A Brighter Day Begins with His Word.

PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK

The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2

Arthur Charles Hervey [1808-1894] · 310,527 words · 337 reading sections

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port iunat.e attention to the arguments on the other side; e.nd the end ls that the vessel of their faith breaks up e.nd e.t length goes down. II. 'l'BEm MORAL HABITS. Trained in godly homes, our youths e.nd maidens e.cquire habits of moral excellency ; they enter active life, honest, pure, sober, reverent, prudent, B…

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nnd w11tchfulnoss. '.rhe deep lesson of the gospel here illustrated is that we ought not to be ta.ken at unawares, IV. UNnELIBVING FEAR AND BELIEVING CONFIDENCE. The former in verR. 16--20. 'l'o save dear life men will cast their treasures as worthleRs dross into the sea. And when, in spite of all, death seems near an…

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superiority nor the mere moral goodneea of his motives, but his consciol18ne88 of direct intercollI'l!e with God. God had "spoken unto him." I. TRUE FAITH O\'BBOOKETH TBB WORLD, 1. By bringing in the light of the better world-llo foreseeing the end, IDIIBSuring present circumst&nces, maintaining physical and moral st…

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comfort and of courage, and the confident prophet of hope and safety, but tell~ the bad also with the good (ver. 26). 6. He is the genuine religious man, not "ashamed of Christ," e.nd plainly tells the source of hie own confidence and of the firm language he holds to hie congregation of the boat, for all that he may be…

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thing ell!6. They re,•eal : 1. Oowardioe, That they should fear we.e natural and a sign that nature had not gone callous in them. But cowardice began when they did not face to the end what he.d now some days been a common dangor, one for which they were in part themselves answerable, which they could best meet, and …

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what a transformation H le now which showe the prisoner of the whole company, an,l the man who before hae eeemed to run the gauntlet of one continuous contradiction of men, etanrling forth, not merely the observed of all observers, which he had often been before, but the one respectfully listened to, followed obedientl…

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told unfavourably upon his health, and who ca.n havo been but scantily provided with the requisites for a long voyage. We direct attention to that power which St. Paul e\;dently possessed, of winning the confidence and the favour of those who ea.me into intimate contact with him; observing that- L POWER TO WIN OONFIDE…

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by men. We oan prevent overhanging calamHies up to certain limits of time. We can if wo will duly keep Divine principles, and heed DiviM warnings. 11, '!'HEY 8110W TIIE OONNEOTION DETWEEN MAN'S CONDUCT AND MAN'S OIRCUM- STANOI!:B. This is always the point of a Divine warning. This connection we aro always in peril of…

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Ver. 38.-The sanctity of human life. This subject is suggested by the fact that they cast out the very wheat into the sea, being willing to lose everything if they could only save dear life. "Skin after skin, yea, all that a man bath will he give for his life." There is no intenser passion in the creature than the d…

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Ver. 44.-Safety at last, somehow. Luke succeeds in presenting a very vivid picture of the exciting scene, when he says, "And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it ea.me to pass, that they escapt<l all safe to land." St. Paul gave o_rders that "every one who could swim should first f…

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for thef'II came a 'fllpflr, A.V.: by f"eaacm of bite of a viper (Dioscorides, Galen, eh). for out of, A.V. Had gathered; f1'u11-rpl,J,av-rar, J'nstioe ( JI .o.iK'IJ). In Greek mythology Dice only hero and in the LXX. of Jurlg. xi. 3 (Justitia) wae the daughter and assessor or and xii. 4, for "to collect," "go.ther to-…

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dote (els o~3~,, !f.-o,ro., lµw,uoii.-a, ~tf3lms), hundred &nd seventy-six. Heh. xiii. 2 ho.d "shall suffer no he.rm." It is used in medi- o, strikin~ fulfllment here. Dming the three CRl writ,•rs in two scnses--of" unusue.l symp- de.ye they would h1we opportunity to proome toms," and ol fate.l consequences. In the …

