ed: : For he spake not of himself, but of Christ. wilt thou sufferthine 23 Acts my right hand, that continually be ready to appear in my behalf; SECT. I should not be mov- because I know that he is at my right hand, in iv. the whole series of my labours and sufferings, that I might not be moved by any of them. ii. 25 26 Therefore did And for this reason, upon account of the firm 26 my heart rejoice, confidence I have in him, my heart is glad, and and my tongue was glad moreover al. my tongue exulteth in the most cheerful man. so, my flesh shall ner; yea, and moreover too, even my mortal rest in hope: flesh, while it lodges in the sepulchre, shall rest 27 Because thou in a joyful and assured hope; Because I am 27 wilt not leave my fully satisfied, that thou wilt not leave my soul, soul in hell, neither while separated from it, in the unseen world; & Holy One to see cor. neither wilt thou permit even the body of thine ruption. Holy One, thy peculiar favourite, whom thou hast set apart to such honourable and important services, so much as to see corruption in the grave, or to lie so long there as in the course of nature to be in danger of putrefachast tion. Thou hast made me to know the ways of 28 life, to which thou wilt assuredly conduct me ; and after all my sufferings here, thou wilt fill full of joy with thy me with joy, in those upper and more glorious regions to which thou wilt raise me, making me glad with the light of thy countenance, and taking me to dwell in thine immediate presence, where there is fullness of joy, and at thy right hand, where there are everlasting and uninterrupted pleasures." 28 Thou made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me countenance. 29 Men and breth And now, continued Peter, when he had 29 ren, let me freely recited these words at large, Ye men of Israel, speak unto you of the patriarch David, whom I respect [and] love as my brethren, perthat he is both dead mit me to speak freely to you concerning the patriand buried, and his arch David who wrote this, and to open a hint, which if pursued will lead you into the true & Thou wilt not leave my soul in the unseen world.] Beza (to guard against the Popish doctrine of Christ's descent into hell) would render the words as they stand in the Hebrew, my corpse in the grave: And it is certain, that nephesh and sheol have sometimes these significations; (see Whitby and Beza in loc.) and the phrase of bringing a person's life down to the grave, or up from it, often occurs. (Compare Psal. xxx. 3; xlix. 15; lxxxvi. 13; lxxxviii. 3; lxxxix. 48.) But as Yux, which is the word here used, can hardly be thought to signify a dead body, and adus is generally put for the state of separate spirits, (see note f on Mat xvi. 18, Vol. I.) the version here given seemed preferable to any oth er: nor can any just inference be drawn from it, in favour of Christ's descent into the hell of the damned. 24 iv. Acts The apostles were witnesses of his resurrection. 30 Therefore be oath to him, that of his throne: SECT. sepulchre in which his dust remains is here sepulchre is with us among us in Jerusalem, even unto this day: h unto this day : He therefore could not say this of himself; but ing a prophet, and ii. 30 being a divinely inspired prophet, and knowing knowing that God that God had, in a special revelation from had sworn with an heaven, solemnly sworn to him with an oath, the fruit of his loins, that of the fruit of his loins, or out of his de- according to the scendants, he would, according to the flesh, flesh, he would raise when he should send his Son into the world in up Christ to sit on the human nature, raise up the promised Messiah, to sit on his throne, and to inherit univer31 sal empire (Psal. cxxxiii. 11); He, with a firm 31 He seeing this reliance on the faithfulness of God, foreseeing before, spake [this] great event, by divine inspiration spake Christ, that his soul the words which I have now been repeating, was not left in hell, not meaning them of himself, or intending neither his flesh did they should be taken in any lower sense, but see corruption. referring them to the resurrection of the Messiah; thereby plainly signifying, that his soul shall not be left in the unseen world, nor his flesh be suffered to see corruption. 