (as the demand of some one great debt brings to light all the
debts of a poor bankrupt) and to bitter remorse and sorrow for them"
This was the same duty that John the Baptist and Christ had preached,
and now that the Spirit is poured out is it still insisted on:
" Repent, repent; change your mind, change your way; admit an
after-thought."
(2.) Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ; that is, "firmly believe the doctrine of Christ, and submit to his
grace and government; and make an open solemn profession of this, and
come under an engagement to abide by it, by submitting to the ordinance
of baptism; be proselyted to Christ and to his holy religion, and
renounce your infidelity." They must be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ. They did believe in the Father and the Holy Ghost
speaking by the prophets; but they must also believe in the name of
Jesus, that he is the Christ, the Messias promised to the fathers.
"Take Jesus for your king, and by baptism swear allegiance to him; take
him for your prophet, and hear him; take him for your priest, to make
atonement for you," which seems peculiarly intended here; for they must
be baptized in his name for the remission of sins upon
the score of his righteousness.
(3.) This is pressed upon each particular person: Every one of
you. "Even those of you that have been the greatest sinners, if
they repent and believe, are welcome to be baptized; and those who
think they have been the greatest saints have yet need to repent, and
believe, and be baptized. There is grace enough in Christ for every one
of you, be you ever so many, and grace suited to the case of every one.
Israel of old were baptized unto Moses in the camp, the whole body of
the Israelites together, when they passed through the cloud and the sea ( 1 Cor. x. 1, 2 ),
for the covenant of peculiarity was national; but now every one of
you distinctly must be baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and transact for himself in this great affair." See Col. i. 28 .
2. He gives them encouragement to take this course:--
(1.) "It shall be for the remission of sins. Repent of your sin,
and it shall not be your ruin; be baptized into the faith of Christ,
and in truth you shall be justified, which you could never be by the
law of Moses. Aim at this, and depend upon Christ for it, and this you
shall have. As the cup in the Lord's supper is the New Testament in the
blood of Christ for the remission of sins, so baptism is in the name of
Christ for the remission of sins. Be washed, and you shall be washed."
(2.) "You shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost as well as
we; for it is designed for a general blessing: some of you shall
receive these external gifts, and each of you, if you be sincere in
your faith and repentance, shall receive his internal graces and
comforts, shall be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. "
Note, All that receive the remission of sins receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. All that are justified are sanctified.
(3.) "Your children shall still have, as they have had, an interest in
the covenant, and a title to the external seal of it. Come over to
Christ, to receive those inestimable benefits; for the promise of the
remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, is to you and to
your children, " v. 39 .
It was very express
( Isa. xliv. 3 ): I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed. And
( Isa. lix. 21 ), My Spirit and my word shall not depart from thy seed, and thy seed's
seed. When God took Abraham into covenant, he said, I will be a
God to thee, and to thy seed ( Gen. xvii. 7 );
and, accordingly, every Israelite had his son circumcised at eight days
old. Now it is proper for an Israelite, when he is by baptism to come
into a new dispensation of this covenant, to ask, "What must be done
with my children? Must they be thrown out, or taken in with me?" "Taken
in" (says Peter) "by all means; for the promise, that great promise of
God's being to you a God, is as much to you and to your children now as
ever it was."
(4.) "Though the promise is still extended to your children as it has
been, yet it is not, as it has been, confined to you and them, but the
benefit of it is designed for all that are afar off; " we
may add, and their children, for the blessing of Abraham comes
upon the Gentiles, through Jesus Christ, Gal. iii. 14 .
The promise had long pertained to the Israelites
( Rom. ix. 4 );
but now it is sent to those that are afar off, the remotest
nations of the Gentiles, and every one of them too, all that
are afar off. To this general the following limitation must refer, even as many of them, as many particular persons in each nation, as the Lord our God shall call effectually into the fellowship
of Jesus Christ. Note, God can make his call to reach those that are
ever so far off, and none come but those whom he calls.
III. These directions are followed with a needful caution
( v. 40 ): With many other words, to the same purport, did he
testify gospel truths, and exhort to gospel duties; now that the
word began to work he followed it; he had said much in a little
( v. 38, 39 ),
and that which, one would think, included all, and yet he had more to
say. When we have heard those words which have done our souls good, we
cannot but wish to hear more, to hear many more such words. Among other
things he said (and it should seem inculcated it), Save yourselves
from this untoward generation. Be you free from them. The
unbelieving Jews were an untoward generation, perverse and obstinate;
they walked contrary to God and man
( 1 Thess. ii. 15 ),
wedded to sin and marked for ruin. Now as to them,
1. "Give diligence to save yourselves from their ruin, that you may not
be involved in that, and may escape all those things " (as the
Christians did): " Repent, and be baptized; and then you shall
not be sharers in destruction with those with whom you have been
sharers in sin." O gather not my soul with sinners. 2. "In order to this continue not with them in their sin, persist not
with them in infidelity. Save yourselves, that is, separate
yourselves, distinguish yourselves, from this untoward generation.
Be not rebellious like this rebellious house; partake not with them
in their sins, that you share not with them in their plagues." Note, To
separate ourselves from wicked people is the only way to save ourselves
from them; though we hereby expose ourselves to their rage and enmity,
we really save ourselves from them; for, if we consider whither they
are hastening, we shall see it is better to have the trouble of
swimming against their stream than the danger of being carried down
their stream. Those that repent of their sins, and give up themselves
to Jesus Christ, must evidence their sincerity by breaking off all
intimate society with wicked people. Depart from me, ye evil
doers, is the language of one that determines to keep the
commandments of his God, Ps. cxix. 115 .
We must save ourselves from them, which denotes avoiding them
with dread and holy fear, as we would save ourselves from an enemy that
seeks to destroy us, or from a house infected with the plague.
IV. Here is the happy success and issue of this, v. 41 .
The Spirit wrought with the word, and wrought wonders by it. These same
persons that had many of them been eye-witnesses of the death of
Christ, and the prodigies that attended it, and were not wrought upon
by them, were yet wrought upon by the preaching of the word, for it is
this that is the power of God unto salvation. 1. They received the word; and then only the word does us good,
when we do receive it, embrace it, and bid it welcome. They admitted
the conviction of it, and accepted the offers of it.
2. They gladly received it. Herod heard the word gladly, but
these gladly received it, were not only glad that they had it to
receive, but glad that by the grace of God they were enabled to receive
it, though it would be a humbling changing word to them, and would
expose them to the enmity of their countrymen.
3. They were baptized; believing with the heart, they made confession
with the mouth, and enrolled themselves among the disciples of Christ
by that sacred rite and ceremony which he had instituted. And though
Peter had said, "Be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus "
(because the doctrine of Christ was the present truth), yet we have
reason to think that, in baptizing them, the whole form Christ
prescribed was used, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost. Note, Those that receive the Christian covenant ought
to receive the Christian baptism.
4. Hereby there were added to the disciples to the number of about three thousand souls that same day. All those that had received
the Holy Ghost had their tongues at work to preach, and their hands at
work to baptize; for it was time to be busy, when such a harvest was to
be gathered in. The conversion of these three thousand with these words
was a greater work than the feeding of four or five thousand
with a few loaves. Now Israel began to multiply after the death of our
Joseph. They are said to be three thousand souls (which word is
generally used for persons when women and children are included with
men, as Gen. xiv. 21 , margin, Give me the souls; Gen. xlvi. 27 , seventy souls ), which intimates that those that were here
baptized were not so many men, but so many heads of families as, with
their children and servants baptized, might make up three thousand
souls. These were added to them. Note, Those who are joined
to Christ are added to the disciples of Christ, and join with them.
When we take God for our God, we must take his people to be our
people.
42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs
were done by the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things
common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple,
and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with
gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the
Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
We often speak of the primitive church, and appeal to it, and to the
history of it; in these verses we have the history of the truly
primitive church, of the first days of it, its state of
infancy indeed, but, like that, the state of its greatest innocence.
I. They kept close to holy ordinances, and abounded in all instances of
piety and devotion, for Christianity, admitted in the power of it, will
dispose the soul to communion with God in all those ways wherein he has
appointed us to meet him and promised to meet us.
1. They were diligent and constant inn their attendance upon the preaching of the word. They continued in the apostles'
doctrine, and never disowned nor deserted it; or, as it may be
read, they continued constant to the apostles' teaching or instruction; by baptism they were discipled to be taught,
and they were willing to be taught. Note, Those who have given up their
names to Christ must make conscience of hearing his word; for thereby
we give honour to him, and build up ourselves in our most holy
faith.
2. They kept up the communion of saints. They continued in
fellowship ( v. 42 ),
and continued daily with one accord in the temple, v. 46 .
They not only had a mutual affection to each other, but a great deal of
mutual conversation with each other; they were much together. When they
withdrew from the untoward generation, they did not turn
hermits, but were very intimate with one another, and took all
occasions to meet; wherever you saw one disciple, you would see more,
like birds of a feather. See how these Christians love one
another. They were concerned for one another, sympathized with one
another, and heartily espoused one another's interests. They had
fellowship with one another in religious worship. They met in the
temple: there was their rendezvous; for joint-fellowship with God
is the best fellowship we can have with one another, 1 John i. 3 .
Observe,
(1.) They were daily in the temple, not only on the days of the
sabbaths and solemn feasts, but on other days, every day. Worshipping
God is to be our daily work, and, where there is opportunity, the
oftener it is done publicly the better. God loves the gates of Zion,
and so must we.
(2.) They were with one accord; not only no discord nor strife,
but a great deal of holy love among them; and they heartily joined in
their public services. Though they met with the Jews in the courts of
the temple, yet the Christians kept together by themselves, and were
unanimous in their separate devotions.
3. They frequently joined in the ordinance of the Lord's supper. They
continued in the breaking of bread, in celebrating that memorial
of their Master's death, as those that were not ashamed to own their
relation to, and their dependence upon, Christ and him crucified. They
could not forget the death of Christ, yet they kept up this memorial of
it, and made it their constant practice, because it was an institution
of Christ, to be transmitted to the succeeding ages of the church. They
broke bread from house to house; kat
oikon -- house by house; they did not think fit to
celebrate the eucharist in the temple, for that was peculiar to the
Christian institutes, and therefore they administered that ordinance in
private houses, choosing such houses of the converted Christians as
were convenient, to which the neighbours resorted; and they went from
one to another of these little synagogues or domestic chapels, houses
that had churches in them, and there celebrated the eucharist with
those that usually met there to worship God.
4. They continued in prayers. After the Spirit was poured out,
as well as before, while they were waiting for him, they continued
instant in prayer; for prayer will never be superseded till it comes to
be swallowed up in everlasting praise. Breaking of bread comes
in between the work and prayer, for it has reference to
both, and is a help to both. The Lord's supper is a sermon to the eye,
and a confirmation of God's word to us; and it is an encouragement to
our prayers, and a solemn expression of the ascent of our souls to
God.
5. They abounded in thanksgiving; were continually praising God, v. 47 .
This should have a part in every prayer, and not be crowded into a
corner. Those that have received the gift of the Holy Ghost will be
much in praise.
II. They were loving one to another, and very kind; their charity was
as eminent as their piety, and their joining together in holy
ordinances knit their hearts to each other, and very much endeared them
to one another.
1. They had frequent meetings for Christian converse
( v. 44 ): All that believed were together; not all those thousands in one
place (this was impracticable); but, as Dr. Lightfoot explains it, they
kept together in several companies or congregations, according as their
languages, nations, or other associations, brought them and kept them
together. And thus joining together, because it was apart from those
that believed not, and because it was in the same profession and
practice of the duties of religion, they are said to be together, epi to auto . They associated together, and so both
expressed and increased their mutual love.
2. They had all things common; perhaps they had common tables
(as the Spartans of old), for familiarity, temperance and freedom of
conversation; they ate together, that those who had much might
have the less, and so be kept from the temptations of abundance; and
they who had little might have the more, and so be kept from the
temptations of want and poverty. Or, There was such a concern for one
another, and such a readiness to help one another as there was
occasion, that it might be said, They had all things common, according to the law of friendship; one wanted not what another had;
for he might have it for the asking.
3. They were very cheerful, and very generous in the use of what they
had. Besides the religion that was in their sacred feasts (their breaking bread from house to house ) a great deal of it appeared
in their common meals; they did eat their meat with gladness and
singleness of heart. They brought the comforts of God's
table along with them to their own, which had two good
effects upon them:--
(1.) It made them very pleasant, and enlarged their hearts with holy
joy; they did eat their bread with joy, and drank their wine with a
merry heart, as knowing that God now accepted their works. None have such cause to be cheerful as good Christians have; it is a
pity but that they should always have hearts to be so.
