The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 180

Vers. 17-42.-Seconrl persecution of the <Jhurch. Notice: 1. It was the result or marvellous success. We must expect such oppo9ition when God gives us po\ver among the people. The proud and formal have no liking for that which can be set in contrast with their own inefficiency. 2. It proceeded from the sect of the Sadducees, i.e. the heretical school. The league between the high priest and the scoffers was a sad sign of religious degeneracy, So it is. When religion decays it becomes the food of unbelief. The latitudinarians hate spiritual earnestness. 3. It was weak aud timid, evidently because there was a raproaching conscience and a growing apprehension in the background. The apostles were pnt into the public ward or prison, but probably not very jealously guarded. 4. The empty form of justice and wisdom was maintained- the council was summoned, that the weight of ecclesiastical authority might be used to crush the feeble apostles, that the people might be awed by the fear of great dignitarif's. They often are, but the Spirit of God can overcome such fear. 5. Divine wisdom is more than human craft. The public trial or examination of the apostles was a public proclamation of the weakness of their enemies and the heavenly sanction given to their cause. The angelic deliverance of the prisoners became a notorious fact through all Jerusalem. The effect on the council, on the captain of the temple, on the populace, must have been immense. Evidently there was great excitement. "They feared the people, lest they shonld be stoned." 6. The two weak apostles in the presence of the council, boldly challenging the contradiction of facts and appealing from man to God- a striking manifestation of spiritual power. "We are witnesses, . . . so is the Holy Ghost." 7. The division in the council between the furious fanatical party and the temperate Gamaliel party, reminding us of the division in the nation itself; some dead to the voice of God, others ready to follow it though not recognizing it. The influence of Gamaliel a sign of hope; there was a remnant still according to the election of grace, and it promised a future restoration of Israel. 8. The whole occurrence a great help to the Church, to feel its power, to deepen its devotion, to rejoice in hope of victory, to trust in the gracious providence of God.-R. Ver. 20.-The Church's mission to the world. "Go, stand and speak," etc. Acts of apostles the model for acts of God's people always. Lessons on relation of the Church and the world. Gospel began to lay hold of the masses. Envy and hatred of the Sadducean party, because a religion which lifted up the people, they thought, would lower the wealthy and ease-loving. We must expect social difficulties as the kingdom of righteousness spreads, but the angel's message is the rnle of all times; while oppor- tunity offers, stand and speak, not your own message, but "all the words of this w·e." ·while we listen to the angel's words, we should keep our eye fixed on the unveiled secret of Divine strength delivering and protecting all true-hearted preachers of Christ's truth. l. THE GREAT COMMISSION. "Speak .•. to the people." 1. Copy the example of the Master. "Common people heard him gladly." 2. Hest on the adaptation of the gos_pel to the people's wants. They are deceived by false teachers, run after false remedies. 3. Take courage by the facts of the early history of Christianity. All moral pro~ess from the people. Illustrate in the course of Christianity in the Roman empire--from the cottage to the throne. In the Reformation, especially in England. Lollards. Luther. Preaching of the revivalists in the eighteenth and present cei:turies. 4. _Note the_ events. The future in the hands of the people. Speak to them of Christ; for their power 1~ great, and they may abuse it to the destruction of society. Babel-greatnes~ must end m con- fusion and misery. 6. Consider the responsibility of Christians. Believe, _and t~erefore speak; silence is shame. Activity is the hope of the Church, the cure of its strifes and the uprooting of its doubts. II. THE GREAT MESSAGE. " All the words of this life." 1. Reality-life. Men's d!'il_y struggle is about life. Yet the world fuU of delusions about life. This lffe 1 176 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [on. v. 1-42.