.eterly deBtroyed for de~troyed, A.V. trtter}J repetition and ampliftontion of the covenant deltroyed. Tbe Greek ,£0}>..01/pnio, oocura and promise already recorded in Gon. xii, frequently in the LXX. for the Hebrew 1--3; xv.; xvii. 1-8, was made wpbs -roiis phre.se, " out off from his people" (Gen. xvii. wa-rlpa.s, with a view to, in the direction of, tho H); but in Dent. x,·iii. l!l, the phl'&8e is fathers, so e.e to include them and their quite different, "I will require it of him." children afler them. It was now fulfilled to St. Peter here gives the sense, not the those whom St. Peter was addressing, as is i~iil'ima "eroo, and thereby m&rks the aet forth in the next verse. extreme gravity of the sin of unbelief (see Ver. 26.-Servant for Son Jeaw, A.V. and John iii. 18). T.R.; your for his, A.V. Unto you ftrat. In Ver. 24.-Them thatfollou,ed for Ow..•e that virtue of the ooveno.nt, the first offer of f0Uo1D, A.V.; they also told for have likewiae salvation was made to the Jews (see eh. i. 8; foretold, A.V. From Samuel, etc. Samuel xiii. 26, 46; Luke xxiv. 47; Rom. ii. 10, eto.; and oi 1e"8,£ijs seems to denote what the J ewe comp. Matt. xv. 24). JlisServa.nt(asin ver. cnlled "the former prophets "-the &uthors 13). As regards the phrase," having raised of the historical books. The whole phrase, up," however natural it is at first sight to therefore, oomprehends " all the prophets " understand it of the raising from the dead, (of whom Samuel and ol 1<a8,i~• were the the tenses make it impossible to do so. Nor first), to whose testimony concerning himself could it be said that God sent Jesus to bless Olll' Lord appeals (Luke uiv. 27. 44). them after his resurrection. We must, there- Ver. 25.-&... for children, A.V.; your for fore, understand .iva.o-~o-a.s to be equivalent to our,A.V.and T.R.; famili&fork"indreds,A.V. '{a-y.Ipas, and to mean "having appointed," Ye are the sons of the prophets, meaning that set up, raised up (as the English word is used, they inherited all the promises made by the Luke i. 69; Rom. ix. 17). In this sense prophets to their fathers. Just as in eh. ii. God raised up his Servant by the inoame.- 39 he &aid, " The promise is unto you and tion, birth, anointing, and mission to be the to yonr ohildren" (oomp. Rom. ix. 4; xv. 8). Saviour. To bleBB you; to fulfil to you the He thus enforoes the solemn obligation of blessing promised to Abraham's seed. In giving heed to what the prophets had said turning away, etc., deliverance from sin being concerning Christ and his kingdom. In thy the chief blessing whioh Christ bestows upon 1eed (see Gal. iii 16). This covenant. into his people (so eh. v. 31, repentance is spoken which God entered with Abraham, with &n of as Christ's great gift tolsrnel). So closed oath (Gen. mi 16, 18.), and whioh was a the seoond great apostolic sermon.
HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-11.-The unezpeded gift. In one of those rapturous passages In which St. Paul tries to make human language express adequate thoughts of God, he speaks of God as "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think " (Eph. iii. 20). In saying so he does but mark, in one aspect, the distance between the finite and the infinite, and show how far the bounty of the infinite Giver outruns the desires of those who receive his gifts. The whole revelation of God's dealing~ with mankind is a continual illustration of this truth. How could it ever have entered into the mind of .Abram to ask to be made the father of many nations, to be the father of the faithful in all ages and in all countries, to be the head of God's elect people, and to have his life and his words and his deeds handed down to the posterities through endless time? How could it ever have entered into the mind of Israel in Egypt to ask to be led dry- shod through the Red Sea, to be fed in the wilderness with bread from heaven, to receive the Le.w from Sinai, and to be put into possession of the land of Canaan? Or how could it ever have entered into the thoughts of a rebellious and fallen world to ask that the only begotten Son of God, their Maker and Lord, should be incarnate and expiate their guilt by dying for their sins upon the cross? The section before us supplies another instance of this exceeding grace of God. A poor cripple, lame from his mother's womb, had for upwards of forty years lived in hopeless and helpless infirmity. In the merry days of youth, while his companions and equals in years were sporting and gambolling in all the freeness of joyous spirits and supple, elastil limbs, he was bound down to his pallet, like a bird confined in a cage, or a dog chained in his kenneL In early manhooa, while others went forth to their work and to their labour, earning their daily bread by honourable industry, he was reduced to be 11 Q:lendi~nt, living ill coOBtrained inactivity upon the precarious bounty of othura. OS, ll[, 1-26,] THE AC'fS OF THE APOSTLES. 97