The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 96

another experience of death. He alone met the conditions of the psal1niet, and therefore he must be the promised Messiah. The other cases of resurrection narrated in Old and New Test.a.ment Scriptures should be examined, and tho points of contrast between them and our Lord's case should be carefully noted; especially the most marked peculi!ll'ity in our Lord's case, that ascension followed resurrectio~, whereas all other raised persons died a second time. If, then, Jesus be the Christ, the MeSBiah, to him our "knees should bow, and onr tongue conrcss."-R. T. Ver. 33.-Tlie e:r,planation of the signs of Pentecost. Recall what those sensible signs had been. We may not thiok that the sound of the wind was still heard, and it seems h:udly likely that the tongues of flame continued to rest on the heads of the disciples. But the ability to speak in foreign languages was the sign that chiefly arrested the l,ru?le's attention, and this may have continued throu~hout the day. Some of the &llltieuce had, no doubt, also seen the " tongues of flame." St. Peter here makes 1.hree distinct points. I. Gon BA.I! EXALTED JEsus OF NAZARETH. This Jesas, to whom he had been so distinctly referring. Here is an advance to a conclusion from the facts which the apostles witnessed. They declared t.hefacts of resurrection aod ascension. St. Peter now says-Admit the facts, and what follows? Surely this : God has aclcnowledged, accepted, and e:rol,ted Jesus, so affirming his Messiahship, and entrusting him with Lordship in the new spiritual kingdom (ver. 35). In no sublimer way could the Divine attest.a.tion of Jesus have been given, n. Gon RAS FULFILLED THE PROMISES :MADE THROUGH CHRIST. Give, from the closing chapters of St. John's Gospel, the promises of the Spirit as Teacher and Com- forter. The truth of our Saviour rested on the fulfilment of those assurances. Peter bids the people see, in Pentecostal signs, the fulfilment of both the general promise of the Spirit given through ancient prophets, and the special and precise promises of the Holy Ghost given through the Lord Jesus. III. Snow THE GIFT OF THE SPmIT IS THE FINAL BEAL OF CHRIST'S CLADI, He is given because Jesus is glorified. As exalted, as entrusted with holy authority and power, the Lord Jesus has "shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." The Spirit witnesses to Christ, and especially to his present cla.im, as Lord, to the allegiance of every heart, the surrender of every will, and the obedience of every life.-R. T. Vers. 3i-39.-The gospel demands from men. The moral influence exerted by St. Peter's speech, in the power of the present Spirit, should be noticed. Many of his audience were "pricked in their heart;" that is, were "stung with remorse at the enormity of the wickedness which had been committed in the crucifixion [of Messiah], and at the blindness with which the whole nation had closed their eyes to the teaching of the prophecies which had spoken of the Messiah." They asked, "What shall we do?"-" to escape the penalties which must fall on the nation that has so sinned against light and knowledge; who have had the true Light in their midst, but have comprehended it not, and have crucified the Lord of glory." By unfolding and illus- trating the intense feelings with which the Jews anticipated the coming of their Messiah, we may set forth the terrible revulsion of feeling, and the overwhelming shame that smote them, when they were convinced that they had actually crucified their Messiah, offering him thus the greatest insult, and rendering themselves guilty of the gravest crime. St. Peter demandB three things--repentance,faith, and confession. TLe first and last of these are distinctly stated, the second is implied. I. THE GOSPEL DEMANDS l:IEPENTANCE. This was the requirement of John the Bapti.J;t, and of our Lord when he sent forth his apostles on their trial mission. It is the proper and necessary preparation for forgiveness; it is the state of mind and fuling to which alone forgiveness (:an come, and by which alone it can be appreciated. Here the conviction of the one particular sin of crucifying Messiah becomes a reve- lation of general sinfulness; and so definite repentance is attended with a humiliation and humility which can be a basis of faith, an openness to receive further truth, and a conditi<Yr, fitted for a gracious forgiveness. Repentance is still the first gospel demand. Possibly modern preacLing greatly fails because adequate prominence is not given to it. en. u. 1-47.] THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 91