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needed. When wo sailed ( &va:yoµhou) ; see Tarried there three days. Perhn.pa win,J- oh. xiii. 18; xvi. 11 ; xviii. 21; xx. 3, 13; bou_nd, or possibly having to land pa.rt of xxi. I, 2, 4, 12, 21, a.nd notes. It is touch- the1r cargo there. ing to see the kindnees of the Maltese, and Ver. 13.-Made n cireuit for/etch…

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·which shipe from AJexandri11 usually came. soon see him fnce to face. They naturallJ 1-mith quot<>s a pasenge from Seneca. (Npist., determined to go e.ud meet him, tu honour 'i'i) describing the a.rri\'n.l of the Alexandrian him as an apostle, and show their love to whent-shipe at Puteoli. The whole popu- him ns e.…

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""'Blodia miWarls, I.e. that he W!IB faetenecl spear, with me for ha116 I called /or '!JrYU, 1,, by a single ob11ln to a praitorio.n ( rr-rpa:rnl,-r71r ), Bee you, and to Bpeah with yar.1, A.V.; for but, llB a epeoi11l favour, gmnted probably becriuse o/ for becauBe that jD'T, A.V. To eeo '<ID tho good report of the…

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H, notee. It ii knowu. to 'Ill ; •.e. thongh we with Moses nnd the prophets, whlle hi■ h&ve heard nothing agnin~t yon P&ul, we ad,·erearies, with theil· boaeted zenl for \ha have hc>e.rd of the ee<'t of the N&Zl\rcnee Law, were really its ant.e.Ronfets. The atU- e.nd hnve he&rd nothing but harm conoem- tude of the t…

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17, 20, 23). But even at Rome the apostle abundant, in atripes above measure, in or the Gentiles wne ro.ithful to the rule, prisons more frequent, in deaths oft," is "'l'o the Jew flret." seen, as we read this hist.ory, to be no empty Vur. 29 (A.V.).-Thle verse ia entirely bo11st, hut A. simple statement of th,, trntl…

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HOMILETIOS. Vers. 1-10.-Kindnea. Genuine kindness is a pleasant thing to see by whom- soever and under whatsoever circumstances it is exercised. God has planted it in the human breast, and it is one of the distinctive attributes of man. Too often, indeed, the indulgence of ba.d passions is suffered to choke it, a.n…

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tion, is in :vain. ~hey judge themselves unworthy of _eternal life; ther, wUl not have Gods Christ to reign over them. And so they sel\l their own doom. 'Ihe time of their .fall is come-the time when the kingdom of God must be taken from them ,md givon to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. But now mark the …

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ein mnritR puniehment and will be overtaken by it. This is a fundamental and ultimate principle; we need not try to account for it or to "get behind it." It is aufilciont in itself; it is a conviction that comes from the Author of our spiritual nature, which will not bo dislodged, which itself accounts for much that we…

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Vera. 17-28.-T/ie Christia,,,,, and the Jew. Here we have the Christian and the Jew brought into close contact; and there seems to have been as fair an opportunity for the latter to understand nnd appreciate the former e.s could ever have bee11 granted. With calmness, with the wisdom ancl fulness of long study and matu…

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of Obrist," or tho "kingdom of heaven" which Jesus announced, e.nd concerning which he so.id so muoh when he we.son ee.rth (see Me.tt. vi. 33; Luke xxii. 29; John xviii. 3G; Me.tt, :ir.lii, 24-60, etc.). Christ co.me for the purpose of eate.blishing, or rather re-estab- lishing, the kingdom of God on ee.rth, of reinsta…

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Veni.11-15.-The pasaagefrum Malta to RoTM. L BLESSINGS BY TBB WAY. Chris- tian fellowship is enjoyed. Unity and relationship in Jesus Christ make the unknown as known. The heart dissolves distance and strangeness. God has everywhere hidden children. The discovery of them is the discovery of a dear bond of brotherhoo…

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countrymen. To point back to Moses and the prophets in evidence of this was i,, !how tbnt the doctrine of the cross and the resurrection wBB the fulfilment and con- eumm11.tion of the ancient faith of Israel. But this was no cold statement, no per- functory stntement. From morning till evening Paul laboured with his…