(2.) It made them very liberal to their poor brethren, and enlarged
their hearts in charity. They did eat their meat with singleness of
heart, en apheloteti kardias -- with liberality of
heart; so some: they did not eat their morsels alone, but bade the
poor welcome to their table, not grudgingly, but with all the hearty
freedom imaginable. Note, It becomes Christians to be open-hearted and
open-handed, and in every good work to sow plentifully, as those on
whom God hath sown plentifully, and who hope to reap so.
4. They raised a fund for charity
( v. 45 ):
They sold their possessions and goods; some sold their lands and
houses, others their stocks and the furniture of their houses, and parted the money to their brethren, as every man had
need. This was to destroy, not property (as Mr. Baxter says), but
selfishness. Herein, probably, they had an eye to the command which
Christ gave to the rich man, as a test of his sincerity, Sell that
thou hast, and give to the poor. Not that this was intended for an
example to be a constant binding rule, as if all Christians in all
places and ages were bound to sell their estates, and give away the
money in charity. For St. Paul's epistles, after this, often speak of
the distinction of rich and poor, and Christ hath said that the poor
we always have with us, and shall have, and the rich must be always
doing them good out of the rents, issues, and profits, of their
estates, which they disable themselves to do, if they sell them, and
give all away at once. But here the case was extraordinary
(1.) They were under no obligation of a divine command to do this, as
appears by what Peter said to Ananias
( ch. v. 4 ): Was it not in thine own power? But it was a very commendable
instance of their raisedness above the world, their contempt of it,
their assurance of another world, their love to their brethren, their
compassion to the poor, and their great zeal for the encouraging of
Christianity, and the nursing of it in its infancy. The apostles left
all to follow Christ, and were to give themselves wholly to the word
and prayer, and something must be done for their maintenance; so that
this extraordinary liberality was like that of Israel in the wilderness
towards the building of the tabernacle, which needed to be restrained, Exod. xxxvi. 5, 6 .
Our rule is, to give according as God has blessed us; yet, in such an
extraordinary case as this, those are to be praised who give beyond
their power, 2 Cor. viii. 3 .
(2.) They were Jews that did this, and those who believed Christ must
believe that the Jewish nation would shortly be destroyed, and an end
put to the possession of estates and goods in it, and, in the belief of
this, they sold them for the present service of Christ and his
church.
III. God owned them, and gave them signal tokens of his presence with
them
( v. 43 ): Many wonders and signs were done by the apostles of divers
sorts, which confirmed their doctrine, and incontestably proved that it
was from God. Those that could work miracles could have maintained
themselves and the poor that were among them miraculously, as Christ
fed thousands with a little food; but it was as much for the glory of
God that it should be done by a miracle of grace (inclining people to
sell their estates, to do it) as if it had been done by a miracle in
nature.
But the Lord's giving them power to work miracles was not all he did
for them; he added to the church daily. The word in their mouths did wonders, and God blessed their endeavours for the increase
of the number of believers. Note, It is God's work to add souls to the
church; and it is a great comfort both to ministers and Christians to
see it.
IV. The people were influenced by it; those that were without, the
standers by, that were spectators.
1. They feared them, and had a veneration for them
( v. 43 ): Fear came upon every soul, that is, upon very many who saw the wonders and signs done by the apostles, and were afraid
lest their not being respected as they should be would bring desolation
upon their nation. The common people stood in awe of them, as Herod
feared John. Though they had nothing of external pomp to command
external respect, as the scribes' long robes gained them the greetings in the market-places, yet they had abundance of
spiritual gifts that were truly honourable, which possessed men with an
inward reverence for them. Fear came upon every soul; the souls of people were strangely influenced by their awful
preaching and living.
2. They favoured them. Though we have reason to think there were
those that despised them and hated them (we are sure the Pharisees and
chief priests did), yet far the greater part of the common people had a
kindness for them--they had favour with all the people. Christ
was so violently run upon and run down by a packed mob, which
cried, Crucify him, crucify him, that one would think his
doctrine and followers were never likely to have an interest in the
common people any more. And yet here we find them in favour with
them all, by which it appears that their prosecuting Christ was a
sort of force put upon them by the artifices of the priests; now they
returned to their wits, to their right mind. Note, Undissembled piety
and charity will command respect; and cheerfulness in serving God will
recommend religion to those that are without. Some read it, They had
charity to all the people -- charin echontes pros holon ton
laon ; they did not confine their charity to those of their own
community, but it was catholic and extensive; and this
recommended them very much.
3. They fell over to them. Some or other were daily coming in,
though not so many as the first day; and they were such as should be
saved. Note, Those that God has designed for eternal salvation
shall one time or other be effectually brought to Christ: and those
that are brought to Christ are added to the church in a holy
covenant by baptism, and in holy communion by other ordinances.
Ver. 1. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,.... Or "was come", was begun and entered upon; for it was not over, or ended, it being but the third hour of the day, or nine of the clock in the morning, when Peter began his sermon; see Ac 2:15. The Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions read, "when the days of Pentecost were fulfilled"; not that there were more days than one, kept at this festival; for though the feasts of passover and tabernacles were observed each of them seven days, according to the law, and eight days according to the Scribes, yet the feast of Pentecost was kept but one day; and hence it is often said by the Jews, that Atzereth, which is one of the names they call this feast by, is but one day {l}; in the captivity they kept two days {m}, as they did for the beginning of the year, because of the uncertainty of calculations; but the sense is, when the whole fifty days from the passover to this time were fully come, or fulfilled, when the fiftieth day from thence, which was properly the day of Pentecost, was come: on the second day of the passover, on the sixteenth of Nisan, the sheaf of the first fruits was offered up; after which, and not before, it was lawful to reap the corn, Le 23:10 from this time the Jews reckoned their feast of weeks, or seven weeks, or fifty days; see Ex 34:22 which measured out the time of their harvest. Now the last of these fifty days was the day of Pentecost, on which day was offered the two wave loaves, as a thanksgiving that their harvest was ended. Josephus calls {n} this feast by the same name that Luke here does; and says {o}, the Jews so call it, from the number of the days, that is fifty; and so R. Sol Jarchi {p} calls this day, Myvymx Mwy, "the fiftieth day": on this day, the Jews say {q}, the law was given; and observe {r}, that
"from the day that Israel went out of Egypt, unto the day that the law was given, were fifty days.''
And on this day, and which was the first day of the week, the Spirit was poured forth upon the disciples; the Gospel began to be preached to all nations, and a harvest of souls was gathered in:
they were all with one accord in one place; in two ancient copies of Beza's, and in some others it is read, "all the apostles"; Matthias, and the eleven, with whom he was numbered, who are last spoken of, in Ac 1:26. Though this need not be restrained to the twelve apostles, but may be understood of the hundred and twenty, on whom, as well as on the apostles, the Holy Ghost might be poured forth, that so they might speak with tongues; since among these were many ministers of the Gospel, as the seventy disciples, and it may be more; and that his extraordinary gifts should be bestowed on others, is but what was afterwards done; see Ac 8:17 and though there were so many of them together, they were very unanimous and peaceable; there were no jars nor contentions among them; they were of the same mind and judgment in faith and practice, and of one heart and soul, and had a cordial affection for one another; and were all in one place, which seems to be the temple; see Ac 2:46. And indeed, no other place or house could hold so many as came to hear them, of which number three thousand were converted.
{l} T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 65. 1. Gloss. in. T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 17. 2. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 100. fol. 88. 2. {m} T. Bab. Erachin, fol. 10. 1. {n} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 10. sect. 6. {o} De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 3. sect. 1. {p} In Lev. xxiii. 15. {q} T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 68. 2. {r} Zohar in Exod. fol. 34. 4. Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 9. 4.
Acts 2:2
Ver. 2. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven,.... Which is expressive of the original of the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, which come from above, from heaven, from the Father of lights; and of the freeness of them, being unmerited; and so come suddenly, at an unawares, being unthought of, undesired, and unexpected, and so certainly undeserved; and may be a symbol of the sound of the Gospel, which from hence was to go forth into all the earth; and may likewise express the rise of that, and the freeness of the grace of God in it, and its sudden spread throughout the world:
as of a rushing mighty wind; it was not a wind, but like one; and the noise it made, was like the rushing noise of a strong and boisterous wind, that carries all before it: the Spirit of God is sometimes compared to the wind, because of the freeness of his operations; as that blows where it listeth, so he works when and where, and on whom he pleases; and also because of the power and efficacy of his grace, which is mighty and irresistible, and works with great energy upon the minds of men; and as the wind is secret and invisible, so the operations of the Spirit are in a manner secret and imperceptible unto men: this may likewise be applied to the Gospel, when it comes with the Holy Ghost, and with power; it makes its way into the heart, and throws down the strong holds of sin and Satan; there it works effectually, though secretly, and is the power of God to salvation:
and it filled all the house where they were sitting; which was the temple, or the upper room or chamber in it, where they were assembled; so in the Ethiopic confession of faith {s} it is said,
"the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles, in the upper room of Zion;''
this may be a symbol of the Gospel filling the whole world.
{s} Vid. Ludolph. not. in Claud. reg. Ethiop. Confess. p. 13.
Acts 2:3
Ver. 3. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire,.... An emblem of the various tongues and languages, in which they were to preach the Gospel; these appearances were like flames of fire parted, and these parted flames looked like tongues; so, a flame of fire is with, the Jews called, va Nwvl, "a tongue of fire", Isa 5:24 hence the Apostle James compares a tongue to fire, Jas 3:6 this was the baptism with fire, John the Baptist speaks of,
See Gill on "Mt 3:11"; and the Jews say {t},
"the holy blessed God baptizeth with fire, and the wise shall understand.''
Through this baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, the apostles became more knowing, and had a greater understanding of the mysteries of the Gospel, and were more qualified to preach it to people of all nations and languages. The Holy Spirit, in his gifts and graces, is compared to fire, because of its purity, light, and heat, as well as consuming nature; the Spirit sanctifies, and makes men pure and holy, purges from the dross of sin, error and superstition; and enlightens the minds of men, and gives them knowledge of divine and spiritual things; and fills them with zeal and fervour for the glory of God and Christ, and the good of his church and interest, and for the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel; as well as fortifies them against their enemies, whom he consumes, according to Zec 2:5 a passage of Scripture the Jews make use of in an uncommon sense; for they say {u}, that as
"Jerusalem was destroyed by fire, "by fire it shall be built again"; as it is said, Zec 2:5 "For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about".''
The pouring forth of the Spirit upon the apostles, in this form of cloven tongues, as of fire, was indeed the means of rebuilding Jerusalem, in a spiritual sense; or of founding the Gospel church state in the world:
and it sat upon each of them; the fire, or the Holy Ghost in the appearance of fire. The Syriac and Arabic versions read, "and they sat upon each of them"; and so Beza's most ancient copy; that is, the cloven tongues sat on them; either one upon one of them and another upon another, or many upon each of them: where they sat, whether on their lips, or on their heads, it not certain, probably on the latter; nor how long they sat; however, their sitting upon them may denote the continuance of the gifts and graces of the Spirit with them. These cloven tongues cannot but bring to mind the division and confusion of the tongues or languages at Babel; which gave rise to different nations, and different religions; but these divided tongues gave rise to the spreading of the Gospel, and settling the true religion among the nations of the world. The Jews {w} seem to have respect to this account, when they tell us of
"lights from above, that came forth and dwelt in the synagogues, Nwhyvyrb, "on the heads" of those that prayed, and the lights Nyglptm, "were divided" upon their heads.''
{t} R. Menachem in Lev. viii. apud Ainsworth in Gen. xvii. 12. {u} T. Hieros. Taaniot, fol. 65. 3. Seder Tepillot, fol. 23. 2. Ed. Basil. {w} Zohar in Num. fol. 79. 2.
Acts 2:4
Ver. 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,.... With the gifts of the Holy Spirit; they had received the Spirit before, as a Spirit of grace, and were endowed with great gifts; but now they had great plenty of them, a large abundance; they were like vessels filled to the brim; they were as it were covered with them; there was an overflow of them upon them; and now it was, that they were baptized with him; See Gill on "Ac 1:5". Not only the twelve apostles, but the seventy disciples; and it may be all the hundred and twenty, that were together, even women as well as men: Ac 2:17.
