Acts ii. 40. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward genera- tion.
IT is in many respects a great advantage to lis that we have the Holy Scriptures comprised in so small a space : for if they had been very voluminous, they would have been far less accessible to the poor, and few even of the rich would have found leisure or inclination to peruse them. One cannot however but feel a kind of regret that some particular parts have
not been more copiously transmitted to us. What an inestimable treasure, for instance, should we have j»t ?hle?f -• Lord's discount ti I
D ~J< U f S V" th,!JrJWay t0 Emmaus had b^n StooU? 1'wouId' doubtless, have been a rich
vhe rtL Zt I'/ """'I Part 0f Peter's first se>™»> whereby three thousand sinners were converted to
to lathfr b,ee" re-rded- But we must be contented nJrS P fraSme»t« which are left us in the
inspned volume and study with the more diligence ftose records which God has deemed sufficient for us The substance of the Apostle's sermon we have in the foregomg context ; and the application of it, in the words of our text. It is with 'the latter that we are
ft, EESuSS : and for 8 just improvement of
I. His testimony —
We cannot doubt but that « he testified" of Christ as the true Messmh, and shewed from the Scriptures that his death and resurrection were the means which
wol R?^mted f?V the Salvation of a r^ed world But it is evident, that, as he testified for Uirist, so he testified against that generation, whom
™3 ?? aD 'Iuntoward generation." But what
giound was there for ascribing to them this charac- ter Purely there was abundant reason for the ap- pellation, even though it had been still more severe : tor they were,
1. An impenitent generation —
had K tllG BaPtist, our Lord himself, and all his Apostles, ad toi the space of four years, preached among them, savin* Repent , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand V Yet like
their forefathers they would not hear*. They were even more
wonldT g °f Jo5a8i! fnd GVen the Sodo™^ themselves Lorrt w ;'?entGdi ha,d they heard SUch Poaching as our J-oid s , but the people of that generation would « not regard
w Uv^ w* Chai'mer' th0USh he charmed them "^er so wisely . ihey were satisfied with their descent from
T^ke-XXio V; „ b MatL iil 2- Mark *■ 15. and vi. 12.
c Jer. vii. 23, 24. Zech. vii. 11, 12
d Matt. xi. 20. xii. 41. and Ps. lviii. 5.
VOL. XIV, g