32 of the resurrection of 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, witnesses. This very Jesus then, whom we assert to be the true Messiah, God hath now raised up according to the tenor of this promise; of which whereof we all are resurrection, astonishing as it may seem, all we his apostles are witnesses, on our own personal and certain knowledge; having seen him with our eyes, and examined into the truth of the 33 matter with all possible care. And more than this, we solemnly assure you, that mean and ing by the right contemptible as this Jesus once appeared among you, he is invested now with sovereign dominion; and being exalted therefore to supreme 33 Therefore be h His sepulchre is among us unto this day.] According to the flesh.] This is expressJerom mentions the remains of David's ed in the original in such a manner, with sepulchre as extant in his time; (Hier. Epist. an article prefixed, (To xala oagna avaxvi. ad Marcell.) and a large account of RLY TOV Xgicov) as seems to refer these other testimonies concerning it may be seen in Fabricius. (Cod. Apoc. Vet. Test. p. 1063-1070.) It is strange, that this sepulchre should have survived so much barbarous rage, as we know Jerusalem was often subjected to; but perhaps, it was rebuilt in later days. As for the treas ures, which Josephus so often mentions as found in this sepulchre by Hyrcanus and Herod, (Antiq lib. vii. cap. 15, [al. 12,] §3; lib. xiii. cap. 8, [al. 16,] § 4; lib. xvi. cap. 7, [al. 11, §1;& Bell. Jud. lib. i. cap. 2, $5 Haverc.) I think with Beza, the stories have an air of fable. words, not to the loins of David, but to Christ; and so may be an intimation, that it was only with respect to his human nature that the Messiah should descend from David, while there was still a higher na ture in which he was superior to him, and was indeed to be regarded as the Son of God. (Compare Rom. i. 3, 4.) It was with a view to this, that Clarius and some others suppose these words to be inserted here by the apostle; and I have therefore so disposed them in the version, as to leave no room for any ambiguity. God had exalted him, and made him Lord and Christ. 25 SECT. iv. hand of God exalted, majesty and glory at the right hand of God, and and having received of the Father the having, as the great anointed of the Lord, repromise of the Holy ceived the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Ghost, he hath shed Father, he hath, agreeably to the notices he gave 33 forth this, which ye us before his ascension, which happened but now see and hear. 34 For David is heavens but : ten days ago, shed forth this miraculous effusion Acts And indeed it appears from other passages of 34 not ascended into the his writings, that the great patriarch, whom I he mentioned before, had some views to this Lord said unto my kingdom of the Messiah; for David, who has Lord, sit thou on never yet been raised from the dead, is not himmy right hand, saith himself, The self ascended into heaven in the body, to be advanced there to the highest dignity and power; but plainly intimates, that this belonged to one superior to himself, when he says, (Psal. cx. 1) "The Lord Jehovah said unto my Lord, that is, God the Father said unto the Messiah, (whom though in one sense he is to be my Son, I honour as my Lord) Sit thou exalted on a throne 35 Until I make at my right hand, Until Imake all that are so 35 thy foes thy footstool. presumptuous as to go on to be thine enemies thy footstool and lay them prostrate at thy 36 Therefore let rael know assuredly, feet, so that thou mayest trample upon them at Therefore upon the whole, from this concur- 36 all the house of Is- rent evidence both of prophecy and miracle, that God hath made and from the testimony God has given to that that same Jesus Jesus whom we preach, not only by his resurwhom ye have cru- rection from the dead, but by the effusion of cified, both Lord and the Holy Spirit on his followers, let all the house Christ. of Israel assuredly know, how contrary soever * Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.] This text is quoted on this occasion with the happiest address, as suggest ing, in the words of David, their great prophetic monarch, how certain their own ruin must be, if they went on to oppose Christ.-Elsner has a fine collection of ancient passages, referring to the custom of trampling upon the vanquished, dead or alive. 