And began to speak with other tongues; besides, and different from that in which they were born and brought up, and usually spake; they spake divers languages, one spoke one language, and another, another; and the same person spoke with various tongues, sometimes one language, and sometimes another. These are the new tongues, Christ told them they should speak with, Mr 16:17 such as they had never heard, learned, nor known before:
as the Spirit gave them utterance; they did not utter anything of themselves, and what came into their minds, things of little or no importance; nor in a confused and disorderly manner; but they were wise and weighty sentences they delivered, as the word signifies; even the wonderful works of God, Ac 2:11 the great doctrines of the Gospel; and though in different languages, yet in a very orderly and distinct manner, so as to be heard and understood by the people. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, "as the Holy Spirit", &c.
Acts 2:5
Ver. 5. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews,.... The Ethiopic version adds, "proselytes"; but they were not all such, as appears from the following account of them; many, and it seems the most of them were of Jewish extract and descent, and others were proselytes to the Jewish religion: these were not natives of Jerusalem, but such as were born in other countries, Ac 2:8 but were come to Jerusalem, either to learn the Hebrew language, which was necessary to their reading and understanding the books of Moses, and the prophets written in it; or for an increase of spiritual knowledge and piety; or, as is generally thought, to keep the feast of Pentecost; or rather, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, they were come hither in great numbers from all parts, in expectation of the Messiah and his kingdom; the time being up, according to Daniel's weeks, and other prophecies, that he should appear: and these were
devout men; men of religion and piety, of faith and holiness; and as the Syriac version renders it, "who feared God"; for in these worst of times, among this wicked generation of men, there were some who had the fear of God before their eyes, and on their hearts; and these were collected from different quarters, to be witnesses of this amazing dispensation: for they came
out of every nation under heaven; that is, wherever the Jews were dispersed; being the descendants of those that were carried captive at different times, and into different places; as by Salmanezer, Nebuchadnezzar, Ptolomy Lagus, Antiochus, and in other lesser dispersions.
Acts 2:6
Ver. 6. Now when this was noised abroad,.... Or "when this voice was made"; referring either to the sound, as of a mighty rushing wind, which came from heaven; and might not only be heard by those in the house, into which it came, but by the inhabitants of the city, as it came down from heaven; so the Arabic version renders it, "when the aforesaid sound was made": or else to the apostles' voice, and their speaking with divers tongues; which being heard by some, was told to others, and a rumour of it being made through the city,
the multitude came together; to the house, or temple, where the disciples were; and this multitude did not consist only of the devout Jews, before mentioned; but of others who scoffed and mocked at the apostles, and who had been concerned in the crucifying of Christ:
and were confounded; or "confused"; they ran and came together in a disorderly and tumultuous manner; the whole city was in an uproar, the assembly on this occasion was a perfect mob; their numbers were so large, that they were ready to thrust each other down, and trample one another under foot: the Vulgate Latin adds, "in mind"; they did not know what to think of things, they were so astonished at what they heard, that they were scarcely themselves; they were as persons stupid and senseless; being filled partly with shame and confusion, and partly with wonder and amazement, that these illiterate men, the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, and whose disciples they had in so much contempt, should have such extraordinary gifts bestowed on them:
because that every man heard them speak in his own language; which shows, what has been before observed, that one spake in one language, and another in another language; or the same person sometimes spoke one language, and sometimes another; so that in course, all languages were spoken by them; whence it appears, that it was not one language only which was spoken by the apostles, which men of different languages heard and understood, as if it was their own; for then the miracle must have been in the hearers, and not in the speakers; and the cloven tongues, as of fire, should rather have sat on them, than on the disciples; and these men be said to be filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, rather than they.
Acts 2:7
Ver. 7. And they were all amazed, and marvelled,.... They were struck with surprise, they were as it were out of themselves, like persons in an ecstasy, not knowing what could be the cause or meaning of this:
saying one to another; the phrase "one to another", is left out in the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions, and so it is in the Alexandrian copy:
behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? rude, unpolished, and unlearned men; who had never been brought up in any school of learning, and had never learned any language but their mother tongue; and that they pronounced with an ill grace, and in a very odd manner; and which made the thing the more astonishing to them. The apostles were inhabitants of Galilee, and so very likely were the greatest part of those that were with them: hence the Christians afterwards, by way of contempt, were called Galilaeans; as they are by Julian {x} the apostate, and others {y}.
{x} Opera, par. 1. Fragment. p. 557. & par. 2. Ep. 49. p. 203, 204. {y} Arrian. Epictet. l. 4. c. 7.
Acts 2:8
Ver. 8. And how hear we every man in our own tongue,.... Them speaking, as the Ethiopic version reads; that is, we everyone of us hear one or another, speak in the same language,
wherein we were born; our native language; for though these men were Jews by descent, yet were born and brought up in other countries, which language they spake; and not the Hebrew, or Syriac, or Chaldee.
Acts 2:9
Ver. 9. Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites,.... These are the words of the men continued, and not of the historian, as appears from Ac 2:10 and so the Arabic version reads, "of us Persians, Parthians, and Medes"; that is, we hear them speak in the language of everyone of us: the order in this version is inverted, otherwise the same persons are intended; for the Elamites and Persians are the same: by the Parthians are meant, Jews that were born in Parthia, and had dwelt there, and who spoke the language of that country; and that there were Jews, in those parts, is clear from Josephus {z}, who speaks of them together with the Jews of other nations. Many of the Parthian Jews were afterwards converted to the Christian faith; to whom the Apostle John is thought, by some, to have written his first epistle; and which, by some of the ancients, is called the epistle to the Parthians. The kingdom of Parthia, according to Pliny {a}, Ptolomy {b}, and Solinus {c}, had Media on the west, Hyrcania on the north, Aria, or Ariana, on the east, and the desert of Carmania on the south; the metropolis of it was Hecatompylos, so called from the hundred gates that belonged to it; and which, it is thought, stood on the same spot of ground that Ispahan does now, the seat of the Sophies of Persia. And by the Medes are intended the Jews that were natives of Media: so called from "Madai", one of the sons of Japhet, Ge 10:2 and this, according to Ptolomy {d}, has on the north the Hyrcanian, or Gasptan sea, on the west Armenia Major and Assyria, and on the east Hyrcania and Parthia, and on the south Parthia. The Elamites are so called, from Elam the son of Shem, Ge 10:22 and these, according to Josephus {e}, were the founders of the Persians, or from whom they sprung; and so we find Elam and Media, and the kings of Elam, and the kings of the Medes, mentioned together in Scripture, Isa 21:2. And certain it is, that Elam was at least a part of the empire of Persia, in Daniel's time; for Shushan, where the kings of Persia then kept their palace, was in the province of Elam, Da 8:2 and it is evident, that hither the Jews were carried captive, Isa 11:11. So that there might be some remaining in those parts, that were their descendants; and from hence also were people brought by Asnapper, into the cities of Samaria, to supply the room of those who were carried captive, and are called Elamites, Ezr 4:9 And that there were Elamite Jews, may be concluded from the writings of the Jews; for so they say {f}, that
"the Hagiographa, or holy writings, which were written in the Coptic, Median, Hebrew, tymlye, "Elamite", and Greek tongues; though they did not read in them (on the sabbath day in time of service) they delivered them from the fire,''
when in danger of being burned: so the Megilla, or book of Esther, might not be read in the Coptic, Hebrew, Elamite, Median, and Greek languages; but it might be read in Coptic to Coptites, in Hebrew to Hebrews, Mymlyel tymlye, in "Elamite" to the "Elamites", and in Greek to the Greeks {g}; and such sort of Jews as the Elamite ones, were these in the text: the Syriac version reads Elanites; and so R. Benjamin in his Itinerary {h}, makes mention of a country called,
hynla, "Alania", and of a people called, Nala, "Alan"; and whom he speaks of in company with Babylon, Persia, Choresan, Sheba, and Mesopotamia; and may intend the same people as here: now these Parthian, Median, and Elamite Jews were such who descended from the captives of the ten tribes, carried away by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, whom he placed in Halah and Habor, and in the cities of the Medes, 2Ki 17:6. But besides these, there were also at Jerusalem, at this time, those who are next mentioned:
and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia; who came not quite so far off as the former: Mesopotamia is the same with what is called in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, Aram Naharaim, or Syria between the two rivers; that is, Tigris and Euphrates; the former was on the east of it, and the latter on the west, and Babylon was on the south, and Caucasus on the north; and so the Greek word Mesopotamia signifies a place between two rivers; see Ge 24:10. And the Jews have adopted it into their own language, calling it,
aymjwpom, "Mesopotamia" {i}; and the same name obtains with other writers {k}, and it has since been called Azania and Halopin; it belonged to that part of Assyria, called Chaldea; and these Mesopotamian Jews were the remains of those who were carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and though the Chaldean, or Syriac language was now spoken by the Jews, yet in a different manner than it was in Chaldea and Syria: and there were also the dwellers in Judea; by which is meant, that part of the land of Israel, which was distinct from Galilee, and where they used a different dialect from the Galilean Jews; and there were others, who were born, and had lived in Cappadocia. This was a country in Asia, in which were many famous cities; as Archalais, where Claudius Caesar put a Roman colony; and Neo Caesarea (the birth place of Gregory Thaumaturgus); and Melita, built by Semiramis; and Mazaca {l}, which was the chief city; and so called from Meshech, the son of Japhet, since called Caesarea. The inhabitants of this country, Herodotus says {m},
"were by the Greeks called Syrians, and they were Syrians; and before the Persians had the government, they were subject to the Medea, and then to Cyrus.''
And by Pliny {n} they are called, Leucosyrians. This country, according to Ptolomy {o}, had Galatia, and part of Pamphylia on the west, and on the south Cilicia, and part of Syria, and on the east Armenia the great, and on the north, part of the Euxine Pontus; it is now called Amasia, or Almasin: here were many Jews scattered abroad, some of which were afterwards believers in Christ, to whom Peter sent his epistles, 1Pe 1:1. It had its former name from the river Cappadox, which, as Pliny {p} says, divided the Galatians and Leucosyrians, and this indeed is the reason of its name; in the Syriac language it is called, Kdpq, "Capdac", which comes from dpq; which signifies to "cut off", or "divide", as this river did the above people from one another; and hence the country was called Cappadocia, and the inhabitants Cappadocians: in the Jewish writings it is called, ayqjwpq, Capotakia; and which Maimonides {q} says, is the same with Caphtor; and in the Arabic language, is called Tamiati; and so Caphtor is rendered Cappadocia, and the Caphtorim Cappadocians, in the Targums of Onkelos, Jonathan, and Jerusalem, in
Ge 10:14 and so in the Septuagint version of De 2:23. This country was near the land of Israel, and in it dwelt many Jews; they had schools of learning here, and had traditions peculiarly relating to it: as for instance,
"if a man married a wife in the land of Israel, and divorced her in Cappadocia, he must give her (her dowry) of the money of the land of Israel; and if he marries a wife in Cappadocia, and divorces her in the land of Israel, he may give her of the money of the land of Israel; Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel says, he must give her of the money of Cappadocia {r};''
for it seems the Cappadocian money was larger, and weighed more than that in the land of Israel: however,
"if a man marries a wife in Cappadocia, and divorces her in Cappadocia, he must give her of the money of Cappadocia.''
And so R. Akiba speaks {s} of one, that he saw shipwrecked at sea; and when, says he, I came to the province of Cappadocia, he came and sat, and judged before me in the constitutions and traditions of the elders: from whence it is manifest, that here were people of the Jewish nation that dwelt in this country, and so at this time. As also in Pontus; hence the first epistle of Peter is sometimes called the epistle to the Pontians; that is, to the Jews of Pontus, then become Christians; Pontus was a country in lesser Asia, and according to Ptolomy {t}, it had on the west the mouth of Pontus, and the Thracian Bosphorus, and part of Propontis, on the north, part of the Euxine sea, and on the south the country which is properly called Asia, and on the east Galatia by Paphlagonia; it was the birth place of Marcion the heretic, of which Tertullian gives a most dismal account {u}: Asia here intends, neither Asia the greater, nor the less, but Asia properly so called; which had Lycia and Phrygia on the east, the Aegean shores on the west, the Egyptian sea on the south, and Paphlagonia on the north {w}; in which were Ephesus the chief city, and Smyrna and Pergamus, and where were many Jews; these might be the remains of those that were carried captive, and dispersed by Ptolomy Lagus; those who dwelt in the three last places spoke the Greek language.