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discipline, bnt H will be followed by a time of splendid triumph when the meseengern h11vu been preporocl for it.-R Ver. 23.-771e Ohristirun arluocate putting forth his pleas. "Persuading them con- cerning Jesus." Importance of the crisis. Jeru~a Jem. Rome. A few years, and Jerusalem destroyed. Judaism brought Paul in…

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Vers. 1-6.-.A strong family likeness. This short episode is, in its proportion, as rcfre11hing to the reader as to those who played the actual part in it. It is the oasis of narrati ,·e. It reads like a brief parable of the human heart. Or we may be impressed by it, as by some portrait, which present.s to our view f…

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before it fouml its footing, mndo its mark, and left behind it memories equally lastin"' o.nd fragrant. Amid the wide group of suggestions offered by these verses, we may especially note the following 1\8 particularly worthy of a place in connection with this history:- 1. 'l'HE WATCHFULNESS OJ!' THE MASTER OVER HIS SE…

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that invitation longed for the opportunity it would bring for themselves and others. They we.ntro what the memory of it would give them to lay up e.e though "precious Ftoro." ThOl!e who received that invitlltion would read respect to themselves in It and what was better, the sign of religious lifo and love. 4. They …

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Vere. 16-23.-A unique prisoner. With the masterliness of inspired history, exceeding brevity itself in the passage before us seems to reveal rather than conceal. A few powerful strokes of the pen portray and very strikingly a hero, and one at the same time as real and unusual as ever lived. Great, indeed, must have bee…

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Vere. 30, 31.-.A type and a model of the <Jhri.~ti,a,n preacher. These striking, closing words of a. history, than which, take it all in all, there is not a more impressi \'e to be found-always excepting the one history-show the performing in right earnest of the parting injunction of the ascending Lord of the Churc…

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Ver. 2.-Humanity. " And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness." How that kindness found expression is further detailed. " Heavy showers had come on, and the shipwrecked men were half benumbed with fatigue and cold. Pitying their condition, the natives lit a huge fire of faggots and brushwood., that they mig…

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coull8ele similar t.o thie : "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law ot Ubrist."-R. T. Ver. 4.-77ie nq,erstitiom of tgn0rance. "The natives of Melita, seeing what they did, and ignorant of thie prisoner's crime, and with their rough notions of the Divine government of the world, rushed to the conclusi…

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tection while they were engaged in Christian service; but it cannot be unintereRting to notice that these promises wore precisely fulfilled in the experience of the apostles, St. Paul, AS narrated in our text, "shook off the beast," the deadly viper, "and felt no harm." From the incident it is suggested to us to conAid…

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Ver. 16.-" Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Cl.rist." Couybeare and Howson give very full details of the journey of t.he apostle and his company from Malta to Rome; reaching their destination, the following description of the place of imprisonment is given:- " Here we.s the muliarium aureum, to which the roads of all the…

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tho terms which Luke uses. The apostle is said to have bean eng~ged in .. pre&ching the ki11gdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus, with all confidenco," Illustration may be given of St. Paul's restless act;vity and consuming zeal in preaching Christ. He could say," Woe is unto me if I prea…

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rnm PA.GK Tlll!:111 PAOII A Sn,ldcning Spoctnrlc: a Missionnry ll:enl witht:'ut Knowledge ,, 101 Sermon 66 Tcnt-1\Iaking a Sermon 10,1: Christianity and Epicureanism 67 The Complement to Human Unoer- Christianity and Stoioism ... 67 tllinty found in Divine Fidelity 10.5 Curiosity at the F{'('t of Christ 68 A Novel…

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TRDnl PAO■ 'l'Rl<ll1I H.G■ PRul's CommiBBion t.o the Genttlee 207 A Hope grown f'rom a Deep and Mani- The UnrcR1!0nRble Excitement of fold Root .. . 248 CrowdB 208 The Highest Powers eluded by the Times t.o suffer, and Times to get Heart's Subterfuges ,.. 248 Relief from Suffering 209 The Infiuence of a Good Rule…

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Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.

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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.