26 Reflections on the resurrection and exaltation of Christ. SECT. Thus Peter concluded his discourse, and iv. God blessed it as the means of awakening and converting thousands, as we shall see in the following section. Acts verse IMPROVEMENT. LET us firmly believe the wisdom of the divine counsels, and 23 humbly adore the depths of them; according to which, without the least violation of that human freedom on which the morality of our actions depends, those events happen which the wickedness of men as really effects, as if Providence were wholly uncon 24 cerned in them. Let us thankfully own the riches of that grace which gave our Lord Jesus Christ to be a sacrifice for us; and then raised him triumphant from the grave, to reign at the right hand of the Majesty on high, far above all principality, and power, and might. (Heb. i. 3; and Ephes. i. 21.) In him the prophecies are accom31 plished: His soul was not left in hell, nor did he so much as see corruption in the grave. And we may consider his resurrection as a pledge given us for our assurance, that God will not abandon us in that ruinous state, to which his righteous sentence for a while brings our bodies. He will at length redeem them from the 28 power of the grave. (Hosea xiii. 14.) He will shew us also the path of life, which our Redeemer hath trodden, and, by treading, has marked out for us; and will conduct us to his right 26 hand, where Jesus reigns, and with him everlasting pleasure. In him therefore let our heart be glad, and in him let our tongue rejoice; and when it is thus employed, it will indeed be the glory of our frame. (Psal. xvi. 9.) In this hope let our flesh rest; nor let our faith stagger at the promise of God, as if any thing could be hard to Omnipotence. (Rom. iv. 20, 21.) 33 In the mean time, beholding this wonderful effusion of the Spirit as the blessed consequence of the ascension and exaltation of Christ, let us, with that affection which becomes his disciples, take our part in his glory and joy. Let us triumph in the 34,35 thought, that God hath now said unto him, Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. And while we rejoice in the security which we have as his friends, let us pray that the blessed time may come, when every opposing power shall be brought down, and when we shall see that sight for which our eyes so long have been waiting, even all things put under his feet. (1 Cor. xv. 25, 27.) Hasten, O Lord, that glorious day, and whatever our station or furniture is, may we be honoured as the happy instruments of doing something, whether by life or by death, in subserviency to this great design! The people are awakened by Peter's discourse. SECT. V. Great numbers are converted by Peter's discourse, and, being immediately baptized, signalize themselves by their piety and mutual affection, which produces a farther increase in the church. Acts II. 37, to the end. ACTS II, 37. ACTS II. 37. 27 heard this, they US Peter addressed himself to the Jews SECT. were pricked in their heart, and said V. Acts on the day of Pentecost, arguing from the miraculous communication of the Spirit, unto Peter, and to that Jesus, being risen from the dead, was de- ii. 37 the rest of the apos-clared by God to be the promised Messiah, tles, Men and breth- and charging them on this incontestible eviren, what shall we dence with the aggravated guilt of being his do? 38 Then Peter betrayers and murderers. Now when they And Peter said unto them, Through the di- 38 said unto them, Re: vine goodness still continued to you, your case pent, and be baptized every one of you in is not yet desperate: Repent therefore of this the name of Jesus aggravated crime, and in token of your desire Christ, for the re- to be washed from the guilt of that blood, a which you have so rashly imprecated upon Repent, and be each of you baptized.] precept of Christ had not been obeyed. They are not only called here to repent, In the name of Jesus Christ.] The but a submission also to the ordinance of learned Vitringa has taken a great deal of baptism is required of them, in order to the pains to shew, that the phrases Barlo forgiveness of their sins : for though on their εις Χρισον, εις όνομα Χρισε, εν ονόματι Χρισκ repenting and believing they were, according and s ovoμali Xgis, have different signifito the tenor of the gospel covenant, entitled cations; and labours to prove, that the last to the remission of their sins; yet, as Christ phrase (which is here used) signifies, not had for wise reasons appointed this solemn only (as Le Clerc understands it) being rite, as a token of their taking up the Christian professsion in a public manner, there could have been no sufficient evidence of the truth of their repentance and faith, if this numbered among those who are called by his name, but professing to devote themselves to the glory of it. See Vitring. Observ. Sacr. lib. iii. cap. 22. |