{z} Prooem. ad Lib. de Bello Jud. sect. 2. & l. 2. c. 16. {a} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 15, 25. {b} Geograph. l. 6. c. 5. {c} Polyhistor. c. 69. {d} Geograph. l. 6. c. 2. {e} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4. {f} T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 115. 1. {g} T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 18. 1. {h} P. 73. {i} Bereshit Rabba, sect. 30. fol. 25. 1. & sect. 44. fol. 38. 3. {k} Plin. l. 5. c. 12, 26. & 6. 26, 27. Ptolom. l. 5. c. 18. {l} Solin. Polyhistor. c. 57. {m} L. 1. c. 72. {n} L. 6. c. 3. {o} L. 5. c. 6. {p} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 3. {q} In Misn. Cetubot, c. 13. sect. 11. & Bartenora in ib. {r} Misn. Cetubot, c. 13. sect. 11. T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 110, 2. {s} T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 121. 1. {t} L. 5. c. 1. {u} Adv. Marcion. l. 1. c. 1. {w} Solinus, ib. c. 53.
Acts 2:10
Ver. 10. Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt,.... Phrygia was a country in Asia, and had part of Galatia on the north, Lycaonia, Pisidia, and Mygdonia on the south, and on the east Cappadocia {x}; here the Apostle Paul afterwards travelled, and strengthened the Christians; see Ac 16:6. Pamphylia, now called Setilia, is another country in Asia, formerly called Mopsopia {y}; which had on the west Lycia, and part of Asia, on the north Galatia, on the east Cilicia, and part of Cappadocia, and on the south the sea of Pamphylia {z}, of which mention is made in Ac 27:5. The chief city in it was Perga, where was a temple of Diana {a}, and here the Apostle Paul also was; see Ac 13:13. Others of these sojourning Jews lived in Egypt, which was a large country in Africa; which had on the east the deserts of Arabia, on the west Libya, on the south Ethiopia, and on the north the Mediterranean sea; hither many Jews were carried captive by Ptolomy Lagus, and these spoke the Egyptian language:
and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene; there were others at Jerusalem, which came from hence, The Arabic version reads this clause, "and in the parts of Africa, which is our country"; and Pliny says {b}, the Greeks call Africa, Libya. The Jews say {c}, Libya in Egypt; and for proselytes from Libya, they wait three generations; that is, before they receive them: Cyrene, or Cyreniaca, which is no other than upper Libya, is called by Pliny {d}, the Pentapolitan country, from the five cities in it; Berenice, Arsinoe, Ptolemais, Apollonia, and Cyrene: to these are added,
and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes; that is, as the Syriac version renders it, "those that came from Rome"; to which the Arabic agrees: they were natives and inhabitants of the city of Rome, though now they were at Jerusalem; and some of these were Jews by birth, and lineal descent, though born at Rome; and others were such as were proselytes of righteousness, who were originally Gentiles, but were now circumcised, and had embraced the Jewish religion; concerning such, See Gill on "Mt 23:15". These doubtless spoke in the Roman, or Latin tongue.
{x} Plin. l. 5. c. 32. {y} Ib. c. 27. {z} Ptolom. l. 5. c. 5. {a} Plin. l. 5. c. 27. Ptolom, ib. &. Mela, l. 1. c. 14. {b} Plin. l. 5. in principio. {c} T. Hieros. Kilaim, fol. 31. 3. & Sabbat, fol. 7. 2. {d} L. 5. c. 5.
Acts 2:11
Ver. 11. Cretes and Arabians,.... The former are either the same with the Cretians, Tit 1:12 the inhabitants of the island of Crete, Ac 27:7 now called Candia or Candy, which has on the north the Aegean sea, on the south the Libyan or African sea, on the west the Adriatic sea, and on the east the Carpathian sea. In it were an hundred cities; the most famous of which were, Gnosos, Cortyna, Lyctos, Lycastos, Holopixos, Phaestos, Cydon, Manethusa, Dyctynna {e}, and others; these spoke the Greek language; yet not the Attic, for the Cretian and Attic speech are distinguished {f}: or else, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, these were the same with the Cherethim or Cherethites, in Eze 25:16 whom the Septuagint interpreters call Cretes, as here; since these are mentioned with the Philistines, to whose land Arabia joined; the inhabitants of which are next mentioned here. There were three Arabias; Arabia Petraea, which had on the west part of Egypt, and on the north Judea, and part of Syria, on the south the Red sea, and on the east Arabia Felix. The second was called Arabia Deserta, and had on the north part of Mesopotamia, and on the east Babylonia, on the south Arabia Felix, and on the west, part of Syria and Arabia Petraea. The third was called Arabia Felix, and had on the north the south sides of Petraea and Arabia Deserta, and the more southern part of the Persian gulf, on the west the gulf of Arabia, and on the south the Red sea, and on the east, part of the Persian gulf {g}; and here dwelt Jews who spoke the Arabic language. Now these Jews, of different nations, declared concerning the apostles, saying,
we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God; not the works of creation and providence, though these are great and wonderful; but of redemption, pardon, atonement, justification, and salvation, by the Messiah, by his obedience, sufferings, and death, and also of his resurrection from the dead; things which struck them with amazement, and the more, that such illiterate persons should have such knowledge of them, and should be able to speak of them in such a clear, distinct, and powerful manner; and still the more, that they should speak of them in their several tongues in which they were born, and to which they were used, and which the apostles had never learned: and this they heard with their own ears, and were fully satisfied that they did speak divers languages.
{e} Mela, l. 2. c. 14. Vid. Solin. c. 16. & Plin. l. 4. c. 12. {f} Laert. in. vit. Epimenidis. {g} Ptolom. Geograph. l. 5. c. 17, & 19. & l. 6. c. 7.
Acts 2:12
Ver. 12. And they were all amazed,.... That is, all these devout men, Jews and proselytes, which came from other nations before mentioned:
and were in doubt; not whether the apostles spoke in various languages, nor about the sense of their words; for they not only heard them with their ears, and were assured of the facts, but they seem also to understand what was said, since they call the things delivered, the great or wonderful things of God; but they were at a loss in their minds what should be the cause of this, or the reason of such a dispensation,
saying, one to another, what meaneth this? from whence is it? what is the design of it? or what the end to be answered by it? or what will follow upon it? surely something considerable.
Acts 2:13
Ver. 13. Others mocking, said,.... These were the native inhabitants of Jerusalem, the common people; and it may be also the Scribes and Pharisees, who did not understand the languages in which the apostles spake, and therefore derided them both by words and gestures:
these men are full of new wine; the Syriac, version adds, "and are drunk"; a very foolish and impertinent cavil this; there was, at this time of the year, no new wine, just pressed, or in the fat; and if there had been any, and they were full of it, it could never have furnished them with a faculty of speaking with many tongues; men generally lose their tongues by intemperance. They were indeed filled with wine, but not with wine, the juice of the grape, either new or old; but with spiritual wine, with the gifts of the Spirit of God, by which they spake with divers tongues. They might hope this insinuation, that they were drunk with wine, would take and be received, since it was a feasting time, the feast of Pentecost; though, as Peter afterwards observes; it was too early in the day to imagine this to be their case.
Acts 2:14
Ver. 14. But Peter standing up with the eleven,.... Apostles; their number being now complete, Matthias being chosen in the room of Judas. These all at once rose up, as abhorring the fact they were charged with, and to show the falsehood of it, and to vindicate themselves; when Peter, as their mouth, stood "in the midst" of them, as the Ethiopic version reads, with great courage, boldness, and intrepidity of mind: and "lift up his voice"; that he might be heard by the whole multitude, that was gathered together, as well as to show his zeal and fervour of spirit, and fortitude of mind; for being endued with the Spirit from on high, he was fearless of men, who but a little while ago was frightened by a servant maid.
And said unto them, ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem; which shows that they were the natives and citizens of Jerusalem that mocked and scoffed; for to these the apostle addresses himself.
Be this known unto you, and hearken to my words; as follows.
Acts 2:15
Ver. 15. For these are not drunken,.... Meaning not only the eleven apostles, but the rest of the hundred and twenty, on whom also the Spirit was poured forth, and who were endowed with his extraordinary gifts:
as ye suppose; and had given out that they were: and this shows the sense of being filled with new wine; that they meant that they were really drunk, and which they believed, or at least would have had others believe it; the unreasonableness of which supposition and suggestion the apostle argues from the time of day:
seeing it is but the third hour of the day; or nine of the clock in the morning: for till this time it was not usual with the Jews, if men of any sobriety or religion, so much as to taste anything: the rules are these {h},
"it is forbidden a man to taste anything, or do any work after break of day, until he has prayed the morning prayer.''
Now
"the morning prayer, the precept concerning it is, that a man should begin to pray as soon as the sun shines out; and its time is until the end of the fourth hour, which is the third part of the day {i}.''
So that a man might not taste anything, either of eatables or drinkables, until the fourth hour, or ten o'clock in the morning: hence it is said {k}, that
"after they offered the daily sacrifice they ate bread,
Nyev ebra Nmzb, "at the time of four hours":''
or on the fourth hour, and sooner than this it was not lawful to eat, even ever so little; and whoever did, was not reckoned fit to be conversed with.
"Says R. Isaac {l}, whoever eats a green or herb before the fourth hour, it is forbidden to converse with him; and the same says, it is unlawful to eat a raw herb before the fourth hour. Amemar, and Mar Zutra, and Rab Ashe were sitting, and they brought before them a raw herb before the fourth hour. Amemar and Rab Ashe ate, and Mar Zutra did not eat: they said to him, what is thy meaning? (he replied) that R. Isaac said, whoever eats a herb before the fourth hour, it is forbidden to converse with him.''
The time for taking food by persons of different characters, is thus expressed by them:
"the first hour is the time of eating for the Lydians, the second for thieves, the third for heirs, the fourth for labourers, the fifth for every man; is it not so? Saith R. Papa, the fourth is the time of repast for every man; but (the truth is) the fourth is the time of eating for every man, the fifth for labourers, and the sixth for the disciples of the wise men {m}.''
Hence that advice {n},
""at the fourth hour", go into a cook's shop, (or tavern,) if thou seest a man drinking wine, and holding the cup in his hands, and slumbering, inquire about him, if he is one of the wise doctors, &c.''
The "gloss" upon it is,
"at the fourth hour, for that is the time of eating, when all go into the shops (or taverns) to eat.''
Now whereas they that are drunken are drunken in the night, and not in the day, and much less so soon in the day, when it was not usual, at least with religious men, to have tasted anything by this time; and whereas the apostles, and their company, were sober and religious men, and had never done thing to forfeit their character, it was unreasonable to suppose anything of this kind in them.
{h} Maimon. Hilch, Tophilla, c. 6. sect. 4. T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 28. 2. {i} lb. c. 3. sect. 1. Vid. T. Beracot, fol. 26. 2. {k} Targum in Eccl. x. 17. {l} T. Bab. Betacot, fol. 44. 2. {m} T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 10. 1. {n} T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 83. 2.
Acts 2:16
Ver. 16. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. This affair, which is a matter of wonder and amazement with some, and of speculation with others, and of ridicule and contempt with the most, not the effect of wine, but the fulfilment of a prophecy in Joe 2:28 and is that effusion of the Spirit there foretold; and this prophecy is by the Jews themselves allowed to belong to the world to come, or to the times of the Messiah. Some of their commentators {o} say, that it refers dytel, "to time to come"; by which they frequently mean the times of the Messiah; and another says {p} expressly, that they belong xyvmh tymyl, "to the days of the Messiah"; and in one of their Midrashes {q} it is observed, that
"the holy blessed God says in this world they prophesy single, (particular persons,) but "in the world to come" all "Israel" shall become prophets, as it is said, Joe 2:28 "and it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men", &c. So expounds R. Tanchums with R. Aba.''
{o} Jarchi in Joel ii. 28. & R. Jeshuah in Aben Ezra in loc. {p} R. David Kimchi in loc. {q} Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 15. fol. 219. 2.
Acts 2:17
Ver. 17. And it shall come to pass in the last days,.... In Joel it is, "afterwards"; instead of which Peter puts, "in the last days"; the sense is the same: and so R. David Kimchi, a celebrated commentator with the Jews, observes, that "afterwards" is the same "as in the last days", and which design the times of the Messiah; for according to a rule given by the same writer on Isa 2:2 wherever the last days are mentioned, the days of the Messiah are intended.
