But, while emphasizing the background of ideas common to primitive Christianity and Jewish apocalyptic, we must not ignore the distinctive- ness of the former ; and this now claims our at- tention.
3. The new Christian message.— (1) The Messiah has come, in the Person of Jesus. — The belief that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Christ, and that His life fulfilled the Scriptural prophecies, is the central truth of the apostolic preaching (Ac 236 322 542 i72f.^ Ja, 21, He 1, 1 P 3^2 4', etc.). In the Jewish apocalypses, two Messianic ideals are mani- fested. On the one hand, there was the old pro- phetic expectation of a warrior-king of David's line, raised up from among God's people to rule them in righteousness and truth (Pss.-Sol. xvii. 23-51, etc.). On the other hand, there was the purely apocalyptic conception of a heavenly Being descending, like Daniel's Son of Man, from the clouds of heaven, endowed with supernatural powers, and presiding as God's viceroy at the Great Judgment. It is to be noticed that the NT conception of our Lord's Messiahship, while higher than any previously set forth, is much more nearly related to the Danielic ' Son of Man ' than to the political type of Messiah (Ac 3-i, 1 Th 4'^, 2 Th 1^ etc.). Now, if Jesus was the Messiah, then, since He had actually come, and had been rejected by His people, several consequences seemed (to Jew- ish minds) to follow inevitably, viz. :
(2) The Last Days are now in progress. — In Jewish apocalyptic, the coming of the ilessiah is invariably associated with the end of this world
and the beginning of the New Era. So, when the apostles i^roclaimed that the Messiah had come, they thereby conveyed to their Jewish hearers the impression that the Last Days had also come — not merely that they were at hand, but that they had actually begun and were in progress. And in fact this belief is implied in many NT passages, the full meaning of which often escapes the notice of the casual reader, who is full of modern ideas. But if once this eschatological outlook is realized, the early narratives of Acts are filled with new meaning. In particular, it will be noticed that the ' appeals to prophecy,' which occur so fre- quently in Acts, are often connected with the de- sire to prove that the Last Days have at length come ; e.g. the outpouring of the Spirit at Pente- cost is hailed by St. Peter as the fulfilment of Joel's prophecy, which expressly referred to ' the Last Days ' (Ac 2^8"^ ; cf. Jl 2^-^-). His argument is that, since the prophecy has been fulfilled, it follows that the ' Last Days ' foretold therein must have come. Similarly, the charisnuita, and the gifts of healing and of tongues, which were pre- valent in the early Church, lent themselves readily to the view that they were a part of the miraculous ' signs of the end ' foretold by prophets and apoca- lyptists (Ac 218- ^^ ^ 4^0^- S^^-ib iqis 196 219). Again, the Death, Eesurrection, and Ascension of our Lord were proclaimed by the apostles, not merely as interesting historical events, but as part of the miraculous portents which were to form the ' birth- pangs of the Kingdom of God' (Ac 2"^-^^ 3"-26 268). All these things combined to deepen in the minds of the first disciples of our Lord the conviction that 'it was the last hour.'
(3) The Messiah is immediately to return as Judge. — Jesus, the ISIessiah, has been rejected by His people, but there remains yet another act in the great drama of the Last Things. His life on earth has fulfilled some of the Messianic pro- phecies ; but others {e.g. Daniel's vision of the Son of Man) are still awaiting fulfilment. So the Messiah is about to come again immediately in glory on the clouds of heaven to judge all man- kind (Ac 1" 10*2 1731 2426, Ja 58- 9, 1 P 4') and to destroy the apostate city of Jerusalem and the in- habitants thereof (Ac &*). Thus the apostolic preaching w-as in part a stern denunciation and a warning of judgment to come. But it did not end here.
(4) God is granting one more opportunity. — Herein lay the 'good tidings' of the apostolic preaching. Although the Jews had incurred the severest penalties of the Divine judgment by cruci- fying the Messiah (Ac 3^'*^-), yet another opportun- ity is being oflered, by which all men may escape ' the wrath to come,' and receive the Divine for- giveness. The only conditions demanded by God are {a) belief in Jesus as Lord and Messiah (Ac le^ot- ; cf. 23'ff-, etc.), and [b) repentance (Ac 2^8 318 2021). Those who 'believe' and 'repent' will be saved in the Judgment from the condemnation which is impending over all the world (Ac 2*" 319. 23-26)^ and will be forgiven by the Lord Jesus, who, as Messianic Judge, alone has the authority to grant such pardon (Ac 5^^ 10"*^). Thus it Avill be seen that ' salvation ' and ' forgiveness,' as terms of Christian theology, are in their origin eschato- logical, though they have been found capable of development along non-eschatological lines (see below). And it was just because of this eschato- logical background that the apostolic ' gospel ' was so intensely fervent and urgent ; for there was not a moment to spare ; ' the Judge was stand- ing before the doors' (Ja S^ ; cf. 1 P 4"- ''• "), and every convert was indeed a brand plucked from the burning (Ac 238-»o- *' 3^3-2«). So the apostolic preaching was transformed from a denunciation and