The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 116

of the "Son Jesns" had not only not been publicly preached to the people, but had In a sense been suppressed. Far otherwise now. Jesus has suffered, risen, ascended. And his right and dignity in this most cardinal respect is to be proclaimed. (2) The names to which Jesus has ent)tled himself by character, by sufferings1 and by achieve- ments are boldly spoken. He 1s "the Holy One and the Just .•. the Prince of life, whom God bath raised from the dead;" and he is" that Prophet." (3) His treat- ment at the hands of men, and even of those who were at the moment the hearers of Peter, with all the ag!¥8vations of it, is enlarged upon, It is not only the fearless fidelity of Peter that is worthy of note here. Beyond and below this, the method itself is to be noted, which consists in going to the very root of the disease, probing it to the core. Thus Peter, looking at the guilty in the face, says, "Whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go, But ye refused the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and ye killed the Prince of life." And yet it is" his Name . . . that bath made this man strong, whom ye see and know . . . and given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." There is in all this no slurring over of the guilt, of the aggravations of it, or of the fact that those who were there and then listeners were the abettors of it or accessories to it. ( 4) His very contrary treatment at the hands of his Father, God, is brought into prominence. "God .•. hath glorified his Son Jesus . . . God bath raised him from the dead •.. and to you first bath sent him to bles; you." This all, involved the vital point. The Jew who could have brought himself to believe that God was thus "well pleased" in Jesus, would have been the first to condemn himself; and with swift force is this, therefore, brought down upon him, in that incontestably he ought to have believed and seen long ago, The Jew is answer- able for his guilt and folly, let them be mixed in whatever proportions. Let his "ignorance" bear what proportion it may to the sum total of his fault, his ignorance was his own look out, was not necessary, was inexcusable, and the smart of the con- sequences of it he m11St now become acquainted with and must wince beneath it. Peter sees the door opened for him, and he enters in. He has his hearers now. The link that often seemed missing to them, who had no eyes to see aught except a negation, is found, and Peter is determined the.t eyes shall no longer pretend being shut to it. With such crushing effect betimes do circumstances prove providences, and the sudden glorious crisis at the Beautiful gate that evening at nine o'clock crowds with conviction and humiliation e.nd shame many a conscience, many e. heart. Things are rapidly reversin" now. This is the hour of Jesus. Peter now puts on his head one crown of glory':....the crown of thorns in the past! (5) Lastly, the inherent force of Jesus is assert.e4- His ui a Name-there can, there shall be no denial of it, no mistake a.bout it--above every name. With a certain power of repetition, which is not "vain repetition," d.oes Peter state. it: ''. An~ his Na.me_ t~ro_ugh [by the m~thod of] faith in his Name . . . yea, the fa.ith which 16 through him, ' 18 what bath given this man "this perfect soundness in the presence of you all" In which grand e.nd emphatio statement these two gospel axioms may be found, (a) that Christ is the one Object on which faith may try her virtu_.." My faith would lay her hand on that dear head of thine;" and, (b) that Christ is the one Object whose virtue-" for virtue went out of him "-it is worth faith's while to try. 'l'here is unsurpassed virtue in Christ, and the access to that virtue, the method of drawing upon it, is by faith. So there is unsurpassed virtue in faith also. Christ, and Christ a.lone, meets, and meets abundantly, the want of man, of any and every man. Faith, and faith a.lone, brings Christ and man so together that the one imparts and the other receives all that can be needed, asked, desired. This must be ea.lied the kernel of the apostle's sermon now. And it is the kemel of Christianity. This is the essence and distinctiveness of Christianity. And beyond a doubt this it is that constitutes its unwelcomeness to a proud world's heart, its inexpressible welcomeness to an humble, stricken heart, that only asks one thing-if now at last its unfathomed depth and unceasing craving may be worthily, sufficiently filled. 2. The appeal, that follow upon it. Peter is, indeed, all the while earnestly appealing to the people; but this appeal is no mere declamation, either vague or impassioned. It is grounded, firmly grounded, upon other appeals. (1) 'l'be first appeal is to events quite recent-to a history within the actual knowledge of all the nation, but most of a.II of the city of Jerusalem. The "holy" character of OH, III, 1-26,] THE AOTS OF 'l'HE APOSTLES. 111