Saith God, or "the Lord", as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read. This clause is added by Peter, and is not in Joel; and very rightly, since what follow are the words of God speaking in his own person:
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; not "upon every animal", as the Ethiopic version renders it: this is extending the sense too far, as the interpretation the above named Jewish writer gives, limits it too much, restraining it to the people of Israel. It being a maxim with them, that the Shekinah does not dwell but in the land of Israel; and also that prophecy, or a spirit of prophecy, does not dwell on any but in the holy land {r}. For though as it regards the first times of the Gospel, it may chiefly respect some persons among the Jews, yet not to the exclusion of the Gentiles; and it designs all sorts of persons of every age, sex, state, and condition, as the distribution afterwards shows. Jarchi's note upon it is,
"upon everyone whose heart is made as tender as flesh; as for example, "and I will give an heart of flesh", Eze 36:26.''
By the Spirit is meant the gifts of the Spirit, the spirit of wisdom and knowledge, of understanding the mysteries of the Gospel, of explaining the Scriptures, and of speaking with tongues; and by the pouring of it out, is intended the abundance and great plenty of the gifts and graces of the Spirit bestowed; but yet not all of him, or all his gifts and grace in the large extent of them: therefore it is said, not "my Spirit", but "of my Spirit", or "out of it"; as out of an unfathomable, immeasurable, and inexhaustible fountain and fulness:
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: or foretell things to come, as Agabus, and the four daughters of Philip the Evangelist, Ac 21:9
and your young men shall see visions; as Ananias, Ac 9:10, and Peter, Ac 10:17 and Paul when a young man, Ac 22:17 and John, the youngest of the apostles, Re 1:10 though he was in years, when he saw the visions in the Revelations:
and your old men shall dream dreams; or shall have night visions, as Paul at Troas, Ac 16:9 and in his voyage when at sea, Ac 27:23. The order of the words is inverted, this last clause stands first in Joel; perhaps the change is made, because the apostles were young men, on whom the Spirit was poured; and the thing was the more wonderful that so it should be, than if they had been old men.
{r} Zohar in Gen. fol. 118. 4. & 128. 4.
Acts 2:18
Ver. 18. And on my servants, and on my handmaidens,.... In Joel it is only the servants and the handmaids; and which Kimchi interprets of strangers that should stand in the land of Israel, and serve the Israelites. But these phrases do not seem so much to describe the civil state and condition of those persons, as their religious character, being such as were brought, by the power of divine grace, to yield a cheerful obedience to the will of God; though it may also regard the former, and show, that with God there is no distinction and difference of bond or free, of rich or poor; contrary to a maxim of the Jews {s}, that the Shekinah does not dwell but upon a wise man, a mighty man, and a rich man.
I will pour out, in those days, of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy; see the note on the preceding verse, from whence this clause, "and they shall prophesy", is repeated; for it is not in the text in Joel; which is done to point at the end and effect of the Spirit being poured down upon them.
{s} T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 92. 1.
Acts 2:19
Ver. 19. And I will show wonders in heaven above,.... The word above is not in Joel, nor in the Syriac version here, as neither the word "beneath", in the next clause. This may refer either to the appearance of angels, and of an extraordinary star at the birth of Christ; or rather to comets and blazing stars, and particularly to that comet which, in the form of a flaming sword, hung over Jerusalem, and the forms of armies in the heavens engaged together, which were seen before, and portended the destruction of that city {t}:
and signs in the earth beneath; meaning either the miracles done by Christ, and his apostles, on earth; or those surprising events in Judea and in Jerusalem, a flame was seen in the temple, the doors of it opened of themselves, and a voice was heard in it, saying, let us go hence; and an idiot went about several years together, saying, woe to the people, woe to the city, &c.
blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: by blood is meant not the blood of Christ, either his bloody sweat in the garden, or what he shed on the cross, but the blood of the Jews, shed in war, and in internal seditions and murders: and by "fire" is designed not the Holy Ghost, who now appeared in cloven tongues, as of fire, but the conflagration of the city and temple of Jerusalem, and of many other towns and villages. And by "vapours of smoke"; or, as in the Hebrew text, "pillars of smoke", ascending in upright columns, like palm trees, are intended literally, the vast quantities of smoke that would arise from such burnings; so that the very heavens would be clouded and darkened with them, and sun and moon appear in the following form.
{t} Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 3.
Acts 2:20
Ver. 20. The sun shall be turned into darkness,.... As at the death of Christ, by a total eclipse of it:
and the moon into blood; as at the opening of the sixth seal, Re 6:12
before that great and notable day of the Lord come; when he shall come in power and great glory, as he did in a few years after this, to take vengeance on the Jews, and destroy their nation, city, and temple; in which there was a display of his greatness, and power, and which was awful and "terrible" to them, as in Joel it is called;
See Gill on "Mt 24:29".
Acts 2:21
Ver. 21. And it shall come to pass,.... Even at that time, when these signs shall appear, and the destruction is hastening on, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord; shall believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with the heart, and shall confess him with the mouth, and shall worship him in Spirit and in truth, and submit to all his ordinances and commands; for invocation of the Lord includes the whole of worship, internal and external:
shall be saved; or delivered from that temporal destruction which came upon the Jews, as the Christians were by removing from Jerusalem to Pella, as they were directed {u}; and shall be saved with a spiritual and everlasting salvation by Jesus Christ;
See Gill on "Ro 10:13".
{u} Vid. Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 5.
Acts 2:22
Ver. 22. Ye men of Israel hear these words,.... The Arabic version prefaces this passage with these words, "in those days Peter stood and said unto the people"; as if it was not on the same day, and the following oration was a new one, and not a continued discourse with the former; whereas it was delivered at the same time, and is in connection with what goes before. Only the apostle having finished the vindication of his brethren, and the whole society, and set that matter in a clear light; and being willing to take this opportunity of preaching Christ to the Jews, addresses them under another character in a new form of words, though to the same sense as in Ac 2:14 in order to soften their minds, and raise their attention, and proceeds to describe the person, the subject of his following discourse:
Jesus of Nazareth; first by his name Jesus, which the angel gave him before his birth; and that for this reason, because he is the Saviour of his people from their sins, and which his name signifies; and next by the place, not where he was born, for that was Bethlehem, but where he was educated and brought up, and where he lived the greatest part of his life, Nazareth, a city in Galilee; whence he was so called, generally by way of contempt, and not so much to distinguish him from any of the same name:
a man approved of God; he was truly and really a man, who in his incarnation assumed a true body, and a reasonable soul; but he was not a mere man, and much less a common and ordinary man: he was the famous son of man the Scriptures speak of; the man of God's right hand, the man his fellow, a great, mighty, and wonderful man: "approved by God"; or shown, declared, and demonstrated by him, to be sent by him in human nature, to be the true Messiah and Saviour of the world, who was the chosen of God, loved and honoured by him, whom he sealed, and bore a testimony to; and that not privately, but openly and publicly:
among you; in the face of all the people in Jerusalem, and in the temple, and at the time of public feasts:
by miracles, and wonders, and signs; by dispossessing devils, cleansing lepers, restoring sight to the blind, causing the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk, and by raising the dead:
which God did by him in the midst of you; not but that he did the miracles himself, as and the Son of God; but as he was man, God did them, by his human nature, as the instrument: the meaning is, that his miracles were wrought by a divine power, and not by a diabolical influence, by Beelzebub the prince of devils, as the Pharisees blasphemously said of him; and these were done, not in a corner, but in the midst of them:
as ye yourselves also know; for they must be sensible and convicted in their own consciences, not only that these things were done by him, but that they could not be done by him, unless God was with him, or he was from God; and so were testimonies both of the divine approbation of him, and of his deity and Messiahship.
Acts 2:23
Ver. 23. Him being delivered,.... By himself, according to his own will, for he gave, or delivered himself for his people; and by his Father, who spared him not, but delivered him up for us all; and by Judas, one of his disciples, who, for a sum of money, delivered him into the hands of the Jews; and by them he was delivered up to Pilate, the Roman governor; and by him back again to the Jews, and to the soldiers, to crucify him: and all this
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God; God not only foreknew that it would be, but determined that it should be, who does all things after the counsel of his own will; and this for the salvation of his people, and for the glorifying of his divine perfections: though this fixed resolution, settled purpose, and wise determination of God, did not in the least excuse the sin of Judas in betraying him, or of Pilate in condemning him, or of the Jews in crucifying him; nor did it at all infringe the liberty of their wills in acting, who did what they did, not by force, but voluntarily:
ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; they took him in the garden, and bound him, and had him first before the high priest, then before Pilate, the Roman governor, and cried out with one voice, in a most vehement manner, for the crucifying of him, which, at their importunity, was granted, though no fault was found in him; and therefore are justly charged with slaying, or murdering him.
Acts 2:24
Ver. 24. Whom God raised up,.... From the dead; for though his life was taken away by men, he was raised to life again by God the Father, to whom the resurrection of Christ is generally ascribed, though not to the exclusion of Christ himself, and the blessed Spirit; and this being what the apostles were witnesses of, and the Jews endeavoured to stifle as much as they could, it being the sign Christ gave them of the truth of his Messiahship; and this being also a fundamental article of the Christian religion, the apostle enlarges upon it:
having loosed the pains of death; this may be understood either of what Christ had done for his people by dying for them; he had abolished death; he had took away its sting, and delivered them from the curse of it, having fulfilled the law, satisfied justice, and made full atonement for their sin; so that though they die, death is not a penal evil to them, nor shall they always continue under the power of it: or of what God did in raising Christ from the dead; he delivered him from the power of death, by which he was held in the grave, and which is expressed by a word which signifies pains and sorrows, even those of a woman in travail; which though he felt not now, he had gone through them; his low state in the grave was the effect of them; and these are said to be loosed when he was raised up, he being so entirely delivered from them, as that they should never come upon him more: and it is to be observed, that the same word in the Hebrew language, and so in the Chaldee and Syriac, in which Peter might speak, signifies both cords and sorrows; and we often read in Talmudic and Rabbinic {w} writings, of xyvm lv wlbx, "the sorrows", or "pains" of the Messiah. The death which Christ died, being the death of the cross, was a very painful one: he endured great pains in his body, smote with rods, and buffeted with the hands of men; by being scourged and whipped, and having a crown of thorns platted on his head; but the pains of the cross were still greater, his body being stretched out upon it, and fastened to it by nails drove through his hands and feet, and then reared up, and jogged in the earth, where he hung upon it in extreme agony, till he expired: and these pains he endured, not through want of love to him in his Father, who, as he does not willingly grieve and afflict the children of men, so neither would he his own Son; nor was it on account of any sin of his, for he knew none, nor did he commit any; but he was wounded, and bruised, and endured these sorrows and pains for the sins of his people: as he was their surety, it was necessary he should die, because the wages of sin is death, and the justice and veracity of God required it; and it was proper he should die the painful death of the cross, because of the types and prophecies of it, and chiefly that he might appear to be made a curse for his people: though more must be meant here than the pains he endured in the moment and article of death, since they ceased at death, and he was then freed from them; whereas the text speaks of a loosing him from them at his resurrection, which supposes that they continued on him until that time; wherefore these pains of death also signify the power and dominion death had over him, and continued to have over him in the grave; with the cords of which he was bound and held, till he was loosed by raising him from the dead. Dr. Goodwin is of opinion, that these words are to be understood, not of the resurrection of Christ's body from the pains and power of death, but at least chiefly of the recovery and revival of his soul from those spiritual agonies which attended him, and from which he was loosed and delivered before his death; and the rather, because as before observed, at death the pains of it are gone, the bitterness of it is over, and nothing is felt in the grave; besides, the word here used signifies the pains of a woman in travail, 1Th 5:3 and seems best to agree with those inward sufferings of Christ, which are called "the travail of his soul", Isa 53:11 and which, like the pangs of a woman in labour, came upon him gradually: four or five days before his death he said, "now is my soul troubled", Joh 12:27. The night in which he was betrayed, when he came into the garden, he began to be sorrowful, and heavy, and sore amazed; and at length he breaks out, and says, "my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death", Mt 26:37 and after some time his pains increase, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood, Lu 22:44 but the sharpest pains were yet to come, and which he endured when on the cross, being forsaken by his God and Father, Mt 27:46 and which arose partly from the sins of his people, the filth and guilt of them laid upon him, which must be very distressing to his pure and holy mind; and from the wrath of God, and curse of the law, which he sustained as the punishment for them; and it was necessary he should bear the whole punishment due to sin, the punishment of sense, or feel the wrath of God, and the strokes of divine justice, and the punishment of loss, or be deprived of the divine presence; and these sorrows of soul may be well called the pains or sorrows of death, because they were unto death, and issued in it; a corporeal death followed upon them; and when he was in the garden, and on the cross, it might be truly said, "the sorrows of death compassed him about", Ps 18:4 but from these he was loosed just before his death, when he said, "it is finished"; the darkness was over; the light of God's countenance broke out upon him; he heard his cry, and helped him in the acceptable time, in the day of salvation; his anger, as a judge, was turned away from him, justice being entirely satisfied; and therefore it was not possible he should be held any longer with these cords and sorrows of death; for he being an infinite person, was able to bear all the wrath of God at once, which was due to sin, and therefore did not bring on him an eternal death as on the wicked, he sustaining and satisfying for all at once; and, like another Samson, broke asunder these cords like threads, and was loosed from them. But after all, though these are very great truths; yet, according to the order in which these words lie, being placed after the account of the crucifixion and death of Christ, they seem rather to respect the resurrection of his body, and the loosing it from the power and dominion of death; and in such sense as never to return to it, or any more feel the pains of it. One of Stephen's copies reads, "the pains of Hades", or the invisible state; and the Vulgate Latin version, "the pains of hell"; as in Ps 18:5 where the grave is meant; and the Syriac version,
lwavd hylbx, "the pains", or "cords of the grave": the word "cords", or "bands", best agrees with the word "loosing"; and the Ethiopic version renders it, "the bands of death".
Because it was not possible he should be holden of it: of death, and under the power of it; partly, because of the power and dignity of his person, as the Son of God, he being still the Prince of life, and who by dying abolished death, and him that had the power of it; and partly, because as the surety of his people, he had made full satisfaction for sin, and had brought in an everlasting righteousness, and therefore ought in justice to be discharged, and detained a prisoner no longer; as also because of the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning his resurrection, which must be fulfilled, as follows.
{w} T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 118. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 2. Alkath Rocel, l. 1. p. 1. & passim.
Acts 2:25
Ver. 25. For David speaketh concerning him,.... The Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, in Ps 16:8. The whole psalm belongs to the Messiah, and everything concerning the person in it agrees with him; such as his trust in God, Ps 16:1 as he was man and Mediator; his very great regard to the saints, and delight in them, Ps 16:2 his disregard to others who were hastening after another God, or another Saviour, whose sacrifices, as an high priest, he would not offer up, nor make intercession for them, Ps 16:4 his exceeding great satisfaction in having the God of Israel for his portion, and in having his lot cast among his peculiar people, who were a delightful inheritance to him, Ps 16:5 his thankfulness for advice and direction in the time of his sorrows and sufferings; and his dependence on the almighty power of God to support and protect him, Ps 16:7 and the joy and comfort he was filled with in the view of his resurrection from the dead, and his enjoyment of the heavenly glory, Ps 16:9,
I foresaw the Lord always before my face; Christ always had Jehovah in view throughout the whole of his life; and in his last moments he had respect unto the glory of his perfections, as the ultimate end of his obedience and sufferings; and to his purposes, council, and covenant, which were to be accomplished by him; and to his will and command in preaching the Gospel, working miracles, going about to do good, in obeying the precept, and bearing the penalty of the law; as well as to his promises, and his power to assist, support, and preserve him, as man and Mediator:
for he is on my right hand; which expresses his nearness to him, his presence with him, his readiness to assist him, and his protection of him; as if he was his second that stood by him, to take his part, and, if need be, to take up his cause, and defend him from his enemies; see Ps 109:31
that I should not be moved; from his station, place, and duty; from the cause he was engaged in, so as to relinquish it; or with the fear of men, or fury of devils, or wrath of God, whilst he was doing and suffering, according to the will of God.
Acts 2:26
Ver. 26. Therefore did my heart rejoice,.... Because that he had always the truth, faithfulness, and power of God in his view, and the presence and protection of God with him; and which are sufficient to make the hearts of his people, as well as of him, to rejoice:
and my tongue was glad: in the Hebrew text it is, "my glory"; and so the Syriac version renders it here; which Kimchi explains of the soul, because that is the glory of the body; but our apostle rightly interprets it of the tongue, which is so called, Ps 30:12 and
Ps 57:8 and Ps 108:1 because it is both the glory of man, for that being endowed with the faculty of speaking, gives him a glory above the brute creatures; and because it is that by which he glorifies God, by ascribing greatness to him, speaking of his marvellous works, and singing his praises, as Christ did, in the great congregation, among his apostles, a little before his death.
Moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope, or "safely"; meaning, that his body should lie quietly in the grave, as in its resting place from all toil and labour, pains and sorrows, and be secure from worms, or any corruption. Or this may be understood of his person being in a quiet, firm, and full hope of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal life and glory.
Acts 2:27
Ver. 27. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,.... This is an apostrophe, or an address to his Father, who he believed would not leave his soul, as separate from his body, in Hades, in the invisible world of souls, in the place where the souls of departed saints are, but would quickly return it to its body, and reunite them; or else, that he would not leave his dead body, for so vpn sometimes signifies; see Le 19:28 in the grave; which is no unusual sense of lwav; see Ge 42:38 that is, so long as to be corrupted and putrefy, as the next clause shows:
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. The character of an "Holy One" well agrees with Christ, both as God, or with respect to his divine nature, holiness being a perfection in it, and in which he is glorious; and as man, he being holy in his nature, harmless in his life and conversation: all his doctrines were pure and holy, and so were all his works; and all his administrations in the discharge of every of his office; and he is the efficient cause and lain of all the holiness of his people; they are sanctified in him, and by him, and have all their sanctification from him. The word may be rendered, "thy merciful", or "bountiful one"; and such Christ is, a merciful, as well as faithful high priest; and who has shown great compassion both to the bodies and souls of men, and has been very beneficent and liberal in the distributions of his grace and goodness. Now, though he died, and was laid in the grave, and buried, yet God would not suffer him to lie there so long as to be corrupted and putrefied, which is the sense of seeing corruption: and so the Jews themselves explain the last clause of the preceding verse, in connection with this, "my flesh shall rest in hope", that no worm or maggot should have power over it, or corrupt it.
"Seven fathers (they say {x}) dwell in eternal glory, and there is no helwtw hmr, "worm or maggot", rules over them; and these are they, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and Aaron, and Amram their father; and there are that say also David, as it is said, Ps 16:1, "therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth, my flesh also shall rest in hope".''
And which sense also is mentioned by one of their commentators of note {y}, who thus paraphrases the words:
"whilst I am alive it shall rest safely, for thou wilt deliver me from all hurt; and in the mystical sense, or according to the Midrash, after death; intimating, that no maggot or worm should have power over him;''
which was not true of David, but is of the Messiah.
{x} Massecheth Derech Eretz Zuta, c. 1. fol. 19. 1. {y} Kimchi in Psal. xvi. 9.
Acts 2:28
Ver. 28. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life,.... That is, thou hast raised me from the dead. When God raised Christ from the dead, he showed him, or made him to know experimentally the way of life, or the way of the resurrection from death to life; and this path of life, or of the resurrection to an immortal and eternal life, was first shown to Christ, who is the first fruits of them that slept, and the first begotten from the dead.
Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance; or glorious presence, in which is fulness of joy; which Christ, as man, is in, and fully possessed of, being exalted at the right hand of God, and crowned with glory and honour, and has all the joy that was set before him in his sufferings and death.
Acts 2:29
Ver. 29. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you,.... The apostle calls the Jews, brethren, whom he before only styled men of Judea, and men of Israel, because they were his brethren according to the flesh, as many of them afterwards were in a spiritual relation; and the rather he adds this affectionate appellation to soften their minds, and prepare them to receive the account he was about to give of David, and of his prophecy of the Messiah, and his resurrection; in which he used much freedom of speech, consistent with truth, good sense, and strong reasoning; which he thought might be allowed to take, and they would not be displeased at, in discoursing to them
of the patriarch David; who was a "head of the fathers", as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it; a prince of the tribes of Israel; one of the greatest kings the tribes of Israel ever had; and therefore this name well becomes him; though it is more commonly given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the heads of the twelve tribes:
that he is both dead, and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day; it is a plain case, and a certain matter of fact, which nobody disputes or denies, that David really died, and was laid in the grave, and that his monument, or tomb, was still extant, so that he was not risen from the dead; and therefore the above citation could not respect him, but another, even the Messiah, and had been literally fulfilled in Jesus. The Jews say {z}, that David died on the day of Pentecost; which was the very day on which Peter was now preaching; he was buried in Jerusalem, and his sepulchral monument was in being when Peter said these words. And Josephus relates {a}, that the sepulchre of David was opened by Hyrcanus, who took out of it three thousand talents; and that it was afterwards opened by Herod {b}: which, if true, may serve to render credible what Peter says concerning its continuance to that day. Though it may be questioned whether any such treasure was ever in it, or taken out of it; and still less credible is the account which R. Benjamin {c} gives of two men in his time, who, under the wall of Zion, found a cave, which led them to a large palace built on pillars of marble, and covered with gold and silver; and within it was a table, and a golden sceptre, and a crown of gold; and this, says the author, was the sepulchre of David, king of Israel.
{z} T. Hieros. Chagiga, fol. 78. 1. {a} De Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 2. sect. 5. & Antiqu. l. 7. c. 15. sect. 3. {b} Ib. l. 16. c. 7. sect. 1. {c} Itinerar. p. 45, 46.
Acts 2:30
Ver. 30. Therefore being a prophet,.... Who could foretell things to come, as he did many things concerning the sufferings and death of Christ, and the circumstances attending it, concerning his resurrection, ascension, and session at the right hand of God. So the title of his "Psalms", in the Syriac version, runs thus; the "Book of the Psalms of David, King and Prophet": and in the Arabic version, "the First Book of the Psalms of David the Prophet, King of the Children of Israel". Though the Jews {d} will not allow him, nor Solomon, nor Daniel, to be strictly and properly prophets, they make a difference between prophecy, and the Holy Spirit. They own, that the book of Psalms was written under the influence of the Holy Spirit, but not by prophecy; and therefore they place it among the Hagiographa, or holy writings, but not among the Prophets: though after all, Kimchi allows David to be a prophet, since he is called a man of God; for he says this name is not said of any but aybn le, "of a prophet" {e}; and Peter is right in calling him so:
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him; as he did in
Ps 132:11.
that of the fruit of his loins; of one that should be of his seed, that should spring from him, even the Virgin Mary, who was of the house and lineage of David:
according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ; would send him forth, according to the human nature; for this phrase respects not his resurrection from the dead, but his incarnation or exhibition in the flesh, as in Ac 3:26. This clause is wanting in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, and in the Alexandrian copy, and should be read in a parenthesis; since it is not in the text in Ps 132:11.
to sit on his throne; on the throne of David his father;
See Gill on "Lu 1:32".
{d} Maimon. More Nevochim, par. 2. c. 45. Vid. Procop. Gazaeum in Reg. l. 2. c. 23. sect. 2. {e} Kimchi Praefat. ad Psalm.
Acts 2:31
Ver. 31. He seeing this before,.... Or by a spirit of prophecy foreseeing it, that according to God's promise and oath, the Messiah would be raised up, and spring from his seed; and also by the same Spirit foresaw that he would suffer and die, and be laid in the grave, the pit of corruption:
spake of the resurrection of Christ; from the dead, to the sense of the following words, in Ps 16:10.
that his soul was not left in hell: neither his separate soul in Hades, nor his body in the grave;
neither his flesh did see corruption; or his body, or his "carcass", as the Syriac version renders it, did not lie so long in the grave as to rot and putrefy.
Acts 2:32
Ver. 32. This Jesus hath God raised up,.... That is, from the dead,
whereof we are all witnesses; namely, of his resurrection, they having seen him, and heard him, and ate, and drank, and conversed with him since his resurrection; and which was true, not of the twelve apostles only, but of the whole company: or "we are all his witnesses"; either of God, who raised Christ from the dead; or of Christ who was raised by him; and indeed, they bore testimony to the whole of this, to Christ, and to his resurrection, and to its being done by God the Father.
Acts 2:33
Ver. 33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,.... After his resurrection he ascended to heaven, and was exalted in human nature; "to the right hand of God", as the Ethiopic version; and the Arabic version used by De Dieu read; an honour that never was conferred on any creature, angels or men, besides: or he was exalted and raised to the high honour and dignity of a Prince and Saviour, of Lord, Head, and King, so as to have a name, dominion, and authority over all, by the mighty power of God, which is sometimes called his right hand; see Ps 118:15.
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost; which the Father had promised to pour forth in the last days, Isa 44:3 and which Christ had promised to send from the Father, Joh 14:16 and which, upon his ascension and exaltation, he received as Mediator from him; see Ps 68:18 compared with Eph 4:8
he hath shed forth this; this Holy Spirit, or promised Spirit, these gifts of his; and so the Syriac version renders it, "he hath shed forth this gift"; which expresses both the plenty and abundance of the gifts bestowed, and the liberality of Christ in the donation of them: it is added,
which ye now see and hear; meaning the cloven tongues, as of fire, which they saw sitting on the disciples, and the various languages which they heard them speak. The Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions, leave out the word "now": and the Syriac, in the room of it, reads, "behold".
Acts 2:34
Ver. 34. For David is not ascended into the heavens,.... In his body, that being still in the grave, in his sepulchre, which remained to that day, though in his soul he was ascended to heaven; his Spirit had returned to God that gave it, and was among the spirits of just men made perfect: but he saith himself, in
Ps 110:1 "the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand";
See Gill on "Mt 22:44".
Acts 2:35
Ver. 35. Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
See Gill on "Mt 22:44".
Acts 2:36
Ver. 36. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly,.... "With certain knowledge", as the Arabic version renders it; with full assurance of it: this is a case that is plain and clear, a matter of fact that may be depended on; which all the people of Israel, called "the house of Israel", a phrase frequently used of that people in the Old Testament, which every individual of that body of men might be assured of:
that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ; that is, that God the Father had not only constituted and appointed Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah, the Lord of lords, and King of kings, and had invested him with that office, power, and authority, but he had made him manifest to be so by the Holy Spirit which he had received, and now poured forth the same, and not another; even him whom they had rejected with so much contempt; whom they had treated in such a scornful and brutish manner; had spit upon, buffeted, and scourged, and at last crucified; and yet, now, even he had all power in heaven, and in earth, given him, and was exalted above every name; that in his name every knee should bow. The phrase of "making a Messiah", or "Christ", is used in the Talmudic writings {f}.
"The holy blessed God sought to make Hezekiah the Messiah, or Christ, and Sennacherib Gog and Magog; the property or attribute of justice said before the holy blessed God, Lord of the world, and what was David, the king of Israel, who said so many songs and hymns before thee, and thou didst not make him Christ? Hezekiah, for whom thou hast done all these wonders, and he hath not said a song before thee, wilt thou make him the Messiah, or Christ? wherefore his mouth was shut up; and the earth opened, and said a song before him; Lord of the world, I have said a song before thee, for this righteous one, xyvm whvew, and he made him Messiah, or Christ.''
{f} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 94. 1.
Acts 2:37
Ver. 37. Now when they heard this,.... Or "him", as the Arabic version; that is, Peter speaking these things, describing the character of Jesus of Nazareth; opening the prophecies concerning him; asserting his resurrection from the dead, and exaltation at the right hand of God; ascribing this wonderful affair, of speaking with divers tongues, to his effusion of the Spirit; and charging them home with the iniquity of crucifying him:
they were pricked in their hearts; the word of God entered into them, and was as a sharp sword in them, which cut and laid open their hearts, and the sin and wickedness of them; they saw themselves guilty of the crime laid to their charge, and were filled with remorse of conscience for it; they felt pain at their hearts, and much uneasiness, and were seized with horror and trembling; they were wounded in their spirits, being hewn and cut down by the prophets and apostles of the Lord, and slain by the words of his mouth; they were as dead men in their own apprehension; and indeed, a prick, a cut, or wound in the heart is mortal:
and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? the persons they before mocked at, they are glad to advise with, what should be done in this their sad and wretched case; what they should do to obtain the favour of God, the forgiveness of their sins, and everlasting salvation. Convinced, awakened sinners, are generally at first upon a covenant of works; are for doing something to atone for their past crimes, to set themselves right in the sight of God, to ingratiate themselves into his favour, and procure the pardon of their sins, and the inheritance of eternal life. And they seem also to be at a loss about the way of salvation, what is to be done to attain it, or how, and by what means it is to be come at; and are almost ready to despair of it, their sin appearing in so dreadful a light, and attended with such aggravating circumstances. Beza's ancient copy reads, "some of them said to Peter", &c. not all that heard, but those that were pricked to the heart.
Acts 2:38
Ver. 38. Then Peter said unto them,.... Being the mouth of the apostles, and being ready to give advice, and speak a word of comfort to their distressed minds:
repent: change your minds, entertain other thoughts, and a different opinion of Jesus of Nazareth, than you have done; consider him, and believe in him, as the true Messiah and Saviour of the world; look upon him, not any more as an impostor, and a blasphemer, but as sent of God, and the only Redeemer of Israel; change your voice and way of speaking of him, and your conduct towards his disciples and followers; a change of mind will produce a change of actions in life and conversation: bring forth fruits meet for repentance; and make an open and hearty profession of repentance for this your sin. And this the apostle said, to distinguish between a legal and an evangelical repentance; the former is expressed in their being pricked to the heart, on which they were not to depend; the latter he was desirous they might have, and show forth; which springs from the love of God, is attended with views, or at least hopes of pardoning grace and mercy, and with faith in Christ Jesus: it lies in a true sight and sense of sin, under the illuminations and convictions of the Spirit of God; in a sorrow for it, after a godly sort, and because it is committed against a God of love, grace, and mercy, and it shows itself in loathing sin, and in shame for it, in an ingenuous acknowledgement of it, and in forsaking it: and this is moreover urged, to show the necessity of it, as to salvation, for such that God would not have perish, he will have come to repentance; so to their admission to the ordinance of baptism, to which repentance is a pre-requisite; and to which the apostle next advises:
and be baptized everyone of you; that repents and believes; that is, in water, in which John administered the ordinance of baptism; in which Christ himself was baptized, and in which the apostles of Christ administered it; in this Philip baptized the eunuch; and in this were the persons baptized that were converted in Cornelius's house; and it is distinguished from the baptism of the Spirit, or with fire, the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit mentioned in the last clause of this verse; and which ordinance of water baptism was administered by immersion, as the places, Jordan and Aenon, where John performed it, and the instances of it particularly in Christ, and in the eunuch, and the end of it, which is to represent the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, as well as the primary signification of the word, show. And this is to be done,
in the name of Jesus Christ; not to the exclusion of the Father, and of the Spirit, in whose name also this ordinance is to be administered, Mt 28:19 but the name of Jesus Christ is particularly mentioned, because of these Jews, who had before rejected and denied him as the Messiah; but now, upon their repentance and faith, they are to be baptized in his name, by his authority, according to his command; professing their faith in him, devoting themselves to him, and calling on his name. The end for which this was to be submitted to, is,
for the remission of sins; not that forgiveness of sin could be procured either by repentance, or by baptism; for this is only obtained by the blood of Christ; but the apostle advises these awakened, sensible, repenting, and believing souls, to submit to baptism, that by it their faith might be led to Christ, who suffered and died for their sins, who left them buried in his grave, and who rose again for their justification from them; all which is, in a most lively manner, represented in the ordinance of baptism by immersion: the encouragement to it follows,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost: not the grace of the Spirit, as a regenerator and sanctifier; for that they had already; and is necessary, as previous to baptism; unless it should mean confirmation of that grace, and stability in it, as it appears from Ac 2:42 they afterwards had; but rather the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, particularly the gift of speaking with tongues, which Christ had received from the Father, and had now shed on his apostles; see Ac 19:5.
Acts 2:39
Ver. 39 For the promise is unto you,.... Either of the Messiah, and salvation by him, which was particularly given forth to the people of the Jews; or of the remission of sins, which was a branch of the covenant made with the house of Israel, in a spiritual sense, even the whole household of God; or of the pouring forth of the Spirit: and this promise was not only to them, but to theirs, even to as many of them as belonged to the election of grace; and whom the Lord their God would effectually call by his grace, as the last and limiting clause of the text, and which is to be connected with every part of it, shows:
and to your children: this is the rather mentioned, because these awakened, and converted souls, were not only in great concern about themselves, for their sin of crucifying Christ, but were in great distress about their children, on whom they had imprecated the guilt of Christ's blood, as upon themselves; the thought of which cut them to the heart, and made their hearts bleed, within them: wherefore to relieve them, and administer comfort to them in this their distress, the apostle informs them, that the promise of Christ, and of his grace, was not only to them, who were now called, but it was also to their children; to as many of them as the Lord God should call; and who are the children of the promise, which all the children of the flesh were not, Ro 9:6 and to these the promise should be applied, notwithstanding this dreadful imprecation of theirs:
and to all that are afar off; either in place, as those that were dispersed, among the several nations of the world; and so carried in it a comfortable aspect on the multitude of Jews, that were of every nation under heaven; or in time, who should live in ages to come; or else the Gentiles are intended, who were afar off from God and Christ, and the way of life and salvation by him; see Eph 2:12 even as many as the Lord our God shall call: not externally only, by the ministry of the word, but internally, by his grace and Spirit; with that calling, which is according to the purpose and grace of God, and is inseparably connected with eternal glory; the promise is to all such, and is made good to all such, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, fathers, or children, greater or lesser sinners. The Syriac version reads, "whom God himself shall call".
Acts 2:40
Ver. 40. And with many other words did he testify and exhort,.... For Luke does not give the sermons of the apostles at length, but a compendium, or specimen of them, and some of the more remarkable things in them; and which, it seems, lay partly in testifying concerning Christ, his person, office, grace, righteousness, and salvation; and against sins and errors, and false doctrine; and in "exhorting" to the exercise of grace, and the discharge of duty; or in comforting distressed minds: for the word used signifies to comfort as well as to exhort; though it seems to have the latter sense here, since it follows:
saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation: meaning, the chief priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, and elders of the people, chiefly, who were a perverse generation of men; and upon whom, for their impenitence and unbelief, for their rejection of the Messiah, and their evil treatment of him, wrath and ruin would come upon them, to the uttermost, very quickly; wherefore the apostle exhorts to separate from them, and not partake of their sins, lest they should also of their plagues; but come out from among them, and so, in a temporal sense, save themselves from the destruction that would quickly come on their nation, city, and temple; and so the Arabic version renders it, "escape from this rough generation".
Acts 2:41
Ver. 41. Then they that gladly received his word,.... The Syriac version adds, "and believed"; what Peter said concerning repentance and baptism, and especially concerning remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost; and concerning the promise of Christ, and salvation by him, of the pardon of sin, and of the Holy Spirit; which doctrine they received with great joy and gladness, it being suitable to their case; and very "readily", and "willingly", as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it; for they were now made a willing people in the day of God's power, and now that promise, or prophecy, in Ps 110:3 had a remarkable accomplishment; these converts were the dew of Christ's youth, as well as instances of his powerful and efficacious grace: not all that heard this sermon of Peter's received his doctrine in this manner, only some; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions render the words, "and some of them readily received", &c. which shows the distinguishing grace of God in this instance. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions leave out the word "gladly", which should not be omitted: and as soon as they had received the word, and were comforted by it, they
were baptized; in water, by immersion, for which there was great conveniency in Jerusalem, and in the temple, where the apostles now were: in the city of Jerusalem, in private houses, they had their baths for purifications, by immersion, as in the case of menstruous, gonorrhoeas, and other defilements, by touching unclean persons, and things, which were very frequent; so that a digger of cisterns, for such uses, and others, was a business in Jerusalem.
"Says Simeon Sicana {g}, who was a digger of cisterns, ditches, and caves, in Jerusalem, to R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, I am as great a man as thou art; he made answer to him, why? (or your reason for it;) he replied to him, because I am employed in the necessary affairs of many, (or of the public,) as you are; for says he, if a man comes to you for judgment, or to ask a question, you say to him, drink out of this cistern, whose waters are pure, and cold; or, if a woman asks thee concerning her monstrous, you say to her, ylbj, dip in this cistern, whose waters purify.''
And in the temple there was an apartment, called hlybj tyb, "the dipping place", or "room", where the high priest dipped himself on the day of atonement {h}: and besides, there were ten lavers of brass, made by Solomon; and every laver held forty baths of water, and each was four cubits broad and long, sufficient for immersion of the whole body of a man; and to these Herbanus {i} the Jew seems to have respect, when he says, that in the outer part of Solomon's temple, there were
louthrhv, "lavers", in every side, (or all around,) which were free, or open, for the use of all; to which, he thinks, the prophet Isaiah has respect, in Isa 1:16. Those were for the priests, both to wash their hands and feet at, and also to wash the burnt offerings; see
Ex 30:18 {k}: and who were likewise obliged, very often, to bathe, or dip their whole bodies in water; for if a priest went out of the temple for a little while to speak with a friend,
hlybj Nwej, "he was obliged to dipping": and if he nodded, he was obliged to wash his hands and his feet; but if he slept, he was obliged to dip himself; yea, a man might not go into the court, or to service, even though he was clean, lbwj awhv de, "until he dip himself" {l}. Add to this, that there was the molten sea also for the priests to wash in, 2Ch 4:6 which was done by immersion; on which one of the Jewish commentators {m} has these words:
"the sea was tlybjl, "for the dipping" of the priests; for in the midst of it, they dipped themselves from their uncleanness; but in the Jerusalem Talmud {n} there is an objection, is it not a vessel? as if it was said, how can they "dip" in it, for is it not a vessel? and there is no "dipping" in vessels: R. Joshua ben Levi replied, a pipe of water was laid to it from the fountain of Etam, and the feet of the oxen, (which were under the molten sea,) were open at the pomegranates; so that it was as if it was from under the earth, and the waters came to it, and entered, and ascended, by the way of the feet of the oxen, which were open beneath them, and bored.''
The reason of the objection is, because bathing, or dipping for purification, was not made in vessels, but in gatherings, or pools of water upon the ground; and which objection is removed, by observing, that a pipe was laid from the fountain of Etam, which supplied it with spring, or running water; so that the molten sea, and the lavers, were looked upon all one as pools of water, or springs of water, and as fit for immersion. This sea was ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and held two thousand baths, 1Ki 7:23. Yea, three thousand, as in 2Ch 6:5 and every laver held forty baths, 1Ki 7:38 and every bath held four gallons and a half, and between seven and eight gallons of wine measure. And it may be observed, that there were also in Jerusalem the pool of Bethesda, into which persons went down at certain times, Joh 5:1 and the pool of Siloam, where persons bathed, and dipped themselves, on certain occasions; See Gill "Joh 9:7". So that there were conveniences enough for baptism by immersion in this place: and the same day there were added; unto them, or to the church, as in Ac 2:47 the whole company of the hundred and twenty disciples; the Arabic version supplies, "among the believers": the number of those, that were added to them, were about three thousand souls; or persons, men, and women; and their number is no objection to their being baptized by immersion. As for convenient places to baptize in, there were enough, as we have seen already; and there were administrators sufficient for this work: had there been no more than the twelve apostles, it was but two hundred and fifty men apiece; and there were twelve separate places in the temple, where they might be baptizing at the same time; there were the ten lavers, the molten sea, and the dipping room, so that the work was not so very heavy nor difficult; but besides, there were seventy disciples, who, as they were preachers of the word, were administrators of this ordinance; and supposing them all employed, as they might be, at the same time, either in the temple, or at the pools in Jerusalem, or at the baths, and cisterns, in private houses; they would not have more than six or seven and thirty persons apiece to baptize; and there was time enough in the day for it; it was but the third hour, or nine o'clock in the morning, when Peter began his sermon; and allowing an hour for that, there were eight hours more in the day, according to the Jewish reckoning of twelve hours in a day; so that the business might be done without any hurry, or great fatigue; and indeed, the objection, as to time, would equally lie against sprinkling, or pouring, as dipping; at least the difference is very inconsiderable; for the same form of words must be pronounced in administering the ordinance by the one, as by the other; and a person being ready, is very near as soon dipped into water, as water can be taken, and sprinkled, or poured on the face. Besides, after all, though these persons were added to the church the same day, it does not necessarily follow from the text, that they were all baptized in one day; the words do not oblige us to such a sense: I own, I am of opinion, that they were all baptized in one day; and that on the same day they were baptized, they were joined to the church; and that day was the day of Pentecost, the day on which the law was given on Mount Sinai, and on which now the Gospel was published to men of all nations under the heavens; the day on which the firstfruits were offered to the Lord, and on which now the firstfruits of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ were brought in to him. Let the order be observed, they were first baptized, and then added to the church.
{g} Midrash Kohelet, fol. 70. 3. {h} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 16. 1. & 19. & Maimon. Beth. Habbechira, c. 5. sect. 11. 17. {i} Disput. Gregantii, p. 131. {k} Vid. Jarchi & Kimchi in 1 Kings vii. 38. & Ralbag in 2 Chron. iv. 5. {l} T. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 40. 2. Misna Yoma, c. 3. sect. 3. {m} R. David Kimchi. {n} lb. Yoma, fol. 41. 1.
Acts 2:42
Ver. 42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine,.... And which is the same with the doctrine of Christ, of which he is the author, preacher, and subject; the substance of which is peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation by him: this the apostles received from Christ, and constantly taught in their ministry; for which reason, it is called theirs; and this these young converts had embraced gladly; and were not only believers of it, but persevering believers; they were constant hearers of it; they continually attended on the ministry of the apostles, and held fast the form of sound words they had received from them; and stood fast in the faith of the Gospel, notwithstanding all the reproach cast upon it, and the afflictions they endured for it:
and fellowship; with the apostles and other saints, in spiritual conversation with them, in private, and in communion with them at the Lord's table in public: and so the Vulgate Latin reads this clause, in connection with the next, thus, "in the communication of breaking of bread"; to which agrees the Syriac version, and "they communicated in prayer, and in breaking of the eucharist"; though it seems better to understand this of a distinct branch of fellowship, or communication, and may rather intend liberality and beneficence, in which sense it is used, Ro 15:26 and so expresses their constant contributions towards the support of the apostles, as ministers of the word and of the poor members of the church; a duty which, in both its branches, is incumbent on those who have it in their power to perform, and which these first Christians were remarkable for:
and in breaking of bread; or "of the eucharist": as the Syriac version renders it, which was an usual name with the ancients for the Lord's supper; and which seems to be intended here, and not eating common bread, or a common meal; seeing it is here mentioned with religious exercises: and though the Jews used to begin their meals with breaking of bread, yet the whole repast, or meal, is never by them called by that name; and for what reason these saints should be commended for keeping their common meals, cannot be said, unless to show their sociableness, agreement, and brotherly love in eating together; and which is not hinted at here, but in Ac 2:46 where it is mentioned as something distinct from this: it seems rather therefore to design, that they were constant at the Lord's table, kept their places there, and duly attended whenever the ordinance was administered:
and in prayers: not only in their closets, and in their families, but in the church; in the public prayers of the church, they observed all opportunities of this kind, and gladly embraced them.
Acts 2:43
Ver. 43 And fear came upon every soul,.... Upon every inhabitant of Jerusalem, at least upon a great many of them; and upon all, or the greater part of them that saw, and heard these things; that heard the apostles speak with divers tongues, and Peter preach in the awful manner he did, and saw so many thousands at once embrace the Gospel of Christ, and profess his name, when it now, by reason of his crucifixion but a few weeks ago, lay under the greatest reproach and scandal; and such a number baptized in water; and also because of the miracles done by the apostles, after mentioned. The Ethiopic version is very odd, "and all animals feared the apostles": as if the very brute creatures stood in awe of them:
and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles: the Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions add, "in Jerusalem"; such as casting out devils, healing the sick, causing the lame to walk, &c. which were promised by Christ should be done by them; and which were necessary for the confirmation of the Gospel, and of the apostles' mission to preach it. The Vulgate Latin version adds another clause, much like the first part of the text, "and great fear was upon all": and the Alexandrian copy, and some others, read, "in Jerusalem, there was great fear upon all."
Acts 2:44
Ver. 44. And all that believed were together,.... Not in one place, for no one house could hold them all, their number was now so large; but they "agreed together", as the Arabic version renders it: all these believers were of one mind and judgment, as to doctrines, they agreed in their sentiments and principles of religion; and they were of one heart and soul, were cordially affected to each other, and mutually were assisting to one another in temporals, as well as in spirituals:
and had all things common: that is, their worldly goods, their possessions and estates; no man called anything peculiarly his own; and whatever he had, his brother was welcome to, and might as freely take, and use it, as if it was his own.
Acts 2:45
Ver. 45. And sold their possessions and goods..... Their houses and lands, their fields and vineyards, their goods, moveable or immoveable:
and parted them to all men; that were of their society, not to others:
as every man had need: the rich sold their estates, and divided them among the poor, or gave them such a portion thereof as their present exigencies required. This was done by Jews, and by Jews only; who, when they embraced the Gospel of Christ, were informed that the destruction of their city, and nation, was at hand; and therefore they sold their estates before hand, and put them to this use; which was necessary to be done, both for the support of the Gospel in Judea, and for the carrying and spreading of it among the Gentiles: but is not to be drawn into a precedent, or an example in after times; nor is ever any such thing proposed to the Christian churches, or exhorted to by any of the apostles.
Acts 2:46
Ver. 46. And they continued daily with one accord in the temple,.... Every day they went up to the temple, at the time of prayer, or whenever any religious service was to be performed; this was their constant practice, and in this they agreed:
and breaking bread from house to house; either administering the Lord's supper in private houses, as the Jews kept their passover, sometimes administering it at one house, and sometimes at another; or because their number was so large, that one house could not hold them, they divided themselves into lesser bodies; and some met, and had the ordinance administered to them in one house, and some in another: or this may be understood of their common meals, which they ate together at one another's houses in great love and friendship; for
they did eat their meat with gladness; with great thankfulness to the God of their mercies for their daily food, acknowledging that all came from him, and that they were undeserving of it, and with much cheerfulness and affability one among another, without murmuring and repining at their lot, or envying each other, or grudging what each other partook of:
and singleness of heart; without deceit and hypocrisy; either in their thanksgivings to God, or in their welcome and entertainment of each other; and with great sincerity, openness, and frankness before God, and one another. The Syriac version joins this clause with the beginning of the next verse, "with singleness of heart, praising God".
Acts 2:47
Ver. 47. Praising God,.... Not only for their temporal mercies and enjoyments of life, which they partook of in so delightful and comfortable a manner; but for their spiritual mercies, that the Lord had been pleased to call them by his grace, and reveal Christ to them, and pardon them who had been such vile sinners, give them a name, and a place in his house, and favour them with the ordinances of it, and such agreeable and delightful company as the saints were, they had fellowship with:
having favour with all the people; they not only behaved with such true and sincere love towards one another in their church state, but with so much wisdom, courteousness, and affability towards them that were without, and walked so becoming the profession they made, that they gained the good will of the generality of the people:
and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved: partly by the conversation of these young converts, and chiefly by the ministry of the word, many souls were won and gained to Christ, were wrought upon, and converted, whose hearts the Lord inclined to give up themselves to the church, and walk with them in all the ordinances and commandments of the Lord; and these were such whom God had chosen to salvation by Jesus Christ, and whom he had redeemed by his precious blood, and who were now regenerated and sanctified by the Spirit of God, and so should certainly be saved; which is not always the case of persons added to churches, many of whom have not the root of the matter in them, and so fall away; but is of those who are added by the Lord, for there is a difference between being added by the Lord, and being added by men.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
We cannot forget how often, while their Master was with
them there were strifes among the disciples which should be the
greatest; but now all these strifes were at an end. They had prayed
more together of late. Would we have the Spirit poured out upon us
from on high, let us be all of one accord. And notwithstanding
differences of sentiments and interests, as there were among those
disciples, let us agree to love one another; for where brethren dwell
together in unity, there the Lord commands his blessing. A rushing
mighty wind came with great force. This was to signify the powerful
influences and working of the Spirit of God upon the minds of men,
and thereby upon the world. Thus the convictions of the Spirit make
way for his comforts; and the rough blasts of that blessed wind,
prepare the soul for its soft and gentle gales. There was an
appearance of something like flaming fire, lighting on every one of
them, according to John Baptist's saying concerning Christ; He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. The Spirit, like fire,
melts the heart, burns up the dross, and kindles pious and devout
affections in the soul; in which, as in the fire on the altar, the
spiritual sacrifices are offered up. They were all filled with the Holy
Ghost, more than before. They were filled with the graces of the
Spirit, and more than ever under his sanctifying influences; more
weaned from this world, and better acquainted with the other. They
were more filled with the comforts of the Spirit, rejoiced more than
ever in the love of Christ and the hope of heaven: in it all their griefs
and fears were swallowed up. They were filled with the gifts of the
Holy Ghost; they had miraculous powers for the furtherance of the
gospel. They spake, not from previous though or meditation, but as
the Spirit gave them utterance.
We cannot forget how often, while their Master was with
them there were strifes among the disciples which should be the
greatest; but now all these strifes were at an end. They had prayed
more together of late.
They were filled with the gifts of the
Holy Ghost; they had miraculous powers for the furtherance of the
gospel. They spake, not from previous though or meditation, but as
the Spirit gave them utterance.
Sources: Matthew Henry; Gill's Exposition; Matthew Henry Concise
Commentary
Commentary